On their way back, Gwen did not shut up. Since they did not have anything that would be of any use to them. She had to take off her army jacket and wrap it around her hand to keep it from getting infected. When they were stopping off in the base to see if they should leave or approach the soldiers, they left their bags there just in case they would need to move fast. Which they did, but it was still a foolish move in the end. They were in such dangerous times and since they knew that the life of a soldier isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, it was a bad move to leave their first aid at the base. They were definitely going to get shit from the General for what they did.
“What if some parasite crawls into the wound and I die? What if some but get stuck in it. What if a swarm of mosquitoes attacks me, they like blood don’t they?”
“I’m actually hoping all those things would happen if it would mean you would
The usual morning assembly took place during breakfast, and that meant that there were important matters that needed to be discussed. Gwen wished she could convince the General to make this a usual thing but she was sure that he would just ignore her and move on with his life. “After Chester and Puckett came back yesterday, a team was sent to look for and examine the bodies of the guards they had dealt with but after a while of searching, there were no bodies. There was an area that clearly showed that there had been a fight as blood was found. But there was no one there.” General Zachary said. “That’s creepy,” Gwen murmured into her food. “And so now we can only assume they went back to Paria-Drae because it would not make any sense to stay here. With the increased activity from their side, it can be assumed they are actively preparing to start the war. The sending of people would have been for them to get a sense of o
THE SECOND ARC The General, Lieutenant General, and the Major General, along with Captain Marcus and some lower-ranking officers, were standing in front of the soldiers. The atmosphere of the pavilion was heavy. No one had eaten a thing and everyone sat completely still. The tension, making everyone’s muscles freeze. It was the next day and as General Zachary said, things would go back to being serious. The scary thing was that no one had an idea of how when the enemy would hit them and their only way to know was with the intel of the border guard. And once they knew, then it would leave only a small window to get ready. Which was why the preparations for offense were what the conversation was going to be about. The great thing was that the forest was way too thick for any sort of vehicle to pass through. And even horses had a tough time making their way through. It was doable for them, but a rider definitely would not
As if there wasn’t a reason to hate Paria-Drae even more, they just kept proving that they were the worst type of people, because once again, they had decided to once again invade the forest in the early hours of the day, meaning that she had to be woken up earlier than she would have wanted. But this time, she was not woken up by alarms but by her comrades.“Come on, they’re here.” was the only thing she needed to hear in order to wake up.The alarm was not sounded obvious because they did not want the Paria-Drae army to know that they knew they were there. Her stomach did multiple somersaults and her steps were slow when walking to gather with the group.Apparently, the General had decided to go with her plan. It was honestly a shock to her as well as everyone else and Gwen wanted to see what Ace’s face looked like, but that was far from the priority. Ok, maybe it was like the third or somet
Gwen just followed. She had no idea how far they would be going and she didn’t ask any questions. She was sure that no one had the will to answer anything that she would ask anyway. The forest was almost pitch black and they all walked as silently as possible at a steady pace, but they made sure that their footsteps were not heavy. She had to strain her eyes a great deal in order to see in front of her. But that was not really what she needed to see, in front of her was just another soldier and it did not help her to see because they were wearing camouflage which definitely did its job.She had to keep her eyes on the ground for most of the time she was walking and it was hard but she managed not to trip. If she had then it would have messed her up and possibly others as well. It was too heavy of a time for her to do something like that.After some walking, they came to a stop at some random point in the forest. It was random until s
Once Gwen was reloaded she resumed her tactic. Left and right she would be hearing the sounds of death. The pleases of people begging to be saved. But they had a bigger objective right now. It bothered Gwen that she would have to leave her comrades on the ground bleeding out and she wondered if they would be carried away before the forest was blown up. It would be terrifying to be left on the floor of the battlefield and then to be abandoned by your own side and left to suffer with the enemy. But at least the end would not be due to the Paria-Drae, so there had to be some sort of relief in that. At least, that was what Gwen hoped.Suddenly, a bullet whizzed past her ear and she felt a searing pain on the tip. She could not take her hand off the gun to check but it was obvious that she was merely grazed by it. The relief that flooded through her body as she realized that she could have been ended by that bullet almost made her slump over, but she kept her b
Her hand was not the problem, it was her ear, it burned so badly and she was practically ripping apart the sheets when Doctor Reeves was applying ointment to it.“Can’t you just kill me,” she panted. “I can’t do this anymore. Just chop off the ear. I can live without it.”He held her down with one arm and he applied the ointment with the other. “I get that you were hit in such a delicate place but please refrain from being so dramatic. I will not help the situation.”Gwen could have guessed that her entire ear was burning red and that the wound was bleeding and looked to be the worst part. It was worse than she imagined and the bullet had not just brushed past the ear but had nipped off a little bit as well. And she was too focused on trying to stay alive to notice.“If I leave it then it could get infected and then you will experience even more pain th
A different approach was a good thing. It keeps one's opponent on their toes and makes them doubt what you’ll do next. Gwen was sure that Ace was going to give her a marvelous reaction when she didn’t act the way he expected her to. It was a bit of fun before the second wave started. Gwen wanted to relieve stress somehow, and seeing how she had just suffered at the hands of Doctor Reeves, what better target could there be, besides Ace.The people that followed him looked to be about five and they all were definitely older than him. Now, Gwen had no reason to be anybody's business, but why would these hard-back men, be a bunch of yes men for an immature peacock? The oldest looked to be about ten years older and there was only one option- actually two. They were sucking up to him to look good in front of his father or the General, or, they were just plain stupid with a similar mentality to Ace.Gwen would have pointed it out and
The General had predicted that the enemy would approach Fort Brimburg when the sun broke past the horizon. Unfortunately, he was wrong there. Despite losing a big part of their army, the soldiers of Paria-Drae collected themselves faster than expected and were marching towards the camp, long before dawn.They first became aware of their presence because of their footsteps. Walking in uniform and sounding so creepy that it made Gwen shiver. It was like they were all puppets being controlled to perfection. But then again, it’s kind of what they were. The Queen as the puppet master, making hundreds of people kill and lose their lives for her own benefit.Gwen wondered if the soldiers knew that they were not going to benefit one way from the war. If the Queen got her way then she would just take all the gold from Estril and use it in ways she saw fit, for her benefit alone. There was no giving back to the people or helping out other nati
Time passes and she has not seen many of her friends in a while. She had not even seen Ace and realized how much she missed him. And so, Gwen works overtime and takes a day off so that she can go to Estril. She goes in secret and goes to Fort Brimburg. Because Para-Drae was not a threat anymore, many of the soldiers came back and many joined the army. She was sure that they got an earful from the General for that. Gwen still had her training clothes and so she integrates herself into the base as if she were always there but of course she is a Queen and is made out pretty quickly.She is called out from the morning line up and the General questions why she is there. He also seemed to not care that she was a Queen and treated her the same. Since Ace was usually at the front of the group she could see that he was happy to see her.Gwen tells him that she is there to train and she and the General go back and forth but eventually he lets her stay. Everyone does not really know how to treat
At one point, Ace visits her and Gwen had not forgotten about their last encounter but she tries to ignore it and move on but Ace does not feel that way. She can tell that he acting differently around her and Gwen is not sure how to act. She gives him a tour of the castle but they get lost because Gwen is still not completely familiar with it. Ace takes the chance and tells her how he feels again. This time, he kisses her and she lets him. Gwen knows she feels something too but does not say anything back to him. He says that he is more than happy to wait for her response.The day of the coronation comes and Gwen is definitely not ready for it. This is the biggest thing that is going to happen in her life and she is not sure if she is ready. Her parents are there for her the entire time and help until the ceremony. Gwen invited the leaders of Estril, Naudis, Martaes, and Schneir. She invited all of the people she knew from Naudis, Estril, and Paria-Drae. Gwen had to say that it was the
It had been a couple of months since everything unfolded. Meredith had been in prison ever since and had no chance of getting out in her lifetime. Her mother had made a public appearance a while ago and gave a heartfelt speech about the past twenty years and how it was so drastic from everything she knew but grew to appreciate simpler things because of it. And because of that, Gwen realized that it was her mother's way of telling the people that she was not going to be the Queen. And if that was the case, then it all fell on Gwen.Even though she threatened the Queen and told her that she would take the throne and because people want her to, did not mean that Gwen actually wanted it. She expected her mother to be the Queen the people all loved and wanted. But her mother was getting older and just wanted to live a simple life with the man she loved. She did not want to suddenly be thrust into a life she gave up on for so many years and it would also be unfair to her stepfather.And so,
Gwen is going to make it look like she was the person who kidnapped the Queen and that no one else was involved. If there are other people involved then she would not confess. So she is taken to a run-down building in the middle of nowhere and officers and soldiers are hiding all over the place. Once she wakes up, she and her mother confront the Queen, Gwen acts like she is going to kill her just to make it believable. She gives her mother some time to talk to her and the Queen acts hateful and tells her that she should be dead and that even if they kill her, no one is going to believe them and that the people will not accept her.Elizabeth asks Meredith if she also killed her parents so that she could get the Queen. They should have lived another ten years before the throne could go to her. The Queen does not say anything about that but says that they died because it was their time and it helped her out. Gwen intervenes and says that she had enough time to talk and that she should tr
When it came to important matters that had anything to do with the royal family or money, the royal family would address it themselves. If it was anything else they would have people do it for them. And seeing as it is as big as getting arrested, she would definitely make a public appearance. And Gwen would use that.With Mr. Rickeys in Naudis, it was just her and Ace. They were their own support and even had weapons from the base as extra protection.“What exactly are you planning to do? Storm the castle and catch the Queen by surprise and blow off her head? Ace asked her one day when they were just waiting around for something. Anything to happen. “The number of times I have imagined doing that would surprise you. But no, I don’t think that would work. To be honest, I’m not sure what will, but I’m using this time to think up a plan.”“You should not have gone to the Queen in the first place.”Gwen gave him a pointed look. “You think I don’t know that. It was dumb and deep down I kn
There was nothing more nerve-wracking than standing at the side of the road, waiting to see any sigs of her parents. They could have walked past them, or they could have gotten caught. But the General took them to the closest place that he expected Ace to exit from. But once she saw them coming out of the forest a little way down the road from them, her heart finally started to beat again. And without a moment’s delay, they were taken to the military base. “Since we know that the Queen is a potential threat to the lives of your parents. I will have half of the men from the castle come here to protect them. Fort Brimberg does not have as many people as it used to and so we’ll need to stretch our resources thin for now.” the General told her. “Thank you,” Gwen looked back at her parents who were talking with the Captain. Ace was s
Once Gwen was in Estril, she went straight to the castle. She was sure that since she was gone for so long, it was definitely making people worry. And since the Captain knew that it was only Gwen that was going, he would wonder if Ace went with her. Since it was a huge possibility that he was with her, she hoped that they knew that he was fine.Quickly, she greeted the guards at the front of the castle and when they let her through, she basically flew towards the castle. She received a lot of weird looks but that was the least of her concerns. She needed to find the Captain, the General, anyone.Almost crashing into some soldiers as she raced around a corner she held one of them demanding to know where the Captain was.“The last I saw he was by the throne r
If the Queen found out information about Gwen then they would think that she lived in Naudis, which meant that Mr. Rickeys’ children were in danger, so she would have to go warn him first to get to them.After she ran off, Puckett followed her without asking any questions or making any comments. In a serious situation, Puckett was not useless and could be helpful when it counted so she didn’t disagree with him following her. This was bigger than both of their problems so Gwen pushed any anger for him out of the way, focusing on what was really important.They got to Paria-Drae in record time and even faster than how they were the day before. Gwen was not sure how fast the Queen could move but she definitely did not escape the castle to walk on foot anywhere. Which meant that she had a headstart.Once they were back in Paria-Drae, Gwen sent Ace to go check on her parents while she went to find Mr. Ric
Gwen was then forced to explain everything that happened in detail to her parents. She'd never felt so small in her life. The look the both of them were giving her while she told the story made her regret telling them. She should have just told Mr. Rickeys, made him keep an eye on them, and then ran back to Estril where she would have been safe.And what made the experience even worse was that Ace was right behind her. He was just standing in the corner looking out of place as he watched Gwen get scolded by her parents. He had even tried to speak up for her but she shut that down quickly."I told you not to speak. Shut it or go back outside." she turned swiftly, snapping at him.Puckett closed his mouth and looked away."Wait, what exactly is your relationship with this young man?" her father asked."He's a parasite," Gwen said dismissively. "Now, if we're