Arise paced back and forth in her plush prison, her heart almost feeling dead. The maids had informed her that the room was the one where Princess Phynis had stayed when she’d visited Galthor, and the irony wasn’t lost on the spy. In fact, she expected that the Baron had chosen the room deliberately.

The bed was soft, stuffed with down that was a luxury even with her own wealth, and the sheets were as fine as any cloth she’d ever used in dresses, short of fine silk. Similar wall-hangings adorned the room, and the shades of blue annoyed the seamstress in her. The colors ever so slightly clashed, irritating her still more. What she wanted was to leave the room and lose herself in making a horrifically complicated dress for a duchess or something similar. Something like that would be soothing. Only one problem stood in her way.

Looking out the window, Arise’s mouth tightened more, her lips flattening into a thin line. The smoke from the besieging army’s fires was obvious even from her position. With the army around Galthor, there wouldn’t have been much business for her to begin with, and there were other consequences to consider as well. She mentally thanked the heavens that no one had implicated her as a traitor just yet, as she had little doubt that she’d be torn apart by a mob under the current circumstances. That or poisoned by her maids.

The other consequence that she’d hopefully avoided was something horrible happening to her sister. Iris’ safety weighed on Arise more that she could express, and a small part of her expected that the only reason she wasn’t in a cell next to Farren Galthor was because she’d been blackmailed, unlike him.

Not that that had kept Captain Ansov from interrogating her several times, trying to get as much information as he possibly could out of her. In all honesty, the repeated interrogations had forced her to recall details that surprised even her, as she’d forgotten most of them until enduring his grilling.

As the sound of horns echoed over the city, Arise barely paid attention. It was when several bells began ringing that she became alert, frowning as she wondered what was going on. Not that she’d have any chance to find out, what with the guards that kept her inside her room. So Arise found herself forced to sit and wait.

* * *

Sir Reva Lucien felt strange, looking on his army as it marched toward Galthor’s besiegers. At first he’d believed that upon returning to Vara’Sel he’d be able to set aside the responsibilities the Queen had given him and command the small detachment of soldiers his father had sent to assist in defending their country. Instead he’d been assigned an entire army, and given the position of a general as Queen Calath had asked him to go to the assistance of Galthor.

The enemy army was the spearhead of Kelvanis’ invasion, as well as being the largest single army they had at their command. That it’d been pinned down besieging Galthor for as long as it had was a relief which had given the rest of the country time to fortify still more and evacuate civilians. Today would be different, though.

“Today we break the siege of Galthor and send Kelvanis packing,” Reva murmured, smiling as he saw the enemy camp. It looked like an anthill after it’d been kicked.

“Sir Lucien?” Helia asked, tilting her head. “Did you say something?”

“Nothing important, Lady Helia. I was just commenting on what we’re going to do to them. Doesn’t it look like an anthill?” Reva asked, nodding toward the enemy army.

Helia looked, seeming to pause for a long moment before nodding slowly. “You know… I think you’re right. I wonder why? It seems like they should have seen us coming at least a few hours back.”

“I don’t have any idea. Are you prepared to command the golems in our attack? Hitting them while they’re disorganized seems like a pretty good idea to me,” Reva replied in grim amusement. “It only seems fair.”

“I’m ready whenever you are. The golems certainly aren’t about to complain!” Helia replied with a laugh, looking down toward what passed for her soldiers.

The sixty golems gleamed even after the march through the forest, though there were smudges from where sap, mud, and other detritus had spattered over the war constructs. Leading the rest of the army by a good fifty paces, the constructs left obvious tracks in their wake. Golems certainly weren’t likely to sneak up on anyone except in the heat of battle.

Around them were arrayed the rest of his army. Where Queen Calath had managed to scrape together two hundred and fifty magi was beyond Reva’s understanding, not without raiding other border garrisons, but she’d managed it. In addition to the immense firepower of the magi, he had his entire previous army, plus an additional four battalions to add nearly five thousand troops to his command. It was a daunting force, though still outnumbered over two to one by Kelvanis’ army.

That was what made the enemy army’s apparent confusion even more comforting. If they’d organized against his army, Reva would have been much less confident. At least the bells of Galthor were ringing, so he guessed they would have reinforcements soon enough.

“Hit them, Helia. We’ll help out, and…” Reva paused, his eyes going wide as he saw fighting suddenly erupt in the middle of Kelvanis’ camp. “Go!”

“Right!” Helia barely took the time to reply as she and her horse went racing toward the front lines. At Reva’s nod, his messengers sent out orders.

He had to wonder what had just caused Kelvanis’ army to start fighting amongst itself.

* * *

Ripping his axe free of the orc’s thick skull, Colonel Steve Gross cursed under his breath, his mood grim as he looked at his company, and the many dead or dying all around them.

Colonel Gross had sympathized with the rebels ever since he’d been a captain who’d been part of the initial invasion into the elven territories. What they’d been commanded to do had been sickening, but finding the rebels had been difficult. Slaid Darkeye had convinced Steve to stay in Kelvanis’ military and leak information, weapons, and more over the years, but his proximity to the horrors of what had been done simply made his mood worse, so Steve had slowly built up a loyal battalion of like-minded soldiers in full expectation of the day that he finally rebelled.

The invasion of Sifaren had been an unwelcome surprise, as had the presence of Justicar Hall. While he hadn’t been able to do much before this, when the Justicar fell it’d been a stroke of luck for Steve, because he was the senior officer remaining, if only barely. Perhaps concealing the approach of Sifaren’s army hadn’t been the best of his ideas, but finally Colonel Vane had grown suspicious and her accusations had rather thoroughly set off the rebellion.

Now the orcs and other neighboring battalions were attacking him, and he hadn’t even had time to try to negotiate with the elven army and tell them he was an ally. Still, hopefully they’d get the idea when they saw what was going on.

“Tianna, bless me with the luck and skill to get through this,” the Colonel murmured as he wove the strands of mana around him, and he felt his holy symbol warm beneath his armor as the spell refreshed his body. With a nod to his bodyguards, he gestured toward a knot of soldiers that were wavering under the assault of a pair of heavily armored orcs. “Come on, let’s help our boys!”

“Yes sir!” Their response was instantaneous, and Colonel Gross couldn’t help but smile as he charged along with them, hefting his axe as he did so.

The armored orcs were members of the Iron Legion, and thus far more coordinated and skilled than most of the huge creatures, but even they were unprepared for the Colonel’s personal guard. He joined his men, axe glowing with its enchantment as he swung hard, and the explosive crack as it shattered the creature’s breastplate echoed through the battlefield. The orc bellowed in pain, and in moments the tides turned against the monsters and the morale of the soldiers who’d been facing them seemed to turn around.

As the orc he’d attacked toppled, the other managed to crush the skull of one unfortunate man, but the creature went down moments later, giving another momentary breather just before a squad of soldiers slammed into his group. Cursing under his breath, Gross fought hard, removing the hand of one soldier, then putting his axe into the back of another man who’d engaged one of his guards. They were handling the attack well enough, but as still more soldiers began to vector toward him, his mood grew grim.

“This is bad, sir. If we don’t break the encirclement soon, we’re going to be overrun!” Gross’ second in command exclaimed, and Gross could only nod.

“I know! Try to focus on the closest approach to Sifaren’s army, maybe they’ll at least hesitate,” he replied, falling back for a momentary breather.

The deep thumps were easy to miss with the clash of battle around him, at least at first. Colonel Gross barely noticed them as he prepared to plunge back into the fray. It was the screams of pain and the sight of bodies flying on the far side of the formation that made him stop, looking on in surprise.

Dozens of steel-skinned giants were wielding massive halberds to rip their way into the lines of the soldiers attacking Gross’ battalion. Their movements and appearance instantly made him remember the reports of golems supporting the new city where the dungeon had been, and that they were supporting the elven army. The Colonel had actually been somewhat skeptical about the accuracy of the reports, but at the moment he felt nothing but relief and a hint of worry as he looked on them.

“No matter what, don’t attack the golems! We don’t want them coming after us!” he ordered loudly, stepping back into the fray as he prepared to act as the anvil to the golem hammer.

The next few minutes were brutal and exhausting, but Gross didn’t forget to keep an eye on the golems. The constructs were tireless and powerful, but he saw chinks open in their armor to reveal stone, and some even took heavy damage as someone managed to bring a ballista to bear on them, but none of them fell. Instead, those that took damage fell back, allowing unmarred golems to take their place. They moved with unthinking, eerie precision, and while he doubted the golems could react to surprises as well as one of his own companies, on the battlefield they were nearly unstoppable.

Finally the golems stopped in front of his front lines, before all but a handful split away to engage the rest of the Kelvanis army on other fronts, and an armored elven woman stepped forward, her voice calm as she spoke. “I am Captain Helia Birch of Beacon. Who are you and what in the hells is going on here?”

“Captain, I’m Colonel Steve Gross, formerly of Kelvanis’ military. I’ve been a member of the Kelvanis Royalists for the past eight years, and tried to pin down the army while yours approached,” he replied quickly, stepping forward nervously. “Unfortunately, one of the other colonels grew suspicious, and things went badly. Thank you for your assistance.”

“I see. We’ll have to take your claim with a grain of salt for the time being, but so long as you do not attack us we’ll leave you alone for now. In the meantime, there’s a battle to be fought,” Helia replied, nodding to him. “Agreed?”

“Agreed. I would like to meet those in charge as soon as it’s reasonable, but that can wait,” he said. When she nodded and turned away, he let out a sigh of relief.

“Orders, sir?” Major Jones asked, wiping at his brow wearily. None of his officers had avoided battle, a fact which filled the Colonel with pride.

“Hammer the opposition in our area, but don’t go far. No matter what, don’t engage the elves,” Colonel Gross ordered, straightening as he watched a few dozen fireballs homing in lazily on the rest of Kelvanis’ army. Most of them were blocked by the defending magi, but not all, and he cringed at the explosions in the distance.

* * *

“Sir Lucien, you’re a sight for sore eyes!” Baron Galthor spoke loudly, and Reva saw the faint lines around the nobleman’s eyes with worry. Even so, the man seemed to be honestly relieved as he continued speaking. “I was starting to grow worried, I’ll admit. Your golem reinforcements were certainly impressive!”

“I wish I could say that they were my golems,” Reva admitted, shaking his head and smiling wryly, clasping the Baron’s hand and giving it a firm shake. “I’m glad to have them, though, and that we could relieve you in time. How are you doing, Baron? I heard something about you being injured when Kelvanis attempted to invade your castle.”

“I did have a close brush with death, I’ll admit. I broke my arm, but the healers dealt with it. To be honest, I’m not allowed to fight with it for another few days, but you dealt with that concern rather thoroughly,” Baron Galthor replied, glancing at his right arm as he shook his head. “That was far closer than I care to think about.”

“On that we agree. It’s unfortunate that the bulk of Kelvanis’ army managed to fall back, but we still did far more damage than I anticipated,” Reva told the Baron, shrugging as he thought about the battle. They’d managed to pincer a small segment of the besiegers, which had led to nearly three thousand casualties among their opponents. Coupled with the rebels, that meant that instead of around twelve thousand Kelvanis soldiers, they were facing closer to eight thousand. It still wasn’t a number he was comfortable with facing head-on, but far better than it had been. His own casualties had been painful but light by comparison.

“What was going on with those rebel soldiers, anyway? I could hardly believe my eyes when they started fighting among themselves,” the Baron asked, leading the way to a table and offering Reva a chair. “Please, sit.”

“Thank you. I’m afraid that’s a complicated situation. Their commander, a Colonel named Steve Gross, has apparently been a rebel agent for the better part of a decade, and had been working on building up a loyal cadre of soldiers over the years.” Reva settled in place, waiting until his host sat before pouring a cup of water and sipping at it. “When the Justicar died, it left him in command. This is what he claims, at least. He saw this as too good of an opportunity to not take advantage of, with the other rebels throwing in with Beacon, so he gathered as many slaves as he could and tried to suppress word of our approach.”

“If that’s true, he’ll have my eternal gratitude. The only problem is that it raises other questions, as he could be a spy or the like. I wouldn’t put it past Kelvanis to sacrifice that many soldiers to get someone inside our walls and councils,” Baron Galthor murmured, tapping the desk idly.

“I fully agree, on both counts. While I’m fairly confident he’s telling the truth, for the time being I’ve instructed him to camp well away from the walls or my own camp, and have set sentries to keep an eye on his people,” Reva explained, sipping at the water again. “Unfortunately, the rebel leader is out of Beacon or we would have sent a message to him to get confirmation of Sir Gross’ story, but he’s expected back in the next two to three days, so we’ll have an answer soon enough.”

“Fair, I suppose. What about the captives and former slaves?” the Baron grunted, raising his eyebrows. “It’s a little unfair of me to ask, I suppose, but I assume you’re not leaving them in the enemy camp?”

“Oh, gods no! No, I’ve had my healers checking them over and ensuring they’ve been released from any ongoing orders. We can’t leave them in Galthor, of course, but a handful claim to have family here.” Reva spoke quickly, not wanting to show any appearance of reluctance. “What to do with them is a much bigger issue, I think. They have to go either deeper into Sifaren, or to Beacon. Either way it’ll be a problem.”

“Speaking of problems… I have two of my own.” Reva could almost see the noble age as he spoke, slumping back in his chair. “My son and the spy. I was waiting for the siege to break before trying Farren for his crimes, but I have no doubts about the results. Ms. Ennarra kept meticulous records, and we caught him in the act of betrayal. He’s going to be found guilty of treason, and that means death. The spy, though… she at least was blackmailed into it, and when things went too far in her view she told us. I’m not certain how to handle the situation. Do you bear any guidance from Her Majesty?”

Reva’s eyes darkened, and he sighed on seeing the anguish in the Baron’s eyes. Reaching into his jacket, the knight removed a small packet, opening it as he replied, “She did. I’m afraid it won’t be pleasant, Baron.”

“I didn’t expect it to be pleasant,” Baron Galthor said, sitting up straight as he smiled thinly. “Let’s hear what Her Majesty has to say.”

* * *

“Iris!” Arise didn’t even really see the Baron or his guards, her eyes focusing solely on her sister, and with a clatter her mug hit the floor, spilling the water as she dashed toward her beloved sibling. “I thought I lost you forever!”

“Some days I wish that you had. If I’d been able to send you word, and if it hadn’t been for this damned brand, I would’ve told you to stop helping Kelvanis ages ago,” Iris replied, her voice soft as she hugged Arise back.

Pulling back, Arise felt a pang of guilt and horror wash through her as she looked her sister over. Her sister was a beautiful woman, but her time in captivity hadn’t been kind to her, nor had her captors. Someone had brutally cropped her ears short, doing something to make them almost look like a human’s ears with multiple piercings along the edge, almost like a silver cuff to conceal the damage. Other jewelry adorned her sister’s face, while still others had obviously been removed. While Iris wasn’t scarred, her dark skin was crossed in patches that were lighter than others, and Arise swallowed hard.

“What… what happened to you?” the dressmaker finally asked, her voice soft. “Your ears and skin…”

“I… don’t want to talk about it. Let’s just say that one of my jailors was a sadistic witch of a woman. She also overstepped herself with what she did to me, but that was a cold comfort at the time,” Iris spoke flatly, taking a deep breath as she admitted softly, “I… I nearly lost myself a few times. I’m a bit adrift even now. Part of me doesn’t believe that I’m free of them. I’m not really, I suppose.”

“You are. You are,” Arise murmured, hugging her sister and rocking back and forth, hardly believing that she was seeing her again. It took a minute before she opened her eyes and looked at the Baron, who looked uncomfortable as she spoke, sincerity flooding her. “Thank you for bringing her back to me, Baron. It means everything to me.”

“As much as I can… appreciate your feelings, I believe that you should not feel such. It’s only right that we free those who’ve been captured. Besides, I bring ill news for you as well,” the Baron replied slowly, frowning as he settled almost into a parade stance.

“What?” Iris asked, pulling away, concern growing on her face. “But…”

“It’s fine, Iris. I expected something like this,” Arise interjected, turning toward the Baron and nodding as she spoke. “I assume that you’re speaking of my punishment for being a spy?”

“Yes. Despite your recent actions, you did betray both the nation and Galthor. However, due to you actually changing sides prior to disaster, I asked Her Majesty for her opinion on your punishment,” Baron Galthor explained sternly.

“Of course, that makes perfect sense to me. May I ask what she chose for my punishment?” Arise asked, worry gnawing at her stomach. She really didn’t want to spend decades in a prison, or die, but if that was what it took, that was what would happen.

“Her Majesty has decreed that you are to be exiled, along with your sister. You will be taken to the border of Sifaren, one of your choice, and be sent on your way, never to return,” the Baron replied, his voice soft.

“How could you do that? She didn’t even—” Iris began hotly, only to have Arise shake her head at her.

“Considering everything that has happened, that’s actually less painful of a punishment than I expected, Iris,” Arise said gently. “Baron, might I ask what will happen to my shop and things?”

“Half of your wealth, as well as half the value of your home and shop, will be returned to you, along with the tools of your trade. The rest is forfeit to help rebuild in the aftermath of the war,” he explained. “You received almost nothing from Kelvanis, so a greater penalty was considered, but discarded. That should be more than enough for you to set up a life elsewhere.”

“I can agree to that. Considering what I have, it should be more than enough. Iris? Are you still reasonably skilled at weaving?” Arise asked, turning her gaze to her sister.

“I’m rather out of practice, since they didn’t give me a chance to use a loom often, but I don’t think I’ve lost my knack for it,” Iris replied, looking worried. “I didn’t think…”

“It’s fine, sister. I was willing to give up far more than just this to save you,” Arise murmured, looking back to Baron Galthor, and she smiled sadly as she asked, “You said I could choose any border, yes? What of Beacon?”

“There’s been some discussion of dispatching a few companies to escort those who’ve been branded there, as well as to reinforce the city. It would be dangerous, though. Is that what you wish to do?” The Baron frowned at her.

“I’ll have to discuss it with Iris… but I think it is. From what little I’ve heard, perhaps Queen Phynis will be understanding,” Arise replied, then hesitated for a moment before bowing her head. “Even if she is not, I think I owe her an apology in person. My reports very nearly led to her enslavement, after all.”

“In that case I’ll leave the two of you to catch up and make a decision. Good evening to both of you,” the Baron told them, shaking his head as he left, his guards closing the doors behind them.