The march to Suso is surrounded by despair and anger. Michael doesn’t say a single word the entire time and the sentiment is shared by everyone else. How can they not? We have failed him and embarrassed him. The worst part? We will not be punished for our failure. 

“Sir Luca, it is an honor to welcome the Emperor to our humble city of Suso.” The count of Suso, Alberto De Suso, welcomes me. I look over him. He is skinny but still possesses the Arrian noble traits. I guess most would describe him as graceful. 

“Thank you but I recommend you let us rest and recover.” Alberto frowns at my response. I don’t even want to be polite to him. I am merely putting up a good face for courtesy’s sake. “We will set out tomorrow after filling up our ranks and resting.” 

“You are welcome to take my best troops. It would be my honor to assist his majesty.” I merely respond my nodding my head. I look around for where Michael could be. I haven’t seen him since arriving here. 

“Your loyalty shall be rewarded.” I say before leaving. Not that he would ever complain that a member of the royal guard treated him rudely. Being next to the emperor does have some perks. 

I probably shouldn’t have rudely left but I am in a foul mood. 

I walk through the halls. I ask multiple people about the emperor but none of them have anything productive to tell me about his location. I slowly narrow down where he could be and the answer seems obvious. He is in his room brooding over his loss. 

I knock on the door and I hear a familiar grunt in response. 

“Do you plan on hiding inside here all day long?” I ask as I open the door. Michael lays down on the bed with his hand over his eyes. He doesn’t say anything in response to my question so I find a chair and sit down. “Do not beat yourself up.” 

“I should have thought about every possibility. I should have expected what he was doing. I have not only failed you but my people as well.” His voice is barely above that of a whisper. I am not entirely sure that he actually spoke. 

“You have not failed me nor the people. We still haven’t lost. Arria will never lose so long as it never gives up. We believe that you will prevail.” I tell him nothing but the truth. The only way to lose is to give up. So long as the imperial dynasty is still here I do not see that happening.  

Michael lifts up his arm and his red eyes stare back at me. His eyes grow a brilliant red as the anger of God is channeled through him. A sense of awe and obedience overwhelms me. “Have I ever told you the story about me playing chess against Giovanni?” 

“No,” I answer him. 

“When I was first beginning to study under Giovanni as his student I played chess against him. I lost. Badly.” He explains taking short pauses between admitting how badly he lost. He then continues, “I played again and again. Yet, despite all my effort I could not beat him.” 

“Did you ever beat him?” I ask Michael out of curiosity. 

“In chess? Eventually I began to take games off of him.” Michael answers but he covers his eyes with his arm again. He seems to not want to talk about this topic. “I learned that I was just young and inexperienced.” 

“Is that why you are telling me this?” My question causes Michael to smile at me. 

“Yes, I believe that this is a similar situation. I believe I now know why Giovanni played those games against me and refused to actually teach me the strategies.” I lower my head while I listen to Michael’s explanation. “He wanted me to struggle. To suffer because despite living under my father I was still the heir. I never faced a roadblock in my life.” 

“Was that the first roadblock you faced?” 

“The first one that I remember.” He says cryptically. We don’t continue talking but remain silent for a long time. The mood before the conversation wasn't good and it has hardly improved. 

“Prepare the troops. I want to shadow the Allonians, limit their movement and slowly starve them.” Michael breaks the silence. I get up from the chair and bow down. We were reckless and arrogant in our past battle. 

We will not make the same mistake again. 

The next time we fight against them we will be far more cautious. We will only choose battles where we are entirely sure that victory is certain. Instead of trying to be fancy we will return to the basics. 

God will lead us. 

The faithful shall be rewarded and I believe. I believe in the soldiers. I believe in the commanders. Most importantly, I believe in Michael. It is foolish to give up after one battle. We will only lose when the last Arrian stops breathing. 

I exit the room and leave Michael to think by himself. It seems that I will have a meeting with the count of Suso in the near future. I sigh as I walk through the halls. I wish I could just delegate it to someone else. 

A/N: I will upload later tonight but I have to finish my HW first. I have been super busy lately with both work and school.