Firstborn: Return of the heir

“A delicious game. Now I know why the central province was always famous for its strong cuisine.”

Seated across a huge table in the main hall of the royal palace, Saulus and his retinue continued to enjoy the food. Not even the hint of a tense atmosphere managed to bring down the spirits of the group of people that were gathered.

Over the last three weeks, the days were pretty hectic. From one task to another. From one meeting to another council. Sleeping only the absolute minimum, no one even remotely interested in joining the circle of power could find a single spare moment.

“With how used we are to this delicious taste, we barely pay it any mind, so focused are we on looking for novelties elsewhere. May our sour wine wet your throats to make this deal even better for as long as it can last!”

Raising his cup in a cheer, Saulus actually smiled at Bloy. Despite the differences stemming from different allegations, the last couple of days had forced the two of them to throw their petty opinions aside and join hands. Because in that one instance, everyone that was currently residing in the main room of the palace, shared the same goal.

“May our new lands grow plentiful wheat so that we can add some of our beer to the table!”

With a man standing up on the right side of the table, yet another cheer shook the otherwise cultured place. Sitting at the top spot at the table, with Saulus to her right and Gabriel to her left, Venna disregarded propriety as the queen, joining the drinking game with ease.

I should’ve taken better care of her…Seeing how easily his childhood friend chugged down one cup after another, Saulus suddenly became aware of a strange feeling of defeat coursing through his veins.

“But seriously… How you played them out at the crossroads… That one is on you…”

Leaning over the table, Bloy reached out with his cup. Striking Saulus’ mug and causing a small spillage, the young soldier raised his hand and took a huge gulp. In spite of their previous conflict or rather, their unspoken animosity, the general followed the gesture before chugging his own drink down.

“Thanks for the praise. To be honest, it was more of a lucky shot rather than a well-planned strategy. I just figured that if we give them any chance, they would simply jump on it.”

With the memory of that grand success in Saulus’ head, his lips inevitably climbed upwards on his face.

“Because in the long term, those several carriages worth of supplies do not matter at all.”

Finishing the story on his own, Bloy momentarily turned around to hit the cup of his adjutant that accompanied him at the table. Just by seeing the two of them, Saulus could tell that even in such an elite force like the Pleiades, the second spot in the pecking order belonged to – as one could expect – Bloy’s woman.

After all, no matter the country, no matter the organization, no matter the situation… Some universal rules of human behavior would always manifest.

“Well, in theory, they could use them to quicken their counterattack…”

Picking up on the discussion with joy, Saulus suddenly stopped his mouth from moving when he heard a female voice in his right ear.

“What are you guys talking about?”

Even with all the drinks that she already had, Venna was still mostly clear headed. While her gait swayed a bit and her gaze had an illustrious spark in it, no one in the room would dare accuse the queen of being drunk.

“Ah, right. We never had the chance to tell you.”

Quickly masking that he was perhaps hiding something, Saulus instantly put on the expression of a child that had messed up. Taking a quick peek at Bloy first, as if he wanted to determine whether his old rival was interested in joining his story, the general’s head quickly moved back towards the queen.

“It was back during those two days when we disappeared. We took a small detachment to the east. With how we were limiting our actions to the areas to the north at that time, we managed to find out about a huge transfer of armies from the southern development area.”

Taking a quick stop to flush his throat with a sizable sip, Saulus quickly picked up the story again.

“We somehow managed to fool them into thinking that we wanted to destroy their cargo. In order to stop us from doing so, the majority of the force retreated back to the development area, while a smaller group ended up surrendering to us. With this, we fully established ourselves on the northern plains as the last fortress on the old imperial road. Oreta was deprived of the required supplies and surrendered shortly after!”

Finishing his story with a huge shout, Saulus leaned to the back with a gleeful expression.

It wasn’t even about the great success and achievement that he scored. It wasn’t about the glory of his actions that would be passed down in the history books. The general, for the first time in a while, realized how fun his current life was.

Compared to the hellish period when he had no choice but to fulfill orders while Venna’s safety was hanging by a tiny thread… The times before were dark, and so was the future. With the civil war only starting, the time of forming the factions was reaching its midsts. Soon, with the alliances established, all forces would clash to determine the fate of the war.

This moment of relaxation, of joyfully telling prideful stories to friends and brothers-in-arms. The moment of drinking fine beer and feasting on insanely delicious meat. The moment when tomorrow didn’t seem to be as dark…

“This is but a moment of respite, that we soldiers face.”

Under some strange impulse, Saulus’ lips opened up and he uttered those words by a long-forgotten poet.

“Tho’ in a battle, fateful do we seek our souls’ trace.”

As if only Bloy heard Saulus’ voice, his lips finished the phrase of the poem.

With this moment of the unusual union of the minds breaking, the two soldiers smiled at each other. There were things that put an unmovable barrier between the two of them.

But they no longer had to trouble themselves with it.