The three of them had their backs on each other as they continued the fight.

Ye An was the one who started the conversation in between swings of her sword. "We were just about to ask you to send some men over to the entrance of the tower. How did you know?"

As Ah Lin stabbed another Northerner in the gut and then in both of his thighs, he replied, "They thought they were being sneaky, I saw a group of them headed that way when the gate came crashing down. Nothing gets past me."

Despite the situation they were in, Xi Chen couldn't help but let out a small laugh as he fended off a Northerner with White Tiger and threw a dagger towards another. "That is true."

Ah Lin then continued as he elbowed an incoming Northerner in the jaw and kneed him in the gut before slicing the unprotected flesh on the man's throat. "But why are both of you the only ones here? Where are the other troops?"

Xi Chen answered with his back towards Ah Lin's back, expertly avoiding the attacks by a Northerner who was holding a club. "I've already sent out pigeons as soon as I got yours and we headed here soon after. My best bet is that the nearest troop would be here in two hours. The rest would only be here tomorrow."

Ye An's heart chilled as she assessed the chaos around her. "That's too long. We need to end this quick."

"Yes, agreed." Ah Lin said tightly. "I wanted to keep the gate up until reinforcements came. But they've outnumbered us by too much. And no one was expecting that new device of theirs." Ah Lin said, referring to the equipment that was used to break through the gates.

"Let's hope that all of the rigorous training had some impact on our soldiers." Xi Chen said grimly as he pulled out another dagger from his boots and sent it flying towards another Northerner.

"Doesn't the northern troop pride itself for being the most skilled troop in the country?" Ye An asked as she pulled her crossbow taut, ready to fire another shot.

Xi Chen shook his head in response even though the others couldn't see it. "I'm not worried about their skills. I'm worried that they might slip when this drags on for too long. One slip could cost a life. Ten slips could cost ten."

The heavy snowfall gradually stopped over the course of the battle. In just under an hour, the pure white snow on the ground was soaked with blood and gore. Some of the slain bodies that were lying on the ground were even covered in a thin layer of snow, but the chaotic sounds of battle never ceased.

Both sides were suffering heavy casualties. Suddenly, the sound of a war horn filled the air. Soldiers and warriors on opposite sides stood to attention. Ye An identified the source of the sound. It was from beyond the border. "What was that?"

As Ye An asked the question, all of the Northerners who were on this side of the wall abruptly stopped their attacks and fell back into their own territory before anyone else could react.

Ah Lin was the first to answer. "I'm not sure. I don't think I've heard them use a war horn before. For us, a war horn signifies the call for war. But seeing as how they're all retreating, I'm guessing that it means something different to them."

"It's a ceasefire." Xi Chen commented.

"Why would they call for a ceasefire? It's obvious that they're overpowering us." Ah Lin said as he flicked his sword down to remove the blood on it and proceeded to wipe the remnants off with the fabric of his clothes.

Ye An surveyed the scene surrounding them. In a glance, it seemed as if most of the casualties were the soldiers from their side, but there were also quite a number of slain Northern warriors dotting the blood-stained snow. "No, look. Even with the obviously smaller size of our troop, we managed to do some damage."

Xi Chen nodded in agreement. "Their commander-in-chief might have weighed everything in and thought that this was too much of a loss."

Ah Lin gritted his teeth as he spoke. "You mean General Shao."

Both Xi Chen and Ye An frowned at the mention of General Shao.

"Let's talk somewhere else." Ye An suggested.

They returned to the commander's post on top of the wall, not before passing numerous bodies that were piled up from the battle. When they were young, both Xi Chen and Ah Lin had seen what war could do. Even though it was still a significant amount of lives lost, this was much less shocking to them compared to the massacre ten years ago. But for Ye An, this was the first time she had seen such devastation. Once the adrenaline from the battle had run out, she couldn't help but avert her eyes whenever they landed on the bloody husks of men.

Noting her discomfort, Xi Chen tried his best to shield her from the worst.

When they were all on top of the wall, Xi Chen asked the nearby soldiers for privacy and formally requested a report on their current situation from Ah Lin.

"Captain Zhang, update me on the current situation."

"Zhang Lin reporting to Lieutenant General Yun. After sending the urgent pigeon to you, I've since received reports that General Shao had deserted his post. Multiple watcher guards on the wall reported catching sight of him crossing the border and proceeded to meet up with Leader Wakhia of the North when the attacks first started." Ah Lin reported before he spat out the rest of his statement in disgust. "That son of a bitch didn't even bother to cover his tracks. That arrogant bastard."

Both Xi Chen and Ye An were silent at Ah Lin's outburst, the zig-zagging thoughts in their mind working separately but arriving at the same conclusion.

Then, Ye An asked, "Did any of the men see Adlai?"

"No." Ah Lin said grimly. "Why? Do you think he's also in it?"

Ye An took some time to think it over and ended up shaking her head. "I don't think so."

"Me neither." Ah Lin agreed after weighing in everything that he had observed from the foreign prince. "Although he does act weirdly sometimes when we were at the capital, I don't think he's the type of person who would plot something like this. Not when his own great-grandfather was so obviously fond of you, Your Imperial Majesty."

"Agreed." Xi Chen nodded.

Both their answers made Ye An frown in concern. "I just hope that he's doing alright."

Xi Chen turned to look at Ye An to console her. "I'm sure he's fine."

"Yes. Leader Wakhia is his uncle, isn't it? He probably wouldn't hurt Adlai." Ah Lin added.

"He better not. Or else I'll flay him myself." Ye An gritted her teeth as she cast a faraway glance towards the Northerner's camp.

Xi Chen on the other hand noticed that Ah Lin was holding back on something. "Is there anything else that you haven't reported?"

The question pulled Ye An back into the conversation.

Ah Lin hesitated before he spoke. "There was a rumor circulating around the barracks earlier today."

"What kind of rumor?" Ye An asked even when she could already guess it.

"That there is a long-lost prince. And that he's the son of Emperor Lee Hwi's twin." Ah Lin threw it out simply. "I found this discarded on one of the hallways when I was patrolling the grounds this morning."

Ye An was surprised that the flyer that Ah Lin handed her was slightly different than the one that was circulated in the capital.

Xi Chen frowned. "It seems like they had this planned for a long time. Another version was distributed throughout the capital earlier today as well. And it caused quite the ruckus."

Ah Lin raised an eyebrow. "A ruckus? I thought those people in the capital would just brush the rumor aside."

Ye An then asked, "Are there any other rumors or is this it?"

Ah Lin was astonished at their lukewarm response. "What else? That's the rumor. And might I add, it's a rumor that packs quite a punch. It says here that.."

"I'm a woman. Yes." Ye An replied without any humor.

Silence settled between them before Ah Lin let out a hollow laugh. "It couldn't be.."

When both of them remained quiet, Ah Lin exclaimed with his eyes bugged out, "What? It's real??"

Ye An chose not to reply. Ah Lin turned to Xi Chen who only shrugged. It wasn't his story to tell. However, Ah Lin understood everything in an instant. "What in the world-"

*******

Despite the severity of the situation they were in with the enemy lines camping just outside the border and the threat of another battle looming over their heads, Ah Lin spent the last ten minutes or so freaking out over the latest information that he had gained. The emperor who was supposedly a man was actually a woman.

"But how? Wow. I can't believe this." Ah Lin had been pacing around to wrap his mind around things. Spoiler alert, it wasn't working. He was still as baffled as he was earlier.

He suddenly came to a stop and looked at Xi Chen accusingly. "And you didn't even tell me?? Do you even consider me as your best friend??"

"Well, it wasn't my place to say anything about it." Xi Chen said diplomatically.

"Do you think I'd keep him around if he's the sort to run his mouth?" Ye An rolled her eyes at Ah Lin.

Ah Lin could only sigh as he muttered. "Both of you didn't know how I had sleepless nights just because I saw you kissing and thought that two men were kissing. I mean, not that two men kissing is weird. No judgment. But it's just something I'm not used to."

Realizing that he had just said what he had said out loud, Ah Lin bit his own tongue and proceeded to hiss from the pain which made Xi Chen concerned. "Are you alright?"

In contrast, Ye An was having none of that. "What.. Did you say? Ah Lin, did you spy on us?"

"Excuse me, I, Zhang Lin, don't do such despicable acts." Ah Lin said indignantly even when he was speaking to an emperor.

"Did you just raise your voice at me?" Ye An's voice thinned. Since learning about the imminent war this morning, an invisible elastic was slowly pulling tighter around Ye An and it was now at its breaking point.

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