Author's Note: I didn't get as much done this week as I wanted because I ran out of time and I wanted to finish this chapter. I promise that the next chapter will have a lot more action and sex, as well as some non-consensual orc sex that I know a lot of people have been asking for. I can't promise that it will be next week since I am beginning to get burned out, but I will do my best. By my count I've written over 60,000 words in the last eight weeks or so which I don't think is sustainable. If I kept up this pace I'd have written almost the entire Lord of the Rings series and more than any of the Song of Fire and Ice or Wheel of Time books in a single year. At some point I'll probably have to go to an every other week schedule especially if I continue being busy with other things. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
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The Hesten lines scrambled as they tried to form up for battle. Jeanette beamed with satisfaction as her own forces swept across the field to attack. The Hestens numbered five hundred, maybe, but they were spread out encircling the castle. There was no way they would be able to gather their strength before the Death's Head Riders and the orc troops she'd collected so far fell upon them. Katerei and Gorath led the charge, while Jeanette stayed back with her personal guard, which now numbered one hundred mounted orcs. They would serve as a reserve, should one be needed, but also as a pursuit force if the commander of the besiegers tried to flee.
Heavy infantry managed to form a square, which held up after withering bow fire from her mounted raiders. Her own forces weren't heavy enough to smash the enemy formation, so when her orcs crashed into the heavy infantry the forces split around the unit like water flowing around a rock. Jeanette's army had the weight of numbers, and she had no doubt that the resistance would soon be enveloped and crumble.
The Hesten commander must have come to the same conclusion, since he recalled the forces on the far side of the castle and began to retreat. "This is our chance, let's cut them off before they escape!" Jeanette signaled Vrenchak, and her guard began to charge at the fleeing Hestens.
The battle raged to her right as she rode past the castle to close on the fleeing Hestens. Her guard wheeled around the castle, Jeanette and Vrenchak leading the charge. A flurry of arrows from her mounted orcs rained down on their retreating foes, and Jeanette saw several fall to the ground dead. They didn't get the commander though; she spotted him when he suddenly turned and led his forces in a tight circle, form a wedge, and charge right back at them.
It was a trap, she realized. They were trying to draw her out, hoping to kill or capture her and end the war. Hesten bowmen fire a volley of arrows at them, but her guard closed ranks to block the attack as they charged beneath it. Her guard slung their bows and unslung their spears as they reached the charging infantry. This group wasn't as tightly formed as the heavy infantry on the other side of the castle, and her riders trampled through them. Jeanette's guards formed a tight ring around her as they stabbed and cut the enemy commander's men.
A pained cry made Jeanette look to the right, and she saw an arrow sticking through Vrenchak's shoulder. Jeanette spotted the Hesten commander atop a horse nocking another arrow. Jeanette raised the hand crossbow given to her by the Elfen King and aimed it at the commander. Without thinking she pressed the trigger, sending the bolt flying. The well-made Elfen weapon shot true, and the shaft slammed through the commander's chain shirt and buried in his chest, knocking him off the horse.
Before she could reload, a young spearman broke through the ring of guards and jabbed the tip of his spear at her. She jerked back to avoid it and drew Peace Bringer from its sheathe. A more experienced fighter might have gone for her horse, but the youth was an untrained levy, dreaming only of the glory of slaying the evil queen. She slashed the spear at her, and then jabbed it again. As he did so, she turned her horse, knocking him off balance and then chopped down with the sword, cleaving it into the man's skull.
Her guard reformed the protective circle and then broke through the knot of resistance. I just killed two people, she thought numbly. Well, maybe one and a half. The commander was stirring, and he tried to rise to his feet. He didn't make it, instead falling back to the ground. He tried to call out to his men, but his voice was too weak after being wounded. Instead, the last of their besiegers threw down their weapons and began to run.
The fleeing foot soldiers were easy targets for the spears of her mounted orcs, and many more got cut down as they ran. As Jeanette and her troopers pursued the Hestens around the castle, she looked back to the main battle and saw the square melting away. The heavy infantry were being pushed back against the walls of the castle with nowhere left to run.
Too many horses were without riders though. We're taking far more casualties than we should, she thought. Jeanette sheathed her sword and reloaded her crossbow. "Vrenchak, signal the men to break off pursuit. We're going to rejoin the main battle. And be sure to have someone collect their commander, I want him taken prisoner and tended to."
"Yes Your Highness!" A few moments later, a horn blast brought her guards back, and the group turned towards the castle to attack the rear of the remaining Hestens. Jeanette spurred her horse forward, and soon her forces were attacking the remaining Hestens from the rear. She cut through several until she came upon Kat, who was bashing a helmet into a Hesten's skull with her mace.
"Fancy seeing you here Your Highness! I'd say you missed out on all the fun, but it looks like you've seen some of it yourself. I'd say we're just about done here. I don't think they have much fight left in them."
Jeanette looked around the battlefield, and sure enough Kat's words were being proven true. The remaining Hestens were throwing down their weapons and surrendering. "A great victory. But not too costly, I hope. Take a tally of the dead and wounded and let me know where we stand. Get a count of the prisoners too, and rounding them up to be put in the castle dungeon. They should be safe there for the rest of the war. I'll go see who is in charge in the castle and get things ready for you."
Jeanette rode to the front of the castle, which quickly opened its gates for her and her guard. When she entered, she immediately noticed that the soldiers of the garrison were all old men or young boys. Apparently the fighting men were all gone. That was disappointing, but not unexpected. They would remain here for a few days to see if any more soldiers showed up, and then continue on.
A young woman with a swollen, pregnant belly came out of the central keep to greet her. She looked vaguely familiar to Jeanette, but the Queen couldn't quite place where she'd seen her before. She was pretty, with the long, light brown hair and a fair complexion. The long, blue velvet dress she wore suggested that she was a noble, and probably the lady of the castle. Either her lord didn't insist on the 'new' way of dressing, or the lady went back to more traditional fashion after her husband went to war.
"Welcome, Your Highness. Thank you for lifting the siege." The young pregnant woman smiled at Jeanette. "Food has been scarce of late, and as you can see, I need all the food I can get." She laughed softly.
"It's my pleasure. King Connor may have started this war but I intend to finish it. Forgive me, are you the lady of the castle?"
The woman looked at her a moment, and then nodded and curtsied. "Lady Anne Grintok, Countess of Suzden."
Color flooded Jeanette's cheeks as she remembered where she knew Lady Anne from. The last she saw of the woman, she was being given away as a slave wife to one of Turogg's lieutenants during the victory celebration after they defeated the Hesten army. "Ah, yes of course, Countess Suzden. You're looking well. I hope everything really is well for you? Not counting the war, of course."
"Well enough, Your Highness. I have hearth and home, and five lovely children. Soon to be six, of course." Anne tittered softly.
Jeanette was relieved to see her smile. Despite the roughness she might have experienced in the beginning, it seemed that Anne had eventually made peace, and even found a way to be happy in her circumstance. Jeanette hoped that Susannah would be able to say the same once she saw her again. "I'm glad to hear it. Five children!" Jeanette smiled broadly. "You're truly blessed. I have six myself, and they are all a bundle of trouble. But of course I wouldn't give them back for anything."
"Nor I, Your Highness. Will you be staying in the castle long? I'm afraid I don't have provisions adequate to play a proper host to a royal visitor."
"Do not worry about it, Lady Anne. We will stay only a day or two, no more. We've also brought our own supplies, which we will be happy to share. I have heard how food is running short in the Duchy, so we've brought in fresh supplies from Zentara. We will be sure to restock your larder before we depart."
Anne smiled gratefully at that. "We appreciate your generosity, Your Highness."
"There is something you can do for me, though. We have many wounded soldiers that need to be tended to, and prisoners to keep in your dungeons."
"Of course, Your Highness. I shall see to your wounded men personally, and ensure that the prisoners are kept under guard." Anne turned to her steward and nodded, sending him off to make the necessary preparations.
Kat rode up beside Jeanette, a grim expression on her face. "Your Highness, we've lost forty-eight men killed or too wounded to travel, and taken twenty-two prisoners."
