I Only Love My Greatest Enemy

The newly constructed star fort stood proud over the landscape. Armand and Eris walked along its walls, inspecting every last bit of it. They observed the craftsmanship, how their mercenary guards patrolled it, and the supplies stored along the fortress.

Armand stopped by a culverin. He inspected the cannon up and down, noting the runes that had been carved into it.

"Properly carved," the boy noted.

He turned to one of the engineers.

"And I would trust that these runes were carved using a consecrated knife?" Armand asked.

"They were, my Lord," the engineer answered.

"Good. That should do."

Soon after, Armand and Eris were inside a solar. The two of them were looking through various letters.

"This one's from the hussars we sent to the West," Eris noted. "They disrupted the monster camp and sent a few heads to local lords."

Armand suppressed a shiver.

"That should at least delay their plans. And hopefully, get more lords aware of the invasion before it's too late," he said.

A grimace crossed the boy's face as he flipped through a few dozen more letters.

"Nothing from Rozwialzly or Marshal Staufer," Armand stated. "Do you think something happened?"

"It's possible, even likely, that some of the letters were intercepted," Eris agreed.

Without hesitation, Armand grabbed more papers from a shelf. He dipped a quill into ink and started writing.

"Then, I must send more letters. At the very least, Marshal Staufer must know," the boy stated, a grimace crossing his face. "I'll send some to Rozwialzly too, but I doubt there's much he can do."

Eris kept a scowl from emerging on her face.

"At least Armand has his doubts, but a commoner like Rozwialzly...informing him to tell him to do anything other than run is a waste of time. Even with his magic," she thought.

The Concord girl opened another letter. She looked through its contents before letting out a slight sigh.

"It appears that the Church is wondering when we'll have children," Eris said.

"Probably looking for more priests," Armand shrugged. "Well, as far as I'm concerned, you're still too young to safely bear children."

His wife nodded.

"And I agree. A year or two from now, I'll bear your child, Armand," she stated. "I'll tell the Church that we've been trying to conceive, but we ran into issues."

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"That should keep them satisfied for a few years," her husband spoke before thinking. "By the gods, I hope we don't run into issues when the time comes. Neither of us was married the last time around, and I know that I was at least a virgin. So, if I have issues, I wouldn't know it. And I doubt Eris would be honest about them."

After looking through the letters and attending to their other work, Armand and Eris retired to their bedchambers. Night passed before day arrived. It was now over two weeks since they sent the first letters and hussars out.

This day, Armand and Eris mounted their horses to go to another star fort. They'd need to inspect all their completed fortresses to make sure everything was in order. However, as the two started to move out with their personal guard, they noticed a rider in a red cloak approaching their star fort. Sheer panic was on his face.

"Lord...Armand! Lady...Eris!" he shouted between frantic breaths. "Where...are the Lord and Lady Concord?"

Armand spoke from a distance.

"I am Lord Armand Concord. And this is my wife, Lady Eris Concord," he gestured to her. "What business do you have here?"

The horseman stopped his beast. This poor animal was so exhausted that it looked like it would drop dead at any moment. Both Armand and Eris guessed that he had ridden it too hard and fast.

"A message...from Count Nassau..." the rider huffed out.

Eris looked to Armand. His gaze met hers.

"Is this one of your hussars?" the boy asked.

"No," his wife answered. "I have never seen him before. He must be one of Count Nassau's men."

They had sent hussars to Count Nassau's lands to the East. It was clear to the two that things had gone very wrong.

He reached into his cloak. The mercenaries got ready to defend their employers. Then, the horseman withdrew a letter. One of Eris' men took it before bringing it to the nobles.

"Here you are, My Lady," the mercenary said.

Eris opened the letter and looked through it. Her brow furrowed as she did.

"Armand, did Count Nassau ever contact you before?" she asked.

Her husband understood what she meant right away.

"A few times. His lands are close to Concord territory. But he's always had his own problems to deal with. The only time we've talked in person was during the war," Armand answered.

A grimace crossed Eris' face.

"In a few moments, you are going to tell me that we have to help him," she said.

"I probably will. Give me the letter," Armand replied.

Eris did so, and Armand read it with incredible speed. As he did, his brow furrowed. Then, the boy scratched his chin. The faintest stubble of a beard had started growing in. If other things weren't distracting him, Armand would have thought that he'd have to start shaving soon.

"Count Nassau claims that monsters are attacking his lands. He wants our help," the Concord lord stated.

"So he does," Eris responded. "Count Nassau is in the pro-serfdom faction. This could be a trap. For all we know, the messenger could be a very good actor."

"Yes. But if he is telling the truth, we had best help him. But we should do it with caution," Armand said.

A small smile crossed Eris' face.

"Agreed," she stated.

Then, they turned their attention to the rider.

"Go to the star fortress and rest. We will ride to aid your lord," Armand ordered.

"Th-Thank you," the man huffed.

As the horseman rode towards the finished fortress, Eris turned to one of her men.

"Keep an eye on him. Don't harm him unless he tries something, but make sure he isn't a spy," she said.

The mercenary nodded.

"Yes, My Lady," he stated, before riding off himself.

When those two were gone, Armand and Eris came up with the same plan:

Send forward a screening force of hussars. It would have one man in the back to report to them in case anything went wrong. The husband and wife would follow it up with a larger force of heavy cavalry, with foot soldiers lagging behind. This would be what arrived to hopefully relieve Count Nassau.