Choices

"Queen Alexandra." Malcolm walked into the throne room and saw it full of people, all looking exhausted for good reason. This mission was risky even under normal conditions and the way it was now if they miss-step, could lead to a blood bath of a war. "I've brought the people I think should come along," Malcolm announced.

Alex motioned for him to bring them forward. They walked in, one by one, men in full armor ready to lay down their lives but her eyes widened when she saw the last person. "Krea." She said under her breath. Her armor was different, it was no longer her standard silver knight armor. It was a black metal onyx stone the Queen pondered, tight black tunic showing from the top of her behind, to her upper thigh, the rest of her legs rapped tight in dense metallic looking leg armor. She wore a dark brown hood that she had put down upon entering, most likely in an effort to avoid the Queen's gaze. Skills of a Knight with the appearance of a hunter and all very... Krea. She most certainly looked suited for the position of Commander. Alexandra felt sick again, like that time on the training field, Krea can't just...She steeled herself, this wasn't the time. The two faces she actually excepted to see were nowhere in the lineup.

"Walter and Kevin aren't going?"

"I figured you needed them here in case this meeting is just a distraction and they come here, besides, I know these men and trust in their abilities," Krea said.

"I told Malcolm to choose." Alexandra didn't mean to sound so bitter, but she didn't like the fact that the woman she loved was going to the Cao kingdom where the chance of death was...Damn it. The brunette found herself squeezing the armrests of her throne, to stay sane and to keep from yelling.

"He did. He chose me to choose the others. We in no means wanted to go against your order but Malcolm just felt I would be more suited to make the selection." Krea said, showing no emotion when she spoke. "My lady."

"I fail to see how you didn't fully ignore my words Malcolm, Krea, putting that aside, I'll send Walter De Campos along regardless, he has more experience with negotiating." Alexandra said, her voice filling with authority.

"Commander?" Anders walked up to Krea. It was the first time they had ever spoken, but both knew of each others stubbornness. "I know you can fight any knight here, you are one of the best. Facing opponents twice your strength and speed that's all impressive truly, but have you ever dealt with anyone like Charlie Cao before?"

"To be honest, no. But what I do know is that if things go south, I can get us out of it. Besides, how hard could it be?" Krea responded with confidence.

"It is up to you Queen Alexandra." Anders said sighing deeply before going to sit back down baffled at the 'Commanders' arrogance at the situation.

She looked at the men and women before her there were five, including Malcolm and Krea, taking a deep breathe.

"Fine. How long do you think it will take?"

"I'm not sure. But whatever happens, one of us will come to warn you if it was indeed an ambush." The hooded blonde confirmed.

This made Alexandra cringe at the thought her stomach was doing flips. "Very well...Danielle, summon the horses for them."

The younger girl did as she was told as the knights dispersed. Krea was in the back when she was suddenly grabbed by her forearm and brought into an empty closet. It was dark, but she knew who it was.

"I have to go Alex."

"I wish you didn't, it's not safe."

"I knew what I was getting into. I can handle myself."

"I wish I could go with you."

"With the way you use a sword I wish you were there too."

They both smiled. "The way you spoke to out there...I thought you were mad at me." Alexandra said sadly. Before Krea could say something, Alex's tone changed. "It was kind of hot actually."

Krea was at a loss of words. She wanted nothing more than to take the queen against the wall right then and there. It took all of her restraint and will power to say what came next. "I'm sorry love. Tell you what, when I return, we can take a little trip to that waterfall we went to years ago. The one in Colden Reef."

"I'd like that."

"I really have to go. They'll wonder where I am. Malcolm can only distract them for so long."

"I love you."

"I love you too princess."

They both kissed before Krea left the small room and made her way outside. They all stood before the main gate that opened to the rest of the world. Krea was brought a white and black horse, she had never seen this breed of horse before, but they immediately bonded. She was about to mount it when she was grabbed yet again, only this time it was a strong, manly grip. She faced Kevin De Campos. The blonde took back her arm, looking digested that they ever made contact.

"What do you want." It was a statement, not a question.

He went to her ear and whispered two words that chilled her to the bone. "I know." He said before smiling and walking away.

She gritted her teeth. "Ready Commander?" Asked a male knight.

"Give me a minute." She ran to catch up to the man before pulling him aside. "What do you want." Pure rage rushed through her veins causing her body to shake.

"It's very simple really. Make her hate you, so she will be with me."

"You know I would never do that." Krea spat.

"Than it looks like I'll just tell my father and the others about this little... Affair..." He said with pure venom in his voice.

"That's fine, I'd rather die with her knowing that I loved her than to live without her."

"You do know what would happen to her, don't you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, I could say that you took advantage of the Queen and just kill you, or... I could make up a story to shun her and lock her up."

"You wouldn't."

"But I would."

They stared at each other, each trying to see who would budge first. Krea hadn't thought of what would happen to Alex if they had gotten caught, a Queen having a female lover? They would send the brunette to the church to be 'fixed' the blonde shuddered at the mere thought. Her Princesses mind broken. "Fine."

"Which will it be?"

Krea would never do anything to put Alexandra in danger, there was only one option.

"I'll ignore her. I'll pretend it meant nothing to me just... Please don't tell anyone."

The man smiled sickeningly. "Good. See you later 'commander'." He snared.

She knew she had too, no matter how much it hurt, she'd go through it so her Queen was safe. She walked towards her men and got on the horse. They rode out of the castles main gate and were on their way to the unknown.

It had been an entire day and still no word from Krea or her men. The Queen was pacing back in forth when she heard a knock on the door. "Come in." It was Kevin. "Any word?"

"Not yet my lady. Give it time, I'm sure they'll be alright."

"Yeah, you say that. How can you not worry?"

"I have been in many battles, I think that going to warn someone isn't something that should go wrong. They just have to put it the right way."

"Why didn't you go?"

"I have things to attend to here, I just thought that you might want some company."

"Yeah actually, it's better than being lost in my own thoughts every waking second."

They both sat down and started talking about their family and different experiences they've shared as kids.

Krea held her fist up and the men came to a stop. They were about a mile out from the Cao kingdom.

"What is it commander?" Malcolm asked.

"Did you hear that?" Krea said, looking around the dark, gloomy woods. "Someone is out there." Krea saw movement, she followed the sound until her eyes met an archer. "Everyone down!" She ordered.

They dismounted their horses and tried to get into there shield formation. Krea saw the arrow coming for one of her men and lunging in front of it, piercing through her flesh it made contact with her bicep and straight through her hitting her friends chest.

Another arrow came flying at Krea's face, but was blocked when her three men covered her with their shields. She was defenseless against archers.

"Why are they attacking!" Malcolm shouted.

So many things went through the commanders mind, but she shook them out when she noticed the arrows stopped and there were footsteps. A small armies foot steps.

"So... You're the up and coming commander everyone's talking about." A man's voice echoed as Krea came out from her cover.

She recognized this man. He was Charlies son. "Briggs Cao. What do you think you are doing?"

"A little birdie told me all about your trip here, seems like you have a little rat behind your small castle walls."

"Who?"

"Well if I told you, that would ruin the fun, but then again, maybe it won't."

"We did not come here to fight. We came to talk to Charlie."

"Well that's not going to happen."

Krea smiled a bit. "I think it is."

"Look around you Krea, you can't get through these men, I out number you."

"It's more fun that way."

"I like the way you think but..." He took a deep breathe. "Look, you have two options. One." He said holding up his pointer finger. "You can turn around and go back to your land. Or two, you can stay, and I will be more than happy to kill you. A few less warriors to worry about."

Krea looked at her men and motioned for a younger knight to leave. The kid knew he was the messenger. The army allowed him to mount his horse and leave. "We're not going anywhere. I have a message to deliver, so I'm going to deliver it."

"I can't tell if you brave or just plain stupid." The man said as his small army circled Krea, Malcolm and the older man they called Yuan.

"Three against an army commander?" Malcolm said before drawing his sword.

Krea followed in suit. "Listen Malcolm, I'm going to make sure that you make it out of this. But If I don't make it."

"Don't Krea." They continued whispering, Krea felt like a lamb being surrounded by wolves.

"I don't care what you say, you are going to leave me if need be. Just tell Alex that... I'm sorry and I hope that she moves on and finds love."

"But Comm-"

"That's an order."

"Yes Ser."

One of the men came charging at them and it started.

Alexandra laughed at the story of Kevin and the wild pig he tried to catch and ending up being bumped into the mud by the mom. "Only you Kevin."

"Very true." He said. There was a knock at the door. "I'll get it." He got up and opened it as Walter and a young soldier came bursting in.

Alexandra remembered his face and immediately dread and panic filled her. "What happened!" She demanded.

The kid was out of breath. "We were ambushed! There were archers then a small army. Charlie's men didn't bring us there to negotiate. Krea sent me here to warn you."

Of course she did Alexandra thought. "Are they alright? What was happening when you left?!"

"She was talking to Briggs Cao. Trying to negotiate but you know Krea, that's not her strong suit, I heard a lot of screaming through the woods as I was riding away."

"What kind of screaming?" Alex dared to ask. The boy looked down. "Walter De Campos, get the army together, this is war. We need to get them out of there."

"My Queen, it must have taken this boy a while to get here, by now.-"

"Stop! I don't care! If it did come to that than we need the bodies for a proper burial. Now go!"

"Yes my lady."

A few hours had past. "What took so long!"

"The trail went cold Alexandra, we couldn't do anything."

"That's not good enough! Bring me my stead!"

"My lady-" The man was cut off when there was shouting.

"Open the gates!" One of the guards said.

When the gates opened, you could see Malcolm with blood all over his armor and a lifeless body on the back of his horse. Followed by Krea. Her face was covered in blood and Alexandra couldn't tell if it was hers or not, she too had a body, but in front of her. They dismounted as they reentered the castle walls.

"I think Charlie got the messege" Krea said while helping Walter take the body off of her horse.

"What happened out there?" Alexandra asked, trying not to seem worried.

"A little hiccup. I'll tell you all about it in the war room. I think we need a meeting about the Cao's."

"Very well. Go get cleaned up first, then we'll go over the plan." Alex stated, it would give her a chance to talk to the blonde.

"No, now. There is no time to wait." People were shocked at the girl talking back, but Alexandra just nodded and led the way.

They all circled around the map upon the war table. "Briggs Cao knew that we were coming, he damn near told me who it was that ratted us out." Krea said

"Do we have any ideas to who this person might be?" Alexandra asked.

"None, I couldn't get it out of him."

"If there was an army, how did you guys get out and deliver the messege?"

"That was the fun part, it took some time and a lot of work, but we came out on top. I didn't kill Briggs, not right away at least. We snuck into the Kingdom and tied him to a tree right outside of the leaders window."

"Are you crazy?! WE SENT YOU THERE FOR A-" Anders shouted but was interrupted by Krea.

"You said deliver a messege, we tried, they attacked and we payed them back tenfold. There was no peace that could have been reached, so we strung him up."

"How did you guys make it past all of her guards."

Malcolm and Krea both laughed at this. "We've had some training." Malcolm said remembering all their stealthy thefts. "But back to the point my lady, this place needs to be on lock down. Make a curfew, make sure the walls are constantly guarded, we have to keep our eyes open for anything."

"What about the rat?"

"I can find out who that is." Krea said. "Give me a few days and I'll find them." Krea looked at Kevin out of reflex. She had a gut feeling but hated assuming, it could just be her hatred towards him. "If anything happens, we'll be ready." Krea finished.

"How long do you think they'll wait to attack?" Alexandra asked.

"A week, maybe two even sooner if she's stupid. She'll be mourning for some time I would believe."

"Okay, well you heard her, double our defenses, make sure everyone knows what is going on, that's your job Walter."

"Yes my lady."

Kevin spoke for the first time since the meeting started. "I think you could use a personal bodyguard, if it's alright with you and Krea, I would be up for it."

Krea's fists clenched. "I think it's a great idea." She said through her teeth though no one seemed to notice the anger and frustration.

"Yeah, I guess it's better safe than sorry." Alexandra said, shrugging it off. "Meeting adjourned." Everyone piled out.

Krea made it to her room and went to the bathroom's mirror. She took off her armor and looked at her arm. "How could an archer hit such a small target?" She asked herself.

She then looked at her face and washed off all of the dried blood from her fallen enemies and comrades, each time she closed her eyes, images popped up from the fight.

"No!!" Krea shouted as she saw a soldier pierce his spear into her comrades stomach. She ran up, jumped in the air and swung her sword, chopping the mans head right off. She went to her knees and held the man. "It's okay, it's gonna be alright."

"Please, tell my wife and kids-"

"Shhhh." Krea said as he gurgled blood, someone was about to take a swing at her, but Malcolm tackled him and rolled down a muddy hill. "Don't speak too much."

"Promise me." He wheezed.

"I promise." Krea was never good on promises, but this is something she would keep.

Krea looked in the mirror again, this time noticing the scar that started from a little above her right eyebrow and went down a bit underneath it. It was still bleeding, but not as much. She covered the wound before putting water on her face again.

Krea saw Briggs swing his sword, but was dazed from the last kick. His sword came down on her eye, if she hadn't have moved back, her eye could have been gone. He laughed. "Don't tell me I get the honor of killing you."

"Not today." She heard the sound of an arrow being released from behind her and moved her head out of the way as the arrow went into the mans chest, opposite of his heart. She took one of the mans spears from the ground, turned around and threw it in the direction of the archer.

She saw what seemed to be a woman roll out from her hiding space and run away. She noticed long blonde hair.

She saw Malcolm taking on the last of Cao's small little foot troops and saw that he could handle himself. She turned to look down at the man.

"You can't kill me." He said.

"That's true, I can't. But I can make sure you die because of that wound." She smiled and brought her shoe to the mans face, knocking him out.

Krea jumped a bit when she heard the door open and shut. She knew who it was, and she didn't want to face her.

"Are you okay?" Alexandra asked.

They came face to face. "I'm fine. It's just been a long day."

"I bet, I was worried about you." Alexandra took a few steps forward, Krea took a few steps back. "What's wrong?"

"I... I can't do... This..." The blonde stuttered.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean us, I am done. It was a mistake."

"I don't believe you." Alex bit the inside of her cheek, she hates it when Krea lies.

"I don't love you Alex! You were just another girl that I wanted and got. It meant nothing. Absolutely nothing." Krea's eyes started to water but she kept her ground.

That sounded a little too real for Alex and she started to freak out a bit, "But."

"But nothing. We're over. I got what I wanted. Besides, how many people can say that they had sex with the Queen. It's just another trophy for my collection."

Alexandra didn't know what was going on, the way she talked was full of regret and forced, but her expression was cold and serious. She straightened up and went to the door. "F**k you Krea. You need to get your s**t together. Whatever or whoever is doing this, I will find out." With that she slammed the door and left and bumped into Kevin.

"Whoa, Are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine, just a rough day. We lost good men out there. I'm just worried is all."

"Well, you have every reason to be." He started. "But with a Queen like you and all of these knights, I know we will make it through and triumph. You might even take all of the land someday."

"Thank you Kevin."

"Anytime. And if you ever need to talk, I'm here."

She smiled and walked away. Kevin looked at Krea's door and smiled. "It's all coming together." He signaled for someone who was hiding in the darkness. "It's time." He said to the tall hooded man. "Take out Krea, Malcolm and my father, quietly, than we will focus on the loose ends. Make sure Charlie knows that it will be clear soon. And Rex? Make sure to make them suffer."

"My Madge's will make it their personal mission." The mans deep voice said quietly. "Tomorrow night. We will start."

Krea stood in the middle of her room when it happened. She knew that the Queen would do everything to find out what that was about. She wasn't very convincing but she made her point. She had to prove to Alexandra that it was over. Or she could kill Ke- "No." She said. "You are better than that Krea." She wiped a few stray tears and layed down on her bed. There has to be a less painful way to let Alex go. Krea went to her window and saw the knights training before grabbing her weapon and heading down to the field.