“Because they do,” Marc said.

The man of war leaned in closer to Murphy. This part needed to be highlighted.

“As of tonight,” Marc said. “I want the three Sergeants to lead and expand into detachments they will form. My aim is to have men we can deploy as a combined force or deploy as detachments when needed.”

His second instinctively knew where this was coming from. It would make his men more resilient in cases of heavy losses, but most importantly they could take on larger threats.

“I plan to fight until the end and only then will I return to my Evelyn,” Marc said. “However, there are no guarantees in life. I could have missed my shot and ended up in a werewolf’s stool sample. I could just as likely end up on the wrong side of an artillery barrage.”

“I think I understand, Sir,” Murphy replied. “You want the men to believe they have a chance.”

“Because they do,” Marc said.

That was a good question, one that required Marc to provide further insight on his own motivations.

“Because I’ll never win this war. It’s men like you that’ll eventually break this log jam and drive us towards victory.”

“So, you don’t want to fight?”

That question was a bit extreme, and may have shown a short sighted interpretation of his words. Marc chose to be more blunt.

“I for one am thankful that you look after your men,” Murphy said. “Had it not been for your hunch, we might all be dead.”

“You’ll never need to thank me,” Marc said. “Nor should the men ever be told.”

“Why shouldn’t they see the best of you?”

That was a good question, one that required Marc to provide further insight on his own motivations.

“I sense a ‘but’ in your story,” Murphy said.

“Perceptive,” Marc replied. “They ordered us to disband and the conflict was relegated to a notation in the history books. If you look up the battle in question, you’ll find it’s recorded as a French loss.”

That betrayal was why he left France behind for decades. It explained why he did not wear a French uniform leaving that honour to Aelred. While the kings in France were long dead, that did not lessen the bitter taste in his mouth. That’s why I try not to think about it.

“You won?” Murphy said.

“We did,” Marc said. “We won the day by leveraging the land against a numerically superior force composed of infantry and heavy cavalry.”

“That must have been a bloody battle,” Murphy said.

“We lost a lot of good men that day,” Marc said. “I was even knocked unconscious by a mortar blast.”

Marc’s nose crinkled as though he were about to sneeze. In truth he was trying to tie together two disparate thoughts.

“I attend the evening briefings and I can say that your commanders have no such intent,” Marc said. “Some commanders might see it as glorious to waste a thousand men for nothing. Truthfully, they are just trying to find a way out of this stalemate.”

Murphy snapped his tongue as though not quite buying what Marc said. The man of war could certainly understand why.

“So you were the former?”

“These were the formative points of my teens and early life as an adult. I was raised by soldiers, learned to be one and fought for king and country.” Marc added. “Until one day we were told to prepare for an attack that we were should have lost.”

“Should?” Murphy said. “Like those they send over that wall?”

Marc’s nose crinkled as though he were about to sneeze. In truth he was trying to tie together two disparate thoughts.

“I started out as a basic private,” Marc began. “I  worked my way to Sergeant. After that I returned to claim my title after my father’s death.”

This was the most he ever said to anyone about his early life. Even Evelyn had little idea about his past. Marc had no desire to burden anyone with his truth.

“I returned to war as a Lieutenant and worked my way to Captain,” Marc said. “We were assigned to a small garrison defending a French town along the border with Spain.”

“That explains your sharp drill and how you handle your blade.”