The soldiers went about the grim task of cleaning the battlefield, and found that the supply trucks they had sent were completely empty, save for a few weeks worth of military issue rations.
This unit had not brought anything with them. Not tents, not a camp kitchen. Nothing.
So, the vehicles were loaded with bodies, and then the Natural Sons pulled them off the road and into a clearing where they could have firewood stacked around them to make a proper funeral pyre for the casualties of the battles in the gorge.
The fires burned bright all night long, while Dominic restocked the munitions for the mortar teams.
Ten more for everyone. That was what he could do in the course of an evening before it got too dark, Dominic discovered. It was a lot of mortars, even when he was making them a bundle at a time, the way that cannonballs were made.
He still wouldn’t say that all of the soldiers were amply supplied. But they should have had a few left from the previous round of supplies to go with the new batch.
The next morning brought silence to the camp.
The fires burned low, and no more convoys were spotted along the road. Either Dagos had given up on reinforcing their troops to the east, or they had been sent to the next bridge south, avoiding the ambush location.
It gave them all time to rest, clean their gear, get proper meals, and mentally prepare themselves for whatever was going to happen next.
Then, the situation changed.
"Incoming military unit from the east! It appears to be one of ours. Scouts have spotted airships." The runner informed Dominic and Alexis as they were finishing dinner.
"Send a runner to make contact. If they are our soldiers, I don’t want any misunderstandings. We don’t have a functional radio with us to contact the airships." Princess Alexis ordered.
That was a minor oversight on their part. They had left in a hurry, and hadn’t thought to get a portable one for the Regiment. There were receivers in the trucks. But not transmitters.
Again, an oversight of design, and one that both Dominic and the Princess would recommend be remedied the moment that they returned home after the war.
The runner returned after nearly two hours, and came with an officer of the Second Regiment, Prince Alex’s assigned soldiers.
"Is the Ninth Princess here and safe?" The man anxiously demanded as he was led into the camp.
"Who is asking about the Ninth Princess?" Dominic demanded.
"Oh! Lord Sorcerer. Wonderful. I wasn’t sure if you really had come with the Regiment, or if the Princess was still in hiding somewhere. The Second Prince sends his best wishes, and a letter. This one is for you, I have one for her Highness as well, if she is with you." The messenger explained.
Princess Alexis came out from inside the truck and smiled at the messenger.
"Relax, this is Thomas, one of my second brother’s personal servants. They’ve been together for their entire lives." She explained.
The man bowed to her, then smirked. "You look... interesting with dark hair, Your Highness. Your Second Brother will be here momentarily, and I suspect that he won’t object to staying overnight before moving on."
Alexis nodded. "It’s been too long. How goes the war in the east?"
"The East and the South have fallen to the might of Cygnia’s Armies. All of the former Wavemates Territories, all the way to Kinewen have been captured.
Eastern Dagos is now under our control, and the First Prince has led a hundred airships to the North, to take Modbury.
We received a communication from Viscount Boscom that was most concerning, and chose to take a force to verify its authenticity." Thomas explained.
In short, well over half of Dagos was now in enemy hands.
If the Viscount Boscom had not managed to secure the throne by now, it was too late. The First Prince would be on his doorstep in a matter of days, with an army supported by airships, and a Dagos Princess as his wife to secure his own claim to the throne.
The Regiment led the Second Prince to the south side of the canyon, while his soldiers blocked the eastern hill.
"Give the order for the Regiment to gather on this side of the road. There is no more need for us to be separated. We will be behind the lines as of tomorrow morning," Dominic instructed.
Prince Alex got down from a mechanical horse and pulled his sister into a hug.
"It’s good to see you again, little sister. I thought that things were going to turn out badly there for a few days. Bring your betrothed, and we will discuss this in your Command Centre." He insisted.
Princess Alexis led the way to the tent, and a pair of the Prince’s officers followed them in.
"Have you had a chance to read the letters yet?" Prince Alex asked.
Alexis shook her head. "Not yet. You got here just after we finished questioning Thomas about current events. I take it this is something important?"
The Prince nodded grimly. "You could say that. Viscount Boscom has invited us to his coronation, and implied that he had an arrangement with you about ending the war if he managed it.
However, Prince Kaizon sent a very similar letter, informing us that the Viscount was in poor health and would be abdicating his candidacy for the throne.
We will be headed for Albroles City under the guise of a diplomatic envoy, but I don’t expect that the transition is going to go as smoothly as I had hoped."
Dominic chuckled softly. "So, Boscom is a man of his word, and Kaizon is open about his intent to kill the Viscount now that his armies have lost, and his political influence is waning? Does that about sum it up?"
The Prince winked at him. "On the surface, yes. Under that, there are hundreds of major and minor Nobles, all with their own estates, interests and alliances.
The Crown Prince has a number of the more influential ones from the Southeastern regions aboard an airship with him at the moment, in case things devolve to the point where it is more advantageous for him to take over Dagos, and abdicate Cygnia to me.
I wouldn’t put it past him to want to keep them both, but it’s no secret that such a plan would never be acceptable to any of the neighbouring nations."