Lyra flew through the dark of night, some 15 or so meters above the ground. The rain had thankfully ended not long after she left Fandir Fortress behind. She was still wet, soaked to the skin from both blood and water, and so the wind that now lashed against her left her with quite the chill. If she ever wanted to make flying a reliable option for travel in the future, she'd have to make a spell which acted like a wind-shield of some kind. That said, she wasn't too keen on the idea. There was something more charming about traveling on foot or by horse. If she had to get somewhere very fast however, this was a nice option. She'd have to look into teleportation later, she made a mental note of.
Fifteen minutes after she had left the enemy fortress behind, she began to see the lights. Thousands of lights, up ahead, swarming around Fort Luna. When she got even closer, she realized the enemy had set up camp on the front side of the Fort, covering the one gate which led into Luna, leaving the city entirely cut-off from any outside help. Without further ado, she sped past the enemy soldiers, wooshing overhead in the dark of night. Then, she descended towards Luna and landed in the courtyard of the Luna Keep, startling a pair of soldiers who stood guard.
"Lady Lyra!? You're back? Where did you come from?" one said.
-"I'm back... and there is no time explain. Where is Thomas and Helena?" Lyra asked, already moving towards the main entrance of the keep.
"Just inside, planning the defense." said the other guard, and they both opened the doors for the elven woman as she passed them. Lyra hurried inside, tired and mentally unstable, but thankful she had made it here in time. When she emerged into the Great Hall, which was smaller than the one at Fandir had been, Thomas, Helena and the few Knight-Captains who were present all looked up at her from whatever they were doing.
"Lyra!? How are you here?" Thomas remarked with surprise, while Helena rushed over, seemingly more concerned about Lyra's general state.
"Goodness, you're all soaked, and... is this all blood? What happened to you?" she said as she came over, hands dabbing over Lyra, however the elf recoiled slightly, mostly by reflex.
-"S-sorry... I... I don't want to be touched right now... and it is a long story..." Lyra said, shooting Helena an apologetic look. She did not want Helena to feel bad, but at the same time, right now, she did not want anyone touching her.
"I understand... safe to say diplomacy did not work?" Thomas asked, as he too came over.
-"That's an understatement..." Lyra answered shortly.
"We believe they'll launch the main attack tomorrow morning. Currently they are doing midnight raids all along the walls." one of the Knight-Captain's said loudly, perhaps wanting Lyra's feedback.
-"That is what King Damien ordered, indeed... and midnight raids?" Lyra asked.
"Ah right, military lingo. When laying siege to a city like this, and you have a massive numerical value, the main thing you want to do is tire out the defenders and break their morale. They'll divide their forces into many teams, and then one team at a time will probe the fortress's defenses, launching an attack at a random side of the wall. This way, the defenders will have to constantly be on guard and defend the entire wall, because an attack could come from anywhere, at any time. Meanwhile, the other enemy teams can rest, eat and sleep. They'll rotate generously, ensuring there is maybe 24 teams and 1 team attacks every half hour. Gives the team that just came back from an attack plenty of time to sleep and eat until it is their turn again." the captain explained.
-"Oh... that is smart. Not good for us, though..." Lyra mused out loud.
"We are managing the defense well enough, but there are a handful of dead. Mostly soldiers from this garrison." Thomas said, before continuing: "You are technically neutral, Lyra, since you belong to the Adventurers Guild right now. However... without your help, and even with your help, it looks really grim. I am unsure if we can manage a full-on attack tomorrow."
Lyra understood the implication, and nodded slowly. Helena was the one who interjected, as she said:
"Give her some time to rest... and to bathe, your Highness. She does not look fit to make any decisions right now..."
Lyra sent a thankful nod towards Helena. She was sharp and quick on the uptake as always, and Lyra definitely appreciated that presence of mind right now. Both women excused themselves, and Helena even escorted Lyra to the room she had been assigned two nights prior. It was small, but enough for her, and even had a private bathroom, with a tub and hot water available.
"Will you manage on your own Lyra? I'll stay and help you, if you'd let me." Helena said, giving the High Elf a look of almost maternal concern. Helena did not know the details, but she could tell something terrible had happened to Lyra. Something she did not want to talk about. Lyra however shook her head in response:
-"I'll manage myself, you are needed down in the hall, helping his Highness prepare for the incoming attack." Lyra said, offering a weak smile.
Helena did not push the issue. She bowed her head, told Lyra she only had to call for her, and she'd be there, and then she left. Lyra closed the door, and locked it. Then she went to the bathroom, and stripped out of her bloodied clothes. She'd wash them later. First, her body. So she turned the knobs on the wall, and began filling the tub with hot water. She looked down into the tub idly, running her hand along the surface of the water, not a single thought in her mind. She was still processing, still feeling nauseous just trying to think about it. So she didn't. Once she had washed the blood of her body, then there'd be no evidence left. And if there was no evidence, could one even say it had actually happened?
But she knew. She would always know. She sank her head down to rest against the edge of the tub, and she could not stop the tears from falling. She cried, and cried. Not the cute and faint cry she recalled seeing on TV from the hospital bed from time to time. No, this was the ugly kind, where she had no control over herself, and the tears just came on their own. She sulked and sobbed, shoulders shaking.
Then the tub started to overflow, the water slowly dripping down its side. A fitting analogy, Lyra thought as she wiped at her tear-stained eyes. Just as the tub was overflowing with water, so too was she overflowing with emotion. She reached over, turned the knobs, and stopped the tub from filling further. When she then lifted herself up over the edge and slid into full tub, more water poured from the sides, but what did it matter?
As she washed herself, she felt a small sensation of relief. The blood which stained her skin, as if marked by sin, slowly came undone. The water in the tub turned a faint shade of red, and as Lyra sat there in the warm, red-stained water, finally she was starting to come to terms with all that happened. While she was still angry and furious, she was ultimately mostly just angry at herself. In the end, it was she who had been carefree, and naive. She had failed to plan ahead. She had failed to protect herself. She had been naive and trusting, and she hadn't done her due diligence. If she had used inspect on Gustav, she could perhaps have prepared a defense ahead of time. This had served as a valuable lesson, in the end. Even if she was strong, she could still be manipulated and controlled through means other than force.
She leaned back in the tub, and began to wash her hair, more blood tainting the waters as she wrung her strands of hair, and combed her fingers though the blue strands. From now on, she would always keep "Mage Armor" and "Protected Mind" on her at all times. What is more, she should look into a way to make them permanent buffs. Maybe she could impart those spells into equipment, just like the Ring of Deception she had encountered on the Royal Advisor? Enchanting was a thing, after all.
After the bath, she felt a little bit better. Lesson learned, improvements planned. But even as washed her clothes, then dried herself, and laid down in bed, she found no rest. There was another matter gnawing at the back of her head. The siege. While she was lying here, everyone else was awake, defending the Fortress from the enemy. Fighting. Dying. But did she really have a right to interfere? She certainly hated the other side, after what they had done, but that fell on the King and the Summoned Heroes. The soldiers, could she really kill them?
She had killed the ones in the Keep when she escaped, but then she felt as if she had no choice, nor was she really of a sound and reasonable mind at the time. She had been so angry, she had lost control and given the reigns over to impulse. Not to mention, they were immediately hostile to her. But all the enemy soldiers outside these walls, they were not all evil, surely. They had families of their own, perhaps even drafted against their will. Lyra did not know how it worked in this world, though many she was sure were happy to enlist for the many benefits as well. Ultimately, Lyra found no rest tonight either, as she laid awake in bed for hours, staring up at the ceiling, thoughts swirling around in her head but she got no wiser from it.
In the early hours of the day, she dressed herself in a simple top and skirt, and then went to take a walk. She waked through the dimly lit keep, nodding at the occasional soldier or knight she passed. When she reached the storage room at the very center of the keep, she heard voices within, and opened the door curiously. Inside, she found hundreds of people. Older men and women, young women, and children. They were sitting there, huddled together, hugging one another and trying to sleep despite the anxiety and fear of death they likely felt. The safest place in Fort Luna, the center-most room in the keep. So this is where all the non-fighting citizens were.
A few of them looked up as Lyra entered. Most tried to sleep. Many couldn't. Lyra's gaze drifted right, to a mother cradling her two children, a girl and a boy. The girl seemed to be 7 perhaps, the boy 3 or 4, maybe even 5. While not intentional, Lyra could not help but overhear the conversation between them. The boy asked his mother when they could go home. The mother answered she did not know. Then, the young girl said:
"Mom... are we going to die?" to which the mother hugged her children close, eyes red with tears, as she shook her head, trying to sound confident but failing.
"O-of course not sweetie... of course not." the mother said.
"I don't want to die, mom..." the young girl said.
And something inside Lyra stirred, a memory long suppressed from her own youth, back on Earth before her transmigration. She recalled, she must have been 8 at the time. Which is around the time she had come to terms with the fact that her life wasn't going to get any better. She had sat in her mother's lap, and asked the same very question. Why? Why did she have to die? She did not want to die. She wanted to be healthy, to live. So why was this happening to her? She recalled the look on her mothers face. The pain, the grief, the helplessness.
There was nothing her mother could do then. But now, here, there was something Lyra could do. In this young mother and her children, Lyra had found her answer to the question which had been gnawing at the back of her head. She approached and knelt down before them, offering a gentle smile, as she said:
-"Do not worry, dear. When tomorrow comes, everything will be resolved, I promise you."
The child looked up, bewildered, but comforted by the certainty in Lyra's voice. But one could never be too sure, so she held out her hand, pinky extended:
"You promise?" she said gently. Lyra nodded, and wrapped her pinky around that of the girl, giving it a gentle tug. Seems they had pinky promises here in this world too.
-"I promise." Lyra whispered, before she stood up. She glanced over her shoulders just before leaving, and the young mother mouthed a silent "Thank you" her way. Lyra nodded, and then left the storage room behind. The enemy soldiers had, one way or another, chosen to be here. They had accepted the risk of death, the moment they enlisted and agreed to kill others for money. But the people of Luna, and indeed the Revean Empire as a whole, they did not want to fight. They had tried their best, to stop the war. Even agreed to give the First Princess to the enemy, if that could sate their lust for battle.
Lyra walked through the halls of the Keep, and asked a passing guard where His Highness Thomas was. Up on the walls, apparently, as it turned out. So Lyra stepped outside, out into the courtyard, into a tower, up a flight of stairs, and up and out onto the walls themselves. As she walked, the sky began to change color, and soon it was a bristling orange color. She noticed that the enemy camp began to stir, waking up, getting ready for the incoming attack. She found the Prince two minutes later, surrounded by a group of knights, as he looked down over the enemy army from the walls of this bastion.
"Lyra? I thought you were asleep." he said gently as she came up to him, noticing her simple clothing but saying nothing.
-"Couldn't sleep." she said, as she stopped beside him, turning to look out over the enemy soldiers as they got ready.
"It is not safe here. If you are to leave, now would be your chance." Thomas said simply.
-"I won't leave, your Highness." Lyra answered.
"You won't? Then...?" he began, and Lyra nodded.
-"I have found my conviction. I know what it is I must now do. But... will you stay with me here, to give me your support?" she then asked.
Thomas looked at her, surprised, then his expression mellowed, and he smiled.
"I will, Lyra." he said, dipping his head with respect. Lyra took a few deep breaths, then nodded back.
-"Lets begin then..." she said.