Chapter 8: 8- Marching

Cleaning the main office wasn't that hard and it didn't take me that long to finish. As soon as I was done with that, I headed to the modest break room we had, I needed that rest for sure.

Being on my own with my thoughts for the first time, as all my bodies were resting, finally gave me the much needed time to reflect on the situation I was in.

Even at that point, I had no reason I could relate why I found myself in this mess to, it seemed as if it just happened. Sighing I tossed that to the back of my mind as I decided that going down that line of thought was nothing but a waste of time, and that I better use this precious period of free time I had to contemplate other more important matters, the first of which was my bodies.

Zagmuz, Dorian and Denethor, the three bodies I was in, weren't under my absolute control, they weren't some avatars in a game for me to direct as I saw fit, I don't know what it was, whether it was some lingering emotions from the previous owners or just how their brains were wired, but I didn't feel like myself when I was in them.

Whether it was the arrogant, petty and all in all horrible person, Zagmuz. The timid, weak-willed and low on self-esteem Dorian. Or the calm and calculating Denethor, all three of them had some impact on me and my choices and how I would react under certain circumstances.

It was as if I would revert back to their old habits when in the heat of the moment, with their personalities surfacing from time to time, like at first with Dorian and Eric and how I, as the young timid soldier, only wanted to avoid confrontations, hide and hope for them to just end. Then after that with the random bursts of anger I had with Zagmuz and the short temper I suffered through. And finally, the subtle, yet extremely important, interferences from Denethor in those moments when I, as Zagmuz, lost control of himself and had to be put back on track.

And that last thought brought something I ignored for a long time without giving much attention to, even though it manifested and made itself apparent on my very first moments in this world; there was a certain emotional bleed between my bodies. 

The fear I felt towards Eric when I first heard his voice through Dorian, reached even Zagmuz's body, and that in return triggered Zagmuz's arrogance and superiority, angering me in the process, making even the fear I felt from Dorian be forgotten for a second as it got ignited by the anger.

The emotional bleed and the latent feelings I had, were things that made me uncomfortable, they meant that I could at any moment lose control of myself due to some trigger that I did not account for. 

Unfortunately, no matter how much I thought about this and no matter how I worried about it, I didn't have a way to fix it for now, so the best thing to do was to leave it be and focus on the second thing on the list, how to tell the guards about the coming threat, which was honestly the most important thing I had to do.

That wasn't only because I needed to save Border Town and its inhabitants, that was but one of the things that rested on my shoulder.

 

This whole operation by the demons was way bigger than that, they weren't only attacking Border Town, they had many more armies heading to different points of interest along the borders of their territory with the humans. Additionally, for all the towns and points of interest to be easily taken by surprise, they would need to attack them at the same time.

I had to get this piece of information out there so all the towns and different human settlements would be ready for what was coming, and that was why I gave myself one day at most to find a way that would achieve that, yet won't paint me as someone suspicious.

Fortunately, I had a plan for this, I didn't know if it was going to work as I wished it to, but I had a bit of hope and no other good idea at the time. 

This plan would have to wait till we stopped for the day though, I needed all the army's leaders to be together to have the best possibility of things going as I want. So that left me with a full day till then, one which I wasn't going to waste.

I went through what I had to do till then in my mind before Zagmuz opened his eyes. I sat silently as I overlooked what was happening outside. The army was ready to move and almost everything was going perfectly, it was the perfect time for a bratty prince to rear his head.

I looked at Gorduf and said in an arrogant tone:

"Can you call Kildor for me?" I didn't as much as give a reason, which was something that Zagmuz would do to make himself feel important, he never felt like explaining himself.

Gorduf's mouth opened and closed like a fish for a while, either trying to find a good way to try and ask me why I wanted to do that, or to try and dissuade me from doing so. My money was on the first, Gorduf knew better than to try and go against me when I had a breakdown like the one I had just gone through.

Deciding that he still needed a little push in the right direction, I turned Zagmuz's impassive face slightly towards him and gave him a side-eye, it worked, the demon soon nodded as he said:

"Right away, your Highness." 

He then opened the door and went out while I just composed myself, I didn't want to lose my cool in any unforeseeable way when Kildor came.

A few minutes after, I heard a knock before Gorduf's voice came from outside the carriage:

"Your Highness, General Kildor is here."

Ready for that, I pulled back the curtain then opened and looked outside the window. Kildor's expression was as impassive as it always was as his bottomless pits of eyes looked at me unblinkingly.

"So... You said that I'm this army's commander?" I said slowly.

"That's true, your Highness," he nodded back.

"Then I want to lead the army from the front," I said confidently.

I could feel my words drop on Kildor, Gorduf and even Deraan who was listening from the side, like a lightning bolt.

"You- Your Highness, that's- that's just too dangerous you should be at least at the heart of the army," Gorduf was the first to make his disapproval known as he tried to dissuade me.

I didn't even acknowledge him as my full attention was only on Kildor. The general too was looking at me expressionlessly before he finally said:

"It is as Butler Gorduf said, that would be too dangerous I certainly don't recommend..."

"I still want to do it," I interrupted him, "you wanted me to be here and lead, so that's what I'm going to do, I want to be at the forefront of this army, I want everyone to be behind me, I will lead us to victory."

I tried to channel my inner Zagmuz as much as I could, and I think that I did that flawlessly considering how Kildor's expression twitched a bit as he kept looking at me silently. I knew that he was weighing the possibilities on his mind, and also that he for sure knew what had happened after I returned to my tent when I left him that morning, he probably thought that what I was doing was some childish way to show my annoyance and also that I was still in charge, which Zagmuz for sure would have done.

"Okay," He said deliberately, "if that's what your Highness wants, so be it."

You are reading story 3 Bodies 1 Soul at novel35.com

I had to do my all not to smile right then and there, Kildor didn't know that he had just put this whole campaign at the hand of the last person he needed to. Instead, I just nodded at him, closed the window and pulled the curtain.

With the sound of Kildor's retreating footsteps and Gorduf's voice as he sent him away, I sat back and allowed my body to relax, letting out a deep breath in the meantime.

After Gorduf returned, I felt the carriage move to the front of the army, most likely repositioning to take the lead. Soon after that, I heard one of the captains call for marching, followed by others in the distance, and then we were off.

I didn't want to rise any suspicions so for the first two to three hours I didn't say anything, nor did I complain, only letting out small cues like shifting uncomfortably for a bit or frowning as I looked outside from time to time.

Then I felt as if it was finally the right moment, so I turned to a Gorduf and I said:

"The carriage is moving too fast, it got me feeling sick, have it stop for a bit."

I could see Gorduf's face go through so many changes in expression that I feared he would twist a facial muscle, then he sat his mind and said hesitantly:

"Your Highness, this... We can't do that, we are leading the army, and we have a schedule to follow."

"I know," I half growled, "That's why I only want to stop for a little bit."

"But..." He started but I didn't give him the chance to continue.

"Listen, I didn't sleep well after moving for most of the day yesterday, add to that this horrible morning, and you should be happy that we are marching today at all."

Gorduf's face turned purple under my gaze before he took a deep breath and nodded slowly, he then opened the window and called Deraan who was riding next to us and told him that we were going to stop for a bit, and to relay that to the other captains. When Deraan heard that, he looked beyond Gorduf and towards me, I showed no expression as I met his eyes steadily, he then nodded and went away.

Soon after, the carriage started slowing before stopping entirely with the rest of the army following suit. With the carriage stopping Gorduf jumped out straight away most likely waiting for the person we both knew was coming.

It took a while for Kildor to finally set foot outside my carriage, I guess that was to be expected as stopping an army orderly would take time.

"General Kildor, his Highness..." Again, Gorduf didn't even get to finish what he had to say as Kildor's voice interrupted him:

"I want to meet him," his voice was still even, but it had an undercurrent of anger to it.

Gorduf made to talk but I beat him to it and said:

"It's alright Gorduf, you can let General Kildor in."

"Okay, your Highness," he said before he directed his words to Kildor as he opened the door, "come on in general," with that Kildor stepped in and Gorduf entered after him.

And that's how I found myself face to face with an expressionless yet clearly displeased Kildor, he was the first to break the silence:

"Why did we stop?" As he talked I could notice his eyes squint and his hands clench.

"I needed a bit of rest," I stretched as I gave him a sideway glance, "we marched for most of the day yesterday and I don't feel too well."

For a second it seemed that Kildor was going to explode, but he eventually held his temper.

"You understand that we are under a tight schedule?" He started without breaking eye contact, "that we are trying to pull this operation cleanly? That we are on an open road and that our scouts are doing their best to make sure that we pass by unnoticed, you do understand that, right? The third prince wouldn't be so incompetent to the point where he won't even comprehend such easy concepts, right?"

Even with me keeping an eye on my emotion and clarity of thoughts, I could still feel the anger gnaw at my rationality, which I held back with all my might. I knew that the general was playing on my emotions to put me where he wanted, which would have probably worked if the real Zagmuz was there, but I made sure not to give him what he wished for.

"So..." He continued, "I would surely appreciate it if you order the soldiers to march again and stop pulling such mindless acts."

"I need to rest," I said again in a firmer tone of voice as I held his eyes.

"His Majesty wanted you to lead this army in the war against Border Town," he started after a while of silence, "giving you the highest power here, but he also gave me the ability to take that from you and take things into my own hands."

I mentally froze as I heard what he was saying, I had high hopes that Kildor for sure won't take the commanding power from me, at least not just at the first sign of something going south, that seemed too rigid to be used against a prince.

"His Majesty only wanted me to take control when it seemed as if you would make a decision that can lead to your death or certain defeat, yet, you can't suffer defeat in a war you didn't even make it to, I guess even he didn't think that his son would be so incompetent to the point that he would mess things up even before the war started."

"Enjoy your rest, your Highness," he said as he stood up, "it better be the last you have if you want to keep your hold over command for any longer."

He then left, leaving me foaming with barely controlled anger and worried over how bad I could have messed things up, I was naive to think that I can do whatever I wanted and Kildor won't dare to do a lot against me.

With this delaying action out of the way, I could only hope that my plan for that night would work and give me a way to get the guards in Border Town involved without them suspecting me.

I had to flush out a mole.