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?”