It was still night, though very soon the sun would start to rise. Mackrell's men were finally getting some sleep for the first time in days, thanks to the orders of their princess, who refused to move forward until the sun was up and everyone was rested.

Said princess was currently in her tent, staring at a map she'd requested from Mackrell. Since she couldn't sleep, she figured she might as well try to map out their destination moving forward. Though they had managed to escape another pursuer, there was still so much uncertainty for their group.

For one, they were still unable to cross the border back into Elf territory. They had tried once, several years ago when they were first ousted, and it ended in massive failure with more than a third of their forces being wiped out. That led to them playing the waiting game, hoping to build their strength and wait for another chance to invade. However, in that time it seemed their enemy had boosted their own strength, especially if they managed to rope Randall to their side. Any chance at mounting some sort of attack was dead in the water.

Still, she couldn't give up. Too many lives were depending on her. And now, she had a new card to add to her deck.

“Your highness,” came a voice, likely Mackrell's, outside of her tent. “May I intrude?”

“Enter.”

The sound of armored footsteps filled the tent as Mackrell made his way inside, sitting on his knees behind the princess.

“Is he finally resting?” Kali asked, not even bothering to face Mackrell.

“Yes, though not without protest,” Mackrell confirmed. “He was quite adamant that he did not need to be put to bed like a child. But he wasn't too much to handle once I got ahold of him.”

Kali chuckled, imagining Mackrell forcing Stanford to lie down on his cot while he thrashed around like a toddler. “I do hope you didn't make his injuries worse?”

“He'll live,” was all the older elf said. “Speaking of rest, isn't it about time you turned in for the night?”

“You know I can't do that,” the princess sighed. “As much as I want you all to recover, we do need to move immediately when the sun rises.”

“And where is our next destination?”

Kali finally turned around to face Mackrell, holding up the map and pointing to a spot she had circled. “We head west,” she explained. “From there we travel until we reach Stackard, where we can restock our supplies. After that,” she dragged her finger down to another circle. “It's south, where hopefully we can reach that place in three days.”

Mackrell stared at the map, rubbing his chin in thought. “And you're sure?” he asked softly. “Asking our rivals, the Kingdom of Kaytram, for help?”

“Yes, I'm afraid it's come to this,” Kali rolled up the map and hung her head. “This is our absolute last resort, but if I am to retake the throne we'll need their help.” The princess then scowled a bit. “Hopefully, their queen is a bit less irritating than when we last spoke.”

“Indeed,” Mackrell then looked toward the opening of the tent, where he could see a figure sleeping off in the distance. “And what of that boy? Will we leave him in the next town?”

Kali chuckled, a confident smirk crossing her face. “Absolutely not!” she stated. “He is crucial to my future plans! That boy has enormous potential, I can't let him get away from me.”

Mackrell's eyebrows raised in intrigue. “Really? Well you do have a good eye for these things,” he remarked. “But I doubt he's the type to stick around for too long. I've met boys like him, they're drifters, wandering around in search of something they'll never find.” A somewhat nostalgic look appeared on the older elf's face. “Not the type to fight for a greater purpose other than themselves, they battle only for their passing amusement.”

Kali frowned, feeling that Mackrell was likely correct in his assumption. Stanford didn't seem all that thrilled that she tagged along with him, and it wasn't until recently that he seemed willing to help. She was sure that now that she'd reunited with her subjects, he'd likely think his job was done and he'd move on to his next endeavor.

This would not do, Kali had to do everything in her power to keep him around. Even if it meant taking drastic measures. Suddenly her mouth upturned into a devious smirk, a plan formulating in her mind.

“I think I may have a way to make sure he doesn't go anywhere for a long time.”

As if he could read her mind, Mackrell's eyes widened. “Your highness, you mean to use magic?!”

“It's the only way,” Kali looked down at her hand, a red ring suddenly appearing on her middle finger. “This is a spell my mother taught me, something she learned during her travels with my father.”

“A love spell?!”

Kali nearly fell over at Mackrell's exclamation. “N-No! Of course not!” she stammered. “I-I mean, mother did teach me such a spell but I'd never force anyone to....” She took a deep breath to calm herself down before she ranted any further. “.....okay.”

“Forgive me your highness,” Mackrell bowed. “If it's not a spell to control his heart, then will you control his mind?”

“It's nothing like that,” Kali looked down at the glowing red ring. “This will merely assure that he has certain....things that he must prioritize over himself. And it's a way to make sure he won't ever get too far from me. All I need is some of his blood.”

Mackrell immediately presented Kali with the shirt Stanford had been wearing earlier, which had many splatters of blood all over it. When the princess gave her knight a questioning look, Mackrell quickly responded.

“We of course had to search the boy while treating him,” he explained. “To make sure he didn't have any hidden weapons, I was actually going to return his belongings to him after speaking with you.”

“I see, very good,” Kali took the shirt from Mackrell and closed her eyes to concentrate. “Mema.....mema....memeneza.....” As she spoke these words, the ring on her hand began glowing even brighter. Then, the blood slowly began squeezing itself out of the shirt until it formed a wet ball that rose into the air.

Kali opened her eyes as the ball of blood slowly floated in front of her. “This is the worst part,” she muttered to herself in disgust. “I suppose it's worth it.” And without another word she opened her mouth and drank the blood in front of her, shuddering a bit as she swallowed the warm, iron tasting liquid.

“Was....was that necessary?” Mackrell asked.

“It's a spell created by vampires,” Kali sighed. “Bleh, I have no idea how they drink this stuff all the time.”

“And you're sure it worked?”

“Well-”

“Hey Kali,” a voice suddenly interrupted the two as someone entered the tent. “I need to talk to you.”

Immediately, Mackrell lunged forward and got behind the intruder, pinning his arm behind his back and placing a dagger to his neck.

“Hey! Wait a minute get off me!”

“Mackrell, stand down!”

The elder elf blinked a bit, calming down and noticing that he was currently holding a knife to Stanford's neck. Realizing his mistake, he immediately released the boy and sheated the knife.

“My apologies young man,” he stated. “However, barging into the princess' tent is usually grounds for punishment.”

“I'm not part of your stupid army,” Stanford spat. “I don't have to follow your rules.”

“True, punishment is only for my soldiers,” Mackrell gave Stanford a dark look. “Normally, anyone else would be immediately executed.”

Before Stanford could retort, Kali stood in between the two. “Enough, both of you!” she then looked at Stanford. “What is it that you want?”

The young mercenary snarled one last time at Mackrell before turning his attention toward the princess. “I just wanted to ask where you were planning on going next, now that you've met back up with your men.”

Kali blinked a bit in confusion. “Um, well we were going to Stackard,” she spoke. “We need to restock on supplies there.”

“I see,” Stanford crossed his arms and nodded. It was then that Kali noticed something new about him. Right there, on his neck, was a red collar with the same design as her ring. And if that wasn't strange enough, a red string connected the collar to her ring, almost looking like a leash of some sort.

“Stanford,” Kali pointed at him. “Do you....feel any different?”

“Hm? Not really,” he then looked down at his own body. “Well I suppose I feel a lot better thanks to that medicine you gave me. My wounds are closing almost instantly.”

“Right,” Kali looked at the collar once more, then down at her ring. It appeared that these things were visible only to her eyes, still she needed to confirm that the spell worked. “I'm going to test something on you.”

“Say what?”

Quickly, the princess pointed toward a barrel. “Would you mind fetching me some water?”

Stanford snorted. “Do I look like one of your hand maidens? Do it yourself.”

“Why you insolent-”

“Mackrell, please.” Kali held up a hand to stop him. “Stanford, I order you to fetch me some water.”

Almost instantly, both her ring and the collar gleamed brightly as Stanford went rigid and his eyes glossed over crimson. The raven haired warrior then went over toward the barrel and grabbed one of the mugs that sat atop it, filling it with water in a somewhat robotic motion. He then returned to the princess's side, offering her the newly filled mug.

“T-Thank you,” Kali took the mug from the boy and slowly sipped it, all while her eyes remained locked with his. The entire tent was silent, save for the sounds of the flickering lamp fire and the princess slowly gulping down her beverage. Once she finished, she set the mug down and continued staring at Stanford, who merely silently stared back at her as if he were waiting for something.

“Do you have any other commands for me?” Stanford suddenly asked, startling both the princess and her retainer.

“Um, n-not right now. You can go back to normal....”

The moment she said those words, Stanford's shoulders relaxed as his eyes returned to normal. “Hm?” The boy rubbed his eyes a bit and yawned. “That was weird, I suddenly feel sleepy,” his eyes then darted toward Kali, who looked dumbfounded. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“N-No reason,” Kali laughed nervously, her eyes still on the invisible collar. “So, why did you want to know where we were going?”

“Oh right,” Stanford nodded. “I want to come with you.”

The princess blinked a few times, not expecting to hear that from the boy. I guess I didn't need the spell after all. She thought before asking “Is that so?”

“Yeah, originally I was gonna go my own way once we reached another town,” Stanford explained. “But then I got to thinking, how many times am I going to run into a princess fighting against an entire kingdom as old and powerful as the Elf Kingdom? Especially now that I know the strongest man in the world is involved, my warrior instincts are telling me this is a once in a lifetime chance!” The boy was now beaming from ear to ear. “Plus, helping out a princess means I may find myself with a massive reward in the future.”

“Truly a mercenary through and through,” Mackrell spat. “Money and battles are all you lot care about.”

“Not this time,” Stanford corrected. “Sure, I'm always looking for money and a good fight, but that's not why I want to help you.” He then gave Kali a serious look. “When you reclaim your throne, I want you to make me into knight.”

Kali cocked her head sideways in confusion while Mackrell sputtered next to her. “A knight? Is that all?”

“Are you insane boy?!” Mackrell shouted. “To think you'd have the impudence ask her majesty such a thing!”

“What?” Stanford looked at the seething man. “She's the ruler of an entire kingdom right? Something this simple should be easy for her to do.”

“You little-”

“What brought this on?” Kali interrupted before another shouting match could commence. “Earlier you didn't seem all that interested in helping me, why the sudden change of heart?”

Stanford fell silent for a bit, looking down at the slave mark on his hand. “My mother died shortly after I was born, and I never knew my father,” he began. “I've spent most of my life as a slave, and when I was finally free of that I've just been wandering from place to place. I've always thought my life was worthless, that I come from nothing and therefore I will never be anything.” His eyes then locked onto Kali's. “But now I see a path to something greater, to do something a boy in my position would never even dream of being able to do.” He clenched his fist tightly and pounded it against his chest. “I'm not smart, I have no family or status, and all I know how to do is swing a sword. But still, I want you to make me into a knight!”

Kali stared at the boy silently, taking in everything he just told her. The look in his eyes were so determined and full of conviction. They reminded her of the look she would see on Randall's face whenever he went to battle, in fact, it was eerily similar.

“To become a knight is not as simple as you make it seem,” Kali responded seriously. “Though for a long time only those of noble background could be knighted, recently our kingdom has changed that rule and allowed anyone to receive it as a promotion through success on the battlefield.” She then sighed and closed her eyes. “However, even that path is impossible for you.”

Stanford reeled in shock. “What?! Why?!”

“You fool,” Mackrell finally spoke. “While it's true we don't consider status when determining a knight, it doesn't change the fact that the majority of our forces are made up of those from noble families who have greater resources and training.”

“The rest are made up of drafted citizens or those who have enlisted,” Kali continued. “But, in order you enlist you must be a citizen within our kingdom. Not only that, slaves without a master are automatically barred from enlisting.” The princess pointed at Stanford's hand. “Seeing as you still bear their mark, I can only assume that you're a runaway slave, is that correct?”

Stanford bit down on his lip and nodded.

“That means you're still the property of the Blackwoods,” Kali shook her head. “With them being a high ranking noble family of Kaytram, our rivals, enlisting you in our army would be the same as stealing from them, which would be problematic.”

“I see....”

“Do not blame yourself,” Mackrell told him. “This is merely the hand you've been dealt in life, I'm sure you can still find success as-”

“That means all you have to do is buy me,” Stanford interrupted. “And since I'll belong to you, that makes me a citizen of the Elf Kingdom, meaning I can enlist into the army. Isn't that right?”

Both Mackrell and Kali stared at Stanford as if he were talking nonsense, before the princess suddenly burst into a fit of laughter. “That's right!” she cackled. “That's exactly right!”

“Your majesty?”

“This all lines up perfectly,” Kali smirked. “Mackrell, change of plans, we're marching straight to Kaytram!”

“So soon?”

“Yes, we can get supplies once we reach our destination,” her smirk grew wider. “It's time I had a little chat with Queen Cainnech Kaytram.”