When we met up with the two other divisions, the mountain top was full of people, which wasn’t even big enough for all of us.

Our division held two hundred and fourty men, one other division, that General Knowles was in charge of, had five thousand…

Why was there such a difference?

Yet, General Knowles had Captains as well…

Our division didn’t have any Captains…

I didn’t get it…

What was strange, was the other division had twenty thousand men!

Twenty thousand!

I really don’t understand!

The General of that division was the one who had spoken very little back in the city of Vulmoss. He was known as General Tolley and he was older then Kael, but younger then General Knowles. He also had less facial features like Kael and less hair. He seemed less…Attractive to me…

For some reason, the only male that looked the slightest attractive…Was Kael. His scar on his face made him the handsomest man I had ever met…

 

 

“Then bring the men up.”

“Bring them up?”

“…Mmm.”

Both General Knowles and General Tolley stared at General Wilton, making him sigh.

We were now in the big tent, were all the General’s had a meeting about how they were going to attack the country of Gelmain…

 “If we bring them up and have a scout or two in advance, then they could defend two areas, the eastern gate defenders could also defend the hill, the western gate defenders could also defend the hill. Have scouts here, here…Here and here. Make a direct passage for them to quickly make it here through the forest by either marking or rope…”

“You mean, we are to leave the hill, on purpose, without anyone here?”

General Wilton nodded, “Yes…And attack this city first.”

They looked at the map and went silent.

“That town doesn’t do anything for us, either to advance or get any kind of material of them.”

To me, it just looked like a heap of small lines…What did that mean?

“Take that town, Mount Prime will have yet another line of defence.”

Silence overcame the room and I curiously looked at the map…Was he talking about the same thing again?

“Fine.”

“I don’t agree.”

“The war will go on for a while General, we need to do this slowly or not at all. For us to slowly increase our lands and keep as many of our man alive, this is the best way to go.”

A huff entered the room and I looked at General Knowles, he didn’t seem to like Kael very much…

“Two against one, General Knowles.”

I looked at General Tolley, nodding in appreciation, I liked him, he was nice to Kael!

“Fresh breeze thinks so too uh!? Perhaps he should take over then!”

I frowned, then looked over at General Knowles, lowering my head slowly.

“Leave him be.”

 

 

Since the attack has finally been solved, the next thing to prepare was the best way to attack.

The town they wanted to take didn’t really have much defence, so that was the worst thing about it.

Not only that, it was mostly farmland and cattle, making the place full of innocent people.

Since it was another dilemma, the Generals were going to think this over and wanted to take the time to rest and think of a strategy. I might have been here four months, but I had just realised that those two Generals had appeared today. They are probably tired…

Except, General Tolley stayed, making me wonder if I was wrong.

After a moment of silence, Kael looked at me and pointed to a place within the tent, “Puppy, go get the wine.”

“You always know when I’m in need, General Wilton.”

“Forego the title, let’s drink, Cooper!”

I quickly did as I was told, and Kael put out two cups, motioning me to pour for him.

I poured the drinks and they both drank the entire contents straight away, making me have to pour more for them…

“Speak. I know you want too.”

I turned to General Tolley, just as Kael did and waited.

General Tolley drowned another cup completely and then finally spoke, “Sometimes…I envy you, Kael.”

“…Ah, women troubles…”

I looked from one to the other and wondered how Kael knew that…

Filling up General Tolley’s cup once more, I just continued to stand there.

 

“You know that I wished I had never married my first wife.”

Kael downed his cup, putting it close to me, and then sighed, “We have already had this conversation.”

General Tolley downed his cup, and then said, “I found an innocent little thing a year ago. She reminded me of my second wife, I told myself…”

Kael interrupted him, “You told yourself not to touch her, don’t even talk to her…What…Did you talk to her?”

I saw General Tolley look straight at Kael then, and sighed, “I couldn’t help it, I had even thought to make her a secret mistress…I never thought that she…”

After a good minute of silence, Kael spoke, “She what?”

“She accepted me. I bluntly told her that I wanted her and that I would have to keep her a secret, that as long as she stayed innocent, I will come to her often.”

Kael moved his cup, making me remember my job, so I refilled the cups for both of the men…

I became a little distracted, trying to figure out what General Tolley was talking about.

…Both men didn’t say a word, until they had drunk some more wine.

“I don’t know if I am allowed to be happy like this. She is such a sweet, little thing…Just like Puppy here. She knew I had women already, she knew that her life was never going to be the same, but she still accepted me.”

I heard ‘Puppy’…

Turning to Kael, he gave me a small smile and I smiled back.

“My advice? Take it! Take as much as you can while you can, you never know when it’ll suddenly disappear…And you might not be able to get it back!’

Kael’s words felt like he was talking to me, because he was looking at me…

 

“I’m glad to hear you say that, Kael. It’s too late anyway…The deed is done.”

Kael raised his eyebrows at General Tolley and gave out a chuckle, “That was quick!”

In response, he got a nod and a laugh, “Yes, as soon as she accepted me, the deed was done. I wasn’t able to leave her alone, haha!”

“Now I know why you are talking so much since Vulmoss then.”

“Mmm…”

I just stood there, ready to fill a cup, still not sure what they were talking about. Was it that General Tolley wanted another woman? It sounds like he was already married…

…Thinking of this reminded me of my mother and how Lord Billings already had a wife.

It sounded really complex to me…Whether or not it was because of my mother, I didn’t like the idea of a man changing a woman’s life…But then, did my mother actually want to be there? Could she have possibly left?

Why would she want to stay with Lord Billings, especially when she was a slave and tormented and eventually killed by Lady Billings?

Suddenly, I felt an extreme amount of curiosity to talk to my long-gone mother…To ask her if it had been worth it? Had she been happy?

From the looks of it General Tolley seemed happy, yet not? I wasn’t sure…Was this woman…Happy too?

And Kael seemed to understand General Tolley more then I ever thought possible…

Was it that they were friends or something?

 

“Life is what you make it, Cooper. Let go of the past and enjoy the present, protect the future and may we all live as happy as possible!”

Kael had lifted up his cup, making General Tolley do the same and then they sculled what they had left.

Frowning, I thought of those words coming from Kael, and wondered if he really believed them, when he treats his own father the way he does. If he had let go of the past, would he treat his father differently now in the present?

Lost in my own thoughts, I then started to think of myself.

Have I let go of the past, was I enjoying the present? Am I going to protect the future?

My past…It held a lot of pain. If I were to let it go, would that mean that I had no reason to stay ‘mute’ then? Would I be able to accept that my father really does care for me, by forgiving and forgetting how he had treated me all those years?

Thinking about such things dampened my mood and I really wondered if I should just forgive and forget or not.

Enjoying the present? Yes and no, I enjoy being here with my friends and being myself, but the secret and lies…

It sounded like my life was a fine line between good and bad. It wasn’t as perfect as Lady Venus, yet not as sad as my mother’s. I was alive, I was enduring and experiencing life. I was learning and trying to do the best I could with what I had.

So, to my idea, on what Kael had just said, letting go of the past, enjoying the present and protecting the future, is all linked together. I was ‘mute’ and keeping my secret, to protect my future and the future of others.

…I’ll think more about it later…

Not long after that, General Tolley left, after a brotherly handshake, and Kael and I were left alone…

 

“Puppy…”

I turned to Kael and waited.

“Why don’t we take a tour around Bronk…”

Bronk…It was the name of the town that they wanted to take…Why did he want to go there?

“Haha, so curious. I got some of the clothes that they wear and so we should check it out, hey?”

I nodded my head and happily wanted to follow him.

He threw a set of clothes at me and started to redress himself already, making me widen my eyes and then walk out to the side of the tent and do it myself, behind a flap of the tent.

I had grown accustomed to getting dressed…While dressed…

So, within just a few minutes, we were both prepared to leave.

Going to his horse, he pulled me up and let someone know that we had left, then we headed east…

…East?

 

“For them not to question us, we will pretend we are coming from the east.”

As the wind blew by, I nodded my head and continued to eat an apple.

We had food and water with us, so I think we were going to be gone for a while…

I remembered when I first got on the horse, it had hurt my inner legs and made my back sore…Now, it was a bit better, no longer as bad…But I was dreading the trip if we were going to always be on the horse…

Oh well…My place was beside this man and since he wanted to check out a town, then I did too.

Detouring out to the east, having to cross the river that comes out of Icklish, we were finally heading west again in three hours. The three countries did not take this area, making me curious on why they hadn’t. It was nomad’s land and a town was here, with quite a number of people. Kael told me that the people here could be from anywhere of the three countries and that the population was rising. Again, I wanted to ask why this land wasn’t in a country, but I stayed quiet…Pretty sure that it won’t be too much longer before I started to talk once again.

 

Passing the nomad’s town, we were getting closer to the borders of whole other country…

The country was called Setchra and it was the biggest country…Apparently.

I didn’t know too much more about it, but Icklish did have some small trades with them and even some stalls were put up in the capital, with things that had come from there.

The biggest reason that nothing had come about, was that there was hardly a way for them to come here or we go there. The eastern gate was the only way, as below the gate, a river ran through and there was a forest.

All through the times I’ve known, Setchra had never attempted to attack us.

The country of Setchra didn’t look all that different and there was no end to it in the distance, making me really flabbergasted at how big this world really was…

I remembered thinking that my world was the Billings residence…Now, I know how small that really was.

Beyond the Billings residence was the capital, beyond the capital was a country, beyond the country there was another country, land to the barbarians and water…Beyond that even more!

…I couldn’t deny it though, even though my world had been really small back then, it was all I could have handled at the time.

I, just now, had seen how far I had come…

 

 

After another three to four hours, I couldn’t take it anymore and I wanted to get off the horse again.

We had stopped twice already, for me to rush into the bush, but even though a town was in seeing distance, I just couldn’t hold it!

“Ok, Puppy, go on.”

He stopped asking quite some time ago to help me, so now, this was normal, for him to let me go and do my business with Neil or nobody.

After I finished, I came back, and we went the rest of the way to the town of Bronk.

It was different then I imagined.

It reminded me of the farmland on the Billings residence.

Looking around, I wonder if the workers were all slaves…Like I had been.

Wanting to get off, I point to the ground and Kael gets off to help me, “What to do you want to do?”

Walking over to the farm close by, I wonder what they are growing.

I knew of a few different vegetables but this one looked different.

Not wanting to get into trouble, I just looked with my eyes, not having enough courage to pluck out whatever it was out of the ground.

“What do you want?”

I look up to find a man looking at us in worry.

I smiled and put my hands up and bow my head a bit…I meant no harm.

“You aren’t from here?”

I shake my head…Then heard a sigh from Kael…

Oh…That’s right…

Dam, I already failed at trying to act the part…

 

Kael had told me that we were working undercover and that we weren’t to give off any type of feeling that we were actually from Icklish.

The idea of taking Bronk as quietly as possible, was the best idea that Kael had come up with and I felt incredibly bad that I may have just ruined that idea for him.

On the way here, he was coming up with ideas on how to take Gelmain in the best possible way and he had explicitly said that we were not to act too strangely.

That hadn’t been the only thing Kael had said, he had also told me some more about General Tolley.

I had been right, in thinking that General Tolley was indeed Kael’s friend…Practically his only friend…

Kael had obviously met ‘Cooper’ in the army, as they were both making a name for themselves, and their relationship went from there…

What I had found out, was that Cooper’s first wife had killed Cooper’s beloved woman in jealousy, and Kael was able to understand through Cooper being unable to find justice.

I had not thought that it had been something so terrible, that it was just like my mother and Lady Billings, I knew…I knew about that jealousy…I had seen it being used in a very scary way!

But…This was not the time to reminisce! I had to pay more attention to how I acted!

Puffing out my cheeks…I tried…Tried to hold in my curiosity.

…But it was of no use, not long after I made my resolve, I completely forgot once again that we were supposed to be ‘undercover’!