The Union

"Your Majesty are you listening?" there it is again, but he was still lost in thought.

"Wake up King Timothy!" somebody shook his shoulders and he was pulled back from his trance. He saw Henry staring at him.

"What?"

"You are s.p.a.cing out. You called us here early in the morning but it seems you"re still asleep." Henry said.

"His face is pale" the annoying voice of Arthur sounded. "And look at those eyes. Oh boy. Somebody didn"t sleep last night."

Timothy was now fully awake and he remembered that after the man left, he did not sleep again. He spent the entire night thinking of possible explanations for what happened. After a few hours of thought, he derived a few conclusions but none of them were satisfactory. He decided that he will leave the ident.i.ty of the man a mystery for now. He needed to discuss this with Lucia. For now, he still needed to rescue Erik.

First thing in the morning, he called Henry, Arthur, Elisar and Jop. Most of the soldiers were still asleep and the morning was freezing. Yet the five of them were already talking about the plans for the day.

He straightened his posture and cleared his throat. "I have changed my mind. We will coordinate with Sylvie."

Just as he finished talking, the four men showed expressions of surprise.

"So you have forgiven her already?" Henry pointed upward "The Omniscient must be rejoicing for we have a forgiving King. While I still don"t think that we should trust her, I will respect your decisions. I will follow you no matter what."

Elisar scratched his head. "I don"t really know anything but if I"m not mistaken, you are planning something big right? You will let Prince Ivan think that you had fallen in his trap but in truth, he was the one falling in yours. Coordinating with her is just a front to mask our attack. And then you will rescue Erik Connel by…" he paused and pondered. "I don"t know. Something"

"Yeah!" Jop exclaimed. "King Timothy had already planned things ahead."

"If I"m to guess, you changed your mind because I said she got nice legs. I didn"t know that legs are your thing" Arthur said quietly but he still heard it. He shot Arthur a piecing look.

He then turned to the three normal men and clarified his decision. He first looked at Henry. "I haven"t forgiven her for what she did to Lucia and I don"t think I will trust her again in this lifetime."

He then cleared Elisar and Jop"s wrong a.s.sumptions. "I"m also not scheming anything. While I must make a good plan to rescue Erik, I really want to coordinate with Sylvie. And.."

He looked at Arthur but stopped. He decided that he will not entertain Arthur"s blabbers today.

"Let"s just say that I realized many things last night. Somebody showed me the way" he smiled as he remembered his meaningful talk with Lucia last night. Even though the circ.u.mstances of their meeting were strange, he was thankful that he was able to talk to her.

"Can you find her again?" he asked the two soldiers.

"It shouldn"t be hard Your Majesty. We could find her and come back here before noon." Elisar answered.

"Then go find her. Tonight we will make our move."

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Erik was eating his food when Sylvie showed up. She walked towards him with a smile on her face. She reached out her hand and there were some berries on it.

"Don"t worry, it"s not poisoned. I tried to poison someone a long time ago. It just didn"t work" she said with a grin.

"Two months ago is not a long time." He commented and took the berries. He put them in his mouth. The refreshing taste of berries was G.o.dsend to his taste buds. He was tired of eating tasteless porridge every single day.

"Is it good? I picked them just this morning."

He noticed that she was still grinning. If it was a month ago, he would have been irritated by her grin. But now she found her grin to be cute.

"It is. Thank you Sylvie" he said while his mouth was still full. A mixture of berry juice and saliva trickled from his mouth. He wiped it with the back of his hand. "By the way, you seem happy. Did Skall finally gave you the scar-erasing herb? How nice of him."

"Scar what?" she looked confused and then her face brightened. "Oh you mean the herb. I didn"t expect you would still remember about that. I have already forgotten about the herb until you reminded me of it. But no, it"s not about the herb."

"So?" he pressed for an answer. "I can see it in your eyes Sylvie. You can"t wait to tell me about it"

She looked around and went closer to him. She whispered but the excitement in her voice didn"t vanish "When I was picking the berries, Timothy"s spies approached me. I was actually the first one who approached them yesterday but I was afraid that my introduction was just too crude. I mean, I just walked up to them and introduced myself. By the way, I knew they were spies because…"

"Sylvie. Can you please tell a story in an organized way? Jumbling things around hurts my head. Also be direct for now. What did they say?"

She smiled like a little girl. "Timothy is going to get us tonight! Of course I still have to give them the layout of the camp. But you can finally escape!"

He felt his heart jump in joy. He thought that he will rot in a cell for the rest of his life. His brief escape the other night provided him with a glimpse of a life without a cage.

But he also doesn"t want to get his hopes up. He was still a little angry at Timothy. He was still hurt.

"Well let"s just hope for the best. It"s Timothy after all. Maybe he will leave me again" he pouted.

"Don"t be like that Erik. I"m sure he"s doing everything to make it up to you. Trust him one last time, okay?"

"I"ll try" he said, trying to appear tough. But the truth is, he was happy that Tim was coming. "By the way, you"re coming with me right? Don"t forget your promise."

"If I remember correctly, my promise is to find a way for you to escape. Taking me to Greenwater was your promise."

"Technicalities, whatever. But you are coming with me. It"s rude to refuse the offer of a n.o.ble." He said.

"Fine, fine. I"ll come with you. It looks like I"ll have to postpone my quest for that scar-erasing herb." She said and her remark made both of them laugh.

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The plan to attack Timothy failed, thought Ivan. At first he expected that attacking Timothy was as easy as giving the order to march. But he just discovered that armies were more complicated than he thought.

He just received news that the Vanadian mercenaries had already reached the safety of Solon. There was no point in chasing them now. Also, the two thousand cavalry under Timothy had been a huge thorn in his side. Their attack the other day shattered the morale of his army. Both Skall and Braun recommended a retreat.

"How many days until we reach Nirvana?" he asked Braun.

The old man took a deep breath. "Three days if we hurry and I suggest we would. There are rumors of desertion floating around. We must reach Nirvana as soon as possible."

"I agree" Skall said while sharpening his dagger. He blew on the blade before continuing. "Tomorrow we should start our forced march."

"Actually I suggest we start now" Braun said.

"Now?" Skall stopped and put down the whetstone "But it"s already dark. Are you suggesting that we march in darkness?"

Braun walked towards Ivan. "Your Highness, I know this sounds crazy and foolish but I do think we must leave as soon as possible. Staying here is dangerous. Timothy will attack again."

"And how did you know about that? Do you have spies? Scouts?" Skall questioned.

"It"s… It"s a hunch. But Prince Ivan please listen to me. If I were Timothy, I would attempt another attack tonight. We must make our move before his next attack"

"I agree that we need to go back to Nirvana as soon as possible. But marching at night? That"s not very wise" Skall reb.u.t.ted.

Ivan looked at the two. It only took him a moment to choose a side. "He is right Braun. We can"t march at night. Let the men rest for the march tomorrow."

"Your Highness please just listen to me at least once. You have always listened to him and look what happened. I really have a bad feeling about this." Braun pleaded. The old man bowed.

But he had already made up his mind. Skall may have made some slight miscalculations but he still trusted Skall. "No Braun, we will march tomorrow."

"Your Highness please…"

"Braun!" he finally lost his temper. "I have already decided. Prince Skall is right, we can"t risk marching at night. Timothy will not attack to…"

He was interrupted by a shout from outside. "We are under attack!"

The three of them looked at each other and then ran outside. There was man on horseback coming towards their direction.

"We are under attack!" The man announced again.