The torture continued as we waited. It felt like every moment that passed was doing so slower than the last. To their credit, not a single person looked like they were uncomfortable waiting.
They had probably been in a battle before. I didn't even know if Chant had ever been attacked after Dominic's rule began. It was safe to assume that it hadn't happened. The council would've been more confident in our preparation of war if they'd known what to do. They would've been more confident if they had a better leader.
During one of the meetings when Jamon was still antagonising me, he'd said something that had cut me deep. Even though I knew it had all been an act, his remarks had stung. He'd implied that I was just a girl playing at being queen. I was incapable.
He had voiced one of my deepest insecurities. Sure Dominic loved me and I him, but marrying the King didn't mean you were fit to be Queen. A queen would know what to do under siege. A queen would be confident in her home.
Footsteps alerted me about Mira's arrival. She said that Nish's army was spreading out while fighting our men outside the walls. Most Deskans were sticking close to the castle walls, away from the action.
"How're the spies holding out?" I asked, anxious.
"Thinning the enemy out slowly." She frowned, "Those snakes are great fighters."
"I know."
They had managed to attack Dominic twice. They'd come close to killing him both times. I shuddered just thinking about the incidents.
"And our troops?" I asked, fearing the answer.
"Not that bad actually." She reassured, "Our numbers are low but Dahar was right. Their entire force isn't made up of Deskans, the other soldiers are easier to be dealt with. There is something else though..."
I nodded, wanting her to go on.
"It seems that the soldiers wearing our colours have been a recent addition. I spotted about six of them running towards the palace. I couldn't see very far out in the forest and so I don't know exactly what direction they're coming from." She frowned. "Perhaps they've been camping all along, perhaps they're just arriving."
So their numbers were increasing slowly. That was bad news.
"Any sighting of Nish?" I asked, dreading the answer.
She shook her head.
"He won't show his face. Not this soon." She grimaced, "he will wait till he can safely move past our forces."
"Hopefully that won't happen anytime soon." I sighed, "as long as the fire keeps burning, we have a chance. Soon we can send some archers back to the roof and start attacking again. We need to support our troops outside."
Just as I finished my sentence I heard thunder cracking in the sky. It was followed by a tiny rain drop that fell straight onto my head. I turned to Mira, horrified.
"No...." I gasped, if it rained our main line of defence would be gone. The fires would extinguish. If the Deskans entered, we were done for.
Things didn't go our way. It began to drizzle soon.
"How long till the fire goes out ?" Mira asked.
"It should hold against this much rain. Hopefully the storm will pass soon." I said, not believing a word I said. I could see that the thunder was here to stay.
Just great.
"Oh well." Mira gulped, "we had anticipated the fires going out at some point right?"
Anticipated yes but we had still hoped they wouldn't. Our healers had warned us against potential bad weather. We had still wagered on the chemical and taken action. Good thing we had, it had bought us some time at the very least.
We needed a new plan, and quick. We needed archers back on the rooftop. We needed archers on the towers. We needed to support our sword fighters. There was nothing left to do except battle on the ground. I conveyed the plan to the soldiers shielding us as well as to Jessica. Spreading the word was their duty.
Mira and I were of better service on the ground. Sure we had good aim but I could attract more targets and our people would hopefully take them out. I couldn't hide behind a bow and arrow on a podium or the roof.
Coming down from the stage, I swayed slightly and Mira caught me. I leaned on her and breathed hard.
How long had we been fighting for?
I wondered just how much time had passed between the start of the attack and the present. The sky gave no indication. Storm clouds were gathering slowly and surely, blocking out any light from the moon or the stars. It hadn't felt like long but I was extremely tired. Mira straightened me as we leaned against a nearby pillar. The rain was growing steady.
"Just need a minute." I winced, my legs hurting.
She looked worried for a second but determination replaced that look soon. Instructing a few men to take our place on the stage, she took my hand and squeezed.
I was about to thank her when I heard hoofbeats. A significant amount of them. Horses neighed and Mira looked to me with shock. The sound was unmistakably that of a charge. Someone was charging towards the palace.
"Who did you mean when you said help was on it's way?" She questioned, yelling a little to be heard over the increasing rain.
"Why?" I shouted, my heard beating faster by the moment.
"Nish's army didn't have horses. They travelled on foot." She explained quickly, "It has to be someone else."
"How will we know?" I gasped.
"Please trust me..." she looked at me with imploring eyes.
"I sent word to Ralia as well as Aris." I said, lowering my voice a little, "I also heard that Dominic was on his way back."
We heard unified chanting outside.
"Ho! Ha! Ho! Ha!"
Once again there were war cries outside the palace. There was a fight. I was terrified for our troops. What if they were Nish's allies ?
"Aris. These are fighters from Aris." She smiled, "That's their signature chant. They're the best fighters in the nation."
Maria did it!
The rain grew further to the point where it was almost hurting my skin.
"Take cover!" Someone yelled and the troops mobilised, rushing back towards the indoors.
"Let's get you inside. We can't shoot blind, we can't risk hurting our people." She grabbed my hand once again and we jogged once more.
Mira dragged me to the kitchen this time and all but pushed me in on a seat. Beluh rushed to me with a towel and dried my hair. I was about to ask her why she wasn't with the rest of the civilians but she interrupted me.
"You can't catch a cold." She admonished.
"We're in the middle of a war and you're worried about a runny nose ?" I chuckled, letting my eyes shut for a moment.
"You're not hurt are you?" Mira asked, alarmed. I wondered if she knew about my potential pregnancy.
"No." I assured her, "just tired."
"It's supposed to be day but the damn storm just won't pass." Beluh grumbled, feeding me a warm liquid.
That meant it had been a day and a half since we found out about Nish's attack. A day since Jace and Ariadne had left. It had taken me a total of five days to reach Ralia. However, we had been travelling at a comfortable speed back then. Despite that, I knew it was too soon to expect any help from Ralia.
It had also been two days since I'd received Dominic's letter. He had promised to be back within five days.
3 more days...
That was longer than ideal but I knew they were all coming. That was the silver lining amidst all this chaos.
"Stop trying to put me to bed." I frowned at Beluh, cracking one eye open.
"It'll help you fight. I made it with Cleo's help." She said, resuming to feed me spoon by spoon once more.
True enough, I felt my body replenish. My thoughts were clearer as the fatigue melted away. Even though I was still sore, the pain was now bearable. I drank the rest as quickly as I could. We couldn't rest forever.
The fighters from Aris had bought us some time but I knew that with the fires out, our main defence was down. Nish was going to find a way in. Our numbers were looking better but the enemy didn't mind playing dirty.
Please please please...
I hoped our people would be successful in holding the Deskans off. They were my main worry. Neither Ralia nor Hara had managed to find and send us an antidote. Hoping for a cure was out of question.
"Time to go." I groaned, unsheathing my sword as I stood up. It had been hanging at my waist as dead weight all this time.
"Good luck." Beluh hugged me to my surprise.
"Any chance I can convince you to join the civilians into hiding?" I sighed, already knowing what she was going to say.
"Your grace, I'd rather feed our people till my dying breath." She smiled, at ease with herself. There was no worry on her face. I wondered if it was because she had accepted both outcomes or because she trusted we would win.
"Come on." Mira muttered and we went back outside.
To our surprise the fire still wasn't completely out yet but there were patches of dry land that the enemy was coming in from. Our troops were doing an excellent job.
Mira and I both charged at the same time. Deskans were charging through but our archers were doing a great job of killing them while our troops kept them busy. That was the best we could do. It was slightly unfair but winning against them in one to one combat was nearly impossible.
We didn't have to kill anyone. Anytime anyone got too close to us, they were shot dead. I also saw archers on the roof targeting only those that tried to attack us.
I knew it was hard for them to differentiate between the enemy and due to the outfits. Perhaps that's why they were wearing them, to create confusion. That's why they had gone for our archers first, perhaps they knew that we would be weak against them if the battle shifted to the ground completely. That couldn't be all, it seemed a bit far fetched.
The fact that soldiers from Aris had arrived made me feel much better. By any luck, the word would spread across the kingdom soon and more help would arrive before the civilians inside the castle were found.
We noticed some of the spies joining the battle inside. They had formed a loose circle around Mira and I. It was probably for my benefit and I wondered if Dahar had put them up to it.
"I need to speak to Dahar real quick, they'll keep you safe." Mira said, "don't go anywhere."
"Go." I told her, helping in what little way I could. The spies took care of almost everyone
Someone grabbed my arm and I whirled around. It was a girl in healers uniform.
"Your grace, you must come to the great hall at once!" She said, panic in her eyes.
"Why?" I frowned, she looked completely unfamiliar.
"Maria has been injured." She muttered urgently, "she's asking for you!"
No...
"Isn't Cleo with her?" I questioned, my heart in my throat.
"She is but you're grace....Maria might not survive...Madam Cleo wouldn't have sent me otherwise..." she explained.
"Take me to her." I muttered, ignoring the way her eyes lit up at that.
Something was definitely fishy, but if there was the slightest chance that what she was saying was true, I owed it to Maria to be there by her side.
If the girl was indeed lying, I wanted to find out what she was upto. Isolde was holding its own. I could afford to slip away for a brief moment.
"Tell Mira I'm in the great hall. The battle arena." I told one of the spies that nodded without sparing me a glance.
"Let's go then." The girl muttered with a grimace.