The group garnered some attention and Gwen saw the look on Captain Marcus’ face when he saw her. Relief. He was relieved and Gwen was relieved to see him as well. Gwen had also not seen Ace and she was glad that he didn’t come and annoy her. She was sure that the first thing out of his mouth would be some nonsense along the lines of:
“I didn’t actually think you would be able to survive. It was probably due to luck and nothing else. Or what, did you hide in the forest the entire time. Because while you were doing that, I was busy fighting for my country and trying to save us all. If you can’t even do this, then you should just go back to Naudis and not worry about things that concern you.”
Gwen clicked her tongue at the thought. Hoping that it would not come to that.
“Gwen,” the Captain said, approaching her.
The Captain had some bandages on his face and he w
Gwen had bandaged her entire hand and Doctor Reeves had not shown up yet. Her ear probably needed to be treated also but she was not doing that by herself. And definitely not with Ace in the room. She had packed up all the things she used and taken some extra gauge just in case. It was no surprise that everyone thought the war wasn’t over. They still had over a hundred men and the Paria-Drae soldiers were nowhere to be found. They were planning something and so no one was dropping their guard for a second. Gwen was not sure how many extra uniforms they had available but she hoped for more than just one. Gwen liked the comfort of the padded uniform and it also made her feel safe. And if this war got even messier and she had to go on without it, Gwen was not sure she would have the strength to. “Chester, go and find Doctor Reeves for me.” Ace said, stopping her from leaving. “And why should I?” Gwen turned around.
The rest of the day was spent cleaning up. All the blood and bodies. Everything. Gwen was not really happy about having to do that, but it was necessary. She had tried to use it as an excuse, not to treat Ace, but it wasn’t like she wanted to. After she helped Ace the best she could, she immediately left the room, looking for better things to do. The soldiers that weren’t being treated or resting, which accounted for most, were out cleaning. Gwen was not too tired, surprisingly, and so she was roped into the cleaning. But since she was not as strong as the other men, her job was cleaning up blood stains and severed limbs and things like that. Gwen wondered where all the bodies would go but she didn’t ask any questions about that. The bodies of their comrades would be buried but the twice as many bodies of the Paria-Drae soldiers, well, Gwen could not really take a good enough guess. It was estimated that two-thirds of P
When the group got to the river, it was surrounded by Paria-Drae soldiers. Gwen’s group had left in the evening and arrived at the river in the night. They moved as swiftly and as quietly as possible. The group had slowed a bit when they got to the destroyed part of the forest. Everything was blown to bits and what was left was just dirt and the occasional limb of a soldier.It was sad to see because Gwen really loved the forest. It was peaceful and beautiful. It really made Estril stand out from the other countries. And now, a big chunk of the forest was taken out. While setting up the explosives, the area around the river was obviously avoided. So if someone were to look from above, they would see just a random patch of green at the border of Estril, surrounded by desolate land.It was wide enough for the Estrillian soldiers and trees to hide behind. It would have been pretty weird if they were to try and sneak up on the enemy, but
It took longer than expected, but Gwen was able to get the guy down. It was a risky move to expose the fact that she was from Paria-Drae. If someone else had seen then it would have been a disaster. She would have had to go along with what they were doing and put the entire mission in jeopardy because of it. Gwen took the gun away from the man, just in case he decided to wake up and dragged him into a bush some ways behind them. When she looked up, Ace was already dealing with the person in front of him. He was taller than his target and so he simply choked them and dragged them back like how the others were doing. “What did you tell him?” Ace approached her. “What could you have said to him that made him not shoot you on the spot?” The more he talked to her the more upset she got. Gwen could not let her emotions get the best of her and so she just ignored him. If Gwen were to curse him out here then she was sure everyo
The voices around Gwen woke her up. Her head felt like it was full of cotton and her body felt like she was hit with a barrel. That definitely was not empty. Gwen remembered being shot and also being in a lot of pain. She leaned against a tree and then everything after that was just darkness. She must have lost consciousness due to the pain or blood loss. There were multiple people in the area but she didn’t know who they were and her brain could not put the words together properly enough for her to understand what they were saying. She would have called out, but the possibility of her being in the hands of the enemy was high. She was shot in enemy territory and was left alive by them, so they could have also captured her. Gwen wanted to open her eyes to see who was around her, but her eyes remained closed. Even willing them to open just a bit was a feat. And eventually, she lost consciousness again. The second time Gwe
Aside from the weird looks from everyone, and the fact that a war just ended. Everything was normal. And that meant that Gwen could go home. She had healed well over the couple of days that she was in the hospital room. She had realized that she was in the private room to more of the back of the front building. There were no other patients here and it had Gwen questioning why. It was not like her injury was that serious.There were people who lost limbs and yet she got an entire room for that. Gwen could not help but feel guilty. But no one said anything about it to her, she didn’t get any looks of disdain or have people question why so she guessed that it could have been a normal thing. But then again, where was this room when Ace, Mr. Top-priority, needed to be treated?Talking about Ace, she had not seen him since they were in the forest together. It was not like she wanted to and appreciated the time of peace she had. It was a bi
Once again, Gwen was sitting on the couch surrounded. They were not saying anything and were just eyeing her down. As if they would get their questions answered that way. Jonah has this scowl on his face and he studied her, she wished that she could tell what was going on in their minds but she was just lost. It reminded her of the situation back at the camp, everyone looked at her weirdly, kept their distance from her and she even spotted people whispering about her behind her back. They had not figured out that she was from Paria-Drae because there was no way that they could. And the General would not have kept his mouth shut about it and interrogated her until her head fell off. So what was it? There was one thing she was sure for certain, it had something to do with Ace. When she was out of her room one day she caught her name being thrown around in a group of people. Along with Ace’s name. She did not hear exactly what they were say
THIRD ARC Two months have passed since everything went down. When she got home, it took her about ten minutes to be able to open the door. She was incredibly nervous and had wondered what her parent’s reactions would be. It was hard to see their faces and how they morphed through different emotions when they saw her, but in the end, it was all good. Her mother was in shambles for hours and scolded Gwen to no end, but she assured her that everything with her was fine. They made a fuss over her injuries, but they didn’t hurt much and Gwen had to tell them that a few times before they calmed down. And then she had to tell them what happened, of course, she gave them the censored version and made everything lighter than it actually is. She also had to play down her pain, saying that she never felt anything because she was high on adrenaline the entire time. After that, her mother looked at her injuries. It was not the best
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