The Defense of Ehrenfest (First Half)

The Defense of Ehrenfest (First Half)

The Defense of Ehrenfest (First Half)

Giebe Kirnberger — The Activated Country Gate

Just before Spring Prayer, a white bird arrived at the Kirnberger summer estate. It flew into my office and turned into a letter, which then dropped onto my desk.

One of my scholars took a moment to inspect the message before passing it along to me. “Giebe Kirnberger, this is from the castle. It was sent by Lady Florencia.”

My brow furrowed, I started to read the correspondence. It warned that Lady Georgine of Ahrensbach was likely about to launch an invasion, hoping to steal our duchy’s foundation, and ordered me to prepare. If we encountered anyone suspicious, I was to report directly to the castle.

We were told to prepare ourselves at the very start of the season, but I see Lady Georgine has finally made her move.

I pondered the woman in question. After being told to become the next aub and undergoing an intense education, she had suddenly been taken out of the running during her younger brother’s baptism ceremony. Her relationship with her family had only continued to deteriorate ever since. Was her impending attack the result of a grudge from those days, or was there something else motivating her?

Several nobles name-sworn to Georgine had been executed during the purge last winter. She had originally sought their loyalty as a way of challenging Lady Veronica, but that was neither here nor there; she shouldn’t have had many pawns left in Ehrenfest.

“As perilous as this situation might be, I doubt Lady Georgine will involve Kirnberger,” I mused. She wanted to seize Ehrenfest’s foundation, so she would approach the Noble’s Quarter from Ahrensbach in the south or Old Werkestock in the southwest. There was no reason for her to bother a province on the duchy’s eastern border.

“Perhaps not, but we are ready for her if she does,” one of my scholars said. “Shall we increase the number of patrolling knights and double up on training duty?”

“We could always send them to the giebes of provinces bordering Ahrensbach, should they request reinforcements.”

“A decision like that should not be made lightly. There is no guarantee that Lady Georgine will not come here as well.”

I nodded, stroking my chin. “Then perhaps we should prioritize lending troops to the Noble’s Quarter. The foundation’s safety is more important than anything else.”

“Shall we contact Lord Alexis? His charge might need our support.”

In other words, we would use my son’s connections to curry favor with the current Aub Ehrenfest and his successor, Lord Wilfried. If we were going to send troops to another province, it made sense to help my boy at the same time. I sent him an ordonnanz, asking whether they needed our support.

“This is Alexis,” he replied. “Has Lady Georgine invaded? Lord Wilfried is currently in a meeting with the rest of the archducal family and the heads of the Knight’s Order, and we have yet to receive any updates. I will consult him as soon as he returns.”

I crossed my arms as the ordonnanz repeated its message. Alexis was a guard knight serving the archducal family, so it surprised me that he wasn’t yet abreast of the situation.

“Could the archducal family have learned something so urgent during their meeting that Lady Florencia decided to contact the duchy’s giebes then and there?” I wondered aloud. “I suppose it could also be the case that Alexis was sworn to silence or deliberately kept out of the loop.”

“It could also be the case that the aub needed to leave on urgent business, and the others are stuck in the meeting room, unable to continue without him. Perhaps they are doing what they can while awaiting his return.”

A most scholarly observation, I thought. But in any case, it seemed clear to me that Lady Georgine’s invasion was imminent.

“If nothing else,” I said, “we should position our troops in anticipation of a request for aid.”

I summoned the higher-ups of my Knight’s Order and showed them Lady Florencia’s letter. We were discussing our next course of action when another ordonnanz arrived, turned into a letter, and dropped onto my desk.

“What, does Alexis need our help already?” I asked.

“No, this is from Aub Ehrenfest.”

“But we heard from Lady Florencia only a moment ago. What reason could he have to contact us?”

It really hadn’t been long since we’d received our warning letter. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what the aub might want from Kirnberger in the context of an invasion.

“He plans to visit Kirnberger tonight,” my scholar announced. “To open the border gate.”

“The border gate?” I repeated. “For what reason?”

I snatched up the letter in disbelief, but my scholar was right. In simpler terms, the aub had written, “I will teleport to your estate tonight with my knights in tow and open your province’s border gate. You need not do anything in preparation; I only mean to warn you that we are going to use your estate.”

I smacked the paper with the back of my hand, bewildered. “How on earth does he intend to teleport here? Do we have a teleportation circle in this estate? If so, where? I would appreciate knowing where the aub is going to appear.”

“And despite what he said, we will need to make some preparations, surely. Let us make amendments to the night watch and search for this teleportation circle so that we can clear the area around it.”

We’d never used whatever teleportation circle the aub was referring to, so I didn’t have a clue where it might be. Maybe it was behind a blocked door or there were boxes stacked atop it. Everyone must have been thinking the same, as we were all pale-faced. The estates given to giebes were deceptively large, so our search would be anything but easy.

“Find that teleportation circle posthaste!” I ordered. “We need everything ready by tonight!”

“It’s probably carved into one of the walls or floors. And it might only be visible when it’s active.”

“Attendants, start searching rooms! Knights, search outside—and make sure to cover the training grounds! Scholars, search the shelves for any records of this teleportation circle!”

At once, the atmosphere in my estate became especially frantic. We had a mission to complete, and time was of the essence.

Our search revealed a teleporter carved into the stone floor of a room now used as part of our province’s training grounds. The circle linked to the Royal Academy could only move three people at once, but this one was so large that I wondered whether it was capable of transporting entire groups. The shelves and training dummies that had previously sat atop it were moved, and the knights used waschen to clean the room. We really had managed to finish our preparations in time.

“Is the aub truly coming?” one of the knights asked me.

“He went out of his way to warn us, so yes, I would assume so.”

I wasn’t sure when he would arrive—the letter had said only nighttime—so I took a short nap to renew my strength. Spring was already upon us, but the nights were still cold, so I watched the teleportation circle from my office with a guard of several knights.

As soon as the teleporter began to shine, we sprinted to the balcony and descended to the grounds on our highbeasts. Black and golden fire swirled above the circle, and we arrived just as figures started to appear within the maelstrom.

“Welcome, Aub Ehrenfest.”

I greeted the archduke with a calm expression, but I was finding it hard to keep my surprise in check. He had arrived with some knights and one very unexpected young woman.

“Is that Lady Rozemyne...?” I muttered under my breath.

“I would think so, based on the guards she has with her,” answered the knight beside me, sounding equally troubled.

The woman in question had grown so much that she was almost unrecognizable. Lady Rozemyne had missed the feast celebrating spring—apparently because of a fever—but I’d still seen her during the gathering the previous winter. Even if she had randomly hit a growth spurt, she had changed far too much in such a short time.

I was champing at the bit to learn what had caused such a sudden change in the woman before me, but Aub Ehrenfest and the knights launched straight into a discussion about the potential of teleportation circles. There was no room for me to ask about Lady Rozemyne’s abnormal growth.

And what about those two? Did they not accompany Lord Ferdinand to Ahrensbach?

Lords Eckhart and Justus were among Lady Rozemyne’s retainers. I crossed my arms, realizing that I’d just been pulled into something beyond my understanding.

“Should we not open the border gate?” Lady Rozemyne asked, interrupting the lively discussion about teleporters.

“Ah, right,” the aub replied. “Come on, then. This investigation can wait.”

As it turned out, Lady Rozemyne was the one who wanted the border gate open. She had grown into such a beautiful woman, but she still drove the same bizarre highbeast.

Hmm... It doesn’t match her appearance at all.

I thought a more elegant highbeast would suit her now, but for some reason, she was still using the shape of a fat grun. For all its advantages—I remembered she’d used it when transporting her Gutenbergs—I thought it would do her well to pay more attention to appearances.

We mounted our highbeasts and took our guests to the border gate. It shone brightly enough in the moonlight that they would have been able to find it on their own, but I didn’t feel comfortable leaving them to their own devices.

“There’s Aub Ehrenfest...” said one of the night watchmen peering down at us from atop the border gate. “He actually came.”

I was especially curious to see why the archduke was here. We all watched as he made his schtappe, chanted, “ Oeffnetor ,” and then tapped the border gate. It slowly opened, revealing the second gate that sat behind it—a rare, majestic sight even for the people of our province. Its doors appeared to shine a variety of colors, and not just because of the moonlight.

As I gazed upon the newly revealed country gate, I saw Lady Rozemyne climb out of her highbeast. She formed her schtappe and said, “ Grutrissheit ,” which made it turn into a radiant tablet.

She has the Grutrissheit?!

My breath caught in my throat. Lady Rozemyne was holding a book meant only for the Zent. It must have been genuine, as the country gate wouldn’t have opened for her otherwise.

“The gate’s shining... Is this real...?”

“Then is that... the Grutrissheit?!”

“Is Lady Rozemyne...?”

Overcome with awe and unease, I couldn’t look away from the gate, which had just been activated for the first time in about two hundred years. The same was true for my knights. I approached Aub Ehrenfest, who was also staring at the unexpected spectacle.

“Would the royal family not consider this treason?” I asked in a low voice, remembering the events that had come before Eisenreich’s destruction. That historic scheme to claim the throne had been the cause of Kirnberger’s downfall, so seeing Lady Rozemyne with the Grutrissheit sent a shiver down my spine.

“You can rest easy—we have negotiated in secret for her to be adopted into the royal family. Not to mention, we have this .”

The aub showed me a courtship necklace from the first prince and explained that the royal family knew Lady Rozemyne had the Grutrissheit. I was glad to know this wasn’t an act of treason, but my eyes widened nonetheless. Rather than just becoming the king’s adopted daughter and giving him the Grutrissheit, she was going to marry royalty. There was no future in which she returned to Ehrenfest.

Immense change would soon come to our duchy, I was sure. But while I was at a loss for words, Lady Rozemyne spared us not even a glance, instructing her retainers to get back in her highbeast.

“Well,” she said, “I’m going. I will return with Ferdinand.”

“Hold it, Rozemyne,” the aub interjected. “Take this—I got it from Prince Sigiswald. He said to wear it no matter what to prove you’re acting with the royal family’s permission.”

Aub Ehrenfest held out the courtship magic tool: a golden necklace embedded with feystones of six elements. Lady Rozemyne accepted it without any fuss, then climbed into her highbeast and entered the country gate through its opened roof. The aub and his knights followed suit.

I attempted to join them with my retinue, but a barrier kept us from getting too close to the gate.

Lady Rozemyne waved at us, then made her Grutrissheit shine and said, “ Kehrschluessel. Dunkelfelger.” The gate’s teleportation circle rose into the air, shining with the light of every element, before starting to rotate. Then the magic circle beneath it activated as if spurred on by the light.

“Take care of Ferdinand for me, Rozemyne!” the aub shouted.

As soon as Lady Rozemyne was gone, the triangular roof started to close as though it knew its job was done. Something I’d only ever read about in history books was happening before my very eyes. My men rejoiced over the opening of the country gate and the mission to rescue Lord Ferdinand, but I couldn’t help feeling bitter inside.

Lady Rozemyne’s adoption into the royal family would allow her to give the Zent her Grutrissheit without being executed for treason. It was ideal for her and for Yurgenschmidt.

I really wanted her to become the next Aub Ehrenfest, but I suppose that’s out of the question now.

As a giebe, I considered that a great shame, but it wasn’t my main concern; I was far more worried about how Ehrenfest and its archducal family would proceed once Lady Rozemyne was gone. For her to have accepted a courtship magic tool from the first prince, her engagement to Lord Wilfried must have been close to being canceled. I suspected that the archduke and other key figures had already spent a lot of time discussing their next moves behind closed doors.

But what about Lord Wilfried...? Surely he hasn’t forgotten the black mark on his reputation. What does he intend to do once he’s no longer engaged to Lady Rozemyne?

I watched the aub’s back as he closed the border gate. He had been so obstinate about Lord Wilfried taking the archducal seat that he had disregarded a crime that would easily have warranted the boy’s disinheritance and subsequently arranged his engagement to Lady Rozemyne. Alexis had told me that the young lord was no longer being trained as an archduke because of a falling-out with Lord Bonifatius, so losing his connection to Lady Rozemyne on top of that would make it nearly impossible for him to become the next aub.

I wonder, will Lord Wilfried remain a member of the archducal family? Does the royal family intend to give him a reparation payment of some kind to make up for their taking Lady Rozemyne away? How will this impact Alexis’s future as his retainer?

Lady Rozemyne had used the Grutrissheit to open a country gate and then teleported to another duchy to fight a war. It would without a doubt be considered a momentous turning point in the history of our duchy—but with neither her fiancé, Wilfried, nor his retainer Alexis here to witness it, I couldn’t help but worry about their future.

That said, I didn’t want to spoil the joy and enthusiasm everyone was feeling. I simply watched as the border gate closed, unable to demand any answers from the archduke.

Brigitte — Illgner’s Battle

“Brigitte, this is Helfried. Could you come to my office?”

I cocked my head at the ordonnanz that had arrived for me. It had been quite a while since my brother, Giebe Illgner, had made such a request; my marriage to Viktor and the continued growth of the printing industry meant our province’s noble population was growing steadily, and there was less of a need for me to make these visits. My last summons had been when we were sending a large package of fey paper to Lady Rozemyne.

“Has she asked for more?” I murmured.

My mother smiled and waved a hand at me; we had been embroidering together in the playroom. “It must be urgent for him to have sent you an ordonnanz. Let me watch over Lilaroze while you’re gone.”

I gazed upon my napping daughter while putting away my needles and thread. “Please do, Mother. I only hope she will continue to sleep peacefully...”

Leaving my eighteen-month-old daughter to my mother, I briskly made for my brother’s office. He must have heard my footsteps because Volk, a former gray priest, stepped out to welcome me.

“My brother summoned me,” I said. “Will you tell him I’m here?”

“Go on inside; he is already waiting for you.”

Volk opened the door for me, so I continued into the giebe’s office. My brother and my husband were inside, knitting their brows as they inspected a letter.

“You wished to see me?” I said.

“This is a message from Lady Florencia. It seems safe to assume that the other giebes received it as well.”

I read the letter. It warned that Lady Georgine of Ahrensbach was most likely about to invade Ehrenfest in an attempt to steal its foundation and asked us to strengthen our watch. If we noticed anything suspicious, we were supposed to send a report to the castle.

“If you remember, we received similar orders at the start of the season,” my brother said. “I was wondering how we should respond to them this time.”

We were making rejuvenation potions in case a battle started, but Illgner had always been a province with very few knights; there wasn’t much we could do to prepare for an invasion.

My brother continued, “The letter says that an attack is a foregone conclusion, but I suspect we have little to be concerned about. Nobody who intends to steal our duchy’s foundational magic would go out of their way to target Illgner.”

Only a fraction of our province bordered Ahrensbach, and while the printing industry was steadily increasing our wealth, we didn’t have much else that a would-be conqueror would want. We were also a fair distance from the castle and its foundation, and an attack on us would risk aggravating Frenbeltag, with whom we shared most of our border.

“Not to mention, Aub Ehrenfest would notice if nobles from another duchy crossed the border,” my brother continued. “Could we not just wait until we receive word that the invasion has begun?”

“For now, let us increase our watch as advised, focusing in particular on our border,” I replied. “How about two passes, at noon and at night? I would rather not resort to such means, but we do not have a choice in the matter.”

Ahrensbach’s land was running out of mana, so its starving commoners often trespassed on our mountains to steal food. Increasing our guard along the border would require us to force them back.

“My heart goes out to the commoners, but our hands are tied,” Volk said. “The aub might even chastise us for having overlooked them until now. Besides, their hunger problem is for Ahrensbach’s temple and archducal family to solve, not us.”

Volk had been raised in the temple, yet he was disregarding commoners without a second thought. My brother and I stared at him, shocked, but he just continued with a slight smile.

“It should come as no surprise that a change in the political climate would impact our relationship with the commoners of other duchies. For the sake of our province, we must not prioritize their needs over the archducal family’s wishes. This might be a good time to start gathering intelligence from the merchants. Those who deal in lumber have an especially wide reach.”

Volk and Viktor agreed that our best option right now was to simply strengthen our watch. Considering our natural inclination to put paper-making—our province’s main source of income—above all else, we didn’t want to spend potentially months on full alert, awaiting an invasion that wasn’t even guaranteed to happen.

“Inform the kni— Oh? Another ordonnanz.”

Before my brother could state his plans for the few knights Illgner had at its disposal, another white bird appeared. We all assumed it was for him, but it landed on my arm instead.

“This is Rozemyne.”

I stared intently at the ordonnanz. Lady Rozemyne must have recovered from her fever, which had rendered her too unwell to even attend the feast celebrating spring. I could tell from her voice alone that she was growing up—she sounded a lot more mature than I remembered.

“Lady Georgine has put Ferdinand on the brink of death and will most likely use this opportunity to begin her invasion,” the bird continued. “She has already moved to a location close to Ehrenfest; expect her to make a move of some kind either today or tomorrow.”

We all exchanged glances. Lady Georgine was already at our duchy’s border. The ordonnanz conveyed the severity of our situation in a way that Lady Florencia’s letter had not, and the tone with which Lady Rozemyne spoke made it clear that she was concerned about us. She even gave us instructions for the coming battle.

“Be especially careful of the silver cloth our enemies might be wearing—it is immune to mana, which includes schtappe weaponry and offensive magic tools. I would advise you to carry the same kind of weapons that your commoners use. There is also a high chance that the invaders will use powdered poison, so be sure to keep your mouths covered. Assuming that Lady Georgine’s group is moving in secret, they might be using carriages rather than highbeasts. Learn what you can of any suspicious nobles from the commoners and stay in close contact with the giebes around you. If you notice anything suspicious on the border, inform us straight away—my grandfather can mobilize the Knight’s Order at a moment’s notice.”

The ordonnanz repeated its message twice before turning back into a yellow feystone. All we could do was stare down at it.

“This threat to our duchy is nowhere near as distant as Lady Florencia’s letter made it seem...” Viktor muttered.

“We should start those patrols at once,” my brother added with a nod of agreement. “Lady Rozemyne said we can expect something either today or tomorrow.”

“I’ll start putting the knights through their paces,” I said. They had been preparing for battle since the start of the season, but I’d taken a long break from training while I was pregnant and then spent most of my time since the birth caring for my newborn daughter. In other words, I was nowhere near as strong as I used to be.

Every knight would count in the impending battle to protect our province. To keep my family and our people safe, I would need to train as hard as I could.

“Brigitte—as much as I relate to your enthusiasm, send a few words of gratitude to Lady Rozemyne first,” my brother said. “She must have given you this information because you used to be her retainer. Years have passed since then, yet she still keeps you in her thoughts.”

He was right. Not wanting to waste another moment, I prepared to send an ordonnanz back. Thoughts of my time serving Lady Rozemyne came to mind unbidden, and the realization that we were connected even now made a pleasant warmth spread through my chest.

“Lady Rozemyne, this is Brigitte. Lady Florencia has already contacted the giebes, but I thank you ever so much for your more detailed explanation. It was of great value. I shall inform the giebes around us and the commoners so that they know to be fully on guard.”

Once the bird was gone, my brother placed several ordonnanz feystones in a line on his desk. “Brigitte, I must ask you to contact our neighbors. The gravity of the situation should come across more clearly if you speak to them as one of Lady Rozemyne’s former retainers.”

Lady Florencia’s letter had made the threat facing Ehrenfest seem well over the horizon, and a message from my brother wouldn’t do much to change that. A relayed warning from Lady Rozemyne, on the other hand, would surely spur the giebes into action.

I got straight to work sending ordonnanzes while the others began discussing our next moves. Lady Georgine’s attack could come at any moment, so there was much for us to consider.

“Gathering intelligence from the commoners is going to be important, but should we not first warn them against venturing into the mountains?” Viktor suggested. “We wouldn’t want them to cross paths with any invading knights.”

“We have enough food and shelter to last us several days in the event of a siege,” Volk added. “Our next focus should be how to evacuate the commoners.”

My brother nodded. “We’ll tell them to avoid the mountains by the border until we know more about our situation. Something is bound to happen in the coming days.”

I sighed; they were all completely focused on the commoners. Yes, it was a giebe’s duty to protect his people, but the knights wouldn’t be able to mobilize until they were given orders.

“Brother, how we evacuate the commoners will depend on whether an entire army crosses the border or just a small squadron targeting the castle,” I said. “The same is true for our preparations and patrol paths.”

“I understand that, but we still don’t know how this invasion will take shape,” Viktor replied. He then turned to consult a map. “To begin with, we are so far out of the way. Our foes are far more likely to invade through Gerlach, Wiltord, Garduhn, or Griebel.”

It certainly was true that our province shared only a sliver of the Ahrensbach border. My brother agreed that Lady Georgine was unlikely to even touch us, but we couldn’t afford to take any chances.

“You may be right, Viktor, but Illgner has the fewest nobles and the lightest guard. Lady Georgine might know that—and if she does, she might intend to use our province as a decoy.”

“A decoy...?”

“Yes. As much as we can count on Lord Bonifatius’s aid if something happens, we don’t know how long it will take for the Knight’s Order to receive our call, obtain the aub’s permission, and deploy troops to our province.”

“Well said,” I replied. “And to make matters worse, no matter how fast they travel, it will take them at least a full day to reach us by highbeast. We will need to endure on our own until then.”

I’d regularly dealt with the Knight’s Order while serving Lady Rozemyne, so I understood its operation better than anyone else here. Moreover, the more I thought about it, the more likely it seemed that Lady Georgine would use us as a distraction.

Our warnings must have made sense to Viktor, because he quickly incorporated them into his plans: “If promptly detecting and sending word of the invasion matters most, then yes, let us increase our number of patrols. As we expect something to happen soon, we can risk devoting more men to the border even with our lack of manpower.”

My brother nodded. “They’re going to be in a hurry to reach Ehrenfest’s foundation, so I doubt they’ll waste their time killing noncombatants. We should focus on minimizing casualties and buying ourselves time until the Knight’s Order arrives.”

I rushed to the training grounds and explained our circumstances to the knights.

“Thus, we need you to increase patrols along the border. I will join you. Did you receive reports of anything suspicious last night?”

“No,” our knight commander replied. “Neither last night nor this morning.”

I placed a hand on my chest, relieved. “Lady Rozemyne informed us that something serious is going to happen within the next few days. Please have the night patrols exercise extreme caution. If our foes mean to invade in secret, they will do so under cover of darkness.”

“In an ideal world, they would pass through while the commoners are asleep. Then we would just need to inform the archducal family...”

Our province’s knights were tasked with slaying feybeasts; matches during their student days aside, they had no experience fighting against other people. Worse still, we had only fifteen adult knights at our disposal. Even including the apprentices and me, we were fewer than twenty overall. I understood why they were so reluctant about fighting a greater duchy.

“Were that their plan, they would surely travel through Griebel instead,” I replied. “There is no guarantee that they will target Illgner, but keep your guard up nonetheless.”

“Very well. If a battle does break out, I would rather the knights from the Noble’s Quarter do most of the fighting. I would also pray that nobody uses heavy-duty magic tools and that our enemy won’t cause tremendous collateral damage.”

Indeed, a battle like that was the last thing we needed. The destruction of our mountains and forests would have a devastating impact on our paper-making industry.

“Putting aside the chances of an attack, Lady Brigitte, your presence in our humble Order makes it so much easier for us to communicate with the giebe. Your assistance and combat prowess as a mednoble are greatly appreciated.”

We weren’t expecting an invasion from Frenbeltag—our duchies were on good terms, and nothing in Lady Rozemyne’s warning had given us reason to suspect them—so we focused our patrols on our border with Ahrensbach. None of the knights reported anything that night.

Then, during our patrol at noon the next day...

“Has that mountain ridge always looked like that?” I asked from atop my highbeast. One portion of the forest below appeared to be sunken—like an unnatural dent in the otherwise level timberline.

“Let us descend and take a closer look.”

Suspicious, I approached the strange feature together with the five knights on patrol with me. Our inspection revealed that the trees on the other side of the mountain from the giebe’s estate had all vanished. The ground was scorched and covered with brown splotches as though a trombe had just attacked.

“What in the world...?!” I exclaimed, wide-eyed, as more trees on the Ahrensbach side of the mountains vanished right before our eyes.

“Look over there!” one of our knights shouted. “I see people!”

“They’re wearing Ahrensbach capes!”

Waiting at the center of the blotched earth were several figures, each holding a black weapon. I couldn’t help but gasp when I saw them.

“Those are the weapons used to steal mana from black feybeasts,” I said. “They might be using them to drain the land instead.”

The archducal family’s warning had prepared me for an invasion, but I still couldn’t believe my eyes. I’d expected Ahrensbach to march straight to our foundation, not steal mana from our land.

“Were they only marching through, we might have been able to watch from afar, but we can’t leave them be when they’re stealing our mana and destroying our land.”

A shudder ran down my spine. The destruction of our forest would have a serious impact on our paper-making industry and on the commoners, who also relied on the mountain’s boons. Our river would change once the rain began to fall, and our province’s way of life would potentially succumb to natural disasters.

“There are four of them, from what I can see,” one knight said. “Should we attack on our own?”

“No,” I replied at length. “Let us return to the others, report our findings to the aub, and summon reinforcements. We risk being overwhelmed if there are more of them hiding among the trees.”

No sooner had the words left my mouth than an arrow whizzed right past me. The invaders were shooting at us while retreating into the shadows.

“They’ve seen us!” one of our knights shouted. “Brace yourselves!”

“Get them before they can hide!”

“Be careful—their black weapons absorb mana!”

Surely there wasn’t anything wrong with using offensive magic tools in this ruined section of the forest. We started dropping them on the trespassers, two of whom dispelled their black weapons to form shields.

“Keep them on the defensive! Those who dispel their black weapons will need to wait an entire day before they can make them again!”

The intruders wouldn’t be able to steal mana from our land without black weapons. We moved in for the attack—but then I gasped.

“There are other squadrons nearby!” I cried. “I noticed them with my mana-sensing. They’re coming this way!”

We were at an overwhelming disadvantage—their knights were almost certainly stronger than ours, and they had reinforcements coming. Trying to fight would mean our defeat, and if we stuck around for too much longer, we wouldn’t even be able to flee.

“Don’t follow them!” I called. “Retreat!”

Keeping our guards up, we raced straight back to the giebe’s estate while sending out ordonnanzes of warning.

“Brother—as Lady Rozemyne said, we’ve been invaded. Not only are they attacking in great numbers and canvassing wide stretches of our land, but they’re also stealing our mana, which we could never have predicted. Ask the aub for reinforcements; we can’t hope to win by ourselves.”

I’d just arrived at the giebe’s office with the knight commander in tow. Viktor and my brother were standing over a map of our province.

“I requested aid the moment your ordonnanz arrived,” my brother replied. “Lord Bonifatius is already en route with the Knight’s Order, but with how quickly our land is being drained, will we even survive the wait? Brigitte—give me your honest opinion as a knight.”

It wouldn’t be enough to defeat our enemies; we would also need to minimize the damage they caused so that our people could continue to live their lives.

“The invaders we encountered were only a small group, but I sensed more of them all over,” I said. “I don’t know how well we’d fare against them, even if we mustered every knight at our disposal—and who knows how much damage they’ll cause before our reinforcements arrive?”

If all they wanted was our mana, we could simply hole up in the estate and let them have it. The approach would spare us any casualties, but it would also mean complete devastation for the province.

“Those were nobles of Old Werkestock,” the commander said.

“Excuse me?”

“I recognized them from the Royal Academy. The knights were protecting an Old Werkestock giebe.”

We knew the fallen duchy was in desperate need of mana—its commoners were the ones sneaking into our province to scavenge the mountains—but the thought that its giebes were invading Ehrenfest to steal our mana astounded me.

“If they’re here at Lady Georgine’s insistence, I doubt they’re going to back down...” I said. As members of a giebe family ourselves, we knew just how frantic they would be if their land was dying and their people were starving. But it wasn’t like we could surrender.

“We’re at an overwhelming numerical disadvantage against Ahrensbach and Old Werkestock. It won’t be long before the two greater duchies crush us underfoot,” the knight commander said with a heavy sigh. “Still, no matter how bad our situation might be or how reckless this might seem, we will need to fight tooth and nail until Lord Bonifatius arrives with reinforcements. I only hope we can spare the young ones.”

“I refuse to stay on the sidelines,” I protested. “How could we not use our entire force when our people are in danger?”

“Wait, Brigitte,” Viktor interjected, the blood draining from his face. “You aren’t a knight anymore—you’re a mother and a member of the giebe family. For our daughter’s sake, please don’t take part in this battle the knight commander has deemed so perilous. You’ve been out of training for a while now because of your commitments to Lilaroze; you would be in more danger than any of the other knights.”

I understood why he was so concerned, but that didn’t change anything. I wasn’t going to concede.

“I am a mother, a member of the giebe family, and a knight. The very suggestion that I should step aside instead of protecting my home is unthinkable. Imagine what my nonparticipation would do to morale.”

“But—”

“I am going to be in danger, but so is every other knight. It was for the sake of this province that I resigned from Lady Rozemyne’s service when we got married. I will not stand down when Illgner’s future is at risk.”

Lady Rozemyne still cared for me even now that I was no longer in her service. She had given our paper-making industry a tremendous amount of support and even contacted me directly to warn us of Ahrensbach’s invasion. Her assistance was an immense boon considering how little time I’d actually spent as her retainer. Not joining the action would make me an embarrassment of a knight.

“A threat to our home is a threat to our daughter,” I continued. “Lilaroze has you, my brother, and my mother to raise her in my stead. Our knights, on the other hand, have no one who can replace me. That’s why I’m entrusting her to you, Viktor. Now please, let me go.”

Viktor turned to my brother, his face a picture of anguish—but my brother shook his head in response.

“Forgive me, Viktor. As the giebe, I must use all the knights I can get. Not to mention, what would those putting their lives on the line think if they discovered that I was prioritizing my sister’s safety over the fate of our province?” He turned to me. “Brigitte, if you wish to protect Illgner, I will respect your decision. Just... don’t do anything unreasonable.”

Viktor hung his head and sighed. “Brigitte... You truly are too much of a knight for your own good. I understand your pride and your desire to protect your home, but... don’t forget that we have a daughter, okay? And don’t put yourself in more danger than you need to. Our focus right now is buying time, so stay alert and keep a close eye on the battlefield.”

Upon seeing my husband relent, the knight commander shook his head and gave an exasperated smile. “Lady Brigitte, do not underestimate our concern for you. We want to make it through to the other side of this battle with as few casualties as possible. Viktor is right that buying time is our main focus, so we should aim to make our opponents dispel their black weapons. We’ll attack their groups one by one with the full might of our military.”

As we discussed ways to dispel the God of Darkness’s blessing and what magic tools we would need to use, an ordonnanz flew into the room.

“This is Bonifatius. The aub has granted us permission to teleport. Expect us there at fifth bell. Clear the space by the teleporter in your estate’s front garden and ensure your remaining knights are ready to sortie. We’re setting out as soon as I arrive.”

I couldn’t believe my ears—not even when the message was delivered the third time. “He’s coming here at fifth bell...? So... today ? And with the Knight’s Order? Using a teleporter ?”

We had discovered the invaders after lunch, during our noon patrol, and then hurried to the estate to inform my brother. We hadn’t even shared the news with our knights yet, so how were we already being sent reinforcements?

“It’s almost fifth bell now! We need to find that teleporter! Where on earth is the estate’s front garden?!”

“Calm down, Lord Helfried. It must surely be at the front of the estate.”

“Lady Brigitte! We must inform our knights! We aren’t yet ready to sortie!”

In an instant, the solemn resolve hanging over the room was completely blown away. We needed to prepare to welcome the Knight’s Order and ensure that our recently returned patrol was ready to charge back into battle.

Just as the ordonnanz had said, at fifth bell on the dot, a magic circle appeared in the estate’s front garden. The black and golden flames emblematic of a teleporter roared to life, and a large group appeared within them. The circle used when traveling to and from the Royal Academy could only move three people at a time, but I counted at least fifty in front of us right now.

Once the flames had disappeared, Lord Bonifatius and several rows of knights marched off of the teleportation circle. The others who had just arrived—about a dozen in total—remained in place.

“Aub Ehrenfest?!” my brother yelped. We had expected reinforcements but not a visit from the archduke, of all people.

Upon seeing our astonishment, the aub waved a hand at us and said, “Be at ease; I’m only here because the teleporter wouldn’t have worked without me. I’ll be gone again before you know it.”

“Aub Ehrenfest,” my brother said, “I cannot thank you enough for providing these reinforcements so quickly. I did not even know there was a teleportation circle outside my estate.”

The aub gave a brisk nod. “I wasn’t aware of the circles either; it was Rozemyne who brought them to my attention. She learned about them from some old document, apparently. I imagine you’re aware that she reads the bible and other ancient texts to revive rituals and what have you. This is the first time in forever the circles have actually been used.”

“Lady Rozemyne...”

If not for her, this teleportation circle would never have been found, and Lord Bonifatius wouldn’t have arrived so suddenly to help us. Just how much did we owe that young woman?

“Giebe Illgner, this is as many reinforcements as Ehrenfest can provide right now,” the aub said. Then he gestured to the dozen still standing on the teleporter. “These scholars have been tasked with activating the magic circle; they are not to be lumped in with the knights. Now... protect your province.”

Leaving the archduke’s departure to my brother, I went to see Lord Bonifatius, who was partway through instructing the knights.

“Half of our lot used up mana to teleport us here. They won’t join us in the coming battle and will instead stay behind to serve as guards and replenish themselves. Now, who’s currently in charge of Illgner’s knights? I need to know more about our situation.”

“Lord Bonifatius,” I said, “allow me to report as a member of the giebe family. We discovered the intruders during our noon patrol.”

“Ah, Brigitte. It’s been a while.”

It would normally have fallen to our knight commander to deliver this information, but he had asked me to take over in case his nerves caused him to offend the archducal family. I’d trained under Lord Bonifatius while serving as Lady Rozemyne’s guard knight, so I wasn’t all that tense about speaking with him.

“I see...” he said after listening to more of my report. “Black weapons certainly are troublesome; not only do they steal mana from the land, they also turn our mana attacks against us. We should use the same weapons we prepared to counter Ahrensbach’s silver cloth—which reminds me, did you see anyone wearing any?”

I shook my head. “We suspect they saw no point in it, since they were using black weapons to steal our mana.”

“The aub didn’t sense any nobles pass through the duchy barrier. Chances are they have some...” Lord Bonifatius paused in thought, then nodded. “Getting our enemies to dispel their weapons is a good place to start. We’ve got it on good authority that the giebes might be storing the mana they’re stealing in small chalices. If we can steal those chalices, we should be able to enrich your land again.”

That was more intelligence from Lady Rozemyne, I suspected. I recalled the days I’d spent accompanying her to religious ceremonies. The small chalices were divine instruments used to fill the land with mana, but I could easily see someone malicious using them to steal mana instead.

Having acquired the information he’d wanted, Lord Bonifatius said, “Let’s go” and marched off with half of the knights. The other half stayed behind and drank rejuvenation potions.

Illgner’s in good hands.

The battle had just begun, and we were so far from the end... but seeing Lord Bonifatius filled me with confidence. Now that he was with us, I could somehow tell that everything was going to be okay.

First, we need to secure those chalices. That mana was bestowed upon us by my lady and the people of the temple.

“They were around here, Lord Bonifatius. Ah... More of the land has been drained.”

Indeed, upon our arrival at the border, we’d come across even more brown earth than I’d seen before. The sight frustrated me immensely.

“Can anyone sense their mana?” Lord Bonifatius asked.

“We should descend a little.”

We wouldn’t be able to mana-sense our targets if they were too far away. We headed closer to the forest, and it was then that we noticed some of the trees disappear at the edge of our vision.

“There!” I called.

“Everyone!” Lord Bonifatius shouted. “Follow behind me and steal the chalice!”