The Wishing Princess - Chapter 12

12. A flank attack

The Princess, the Captain, and the rest of the horsemen rode together for some time. Then the princess indicated that they should stop and rest. They did so in the dark, without raising fire. When the sun rises, they ate their travelling ration and kept going.

After a time, the princess frowned. It was just instinct, but just as shamans have access to the world's spirits, so do the princess to the heart of men. She felt unease that has no indications that it should be so. The princess was unsure. She looked around to the riders, but none felt was amiss.

The princess had enough experience with the bad feelings not to dismiss it out of hand, but did not want to frighten the group unnecessarily. Here in the desert, there's not much place to hide, but there were some. They headed that way.

In an oasis, there was a group of men, guarding some carriages. It was soon apparent that these belong to the Queen. The princess gave the universal sign of peace when approaching. The group of men let the armed cavalry approach them.

"Greetings, men, I have never seen you here before. Where do you haul from?" The princess gambled that these are not soldiers and had no wish to fight a clearly determined cavalry.

"Ah, we're from the land yonder." A man indicated the direction of the Queen's.

"Thank you. Will you tell us where she is?" asked the princess. "We've been looking for her."

The men was unsure who this group of cavalry is, but since the Princess was clearly the leader, and that they only know one female leader that is the Queen, it was natural that it was assumed that the group was part of the follow up soldiers that would be coming to join the Queen's soldier.

"Her majesty had finished all the preparations this morning. You have just missed her. She is now leading an attack to the rebel's encampment."

If the princess was upset, she gave no indication of it. Her men on the horse, though, became rigid. "Do you know how many groups and which direction?" asked the princess, "I don't wish to join the wrong side." she added with a grin on her face.

The man laughed. "I do not know exactly, but there are at least three. But if you go toward that direction, there are some hills far enough and high enough to see the battle field and see what's going on."

The princess thanked the man profusely and signalled the group to move on. They rode for the hills. The Captain rode beside her.

"Princess, aren't you worried about your father?" asked the Captain.

"No, captain. There's not much profit in that. We'll check the situation first, and only after we know what's happening, do we worry about it." replied the princess.

The Captain marvelled at her discipline. Soon enough they came to the hills. It wasn't much, just a little rise and scattered boulders, but high enough to make battle formations and close enough to tell what's going on.

The field of battle was plain. The encampment was on one side, while the Queen's forces were on the other side. There was the Queen with her personal guards on one side. Then there was her cavalry, waiting for her order, and the main force coming at an angle toward the encampment.

The rebels forces were composed of several groups, each belonged to each kingdom. The princess saw that her father was in the center, directing each group to fight the battle. The groups stood between the encampment and the enemy.

The princess frowned. She looked over the the previous day enemy location and noticed that the soldiers did not follow a straight line approach toward the encampment. Although maneuvering is an important component to battle, she saw little use for it in the open space of the desert. She decided to ask her father later when she joined in. She looked over to the Captain.

"Captain, what do you think?"

"I think that your father will succeed brilliantly. By keeping each kingdom to their group, there will be no problem in control and communication." the Captain said. "Furthermore, there seems to be discipline problem with the enemy. They move together, but not like good soldiers would."

The Princess frowned. The Captain hasn't noticed the slight angle of approach. When she pointed this out to the Captain, he merely shrugged.

"What do you expect from a bunch of inexperienced soldiers?" said the Captain.

"I expect them to go straight to the enemy." replied the Princess.

"Then why the offset?" asked the Captain.

"I don't know." said the Princess. "I bet father knows. Come on, let's join them."

The group rode down the hills led by the princess, when the princess hesitated, then slowed down.

"Princess? What's the matter?" asked the Captain.

The Princess was looking down past the hills they just left and toward  a small group of trees that was lining up the river. It would make a good hiding place. Then she looked at the encampment and the enemy position, and mentally drew a line. An inspiration struck her, and she let them down the path between the tree and the encampment.

Everybody was wondering why she did so when she stopped, and jumped off from the horse. "Captain! Come and look at this!" she looked at the ground very carefully.

The Captain saw it, too, as soon as they're close. He jumped down from his horse and followed a faint line. Then he pushed his fist to the sand in several places. Finally he looked up to the Princess. "I'd say they're about several hours away."

"Several hours? That means they left before sunrise, and ... " the princess words trailed away. She and the Captain had the same idea at the same time. They ran to their horses. The Captain signaled "Battle Formation" to the group. Immediately, the men prepared for battle.

The princess led them to the edge of the trees. And she found them. A group of soldiers were walking among the trees, slowly approaching the encampment from behind. She signaled to the group and the trumpet blared and the banner was raised high. This was the cavalry of the Kingdom of the Hidden Valley.

She rode the group close to the soldiers, making sure that they see her, but otherwise took no action. She rode to the head of the column, which at that moment was crossing a break through to the trees before going into the next one.

The leader, "The Old Sarge", was surprised to see a group of horsemen rode toward his location _from behind_. He was even more surprised that the group was in fact his enemy. And he was downright befuddled when the enemy did not attack. His troops were strung out in the open and it would be a trying task, indeed, had the enemy attacked.

However, nothing surprised him more to realize that the leader of the horsemen was a young woman. She signaled to the group to wait for her, then rode to the Sarge. She saluted in a warrior's manner. The Sarge was too experienced to let this unnerved him, and he replied in the same manner.

"I see that you fly the Queen's banner. Do you fight for her?" asked the princess.

"Yes, we do, and you are?" asked the Sarge.

"I am a princess of the Kingdom of the Hidden Valley. I implore you to return to your base, and not attack our encampment."

The Old Sarge thought about this for a moment. "I'm afraid that is impossible, for it is her direct order that we should attack the encampment. So, that is what we will do." He was surprised that the Princess merely nodded her assent.

"Are you a good and honorable soldier?" asked the princess.

"Yes, I am." said the Sarge. "We all are."

"Can I trust your words?"

"Yes, you can."

"Then, I challenge you to a duel. First blood. If you lose, you will turn back your troops." said the princess.

"And if I win?" asked the Sarge.

"You may have me as your prisoner." said the princess.

The horsemen gasped at her statement. The Captain implored, "Princess, that is inadvisable."

The Sarge realized that the princess acted brashly. He could and should take advantage of it. "Why?"

"If we have to fight, my men will cut you down by the hundreds." said the princess.

"There are 2000 of us here, and we will prevail at the end."

"Perhaps, but you will no longer have the men to accomplish your mission." said the princess.

"Meaning?" asked the Sarge.

"Either we cut down all your troops and you fail your mission, having lost all your soldiers, or you turn back now, fail your mission, but keep all your troops intact to fight another day." said the princess.

"There must be a way for us to win. We are professional soldiers, after all." said Sarge.

"Or, you can somehow, miraculously, defeat a young girl in a duel, manage to capture her as prisoner, and find out that she is a prized princess of the enemy, and return with a precious bounty on your hand." said the princess.

This, Sarge admitted, was what she offered in the first place. But is there a trick to it? He was mulling about it, when the princess drew her sword. "Wait," said Sarge. "I haven't agreed to your demand, yet."

The princess said nothing, but merely pointed with her chin toward the tree lines. Sarge saw that his troops were filtering out of the trees. Soon, the field will be filled with his troops. He realized that the enemy had only 50 horsemen, and that if they want to strike, the time is now.

An old soldier strode to The Old Sarge side. He said, "Why not take her challenge? I'll beat her soon enough, and we can be on our way again."

Sarge look at the veteran, then at the Princess. "Can I trust your men not to interfere?"

"These men are at my command. You can trust me." The princess replied. "Can I trust you?"

"You can trust me." said Sarge.

"Then shall we have our duel?" asked the princess.

"Yes, we will." Sarge signaled the old warrior. The old warrior gave his battle axe to Sarge and drew out his sword.

The princess dismounted her horse, and met the old warrior head on. After looking at the old warrior carefully, she casually and imperceptibly transferred her sword to her left hand. And the duel was on!