Chapter 14

Imperial Capital

As the carnage of the battlefield stared back at her, she could only look on in stunned silence. Both armies had pulled back, and she could just make out the forces of the Iberian Empire from the hilltop, shaded figures remaining in their wooden fortifications which stood ominously on the distant hills like thorns, surrounded by corpses of her people, dimly visible in the early morning’s twilight.

Her clothes, the metal plates decorated with feathers over her green tunics acting as armor, the heavy blade she couldn’t lift yet, the jewelry that decorated her hands and neck... It all felt too heavy as she slowly pushed on, unblinking, her senses taking everything in as she pushed on. The smell of blood and corpses haunted her nose, her ears picked up every pained moan from the injured and dying. She could almost taste metal as if the air itself had been permeated with blood. But her eyes took it all in.

Corpses covered the fields like a blanket, a few crows already scavenging the dead for an easy meal. Passing by a tree, she saw a girl, one that couldn’t have been older than her, a broken ax beside her, blue paint on her ears and nose identifying her as a warrior from another tribe mixed with the now dried blood from her split open head. She paused to get a clearer look. She noted the second corpse. This one of the Empire, a soldier, seemingly embracing the fallen warrior on the floor, the dagger in his neck making it clear what had happened.

She remained stationary, staring at the particular scene among many others.

Neither could’ve been much older than her. Not by much. The Imperial Legionnaire appeared almost as old as her late brother. The dead warrior was too petite to have been on the frontlines, yet there she lay, dead. She felt a coldness in her chest as she looked on the desolate battlefield, similar scenes all around, broken bodies, weapons, and armor littered the bloodstained fields that had once flourished with greenery.

“Majesty, this way, please.” one of her guards called to her with an air of impatience, the older woman seemingly unaffected by the horrors surrounding them.

Did she not care?

Were these not her people as well? Even if they weren’t all from their tribe, was the sight of the dead not something that bothered her? At least the other warriors appeared exhausted, as though the carnage had an effect on their beings, their souls seemingly crushed under the weight of the previous day’s battle. Yet her advisor was wholly the opposite. A part of her felt anger at the stoicism of the older woman, but she forced it down.

Now was not the time to grow angry with her elders.

Sitting by a tree, she saw a man in the declining years of his life if the graying beard was anything to go by. Another warrior was tending to his head wound, one of his ears missing, a bloody rag in its place, the other twisting and twitching every which way as she approached.

“Sir Aidan...” She managed to speak softly.

The man turned to her, sighing before standing up, towering over her, not unlike her late father. But the look he gave her was not one she’d ever seen her father wear. Faintly, she could detect resentment, disappointment maybe. But mostly disgust as he remained standing, never bowing. She stiffened as she waited in silence for him to inform her of the current situation.

After a moment of silent contemplation, the man spoke.

“We held them back, majesty. At great cost, but we held.” He replied, tiredness lining every word.

She nodded slowly, keeping her eyes off the corpse-littered battlefield. She had sensed the awful news in his tone, and when he spoke again, she braced herself.

“However, we weren’t able to evacuate the southern villages. From the looks of it, they’re all gone.”

She winced.

All gone?

“A-all of them?” she managed.

The man only motioned to his left.

She immediately turned to the horizon past the battlefield, squinting. Then, almost over the horizon, she saw the nearly imperceptible puffs of black smoke peering over the hills behind the Imperial fortifications, too far to have been their own fires.

“Set ablaze, my queen. Fire is probably mostly out by now, but the villages and their people are all gone.”

Her heart began to race, she could feel more eyes falling on her, detecting fear, easily so, but she couldn’t help it. Warriors stared at her, many wounded, some unscathed, some not even able to fight, all calm despite it all, and her, who hadn’t fought at all, was on the verge of panic. Still, she forced herself to ask.

“T-the children at least?” she asked, though a part of her already knew the answer.

“Queen Thule, it-”

She couldn’t let him finish. Not yet. Just the illusion that there was hope was enough.

“T-they wouldn’t... the-the Empire would never... they promised they would...” speaking became impossible as she shut her eyes, trying to push back her tears. There was no fooling herself. She couldn’t face away from the truth.

“Queen Thule!” came the reprimand as strong arms were placed on her shoulders, her guard darkly saying “If they are gone, they are gone! Crying like a child will not bring them back!”

Then, whispering as quietly as possible, “You mustn’t show weakness right now. We cannot afford it!”

She managed to swallow her despair and terror, covering her mouth to conceal her shaky breaths as she eyed the ground, hiding her face, still unable to find her voice as she hoped her long hair hid her features from those around them.

Aidan whispered “Take her back... she’s still a child. Don’t need her here right now. Not like this.”

“She is of age.” her guard replied curtly.

“No... not entirely... her parents coddled her too much.”

Oh, her parents.

Mother, father...

Gone...

Coldness enveloped her; darkness clouded her vision.

Accusations...

Insults...

Screams...

Pain...

Then she woke up.