Erick, Adrian, and Robert kept watch in rotation on the small balcony of the second floor. It was overlooking the street below and giving a view of the burning castle above as the moon shone brightly on the sky-plate above, making their job that much easier. Gunfire and metal clashes could be heard from the castle for a few hours into the night, after which the sounds of brief debauchery took over.

• "Man, we're missing the feast." -Erick complained, slouched over the rails as Adrian came up behind him to take over.
• "Ah, I wouldn't worry about that." -Adrian patted his back.- "They have to collect the bodies, gather up the prisoners, deal with the fire, and who knows what else. No." -He shook his head.- "The real feast will only begin tomorrow."

Erick stood up, stretched, then said:

• "If you say so. We're the heroes of the siege after all. Some celebration is due in my humble opinion."

Adrian laughed and then said:

• "When were your opinions ever humble?"

After a chuckle, Erick changed the subject:

• "How's the big man?" 
• "Oh good." -Adrian nodded a few times.- "Good, good. You know how she gets when he's like this. Won't take an eye off of him."
• "Mhm" -Erick nodded knowingly.- "It's cute. I mean wouldn't you want to settle down one day? Have someone worry about you like that?" -Erick asked half-sitting on the railing behind him.
• "Me? Oh, I don't know..." -Adrian leaned against the doorframe as the exchange turned into a conversation.- "I suppose one day, perhaps...When I have the winery maybe." -He answered, unsure.

Erick laughed and shook his head.

• "Are you still on about that? What do you even know of winemaking? It's a lot harder than drinking it I can tell you that much."
• "Yeah yeah, but it's not about that." -Adrian held up his hands defensively.- "It's about the...feeling of having a winery."

Erick shook his head with a sigh.

• "Ah, you're hopeless."
• "Besides." -Adrian continued.- "I will have people working for me making the wine."
• "Of course you will."

A moment of silence passed between them before Adrian continued, turning back the subject:

• "But yeah...I don't know... Are those two even like...a thing?"
• "Pfuuh I don't think so, not officially, but I mean...come on." -Erick tilted his head.
• "Yeah. Yeah...I know." -Adrian chuckled.- "How about you? Longing for a woman? Or a man?" -He raised an eyebrow.
• "You wish..." -He paused for a moment.- "Well, maybe."

Adrian's brows shot up with a smile.

• "A woman I mean." -He curbed his enthusiasm.- "But can't exactly drag her along on the road and I haven't found a patch of dirt I'd like to die on yet so..."
• "Yeah...we'll see...Actually...It might be it for me soon." -He said after some pause.
• "Huh?" - Erick looked to him confused"
• "There is this girl..."
• "There is always a girl." -He laughed at him.
• "Yeah, yeah but...she's different." -He continued in an uncharacteristically serious voice, which prompted Erick to change his tone.
• "Wa-wait." -He turned to face him fully now.- "You're serious. Twisted so many heads, someone twisted yours in the end huh?" -He laughed.
• "Oh fuck you, it's not like that. -He said half-offended.
• "Oh? Please do tell."

Adrian looked at him annoyed, to which Erick signaled with his hand that his mouth will stay shut. Adrian in turn sighed before continuing.

• "She's a working girl, at the village, but she's smart." -He quickly added.- "Educated. I swear she's the smartest person I've ever met. She's got these deep brown eyes you can't look away from and this...this voice, I swear it's like the softest lyre you ever heard. She has this boy,  Mathias, and I swear it's the cutest kid ever. She's such a good mom to him too..."

He looked to Erick who was having the widest grin he ever saw on him. Realizing how he sounded, he embarrassedly looked away, with a displeased expression. Erick began:

• "Our-"
• "Don't say anything okay?" -Adrian cut in.
• "-boy-"
• "Yeah yeah."
• "-is in love." -Erick finished with a tune, then after giving Adrian a pause, he asked, in a normal voice.- "What's her name?"
• "Léda."

Erick stood from the railing and headed inside past Adrian in the doorframe and tapped him on the shoulder.

• "Good luck buddy."
• "Yeah." -He nodded.

Adrian sat down and got comfortable with a blanket left by Erick for his shift. After a few moments, he sighed to himself:

• "You really catched it this time huh..."

On the morning Harek woke, sluggishly, as Agnes took his bandages off for the third time that day and inspected his wounds carefully. By now where before deep cuts slashed across his skin and flesh, only bright pink skin was showing akin to a healing injury after a light burn. It was sensitive, and his head felt as if it was filled with fog and mud, but he wasn't in pain anymore, and other than being tired, he felt good. After Agnes sufficiently inspected his healing wounds he smiled brightly, a stark contrast to the dark bags under her eyes.

• "Thank you Agnes." -Harek said.- "As always."

A slap with a sharp sting struck his face. He looked back slowly and confused to Agnes who was glaring at him with her piercing gaze. Harek opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off as Agnes enveloped him in a tight hug, burying her face in the layer of sheep fur on his chest. He heard a quick muffled sound, then perked his ears to listen but could only make out a few words.

• "You can't ____ leave __ _____ _____."

He wanted to say sorry. Then, he wanted to say he didn't have a choice, that he tried to run but he couldn't leave Erick, then he felt his neck become wet under her face, and decided to say nothing, but hug her.

Robert sat on the balcony's chair with the blanket covering him, watching the faint pinkish hues of dawn in the distant blue sky. On his lap, in one hand holding a laid down, open notebook and on the other a rough, used-up pencil with a coarse tip and surface, bearing the mark of being sharpened by a knife multiple times.

After a few minutes of silently gazing at the sky, he lifted the notebook and swiftly moved the pencil on the paper. He had been stuck on the next part for some time now. He kept thinking about where to take the princess after she and her rabbit companion saved the Flower Kingdom, but now he had an idea. Silent minutes passed, only broken by coarse scribbling on the paper, then finally, the notebook became richer with a new page of text and a crude drawing made of thick black lines of a little girl with two ponytails and a bunny approaching a floating castle in the distance. He smiled, his greying beard curving up on his face.

He reminisced about his days in Batorvar, about a time when his son was young, his wife was with them and everything was so simple. He knew it was too late for them, but he hoped it wasn't too late for his grandchildren. By the time they get to Bodorka, he might even finish this one. Surely he could send it from the monastery there, he thought. From there, they could take a detour to Gomorva, and check if they have written back already. It's been many years since they spoke, but they started exchanging letters recently, which made Robert very happy. Only eclipsed by the joy he felt when reading about how the kids liked his latest stories. He would have to think of a title, he thought.

Patrick felt lonely in the camp all by himself. He otherwise enjoyed being alone quite a lot, but he has gotten used to life with the others in the last few months. He stood at the edge of their camp, covered in layers of fur, looking down and over the rest of the siege camp as it came to life after a very short rest. He would have preferred to sleep in for once since there was no one to wake him. But the bustling cacophony of men shouting, moving clanging metal objects, and who knows what else served as an alarm just the same.

His face barely hurt anymore with the inflammation almost completely gone. He thanked Agnes in his head for her magic bandages and smiled.

He looked at the smoking castle, its sizable hole in the wall, and wondered how the others managed to do that. It had to be them, there was no doubt about that. He hoped they were okay. His stomach interrupted his thoughts, it was time to gather some breakfast.

Frederick could barely sleep from the excitement, so he was up early, hunched over a finished letter on his desk by a rune lamp he received as a gift. The light was invasively bright and cold with an adorned silver base and decorated glass wall that split the light into various shapes and patterns. He preferred oil lamps and candles for their warm hues, but when it came to reading they were no competition.

He sealed the latter, called over a servant, and handed the letter to him with orders to deliver it to the Zatov Baron and to send a search party around town for Agnes. He hoped she didn't die some foolish death, even if his pride was hurt. After raising two difficult daughters, his patience was longer than most.

Regardless, it was over, finally. He had been on campaigns much longer than this one, but he followed his orders during all of them, not explicitly going against them. He knew Laszlo, the governor of Gezlov personally, and he got on amicably well with him, but he wondered whether he stretched his goodwill too far this time. They never saw eye-to-eye when it came to church matters, and Frederick was well aware of how Laszlo got into power thanks to the Patriarch of Gezlov's and the Pontiff of Batorvar's involvement during the succession crisis. Upsetting the balance of the Triarchy by taking two seats for the church and souring their relationship. He wondered when was the last time the parliament took session, and whether it was so long ago, he can't remember, or he was simply no longer invited.

His thoughts were interrupted by a servant stepping into his tent with a tray of various cheeses, meats, breads, and fruits, while another brought a steaming pot of coffee.

• "Ah, yes thank you." -He waved a hand and they placed the breakfast on the table and left after a short bow.

He hoped his gamble would pay off, that Zatovia would indeed be too busy with their own succession issues that they would let this small piece of land go quickly and without fuss. He offered a compensation amount one might even call fair if not for the circumstances to sweeten the deal.

His coffee was getting cold, these issues could wait until tomorrow. Today, it was time to celebrate.