Battle didn’t begin right away. Their army ended up surrounding our fort, and a small group came out, demanding to speak to the commander. Rather than show myself, I decided to remain low. I had a feeling Bernard had a way of detecting me inside the keep. I had advised the commander to pretend the princess wasn’t there, but for some reason, he wasn’t willing to do that. Perhaps, it was the will of the dungeon that we couldn’t deceive them in that way.

“What are you doing, surrounding our fort! This act of aggression is unacceptable!” The commander shouted as soon as he appeared on the wall.

“Don’t be so naïve commander. Skirmishes have been breaking out along our borders for years! It was only a matter of time till one side made a move!”

“And so, you have decided to show your true colors, is it?” The commander wasn’t just talking to the demon, but he was trying to incite the morale of his troops too.

Everyone in both armies could hear them yelling back and forth. The commander on the skeleton side wanted to make it abundantly clear who was at fault. His men would be filled with indignant rage, and the demon side would know that every death that followed was because of their hubris. I felt like I could learn a few things about leadership from these guys. I wasn’t sure if I was in charge, I could motivate a troop in quite the same way.

“Will you stop hugging me so close,” I asked.

“I refuse!” Carmine said, nestling her chest around my arm.

“You never acted this way before. You’re making the skeletons soldiers feel awkward.”

“It’s fine!”

At first, I had feared that the princess would be revealed to be Carmine, especially with her fighting the karma and using spells to diminish its control on her. However, it seemed like in the mind of these soldiers, she had already become the princess in body and spirit. That princess was still acting extremely affectionate with her savior, causing more than a few brows to furrow. I understood that this was a result of the dungeon too. The princess fell in love with the man who saved her. I saved her, so she was in love with me. It still felt a little awkward to see Carmine acting so affectionate though.

“We want the princess returned to us, or we will attack!”

“Returned? She is the human princess! How ridiculous! You failed to kidnap her the first time, and now you want us to just give her back?”

Even the commander was incredulous by this statement. If Bernard was the one pushing this though, and he wasn’t completely controlled by the dungeon, then he likely didn’t care about the rules of the dungeon. He wasn’t attacking to set the dungeon right again, but because of his desires. Thinking about it, I didn’t realize my arm had wrapped around Carmine’s hip and held her closer to me, an act that caused her to grow a pleasing smile.

“This is not a request! This is an ultimatum! You have until tonight. Tonight, we will attack your fort, kill all of your men, and claim your princess. If you give her up now, we will allow you to live!”