The Sickly Crown Prince And His Fierce Wife

KINGDOM OF VALEDRIA

NORTHERN FRONTIER

YEAR 456

The battle to seize Elden was underway.

The two armies, distinct by their bloodied blue and red banners, were fully embroiled in the decisive battle to capture the city.

The Norhaven army had suffered heavy losses, with the majority of its forces fallen outside the city gates despite their firm hold within. At this point, Elden's gates were the only thing standing between the Valedrian army and victory.

At the forefront of the Valedrian army sat a female figure on a grey-black horse.

Black armor covered her from throat to waist, its surface dulled by the dust and battle. A few loose strands had escaped the long black ponytail hanging down her back, brushing against the plates between her shoulders whenever the winter wind swept across the plain.

There was nothing delicate about the way she sat her horse.

Yet beneath the hard lines of the armor was a face almost too beautiful for a battlefield, with sharp brows, clear skin, and dark eyes that remained calm as they read the contents of the Imperial decree in her hands.

On either side of her sat her two commanding officers, each mounted on his own horse.

Before them, an Imperial Messenger knelt on one knee, waiting for her to acknowledge the decree.

Perhaps she had remained silent for far too long, one of the officers spoke, glancing toward the city gates ahead:

“Commander Seraphine, we will miss the prime time to attack.”

The woman in question looked up in response, taking in the situation ahead.

The city walls rose beyond the battered plain, broken siege ladders scattered across the snow, and Valedrian banners already flew from sections of the outer wall.

The eastern gate had suffered the worst damage. Its defenders had retreated behind the inner barricades, and scouts had already reported that Norhaven's remaining forces were gathering inside the city.

Just one more push.

One more.

Then Elden would belong to Valedria.

Yet the words in her hands remained unchanged:

Withdraw immediately.

Her gaze returned to the Imperial Seal.

She turned the decree over once, as though something might be written on the other side.

Nothing.

"Commander?"

Her senior officer called again, his voice more cautious this time.

Seraphine didn't answer.

She looked toward Elden again.

Then back at the decree.

The messenger waited patiently.

Finally, she folded the document.

"Tell His Imperial Majesty the order has been received.”

The messenger bowed.

"Yes, Commander."

He rose, mounted his horse and rode away.

Seraphine watched until he disappeared among the ranks.

Only then did she finally give her order.

“Withdraw the troops.”

The two officers exchanged astonished glances.

"We're retreating?"

She looked at the officer who had spoken.

"Yes."

His brows drew together.

"Now?"

Seraphine glanced toward Elden without responding.

The officer did not give up.

"The city is nearly ours."

"I know."

"We can breach the gate before nightfall."

"I know."

The officer stared at her.

For the first time, uncertainty flickered across his face.

Seraphine turned her horse.

"We have our orders."

Her second officer frowned.

"Commander, may I ask why His Majesty would—"

"No."

The single word stopped him.

Seraphine tucked the decree inside her coat.

"Not here."

She raised her voice.

"Signal the withdrawal."

The officers exchanged another look.

Neither liked the order.

But they didn't question it again.

They turned toward their respective units.

Within minutes, horns sounded across the battlefield.

The Valedrian army began to pull away from Elden.

Behind them, the city remained barely standing.

Seraphine looked back once.

Something was wrong.

She just didn't know what it was yet.

***

An hour later, the army had retreated far from Elden and was making its way toward their own encampment.

They were now moving through narrower valleys, which significantly slowed their pace. Still, it was acceptable, as long as they were not being pursued.

Which, in fact, made Seraphine's eyes narrow as she looked over her shoulder.

The Norhaven army should have been pursuing them by now.

Instead, the retreat had gone suspiciously smoothly.

"Commander!"

One of her scouts suddenly came riding toward her at full speed.

Seraphine turned.

"What is it?"

The young soldier struggled to catch his breath.

"Movement ahead."

Her expression hardened.

"How much?"

"A lot."

Her gaze shifted toward the horizon.

Snow stretched endlessly across the plain, broken only by scattered trees and the dark outline of the distant hills.

Then, suddenly, figures appeared.

Hundreds at first.

Then thousands.

Red banners belonging to the Norhaven army emerged from behind the ridge.

Seraphine's hand tightened around the reins.

Her eyes swept across the terrain. They were everywhere.

Ahead.

Behind.

Left.

Right.

Her expression changed.

"Stop the retreat.”

The order had barely left her mouth when horns erupted across the battlefield.

The sound came from every direction as Norhaven soldiers poured over the surrounding ridges.

The Valedrian formation slowed, then came to a complete stop.

They were surrounded.

"Commander!"

One of her officers turned his horse toward her.

"We've been cut off!"

Seraphine was already looking.

The retreat route had been blocked.

It seemed the enemy had anticipated their movement. They had been waiting for them.

Her eyes dropped briefly to the decree beneath her coat.

If only they had not retreated so hastily…

Her jaw tightened.

But she pushed the thought aside.

There was no time.

"Reform the ranks!"

Her voice cut across the battlefield.

"Shield units to the front! Cavalry to the eastern flank!”

The soldiers quickly moved in defensive formation.

But the enemy had numbers. Far too many.

The first wave crashed into them.

Horses screamed.

The snow beneath their feet quickly turned red.

Seraphine drew her sword.

"Hold the line!"

She drove forward.

A Norhaven soldier swung at her.

She parried, then cut across his throat.

Another came from her left.

She turned and struck beneath his arm.

A third raised his spear.

Seraphine's horse reared. The spear missed.

Her sword came down.

The man fell.

Then she heard a scream from one of her own.

A young soldier had fallen beneath her horse and three Norhaven soldiers were closing in on him.

Seraphine moved before she could think.

She kicked her horse forward, and her blade swept through the first man's neck.

She turned, and the second struck immediately.

Seraphine caught the blow against her armor and the force drove the blade into her side.

Pain flashed through her instantly.

She gritted her teeth.

Then she drove her sword through his chest.

The third soldier froze.

Seraphine pulled her blade free from the second soldier.

The third one ran.

She let him.

Instead, she reached down and seized the young soldier by the collar.

"Get up.”

The boy stared at her, blood running down his face.

"Commander—"

"Get up!"

He scrambled to his feet.

Seraphine shoved him toward the Valedrian formation.

"Go!"

The boy stumbled away.

Only then did she look down.

Blood was spreading beneath the plates at her side.

The wound was deep, but not fatal.

Her gaze returned to the battlefield.

The soldiers around her were struggling. There were too many enemies and too little space. If they continued trying to force their way through, they would lose hundreds.

Seraphine's eyes swept across the landscape and stopped on the river.

A broad stretch of frozen water cut through the plain several hundred paces away.

Her mind worked immediately.

Norhaven soldiers were accustomed to heat, dry ground and sand.

Her own soldiers had spent years fighting through Valedria's northern winters.

The river could give them a chance.

"Fall back toward the river!"

Her officers stared at her.

"The river?"

"Do it."

"But Commander—"

"Now."

They quickly obeyed.

The Valedrian army began turning, and the Norhaven forces followed.

Seraphine watched the movement carefully.

The frozen surface was wide enough.

If her soldiers crossed quickly, the enemy would have difficulty pursuing them.

Especially once the fighting moved onto the ice.

"First commander.”

He turned.

"Take the front."

His expression immediately changed.

"And you?"

She looked toward the rear, ignoring the question.

"Second commander. Take the rear."

Neither moved.

"Commander—"

They began speaking at the same time.

"Get them across."

The first officer shook his head.

"You're coming with us."

"No."

That was all she said, but it was final.

Her second officer stared at her.

"Commander, no."

Seraphine looked past him.

Her soldiers were already moving toward the river, their banners snapping violently in the winter wind.

"Someone has to hold them back."

"We can stay."

"No."

She turned her horse toward the enemy.

The two officers understood.

Neither wanted to leave her.

But they knew Seraphine had already made her decision.

She looked at them one last time.

"Take them home."

Her first officer swallowed.

"Commander..."

Seraphine's eyes remained fixed on the approaching army.

"Whoever comes after you will have to pass through me."

For a moment, neither man spoke.

Then the first officer lowered his head.

"Yes, Commander."

He turned his horse.

The second officer hesitated.

Seraphine looked at him.

"Go."

He clenched his jaw before finally turning away.

The Valedrian army began crossing the ice, and Seraphine remained behind.

She dismounted her horse.

Her boots sank into the snow as she touched the ground.

She rolled her shoulder once.

Pain shot through her side, but she ignored it.

Across the field, the Norhaven army slowed.

Thousands of soldiers stared at the lone figure standing between them and the river.

Seraphine lifted her sword.

The first wave of soldiers attacked.

She met them head-on.

The first soldier fell before he could reach her.

The second lost his weapon.

The third never got close enough to swing.

Seraphine moved through them like a blade through flesh.

One.

Two.

Five.

Ten.

Twenty.

The snow around her quickly darkened with blood.

More soldiers came but she kept fighting.

Her breathing grew heavier, and her wound burned beneath her armor.

Still, she did not move from her position.

Behind her, the Valedrian army continued across the frozen river.

She could hear their horses and their shouts of morale.

Every sound told her they were getting farther away.

Good.

That was all that mattered.

Then the Norhaven ranks suddenly parted.

A heavy hammer descended upon her, its sheer weight threatening to crush her beneath it.

The crash of her sword and the hammer was immense.

The force strained her wrist and drove her several steps backward onto the river.

Seraphine's eyes narrowed as she regained her footing.

The attacker was a bulky figure. Clearly, their commander.

She'd heard he was the stand-in after their previous commander suffered a fatal wound from their last encounter.

He rode forward until he stood several paces from Seraphine.

His eyes swept over the bodies surrounding her.

Then returned to her.

"You've killed enough of my men."

Seraphine said nothing.

He raised his hammer.

"Fight me."

Her expression remained cold.

"If I kill you," he continued, "your soldiers will lose their courage."

Seraphine glanced toward the river.

The last Valedrian banners were nearly across.

She looked back at him.

"Then come."

He charged at her immediately.

The duel lasted seconds.

His hammer came down.

Seraphine stepped aside, leaving a huge gash in the snow where she had stood.

Her blade flashed.

The Norhaven commander stopped.

For one brief moment, neither of them moved.

Then blood spilled across the snow.

He fell from his horse, dead.

Silence spread through the nearest ranks of soldiers behind him.

Seraphine stood over him, her sword dripping red.

Then someone screamed in anger.

The Norhaven soldiers surged forward.

All of them at once.

Seraphine's eyes narrowed.

She raised her sword.

They came.

She killed.

Again.

And again.

And again.

But there were too many.

Her movements eventually became slower, and her breath came harder.

The wound in her side had soaked through her armor. Her arms began to ache as well.

Still, she refused to retreat.

A spear struck her shoulder.

She twisted away and cut down the soldier holding it.

Another spear came.

She blocked it.

The soldiers eventually stopped trying to approach her individually.

They surrounded her, their spears forming a wall of steel.

Seraphine looked toward the river.

The last Valedrian soldier had crossed.

Her army was safe.

She exhaled.

For the first time since the ambush began, she allowed herself to smile.

Then she turned back.

"Come."

The spears advanced.

Seraphine fought.

The pressure of thousands of soldiers forced her backward.

Her boots slipped on the snow, but she regained her footing.

A spear struck her armor.

Another.

Then another.

The frozen river was behind her now.

She looked down. There was only ice.

She tightened her grip on her sword and fought until there was no strength left in her arms.

Eventually, the ice cracked beneath her heel.

Seraphine looked once toward the distant Valedrian banners.

She had done it.

The ice broke.

Her body plunged into the freezing river.

The last thing she heard was the roar of thousands of soldiers above her.

Then the water swallowed her whole.