The prompt is: You are at the forefront of the war leading your regiment against your half-cousin’s rebellion. Up until this point, your army has been losing; all thanks to that precious royal brother of yours, and his idiocy. Your cousin gave you an offer- defect to his side. What will you do?

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Schlop schlop schlop. There was no other way to describe the sound of Roland’s knee-high leather boots sinking into the mud, only to be lifted back out and thrown down onto another patch of the expansive quagmire he had the misfortune to find himself in. It didn’t help that he was making this trip uphill, and had to be careful not to lose his balance.

 

Sure, he could use his hands to stabilize himself, but he had an image to uphold. It’d do no good to get his white silk gloves stained dark brown. The rest of the royal court would surely make jokes about him having some kind of bathroom mishap. And with all of the terrible rumors spreading between their loose, gossip-ridden lips, those fools would happily use his misfortune as a distraction from their worries.

 

“Stupid fucking court, stupid needless rebellion, stupid-ass brother!” seethed Roland as he continued his exhausting trudge. “I get needing someone to lead the troops after the last grand general started this rebellion, but why me?! I was the fucking treasurer, for god’s sake! Send one of the other assholes from the royal court instead, they keep trying to show off by challenging each other to duels. Am I right?”

 

The four armored men simply looked ahead. Roland thought he heard one of them grunt in agreement, but it sounded too much like a rough inhale instead. He couldn’t even get a good conversation partner out here. And that was the least of his worries.

 

“Alright, so you don’t know much about court politics, I get that,” continued Roland. “But tell me that sending the cavalry against a larger squad of pikemen in a fucking swamp when the enemies have a height advantage is a stupid fucking idea!”

 

Once again, a round of silence. But this time, it was broken by actual words.

 

“Milord, I do not wish to besmirch the will of King Charles, but perhaps some of us would have decided differently?” replied one of the guards.

 

The other three quickly glared at their compatriot. Roland couldn’t see their eyes through their helmets, but even he could feel the intensity of their looks. The poor sod who decided to open his mouth could feel much more however, and shrunk before his baleful onlookers. With that, the dying conversation was now dead and buried.

 

Thankfully, their journey was nearly at an end. Looking up, the impromptu general could see the top of the muddy hill closing in, and with the last of his strength he stepped over the top.

 

Only to be met with two dozen enemy soldiers.

 

Spears flew down from their standing positions to greet Roland, and several bowstrings tightened as their wielders nocked steel-tipped arrows.

 

The four-man honor guard came following, and promptly dropped their own weapons as they saw what awaited them.

 

“Oh sure, don’t dishonor the king, but let his brother get captured!” jeered Roland. “What a useful lot you’ve turned out to be. I don’t think I can blame that idiot alone for the mess we’re in.”

 

“And you must be the new grand general!” boomed a voice from beyond the enemy soldiers. “I’m so glad you decided to come!”

 

A man in a set of armor polished to a silvery finish walked out from amongst the others. He carried himself with a confident gait that edged on arrogant, and the smile on his face confirmed which of those two he really was. “Men, would you mind treating our guests with a little more decorum?”

 

The soldiers immediately lowered their weapons, but dared not look away from the five newcomers. Roland could feel their intensity boring down on him even harder than his own honor guard’s.

 

“Hello Sir Newman,” said Roland with a short bow. “I have answered your offer for parley.”

 

“Oh come on, cousin!” laughed the newcomer. “There’s no need to be so cold with family!”

 

“Half-cousin.”

 

“Still makes us family, as I see it.” Newman shrugged. “But if you insist on being so frigid, perhaps you’d do well to warm up in my tent? Come now, and leave your men outside. I don’t want them getting mud all over my carpets.”

 

The four guards gave their liege a concerned look that he quickly swatted away.

 

“Oh please, like you chucklefucks would keep me safe?”

The new grand general closed his eyes and let his mind drift off to a time long ago in a place far away. The royal castle. Home.

 

“Hey Roland, wanna play some chess?” asked a young boy. He had bright red hair and a wide smile.

 

“Huh? Sure Charlie,” replied a similarly aged boy. “But you’d better not make some kind of stupid play like last time.”

 

“Don’t worry, I won’t!”

 

He lied.

 

“You lied,” said Roland.

 

“Come on, chess isn’t fun otherwise!”

 

“That’s cuz you never win. You have to use a real strategy instead of doing something weird.”

 

“It’s not weird!” replied an affronted Charles. “It’s unexpected! Chess is too plain, you can only move the pieces based on the rules. Real life has no rules!”

 

“It’s against the rules to torture enemy soldiers,” Roland shot back.

 

“Yeah, but those rules tell you what you can’t do. Chess tells you only what you can do. It’s pretty dumb.”

 

“Well don’t send out all of your pawns first next time. Especially that one.” The young Roland pointed to one piece in particular, a white pawn whose paint was beginning to chip away.

 

“It’s my lucky pawn! I always send it out first!”

 

“But you never let it leave your sight, how does that make any sense? You even sleep with the thing! Are you sure it’s lucky?”

 

“Shut up!” Charlie squealed. “I’ll beat you next game!”

 

“We’ll see!” Roland giggled before resetting his side of the board.

Back in the present, Roland desperately tried to clean the mud off his boots, but despite his best efforts, he left a trail on the sprawling white rug.

 

“Yeah,” said Newman with a sigh, as he took a seat at a table facing the tent’s entrance. “I’ll have that cleaned out once I win this war.”

 

Roland followed his lead and sat across from his enemy. “So what do I owe the pleasure? Do you find the outcome of this battle as indecisive as I do and wish to save the lives of your soldiers?”

 

“Oh please,” laughed the previous grand general. “We both know you and your army would be completely slaughtered!”

 

Newman’s replacement merely looked ahead with a grimace.

 

“I called you here to give you a chance to join the winning side.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I and everyone from the royal court know you’re a bookworm, your talents are being wasted out here! Your brother is a fool, and is driving the kingdom to ruin! Join me and I’ll have you manage my treasury, we’ll be bound for splendor!”

 

It took all of Roland’s willpower to not immediately shout yes. Instead, he let out a long sigh and put on his best neutral expression. “That is quite an offer you have there, but I must ask what makes you think I’d be interested?”

 

“Oh, come on! You’ve seen how your brother has been treating you! And look at his latest blunder, sending you here now.”

 

Roland’s face remained placid. “One mistake is not enough to judge someone by.”

 

“But four in one? And what of his other follies since taking his seat on the throne?”

 

“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about…”

 

“I don’t need to be the grand general to see how much of a tactical blunder your deployment has been. Cavalry on a muddy hill against pikemen with the height advantage? Not to mention I have you outnumbered two to one!”

 

“…”

 

“Cat got your tongue, cousin? Well I don’t blame you, changing sides isn’t an easy choice to make, and I honestly wouldn’t have accepted you if ‘yes’ was the first thing out of your mouth.”

 

Roland slowly exhaled.

 

“So let me sweeten the deal for you, show that it’s a worthwhile choice! Do you know of the Kolkeri Iron Mines and Bronzewood tree groves?”

 

“What of them? Major tactical locations that supply our armies.”

 

“Correction; they supply my armies.”

 

“Wait, you-”

 

“Have taken them just last week, yes,” said Newman with a massive shit eating grin. “That leaves King Charlie with no way of arming his new army, as I already took most of the existing army and armory with me when I left.”

 

“I, uh… wow.” Roland was at a loss for words. He didn’t want to admit it, but all of the signs pointed to the old grand general’s words as being the truth. There were terrible rumors making their rounds around the royal court about the loss of key resources, but this just about confirmed it. Their locations and existences were kept secret, so the only reason they would stop sending their resources was if they had been conquered.

 

“So, is that a ‘yes’?” Newman leaned over the table and eyed his cousin with a toothy smile.

 

Not a word escaped Roland’s mouth. He pushed his vocal chords to make some sound, any. Even a single squeak would’ve been fine! But all that left his mouth was hot, silent air. The worst part was, he wasn’t sure why. The new grand general was certain of his current situation being a lost cause, but why couldn’t he just say the magic word and head over to a better place?

 

Was it loyalty for his kingdom drilled into him by his father? Or perhaps a feeling about this whole situation that felt off? Maybe it could’ve even been love for his brother, as feeble as that was nowadays.

 

“Man, is that really not enough to convince you?” tisked Newman. “Alright, how about this, my trump card?”

 

The silver-clad man pointed towards a bookshelf filled with all sorts of shiny trinkets. Roland’s eyes went wide as he realized what they were.

 

“A collection of royal treasures gifted to me by your predecessors!” exclaimed Newman. “You’re not the first noble I’ve asked to join me, and you won’t be the first to say yes either. These are the gifts they brought me when I gave them my offer, I’m sure you recognize them.”

 

“The royal artifacts…” Roland was slack jawed.

 

“That’s right! The crown jewels, holy scepter, and other trinkets! Go on, take a closer look!”

 

Bewildered, Roland did just that. He slowly rose to his feet and walked on over to the shelf. The golden luster, the radiance of the gemstones, they were all real! Everything, even the chess board his father used to entertain guests! Roland even recognized the pieces on it as being the same from his childhood. The chunk of marble nicked off the white king, the withered ebony rook, even the… faded wooden white pawn that stood out from the others as even more worn.

 

Roland’s throat settled and his mouth slowly closed. He took a deep breath and straightened his back while letting out a soft chuckle.

 

“Hey cousin, what’s so funny? You finally come to your senses?”

 

“I sure did!” laughed the grand general. “My brother should’ve stuck to an actual strategy instead of something so weird.”

The afternoon sun filtered through the soft curtains and illuminated the plush room. Roland sat on a soft, yet supportive chair as he faced his brother, who made himself comfortable on a throne of pillows.

 

“Honestly brother, you could’ve at least tried being more subtle,” sighed Roland. “I know you’re not that stupid, and you know I’m not either.”

 

King Charles let out a fit of giggles before he could eke out a reply. “If it was so stupid, then how did my little test catch half the royal court?”

 

“It should’ve caught more, if you ask me,” Roland shot back. As much as he tried, he couldn’t suppress the smile from his own face.

 

“To be fair, you were the only one that figured the whole thing out. Nobody else expected me to have my own grand general pretend like he was rebelling. And no court member would see anything wrong with him reaching out to each of them to defect to his side! So how did you do it?”

 

Roland reached into his pocket and tossed a small object to his brother, who caught it with a deft hand.

 

“My lucky pawn?”

 

“You never let it leave your sight, and when Newman said someone looted it from you, I knew he was full of shit. The only way he could’ve gotten that was off your cold, dead body.”

 

“You’ve got that right!”

 

The two let out another round of laughter.

 

“But you know I always move it out first!” exclaimed King Charlie.

 

“And speaking of firsts, it’s also the first time it’s actually gotten you lucky!”

 

“Ha, you’d think that! But I can tell you, it definitely won’t be the last. Now I know I can trust you to be by my side and not be an idiot, we’re going to take this kingdom to new heights!”

 

“And now that I know your weird strategies actually work, I’ll be glad to be by your side.”