Kaelis marched into the command tent without bothering to lift the flap properly.
I followed a few steps behind, still contemplating whether I could reasonably classify the destruction of an entire forest as an unfortunate gardening accident.
Probably not.
There were six of us gathered around the table.
There were five chairs.
An absolutely impeccable start to a meeting involving the strongest representatives of five entire races.
"Why is there no chair for me?" Vane asked.
He stood at the far end of the table, staring at the five seats as though one might materialize if he looked sufficiently offended.
"Because you're not one of us," Lysandrias replied without looking up from the report in her hands.
"That's discrimination."
"That's furniture."
I pulled out my chair.
Kaelis immediately occupied it.
"Right. Brilliant. Wonderful. We're having the meeting standing up, then."
Volund grunted from the other side of the table, where he was examining a broken clasp on his gauntlet.
"Or you could get another chair."
"Thank you, Volund. As always, your wisdom transcends mortal comprehension."
"You're welcome."
I hated this group.
Deeply.
Professionally.
With the accumulated conviction of a man who had spent the better part of his life surrounded by people who were apparently incapable of acting their age.
Which was particularly insulting considering I was the youngest person here.
"Can we begin?" Isra asked quietly.
Everyone stopped talking.
Almost impressive, really. Five individuals with enough power between them to erase entire countries, silenced by a single irritated elf.
Well, four individuals.
Vane was still looking for a chair.
"Right," I said, stepping towards the table. "What's the situation?"
"The situation," Vane replied, "is that somebody has apparently decided we no longer need a forest."
Ah.
That.
"An unfortunate accident."
"You removed a geographical feature."
"An unfortunate geographical accident."
Kaelis leaned back in my chair, looking deeply pleased with herself.
"I told him that."
"Thank you, Kaelis. Your contribution has been invaluable."
"You're welcome!"
I was beginning to see why Volund spoke so little.
It was probably a survival mechanism.
Vane spread a map across the table.
His finger traced the edge of the woodland, stopping at a section that had been marked in red.
"That forest was covering our eastern approach. Now anything watching from the castle has a clear view of the Vanguard's movements."
"On the bright side," I offered, "we have a clear view of them."
"That's not how concealment works, Aren."
"Depends on how you use it."
"No. It really doesn't."
I opened my mouth.
Closed it.
Fine.
For context, the Vanguard wasn't some ordinary collection of soldiers.
The people serving in it were monsters in their own right. Veterans, exceptional mages, warriors who could dismantle entire conventional formations without breaking their stride.
They were the strongest fighters our allied forces could field.
Outside of us, anyway.
The five chairs represented something quite different.
Humanity. Dragons. Beastmen. Elves. Dwarves.
Five races.
Five figureheads.
Aren, Kaelis, Lysandrias, Isra, and Volund.
Each of us had reached the pinnacle of our respective peoples, and through some thoroughly questionable series of decisions, had ended up serving as their representatives in this ridiculous little alliance.
Not necessarily rulers.
Thank the heavens for that.
I could barely tolerate responsibility for myself, never mind a population.
Vane, meanwhile, stood at the very top of the Vanguard.
Not one of the five figureheads, but the strongest of those who served beneath us.
Which was why he was here.
And why he was the only person in the room who had apparently remembered that this was supposed to be a military meeting.
"The western companies are still recovering," he continued, tapping a different section of the map. "Our supply wagons are behind schedule, our healers are exhausted, and two of the advance squads haven't reported back."
"Then we retrieve them," Kaelis said immediately.
"Already sent people."
"Then we send faster people."
"We did."
"Then—"
"Kaelis," Lysandrias interrupted, finally setting her report down. "Perhaps let him finish a sentence."
Kaelis crossed her arms.
"Fine."
Vane looked momentarily grateful.
A rare expression.
He continued.
"The western provinces have finally released the additional supplies. The magistrate withdrew his objection to the requisitions. The wagons should be moving by tonight."
"Good," I replied.
Lysandrias glanced up from her report.
"That's rather sudden. I thought he was refusing them."
"He was," Vane said.
"Well, he isn't anymore," I offered.
She considered that for a moment, then returned to her report.
"At least that's one problem resolved."
"Exactly."
Wonderful.
Progress.
Volund finally snapped the clasp back into place.
"Could've told us they were coming."
"I just did," Vane replied.
"Could've told us sooner."
"I only found out this morning."
"Wonderful."
He returned his attention to the gauntlet.
A man of few words.
Unfortunately, every one of them was irritating.
"Back to the march," Vane continued, mercifully returning the discussion to something useful.
He moved three markers across the map.
"With the eastern approach exposed, the Vanguard will use the lower ravine instead. The five of you can advance along the central ridge, but I want the rear companies kept clear until we've confirmed the enemy positions."
"We could just go ahead," I offered.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because the last time you 'just went ahead,' we spent two days finding the rest of the army."
"We won."
"We were supposed to be establishing a defensive position."
"Which we no longer needed."
Vane stared at me.
I stared back.
An excellent argument, as far as I was concerned.
Unfortunately, nobody else seemed particularly impressed.
"And we're still missing two advance squads," he added. "I'd rather know where they've gone before committing the entire Vanguard to a march."
"We're resting another day," Lysandrias said.
"I agree," Isra added.
"Same," Volund grunted.
Kaelis raised her hand.
"I wanna fight."
"Noted," Lysandrias replied. "Overruled."
"Hey!"
Three votes against two.
Although I wasn't particularly inclined to consider anything Kaelis said as an agreement worth counting.
Three against one, then.
Either way, democracy had once again failed me.
"We move the day after tomorrow, assuming the scouts return and the lower approach is clear," Vane concluded, marking the map.
I sighed.
"Fine."
He blinked.
"...Fine?"
"Yes, Vane. Fine. It's a word. People use it when they agree to something."
"Just making sure. Usually there's an explosion somewhere before you concede an argument."
"That was one time."
"The forest was this morning."
"Two times."
Kaelis started laughing.
I considered throwing her chair out of the tent.
Then remembered that it was technically my chair.
I was beginning to understand why political alliances fell apart.
Vane reached for another map.
"Before anyone leaves, there's one more matter."
Of course.
Of course there was one more matter.
The man had apparently dedicated his life to finding new ways to prolong meetings.
"If you're about to tell me there's another forest we need to preserve, I will personally—"
"Refugees."
Ah.
Well.
That shut me up.
He unfolded the smaller map, which was covered in markings far too close together for my liking.
"Three settlements along the southern border. Mostly humans, some beastmen. A handful of dwarven merchants. They've been requesting evacuation for the last week."
"Then evacuate them," I replied.
"We don't have the manpower."
"Use the reserve companies."
"Already deployed."
"The western garrison?"
"Recovering."
"The—"
"Aren."
I stopped.
Vane looked at me with the expression of a man explaining basic mathematics to a particularly stubborn brick.
"We don't have the manpower."
Right.
Wonderful.
"So I'll go."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because you're supposed to be leading the central advance."
"I can do both."
"You said that about the northern offensive."
"And?"
"You arrived three days late."
"I arrived victorious."
"You arrived carrying a mountain."
"It was strategically important."
"It was a mountain."
Kaelis leaned forward.
"Can I go?"
"No," Vane replied.
"Why?"
"Because the last time we sent you to escort civilians, you challenged their local militia commander to a duel."
"He looked strong!"
"He was sixty."
"And?"
"He was also their only healer."
Kaelis paused.
"...Oh."
A rare moment of self-reflection.
I would've applauded, but I was too busy trying to figure out how we'd survived this long.
Volund finally set down his gauntlet.
"How many?"
"Roughly eight thousand," Vane answered.
"That's a lot of wagons."
"Yes."
"Roads?"
"Terrible."
"Bridges?"
"Two. Both damaged."
Volund grunted.
Then he reached for the map.
"Give me forty engineers and three days."
Vane blinked.
"To repair the bridges?"
"No. To build new ones."
"Wouldn't repairing them be faster?"
"Not if whoever built them was an idiot."
I nodded solemnly.
Finally.
Somebody who understood the fundamental failures of infrastructure.
"Three days?" Vane asked, looking back at the map.
"If you want them standing when the wagons cross."
"Fair enough."
He made a mark beside the river.
"Then we'll need the refugees moving before that. If they leave their settlements tomorrow, they'll reach the crossings around the time the bridges are finished."
"Assuming they can get through the southern woodland," Lysandrias noted.
"Which is rather optimistic," Vane replied. "The roads are barely passable, and the longer route would add several days."
"Eight thousand people," Isra murmured.
Her fingers brushed against the edge of the map.
"How many children?"
Vane checked his notes.
"Approximately two thousand."
Isra went quiet.
The air around her shifted slightly, a faint chill brushing against my arms.
I knew that expression.
She was thinking.
Which, given the things Isra usually thought about, was a deeply concerning development.
"I can ask the spirits to guide them through the southern woodland," she said eventually. "It would shorten their journey considerably."
"Wouldn't the spirits object?" Lysandrias asked.
"Probably."
"How reassuring."
"They object to most things."
"That doesn't make it better."
Isra smiled faintly.
"I didn't say it did."
Vane looked between them.
"So... that's an option?"
"Provided nobody does anything particularly offensive to the forest."
Silence.
Five pairs of eyes turned towards me.
...
Really?
"I destroyed one forest."
"And we're trying to keep this one," Vane replied.
"It was in the way!"
"Most geographical features are."
Kaelis doubled over laughing.
"THE TREES ARE GONNA GET YOU!"
I turned toward her.
"Kaelis, I swear to everything holy and otherwise—"
"The spirits wouldn't appreciate that either," Isra added.
Wonderful.
Absolutely wonderful.
I was being persecuted by the local vegetation.
Vane rubbed his forehead.
"Right. Volund handles the bridges. Isra organizes the route. I'll need an escort large enough to keep the evacuation moving without leaving our advance exposed."
"Take the Seventh," I said.
He looked up.
"They're assigned to your advance."
"I won't need them."
"Aren—"
"I'll manage."
"They're supposed to cover your western flank."
"And now they'll be covering eight thousand civilians instead."
He glanced at the map again.
The Seventh was one of our better companies. Not quite Vanguard material across the board, but reliable, disciplined, and more than capable of handling the dangers along the southern route.
They'd be wasted standing behind me.
Vane rubbed his chin.
"If I send them south tomorrow, they'll miss the advance."
"That's generally how being in two different places works."
He ignored me.
Wise.
"That gives us enough to escort the refugees to the new crossings. The rest of the Vanguard can proceed on schedule."
"See?" I said. "Problem solved."
"Provided you don't decide to move the entire eastern ridge while we're gone."
"No promises."
He sighed.
"Fine. I'll make the arrangements."
"Excellent."
See?
Cooperation.
Diplomacy.
Truly, I was a natural-born leader.
"Anything else?" I asked.
Vane looked at the remaining reports.
Then at me.
Then back at the reports.
"Several things, actually."
I stared at him.
He stared back.
"...Anything else that cannot possibly wait until tomorrow?"
He considered it.
"Not particularly."
"Brilliant."
The meeting finally dispersed.
Volund gathered his tools and the southern survey maps, already muttering something about bridge foundations and the intellectual deficiencies of whoever had constructed the old ones.
Isra took the refugee records, pausing to ask Vane for the locations of the smaller settlements that hadn't appeared on his map.
Lysandrias collected the remaining reports, tucking the requisition documents beneath the others.
Kaelis stood, stretched, and immediately announced that she was going to find somebody to fight.
"Try not to challenge any healers," Vane called after her.
"No promises!"
I watched her disappear through the tent flap.
Then looked at the chair she'd abandoned.
My chair.
Returned to me at last.
Beautiful.
Unfortunately, sitting down now would mean remaining in the tent.
A difficult decision.
I chose freedom.
"Aren," Vane called as I turned to leave.
Of course.
I slowly faced him.
"What?"
"You're certain about the Seventh?"
"Yes."
"You'll be short a company."
"I can count, Vane."
"Just making sure."
"Your concern is deeply appreciated."
He gave me a long look before shaking his head.
"Try to stay with the army this time."
"I always stay with the army."
"You once crossed three mountain ranges without telling anyone."
"And returned."
"Four days later."
"Victorious."
He closed his eyes.
I took the opportunity to escape.
Outside, the camp stretched across the hillside. Soldiers moved between the tents, wagons rattled over uneven ground, and somewhere in the distance, somebody was shouting about a missing horse.
A remarkably ordinary afternoon, all things considered.
The western supplies were finally moving.
The refugees had a way out.
And, provided our scouts returned, we'd be advancing in two days.
Productive meeting.
Very productive.
I looked back at the command tent.
Vane was still inside, probably reorganizing the entirety of our military operation for the fifth time that morning.
Poor bastard.
I genuinely didn't understand how he put up with all that paperwork.
Personally, I'd have gone insane.
Anyway.
Time to find Kaelis before she started another war.