Chapter 4

3rd Person P.O.V

Several months had passed since Theodora's promotion to general, and several months since she and John had started dating. The war was still going strong, but the American forces had managed to win many of the battles they fought. Theodora had also been using the cover of night to lead a small team, which included Alexander, John, Lafayette and Hercules, to infiltrate British camps and steal supplies, which included food and ammunition. Without this strategy, the American forces were likely to have collapsed long ago and lost the war. Thanks to the supplies they'd managed to steal, they managed to keep going and continue to fight. That day, they were locked in a fierce battle against British forces, and there had been casualties on both sides. However, that particular battle ended in a stalemate. Theodora led her troops back to camp, but then noticed that John and Lafayette were missing.

"Where's John and Lafayette?" Theodora answered.

"Still out on the battlefield. Lafayette got injured during the battle, and John stayed to help him." Alexander answered. Theodora's gaze darkened before she pulled herself up onto her horse and then rode back out onto the battlefield, quickly spotting the two behind a large boulder. She rode over to them and dismounted, which caused them to look up at her.

"Theodora. Lafayette took a bayonet straight to the leg. He's in no shape to walk." John told her, gesturing to the stab wound on the Frenchman's leg. Theodora grabbed the medical pack that had been in her horse's saddle pack, and used several bandages to create a tourniquet, which she tied tightly around the wound. The sound of shouting made her look up, seeing a group of British soldiers headed their way.

"Go. Take my horse and get back to camp. I'll meet you there." Theodora said. John looked reluctant, but helped Theodora get Lafayette onto the horse, before he pulled himself up into the saddle in front of Lafayette. Theodora gave them both a nod, before John spurred the horse and rode back to the camp. Theodora drew both her guns and started firing at the approaching British troops, all of whom were on horses. Theodora started running, successfully diverting their attention away from her friends, but also moving away from the American camp. There was a gunshot, before a bullet hit Theodora just above her left knee, but she managed not to keep herself from shouting out in pain, and instead kept going after quickly ducking behind a boulder and using her pocketknife to dig out the bullet and used spare bandages to stop the flow of blood. Then, she got to her feet and kept running as best she could with her injury. The sound of horse hooves made her look up, just as the blade of a bayonet slashed across her forehead, narrowly missing her right eye. The cut went from the middle of her forehead in a diagonal line that stopped at the corner of her eye. Theodora knew for a fact that it would later scar, before her legs buckled beneath her, her injured leg unable to support her any longer.

"This would be a rubbish place to die, on the battlefield aged just 17 years old." Theodora said to herself. But before she could contemplate any further, something hard collided with the back of her head, knocking her to the ground.

'Alex, John, I'm sorry.' Was the last thing on Theodora's mind before her world went black and she knew no more.



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Theodora didn't regain consciousness until several hours later, and she was left with a slight headache. Dark red blood had matted her equally dark brown hair on the right side of her face, and it had also dried, which did not amuse the teenager. At first, she thought she was back at the American camp, until two facts registered in her mind. The first thing being that there was a British flag on the wall of the tent she was in. The second thing was that she was tied up against a post, leaving her unable to move. The sound of approaching footsteps made her look up in time to see a British general enter the tent.

"I see that you're awake. Perhaps then things will be over quickly. You are now a prisoner in our camp, and will remain as such unless your allies surrender to us and give up fighting this war. Now, you will tell me exactly how many men in your army, and the name of your commander." The man said, and Theodora almost wanted to roll her eyes at the man's stupidity and arrogance. It should've been obvious to him that there was no way she would ever betray her allies like that, especially not her commander. It only when her silence agitated the man that he finally turned to look at her, and apparently only just noticed that she was female.

"So, my men were telling the truth when they told me the soldier they'd captured was female. The Americans are so desperate, they're actually recruiting women to help them fight. A woman's job is to stay at home and look after the house and family, not try and be equal to men." The man said. Theodora glared at the man, using every ounce of willpower she had to bite back her retorts. Her gaze swept the tent, and she quickly spotted her weapons at the far side of her tent. Multiple escape plans were already forming in her mind, but she knew exactly how to keep her expression neutral, so that no one would be able to tell she was plotting. The only person who had ever been able to see through her was Alexander, mainly because he had known her for her entire life. Theodora could still feel her pocketknife, which was hidden in her boot, and knew exactly what she was going to do. Eventually, the British general left the tent, leaving Theodora alone with only her thoughts for company, which was the perfect opportunity to continue planning her escape.


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It took three days before Theodora finally completed her escape plan. She had been held prisoner that entire time, going without food and water. But living in poverty for the majority of her life meant the feeling of hunger was no stranger to Theodora, as she had long since learned how to ignore the pains of hunger. She waited until night fell, as she knew only one soldier would be stationed outside the tent she was being held captive in. Once she knew night had fallen, Theodora made her move. With some difficulty, she removed her pocketknife from her boot and started cutting through the ropes binding her wrists and body. The severed ropes fell to the ground as Theodora proceeded to cut the ropes binding her ankles. Then, she slipped her pocketknife back into her boot and stood up. However, her escape attempt hadn't gone unheard, and the soldier stationed outside entered the tent, immediately noticing that Theodora was free. The teenager immediately grabbed the bayonet near her and used it to hit the soldier over the head, knocking him unconscious, but she grabbed him before he fell and laid him gently on the floor. After all, she didn't want her escape to be noticed before she'd even gotten out of the tent. She picked up the ropes that had previously been used to bind her, and proceeded to use them to bind the man's wrists and ankles. Then, she used her pocketknife to cut a length of material from the man's coat and tied it over the man's mouth. Once she had done that, she dragged him to the corner of the tent and threw a blanket over him to cover him up. She grabbed her weapons and silently left the tent. The darkness made it harder for her to navigate through the tents, but she managed well enough, though she had to stop briefly because she was reminded of her injured leg. Theodora was glad she'd had the foresight to take out the bullet, otherwise her wound would've become infected and she definitely would have died by now. It was simply by chance that Theodora had stopped by the supplies tent. Getting an idea, she slipped inside and immediately found more than enough supplies and ammunition for the British to win the war three times over. Theodora grabbed fourteen nearby saddlebags, ensuring that she had an even number. From there, she filled five of the bags with food, five bags with ammunition, and the remaining four bags with medical supplies. She slipped a red coat on over her military uniform, before she picked up the bags and left the tent, which was now missing a very significant decrease in the supplies it had previously contained. Then, after some debate, she took five red coats and folded them, placing them into another saddlebag, before exiting the tent. The red coat she was wearing allowed her to blend in and avoid suspicion. With luck, her escape wouldn't be noticed until morning, by which time she would be back at her own camp. She found a nearby horse and loaded all the saddlebags, making sure they were secure before pulling herself up into the saddle, eliciting a quiet gasp of pain as she agitated her injured leg, which caused it to start bleeding and further staining her already blood-soaked trousers. After making one last check that everything was secure, she rid herself of the red coat and dropped it to the ground before spurring the horse and riding away.

"And good riddance. Now just to make it back to camp, and then get my injuries seen to and get this dried blood out of my hair." Theodora said to herself as she rode away from the British camp.

"Don't worry John. I'm coming back. Back to you." Theodora said, though she did find it amusing that she was more concerned about how worried John probably was rather than Alexander, her own brother.
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The next day finally came, and it immediately saw John pacing anxiously around the inside of his tent. He had been doing this repeatedly ever since Theodora had been captured by the British. Alexander, Lafayette and Hercules had also all been worried, but they had managed to refrain themselves from pacing. Initially, they'd wanted to launch a rescue mission, but George had told them that it was too risky, even though he too was very concerned about Theodora. Suddenly, the sound of shouting caught their attention, and the four of them raced to the border of the camp, where they spotted a single rider headed their way. The rider then slowed their horse and dismounted, though it was not lost on them that they stumbled slightly upon landing. The rider then started to lead the horse in their direction, and when they looked up, John felt relief flood through him when he saw that the rider was none other than Theodora. Unable to help himself, he let out a shout of joy and ran towards Theodora and swept her into his arms once he was close enough. Theodora hugged him tightly, and then waited until John set her down before she kissed him with a fierce passion, which John had no hesitation in returning. A pointed clearing of the throat made the two pull apart, before Theodora turned to see Alexander, Lafayette and Hercules all standing there. Theodora gave a smirk before she hugged both Lafayette and Hercules. Then, once she'd released them, she turned and leapt into her older brother's arms, laughing as he spun her around. Alexander set his sister down, and then immediately frowned upon noticing the dried blood in her hair.

"Theo, what happened to you?" Alexander asked in concern.

"I got this one from a bayonet, and I got this one when I got shot in the leg while running. I was trying to divert their attention from Lafayette and John so that they could get back to camp and get Lafayette medical attention." Theodora answered, gesturing to the cut on her forehead, and to the extremely noticeable bloodstain on her left leg.

"Theo, you need medical attention." John said.

"Nope, I need to report to General Washington and let him know I'm safe." Theodora said. She took hold of the horse's reins and started to walk towards George's tent.

"Oh no. You look like you're about to collapse any second. I'll get General Washington." Hercules said, stopping Theodora from going any further before heading towards George's tent. He entered the tent, which caused George to look up at him.

"Mulligan, what's going on?" George asked.

"Sir, General Hamilton has returned and wishes to see you, but she is badly injured and unable to walk very far." Hercules answered. George got up from his seat and followed Hercules back to where Theodora was waiting with Alexander, John and Lafayette.

"General Hamilton, I'm glad to see that you managed to return." George said.

"Yes sir, General Washington. However, I did not return empty-handed. While I was making my escape, I found their supplies tent. They had enough food and ammunition to win the war three times over. I stole as much as I could carry and brought it back with me. I believe I stole at least half of their supplies. Food, ammunition, medical supplies. I brought it all. I also stole five British uniforms should the time come for us to raid their camp again." Theodora informed him, gesturing to the saddlebags on the horse. George then noticed her injuries.

"Hamilton, Lafayette, Mulligan, take the food and ammunition to the supplies tent. Laurens, get a medic for General Hamilton, and take the medical supplies with you." George ordered.

"Yes sir, General Washington." All four spoke in unison. Alexander, Lafayette and Hercules unloaded the bags containing food and ammunition, while John took the bags containing medical supplies, before he took the supplies and Theodora to the medical tent. However, John noticed how thin Theodora was a lot thinner than she had been before the British had captured her, and this was enough to make him stop walking.

"Theodora, how badly did they treat you after they captured you?" John asked, getting Theodora to look him in the eye.

"They kept me tied up the entire time. They tried questioning me about our allies not long after I regained consciousness, but that didn't work because I refused to say anything. It is not uncommon for prisoners of war to be treated badly. I went those entire three days without food, but that didn't really bother me because I spent the majority of my life living in poverty, so I could easily ignore the feelings of hunger. But even I will admit, keeping someone tied up for three days without any food is going to far." Theodora answered. John could easily see the pain in Theodora's brown eyes, so he held her close to him and bent his head down to give her a gentle kiss, which was reciprocated after several moments.

"Theo, I promise you that I will do the best I can to protect you from them. I know we're in the middle of war, and you have a higher rank than I do, but at the end of the day, you're still my girlfriend and still a teenager, and therefore it is my duty to look out for you." John said, which earned a faint smile from Theodora. With that, John led her to the medical tent, and helped her walk inside.

"I need a medic for General Hamilton!" John shouted, and two doctors immediately came over and took Theodora to one of the available spaces.

"Laurens stays with me." Theodora said, her tone leaving no room for arguments.

"Of course, General Hamilton." The doctors said. John sat next to Theodora, keeping hold of her hand to reassure her that he was there while the doctors cleaned away the blood from her wounds, and then applied fresh bandages to the wound on her leg.

"The wound on your leg will take a couple of weeks to heal. I will advise you not to fight in any battles until you're fully healed." One of the doctors said.

"Understood." Theodora said, knowing that they were being serious. Once the doctors were done, John handed over the medical supplies Theodora had stolen from the British forces, before the two of them left the tent and went to find Alexander, Lafayette and Hercules, all of whom were waiting by their tents.

"What was the news?" Alexander asked, still highly concerned for his younger sister.

"I am not allowed to fight for two weeks until my leg heals, and the wound above my eye is most likely going to scar." Theodora answered.

"Well, at least it will be a way for you to prove that you actually fought in the war, mon amie." Lafayette commented.

"That is true, but it really hurt. I'm lucky that I have John, because no man would look at a woman with scars." Theodora said.

"I have no doubt that Alexander would not hesitate to beat up any man who looked at you wrong. We've all seen how protective he is of you. Both he and Laurens were extremely worried about you over the past few days. All four of us were." Hercules said.

"Well, at least I know I have you four to count on, no matter what." Theodora said.

"Of course, but now you're going to get some rest. Your wounds need to heal." Alexander said.

"Alex! I am your general, so you can't order me around." Theodora said.

"I'm not telling you as a soldier. I'm telling you as your older brother and technically still your legal guardian until you turn eighteen." Alexander countered. Theodora tried to come up with a good comeback, but quickly found that she couldn't, so she resorted to doing the immature thing and stuck her tongue out at her brother, which earned laughter from Lafayette, John and Hercules, before John escorted Theodora back to her tent and helped her to sit down before sitting next to her.

"I was really worried about you the entire time you were gone." John said, to which Theodora gave a soft smile.

"Well, I'm back now, and that's what matters." Theodora said, wincing slightly as she moved her leg.

"I know I'm not letting you out of my sight for the next two weeks." John said.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Theodora said, moving over a little before leaning into John, who wrapped an arm around her. The two were content to stay like that, glad to be together again after the ordeal, and they were determined not to let anything separate them ever again.

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