Council of War (47 page)

"Perfect from my point of view," nodded General Skye. "Clint must have nerves of steel. He was not even sweating when last I saw him."

"Did you have a chance to alter the files on General Forshire?"

"Oh, yes," smiled the general. "There are numerous notes in his file about our suspicions of his loyalty to the Federation. You should not worry that Prince Mectin's handlers will try to kill him. They will figure him for the perfect Commanding General for Tyronia. It is a brilliant plan if it works."

"Do you have doubts?"

"I have doubts about everything," smiled the general. "I even have doubts that you can get us across the Barrier, although I know that I should not. It is my nature."

"It is a healthy way to view the world," chuckled Garth. "Come and listen while I explain to everyone what is going to happen next."

The two men rode the rest of the way towards the small group and joined them. The group consisted of five Knights of Alcea, two Rangers, Queen Romani, Sidney Mercado, King Myer, and now the princess and General Skye.

"I know some of you are wondering what comes next," Garth said to the group. "I have held this part secret because I could not afford to have it revealed if something went wrong. The creatures that you are sitting upon are not horses. They are unicorns, and they are going to fly us over the Barrier. We will be over the Barrier and into Zarocca before morning. I ask that you keep the secret of the unicorns among ourselves."

Princess Jeanel frowned and walked to her mount. She stared at its face and shook her head. "I don't believe you. Unicorns have horns. I think you are a mage playing a trick on us."

"Get up on your mount," Garth ordered with a smile. "If you don't believe me, ask the unicorn to show you her horn."

The princess swung onto her unicorn with a frown on her face. "Show me your horn, unicorn."

The horn suddenly appeared, and the princess gasped.

Such little faith you have for a princess. You can talk to me without speaking if you are embarrassed. It will make the ride go faster.

Garth chuckled inwardly and then explained to everyone their place in the group. When everyone was ready, Garth ordered Kymia into the air. The newcomers in the group gasped in delight as their unicorns followed Kymia and lifted off the ground.

* * *

In the morning, the group camped on the eastern side of the Barrier. Garth, Tedi, Karl, and the two Rangers took turns keeping watch. Some people went to sleep right away, while others merely rested until they felt tired. There was no sense of urgency to the day as they were not going to fly the unicorns again until nightfall. Princess Jeanel stayed close to her father the whole day, while Sidney and Queen Romani spent some time sitting on the banks of a small creek that flowed through the campsite. Garth and Karl were on watch when General Skye walked over and sat down next to Garth.

"Quite an idyllic setting," the general said softly. "It is hard to believe that the world around us is heading for war."

"This is the way life was meant to be lived," Garth replied.

"I couldn't help noticing that many of your people are not with us on this trip," the general said as he got down to what he really wanted to discuss. "Other than Clint, where have they gone?"

"The elves are down in Elfwoods," answered Garth. "They draw too much attention up here, and there is unfinished business down there. The sailors are also heading south. In fact, once this conference is over, I think the rest of us will head south, too. There is not much we can do in Tyronia at this time, and the horse countries appear to be well fortified from what I have seen."

The general looked around the camp at the Alceans and shook his head. "Your people appear to be good at what they do. My squad of soldiers were quite surprised by our reception at Sidney's ranch. I do think you would have bloodied my men quite well if it had come to battle. Are they all military?"

"Not exactly," answered Garth. "Shawn, Clint, and Max are Alcea Rangers. That is an elite fighting group that numbers close to a thousand. The rest of us here are Knights of Alcea. The Knights are a very small group of warriors and mages chosen by the king. What you see here is a little under half of the Knights of Alcea."

"That must be a rather exclusive group," the general replied with a raised eyebrow. "I suspect you will want to be back in Alcea when the fighting begins."

"That was the original plan," nodded Garth, "but our ship was destroyed. It would appear that we must stay here and do what we can to hurt the Federation on this side of the ocean."

"I would say that is our gain," smiled the general. "Do you think the Zaroccans and Koroccans can defeat the Federation?"

"Not from what I have seen so far," Garth replied after a moment of thought. "Not alone at least. While I do not know the strength of the Federation army, it has to be over a hundred thousand. I have seen masses of soldiers everywhere I go down there, and I have only been down as far as Farmin."

"We estimated their forces at over two hundred thousand," stated the general, "and that was before they annexed Karamin and Vinafor."

Garth whistled softly. "That means they could throw one hundred and fifty thousand men at Alcea and still have one hundred thousand to maintain control here in Zara. That is a formidable army."

"Very formidable," replied the general. "The truth is, all of Zara is lost unless we win the backing of Zarocca and Korocca. They are the only countries that can raise a decent army, and they are not going to want to leave their own lands."

"We shall see," Garth replied as he looked up at the pink clouds. "I think we just have time for a decent meal before we take to the sky again."

The meal was simple, but everyone was refreshed from the day of rest. As soon as darkness arrived, the group mounted the unicorns and flew eastward. By dawn they had landed and were riding into the city of Traginak. Garth signaled Tedi, and the gypsy prince led all of the Alceans except Garth and Kalina towards the Courtyard Shadows. Sidney said goodbye to Queen Romani and followed the Alceans to the inn. Garth continued onward with the rest of the group to the castle gates. They were admitted without a fuss, and they dismounted at the stables. Baron Uloof arrived before they were done.

"Right on schedule," smiled the baron as he glanced at the group. "You must be King Myer," he said with bow to the Tyronian king. "I have not had the pleasure of meeting you or your family. I am Uloof, Baron of Traginak."

"This is my daughter, Jeanel," stated the king. "This fine woman is not my wife. May I present Queen Romani of Vinafor."

The baron blushed with embarrassment, but he recovered quickly. He bowed respectfully to the queen. "I should have realized,” he apologized. "We have three suites set aside for you. I will have to see about rooms for the princess and the officer."

"General Skye," stated the general, "former Commanding General of Tyronia."

"Former?" frowned the baron.

"There is much to talk about," replied King Myer. "The general can stay with me, but a room for Jeanel would be appreciated."

"I will see to it," promised the baron. "If you will come with me, we were just sitting down for the morning meal when I saw you ride towards the castle. King Wendal of Korocca has already arrived, as has Baron Stikman, the Baron of Herinak. We will begin the meeting right after the morning meal."

Baron Uloof led the visitors inside the castle to a formal dining room. King Persimon and Baron Ohmson were there representing Zarocca along with Baron Uloof. King Wendal and Baron Stikman were representing Korocca. Baron Uloof made the introductions, but the conversation during the meal was kept to lighter topics. When the meal was done, a soldier was assigned to take Princess Jeanel and find her a room. Servants cleared the table, and the doors to the dining room were closed.

King Persimon waited until the doors were closed before looking around the table and speaking. "I thank you all for coming here on such short notice. I have called this meeting to discuss our common enemy, the Federation headed by Emperor Jaar. As some of you know, my Royal Sorcerer had been in the employ of the Federation. For quite some time he had enchanted me with a vile magic in an attempt to make me do the bidding of the Federation. I do not think I have to tell anyone in this room that the Federation has designs of world conquest. Every nation represented by the people in this room is in danger of falling before the evil horde."

"Obviously one of those countries has already fallen," stated King Wendal. "My condolences, Queen Romani, but a fact is a fact."

"I take no offense at your words, King Wendal," the queen replied, "but Vinafor will not remain in the hands of the Federation for long."

"What about Alcea?" asked Baron Stikman. "I heard that the country is almost as large as all of Zara. Are you offering to send troops to Korocca to help defend us from the Federation?"

"I am not sure that we are here to talk about defending Korocca," frowned Garth. "I am not convinced that Korocca will be attacked before Alcea. I know everyone up here thinks that the fleet of warships we destroyed was to be used against Korocca, but I do not share those thoughts. It is my understanding that Korocca has no deep water ports. Is that correct?"

"That is correct," answered King Wendal.

"How then was the Federation planning to use those ships?" asked Garth. "Were the ships going to anchor offshore and have their men wade to the beach?"

King Wendal frowned in thought, but Baron Stikman ignored the question.

"You didn't say whether Alcea was going to send troops to help us," the baron said.

"Alcea is not in a position to send troops to Zara," replied Garth. "We do not have the capability of moving large numbers of men by ship, besides Federation warships still block the approach to Zara. Our ships would never get through the blockade. I should also point out that I believe that Alcea is the primary target for the Federation. In fact, I am convinced of it."

Garth did not want to bring up his theory about Balmak. He felt at this point it would only confuse the issue.

"So there will be no help at all from Alcea in regards to defending Korocca?" pressed Baron Stikman.

"Again," sighed Garth, "I do not see this meeting being about the defense of anyone. This should be a council of war. We cannot afford to sit and wait for the Federation to strike once again. We need to develop offensive plans and put them in motion when Emperor Jaar sends the bulk of his armies to attack Alcea. That is when he will be the weakest."

Baron Stikman shook his head, obviously displeased with Garth's answer.

"Zarocca can not afford to go on the offensive," stated King Persimon. "The ogre attacks grow daily. We have been able to contain them so far, but those creatures do not know the meaning of surrender. Each battle is a fight to the death."

"I understand what you are saying, Garth," interjected Baron Ohmson, "but we are cut off from the rest of the world. Even if we wanted to go on the offensive, there is no way to accomplish that."

"How about Tyronia, King Myer," asked Baron Stikman. "Will you come to our aid?"

"I would love to," frowned the Tyronian king, "but there is a problem with doing so. Two days ago Tyronia fell to the Federation."

There were gasps throughout the room.

"The fall of Tyronia was inevitable," explained King Myer. "My son turned against me and plotted my downfall. The Federation massed sixty thousand troops on my border. In light of the situation, I faked my death to forestall the death of my people. I trust that my secret will remain confidential as there are some that I left behind who would die if the truth were known."

"You left without a fight?" balked Baron Stikman. "Is that what you are saying?"

"Would you prefer him to say that he left after ten thousand men died in vain?" snapped General Skye. "Would twenty thousand please you more? You talk boldly, Baron Stikman, but the Federation has yet to threaten Korocca. How long do you think your castles will stand against two hundred and fifty thousand men?"

"Please," King Persimon said imploringly. "We have not come together to fight amongst ourselves."

"What have we come together for?" retorted Baron Stikman. "A Council of War? Hmmph. There are really only two countries represented at this table, and we already have a mutual defense agreement."

Garth was getting angry at the baron's antics, but he tried to calm himself. "There are others who desire to end the Federation," he said calmly. "They are all groups much smaller than the combined armies of Zarocca and Korocca, but they have the courage to stand up and fight. They understand that life under the heel of the Federation is not life at all. Now, we can come back here to discuss a council of war after the Federation takes your two countries, but I suspect there will be quite a few less of you to fight at that point. Can we not just get along for long enough to discuss this issue and see if there are any points we can agree on?"

"Are you calling me a coward?" snarled Baron Stikman. "If you are, you had better make it clear because I will challenge you this very morning."

"I do not know you well enough to call you a coward," Garth retorted. "I am merely trying to point out what you are failing to comprehend. Unless we all stick together, we will all die. There are those living under the yoke of the Federation who understand this all too well. I beseech you to think deeply on this subject."

"Well at least you rightly backed down," snorted the baron.

Garth stood up, knocking his chair to the floor. He glared across the table at the obnoxious baron. "I am not a jouster," Garth scowled. "I am a fighter. If your tender sensibilities have been offended, I will accept your challenge to a fight with swords, knives, staffs, or bare hands."

"Enough!" shouted King Persimon. "There has been no challenge given, and no challenge will be issued. Let us take a short break and release our tensions outside this room. We will reconvene in an hour."

Garth turned and walked out of the room. He wandered through the corridors at a fast pace until he found a balcony overlooking the city. He leaned on the railing and gazed at the city below as he tried to ease his taut nerves. He knew better than to let the baron get under his skin like that, but the man was insufferable. It took quite a while for Garth to calm down, but he was calm when Baron Ohmson appeared beside him.