My Queen took a deep breath before continuing.

«Polis will immediately send a hundred youth, fifty boys and fifty girls, as servants for Ethiro. Their life shall be guaranteed, and no violence shall be used on them. They will follow their assignees' orders without delay or complaint. In exchange, no one else will be asked to leave the city and pay the price of losing the war.»

«Will the Queen be among those people?» I asked before even realising that I was talking.

A grin on my face must have frightened my wife, but she didn't show any emotions while moving her eyes on the paper.

«No, this Queen's life will be of Ethiro as per the next point of the agreement.»

I bit my inner cheeks, not to smile even wider. I already seemed crazy enough. There was no need to show everyone my real intentions. They would have misunderstood, and my Queen would have been even less eager to allow me in her heart.

«There are no conditions about the treatment,» she sighed.

I hadn't noticed that she thought she was going to die. I would have told her it was not the case, but I was too busy enjoying my victory and the small step forward with my plan.

«If the treaty is signed today, the gates will be opened tomorrow at dawn,» she ended.

«Yes, we will sign immediately,» the general replied. He had seen my face, and his expression turned cold. «There's no need to drag this longer.»

«Yes, please,» she nodded. «This Queen will not be a queen anymore from the moment the sun rises.»

Too bad that was not true. The abdication period was at least a week: a single night is not enough.

Theodora was planning something, and I couldn't understand what. Her eyes were exhausted but not yet defeated.

«No matter what she said, the abdication period in Polis's law is a week. She will be a Queen until the dawn of the seventh day if she signs this evening. The eighth day if she signs after midnight.»

«What does it change?»

«If she dies before the end of the week, the throne won't be given up but passed to her successor, which means she might try something. I have to go to the capital and prepare for the army's arrival.»

«We won't let anything happen to the fallen queen,» the general stated.

«She has to arrive in front of his majesty without a scratch.» After that, I would have taken care of her safety.

«Understood.»

Somehow, the general had become aloof and silent. He didn't even congratulate me on winning.

I didn't have time to wonder what was the problem.

He seemed somehow disappointed, but it wasn't all that weird. After all, he had battled with my Queen for years before finally achieving his goal.

Count Grahm has been the first to attempt the conquest, but after failing and wasting so much money, the general took his place, and the war became staler even though less cruel.

He wasn't the one to win in the end. I arrived and ordered them around and achieved the goal in a single year and a few weeks more.

Our side of the front was celebrating the win. The soldiers were cheering and drinking, happy to finally be heading home.

While everyone else seemed to have already forgotten about the last few years, I was considering what my Queen could be up to.

Her expression had been calm as if she wasn't just throwing away everything she had. I hadn't ever seen her surrendering, not even in front of death.

The woman that I knew should have had at least a plan for the city and her family. Which meant that her brother would have been sent out of the city walls during the night.

I walked in the woods, checking that no one from Ethiro was following me. I needed to be alone; I didn't want an international incident.

If anything happened to her brother, my wife would have hated me forever. Yet, I needed to confirm my suspicions.

A couple of figures were walking fast in the dark, following a path that had been almost reclaimed from nature. The grass had started eating up the way, but the trace was still visible to eyes that knew where to look.

I had waited behind a tree for half an hour or so, and I hadn't predicted they would appear soon.

The soldiers were still sober. Weren't they afraid to be exposed?

My wife's brother started when he saw me, and the man at his side pointed his sword at me.

«General,» I whispered, widening my eyes in surprise. «You abandoned her...»

The man didn't move his eyes from me. As if I hadn't said anything. He stood in place, analysing me with his keen eyes. He was younger than I remembered him, like everyone else.

The general that helped my Queen through the years was one of the most loyal people I'd ever met. I couldn't imagine which words Thea used to convince him to leave.

However, that made me confirm that I was right. My Queen was planning something, and that something wasn't to escape.

«You left the Queen alone in the Palace,» I accused him. «What will happen to her now?»

The old man stared at me for a whole minute, trying to understand whose side I was on.

«You're the boy that always stood a step behind the negotiations' table,» he said. «What do you want?»

«I'm not here to stop you,» I shrugged. «But I wasn't expecting to find Polis's leading general either. Why are you eager to run away with the Queen's brother?»

He winced, surprised that I knew the young man's identity.

«What do you think will happen to the Queen? She just lost a war...» I continued. I just couldn't accept that he abandoned her to her destiny.

«My Queen won't flee from her city, not after losing a war,» he stated. «She will share her city's destiny, and there was no way to convince her to come with us.»

«I wouldn't have let you go if she was here,» I pointed out. I couldn't let her reach Asteria, where her life would have been in danger. «And I'm not that surprised that she didn't follow you.»

I moved to the side, showing them the empty path.

«You can go wherever you're headed to,» I added. «I won't stop you.»

«Who are you?» the old man asked. «Why are you acting like this?»

«I'm just someone that has his purposes clear. Now go. Before I change my mind.»