Chapter 13
"I mean no disrespect but what do you know about war?" General Paul DeWitt asked Eugene after he filled the group in before him. They met in what the King called his "War Room", which was basically a smaller version of the study. War had been something that Corona had not had to deal with in a very long time.
"I don't know anything but you do. I'm sure you can make good decisions for Corona's defense and I want to learn," the Prince Consort explained.
"Better late than never," General Timothy Boles laughed. The group chuckled and even Eugene joined in.
"What do we know about our enemy?" General John Webster wanted to know.
"He has magical powers but we have Merlin," Eugene turned and pointed to the wizard who had thought it wise to join the former thief in his endeavor.
"Malik is a vicious, brutal man who will not hesitate to kill innocents, including women and children. My first suggestion would be to round them all up and find a good place for them to hide," the wizard said.
"We can evacuate the city. We have enough time if what you say is true about him arriving at nightfall tomorrow," General DeWitt told them.
"I hope so as we've already hit tomorrow. That only gives us about ten hours of daylight to do what we need to do," Eugene pointed to the position of the moon out the window. The church bell in the village chimed once, indicating it was one in the morning.
"Should we begin now?" General Boles wondered.
"Chaos would ensue. Waking people out of a dead sleep to grab what they can and board ships bound for the mainland will not end well," General Webster countered.
"Does Malik have ships? Can we use the water to our advantage?" DeWiit asked.
"We'll need the water to put out the fires. Malik has a contingent of dragons at his disposal. He will use them to smoke you out as it were," Merlin shook his head.
"Good God," Boles shook his head.
"I thought all the dragons were killed," DeWitt said.
"He offered them protection and they took it. A wise decision if they wanted to stay alive but Malik will use them to do his worst and then use his troops to clean up the mess," the wizard explained.
"Do we have any hope of winning?" Webster wondered.
"I will do what I can to help but in the end, it will depend on how many men you have and what kind of weapons there are," Merlin said.
"We can use the cannons on the ships and the catapults at the palace walls. We have archers who can light hot tar and we can pour it into the streets. We can burn the menace out if need be," Boles told him.
"Draft every man you can. Get the women and children out and prepare for war," Merlin nodded.
"What about the King, the Queen, and Rapunzel? They need to be moved out of harm's way," Eugene said.
"He brings up a good point. The King is still very ill and if there is to be a Corona after this, we will need them to be safe," Webster told them.
"They must leave with the women and children. It would be the best way," DeWitt nodded.
"I must tell you all something before I join you in the battle," the Prince Consort now had all eyes on him.
"You must promise to take special care of Rapunzel for me if something should happen to me. I will do what I can for Corona but you must promise me that," Eugene continued.
"We will make sure she is protected…" Boles started but he was cut off by Eugene.
"You must promise me that you will not tell anyone that she carries my child." The four men nodded and then the group began to split up. General Webster gave him a pat on the back and said,
"Let's get you fitted for battle."
To Be Continued…