Chapter 6: Crashing Down
Having searched the rest of Duke Jarrel's villa and finding enough evidence to have him arrested several times over, perhaps even executed, Loren decided it was time to go back to Treo. While it was possible that Treo had no knowledge of Jarrel's involvement in the invasion of Parolt, Loren was finding it harder by the second to convince himself of that, and wanted to know why he hadn't been told beforehand.
As they began to walk back to Castle Senne, Loren's eyes fixed on his tactician, who was engaged in conversation with their group's newest addition (the mercenary had offered to join Loren as thanks for his army saving her life, and with just a small force as it was, Loren wasn't going to turn her down). Precisely what they were talking about, he had no idea, seeing as he didn't recognise the language, but he assumed they were reminiscing about their past, given the vibrant discussion and occasional bursts of laughter from the pair. Loren was surprised – he hadn't known Amy for long, but had come to recognise the stoic expression she usually had. It was as though she was a completely different person now. Clearly, she was much more comfortable than he'd seen her before.
"Begging your pardon, Lord Loren, but may I speak with you?" The prince turned around to see Doran by his side.
"Is something the matter, Doran?"
"Not at all, milord. I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you."
"Proud?"
"Of course. It's been a full three years since you came of age and took command of the Posayan Legion, and seeing you in command for the first time since then, I must say you've grown tremendously. Your mother would be proud."
"You knew Mother? What can you tell me about her?"
"I served as her retainer for a time. Queen Reyate was kind, compassionate and certainly not lacking in intelligence. She was everything a good queen should be. And she cared dearly for you and your sister. She no doubt would have been the same with Lady Marne."
Opportunities for Loren to hear about his mother were few, and he wanted to press this one while he could. "And as her retainer, what did you think of her?"
"I could not have been more blessed than to work for her. I look back on those days fondly. And I got to see a side to Queen Reyate very few others saw, of her when not engaged in the affairs of the nobility."
"And what was she like then?"
Doran realised he'd said more than he'd intended. "I couldn't possibly comment, milord."
"Doran?" Loren turned, but the knight had already fallen behind, and was now engaged in a discussion with Malorn and Xand. "Blast! It looks like I won't be finding out quite so soon…"
"I like your dragon."
Alice looked over to see Talla beside her, looking at her mount with awe. "A wyvern is quite a sight to behold, isn't it? I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Alice, a wyvern rider in the Ilanian army. May I ask your name?"
"Talla. I'm… uh…"
"Is something wrong?"
"To be honest, I'm little more than a thief. I have no idea why Lord Loren allowed me to even be here. It's not like I have a noble title or anything."
"I'm sure Prince Loren sees value in your skills," replied Alice. "We wouldn't have been able to get into that villa without you. As long as you're no longer a thief… You aren't still a thief, are you?"
"No! Gods no! It's just… I've never been any good at anything. I didn't get much of an education. Stealing was the only thing I could ever do to help put food on the table. But if there's a way for me to use my skills without breaking the law, I'll do it."
"I… had no idea. Surely you must have other talents?"
"Well, one, I guess." She gestured towards Alice's wyvern. "May I pet her?"
"You want to pet a wyvern? Wait… how did you know she's female?"
"I've always wanted to see a wyvern, so I kept track of everything I've heard about them. One of those things is that females have smaller claws."
"I see. Well, I shall not stop you. I will however, remain at hand in case she doesn't like it and chooses to take it out on you."
"What? This cutie pie? She's harmless." Talla was already next to the wyvern, patting its head and scratching behind its ear. The creature let out a cry, although it was clearly one of happiness rather than anger.
"Unbelievable…"
"See? She likes it!" After petting the dragon for half a minute or so, Talla thanked Alice and fell back to talk to someone else.
"How strange…" mused the wyvern rider.
The journey back to Castle Senne was an uneventful one, that is, until the castle was in sight, when they heard the sound of clashing metal. It took Loren a moment to realise the sound was coming from the castle grounds.
"What the… It sounds like there's a battle ahead! Treo and the others could be in danger!" shouted the prince. He turned to his soldiers. "Hurry! We have to help them!"
Loren and his troops rushed forward as quickly as they could. Once the castle ground was in sight, however, it was clear that there was no real danger. Treo and several castle guards were engaged in combat, but their foes were few in number, and clearly less experienced. It was actually pitiful to watch them struggle against Treo's men.
"It would seem that Prince Treo has everything under control here, milord," said Xand. "It doesn't look like we're needed."
"There's a difference between 'needed' and 'useful'." Amy's voice was as focused as ever. "Of course, I hardly expect Prince Treo to lose here, but if we help out, we can keep casualties to a minimum."
Loren nodded. "Right. If joining in is going to help in any way, we should do it."
"We await your command, then, sir," replied the tactician.
Treo hadn't been expecting a huge challenge from the opposing force – which was small, poorly equipped, and undertrained, at least in comparison to Castle Senne's defence force – but he hadn't expected it to be quite this easy. As he knocked his foe to the ground with a powerful swing of his sword, he was dreading his next conversation with Loren more than he was fearing any casualties from this battle.
Everything had happened so fast – quite how any intruder had been able to break into Castle Senne, Treo had no idea, although he had a sneaking suspicion he knew the why.
There was little he could do about it now. He had to focus on the enemies in front of him – they may not have made a very intimidating force, but Treo knew that one mistake on the battlefield would still be costly.
As a pair of enemy soldiers came towards him, Treo made a huge swing with his sword, knocking both hard to the ground. Treo swung his sword down on one of them, doing so with the hilt rather than the blade. He didn't want to kill anyone unless it was necessary, and this was an effective way to render a foe unconscious. The other soldier Treo had knocked to the ground had by this point regained his footing, but rather than continue his attack, he turned tail and ran.
"Lord Treo!" shouted Ray, the sound of his wyvern's enormous flapping wings almost drowning out his words. "Look over there!" He motioned to where the Posayan Legion had joined the battle. "It's Prince Loren and his forces!"
Loren is back? thought Treo. No doubt he'll join in and help. It looks like this battle just got easier.
Indeed, it had taken not half a mark before all of the opposing force had either been defeated or had fled, and the Ilanian healers were checking on the Castle's guard for injuries. The healers had very little to do – almost no one on the Ilanian side had even been wounded in that battle.
Treo himself stood by the castle's drawbridge, with a dismounted Ray by his side. Loren approached, with Xand and Amy following closely behind.
"Loren. Thank you for your help in that battle." Treo's voice, far from the jovial tone Loren was expecting from his friend, was stoic and deadly serious.
"No thanks are necessary," replied Loren. "You would have done the same for us." He quickly changed the track of the conversation. "We found the evidence you were looking for against Duke Jarrel. Treo… Did you know…" he paused as Treo motioned with his hand for him to stop.
"I know what you're going to ask, Loren," replied Treo, "and the short answer is yes. I was suspicious that Duke Jarrel had a hand in the invasion of Parolt. But we will have to leave it at the short answer for now, because something much more pressing needs to be discussed."
"More pressing… What's happened?"
As if to answer Loren's question, Marne burst through the castle doors and over the drawbridge, tears in her eyes, until he grabbed hold of her brother's leg and held it tightly.
"Brother!" she cried. "They took her! Lily is…"
"What!?" exclaimed Loren. "What happened?"
"Princess Lily has been kidnapped by the Reonian army," replied Ray. "How anyone managed to get into the castle to do so without being detected, I have no idea. We didn't know anything was amiss until one of our sentries saw her, already out of the castle, with Princess Lily unconscious in her arms."
"Her?" asked Amy.
"We were able to identify the kidnapper," continued the wyvern rider. "It was General Eleanor, one of Reon's Five Champions."
"You know who it was, and yet she still escaped?" Loren's voice was a mixture of panic and anger.
"We were intending to give chase," replied Treo, "but then we were attacked. Those mercenaries from earlier may not have flown the Reonian flag, but I'm certain they were hired by Reon to distract us."
"So Eleanor escaped?" asked Xand.
"We sent a Sky Knight squadron after her, but they have yet to return. And I don't know if they'll be able to bring back anything but information on where she fled to."
"One soldier and you doubt that a whole squadron could stop her?" asked Loren, having calmed down slightly to help his sister. He sent her back inside – he knew this conversation wouldn't calm her down, and as much as it pained him to see her in such a state, he knew he needed to be the Prince now, and a brother later.
"The Reonian Champions are the strongest warriors on the continent," said Amy. "Even just one of them can turn the tide of an entire battle. I doubt any more than one of them was present during the entire invasion of Parolt."
"They're really that powerful?" Loren gasped.
Loren (and everyone else present) was prevented from saying anything else by a loud sound of flapping wings. Not as loud as a wyvern, mind you, and as the creature responsible for the noise landed, it was clear that it was a pegasus.
"Lord Treo!" shouted the rider, dismounting.
"Lind! Where is the rest of your squadron?"
"I could give you good news on that front, milord," replied the sky knight, "but it would be a lie. The Reonians were waiting for us. The escapee headed straight back to the Paroltean border, where there was a group of archers ready to take out any mounted troops that had given chase." He closed his eyes and his voice sank. "I've never seen so many of my comrades perish all at once. We… I… was powerless…"
"Begging your pardon," started Amy. "Lind, was it?" Taking a slight motion of his head as a response in the affirmative, she continued. "If I may speak plainly, how did you survive? I would have thought an ambush like that would have left no survivors."
"I expected that too," replied the sky knight. "My survival was no accident. The leader of the archers' unit made sure to leave one alive. He told me to return here, with a message for Prince Loren."
"A message for me?"
Lind nodded. "Princess Lily will face a public execution in four days' time."
"Execution!?" Loren was in shock.
"I was told to inform you that if you wish to save her, you must come to Idon's execution grounds personally."
Loren couldn't find any words to express what he was feeling at that moment. Nor could Xand or any of the others. Eventually, Treo broke the silence.
"If that is all, Lind?" The sky knight nodded. "Then you are dismissed. Get some rest. You look like you could use it." Lind nodded again, and led his pegasus over to the castle's stables.
"Everything will be alright, Loren," said Treo, reassuringly. "We will do everything in our power to help you get your sister out of there alive." He turned to his advisor. "Ray, gather as many of our strategists as you can." He faced the others again. "Loren, Xand, Amy. Please join us in one mark for a war council." He paused, thinking. "Make that two. I think you'd best talk to your sister first."
"We'll be there," replied Xand.
Castle Senne's main war room was much larger than Loren had expected, and even though there were lots of people there, he reasoned that, in times when Ilan was involved in all-out war, it was likely much more packed. Most of the people in the room were seated, though Treo, Ray, and one other man stood, with a large map pinned to the wall beside them.
"Loren, I'm glad you could make it," said Treo. "Please, sit down." He waited until Loren and his advisors were seated, though he was surprised that Amy ignored the available chairs and chose to sit on the floor. He soon realised why – the tactician had brought with her a bottle of ink, which she rested on the ground in favour of risking spilling. She was the only one in the room holding a quill – Ilanian strategy meetings tended to be primarily audial, with the most important details being written somewhere everyone could see them.
"I hope you don't mind, Loren, but we took the liberty of starting before you arrived," continued Treo. He turned to the man beside him. "Lowe, would you mind summarising where we've got to for Loren and his advisors?"
"Of course, my lord." Lowe's voice was rough and gravelly, with an air of authority and experience that matched the outer appearance of the tactician. "Right now, we know that Princess Lily is being held prisoner in occupied Parolt, but we do not know where. Nor do we know where to begin to look.
"Fortunately, we do know where she will be at a point in the future. In four days' time, she will be in Idon, facing execution. That presents us with our chance to strike."
"You're going to wait until she's about to be killed?" asked Loren.
"There's little else that can be done," replied another of the Ilanian strategists, this one female. "If we try and locate her before then, we'll be caught for sure."
"Continuing," said Lowe, "as I'm sure you'll recognise, Prince Loren, beside me is a map of Idon and the surrounding areas – the mountains to the south, the forest to the east, and the plains to the north. What remains is to work out the most well-suited route for our army to enter the city from."
"You would send Ilanian soldiers?" asked Xand. "Are you not worried about provoking Reon into a war yourselves?"
"Xand," replied Treo, "since this morning, a member of the Reonian army sneaked into our castle to perform a kidnapping, others shot down an entire squadron of Ilanian sky knights, and, even if we can't prove it, they were undoubtedly behind the attack on this castle. If they want to go to war with us, they won't wait for us to provoke them. They certainly didn't with Parolt."
"And there's something else," added Lowe. "The Reonians have invited Prince Loren to the execution. Clearly, that means they'll be prepared for your little group. But they won't expect an assault from us."
Loren turned to the Ilanian head strategist. "Of the three directions we could attack from, which will provide us with the greatest chance of success? The plains will be the easiest to access, at least for ground troops, but I don't know if the Ilanian forces are better suited to different terrain."
"Actually," replied Lowe. "I was thinking all three. It'll give us the best chance of getting to the city as quickly as possible, and, while we're not expecting much resistance, different units will be better suited to fight any Reonian soldiers depending on the terrain type."
"My wyvern rider squadron will be right at home in the mountains," said Ray, "so we should be able to approach from the south easily."
"We should send cavalry to the plains," said one of the Ilanian strategists. "Their superior speed over ground forces will be vital in taking out any sentries the Reonians have posted."
"I can attest to that," added Xand. "Soldiers on horseback long to fight in open areas, where our speed gives us the advantage."
"Which leaves ground infantry to approach from the forest. They won't be as held back by the vegetation as mounted units, anyway."
There was silence as everyone in the room weighed up the plan. Eventually, Lowe continued. "Shall we adjourn for now, then? Is everyone in agreement with the plan?"
For a full ten seconds, there was silence. Then one voice broke it.
"No, we're not."
All eyes fixed on the one person who had spoken up.
"Is there a problem, Lady Amy?" asked Ray.
"Yes, there's a problem," replied the Phenian tactician. "Your plan will achieve nothing but the needless death of your own soldiers. Not to mention that you'll also fail to save Princess Lily. They is no way I can allow it."
"Who are you, girl, to question…" began Lowe, but Treo held up his hand.
"Let her speak first, Lowe. If you disagree afterwards, that is the time to argue." He paused. "Please continue, Amy."
"As I was saying," she continued, "you cannot hope to match the Reonian army with a strategy like this. Reon is the largest country on the continent, with an army to match. Not to mention they're currently being led by one of the Five Champions. I guarantee you that everything we've just discussed, they will have thought of already."
"So you believe they will see us coming?" asked Treo. "And that they'll be prepared for us?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. When your back is against the wall, as ours is now, the absolute worst thing you can do is be predictable. If we take the obvious solution, they'll crush us."
"What can we do, then, Amy?" asked Loren.
"I have an idea. The Reonians are using an obvious trap, inviting Prince Loren to attend the execution under the guise of rescuing Princess Lily, to cover up a less obvious one, that being that they'll be prepared for an assault from Ilan. But we can gain the element of surprise ourselves. We have to do the one thing they'll never expect us to do…"
"And that is?" asked Lowe.
"Fall for the obvious trap."
Next time:
Amy's plan may sound ridiculous on the surface, but with total faith in his strategist, Loren leads his soldiers into occupied Idon, to the site of his sister's planned execution. Will he be able to rescue her, or is he merely putting himself in more danger?
"Saviour" is up next.
