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They rode swiftly with the sounds of the marching army behind them. Jax never spoke unless to give directions, and neither did Ethelind. They passed a few villages and sometimes even faced attacks by civilians and local militias, but they were easy to defeat, especially since most of them were just groups of farmers running at them and hefting large spades above their heads. If it weren't for their stupidity, Ethelind would have almost felt sorry for them.

They only stopped four times on their way to Valkitia to rest and eat, taking watches and sending out scouts to make sure they wouldn't be ambushed, and, soon enough, Ethelind spotted the towering spires and pillars of Valkitia gleaming ahead. Bracing herself, she turned to the soldiers, taking a deep breath. For all she knew, it would be one of her last, but she wanted to encourage morale in these tired soldiers.

"We are not cowards," she shouted, projecting her voice so it would reach as many people as possible. "We are never cowards! We will ride in there, and we will sweep through. We do not surrender, and we do not quit. For the North, we fight, and if we die, then that is how the gods have willed it. May they bless and aid us in this battle, and we may vanquish our enemies. We will be indomitable!" She raised her sword in the air and roared: "Until the morrow!"

"Until the morrow!" The soldiers called back.

As the soldiers turned to offer their own valedictories to one another, Ethelind turned to Jax. Their horses were so close that she could have reached over and pushed him.

"Jax..." Ethelind stopped, contemplating what to say next, before going for the simplest option. "Until the morrow, then."

Jax looked at her with something resembling sorrow. They both knew it could be their last battle but knew better for proper goodbyes. "Until the morrow, then."

And he leaned over his horse, still gripping his reins, and kissed her gently on the lips, once. After he pulled away, she smiled knowingly, hiding the blush creeping across her cheeks, and pulled down the visor of her helmet before pushing her horse ahead of his.

As soon as they emerged in sight of Lynne's palace and Valkitia, arrows rained down at them, flying through the air. The Eastern soldiers had already moved into formation, but the Northerners waited for a command.

"Positions!" Jax yelled.

In synchronisation, the soldiers snapped to attention and raised their shields to create a wall against the arrows, then marched forward.

Ethelind and Jax moved off their horses and joined in with the steady march. Even though their catapults and battering rams had been destroyed when their ships crashed, they had cut trees in the woods to hastily make rams and ladders of vines and logs. The strongest men surged forward with the ladders and threw them into place, at a dangerous angle across the moat, letting the front lines advance and begin to climb.

They were answered with burning oil from the battlements or the ladders being flung off. The screams of the men rang through their ears and they watched some soldiers jump into the moat just to escape the oil.

"Now!" Ethelind called and the arrows of their soldiers shot up, aiming for the men on the battlements.

The rest charged as a battering ram was lifted by a strong group of Adebiyi's elite guard. They all moved with carefully measured movements, their faces set even as their comrades died around them.

THUD! The ram smashed forwards. The arrows and oil continued to come down, but every time a Northerner or Southerner fell, they were replaced.

The wooden entrance was easily destroyed.

"And you'd think they would know how to make a metal portcullis," Jax muttered as he stepped beside her.

"These are just the walls for the city, excluding the palace. And the West aren't used to war. Not like they used to be," Ethelind replied.

The soldiers marched in steadily, making sure to not charge or do anything stupid. They kept to a strict rhythm, ordered and collected to keep their formation in place.

The Western people cowered in their homes, their fearful eyes watching from the confines of their rooms. They were ignored, all eyes on the most important goal. Lynne's palace. Any brave souls who got in their way were cut down without a second glance.

They stopped outside the castle walls and all the archers lit their arrows with fire, aiming at the soldiers waiting for them.

"What are your demands?" a guard called down from a platform on the roof. Around him, archers pointed their arrows at the army.

"I demand you to open your gates," Ethelind answered loudly. "We would not like to set this beautiful palace on fire."

The soldiers banged their swords and spears against their shield in agreement.

"Access denied." The guard gave a weak grin in return. He was too far up to be properly seen, but his voice rang clearly across the space between them.

"Well, then we'll have to gain access ourselves, I'm afraid," Ethelind replied. "What is your name?"

The guard moved forward to lean against a pillar. As he stepped into the light, it was easier to see his smiling face.

"We all know yours, my lady. Very well. I am Leandro, the head guard, and I am here on behalf of Queen Lynne of the West, wife to the late King Filip and warden of the West. Protector of all who live here, namely our humble farmers. And what are you protector of again?"

An arrow whistled towards his head and he ducked, letting it sail overhead.

"The cheek of it," someone muttered.

"I am Ethelind Eternel, daughter to Reagan Eternel and Dinah Everwood," Ethelind replied. "And I may not protect, but I defend things. Such as the honour of the North." She smiled wryly. "I'll give you one more chance to surrender this castle."

"We may not be distinguished fighters," Leandro said. "But we are prepared to try, anyway."

"Then come down and greet us properly," Ethelind suggested, spreading her arms.

The area went deadly quiet as the young man stared at the army and Ethelind, weighing his options. Then Leandro turned and disappeared without a response. Arrows were fired from both armies and ladders were passed down the lines, some salvaged from the ships and some made from wood. There was no moat around Lynne's palace, so it was easy to run forward and put them up, or to throw up grappling hooks.

The burning oil and arrows responded and wave after wave of Northern soldiers ran forwards.

"On three?" Jax asked, turning to Ethelind.

"Countdowns bore me. One!" Ethelind said, and they ran together.

The sounds of human suffering never ceased as Ethelind and Jax climbed a ladder, their grip slippery and the sturdiness of the ladder uncertain. Ethelind had to use her good arm to pull most of her body weight up and she relied heavily upon her good stamina and strength to get up. They were noticed as Ethelind's head reached the top, but Ethelind had already unsheathed Silence and was driving it into the nearest guard the second her feet went over. All around, the same was happening, and many Northerners were pushed off to their deaths before they could get anywhere. But not Ethelind.

She attacked viciously and relentlessly, her sword ringing in a blur of motion as it went from side to side with the shield on her weak arm blocking attacks. She ended up back to back with Jax and they blocked attacks from both sides with no chance of being ambushed. Ethelind's fury drove her on and adrenaline coursed through her as she fought, her sword becoming an extension to her arm.

Then a teenager stepped in front of her, hands up, out of range of her sword. Blonde, handsome, and short, with a few freckles dotting his face.

"Edward Braxton?" Ethelind asked, hesitating ever so slightly.

The boy bowed before turning and sinking his sword into the stomach of a Western soldier that had been charging at them.

"Landon will be glad to see you," Ethelind informed him, blocking an attack to her left with her shield.

"I very much doubt that, however I will gladly go to him," Edward said. "But first, this castle must be taken over."

He turned and disappeared into the crowds. Ethelind parried a blow and slashed the soldier attacking her at his waist, almost severing him in half.

"Kill count: seventeen," Ethelind said behind her shoulder.

She was surprised to get a response.

"Eighteen," Jax replied.

It was easier when they were just numbers to be added up, not human beings with souls and families and lives.

"I'll beat that." Ethelind stepped away and ran into battle, some Northerners behind her. It was easy to push her way in, her sword moving back and forth in a dangerous dance.

When she next blinked, Leandro was there, attacking her to the left while she was occupied to the right. Ethelind stepped backward, tripped on a body, and fell flat on her back. Her shield instantly went to defend her upper body; just in time for Leandro's sword to go right through her already weak shield in a powerful blow, missing being lethal.

"There are many days to die," Ethelind sneered. "But I refuse for it to be at the hands of a Westerner."

She flung her shield at his face as a distraction and looked down to find a streak of red seeping through her shirt from where his sword had pierced the top of her skin.

It's a shallow cut, she told herself and went after him, her sword spinning, and powered through. Leandro struggled back as she attacked and soon had him disarmed. He used his shield to block her attacks, moving it frantically to deflect all lethal blows even while he was disarmed.

A flash of silver glinting off the sun distracted her and her head turned as she saw the familiar face of a girl with her dirk spinning and flashing, weaving so quickly that it was almost impossible to catch her.

Ethelind kicked Leandro, pushing the sole of her foot into his stomach and knocking him to the ground.

Ethelind looked again for Katana Westerling, but she was already gone, most likely a figment of her imagination. Leandro took her moment of distraction to roll free and run, disappearing from her view. Ethelind cursed but didn't pursue, instead running down the staircase to the open doors where Northerners were streaming through to get into the palace. Bodies covered the marble floors in blood, desecrating the purity of the palace. She kept going and attacked anyone who came at her, heading to the largest tower.

Then she saw once again the small body, jumping from Northerner to Easterner with a small blade moving too quickly to watch.

She's working for the West, Ethelind realised as bodies fell at random, heads pulled under the wave of soldiers as the girl darted around.

Then Katana stopped and noticed Ethelind. Her eyes widened as they watched each other, frozen momentarily, and then she was gone, disappearing again.

What are you playing at? Some anger washed over her as she watched Katana. I looked after you; I protected and defended you, and now you dare turn against me?

Ethelind continued to fight, mentally counting each kill.

Twenty-six.

Twenty-seven.

She hoped Jax would bring Lynne out in shackles to surrender the palace to her, but Lynne was nowhere to be seen, nor Katana.

Ethelind had just finished emptying the courtyard of Western soldiers when Jax came to her, a woman dragged behind him.

"Lucrezia," Jax said.

"I got thirty-five," Ethelind informed him.

"Thirty-one," Jax replied. He turned to the soldiers following him. "Do a check of the area. Make sure that no foe still breathes unless they are valuable as a prisoner or if they surrender."

Giving them the option of surrender is cowardice, Ethelind thought, thinking back to her own surrender and how much it had affected her. She would not have been so merciful, but Jax had always been more honourable than her.

The Eastern soldiers saluted, and all disappeared except for the two holding Lucrezia. Looking at her, Ethelind saw she didn't have fair features, but where she lacked in looks, she made up for in the thick locks of dark hair trailing down her shoulders, and her dark, dark eyes. There was a look of fierce defiance on her face as she struggled against the guards, continually trying to smash her elbow into them.

"Take Lucrezia and get out. Head North, I trust both of you. I will be with you soon," Jax said.

"Get your bloody hands off me!" Lucrezia snapped, swatting at the two guards who didn't even bat an eyelid.

"Where's Lynne?" Ethelind demanded, walking forwards to stand directly in front of the woman.

Lucrezia instantly stopped struggling and grinned at Ethelind without humour. There was something chilling in that smile and Ethelind almost shuddered, only just stopping herself.

"She's already gone," Lucrezia told her, then laughed. "You came too late."

Go Lynne 😎

Love you all,
Shelly x