Alice POV
“General… We have been here all night, waiting for the enemy to arrive. The men are exhausted, and many have grown tired from standing for so long. Do you not think it would be wiser to retreat to the borders and regroup?” Commander Landon said.
I didn’t answer him.
I simply stood there, staring at the map spread out before me inside the war tent.
The tent was filled with commanders, lieutenants, and two other Generals.
I acted as though I hadn’t heard Commander Landon at all.
I wasn’t even surprised that a mere battalion commander had dared to question my authority.
“I agree with Commander Landon, General,” Commander Igor spoke up.
“We mobilized thousands of soldiers based on your strategy, leaving the outpost and the front border with only a small number of troops. We have spent almost two months here doing nothing but waiting and training, without seeing any sign of the enemy we came here to ambush.”
The moment he joined in, I knew I was going to have a difficult time with them today.
I didn’t want an argument, not now.
If I were a male General, none of them would be questioning my decisions this much.
Everyone understood that battles took time to plan, prepare, and execute.
The fact that this one had taken two months to set up should not have been a problem.
“We will wait,” I finally said.
“We are not going anywhere. Not until our spy sends the signal. And that is final.” I slowly looked around the tent, meeting each of their eyes.
“If you cannot bear the wait, then you are free to leave. I will make sure to explain to His Majesty that the situation became too uncomfortable for you, forcing you to abandon the mission and take your men with you.”
Silence filled the tent.
I stared at them, silently daring anyone to stand up and leave.
As expected, no one moved.
No one said another word.
Cowards.
“General, salute! The messenger pigeon has arrived, and I have brought its message.” A knight’s voice came from outside the tent.
Excitement immediately coursed through me at the thought of what the message might contain.
“Come in,” I commanded.
A young knight entered the tent, holding the message in his hands.
He looked so young that I could tell he was only a new recruit.
Normally, someone of his rank should never have been sent directly to me.
I am a General, and his position is far below mine.
But I paid no attention to it, just as I had learned to ignore every other form of disrespect I had faced throughout my journey to this position.
“Pass it to my second-in-command.”
There was no one in the entire knight order I trusted more than Alan of Lexicon, my second-in-command.
He was the only person who had never treated me differently simply because I was a woman.
That was why I had chosen to keep him by my side.
At least then, I knew I had someone I could trust to watch my back on the battlefield.
“Read it aloud,” I commanded after Alan received the letter.
He unfolded it.
“To General Alice of Winchester. This message is to inform you that the enemy forces are but a few miles from our position. I have confirmed their approach and ensured that the greater part of their army remains unharmed and not ready for battle. Prepare your army for an attack. We may not have much time before the enemy reaches us.”
The moment Alan finished reading, relief washed over me.
My plan had worked.
For the past two months, I had been waiting for this moment.
If my plan had failed, the very men who had questioned me earlier would have used it to bring me down.
I straightened and looked each of them directly in the eyes, especially those who had complained about waiting.
“Prepare your troops. This place will soon become a battlefield.” One after another, they bowed before leaving the tent.
None of them looked pleased, even though we had just received the news we had been waiting for.
I knew they had been praying for my plan to fail.
Even I had almost started doubting myself.
That was why I had never bothered arguing with them.
Not because I was humble or afraid of confrontation, but because I needed to keep a clear head.
Arguing with them would only distract me and cloud my judgment.
I had learned a long time ago that the best way to silence people was not with words.
It was with results.
Once everyone had left, I returned to my tent and put on my armor.
I picked up my sword and stared at it for a moment before my eyes fell on my hands.
They were covered in cuts, scars, and calluses.
Sometimes, I found myself envying the soft and pretty hands of young ladies.
But I didn’t hate mine.
Every scar reminded me of what I had earned.
Whenever I remembered that I wasn’t dependent on any man, that I wasn’t expected to spend my life giving birth just to prove my worth, I became grateful.
If having these rough, manly hands meant I could live the life I wanted, then I would gladly trade soft feminine hands for them.
“General, we are ready.” Alan’s voice came from outside.
I secured my sword and walked out of my tent.
Alan was waiting beside my horse, holding its reins.
I took them from him and climbed onto the saddle.
I raced toward the frontline of the army.
Normally, Generals didn’t fight at the front.
They stayed behind and commanded their troops.
But I couldn’t afford to do that.
Because I was a woman, many already believed I was weak.
If I stayed behind, they wouldn’t see it as a General making a strategic decision.
They would see it as fear.
So I had learned to prove myself on the battlefield again and again.
When I reached the frontline, I didn’t bother giving a long speech.
I simply raised my sword.
“Most of them are unharmed. But none of us are. This victory is ours!” The soldiers erupted into loud cheers.
I raised my sword higher.
“Soldiers, march forth!” With that, I charged toward the enemy, my army racing behind me.
The sound of horses filled the air as I rode at the front of my army.
Thousands of soldiers marched behind me, their weapons ready as we headed toward the battlefield.
Then I saw them.
The enemy army stood ahead of us, covering the plains as far as my eyes could see.
“Prepare yourselves!” I shouted.
The moment I raised my sword, my army charged.
Steel clashed against steel.
Horses screamed, arrows flew through the air, and the battlefield quickly descended into chaos.
I fought my way through the enemy soldiers, searching for their General.
When I finally spotted him, I rode straight toward him.
Our swords collided.
He was strong, but I refused to lose.
We fought fiercely, each of us trying to find an opening.
Slowly, our battle carried us farther away from the main battlefield until we reached an isolated area surrounded by trees, where no one could see us.
He swung his sword at me.
I dodged and struck back.
Again and again, our swords clashed until I finally saw an opening.
With one powerful swing, my sword cut through his neck.
His head fell to the ground.
I picked it up, breathing heavily.
“The enemy General is dead.”
I turned around, ready to return to the battlefield.
Once his soldiers saw that I had killed their General, the enemy would have no choice but to surrender.
But before I could take another step, someone appeared in front of me.
Alan.
My second-in-command.
“A victory well earned, General,” he said.
“We need to head back to the main battlefield. I have the head of their General. Once they see that he is dead, they will surrender…” I stopped speaking when I noticed the sudden change in his expression.
His eyes no longer held the respect I was used to seeing.
Instead, they were filled with something darker.
“Taking what should have been mine.”
Before I could react, his sword pierced straight through my chest.
A sharp pain exploded through my body.
I looked at him in disbelief, unable to understand what was happening.
Slowly, I looked down at the sword buried in my chest before raising my eyes back to him.
Why?
I trusted him.
He was the one person I had believed would never betray me.
Blood filled my mouth as my strength slowly left my body.
My knees gave way, and I fell to the ground.
My vision blurred.
The last thing I saw was Alan standing over me.
Then everything went dark.
…
I suddenly opened my eyes.
My head was pounding, and the room around me seemed to spin.
I sat upright despite the pain, breathing heavily as I tried to understand where I was.
“Where am I?”
I looked around.
I was inside a strange room filled with clothes, shoes, bags, and jewelry.
Everything looked unfamiliar.
At the far end of the room stood a large mirror.
But as shocking as the room was, something else caught my attention.
My hands.
I stared at them.They were small, soft and delicate.
Completely feminine.
My heart began to race.
“What…?”
I immediately jumped to my feet and rushed toward the mirror, ignoring the splitting headache threatening to tear my head apart.
I stopped in front of it.
The woman staring back at me was not me.
Not Alice of Winchester.
It was someone else entirely.
Someone I had never seen before.