The cheers that had erupted throughout the camp slowly faded into the steady rhythm of preparation. Wagons creaked beneath their loads, horses were saddled, tents collapsed one after another, and the smell of damp earth mixed with wood smoke drifted through the morning air. The celebration was over.
The journey truly began now.
Standing beneath the shade of a lone tree, Morgana watched the mercenaries move with purpose. No one questioned the orders. No one hesitated. Everyone belonged somewhere.
Everyone except her.
Why...?
Why isn't it fair?
Her eyes found Hugo across the camp as he continued speaking with the officers.
In only two days... he's treated Aldreic more like a son than he has ever treated me.
The thought made her chest tighten.
Is it because I remind him of Mother?
She immediately hated herself for thinking it.
...Did Father hate Mother that much?
No.
That couldn't be true.
Yet no matter how many times she tried convincing herself otherwise, another question always followed.
Then why?
Why does he speak so warmly to strangers? Why does he explain things to everyone else? Why does everyone seem to deserve his trust except me?
She lowered her head.
Maybe... maybe I'm simply not enough.
Not far away, Aldreic watched the same scene from an entirely different perspective.
He couldn't understand it.
Why couldn't Morgana see that Hugo was only trying to protect her?
And why couldn't Hugo tell her at least something?
The longer it continued, the more painful it became to watch. Neither of them seemed willing to take even one step toward the other.
His thoughts drifted elsewhere.
Would my...
He stopped.
The image of Gareth and Nimue surfaced in his mind, blurred like a memory disappearing beneath fog.
Why did remembering them suddenly feel... heavy?
He knew he was supposed to feel something.
Anger.
Grief.
Hatred.
Anything.
Instead, there was only an uncomfortable pressure sitting somewhere inside his chest, a feeling too vague to name.
Does that make me strange?
Lately something else had been changing too.
Ever since the battle...
He found himself wanting another one.
The realization disturbed him.
The sound of steel.
The rush of danger.
The moment between life and death...
Instead of frightening him...
They drew him in.
His hearing had become sharper.
His sense of smell stronger.
Even his instincts seemed to whisper before his mind could think.
He had noticed it.
He simply had no way of explaining it.
A few paces away, Wulfric watched Hugo address the men.
I hope you're right, old friend.
His weathered hands folded behind his back.
The Baldwin family depends on this mission.
No... Dunmere depends on it.
You have to win.
---
Hugo finished speaking.
The roaring applause echoed across the camp, yet his eyes searched for only one person.
Morgana.
She stood beneath a tree, staring at the ground.
She never looked up.
A flicker of pain crossed his face before he quietly looked away.
I'm sorry, Morgana.
This mission is bigger than both of us.
And if everything falls apart...
His expression darkened.
You're my Plan B.
The thought sickened him.
He hated reducing his own daughter to another contingency.
Another move on a board.
I hope Plan A succeeds.
Because I'd rather die than force you onto that chessboard.
His gaze drifted across the camp until it settled on Aldreic.
The boy was speaking quietly with Wulfric.
Almost immediately Aldreic turned his head.
Their eyes met across the camp.
Hugo blinked.
...He noticed me?
The distance between them was considerable.
No normal person should have sensed someone watching.
A tired laugh escaped Hugo's lips.
This boy truly gives me the creeps.
He began walking toward him.
What a remarkable child.
Another thought followed almost immediately.
Perhaps...
Perhaps he's the final piece.
The realization left a bitter taste in his mouth.
He smiled, though there was little joy behind it.
I've become one of them.
Ready to build my future using children.
When he finally reached them, he looked directly at Aldreic.
"Walk with me."
Nothing more.
Just those three words.
Yet they stirred three different hearts.
Morgana watched her father walk away beside Aldreic.
Jealousy tightened around her chest once more.
Again...
Why is it always him?
Wulfric rubbed a hand across his face.
Hugo...
Are you doing this on purpose?
He glanced toward Morgana before sighing.
That relationship is drifting further apart by the day.
Aldreic looked back only once.
He saw Morgana standing alone.
For reasons he couldn't explain...
He felt sorry for her.
The command tent was already half dismantled by the time they entered. The large campaign table had been folded away, maps packed into leather tubes and chairs stacked neatly against the canvas wall. Only a few crates remained.
Hugo knelt beside one of them before carefully lifting out a worn leather belt.
Attached to it hung a small pouch.
He held it for a long moment before offering it to Aldreic.
"These are precious to me."
Aldreic accepted it carefully.
"The pouch..." Hugo said with a faint smile, "...was a gift from my daughter."
His thumb brushed against the worn leather.
"I carried my Bible everywhere I went. One day she complained that I was always stuffing it into my coat." He chuckled quietly. "She made this pouch so I could carry it properly."
His smile lingered only a moment before softening.
"The Bible itself..."
He looked down.
"...was a gift from Morgause on the day we married."
The words came slower now.
"She was the one who introduced me to God."
A quiet breath escaped him.
"Before I met her... I believed only in steel."
He gently placed the Bible into Aldreic's hands.
"I'm giving these to you because I meant what I said earlier."
He looked directly into the boy's eyes.
"Your life is going to be far harder than most men's."
There was no hesitation.
No doubt.
Only certainty.
"There will come a day when no sword can comfort you."
His hand rested lightly on the Bible.
"But perhaps this can."
Aldreic stared silently at the old leather cover.
He had never held a Bible before.
He didn't know what he was supposed to feel.
Hugo smiled warmly.
"I hope that no matter what happens..." he said quietly, "...you never lose hope in the world around you."
Aldreic slowly fastened the belt around his waist.
It fit surprisingly well.
Hugo nodded in approval.
"Looks good on you."
His eyes drifted toward Aldreic's empty left side.
"There's still room for a scabbard."
He smiled.
"Carry your sword on the left."
His hand rested briefly over the pouch.
"And your faith on the right."
For a brief moment neither of them spoke.
Outside, voices echoed across the camp.
Wheels began turning.
The column was forming.
Hugo stepped toward the entrance and pulled the tent flap aside.
"Come."
A faint breeze carried the scent of pine through the opening.
"It's time."
He looked toward the road stretching north.
"Vargarde awaits."