Chapter 4

Dasian swung down from his saddle, and stopped, his boot still in the stirrup. Was it his imagination, or had he really heard something in the quiet, dark night? He looked around and noticed that Tnsaiu and the fairy, Anaella, had stopped too. Anaella peered into the green foliage, and then glanced at Dasian. Dasian realized he had been cautiously watching Anaella. He shook it off briskly and took his foot out of the stirrup. Then he stopped again. There it was again. It was like a murmur through the trees. Some of Sir Loban's words came to his mind, 'Even the trees are Felipe's spies.' Now all the wizards had stopped and were looking about them. Dasian thinned his eyes and stared into the darkness.

Suddenly he leapt forward and plunged his hand into the thicket before him. His hand grabbed someone's collar and drew him out. The man was struggling, but Dasian's firm grip resisted him. The man became still when Dasian put his sword to his throat. He trembled and looked up at Dasian with frightened eyes.

"Who are you?" growled Dasian.

"P-p-alti," he stuttered.

"Who are you working for?"

The man hesitated and Dasian pressed the sword closer to his throat. "F-f-elipe."

"As I thought," the young man muttered. "Why did he send you to spy on us?"

"I w-w-asn't...I wass...he wants to know why you came in here."

"What would you tell him?"

"Y-y-ou got sp-p-ies?"

"Do realize you are going to be killed soon, Palti?"

Palti's eyes widened and he shook his head wildly.

"Nothing you say will stop me. Now please speak you last words clearly. Now tell me, do you know any of Felipe's plans?"

"No. I don't. I'm just supposed to tell him you've got wizard spies, and the fairy is helping you."

"Why the fairy?"

Palti gulped, and shook his head furiously. Dasian pressed the blade harder, and the sharp edge cut into the man's neck. A trickle of blood ran down his neck. Palti looked up at Dasian and whispered, "I can not tell." He suddenly grabbed the sword's blade and thrust it into his own stomach. He groaned and fell to the ground, dead.

Dasian pulled his sword free and looked at the dead man in disgust. He wiped his sword clean and looked up at the other spies. He commanded, "Bury him." Liska and Jyquis took hold of the man's arms and began to drag him into the forest.

"Wait!" cried Anaella. She ran over to the dead man and knelt down beside his leg. Taking her knife from her belt, she cut his leggings near the ankle. She took out a piece of paper and said, "Go on." The two wizards looked at her curiously, then continued on.

Anaella handed the paper to Dasian and said, "He was a spy, carrying a message."

Dasian looked at her for moment, then took the paper. Slowly he unfolded it and read its contents to himself, with Tnsaiu looking over his shoulder.

Greetings to General Pancrazio,

My messenger should have gone through the forest of Ardunt to discover the purpose of Captain Dasian's going there. If he has discovered what I think he has discovered, we may be doomed. Assemble your largest army and attack the main base on the twelfth from the South. We will attack from the North with 1,000 men. I know it sounds like a small amount, but this will be a surprise attack, and the amount will be sufficient.

King Felipe Rolando

"Pack up," declared Dasian. "We're leaving right now."

"But Captain!" whined Willy, "I just started to fix my supper!"

He was ignored as the wizards again mounted their horses. Dasian glanced at Anaella, just out of curiousity. She was murmuring something to Willy. Then she pulled something out of her cloak and gave it to him. Dasian turned away. He wondered what had possessed him to make him trust her so soon after barely meeting her. Dasian son of Riley the Great; he was Captain of the whole rebel army, second in line to kingship, best friend and body guard to King Gespian himself. Why did he find a fairy intriguing? They were fickle and were not supposed to be trustworthy. But somehow that wasn't the case for… what was her name?

Prince Gespian let his hand drop to his side in a troublesome way. It had been a week since Dasian's departure, and he had no idea what had become of his friend. He knew he should not have let Dasian go. He was second in command, the only person Gespian could trust with intense secrets. Even General Zafar and Sir Loban were not half as good as Dasian. The two young men had been friends since birth. Dasian's mother was the queen's, lady-in-waiting. The two boys played at their mother's feet while they knitted or talked. Even though Gespian was two years his senior, he respected Dasian like a big brother.

It had been Dasian who saved Gespian's life eighteen years ago, when Felipe rose to power. Dasian had run into his room in the middle of the night and pulled Gespian off his bed. When Gespian had protested, Dasian had stuffed him under his bed and made a body form in the bed. It wasn't long till Felipe's assassins entered the room and speared the bed, thinking the young king lay there. The two boys had lain under the bed for an hour, not moving, not talking, and not sleeping. (Dasian had told Gespian he snored while sleeping.)

They then had stolen out of the castle, and with help of General Zafar and Sir Loban they fled to the mountains. It wasn't till ten years later when the boys were eighteen, did they dare show themselves. That was after they learned Felipe had killed their families and close friends. 'King' Felipe was furious and immediately sent an army after them, but not before the young men had raised an army of their own.

Ever since then he and Dasian had been fighting with Felipe, trying to retrieve the throne for Gespian. Their luck had been running out though, and more often they had been losing, which made Dasian very irritated. This was why he insisted on going into the dangerous forest of Ardunt and getting help from the most powerful people in the country of Regina, as well as Tsea, Lartnec, and Ocixem.

"Your Majesty," General Zafar's urgent voice broke into Gespian's thoughts abruptly. He was standing in the tent's doorway, his tall frame blocking out the setting sun. "Felipe is at the castle, raising a large army."

"Who told you so?"

"The baker Waldo did, sir. He took the army a cart load of bread loaves, some poisoned."

"Why were they not all poisoned?"

"He has run out of poison, sir. And Felipe is suspecting him."

"Your Majesty," cried Sir Loban from behind the General. Zafar moved aside for the aged man who said, "The Captain is returning!" Gespian hurriedly followed the older man outside. Sir Loban handed him a telescope and pointed towards the south. "There sir, he is there." Sure enough, Gespian could see thirteen riders charging down a hill towards the camp.

"It's about time," he muttered to himself. He waited impatiently for the riders to gallop into camp. Dasian swung easily from his saddle and greeted the prince.

"You've returned in the nick of time..."

"Gespian, Felipe is raising an army of merely 1,000 and is expecting Pancrazio to do the same. He will attack from the North, with an army, but not big enough to destroy us."

"How do you know?"

Dasian showed him the letter.

"The twelfth, but that is tomorrow!" cried Sir Loban.

Dasian immediately turned to the men who had gathered around the newcomers. "Put on your armor!" he shouted at them, "Adorn your horses! Prepare to fight men! We leave at dusk! Tomorrow, we fight!" The men instantly did as their Captain bade them do, and the camp turned into an uproar. Men rushed for their rusting chain mail, their swords, and their horses.

Dasian turned back to the prince and said, "That done with, let's get onto other business. Sir Loban, take the spies to your tent and instruct them. You are under Sir Loban's supervision. Except for you, you will stay with us." He directed the last comment to Tnsaiu. He had learned that the wizard was very exceptional and he planned to regard the magical personage as a fellow leader.

Some of the wizards gave Dasian an almost confused and disgusted look before following Sir Loban to his tent. If the young captain noticed, he did nothing about it. After he made sure all of the spies were safely out of sight, he turned to the prince.

"I suggest we talk in the privacy of your tent. I have some very important issues to bring up."

The young king nodded and entered his tent. Dasian motioned for Tnsaiu to follow. Dasain gave one more cautious and protective glance over the large camp of men, then slipped inside. He sat in a chair, just beside Gespian's traveling 'throne', while Tnsaiu preferred to stand quietly behind Dasian; a position where he could see everything going on in the tent, as well as outside, through a small slit in the fabric.

"Issue number one. We have to carry out plan B. It is the only way to end the war. If Felipe or his son, Jengo dies, their armies will go chaotic. There will be no one to lead them. As far as I know Felipe has only one really trusted general besides his son. That is Pancrazio. If we can do away with those three, the rest will be easy."

"Yes, but the problem is how to go about doing so," murmured Tnsaiu, "From what I understand, these men are well guarded and protected. It would take a very skilled and careful assassin to complete the job. Even I do not hold myself capable to doing such a task on Felipe himself, yet."

Gespian bit his lip in deep thought. But before he came up with a solution, Dasian spoke.

"With this thought heavy on our minds, I'd like to bring up a new matter. If you noticed the letter, Felipe seemed to be worried I had discovered something. I have been very curious about this certain matter, because the only thing I went there for was the wizards. I have not discovered anything unusual." He leaned on the arm of the chair and rested his chin on his fist, a position he sat in when disturbed and concentrating hard.

Tnsaiu nodded. Obviously Dasian wasn't the only one who had thought about the matter. "If you also will remember sir," said Tnsaiu softly, "The spy, called, Palti killed himself before revealing why the presence of Anaella in our company was so important."

"Who is Anaella?" asked Gespian.

Dasian waved his hand carelessly and straightened. "A fairy that I picked up after killing a dragon. I only brought her to fulfill Sir Loban's wish. But Tnsaiu, I suppose you do have a point. That was the other thing I was going to bring up. Why would a fairy bother Felipe?"

Here was another question none of the men could answer.

The flap suddenly flew open and General Zafar stood in the doorway. "Everything is set, your Majesty, Captain. I've sent scouts out to see how far Felipe's army is."

"Well, done," sighed Dasian, rising from his seat. "I'll be with you shortly."

General Zafar saluted and left. Gespian arose wearily as well. He was not one who enjoyed wielding the sword. He was a king, but not a fighting one. But a king in a time of war often switched from being a docile man to a man of action. Such was Dasian. He could switch the two as easily as a court jester could juggle.

Dasian tightened his belt around his waist then walked to Sir Loban's tent. As he opened the flap, he was startled to hear laughing. It surprised him. He usually made jokes with his men to cheer their spirits, but had never heard them make that cheerful sound on their own. As he entered, he was even more surprised to see only Willy, Sir Loban and Anaella in the tent.

"Ah, greetings Captain Dasian," said Sir Loban. It was obvious the old man had been one of the few people Dasian had heard laughing. He was smiling and his dimples were showing. "Is there something you want or need perhaps?"

"I need and want many things, Sir Loban. But the thing I need from you is a reason of why the other wizards aren't here. You were supposed to be instructing them."

"Captain," said the old man, his face now formal, "I did instruct them. You forget how wise these wizards are. They know more than I. I sent them with Jon to show them where they would be staying. But I have kept Anaella and Willy for the training."

"Captain!" squawked Willy, "I know how to be a spy! Tell Sir Loban so. He thinks I am a dumb pup who can't do a thing!"

"And so you are."

Willy's jaw dropped and he began to sputter.

"Your Captain is right, Willy," chuckled Sir Loban, "In all the questions I asked you two, Anaella was two minutes quicker than you. Admit it my young friend, the lovely girl has outwitted you."

Willy started to reply, but Dasian cut in; he was getting tired of this petty talk. There was a war going on and right now he had no interest in who had outwitted who. "I need to talk to a few of the spies. Do you know the ones named Baldur, Rolshawn, and Ignatus? I need them right away."

Sir Loban nodded. "Ah, yes. I thought you might be wanting them. They are some of the brightest in the bunch. They will make good spies, and warriors as well. They are a fierce threesome. God have mercy on anyone who tries to stop them. I believe I had Jon put them in the third tent nearest this one. The one the young widow made for us a year ago."

Dasian nodded impatiently and turned to leave. He hesitated, then turned back. Looking directly at Anaella he said, "Soon you will be taken to my camp along with Tnsaiu...and Willy. He will be your leader forthwith."

Anaella lowered her eyes and nodded, then immediately brought them up again and said clearly, "Yes, Captain."

Dasian saluted Sir Loban and left, with Willy trotting after him.

Don't worry! Willy is going to be around quite a lot! He's my little sister's favorite character, too. Thanks!