I Only Love My Greatest Enemy

Armand burst into a room inside one of his and Eris' more permanent fortresses. Fear and panic coated his face, unable to be hidden, no matter how hard he tried. Eris stood at a table. Several mercenaries were with her. On the surface, a dead corpse was hidden under a white cloth.

"Where is it?" Armand's voice was frantic. "Under the cloth? Who are you hiding it from, Eris?"

She held up her hands in a placating manner. Concern flashed through the Concord girl.

"Armand is panicking. Not that I can blame him after what happened, but we need to keep cool heads. Please, calm down, Armand," she thought before speaking. "I am hiding it from anyone who might see, save for you."

Eris yanked the cloth off with incredible swiftness. Under it was the humanoid reptilian corpse. The mercenaries shifted with nervousness. Armand marched over.

"I didn't want anyone to find out before I could talk to you. I mean, you know more about monsters than I do," Eris said.

"Yes, yes," Armand shook his head. "That is the right thing in your position. I apologize for getting mad."

He looked at the corpse, ignoring everything else, while his eyes fixated on it. A hard grimace crossed Armand's face. Fear and anger mixed in it. The boy was internally kicking himself hard.

"By the gods, no! Why is it happening now, of all times? This disaster should be years away! What changed? Was it something I did, something someone else did, or just random chance?" Armand thought before speaking. "Eris, we have at most a year before the monster invasion starts. It is more likely that we just have a few months."

Upon hearing those words, the mercenaries would have felt skepticism...if the corpse of a monster wasn't near them. Now, they felt a sense of incredible dread.

"Do you think it'll be worse than last time?" Eris asked.

"Gods, I hope not," Armand forced down the flickers of panic that lashed him. "And I will do everything in my power to keep it from turning out that way again."

Inside, Eris was filled with a flurry of mixed emotions.

"Armand is not lying. I know that. Honestly, we should just stay out of this and let someone else solve the problem. Armand was the only survivor last time. He doesn't need to be there to have a similar result. And the monster invasion is doomed to fail, from attrition if nothing else. We could even stay back and manipulate things from the shadows."

Yet, when Eris spoke, her words were different from her thoughts. They were entirely sincere all the same.

"You have me by your side this time, Armand. We can make it through this."

Eris placed a hand on Armand's shoulder. He felt a faint degree of comfort from this. Armand placed his own hand on his wife's.

"Yes, Eris, thank you. We will need all the help we can get. This corpse will be part of it," the boy declared.

He started moving off, heading to another room. Eris followed him.

"I will send a letter to Marshal Staufer. We will also need to show this corpse to as many nobles as possible. And we'll have to admit this creature was sabotaging our defenses," Armand said.

Eris' eyebrow twitched.

"What foolish noble would admit such weakness?" she asked.

"One who knows that others are suffering from the same weakness. Other nobles are likely being sabotaged, too. But they don't want to admit it. If we start, it could encourage others to help us," Armand answered.

"Or it could make them see us as weak and try to attack us."

The Concord boy nodded.

"It could, but that is a risk we will have to take. Besides, once Marshal Staufer is involved, few will dare go after us," he pointed out.

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Eris grimaced.

"I still don't like it. We should lie about the extent of damages, say the creature wasn't as successful as it really was," she suggested.

Armand hesitated.

"People might not take the threat as seriously otherwise. The big reason why this disaster ended so horribly is because no one expected it. Thye couldn't make proper preparations. And how can anyone expect an army of monsters? To keep everyone from dying again, we need to inform as many people as possible," he said.

"But they will still acknowledge it exists, and at less risk to us," Eris replied. "You know for a fact that some nobles will try to take advantage of this."

After another pause, Armand let out a sigh. He nodded with grimness.

"Yes, we can't expose ourselves too much. We're already taking a big risk. We'll say that the saboteurs did not do much damage," Armand said.

"Don't worry, Armand. If we say it right, we can make it look like we're hypercompetent. That won't lessen the threat in the eyes of other nobles," Eris assured him.

A sigh escaped the boy's mouth.

"I certainly hope you're right, Eris," he stated.

The two made it to a solar. There, Armand grabbed several sheets of paper before placing them down. His hand grabbed a quill and dipped it in ink. Soon, the boy was writing a letter while trying to maintain his composure.

"Marshall Staufer should get a letter...Rozwialzly should get one too...my contacts in the church, the third...the servants of Hermes will want one as well. They should at least be of some help with their knowledge. I doubt my parents would help us, but they'd at least warn us. I'll send a letter to your parents, too," Armand contemplated. "Is there anyone you think should get letters, Eris?"

After contemplating for a moment, the girl spoke.

"I can't think of anyone myself. It's not like I have many allies," she said.

"Not just allies, Eris. Neutral people who you think should know. Even enemies that you don't ha..." Armand started.

He then sighed and shook his head.

"My apologies. I forgot who I was talking to for a moment."

A faint hurt clenched Eris' heart. But no objections came to her mind.

"Why does it always feel so bad when Armand says something like that? He knows what I am, and I know what I am. So why does it hurt? I...don't like this hurt. I don't like that Armand thinks I'm a monster, even if I am one," she thought.

After taking a deep breath, Eris spoke, grasping at whatever straws she could.

"Maybe we could inform someone at the royal palace? Even if His Majesty is weak, he should be able to do something," she stated.

"That's why I'm sending a letter to Rozwialzly," Armand pointed out.

Eris struggled to keep her breath from getting more frantic.

"Perhaps someone in charge of defense?"

"Marshal Staufer."

The girl started scratching her head. She tried to think of someone, anyone, else that Armand could send a letter to. But her mind was blank. This level of concern for others, even feigned, was far beyond anything Eris had done before.

"Dammit," she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Armand. I don't think I'm capable of that level of empathy, or even concern for my tools."

"You are, Eris, just give it time," her husband replied.

Armand gave her the best smile he could in the circumstances. It was pretty horrible, but Eris felt her heart throb all the same.

Then, Armand went back to writing his letters. The boy spoke as he did.

"Eris, I am going to need your help to defend Foldzar from this disaster. I do not want to be the sole survivor again."

"I will do whatever I can to help you," his wife promised.

Armand nodded.

"Good. First, your hussars will be ideal for skirmishing with the monsters before the war truly starts. Arm them with ranged weapons. Pistols, carbines, even bows would do. Against monsters, with the light armor hussars wear, melee weapons are unsuited."

"My hussars will march whenever you are ready," Eris said. "Where do you need them to go?"

A grimace crossed Armand's face. He kept writing, but his mind raced.

"There are a few places that would have been ideal the last time around. But now? The monsters are acting earlier. Other things might have changed, too. But if we strike at those places early, it could give us an advantage, even if it's just a few of them."

Coming to a decision, Armand spoke.

"I know of some places that would be ideal for raiding. Despite what most people thought, the monsters were more like an organized force than a mindless horde. And those forces have weaknesses."

Eris grabbed several maps from a shelf and placed them down. They were not very accurate compared to maps made with higher technology, but they were still some of the best charts in the world.

"Mark the spots you want my hussars to investigate," she said.

Armand took a moment to look away from his letters. He went through every map from those of cities to those of the whole of Foldzar. Soon, multiple locations were marked.

"Inform the hussars that they might find nothing, but they should be prepared for the worst," Armand instructed.

"I will give them proper instructions, Armand," Eris stated.

The girl moved off while looking at the maps. Some of the marked places were outside of her and Armand's lands. In fact, most were. With a sigh, Eris started to try to think of what excuses she could make for sending her hussars through other nobles' territory. Still, finding the right lies for her hussars to tell wouldn't be too hard for her. Negotiations that would be needed, on the other hand, might be.