The Spoils of War By Karsa Rated PG-13 for disturbing images of war that may be to much for younger children -------------------------------------------------------------------- Endymon shivered as the winter wind blew through his tent. He pulled his cloak tighter around his broad shoulders as his leading general entered his tent. "Kunzite, report," Endymon ordered. The white-haired man stepped forward and bowed before his prince. "Our forces on the front are lagging, my liege. There is nothing we can do. Our warriors are tired, and our supplies exhausted. Zoi says we have maybe four weeks at the most before the Dark Kingdom totally overruns us." Endymon sighed and put his head in his hands, fighting back tears for his people. People who were dragged from their beds in the middle of the night and murdered. Young men who came to him knowing nothing of war, but sure that they would be the ones to strike Queen Metalia down.. and left in body bags, knowing only a bit more after their one day out. Women who calmly and bravely watched as their lovers and husbands and fathers and brothers and friends went off to fight and never returned, breaking an infinite number of promises. His people, who would soon all be slaves of the dark kingdom, if something wasn't done soon. "Where is Jadeite? And Zoisite and Nephrite?" Endymon finally asked, looking at his friend. "Zoi is resting in his tent," Kunzite told the prince. "He was up late night welcoming the new recruits and working out barrack assignments.. you'd think we were running a boarding school.. Jed and Neph are looking over the maps, trying to figure how to protect your parents." "My parents? Has there been any word from them?" "Queen Anna still wants you to go to the moon and implore Queen Serenity to help us, but your father maintains that it is not proper for a prince to beg anything if any one, even if it is a prince of the earth begging a queen of the moon. They say it is really your choice." "Wondrous," Endymon replied closing his eyes and sighing. "Kunzite, I don't know what to do. Look at me. Do I look like I can make any decisions?" Kunzite looked Endymon up and down. His prince's normally neat and professionally cut black hair was now ragged, as though he had closed his eyes and used his sword to cut it. His shoulders sagged as though he was holding the world upon them and the bags under his eyes could have held several watermelons. "Prince, are you asking me to decide for you?" Endymon immediately perked up. "Would you, Kunzite? My dearest friend, most trusted advisor.. indeed, brother.. will you make that choice for me and take the responsibility if anything goes wrong? No, Kunzite. I cannot ask you to do that, as much I may want to. You are my best friend, it's true, but I hope you will never know the pain of waking up everyday with the souls of your men screaming in your ears, wondering why THEY had to be sent to the front lines.. why they died, and not the kids that picked on them when they were younger.. every one of our warriors that falls is another spot of blood on my already soiled hands.. Kunzite, it was a wise man who said that the leader bears the wounds of all his men." "Well, Endymon, aren't we poetic today? Souls will hardly scream in your ears if you go to the moon. Your people will surely thank you, for it would mean getting help for them, so they didn't HAVE to die on the front lines. Now, my liege, if you will excuse me, the princess of Venus has requested an audience with me," Kunzite said, bowing swiftly and turning to leave, his cape waving behind him, as if also saying goodbye to the prince. Endymon sighed and attempted to return to planning the strategy for the next attack, but found all that he could plan was what to say to Princess Serenity when he went up to see her again. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The King of Earth, Adam, looked over at his lovely bride, Queen Anna. "My dear, I think its time we discussed Endymon," he told her quietly, looking at all the people who for seemingly no reason at all were crowding their throne room. "And we'd better t alk alone.." Anna regarded her King cautiously. "Is this about him going to see Queen Serenity? I though we agreed not to talk about this.." "No, Anna," Adam said looking pout at his court. "Leave us!" he told them. After the last one had filed out the door, he turned back to Anna. "This is about him been 21 and alone on the front with no help other than Kunzite, Nephrite, Zoisite and Jadeite. It's not right for our little boy to be fighting this battle for us.." Queen Anna smiled for the first time in the many months since the war started. "You're right, Adam. But what are we going to do about that? We COULD send him to the moon and leave his generals in charge. " "Or I could go out and help him." "Or, my love, we could compromise.." Anna told him. And as the lights fade down on everyones favorite royal couple, the author manages to finally end part one of her story. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiii! Miss me? I really missed writing. I've had a pretty boring summer.. but that's okay, I'll live. I'm now gearing up to become a freshman.. SAAAVE MEEEE! (kidding) I know what alot of you are thinking.. if you read my other work.. "This isn't a normal Karsa story" I know. But I was reading Lloyd Alexander's "The High King" (my third favorite book, eclipsed only by "The Gods Themselves" {Asimov} and "N*Space" {Niven}) and it's just so beautiful and emotional and tear jerking.. well, you get the idea.. its such a great story that I had to write something like it. And this is part one of what I got. Plese write me and tell me that you think! kt2003@yahoo.com