This story is part of the Wanderer series.
Sitting by the fire pit in the middle of the camp was Niles, sat on a barrel, elbows leaning on his knees, with a small knife in hand, whittling away at a small piece of wood in the other. The camp bustled around him. Out of it came Marco, who walked with great stride.
Niles briefly stopped, glancing up as his friend approached.
“Whittling away again, aren’t you, Niles?” he trumpeted.
Niles smiled. “As always.”
He said nothing else, as it was Marco who was expected to carry their conversations. Marco knew this, and wasted no time.
“Niles, I’m joining the army.”
Niles glanced up again. There was no shock or disbelief. Only a glimmer of amusement. “Yeah?” he mused, flipping the wood in his fingers. The man said nothing and simply sat down on a barrel across from him. “Don’t tell me you’ve bought into the propaganda these warmongers love to chirp.”
Marco smiled. “No,” he succinctly answered.
Nodding, Niles tilted his head back to his work.
“Those people… They don’t know a word they’re saying.” Clasping his hands together, he aimlessly stared around as he talked. “They… They’re all words. They don’t have a skull to go to war.”
Niles stopped his whittling and turned the chess piece in his hand. But, he wasn’t looking down. His eyes glanced up, anticipating where his friend was taking this story.
“It’s all for show. Just to gain the king’s favor. You know…” He brought his arms up and gripped his fists, shaking them. “… who can rile up the peasantry the most. That sort…”
Closing his hand around his piece, Niles leaned back, sitting upright, finally giving his friend all of his attention. “Yet… knowing this, you choose to join them?”
“I am joining the army to change the army,” he said with indignation, pursing his lips as if he felt this was his grim duty. “The kingdom is washed-up. It is not ready for war.”
“And being in the militia isn’t enough for you?”
“The militia is not enough. We are a crutch to the army.” he shook his head. “No, the army is the only place I can move up.”
Niles opened his mouth, but paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “To start a war.”
“The kingdom needs a war, Niles,” he darkened. “We need another Great War.”
The fire crackled as he said this. Niles set down his knife. He didn’t believe a word his friend was saying.
“This great kingdom of ours…” Marco continued. “And our neighbors in the south… We’re in a decline. We are divided.”
“How would a Great War make that better?”
“By resetting the bar. Unite the people together again. Even the Desert Kingdom knows that.”
Niles furrowed his eyebrows, greatly perplexed. “What… What does the Kingdom of Light have to do with this?”
“Just look at what they’ve been doing. Their conquests.”
“Their conquests aren’t sustainable.”
“Are they not? Then why continue to conquest? They must know something we don’t.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s sustainable! Nations throughout history have mindlessly conquested! Plus, the farther they reach beyond their capital, the looser their grip.”
“They’re not mindless, Niles. I know it. They’re up to something.”
Finally quieting down for a moment, Niles shook his head. “I don’t get it. How in the world would a war help us?”
“Did you not hear me? It resets the playing field.”
“And then what? Hope we will come out ahead?”
“The mountain people rely on trade, Niles.”
“So do we!” said Niles, each word ascending.
“But the desert kingdom does not.”
“How… And that makes it good for us?”
“We are practically part of the desert kingdom. When they prosper, so do we.”
“We are still a sovereign power. Do you want to give up our sovereignty just to be on the winning side?”
“What else would you want, then? To be on the losing side?”
There was a pause. Niles gazed off to the side, watching the other fire pits. No one seemed to be paying any attention to them.
“I’m still not convinced the Kingdom wants to start another Great War,” he muttered.
“The one who strikes first will have the upper hand, Niles.”
Gripping the wooden piece in his hand, he turned back to Marco, earnestly trying to search for some hint of sanity in his eyes. “In the Great War, the premiere world empire went to war and lost the war. Marco, have you learned nothing from the books?”
“Those brutes weren’t ready. They carelessly flung themselves into war. For crying out loud, they sent their armies to attack a wall!” He flung up a hand for emphasis. “With no magicians! They sent them south to invade a small desert kingdom that wasn’t prepared to fight them unless they had to!”
Marco paused for emphasis. Niles did not interject, bringing his elbows back down to his knees.
“No, they were a washed-up power as well,” Marco continued. “Fantasizing about reuniting the Continent in the Empire’s former glory.”
Silence once more. Niles bobbed his head behind his locked hands, one over the other. Not in agreement, but in acceptance he could not bring his friend back.
“If the Kingdom of Light goes to war with the Celestial Empire, just as you want them to, we would be right in the crossfire. It is our people who will suffer for them. There will be blood on your hands.”
Undeterred, Marco leaned forward, lowering his voice and wearing a deathly gaze. “And that’s it, Niles! We need to take the fight to their doorsteps! Fight a war on their doorsteps. That’s why we need to prepare for war now!”
Niles did not say anything else. His friend waited a while for him to say something. When he didn’t, Marco eventually got up and left him by the fire, musing about what he heard. Opening his palm, Niles stared at what he was working on. Still rough in shape, a half-way carved horse piece with no eyes.