Behind closed doors, the tension grew. The captain’s office was as one would expect of him; unfinished documents, empty bottles, a few dirty clothes - but the things that were important were immaculate. Not much dirt despite the carelessness; the warm wood and the dark red carpet gave the scene a sense of imminent, yet elegant, danger. An inevitable pressure that tasted like wine.

My eyes wandered towards the very sun: the prince. Wondering of the intricate schemes he was constantly working on. Wondering about his presence here.

To my eyes, he was standing beside one of his only assets within the Court. He must hold onto that bond.

- “I’ll assume you did your homework, and know some basic geography, yeah?” – Said the Captain, unraveling a map over his desk.

- “Yes, sir. Mizuen has been of great help getting accustomed to this world.”

- “Got it. Yeah, he’s a good kid. So, Zeliram holds the borders, right? There are still Zeliriamen soldiers here and there, but most of them had to go back to stop the civil war. Here, in the west. And here in the east- Iher, is holding the camps in the meanwhile. So, with some luck, we’ll have less to deal with. They ain’t got that much of an army, since their strength is on the sea, and not on land. But the thing they got and we haven’t is, well, a working economic system. You know we are basically hermits at this point. Yeah- I’m just repeating what you heard yesterday.”

- “Yes, sir. I also remember, if I’m not mistaken, that the merchants are being bribed into leaving our side, so I assume the government does not directly interfere with the economic system?”

- “That’s pretty much it, I dunno the rest of it thought. You should talk with the sheep to understand that.”

- “The sheep… Ah, Shepiqi”

- “It’s Sheqipi, Von.” – Arsamira corrected, laughing a little. – “The whole matter is that our country is founded under the principle of freedom with conscience. So, interference is forbidden for us unless absolutely necessary. We do have proper laws, but we prefer to educate our people, rather than forcing them to obey.”

- “I see. That’s truly a way only a kingdom so isolated could lead on.”

- “I feel like that was more insulting than you intended.” – The prince ruffled my hair. – “Back to you, Captain.”

- “Thanks.

Well, back on topic, we know it might be around a year before they get the civil war under control, but I don’t think their government will fall. They were strong enough to hold their position against us, I don’t think armed civilians will do a better job. By this point the king is just a puppet of their Council, or so we were told, and one never knows what dirty tricks the Doctrine might pull; but even for them, defending two fronts would be exhausting. So, we need to attack before they have the power to fight back. It will be an all-out campaign, we have no right to look down on them. The very first mistake of the Southern Island was underestimating their enemies, and you see how that ended.”

- “…No, I don’t know about that. How did it end?” – I dared to ask- as shy as I was.

- “Ah, well. They lost their north peninsula to Plaigas, and it became a tourist attraction. It was highly humiliating for the prideful Mora, they thought their strength would be unparalleled in the ocean. The very reason their relics and monuments are used as a tourist trap is just to humiliate them further. The Mora people are bound to start another war sooner or later.”

- “That’s… kind of awful… Having their lost heritage rubbed in their faces…”

- “If you’ll excuse me, sir.” – Said Kiochery, a solemn look of bitterness. – “Don’t feel bad for the Mora. They are no more than arrogant slavers. They couldn’t control their own beasts and force them to fight, so they bought slaves from the northern lands - who are known to be good tamers - and made them fight along with the beasts. Those who drag innocent people to war, those who enslave my ‘kind,’ as they say, are not to be treated with mercy.”

It rang a bell - it wasn’t the first time Kiochery mentioned something like that. The bitterness of his words, they carried history with them.

A history of pain. A history of wounds that were too close to his heart. Is it that history repeats itself no matter the world, or is it just my luck to land in a place like home?

People seem to be the same no matter where you look.

Even if it was to be expected,

it’s saddening that such a magical world carried these wounds.

- “Anyways. So, don’t underestimate your enemies. The Court is fine with simply losing as little as possible, just giving up if the citizens are in danger - but that would be disgraceful for us. I just can’t afford to lead my soldiers to only shame and disappointment. If we are going to fight, we will fight until the last one drops. Got it, shrimp?”

- “…Ah, yes, I understand.”

- “Alright. So, here is-”

While they kept talking about the situation on the borders, my mind wandered through all the possibilities - which apparently there weren’t a lot of. No tricks, no ambushes. Just rushing towards each other with weapons in hand. The knowledge from watching too many movies, reading too many books, playing too many strategy games, already gave me a mental image of what was to unfold.

- “…and then there is the forest to deal with. We have barely enough archers to cover one camp, but arrows are the cheapest thing we’ve got, so it’s the only weapon we can afford to replace. Armed soldiers will only deal with the leftovers after the archers have made an opening and a follow-up. I don’t know what to do with the mages, more than just leaving them behind the armed soldiers in case there’s a break in our lines.”

- “Then shouldn’t we move the mages behind the forest, maybe? The coverage from the archers will let them move without being seen, so they can attack before the armed soldiers- we’ll save swords.”

- “Ah, Arsaboy, what was I just saying? Let’s come from the hills, and intimidate them.”

- “One camp at a time?”

- “Not completely. At this point during the attack, we leave a few alive to sound their alarms, then wait for the nearby camps to come; we can leave the cavalry to deal with the leftovers there while we hold the main front, and when they join us, we’ll have them surrounded.”

- “Hold on for a second, tito. So we will divide the troops- with such small numbers?”

- “Yes - the mounted soldiers can move around the riverbend more quickly, so we’ll have them go clean the camps that were left behind. Unless they are dishonorable warriors that won’t aid their own people, Zeliram’s forces should come towards us, there, in the center. So we will be a destructive decoy.”

- “…Ah. That could work if-“– I unconsciously broke my silence. The sheer regret I felt half a second later still lingers to this day.

- “What is it, Von?” – Oh no. The prince looked at me with expectancy, a smile on his face.

- “Nothing, I just- It’s nothing.”

- “Talk now, boy. You are here to work.”

- “Well, I thought if the cavalry attacks at night, here, and here, we’ll-“

- “Ahhh. Listen, since you are new here, I’ll explain it again from the start. I see where you are going, and I really don’t like it. I understand what you mean… That there is so much else that could be done - but we have our own traditions. You come from somewhere else - a completely different place, apparently - so maybe you wouldn’t understand, but this is important for us. It might… come as a shock, considering how everyone talks of this kingdom as a place that focuses so much on pacifism, but our soldiers have an oath to follow ‘til the grave. We fight to protect what we treasure - and to not be haunted by it, we need to fight clean. The pain and disgrace would be even worse than death for most of us, kid… We may go back to the dirt we came from… but we will go with pride and bloom once again. We will be rewarded in our next lives. It’s the promise we hold close to our hearts. Us, as well as our brothers, because all of this region was once an empire - and we haven’t forgotten that.”

- “With all due respect, sir, I was called to help win this war, I was called to protect the people.” – I was regretting every word, but that didn’t stop me. – “And if we have to use what you call dishonorable methods to ensure survival, then-”

- “Shut it.” – And so I did. – “Tell me, would you be able to tell my soldiers to doom themselves - even after death - for their kingdom? To live a life full of shame, and expect death to be no better?”

There was a warmth in his eyes, as if scolding a child, when he talked to me, despite the stern tone. I made it clear that I understood.

After several moments in complete silence, he went back to the map; I decided to save my thoughts for later, while still paying attention to the rest of his ideas. I kept planning in my mind - studying the maps while writing down, mentally, the subtle details I had learned from the state of the kingdom and its people.

I was taking my job seriously - even if I had no idea what I was doing.

The rest of the meeting was… pretty uneventful, and we got dismissed just in time for lunch.

- “You did well on your first day. Just don’t argue so much with me.” – is what he said, patting me on the back. – “But it’s nice to see you’ve got some bite to you, even if you look like a stick.”

- “…Thank you…?”

- “Uhuh.” – He cleared his throat. - “And ‘bout yesterday. I had to get the Court off my back, I hope I didn’t scare ya.”

- “Ah, that’s- That’s fine. It wasn’t like… any of it was a lie.”

- “Why, don’t get all gloomy, kiddo. You are doing fine. Go get some food now, you’ll need the extra strength tomorrow. Take care, I expect some ideas next time.”

I didn’t think much of the implications of that; I just accepted the pat, nodded, and left with the others.

So, not done with the new experiences, and as tired as I already was, we had lunch with the soldiers. Even the prince, yes. His charisma was a weapon amongst the young and impressionable; I understood how, ever so silently, he kept gaining support from the common villager, rather than the wealthy and powerful.

I don’t remember much, just… the haze of a long table full of lively, hungry people. A girl who threw some bread at someone, a guy who was mimicking a bird… Maybe? It was a fun time, even if it was a ravaging mess. Above all, the prince offered to perform the daily prayer in place of his mother, for the humble folks. Standing there, his posture, his kindness- the delicate tone he used as everyone opened their eyes again afterwards; how he handed people the spices and asked about their days, how he remembered the names and faces of each of them - how he had trained with some of them, even. Genuinely bonding with his troops, the prince. A side of him that had shocked me a bit, as, until then, I’d only known a spoiled, bubbly prince.

- “It’s okay Von, you can eat now.”

- “Ah- Yes. Sorry. I was just out of it-“

- “While looking at me? Well, I am pretty handsome, if I say so myself. Heh, come on, or I’ll steal that cheese you got there.”

- “Ah, you can have it if you want.”

- “Gasp-! Offering cheese to me? Are you courting me?”

- “What- Does cheese mean-“

- “No no it doesn’t- Heh. You are, like, really out of it, huh? I’m just joking. I’m not going to take it; you need to eat.”

- “…So you can be charming when you try, huh?”

- “So my charm truly transcends world borders, I see.”

- “Uh-!”

It almost began to feel like a friendship, somehow - in such a short time…

How dangerous it really is,

                                                   to walk among the ambitious.