Cynane takes a deep breathe.

The man in front of her is a foot taller than her – broad shoulders, thick muscular arms and sturdy legs. Anyone can easily tell that this man has Herculean strength.

Even for someone as good and as swift as Cynane, she knows she has to be careful. She always does.

Taking one step back, she gathers all strength on her right foot and uses it as a propeller as she charges once again – this time with greater speed and force.

The sound of clanking swords echoes throughout the training grounds. Even the other soldiers stopped their own training just to watch the current brawl. Who wouldn’t want to watch two of the strongest generals of the Macedean army fight after all.

“Oops. That was close”, Michal nervously mutters, a sweat slipping down from his temple.

Cynane smirks, their faces a few inches away from each other and their swords struggling against one another. Cynane quickly withdraws once again, and in a blink of an eye, she lunges forward like a lightning, making it almost impossible for Michal to catch her next move.

Michal halts as he feels the tip of the sword behind his back.

“You’re just too fast, aren’t you?” Michal says in defeat. He can’t see Cynane’s face but he’s imagining in his head how she’s probably smirking right now.

“Well, I have no choice but to be fast, most especially when fighting with you. You are a walking wall; you’d easily crush me the moment you seize me. I cannot ever let that happen”, Cynane explains for the nth time.

“As you always do. Alright, you win.”

Cynane lets down her sword and Michal turns around to face her. She is indeed smiling, obviously pleased at the result of the fight. Michal walks up to her to pat her head.

“Now there, her majesty looks tired, should I give you a massage?” Michal says to annoy her.

Cynane frowns at him. “Stop teasing me, Michal.” She hates it when he calls her ‘her majesty’.

Michal looks around and finds that some of the soldiers are still watching them. “Okay the show is over, go back to your training!”

“Yes sir!” the men answer in unison.

Cynane carefully inserts her sword back in its sheathe. Anyone who knows her also knows how much she values her sword. She calls it “Samo”. It’s the only one in the kingdom. She purposefully had it custom-made for her four years ago, when she joined the Macedean army. The blade of the sword is made of Schianova, a very rare type of mineral found in the deep mountains of Macedea. The sword is rather unusual. Traditional Macedean swords are typically 31-33 inches long with a wide blade, and they are mainly designed for the purpose of cutting. Samo is shorter and the blade becomes narrower as it reaches its tip. The sword has the best features of cutting swords from Macedea while at the same time possessing a thrusting capability. It’s the perfect sword as it is not too long, not too heavy and can be used both for cutting and piercing. A green stone is also embedded in the middle of the sword’s quillon. It was a gift Cynane received from her former teacher.

“So, is there any report from Lucio yet?”, Cynane asks as she and Michal saunter through the army camp’s hallway.

About three weeks ago, the King of Macedea assigned Lucio, one of the four generals of the Macedean army to control the situation in the Eastern region of the country. A group of activists are allegedly causing havoc in some of the towns there.

Michal shakes his head. He has not heard a word from Lucio ever since they left the capital.

Cynane lets out a sigh of frustration. “This is very unusual of him. That bastard better come back alive and unscathed”, she mumbles. She may act tough and cold, but Cynane has a very tender and caring heart.

“Hey, there’s no need to worry. Who knows, maybe the messenger they sent lost his way”, Michal says in attempt to lighten up the atmosphere.

“Well, if that’s the case then poor messenger.”

As the two continue to roam around the training grounds, the camp’s huge gates suddenly open, and a man riding a horse enters the camp.

“What took you so long? We’ve been waiting for you for almost an hour?” Cynane asks in anger as Joakim enters the room.

Joakim has that usual ‘happy-go-lucky’ aura on him. It’s really hard to tell whether the man takes things seriously or not.

“What’s gotten into you again your majesty? It’s still so early in the morning. Quit acting like a cranky grandma”, Joakim responds nonchalantly.

There’s an obvious bad blood between the two ever since Cynane entered the army.

“You-“

Michal butts in. “Enough you two. You can save your bickering for later. We have a more important and urgent matter to discuss. The problem in the Eastern region is actually more serious than we had thought. The Truskan tribe are involved.”

Joakim can’t help but curse at the mention of the Truskan tribe. “Those barbarians…what on earth are they doing in the Eastern region of Macedea?”

The Truskan tribe are known to inhabit the lands in the border of Macedea and its neighboring country on the West, the country of Fuema. However, they are not considered as Macedeans. They are nomads who found the lands three years ago and their tribe leader, Irma, vowed his and his tribes’ allegiance to the Fuema kingdom and therefore they’re officially people of Fuema.

“Exactly my and Cynane’s thoughts too. We’re not sure yet what their true purpose is. What we do know for now is that they are working with a rebel group in Macedea. This may start a breach between the treaty of Fuema and Macedea, or much worse, it may lead to war.”

“Dang man, I did enter the army, but I honestly never thought that I’d ever face even the possibility of war. The country has been so peaceful for more than a century now”, Joakim replies as he runs his palms through his face.

“It’s not like you’re the only one who’s thought of that. Perhaps peace is not really something that can be achieved forever”, Michal follows.

Peace…even if it’s not definite, it’s something that I would risk my life for – the peace of the kingdom; of my family, Cynane thinks to herself. She gets pulled back from her thoughts as Michal continues to speak.

“Well, it’s too early to be claiming war though. For now, we need to inform his majesty, the King. I know it’s hard to set an appointment with the King nowadays because of his busy schedule for the festival so…” Michal and Joakim shift their eyes on Cynane.

Cynane raises both her hands. “I know. Don’t worry, I’ll tell him, since he is my brother.”