Chapter 25 - The Calm Before

Amira sat staring blankly at the small pile of coins that were now in her hands.

Despite knowing that Ethan possessed a certain degree of wealth which was evident by his use of a Silver Coin to pay for their clothes, she herself had never before had so much money at one time. In fact, 15 Bronze could be considered equal to or greater than her entire lifes savings prior to meeting him.

"This is too much." Amira stated as she tried to return a few of the coins

However Ethan simply crossed his arms and refused to take any of the money back

"Keep it." He said "If you don't have a need for it now then save it for when you do."

After a moment of silence she nodded her head slightly and accepted the amount.

"Thank you." Amira said gratefully

"You're welcome." Ethan replied with a smile

The two continued to chat for a while until evening approached

"Are you hungry?" Amira eventually asked

"Famished." Ethan said in response

"Fam-what?" she asked with a hint of confusion

"It's a way of saying I'm very hungry." He explained

"Oh, then should I make more than usual?"

"No, you don't need to. I'll be fine with the usual amount."

After a slight pause "Okay, but don't say I didn't offer if you're still hungry later and you wither away." Amira said playfully

"Yes ma'am." Ethan retorted jokingly

Ethan moved to the sitting area to wait while Amira busily prepared their evening meal

A while later they both sat down at the table again and enjoyed the meal of salted pork cutlets, fried potatoes, and some vegetable that looked like broccoli except for it was orange in color. Ethan surmised from the taste that it may be a cross between broccoli and carrot. It wasn't bad, or good, just...different.

Once the meal was over Amira began to clean up while Ethan began preparing the bath by first lighting the fire outside before making his way to draw the first bucket of water.

However he was quickly noticed by Flavius and the others when he got to the well

"May we be of assistance?" Flavius asked as the group approached

Ethan considered wether or not to use them but decided to go ahead "Yes." He said "If you don't mind a bit of tedious back and forth, I'd appreciate your help fetching water for the bath."

"Certainly." Flavius replied before ordering his men to begin drawing buckets from the well

Ethan showed the way to the bath before going to Amira's side who had just finished cleaning

"I thought you were going to do that?" She asked as they watched the soldiers move in and out of the bath area

"I was but they wanted to help." He told her

"Hmm, okay."

In just a few minutes the work was done, far quicker than when the two of them had attempted the same feat.

"My Lord and Lady, Your bath is now ready." Flavius informed

"Thank you." Amira said with a slight bow

"Yes, thank you." Ethan added

"We were simply doing our duty." Flavius replied before saluting Ethan and returning outside with his men

With the heavy lifting done, they made their way to the bath where they both undressed and entered the steaming water.

"I doubt this will ever get old." Amira said as she relaxed

"I agree. Very few things can beat this."

The two sat soaking in the warm water for a short time before helping each other wash their bodies like they had previously.

Now that they had been in this situation a few times there was no longer any hesitation in their movements. With precise motions it wasn't very long until both were clean again.

After relaxing for a bit longer, the two finally got out, drained the water and dried off

Once back in the room Ethan and Amira got ready for bed and layed down while they discussed plans for the next day. Though soon enough the pull of drowsiness lead them to fall fast asleep.

-----

In the camp of the Kingdom of Syrena, King Alexandr Syrene Nostos was pacing in his command tent.

Despite his usual confidence he now found himself in a state of deep worry. He was unable to shake the feeling that something about this whole situation just didn't make any sense.

"My King, you must rest." Came the voice of General Louis Constanza

"Indeed. How can you lead us if you spend all night awake?" Agreed another

Alexandr stopped when he heard their pleas and narrowed his eyes at all the men gathered

"Does it not bother you?" He asked Louis

"Sire? I don't quite know what you mean." the general replied

Alexandrs' face grew more grim when he heard that response

"How did they take our most heavily guarded and fortified fortress so quickly? It wasn't even able to hold out for a single day!" He stated with agitation

"Obviously it was their numbers-"

"And why did they not take the Victory Gates for themselves?" He continued cutting the man off "By all reports that bastard Nikalos and his army beat us here by half a day. If they had wanted, we would never even have an opportunity to fight back."

Now the gathered military commanders realized what he meant. Indeed it was quite bizzare. Why after achieving such swift victory would that vile serpent of Embershroud not press such a definite advantage?

Something was wrong. However nobody present could put their finger on exactly what it was.

"Perhaps..." Muttered another man in his early forties

The surrounding men including the King all shot him a stern gaze when he spoke

"Do you have an idea, Vincenti?" Alexandr asked the man who was Virgils father, Vincenti Derrean

"My Lord, It simply accured to me that perhaps Embershroud has devised a way in which they need not fear us controlling the pass. Either through strength or strategy, they may be planning to crush us when we feel we are in our strongest position." Vincenti explained

His words echoed in the minds of everyone there. Indeed it would be just like Nikalos Ember Dunlain to have a trick or ten up his sleeve. The thought that they may have walked into a trap sent a shiver down the spine of the officers.

"What would you suggest we do?" Asked King Alexandr

Vincenti thought of his next words carefully before responding "I think we should only commit half our forces to the battle initially. If it indeed is a trap of some form, we may be doing more harm than good by engaging with our whole army."

"In other words you want to test the waters and wait for them to possibly show their hand?" asked Louis

"Exactly." Replied Vincenti

Alexandr mulled over the suggestion "Okay. We shall use your idea. If there is even the slightest chance to snatch victory from the Empire, I'm willing to take any risk." He said

"Then I suggest we alter the arrangement of our troops as well. I believe our current strategy may be lacking given the circumstances." Added General Louis

"Let's hear it then." Said King Alexandr

"My Lord, since the pass is so narrow, only wide enough for 40 men to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with room to fight, I would suggest we arrange our forces in rows with 36 spearmen in the middle and 2 swordsman on each side, 4 in total. After 8 rows of this we'll have 2 rows of 40 archers. This will repeat until we have 600 rows in total." advised Louis

"That's only 24,000 men. Shouldn't we use more than that?" Asked Alexandr

"No, He's right." Said Vincenti "We can't afford to send in a larger force. Besides, this will most likely turn into a battle of attrition. The longer it takes them to break through, the more their morale will drop. As long as we hold onto a large enough reserve force, we can eventually wear them down since unlike them we don't need to wait for our supplies to come from somewhere days away."

"Very well. I can tell that it's a good plan. I'll let you arrange it all. Now leave me be." Commanded King Alexandr "I need my rest, and so do all of you." he added with a bitter smile

"Yes my Lord!" Shouted all the generals before leaving to go rest before the coming battle.

The king poured himself some wine after they left and said "To Victory" before downing the glass and falling asleep on the nearby couch.