CHAPTER 35 - DOOM

We all huddled into Kent's situation room. All of the elves, Farnand, the priest, and even the kid who'd been watching the tower.

Kent's forehead rested between his palms. I had seen him stressed, but never like this.

"About three hundred city guards," he said darkly, eyes barely lifting. "Half the guards in the city. Waldemar's land troops, a hundred of them, twenty of them armored knights. Lord Vanor's three hundred soldiers too, with eighteen knights among them. What's the meaning of this? How could this have happened?"

Kent had been lucky to have remained in his castle. But we'd been cut out from everything happening in the capital. He wouldn't have time to rally his infantry troops from the fields. The city guard was marching across his fields as we spoke. We were lucky they hadn't attacked any of his farmers yet, but they would probably do it in a bid to blackmail Kent.

Farnand looked down.

"It's been three days, my lord," he said, his eyes fixed on the checkered floor tiles. "Since the king's rescue in the city. Thank the Goddess you stayed in the castle and didn’t meet with the noblemen. But we had no time to prepare. Not even our merchants saw signs of this operation. I do not understand how. There’s no evidence of breach from our part. A mole perhaps?"

Kent slammed the table in frustration. Even I leaned back in shock.

"Has anyone been sending pigeons?" he asked.

Vhandos swallowed. The priest took a casual look around and let out a gasp. The entire room focused on him.

Kent's eyes swung toward him.

The priest lifted his hands apologetically. "Only to my closest friends in the order. They've asked... if I know about the king..."

"You old fool!" Kent snapped.

"We can’t tell for sure if that was the reason," I added. "It might have been our little incursion. After all, we left a mess and murdered enough of those guards. Plus, you, Lord Kent, not attending nor sending anyone to the Council of Nobles. I can’t tell you it was worse than going, but it’s also suspicious. It's not hard for them to put two and two together and gather a substantial amount of information. Maybe it was inevitable."

"Now what?" Kent said, his hand slamming the table yet again. "It’s not safe for you anymore. Not safe for any elf either. I would send you through the mountain passage. There's a hidden road through the balcony, into a cave. But it'd be a temporary refuge. If they enter the castle, they'd find it soon and massacre us all. It's a matter of time."

I gritted my teeth.

We should have been ready for this.

"I'll surrender,” Kent added, his eyes thoughtful, staring into the distance. “We'll send you elves and Camille far. And the elves. Would you be willing to surrender? For your people?"

"Nonsense!" I snapped. "Kent. You've helped us thus far. Can you send letters via pigeon? Convince any of the other lords? Anyone we could actually trust. It’s a big gamble, I know, but we should’ve reached out earlier with the truth. Tell them that the real king is in danger. That lord who used to teach His Majesty sword and axe… What was his name?"

Kent scoffed. "Do you think Lord Waldemar would believe me? Even if he does, he's duty-bound. Nothing I’ve seen of him so far shows he would believe me. He was upset at the king’s alleged death, but he’s completely behind Virna."

"We don't even know what their demands are," Camille said. "If we do, we can set up a better plan."

“Probably too late for that,” I said.

I gritted my teeth.

"Listen. This is what I intend us to do and say. Whatever happens, we need a plan for each possible outcome. Every battle can be won. Doesn’t mean it will, doesn’t mean we have the brain matter or the materials to do it, or the numbers, but it can be won. I’ll be ready to give myself in and protect the king and queen, or even let them parlay, if the situation allows it. If they want blood and nothing else, let's defend this castle and make it impenetrable. It was built for that, wasn’t it? We have the high ground. We can do both at the same time."

Kent chuckled darkly. "Easier said than done. I got the numbers already. We literally have seven hundred people marching to our gate as if we're an entire contingent. Us? We have nine elves, eight knights, and about fifty men.Let’s make it a hundred, roughly, if we add any able-bodied men. Aside from my knights, none of them are professional soldiers, by the way. If I send pigeons to my fiefs, rallying the people in my lands, they'll be cut off from each other by a marching army. It’s impossible to gather them soon. We had no time to know of this attack and prepare."

I took a deep breath. Why was I so calm?

I couldn't really be that confident. But I was.

"We have so many options,” I countered, wondering what was getting into me. “We don’t have a lot of time, but we still can create a formidable defense set with traps and secure the escape of the royals. Tell me an inventory of every device you have, whether catapults, trebuchets, even flammable material, glass bottles. Do you have any friends up north who can help? Do any of your lords have nearby fiefdoms with soldiers or free knights that we can access?"

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Kent gritted his teeth. He maybe wouldn't agree with me, but in the face of no possible options, that I was planning something gave him reassurance.

"Aside from Waldemar,” he said, “who’s already on our heels, I didn’t see any good options. Maybe Durman. He was a good friend, but a bird would take half a day to reach. And how long would it take for him to arm himself and march? The distance is two days on foot."

“I can ride to my own people,” Farnand said. “I have a few close friends with land and training a few miles up north. I’d have to spill the secrets, perhaps.”

“Do you really trust them?” I asked. “And how many are we talking about?”

Farnand looked straight at me. “Ten riders. Then, a few dozen more, but they’re squires, not full knights. A handful are still under Kent’s land but have sworn no loyalty. I can’t give an estimate of how many foot volunteers there will be. Let’s set fifty as an estimate.”

"That's the least we could do." I swallowed. The high ground, if used wisely, could make a big difference. There had been battles won that way. The question was: could we, in particular, prevail? "Be wise about it, but I’d welcome it if Kent agrees. For now, I think I have a plan for the first line of defense. Lariel, Alynna. You'll be watching the enemy, not from the battlements, but from those round windows on the towers. You'll be the snipers today."

"Snipers?" Alynna cocked her head.

"Like a sharpshooter. Archer. You'll be the best."

Kent lowered his head. “Alright, Tactician. I trust you on this. I don’t want to die, but I’m willing, if something goes wrong. You’re in charge.”

A green aura floated around Kent’s body.

[NAME: KENT]

[CLASS: PALADIN]

[LV 4]

[EXP: 1/50]

[HP: 19/19]

[DATA]

[STR] 7 [SKILL] 4 [SPD] 4 [LUCK] 4 [DEF] 6

Lord Kent’s eyes opened widely.

“What’s this?” he said, looking at his gauntleted hands.

"You're in for a wild ride," said Camille, playing with the ends of her hair. "You've accepted Connor as your tactician. Now, you have a glimpse of Aria's power."

KENT: What's this? What are these letters? What did you slip into my wine?

ALYNNA: Hey :)

LARIEL: Hello.

CONNOR: Welcome to the group chat.

Kent got up, knuckles slamming the table. "Group—what?"

"We can communicate with thought when dealing with a battle situation," Camille exclaimed.

Kent's hands slid between strands of his hair. "Communicate? What sorcery is this? Stop it, tactician. Get out of my mind!"

"Lord Kent," I said, muffling a chuckle. "It’s nothing to worry about. I understand it’s strange and might take a while to get used to it. It won't read your mind unless you direct your thoughts toward us. You'll get used to it."

Kent looked sharply toward me, as if demanding an explanation. He cast a glimpse at the numbers that kept popping up in front of him. I had to explain the leveling part. When we got to the grid, which I explained to him, he calmed down a bit. He noticed the potential, although he had a few concerns about privacy.

Then, we set out to the main courtyard and began to work.

Kent's men got groups of women to sort out glass bottles and flammable material. I had found some alcohol and sulfur used, stupidly, I’d come to think, as medicine. There was also a special oil that they regularly used in siege warfare, called Byzanian flame. That would come in handy.

There were a handful of bridges we'd use as traps, and a pot of boiling oil was set on a round section of the castle. This was one of the nasty parts about medieval warfare I’d heard about and felt strangely second nature.

Unfortunately, Kent only had a small trebuchet, and I had no idea how to calibrate it or how to gauge distance. The only available technician said it wouldn’t work in this case. I'd simply assume it'd fly from the wall. Perhaps I'd have to bring it to the tower. We decided to leave it for later.

Kent also sent Farnand out to his own land. If he managed to slip out undetected, he could gather at least a handful of men from his own lands up north.

But I couldn't tell yet if there was another force ready to ambush us from the hillside as well. It'd take longer as they'd have to cross the river. For that reason, Kent sent another one of his scouts to the mountain to peek through and send a signal if he sighted another army up north.

The girls took their positions on each of the towers, and five elven archers, along with five of Kent's hunters, took their place on the battlements, pretending to be the main archers, along with Nidar and Zyra. Kent's remaining knights, eight of them, prepared their horses close to the main gate in case of a breach, and a group of residents formed behind as infantry as I got to work on the entrance.

I laid out an outline. We'd probably finish the traps by sundown, hoping that the enemy wouldn't be able to penetrate by then. The plan was to dig right next to the entrance, creating a smaller improvised ditch with spikes in case the enemy broke through, and using the already existing siege bridges for our own charge if it was necessary.

The women and children were set in one of the intermediary rooms with hidden access, close to the hidden exit into the mountains. It turned out Kent's wife had died of tuberculosis years ago, leaving him with no children, but relatives and the families of knights and attendants all lived there.

Once we were all set up, Kent and I moved toward the battlements, beholding the horde that amassed before us, coming from three sides. In the front, the hundreds of city guards, headed by light cavalry—around fifty of them—flanked with Lord Waldemar from the West, advancing with banners of both his own house, a mountain under a rose, as well as the kingdom's coat of arms. The other nobleman who had come had a yellow banner. Vanor, I’d heard. His armor looked beautiful, black in color, while each segment seemed adorned with beautiful filigree patterns. Even his diamond-shaped shield seemed more like a work of art from the Renaissance. Another rider advanced along with him, in similar armor, much leaner and younger looking. I assumed him to be a son or heir.

Vanor’s army, however, consisted of light infantry, with just a handful of knights on his side. The bulk of them looked emaciated, wearing crude armor consisting of simple sections of rusty plate, in contrast to the unctuous appearance of the lords.

I asked Kent who headed the troop of guards. I'd expected to see Larendo, but he was perhaps too bulky and out of shape to be leading the charge. Kent explained that this was the infamous Ingo.

I closed in on the grid, finding that he looked like a villain, like that old Red Baron cartoon, with a hooked nose and a greased Dali-like mustache. His armor was red like blood, and a black cape hung from his shoulders. His sword was rapier-like, and his horse was also armored like that, horns extending from its front plate, making it look like a red devil.

I cleared my throat and looked at Kent. "Interesting cast of characters."

"We are in a deep pool of horseshit," said the usually stoic paladin.

"That, I cannot deny.”

And yet, I couldn’t help but wonder. Why was I being so calm all of a sudden? I knew I was trained to keep calm in stressful situations. It felt unnatural. But I knew I had to do it. I knew what I had to do. "We'll make the best out of it."