AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thank you, Bers,” Prince Maedras said. He turned his attention to the other members of the council. “How many territories have we lost?”
The Lieutenant general placed the figurine representing his soldiers on the map. “We have lost control of three territories so far. But we are working on regaining them.”
“How?” I asked. It wasn’t my place to question, but I needed to know.
“The usual way,” Lieutenant General Marsken replied. “With force.”
I frowned. That would not be enough. Force alone could not stop these creatures, whatever they were,. We needed to find out where they were coming from and how to stop them permanently.
“And what about the civilians?” Lady Cersen asked. “What are we doing to protect them?”
“We are evacuating them to safety,” Lieutenant General Marsken replied. “But it’s difficult. These creatures are attacking villages without warning. We have to hasten to get people to safety.”
“Is there anything else?” Prince Maedras asked. He looked around the room, his gaze coming to rest on me. “What do you recommend we do?”
This was it. My first test. If I failed this, there would be no coming back from it. I swallowed hard. This was it. The moment I had been waiting for. I took a deep breath, trying to quell the nerves that were bubbling up inside of me.
“Your Highness, we cannot win this war without defying the established rules of battle. We need to find out how they are crossing the border and stop it.”
“And you think this isn’t something we are already doing?” Lieutenant General Marsken asked as he looked at the map. “We have our best people working on it.”
“I merely suggest that we need to be creative,” I replied. “If we don’t, we will lose this war.”
The room was silent as everyone considered my words. I could feel their gazes on me, weighing and judging me. Finally, Prince Maedras spoke. “What do you propose?”
I thought for a moment, trying to organize my thoughts. “During the Merclos War, King Farqi faced an unusual enemy. One, the people of Quds never thought they would have to fight. Yet he stopped them.”
“The Merclos War was different,” Bers said. “The enemy was a Great Dragon.”
“I am not suggesting that we fight them the same way,” I replied. “But we can learn from King Farqi’s example. We need to be creative in our approach.”
“And how do you propose we do that?” Prince Maedras asked.
“The Great Dragon was an unknown creature,” I countered. “One that was thought to be impossible to defeat.”
Lady Cersen spoke up. “How will this mythology lesson help us now?”
“It’s not just a story,” I said. “It’s a lesson. We need to think outside the box. To find a weakness in our enemy that we can exploit. King Farqi did that. And we need to do the same. He allied with the refugees of Merclos, whose homeland the Great Dragon had destroyed. They knew the creature better than anyone. And they could help him defeat it. He stopped the Great Dragon by using its power against it. We need to do the same.”
“The people of Merclos were familiar with the Great Dragon,” Bers said. “We are not familiar with these creatures.”
“Then we need to find someone who is,” I replied. “Someone who knows more about them. Someone who can help us stop them.”
“And where do you propose we find this person?” Prince Maedras asked.
I took a deep breath. “I believe the answer lies east.”
The council members murmured among themselves. Their voices were too low for me to make out what they were saying. I could see the disbelief in their eyes. They thought I was crazy.
Bers placed his arms on the table, leaning his head on them. “You want us to ally with Izmir or Qarath?”
The sheer disbelief in his voice made it clear what he thought of the idea. Alliance with either country was unthinkable. And yet, I knew it was the only way.
“Izmir is our enemy,” Lady Cersen said. “They would never help us.”
“And Qarath right now is a lawless land,” Bers added. “No one knows what goes on there.”
“I am not suggesting we ally with them,” I replied. We need knowledge, not military might."
