13 Day War (23 page)

King Arik bit his lip in concentration and began pacing the floor. Eventually, he turned to face his father.

“I do not want any more attacks on the black-cloaks,” declared King Arik. “Get that word out immediately. And get a healer to the unicorns in Sordoa. We will resume this meeting as soon as that is done.”

“The closest mage we have is Podil,” stated Prince Oscar. “She is a Sorelderal elf, and is highly skilled, but she is not close to Caldar. She is in Pontek at the other end of Sordoa. I have already sent a fairy to summon her to aid the unicorns. Prince Midge and I will immediately dispatch the other messages you requested. We will be right back. It won’t take but a minute.”

The two princes left the room, and General Gregor stepped over to the wall map of Alcea. He spoke to no one in particular, but all heard his voice.

“Sometimes we forget that the fairies cannot deliver messages instantaneously. While they fly faster than we can imagine, Alcea is a great nation, and it spans hundreds of leagues in each direction. For example, the time it takes a fairy to fly from Caldar to here and then send another fairy to Pontek, followed by a unicorn ride back to Caldar, will take almost an entire day. That is a long time for two unicorns to lie bleeding.”

“What is your point, General?” snapped the king. “Are you reminding me of how I am wasting the lives of Alceans?”

The general turned around to face the king. His face showed no sign of hurt from the king’s attack. He knew the strain that King Arik was under, and he knew how much the king blamed himself for each and every death.

“No, King Arik. The point is to remind everyone here of the vast distances involved in this war. You depend upon our advice, but I often think that such details escape our notice. We have grown so accustomed to people stepping into this room from the other side of the world, that we forget the limitations that we have to deal with within our own country.”

“I think I understand where you are coming from, General,” interjected the queen. “Perhaps we would be wise to station healing mages throughout the country to respond to problems like the one we face today. Are there other resources that we should consider doing the same?”

Prince Oscar and Prince Midge reentered the room.

“I don’t know about stationing other resources,” Lord Markel responded, “but I think we need to recall our Knights of Alcea from Zara. We had a close call in Lanoir, and now a disastrous one in Sordoa. These Federation armies are going to tax our forces to the limits. We need our people here to help us.”

“I agree,” offered Lord Clava. “The wars of liberation in Zara cannot succeed if we fail here in Alcea. The Knights of Alcea are the most potent weapons we have. I suggest that the king recall them.”

So more of them can die, the king thought bitterly. The queen knew what was going thorough her husband’s mind, and she did not want him to express his thoughts out loud.

“There are only four Knights of Alcea left in Zara,” stated Queen Tanya, “I also think they should be recalled, but no one else. The small contingent of Rangers over there are needed where they are, and they should stay there. As for Jenneva, she is not in Zara. She is in Cordonia seeing to the movement of Doors from one Universe to another. She will be returning here today after the final set of armies arrive there.”

“General Ross and General Haggerty,” nodded Prince Oscar. “They should be arriving in Darcia at this very moment. They are the only Federation armies due to arrive in Alcea this day. If I may also offer my agreement of having the Knights of Alcea return to Alcea for the next couple of weeks, I do so. I know that they are instrumental in running things in Zara, but their skills are sorely needed here at home. The wars in Zara will run on our schedule, but here in Alcea it runs on the Federation’s schedule. We need them, King Arik.”

“It would be a mistake to remove Karl Gree from Tyronia,” declared Theos. “Unlike the other Zaran countries under the thumb of the Federation, Tyronia has no Ranger to guide them. There is only Karl, and the Tyronians will see his removal as a breaking of faith. They depend on him daily.”

”I can live with that,” conceded Prince Oscar. “If Karl is instrumental to the Tyronians, then let him stay, but the others are not tied to any one country as Karl is. Alex, Tedi, and Natia should return to Alcea.”

King Arik nodded his approval. “See to it after the meeting. Where do we stand on our own actions against Force Targa?”

“We have two days before the first of the Federation armies arrives in Targa,” answered General Gregor. “I have already managed to sneak the Alcean Rangers out of the city as well as two-thirds of the Red Swords. The final third of the Red Swords are due to depart today. That is going to leave little protection around the king, and that concerns me greatly, but we need to draw our forces out of the city quietly to avoid tipping off the enemy spies.”

“I am still here,” Theos stated gruffly. “No harm will come to King Arik.”

“What are the plans for pulling out the regular army?” asked Tedi’s father. “It will not be possible to sneak them out unnoticed.”

“You are correct, Lord Markel,” answered the general, “but it will be too late at that point for the Federation spies to do any damage. The Rangers and Red Swords total four-thousand men. Their primary goal the first two days is to simply harass the enemy and slow them down. Once the Federation troops arrive in Danver Shores, there will be no more armies coming from Zara. All Doors will be out of commission, so the spies cannot get word back to their homeland. At that time the six-thousand men of the Targa Army can openly march out through the city gates. That is when the real defense of Targa will begin.”

“And that will be?” asked Lord Clava.

“In five days,” answered the general. “The Rangers and Red Swords only have to harass the Federation armies for a couple of days. They are up to that task.”

“Have there been any more discipline problems with the regular army?” the queen asked the general.

General Gregor frowned and nodded. “Even more than the last time we spoke. I am at a loss to explain it other than guess that they all know the war is coming soon, but I am finding alarming levels of irritableness, not only among the soldiers, but the palace staff and the citizens, too. Everyone seems to be snapping at one another for no apparent reason.”

“That is hardly the spirit we expect within a city about to be under siege,” replied the queen. “It was certainly not the spirit of Tagaret during the last war. Everyone came together like never before.”

“And it made a great difference,” nodded the general. “That is why I find this irritableness alarming. Now is not the time for it.”

“Carry on,” King Arik said abruptly as he turned and headed for the door.

Queen Tanya and Prince Oscar exchanged worried looks, and the queen left the group and hurried after the king. The room fell silent as the royal couple exited the council chamber. When they were gone, Arik’s two fathers huddled together.

“I am worried about him,” Lord Clava said softly. “He is taking these deaths too hard.”

“The Knights of Alcea are all personal friends to the king,” replied Prince Oscar. “A certain amount of such feelings is only natural.”

“It goes far beyond that,” countered Lord Clava. “He is blaming himself for their deaths. It will destroy him.”

Prince Oscar sighed and nodded. There was no use in denying the truth, and Lord Clava knew well the boy he raised as his own. “I don’t know how to handle it,” he admitted. “Nor does the queen. We can stand here all day and say that such feelings are illogical, but that will not stop the king from having them. What do you want me to do?”

It was Lord Clava’s turn to sigh. “I truly do not know. If I did, I would do it myself. I am just worried for him.”

“We all are,” agreed Prince Oscar. “That is one of the reasons why I readily agreed to have the Knights of Alcea return from Zara. The one person who might be able to get Arik to snap out of this is Alexander Tork. Arik still sees him as his mentor.”

“And he can accomplish what the queen can not?”

“More than the queen and two fathers put together,” smiled the prince. “In fact, I sometimes think our advice is discounted because we are relatives of the king. Alexander Tork has a history of speaking plainly to kings, and Arik will know that the words spoken are true and unbiased. He will listen to Alex.”

Lord Clava nodded with satisfaction and drifted off. Prince Oscar was about to leave the room to send out the fairies to Zara when Zalaharic approached him. The elven healer nodded to Prince Oscar and then to Prince Midge on Oscar’s shoulder.

“I was wondering a few things,” Zalaharic began. “Both of you saw the images of Twerp. What did you make of them?”

“They were fairy visions,” answered Prince Midge. “What is there to think of? They were true replications of the original events.”

“True replications,” offered the elf, “or true events?”

The fairy prince frowned in confusion, and the elf smiled.

“Twerp contradicted himself,” the elf continued. “Both statements could not possibly be true. Are fairies prone to lying?”

Prince Midge blushed bright green, and it was obvious that he was uncomfortable about the questions being asked.

“Let me save the fairy prince from some embarrassment,” chuckled Prince Oscar. “While the fairy people are generally honest, they have been known to lie when they think a lie is the only way to achieve their goal. If Twerp did lie, and it is obvious that he did at least once, he would not do so in a malicious way.”

“Then what was his goal?” asked Zalaharic.

“To get healers,” Prince Midge declared. “I should think that much is obvious.”

“For whom?” asked the elf.

“Ah,” Prince Oscar nodded. “I see where you are going with this. You think Twerp wanted us to think that the Knights of Alcea were still alive so that we would send healers for the unicorns?”

“A valid question,” responded Zalaharic. “Prince Midge, would a fairy think that King Arik would value the life of a unicorn any less than a human?”

“I would not think so,” frowned Prince Midge. “The Bringer is known to be thoughtful of all his subjects, but Wylan and Sheri were no ordinary humans. They were Knights of Alcea and close friends of the king. Such people are guaranteed to get the attention of King Arik, no matter what race they are.”

“Well,” interjected Prince Oscar, “that sheds light on one of today’s mysteries then. Those unicorns must need healing rather badly. Twerp was trying his best to see that they got the help that they needed.”

“I concur,” replied Zalaharic, “and that means that the unicorns are very close to death. They need help as quickly as we can get it to them.”

“I agree,” nodded Prince Oscar. “I have already sent a fairy to summon Podil. She is the closest mage.”

“The closest,” retorted Zalaharic, “but not the quickest. Unless my calculations are off, a unicorn from Tagaret can reach Caldar before Podil can. She is farther south, requiring the fairy to fly much longer before she even starts her journey to come back north.”

Prince Oscar frowned and pulled out his notes. He made some quick calculations and nodded vigorously. “You can beat her by two to three hours, but aren’t you needed here?”

“I am needed where the situation is most grim,” answered Zalaharic. “I would not care for my absence to be noticed unless it is necessary.”

Prince Oscar nodded as the elf turned and walked away.

“I hope he is not needed here while he is in Sordoa,” frowned Prince Oscar. “He is the most talented healer in all of Alcea.”

“Jenneva says that he might be the greatest healer of all time,” countered Prince Midge. “Shall I send a fairy to Zara and summon the Knights of Alcea?”

“Please do. The sooner they get here, the better I will feel.”

* * * *

Alex, Tedi and Natia stepped through the Door to the Royal Palace in Tagaret. Jenneva stood waiting for them. As Alex and Jenneva embraced, Tedi and Natia continued onward to their quarters.

“I am glad that you have come,” Jenneva said softly. “Arik is not handling the deaths well.”

“Tanya will handle the king,” replied Alex.

“No.” Jenneva shook her head. “She cannot. I cannot. Prince Oscar and Lord Clava cannot.”

Alex frowned deeply. “And you think I can?”

“I know that you can,” Jenneva answered as she took Alex’s hand and led him away from the Door. “You have a way with illogical kings.”

Alex snorted and shook his head. “My manners with kings has never been appreciated before. What makes you think he will listen to me?”

“Your manners may not have been appreciated, but you always got your point across, and the kings always ended up seeing things your way. You have a manner of analyzing a problem and presenting only one solution, the appropriate solution. Besides, Arik still thinks of you as his mentor. He will listen to you.”

Alex sighed and nodded. “I will try, but there are no guarantees. We have returned from Zara to shed the enemy’s blood, not to be the king’s caretaker. He has two mothers for that.”

Jenneva smiled and squeezed Alex’s hand. “I imagine that he will need them when you are through with him.”

Jenneva led Alex to the king’s study, but the guards refused to knock on the king’s door.

“He was very adamant,” stated one of the Red Swords. “He wants no visitors. None.”

“Just knock on the door,” growled Alex. “I do not have time to play games.”

The guards refused to budge. Alex shook his head and sighed. He reached out and took Jenneva’s hand, guiding her away from the door. After he had taken a dozen steps, he let go of her hand and stealthily reached into a pouch at his waist and extracted three Lanoirian stars. He spun around and threw the three stars at the king’s door, one after the other. The guards’ jaws dropped, and they immediately pulled their swords and stepped in front of the door, blocking the entrance with their bodies. Alex slowly walked towards them, and the Red Swords prepared to kill a legend or die in the process. One of the guards shouted for reinforcements, and distant footsteps echoed off the walls.