Chương 25: Roslain Escar

Sara drank with Kyritus at the bar after closing, warm emotions drifting away.

"Kyritus, there's something I have to tell you." Kyritus's face hardened.

"Which is?"

"Daniel. The person who sent us back in time… He said that time was self-correcting to a degree. That Roslain would be executed. He made it sound like… causality would try to correct itself. Now, I doubt it'll change that much. I mean, Tiber's cured of tyrexis, and he kept pointing out how much I 'fucked up,' so it's clear that causality isn't gonna correct the clusterfuck I've already unleashed on this world, but it's something we should think about."

"I… understand. I think. Who's Roslain? I've gotten some good memories back, but I still… I still don't remember… a lot. There's dark spots." Sara chuckled at good memories, but returned to brass tax.

"Roslain Escar."

"You mean the princess that was assassinated?"

"Yeah. In our last life, Lord Corrigan... one of the head advisors… had her assassinated after the king died to quell social dissent after the bastard prince took the throne." Kyritus gripped his forehead, clearly remembering something.

"Oh, shit," he said.

"Please say you fixed it."

"I've tried," I wrote the king, as an 'oracle,' warning him of what would come. Aelia's guarding him now, but Daniel was quite certain she'd die."

"Why?"

"I don't know. If she dies, Jason'll solidify his position in the military. I'm just relaying what he said."

"Alright. Duly noted. Now about the future." Sara chuckled as she stared into his lecherous eyes.

"It'll be far, far better than before. Let's celebrate." 2 Daniel Winters"It's hard to express how difficult it was to get myself alone with you," Daniel said to Roslain Escar, bumping along the road in her carriage.

"There's a whole brigade around you. So, I had to hire all sorts of mages to try to kill you. It was a total pain in the ass. Then, there was Mikha. Teleporting him out of your carriage and getting myself in? God. A nightmare."

"P-Please let me go. Whatever they've promised you, I'll triple it."

"Yeah, about that," Daniel said, leaning back.

"This isn't about money. It's about war. Do you even understand how many problems war solves? I mean, you get to blame everything wrong on another country. In the past, you were a pawn to draw attention away from the coup the bastard prince pulled off. Flawlessly executed. Corrigan and Reesta really know what they're doing." Roslain's terrified face creased in confusion.

"T-There was a coup?"

"Oh, no. That's kinda a problem." Daniel slouched back in his chair as if he were speaking to a therapist.

"See, I realized something terrible. Agronus? I needa kill him to reverse all the bullshit that Sara's caused and I realized something equally terrible. You know what it is?"

"W-What?"

"That Jason Newborn would be infinitely easier to control than Sara Reece. I mean, Sara's temper is just… so… fucking… capricious. And she's competent. I mean, Jason's a tyrant, but you can dangle an ego carrot in front of the prick and he'll snatch it.

'Course, that won't make for a better world, but I'll tell you this much, I refuse to keep living in this one. And besides, even if we go to war, and Jason loses, they'll both consolidate military might. Do you know what the term 'hedging your bets' means?" Roslain shook her head slowly.

"N-No… please don't."

"Smart woman…" Daniel said.

"Picked up on the subtext. Unfortunately for you… it won't matter." He unsheathed a dagger.

"Your death will save millions. So rejoice—your life actually mattered." The door yanked open just after Daniel teleported away, leaving Aelia to see Roslain's corpse and Mikha Hikan, holding a bloody knife he had gingerly picked up after he and Daniel traded places. Daniel Winters didn't like killing people, but he knew that if Sara was left to her own devices, she might start a tavern with her fiancé and never get involved. Such was the privilege that he gave her—and then regretted giving—her. Bitch.

The news of Roslain's death hit Sara harder than Trinov, who just lost his daughter. In his world, assassinations were always a possibility. In Sara's world, it meant more. Far more. Two days after it happened, Baron Nariko called her to his manor and spewed vitriol at her after the letter she sent to King Escar.

"Incompetant," Nariko spat, waving the letter.

"You planned this, didn't you!"

"How would I do that?" Sara asked.

"I warned the king that she was the target of assassination and your troops failed to protect her. That's incompetence."

"Yeah, really convenient. I'll let you be margrave unless you prove incompetent. Two days later, I'm judged incompetent. Something you wrote without consulting me."

"I'm the margravine of this territory," Sara declared.

"I don't need your permission or consultation to do anything. You let someone kill the princess of this kingdom. That's your cross to bear." Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"It was Mikha!"

"And? Why wasn't there a guard in there?"

"There was! He said he was teleported away with the prince."

"Yeah, very likely," Sara said sharply, failing to mention that she knew someone who could pull off such a feat.

"Whatever the case, you failed, now war is upon us. And I refuse to let you fuck things up more."

"You refuse? I refuse to let a child run my army."" My army."

"They'll never trust a child to lead them. They're too proud."

"Well, that's a flaw the last time I checked. A flaw that's corrected by firing."

"You can't just fire experienced people!"

"Okay, let's do this. I'll chose two of your lesser commanders. In two months we'll hold a mock trial between two companies of my people against your experienced commanders. If your commanders win, I'll concede and let you run the military. If you lose, you'll concede your barony and accept an… advisor role. I don't know, something with money and no authority."

"This is nonsense."

"Nonsense? Is that conceding you're afraid of losing."

"No, I obviously agree. Assuming you write King Escar of our wager."

"Done. I'll see you on a battlefield in two months." She turned to exit his room.

"One more thing. You can't use Edico, Raul Martinez, or Emma Claire." Sara whirled around.

"Raul? Why did you present that as an option?"

"Because they've requested a transference with six others to the Southernlands and it's been granted. They'll be here next month." Sara laughed.

"Well, too bad. Those two need combat experience."

"It's not fair."

"Then four companies. I'll give you a full brigade to fight against two companies and my peers."

"Surely you're confident that you can win under those conditions."

"Fine." He threw the letter at Sara. She caught it with telekinesis, reveling in his expression as she turned and left the room. She read the letter. There was another attached from Raul. Sara read it and sent the letter with a bittersweet smile. Seems I'll be leading the Hero's Party after all. It was a boon to lead the Hero's Party. Sara gained access to Telia Sayon's tome after becoming queen, but not the writings and arrays that Telia left plastered on the walls.

It was clear that she refused to leave her most important magic in a tome—for world security reasons. She could also conquer the Halken's Crypt, which housed Haligara, the serpent that killed Emma in her last life. Sara originally planned to fight Haligara alone once she obtained enough resources, but she now had access—at least after she stopped the war. Still… she thought. I can't get cocky. Even with my core… It's still not enough. Once he gets an army… She shivered. Jason was good at one thing: warfare.

Sara was, too, but without Edico, she doubted she was good enough. She was a leader, a genius at controlling amazing generals. Jason was a general, first. They weren't the same. I hate this already, she thought, and left the room, en route to get a drink at the Reaper's Road. She had a feeling she'd be drinking there quite a lot on her road to power.

Sara stared boredly at the lower general who refused to take her orders. She traced her eyes around the youngest low-general's face, noting that it was weathered and leatherly and young despite him being in his fifties. He appeared to be in his thirties—the youngest of the generals.

"Are you done?" she asked.

"Done?" he asked.

"I said one word: 'No.' I'm not gonna take orders from a child."

"Oh, got it. He gave me the proudest of generals. Well… I'm not sure what he promised you, but I'll promise you something else: if you refuse to work with me, I'll strip all your titles and medals and write King Escar to ensure that Baron Nakiro can't reinstate them."

"You can't do that!"

"I'm your margravine. I can strip Nakiro of his titles and lands whether I win this wager or not. Now concede or lose your position. I'll give you ten seconds." She grabbed parchment and an inkwell in her tent. He didn't yield, so she spoke aloud.

"Dear Trinov Escar, I write you today to express my immense dissatisfaction in Low General Lestin, who is refusing my authority. I request that you strip him of his titles—""Wait!" Lestin exclaimed, rushing over to the table and covering the cork to the inkwell.

"Don't be hasty."

"Oh, I'm hasty. And I'm not here to negotiate with someone who can't see a golden opportunity when he sees one."

"Golden?" he laughed.

"How is this a golden opportunity?"

"Uh, the part where I bring you victory over Helsen and Morigan. Don't you want their positions? You know they'll live another three or four decades before retiring, right?" Lestin slowly lifted his hand off the inkwell.

"Okay, I'm listening."

"Good. As of this moment, I'll be in charge of training the soldiers and you'll be in control of leading both companies as a grand general. That means Glasli is under your command as well." He folded his arms, interest piqued.

"Full command?"

"Yes. But as I said, I'll be in charge of training the troops. You can't lead people with magic skills you're unaware of."

"What does that mean?"

"Use your imagination," Sara said curtly.

"Now, under the authority of Sycount Margravine Sara Leane Reece, I command you to shut the fuck up and do your job. Otherwise, I'll give Glasli the right to lord over you." Lestin smiled thinly and bowed.

"As you—" He tried to say command, but Sara put her forefinger to her lips in a silence gesture and then pointed out the door. His smile creased into a deep frown, and he stormed out. Sara plopped into her chair. Do I really have to do this again? God, I need a drink. Sara didn't like that drinking was her emotional solution to everything. She was flirting with disaster, riding the edge where one more drink would turn this body's habit into a full addiction. But… That was a problem for tomorrow.

Right now, she needed to contend with the fact that Roslain Escar was dead, and she was in charge of the army that would defend the Escaran Kingdom from the Hikan Empire. That, and Jason would doubtlessly weasel his way into command of the strike force. She wondered if she had enough power and memories to pull that off. The pessimist at heart told her yes. Her gut told her yes. She thought, "Yes," and there was nothing that she could do about it.