Soldiers carrying spears marched across the field towards Maka castle, flames following in their wake.

“The Arkhelzarins have invaded!” A castle guard announced in alarm.

“What?” Rei, the queen’s handmaid, was shocked. “But I thought we called a truce!” She put a hand on her queen’s shoulder and looked at her as though pleading for her to say it’s not true.

“We did,” the queen said, with a resigned sigh, “but they never intended to hold true to their word. They waited for us to let our guard down so they could attack when we least expect it.”

A group of Makan soldiers approached their queen. “What should we do, your majesty?” one of them asked.

“There’s only one thing we can do,” the queen replied. Though pained, her previous look of resignation changed to that of perseverance and determination. “We must fight back!”

”You mean,” the handsome young man at the head of the knights spoke with hesitation, “go to war?! But my queen… You loathe war more than anything!” 

“Yes, but if there’s one thing I hate more than violence,” the queen replied passionately, “it’s sitting back and doing nothing while my people are in danger! The Arkhs have proven their cruelty! They won’t listen to reason! Fighting is our only chance for survival!”

The man froze for a moment, looking sadly at his queen. In all the time he’d been by her side, she was firm on her pacifist beliefs. He hated seeing the woman he loved throw away the morals that made her so admirable for the sake of saving her people. “As you wish, my queen.” He kneeled on the ground, with one hand across his knee and the other on his chest. “As general of the Makan army, I, Elsian Maka, will lead my warriors into battle and defeat the enemy, lest I die trying.”

Queen Crystal looked down sadly at her knight. “I’m sorry to make you do this, Sir Elsian.”

“Nonsense,” Elsian shook his head lightly and looked up at his queen with a sad yet gentle smile. “You aren’t making me do anything. I’ve chosen this path of my own free will. Since the day I met you, before you were queen, I made it my life’s goal to fight for you. I’ve trained my whole life for this purpose. If I am to die, I will die gladly, if I can go out fighting for you, my queen.”

Though unhappy at the thought of her childhood friend sacrificing himself for her sake, the queen was touched by his words. She knew she had no choice but to send her soldiers into war. “Be brave, Sir Elsian,” she said, sweetly. Queen Crystal leaned over, put her hands on her loyal knight’s shoulders and gave him a kiss on his forehead, causing his heart to pound and his face to turn a lively pink. “I’ll be praying for your safe return.”

“Thank you, my queen,” Elsian replied. He was filled with conflicted emotions. The woman he’s loved for so long has given him attention, but he knew this was only because he was likely to die. Even so, he hoped that kiss would strengthen him through the coming battle. He steadied himself, stood up, and commanded in a booming voice. “All right, men! Let’s go!” His men cheered and grabbed their spears.

“Elsian,” a small voice called out to him, stopping him on his way out.

He turned around. “Oh, Rei,” he said as he turned to the blonde handmaiden, “what is it?”

“Why didn’t you tell her that you love her?” Rei asked.

Elsian froze. He felt transparent. She knew. Of course she knew. He scratched his head and looked to the side, awkwardly. “What’s the point?” He asked. his expression turned serious.  “I think she got the gist of it by now. If I said it explicitly, that would just make saying goodbye harder. I know what I’m up against. The Arkhs have got way more manpower than us and way more experience on the frontlines, no doubt.”

“You need to have faith in yourself,” Rei advised, “like our queen does. She believes you can win, or else she wouldn’t send you out there.”

“Hm.” Elsian smirked lightly as he thought about this. “Yeah, you’ve got a point.” He held up his spear and hoisted it confidently across his shoulders. “If you ask me, she’s the strongest of all of us.”

The knight and the handmaid both looked across the room and gazed admirably at the back of the queen, who was looking over the battle plans.

“She sure is,” Rei agreed, with a warm smile, as she clasped her hands together. 

Elsian’s moment of confidence was transient. He sighed and added, “even if I do survive this,” he took the spear off of his shoulders and carried it at his side as he started walking away from Rei, “she’s in love with someone else.”

Rei’s eyes opened wide with hope, as she wondered if he could be talking about her.