Book 11: Chapter 15
“Grand Commander, should I congratulate you first or shall I congratulate your accomplishments first?”
I looked at Leah, who was in front of me, and smiled, “That depends on your standpoint. If you still consider yourself a member of the North, then you shouldn’t feel either of those sentiments.”
She looked at me and calmly replied, “I am not a resident of the North. I am my Queen’s bodyguard and lover. I sincerely hope that you can keep the promise between us and treat our Queen well once you have captured the city. You must know that I have always been working hard for your victory, telling the people not to stop your army, so you should keep your promise to us.”
“Naturally.”
I looked at her torn and tattered clothing. Her diligent efforts were evident. She didn’t lie. She continued to give her best effort for her Queen and me. I wouldn’t take advantage of somebody so loyal, and also respected my trust. She couldn’t do anything about it even if I did pull a quick one on her, but I wouldn’t, as I respected her, her love and her efforts.
“I will respect your Queen. However, she needs to survive our attack first. Sorry, but I value my soldiers’ lives more than our agreement. Leah, don’t get agitated yet. It’s not that I don’t have any plans. You should be aware that the soldiers think that they have achieved victory already. Dying right before your victory is the epitome of idiocy; therefore, they won’t be as courageous as they were before at the final battle. For that reason, I can’t just send them to their deaths. Can you sneak into the city and return to the palace to inform your Queen? Tell her to prepare food and thick clothes, and then hide in the dungeon.”
She looked at me asked with suspicion, “What do you want to do?”
“I’m going to use the same method as last time. Do you understand now? I can’t ensure that your Queen will survive the snow avalanche, but I believe that you’ll be fine in the dungeon of the palace. Bring enough food and warm clothes to hide down there. We’ll then come and dig you out. Don’t worry.”
Leah looked at me and nodded, “All right. In that case, I shall enter the city to inform my Queen. We will put up a red flag on the city wall once we are ready. You can start firing after that.”