The western border was already burning when we arrived.
Smoke curled into the sky. Villages lay half-ruined. The scent of ash clung to the air like a warning.
Corvin banners flew above a captured watchtower.
They hadn't even tried to hide their rebellion.
Seraphine stood beside me on the ridge, eyes locked on the battlefield below. Her jaw was tight, but her hands were steady on the reins of her horse.
"They moved faster than expected," she said. "They want to force a war."
"They already have," I replied.
Behind us, Nightvale troops waited in silence. No cheering. No shouting. Only steel, breath, and the calm before blood.
In my first life, this battle had been a massacre.
I had arrived too late.
Not this time.
"General Nightvale," I said quietly.
She turned to me.
Not as a prince.Not as a politician.But as a commander.
"What is your plan?" she asked.
I met her gaze.
"We split them," I said. "They think we'll charge the front. We won't."
I pointed to the ravine cutting behind the watchtower.
"Send your fastest unit through there. I'll lead the center. When they move to crush me, you take their flank."
She studied the terrain. The distance. The risk.
Then she nodded.
"Understood."
No argument.
No hesitation.
Our eyes held for a moment longer than necessary.
"Don't die," she said.
A strange thing happened.
I smiled.
"Not today."
The horns sounded.
War exploded.
I rode straight into chaos.
Steel clashed. Arrows screamed through the air. Horses fell. Men shouted orders that were swallowed by the roar of battle.
Corvin troops rushed forward, just as I knew they would.
"Hold the line!" I shouted.
We met them head-on.
My blade moved on instinct. Strike. Parry. Turn. Blood sprayed across the dirt. My arms burned, but I did not slow.
In my first life, I had fought bravely.
But now…
Now I fought with memory.
I knew where they would push. Where they would break. Where their commander would hide.
A Corvin soldier lunged from my left.
Too slow.
I knocked his weapon aside and drove my sword into his armor.
Another rushed from behind.
I twisted—
And nearly fell.
The ground shook. My horse screamed as it collapsed beneath me.
I hit the dirt hard.
Pain shot through my ribs.
Boots surrounded me.
So this is where I died last time.
A blade rose above me.
Then—
A streak of silver.
Steel rang.
The enemy fell.
Seraphine stood over me, her sword dripping red, her eyes blazing.
"I told you," she said. "Don't die."
For a second, the battlefield disappeared.
There was only her.
I pushed myself up, breath ragged.
"You were supposed to be on the flank," I said.
Her lips curved slightly.
"I was… until I saw you fall."
Something tightened in my chest.
"Next time," I said, "trust the plan."
She stepped closer, her voice low.
"Next time, trust me."
Our eyes locked.
Not as prince and general.
Not as allies.
As something… dangerous.
A shout broke the moment.
"General! The left side is collapsing!"
Seraphine turned instantly.
"It's time," she said.
She raised her blade.
"Nightvale! Now!"
From the ravine, her forces surged like a storm.
Corvin's formation shattered.
Panic spread.
I mounted a fallen horse and charged.
This time, we crushed them.
By sunset, the watchtower was ours.
The Corvin banners burned.
Bodies littered the ground.
Victory.
The soldiers cheered.
I dismounted slowly, exhaustion settling into my bones.
Seraphine walked toward me, her armor stained, her hair loose from battle.
"You changed everything," she said.
"So did you."
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Wind carried the scent of smoke between us.
"You didn't fight like a royal," she said quietly. "You fought like someone who has already lost everything."
I met her eyes.
"Maybe I have."
Her gaze softened—just a little.
Then she looked away.
"Corvin will not stop here," she said. "They will come for you next."
I knew.
In my first life, this victory made me their target.
It was the beginning of my fall.
I stepped closer to her.
"If they come for me," I said, "I will stand with you."
She looked at me again.
Not as a general.
Not as an enemy.
As a woman deciding whether to trust the most dangerous man in the empire.
"…Then we stand together," she said.
I watched her walk away.
In my first life, this woman killed me.
In this one…
She had just saved my life.
And something told me—
Fate was already changing.