Chapter 5: New Brother

“Cayce! It is so good to see you again.”

“Brother!” Of course, he lifted me into the air like my body was made of helium. I tried not to smile, tried to be grumpy.

I smiled. It was kind of fun.

“Come, greet everyone, behold our plans to conquer the enemy!” His voice was joyful and loud and deep, and he brought me into the tent.

Suddenly the corset was too tight, I was hot in this dress, the air was muggy, mud on my leggings. Do I bow? Curtsey? I didn’t know any of their names, not a one, not even the prince’s. Worse, I didn’t know how to curtsey.

Someone at the tent opening bellowed, “Her Royal Highness, Princess Cayce!” It was so loud, I scrunched up my face. All eyes on me, I tried and probably failed to smile. What does a princess say at these times? I’d kill for a dialogue box. Game, come on, where are you? Outline some words, damnit.

“Hello. Uh, my lords and, uhm, generals.” I bowed slightly and kind of bent my knee. Hopefully, that would be enough.

“Princess,” one of the men, an older fellow with grey hair and a large frame, walked up to me, taking my white gloved hand, “we are so very, very glad that you are returned to us. How harrowing your journey must have been! How fortunate that the grand magister accompanied you!”

I didn’t know what to say, so out came, “Indeed. It was harrowing. Very kind of you to say.”

A large, rectangular table was the centerpiece of the tent, a map atop it, and various figures. I walked toward the map. It was topographical and included the large river I’d rowed across. Similar to pictures of war games I’d seen. I wanted in.

“Are you making war plans?” fumbled out of my mouth.

“We are strategizing, yes.”

The prince added, “I am going to take out a harassing force and test their limits shortly.”

“How large is their army?” I asked, showing how ignorant I remained of the entire situation.

“Large enough to capture Breadamont. And hold it.” Said one of the generals. He was younger, dark haired, short and dark beard, but looked dour and perhaps wasn’t on board with plans of attack.

Did that mean they took our castle? Our city? Some outlying farm? The lack of real knowledge was not helping. “Oh,” I pointed on the map, “where is Breadamont here? Will we be taking it back soon?”

The entire room burst with laughter. Long and gleeful, like they were holding it in.

“My lady,” began one of the generals in a voice not quite patronizing, “this is a map of the immediate area. Breadamont is, well, it would be outside the tent in that direction,” he pointed to the rear riverside corner.

The prince immediately jumped in, “We’ll drive them away from our towns after we reduce their army here. You needn’t worry about such things.”

“Well, I’m interested in such things. Tell me,” I pointed to the map, “where is the army you are going to harass?”

“The one that killed father and captured you. According to the magister, you crossed the river up here,” he pointed to a place on the river, some distance upstream, “which means they were encamped over here last night. We’ve sent scouting parties across to confirm their location.”

He’d been right to laugh. I didn’t know what to do with this information. “I see. And your tactics will reduce their force?”

Smiling, “Yes, of course. And goad them to a battlefield of my choice. But, mainly to keep the pressure on them.”

“May I ask why our encampment has no protections? No spikes, no trenches, nothing to slow an advancing army. What if the army follows yours back here?”

The looks I received were both surprised and patronizing and some filled with mirth. It was like I was playing their stereotype of the ignorant fairer sex, reinforcing their notions of manlihood. Well, damn, I was as ignorant as they came, but I’m sure understanding a map and troop movements wouldn’t be beyond most people.

The same general was happy to explain, “Why, my dear, fortifications would be very dangerous to our troops.”

“Dangerous?”

“Wizards can use them against the defenders. Wood and stones caused to explode, stakes as battering rams. You wouldn’t want a thousand broken shards of wood slamming into your body and that’s exactly what would happen.”

“Ah, I see.” He was basically saying that magic makes defensive fortifications into explosives. I wondered how to defend against such attacks, but didn’t have the courage to ask just now, having just gotten everything wrong.

A large man, wearing a fancier coat than most everyone here, placed his back directly in front of me, turning to the prince, “we should really get back to determining where and how to attack next.”

“Yes, I agree. I aim to send my armies here,” the prince said, his back to me, too, so I couldn’t see where he was pointing. “We’ll have to be quick. We can’t stay long enough for them to draw up a formation.” It seemed that was the end of my audience.

I stared anger into their backs. This place, the command tent, had the information I desperately needed – who is the enemy, why our army didn’t stay at the castle, why we weren’t protecting our towns, what our plans were. And it was cut off with just one rude gesture. It took all my willpower to not stamp my feet, kick dirt into their shoes!

But there was one more person I needed to talk to, and he was here, standing apart, both listening and appearing aloof. Instead of leaving the tent, I went up to the wizard, Tye. “It looks like you’ve gotten unshackled. That’s good.”

“It is good, Your Highness. And you are bathed and back in beautiful clothing.”

“Ah, yes, very beautiful. Listen, I wanted to ask you-”

“It looks like the meeting is going to continue. If you’ll excuse me.” And he wandered over to the table, also silencing me with his back. Sapphire’s red hair poked into the tent, the sun shining off it. She gave me a wide-eyed message, tilting her head to the door. I sighed, gave up, and went over to the exit.

I used a loud voice, saying, “Thank you lords and . . . wizards. Brother. Generals. Best of luck in your campaign.”

A flurry of “Your Royal Highness” and “Princess” and the large, annoying man standing in front of me smiled briefly, eyes focused above my head, quickly turning around to address those at the table. Royalty or no, he wasn’t spending any time on a little girl.

I stared at him and wanted to scream.

Sapphire’s small, delicately painted hand on my shoulder, gently turned me from the tent and all those backs and behinds. She laughed as we exited, “Now you can lead them all into battle!”

“I wanted to learn their plans.”

“Whatever for? Your brother, the Prince!” You could just hear her inappropriately capitalize his title, “Why, he will avenge the fallen and destroy your enemies. Our enemies.”

“Hmm. I’m not so sure.” That outcome seemed like the opposite of what was going to happen. A strong army in a strong defensive position doesn’t lose their castle or their towns. We must have lost and lost badly, and I didn’t know the details. Worse, I didn’t know how war functioned here. They didn’t even use basic fortifications, it seemed. Too dangerous with wizards about. Perhaps that also explained why they didn’t defend from behind castle walls. If that were true, you’d expect castles to not exist – no point in putting all that effort into an indefensible structure. Yet I wouldn’t know that until I saw one.

In any case, that suggested to me that the wizards needed to be taken out first. But how? I needed to learn their ways of war and I needed to learn the weaknesses of magic here. Yet no matter how much thought I gave it, I just didn’t have enough information.

While I brooded and considered, Sapphire dragged me through the camp, explaining how fast it was put up, how magnificent the soldiers were doing this, how orderly it all was. I wasn’t really paying attention.

Yet, the camp was well organized. Orderly tents, row after row. The cavalry had their own section, near the river for easy water supply for the horses. Blacksmiths, weapon smiths, fletchers, also along the river. Pikemen and other land troops organized into their own areas, and divisions I’d never heard outside a documentary. Peltasts, skirmishers, names out of ancient Greece and Macedonia. I wished that I had a real guide, maybe a historian, with me instead of these young attendants. I wanted to know how the regiments fit together, what their roles were, how attack formations worked. And why this was all happening!

I was still trying to figure out what my role was. A princess. Not a military commander then. Yeah, no, that wouldn’t do. A princess! No thank you. Somehow, I had to get out from under these girls, this dowager-regent, and get into the command tent.

Yet the prince was built for that role. The clear archetype of a leader among men. How was I, a young girl everyone wanted to ignore, to equal that? I didn’t have a solution.

Until I did.