“What do you think they are planning?” I ask William as I look out into the distance at the Arrians. They have been following us for some time now and yet they haven’t made any movement. I can take a couple of guesses but I don’t want to admit that might be the case. 

“They are just ensuring that we do not damage the more important areas, they are guiding us like we are sheep.” His answer causes a hole to dig itself into my stomach. That means that they are trying to herd us somewhere. The question is where? 

We should just attack them. They have lost every single time we have fought them. 

Actually... they keep sending more people each time. Defeat one army and they return with two. Defeat two and they return with four. Where do they keep all of these people? How can they just keep sending them at us? 

No... taking another battle is a bad idea. Since they are being cautious that works better for us. We don’t have an unlimited source of manpower. It would be bad to take a battle with no immediate value. 

It would merely be a waste of men. 

“You seem deep in thought. Fighting your first instinct of picking a fight?” William asks me, his voice raises in pitch when he asks the question. As if he is making fun of me. I sigh because he is right. “What is that self-mocking smile for?” 

“You have caught me. I was thinking about just fighting them and pushing on.” I answer him. 

“What made you decide against it?” William asks me. 

“I think that it would be pointless, what advantage would it give us?” They would simply come back sooner or later and we would be weaker for it. We probably wouldn’t get very far either. The battle near Suso showed that to me. 

We are too tired to outpace the fresh Arrians. 

We may beat them away for a single day but the next day they will return stronger than the last time. Where will we go? We are behind the enemy lines. They lose a battle and they can retreat behind their walls. What if we lose a battle? 

We would be doomed. 

The images of the Arrian nobles staring at me flashes in my mind. If they catch us will they be kind? I doubt they would forgive us. No, they would return what they believe they have suffered two-fold. 

“That doesn’t change the fact that we cannot allow them to simply herd us around like a bunch of sheep.” I tell William. They are like wolves, watching us with their hungry eyes. The moment we show weakness they will descend upon us. 

“It is fine. They are mostly directing us twoards where we want to go.” William tries to reassure me but it doesn’t work. I am worried that if we allow them too much control over us we will find ourselves into a bad position. 

“At least they are staying some distance away.” I offhandedly comment. 

They will probably just starve us out. Deprive us of sources of food. It will take some time before this becomes an issue though. I look at William. He is staring at the Arrians watching us from what seems to be the horizon. 

“I wonder what James is doing right now.” William says. 

“He is probably missing you, just as you miss him.” I tell him but he just shakes his head. I see him look at a letter inside his hand. It is most likely written by him for his son. He just looks down at it not saying anything more. 

“Can you do something for me? As a friend?” He asks, his eyes never moving away from the letter in his hand. I have a bad feeling but I can’t bring myself to say no. I can’t bring myself to tell him that he is being absurd. 

“What is it that you need?” I ask him. The words seem to choke me as I say them. 

“Can you ensure that this reaches my son?” His request makes me dizzy but he finally stops staring at the letter but instead looks at me with his jewel eyes. I watch as he slowly reaches out with the letter in his hand. “Please.” 

“Yes.” I say but it comes out warped and twisted. Almost closer to a croak than an actual human word. I hesitantly grab the letter. I want to say so much more but the words are stuck in my throat. Try as I might I cannot force them out. 

“Thank you. It is an honor to have a friend such as yourself.” He says but it is so misplaced. I would follow him to the end of the earth not only because he is my friend but because he is a great man. A great leader. 

A great Emperor. 

I stare down at the letter. It feels heavier in my hands than normal paper. It feels like a boulder that I have accepted. I want to simply let it go and free myself from its weight but that would be a great betrayal of William’s trust in me. 

We will return to Allonia. We will not be stuck here forever. 

I grip my reigns and look forward. 

My mind has been made. 

A/N: We are getting closer to the end of the book. I think it has been twenty chapters of this war and it is slowly coming to an end.

As always, thank you for reading.