As a result, the duke’s sole allies were his literal partners in crime. His fate was such that his sole remaining option was to weather out the war before meekly begging the king for forgiveness. All the king’s side needed to fight were the duke’s private army and the criminals who were hiding in the duchy to avoid punishment. Among this last group was a group of former Orstollian knights who had committed many injustices under the old king’s rule, and an assassin squad of famous warriors of a far eastern land known as Aja.
King Roy’s troops had such an overwhelming advantage over the duke’s that the war could be ended with one decisive charge, but Roy wished to limit the number of casualties. Therefore, he worked to build a stranglehold around the duke, further cementing his chances of victory.
As a result, the squires were far removed from any horrors of war.
“Man, would it kill our commanders to let their guard down for a minute?” Slad complained as he stood on a pile of boxes to look out far over the campground. “Then maybe an enemy could slip through and attack the camp, and we’d finally get some action!”
“That’s a wicked thing to say,” Remie scolded him.
“That’s right,” said Gees. “There are some things you shouldn’t joke about.”
Slad whined. “Sorry,” he said, dejected at having been told off yet again.
Just then, much to Slad’s surprise, two people came to his aid—Rigel and Luka. The east dorm boys were doing the same sort of work not far from the north dorm squires’ station.
Rigel snorted derisively and said, “The boy speaks sense. Every day we are forced to transport packages and play lookout for the camp. Do you call that work befitting a knight?”
“Indeed,” said Luka. “And though we may be but squires, it is a great loss to Orstoll to not make the best of my genius ability.”
Their whining made Slad seriously reconsider his point. “Sorry,” he said. “I was wrong. No matter if it’s all quiet back here, our knights and soldiers are fighting in real danger.”
Remie smiled at him kindly. “Glad you understand now.”
Rigel snarled. “Nonsense! We won’t stand to be treated like this!”
“Yes,” cried Luka, “you’re all horribly beastly!”
However, no one appeared to back them up. In fact, when Persil showed up, he ignored the two of them and said to Queen’s group, “Sorry that my dorm mates are bothering you.” Rigel and Luka stared at Persil in shock (even he didn’t have their backs?) as Remie waved away his apology.
“It’s fine,” he said. “We’re used to it.” That was true, as after the East—North Interdormitory Duel, Rigel and Luka had been known to stop by the north dorm and play out similar arguments. One popular theory was that no one apart from the north dorm boys paid them any attention anymore.
As time went on, the king’s side continued to approach its...well, “actual” victory, so to speak. By the third week after the squires arrived, the amount of baggage to be transported dropped off altogether, and a week later, the war was over, in the king’s favor.
The squires began to take down and pack up the camp. While the boys were relieved that they had won, they couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit of disappointment.
“We never really saw any action, huh?” said one of the boys. The boys hadn’t goofed off for the entire war, and now that it was over, their sense of relief was overshadowed by their true concerns coming out in dribs and drabs. It was a universal fact of teenage boys—they loved situations with unimaginably high stakes.
“Yeah, I guess,” another squire said as he cleaned up. “But that’s life for you.”
“It’s better this way, right?” said a third.
Queen finished packing up his own things and turned to cleaning up the camp. He picked up an armful of heavy lumber and carried it away, thinking of Fie all the while. He still didn’t understand what she meant when she had said, “Will you marry me?” Well, no. He understood what the words themselves meant, but Fie was already married. Her going on to marry Queen was a whole other story, and Queen couldn’t imagine it at all.
I hope I can see her once we go home, Queen thought. Fie was presently still in the palace, and as such, he knew he wouldn’t be able to so much as lay eyes on her. It had been a month since she had shown up at his window.
The kingdom’s big problem was over, but Queen’s big problem, upon proper consideration, was as much of an issue as ever. Even once he came home, he still saw no opportunity to meet with her, let alone to be with her as her boyfriend. He wondered to himself, What’s going to happen now? Now that the crisis was over, the future was beginning to take on a more realistic tint in Queen’s mind, but his hopes for that future were still but vague, hazy desires.
Meanwhile, Queen completely forgot that he was carrying a large, heavy armload of wood.
“H-Hey, Queen, watch it!” a squire cried.
“Huh?” said Queen.
Suddenly, he felt something slide out of his arms and land on his foot with a dull, heavy thud. He yelped like a puppy.
“Queen!” cried one of the squires. “Are you okay?”
A few hours later, one of the military doctors, now with little to do in the wake of the finished battles, sat down in front of Queen and his freshly bandaged foot.
“You’ll be all better in one month,” he informed Queen. “You should rest in one of the nearby towns until then.”
So much for going home soon.
✦ ✦ ✦
The war ended with few casualties, with many of the duke’s men choosing to surrender and beg for their lives rather than die in the heat of battle. (Truly, what a bunch of small-time villains.)
“And with this, we’ve wrapped up a pretty big piece of business, huh?” said Crow.
“Yes, we have,” Roy agreed.
Now, with only the final tasks of taking in the captured criminals and returning to Wienne remaining, another part of the old king’s legacy was resolved. What a relief!
However, it was now time to face Roy’s own particular issue—namely, the one of his wife.
“What is to be done with Princess Fie?” he mused. The war had largely taken his mind off of her, as concerned as he was with saving the lives of his men, but he had still thought of Heath—or Fie, properly speaking—several times.
Crow frowned. It was rather odd to consider his cute, young squire friend Roy’s wife (never mind that she had been for some time already). “You guys are a couple,” he pointed out. “So where’s the harm in taking your time to figure things out?”
“We’re...a couple, you say?”
“I mean, yeah, you married her.” As odd as the word sounded on Roy’s tongue, they had tied the knot legally.
“Hmm...” Roy questioned the possibility of them being a couple, not out of a desire to dodge responsibility, but more from a sense of whether that was appropriate, given that she was forced into the marriage. He was fully aware that forcing her was a horrid act on his part; furthermore, he had been aware even before he forced her into it, relegating her to a passive position from which she had no say in the matter. How he hated himself for this!
Seeing Roy sink into another one of his depressive spells, Crow spoke up. “Quit whining about the past and worrying about what to do next. Why don’t you give some thought into what she means to you?”
“What she means to me?” Roy repeated. He pondered the question. What did Princess Fie mean to him? If this was last year, his immediate response would have been that she was his dear young squire. However, their relationship was more complicated now. Objectively speaking, they were husband and wife; contrarily, she was a victim and he an abuser. Complicated didn’t even begin to describe this relationship.
“You still have time before we return to Wienne and see her again,” Crow said. “Let down your burdens for a bit—Fie, the country, the whole works—and just give it some thought. Zephas and I can handle your work for you in the meantime.” Crow smiled at his worried friend and stepped out of the tent.