Eirian's speech was…not one for the record books, but they cheered anyway. Not very enthusiastically, but Eirian couldn't really blame them. She wasn't used to being the one who gave the speeches. That was usually Eric or one of his siblings, while Eirian stood next to them and looked official and supportive.
Eirian was still relatively new to the Camelia; it had barely been half a year since she'd shown up, and she still hadn't been out and about as much as she should have been as the Lady of the estate. So much had been happening that she hadn't had the time, and she definitely didn't have it now that she was riding off to war.
She would have to prove herself to the soldiers of the Crimson Army on the battlefield, and it was unlikely she'd get a second chance.
But no pressure.
Well, a lot of pressure, actually.
But Eirian thrived under pressure. Like a diamond, she got harder and clearer and sharper under pressure.
She didn't crack or fracture or crumble.
The Crimson Army would see that soon enough, and hopefully, they would see it in a positive light. There had definitely been some people who'd been scared of the result in the past, but Eirian doubted an army full of professional soldiers would feel that way.
She rode out at the head of the force, putting all her horsemanship to work keeping Fleet Goddess calm and at a walk when all the mare wanted to do was take off and race the wind.
Her four sub-commanders rode just behind her. Jin Wayland, who didn't belong to any of the noble families, had risen through the ranks on his skill, and Tanning Porlas, whose name was as strange as his colorful appearance, and like Wayland, didn't have any blood connection to the court. The other two were Vitali Colfax, a cousin of Henri and the only woman of the four, and Wen Chunhua, a member of the Wen main family who was dressed more grandly than even Eirian.
On top of her armor, she'd woven her hair in war braids and pulled it up into a half-pompador and then back into a ponytail, and it still fell to her waist.
Eirian had plenty of teachers who'd insisted long hair was dangerous in a fight, but Eirian loved her hair and had never been willing to give it up.
And she'd noticed that it did serve to intimidate some of her opponents, because they took it as a sign that she was just that unafraid.
Wen Chunhua's hair was piled into such a high bun that it actually gave him a few inches more in height, something she noted for the next time she decided to put her hair up.
All four of them had worked together before, according to their introductions a few days ago, but not regularly. They all represented different branches of the Crimson Army, Wen Chunhua the archers; Jin Wayland the cavalry; Vitali Colfax the infantry; and Tanning Porlas supply and defense.
Yuze had sent a sparrow that he was going to catch up with them tonight, and he'd be Eirian's intelligence commander, and Eirian was interested to see how all five of them worked together. Especially since they'd all be trapped together in a tent for however long this campaign lasted.
It made Eirian wonder how Chenzhou and Mingzhe were going to fare with their own sub-commanders.
It took four hours to reach the first branch in the road from the Camelia, and she called a halt for everyone to eat before they pushed through the afternoon sun. There was no rush, since they were already technically on the battlefield.
Eirian grimaced at the hard bread that was passed around, since the camp cooks weren't going to set up until they set up camp proper.
"Not a fan?" Vitali asked, though she didn't look any happier with her portion, which was a third of the size of Eirian's.
"I don't know who created this, but they should be hung and quartered," Eirian muttered and then shoved an entire piece in her mouth at once to get it over with.
"There were instructions that we needed to bring additional foodstuffs." Tanning commented, watching her chew. "Is it true you eat three times as much as a normal person?"
Vitali scoffed around her own mouthful, but she was clearly less surprised than the others.
Eirian nodded anyway, because it was hardly an embarrassing secret. "I start looking like a walking bag of bones after a day or two if I don't.
Tanning and Wayland shared a look.
Wen Chunhua stared at her like he was so curious he'd forgotten to be less obvious about it.
Vitali was the only one who didn't look surprised, which wasn't surprising since she was related to Marian.
Eirian sighed. "It's my magic." There was no point in trying to hide it, since she'd actually shown it off a bit since her arrival at the Camelia. "It requires fuel. Especially when I use it."
"What kind of magic?" Wen Chunhua asked immediately, like he'd just been waiting for the excuse. "My father said it looked like fire."
Eirian hadn't realized he was the son of Lord Wen, who was the only member of their family that had seen Eirian's magic in person. "It does most often, but it can manifest in different ways if needed."
She didn't want to give away too much, especially since she was still trying to figure out what it meant that she'd come from the world of the dead, and the dead and living worlds weren't supposed to mix. It would explain why her magic was so different than Mingzhe's or any other kind of magic she'd ever read about, but if it wasn't supposed to even exist in this world, if she wasn't, then how did she?
And she'd been born like a normal human, she had memories that stretched back far enough, paintings and witnesses and evidence that proved it.
So what did it mean that she'd been dead first and then living?
~ tbc