We hit the river like a black tide.
Five thousand cavalry against twenty thousand infantry should have been suicide.
It wasn't.
The first rank of Great Xia shields shattered under lances wrapped in lightning runes.
Horses screamed. Men screamed louder.
I carved straight down the centre, black sword singing, every swing taking limbs or heads or pride.
Huo Qing met me twenty strides from the water.
Her phoenix screamed fire that turned the air into glass.
My destrier didn't even flinch; past-me had written him stupidly brave.
She came in swinging that ridiculous hammer overhead, flames trailing like a comet.
I caught it on my blade.
The impact drove me down in the saddle, cracked the ground beneath us, sent a shockwave that bowled over both our front lines.
For one heartbeat we were eye-to-eye, her grinning like a maniac, sweat cutting channels through the soot on her face.
"Nice sword, pretty boy!" she roared. "Shame it's attached to a corpse!"
She twisted the hammer, trying to wrench my guard open.
I let her.
Then head-butted her full in the face.
Cartilage crunched. Blood sprayed across my cheekguard.
She reeled, laughing through a broken nose.
I fucking love this woman.
I kicked free of the stirrups, vaulted off the horse, and tackled her off the phoenix mid-air. We hit the riverbank hard, rolled, came up swinging.
Her armour was lighter than mine (scarlet plates over black silk, basically lingerie with ambition).
Mine was heavier, but I was bigger.
She kneed me in the gut. I took it, wrapped an arm around her waist, and slammed her into the mud.
The fighting around us slowed (soldiers forming a rough circle, half cheering, half too stunned to move).
Huo Qing spat blood, grinned wider.
"Gonna have to do better than that, Your Majesty."
I pressed my forearm across her throat, leaned in until our helmets touched.
"Surrender," I said, calm. "Or I start taking pieces you'll miss."
She bucked hard, almost threw me, then went limp on purpose and laughed right in my face. "Make me."
So I did.
I kissed her.
Not gentle. Not romantic.
Just crushed my mouth to hers, tasted blood and smoke and pure crazy.
She froze for half a heartbeat (genuine shock), then bit my lip hard enough to copper the kiss.
I growled, pinned both her wrists above her head with one hand, and let the Conqueror's Mark flare against her stomach through the gap in her armour.
Level 1 bloomed instantly (orgasm not required when adrenaline and combat lust are already doing the work).
Her eyes went wide. A full-body shudder ran through her.
The hammer slipped from her fingers and thudded into the mud.
Around us, twenty thousand Great Xia soldiers watched their marshal go stiff, then limp, then make a sound that definitely wasn't battle rage.
I pulled back an inch.
"Yield," I said again, quieter.
Huo Qing's voice came out rough, cracked, almost shy.
"…fuck you."
But her hips rolled up against mine, involuntary.
Close enough.
I stood, dragging her with me by the front of her breastplate.
Her army wavered. I raised my sword.
"Drop weapons or watch your marshal become a very public example." Steel clattered to the ground like rain.
Five thousand of my riders circled, lances levelled.
Huo Qing swayed, cheeks flushed darker than her armour, eyes glazed.
I leaned in, voice for her ears only.
"Welcome to the winning side, Marshal."
She tried to snarl. It came out a whimper.
Good start.
An hour later the prisoners were bound, the field was ours, and the Crimson River really was running red.
I rode back to camp with Huo Qing slung across my saddle like a trophy, hands tied behind her, head resting on my thigh because she kept trying to bite and I got tired of dodging.
Aria rode beside me, trying not to laugh.
"Productive morning, my king?"
"Unexpected," I admitted. "I thought she'd take at least three days to break."
Huo Qing mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "still gonna kill you" into my leg.
Adorable.
We reached the command tent at dusk. The twins were exactly where I'd left them (inner robes only, kneeling, silver hair loose because someone (Aria) had removed the pins while I was gone).
Meiyue looked up when I walked in dragging a bleeding, muddy, furious fire marshal.
Her face cycled through shock, recognition, and something dangerously close to hope.
Meixiang just stared, mouth slightly open.
I dumped Huo Qing on the bearskin rug between them.
"Girls," I said, wiping blood from my cheek, "meet your new roommate."
Huo Qing tried to stand. The Mark pulsed; her knees buckled again.
Meiyue found her voice. "You… you defeated Marshal Huo?"
"In about four minutes," I said. "She's faster than I remembered."
Huo Qing glared murder at the floor.
I crouched, tilted her chin up with two fingers.
"Behave," I told her. "Or I finish what we started right here in front of them."
Her breath hitched. The Mark flared to Level 2 without me even touching her further.
Meiyue made a strangled sound.
Meixiang's hands twisted in her lap, eyes wide, fixed on the glowing golden sigil just visible under Huo Qing's torn armour.
I stood.
"Aria, strip her. Chain her with the princesses. Same rules."
Aria's grin was all teeth. "Yes, my king."
I walked to the war table, poured myself a cup of something strong, and watched three proud women realise the war had already moved into their bodies.
Outside, the camp drums beat victory.
Inside, the real conquest was just getting interesting.
Tomorrow the main army marched. Tonight I had three new toys and a schedule that was officially on fire.
Past-me would be proud.
Or horrified.
Probably both.
To be continued...