Vergen, on the Aedirnian Border

Crimson fingers stretched across the edge of the world, the warmth of the heavens crawling over the hills and valleys, working to satisfying the smallest of cracks present in the hills before her. Tendril’s of golden hair danced about her solumn expression as her mind moved through the events of late. This battle was hers much due to the assistance given by Iorveth and his archers, but the war laid far ahead of her, the path of lives lost and death scattered about unceasing. She reached up and carefully tucked a stray hair behind her ear, her battle dressing tightly wound around her lithe frame, nothing removing her from the edge of remembrance but the sound of her men moving about behind her. 

Standing precariously close to the edge of the hill just outside their makeshift camp in Vergen, Saskia took the early moments of morning to calm her spirit. Lost to her inner demons and trapped in a queendom she neither desired nor deserved, she yearned for freedom. Though held just beyond her grasp she assumed after helping to finish the campaign she started to provide freedom and rest for those under her care she too would be allowed to leave. She turned her head only slightly, the sun touching a part of her cheek and making almost a halo of light above her golden trestles.

“Saskia, we need to discuss our next steps should Iorveth not return.” An older man moved into her view, Garrisk having been with her since she walked into this new existence.

She turned the rest of the way, but not before a brief glance in the distance, her eyes scanning the horizon in hopes that he would prove them wrong and return ahead of schedule. She refused to think anything nefarious had befallen him. “Come back to me,” she whispered. With brief hesitation she turned and walked off the ledge, her movements languid and more relaxed than she might present in front of the others. 

“Hold your tongue, old man. He will return and will deliver to us something more precious than victory.” She moved deeper into the town’s structure, the hills burrowed with the effects of mining for riches. Nodding to a few elves, a dwarf and several humans, she motioned for Garrisk to move with her. 

“Why do you assume he will not return, old friend?”A gruff response resounded beside her, a smirk touching her full pink lips as she ignored it and awaited his answer. 

“First, you tell me what could be better than victory, my queen.” He watched the skies for signs woven into the clouds, his ability to see before and beyond their present situation had proven most helpful and would continue to do so.

She stopped and turned to him, her eyes flashing a silver that didn’t belong to a woman of regular descent. “The essence of war is found in the art of surprise and the knowledge of events to come. Iorveth will gain us an advantage and not only will we exploit the great kings of the North, but as we dismantle the Nilfgaard from the inside out.” She turned and regained motion, the sage hobbling with her. 

“I do not assume the worst, but feel the winds of change moving in a manner that is not befitting our cause, my queen. I simply worry for what is to come.” He stopped a few feet from a gathering of men as they looked up and moved toward them both. 

“I do not worry, but rely simply on the hearts and ambition of men who refuse to become slaves to tyranny. The emperor of Nilfgaard may move toward us with assured victory in his empty skull, but we will take from him that which is not ours to take.” She looked toward her men, seeing the fear and trepidation settling across them and knowing that only her words and wisdom could sway their hearts to fight without ceasing and assuming the victory no matter the cost. 

“What are we going to take from him, Saskia?” A small dwarf mumbled from the front of the crowd. 

She smiled with wicked vengeance and hooded her gaze before lifting up the truth, “We will take his virginity, his life and then his legacy.”

Laughter rose to the sky as the men shook their heads and stared in disbelief at the wild-eyed woman before them that could beckon men to follow and make emperor’s wish for their innocence back only to have it raped from their bodies again – if only by her.