Haven giggled softly again and took a swig from her cup. The hot liquid filled her with comfort and she couldn’t help but smile. “It feels good to be warm again, I was so cold after… it happened.”
Ahtash leaned against the far wall. “Indeed. You had everyone worried.”
“Everyone?” Haven asked.
Ahtash nodded. “We tried to combat the demon, but she fought us away before coming after you. It was April who saved you.”
“April?” Haven looked amazed at the girl lying in the bed next to her. Maybe April didn’t hate her after all?
Haven’s gaze fell back down to David, the healer running her hands through his hair. “The last thing I remember was Sparkles… I mean David, jumping in front of me.”
Ahtash sipped her tea, nodding. Haven looked back up at the dragon. “You know him better than anyone ever could. Why would he do something like that?”
“Do you truly not know?” Ahtash smiled.
“I mean, we’ve kinda had a thing going but that’s no reason to…” Haven started to shake her head.
Ahtash cocked her head to the side. “Are all humans so oblivious to emotions?”
Haven continued to look confused as Ahtash sighed. “He loves you.”
The news hit Haven almost as hard as the bite did. He what? Loved her? Had there been signs? Had she been blind? Sure they flirted, even kissed, but love? Her mind raced through past conversations she had had with the apprentice. In every one he had been attentive, caring, supportive, doting. He had always been there with a comforting embrace, a supportive shoulder, a warm heart. Numerous times he had dropped everything for her, helped her with pails of water or other campsite chores without her even having to ask, even if it was at the expense of the others. He did love her! She couldn’t believe it. “How long?” She asked in a soft voice, starting to run her fingers through David’s hair again.
“Since before he and I bonded. The emotions are there, deep inside. I feel them whenever he is around you,” Ahtash took another sip of her drink.
Haven stared at David sleeping for a long time. She finally smiled and looked at the female dragon. “Don’t… tell him. Don’t tell him you told me, ok?”
Ahtash was the confused one now. “We share a soulbond, we communicate to each other without even trying. He will surely know it sooner or later.”
“I’d just prefer it be later, for now. I need to straighten all of this out in my head. Please Tasha, for me?” Haven pleaded.
“Tasha… your habit of nicknaming your friends now applies to me?” Ahtash asked.
“You are my friend, aren’t you?” Haven questioned in turn.
The dragon smiled and walked towards the door. “I will keep your secret… friend.”
Haven laid her head back on her pillow and continued to stroke David’s hair until her eyes grew heavy again. In her dreams she was happy and loved. She had a family of little ones running around her and a strong and comforting man sitting beside her by the fireplace. Haven smiled in her sleep.
* * *
Nathaniel straightened his uniform before knocking on a door to a side room in the palace. He had been summoned to a meeting with the King and his advisors over the matter of what to do with the information revealed at the banquet, of Sam, of the succubus, of the attack, of everything. He only had to knock once when the door swung open and he was looking into the faces of King Jeremy, his army of advisors, the princes Lucas and Edmund, and General Sillis. Nathaniel took a step forward and stood rigid at the end of the table, saluting with his arm crossed over his chest. “Your Highness, General, Advisors,” He said respectfully.
“Major Whitespell, thank you for coming,” King Jeremy stated, holding back a coughing fit. “We would like you to arrest the Guardian of the Wind and take him to the prison ship Indefinite before days end.”
Nathaniel was taken aback. “Arrest him? I don’t understand what’s going on sire. I thought this was a meeting to decide what our plan of action should be.”
“It is,” Jeremy stated. “This is what we decided.”
Jeremy looked at his son Edmund, as if they had rehearsed this in case of Nathan’s response. “Major, your companion has caused us nothing but turmoil since he first claimed his so called ‘position’,” Edmund stood like he was giving a speech. “He has caused our people to starve, our cities to become over crowded with refugees, our allies to grow weary of ever setting foot on our lands again, and to top it off, put the entire royal family in danger.”
“Forgive me, your Majesty,” Nathaniel said through grit teeth, “but you just described things that Cain has done to this kingdom, not Samuel Gale. Samuel Gale has done nothing but help the people of Lochkary since the moment he set foot out of his home valley.”
“The boy is a lightning rod. Where he goes, trouble follows. We mean to take the Dark One up on his offer and stop further loss of life,” Edmund said confidently, sitting in his seat once more.
“We are at war. Or has everyone in this room forgotten that?!” Nathaniel yelled.
“Major, that is quite enough!” General Sillis scolded.
“No, excuse me Ma’am!" Nathaniel yelled back. “If you expect me to stand here and accept this verdict without so much as a trial, you’ve all lost your Light forsaken minds! Samuel Gale is a hero, in every meaning of the word! Turning him over to Cain’s forces only seals our own destruction. The man has done things I wouldn’t think possible and he’s just getting started. Whether you admire him or not he’s a paramour to the people of this kingdom and if you do this you’ll have a full scale civil war on your hands. That’s exactly what Cain wants! So he can just swoop in and wipe us all from the face of Teva. So excuse me Ma’am but no, I will not be the one who arrests the savior of humanity because a room full of cowards said to do so. Good day,” Nathaniel saluted and turned to leave the room.
“Major! Please wait,” Lucas stood.
Nathaniel stopped and turned to face the room again. He was seething and getting tunnel vision, but maintained enough self-control not to lose his composure. “Please tell my father what you and the Guardian have been doing for the past few weeks…” Lucas stated, as if Nathaniel could back up an argument the prince had been having with the room before Nathan entered.
“We have been scouting defensive capabilities of the city and surrounding area in preparation for the attack we knew was coming. Not what happened at the banquet, but a full-scale invasion of the city,” Nathan stated.
Lucas sat and let what Nathan said settle on the room. King Jeremy leaned forward, obviously displeased with Nathan’s earlier outburst. “And you have a plan?”
“The Guardian does, yes,” Nathan stood rigid as if he was suddenly on trial.
“General Sillis?” Jeremy asked.
The General hadn’t taken her eyes off Nathan through the entire discussion. “I’ve studied the plan the Guardian used at the Vengeance of Cortendale. He’s a brilliant tactician.”
Jeremy thought for a long moment and finally nodded. “Very well, let us hear this plan of his. Perhaps he can pull off another miracle.”
General Sillis nodded to Nathaniel who saluted again and turned to leave. “Oh and Major…” Jeremy added. “…you better hope this farmer’s son has got enough stones to pull this off, otherwise you will be joining him on the Indefinite.”
* * *
Sam paced back and forth in the palace lobby later that day, running his plethora of plans through his head. He had decided that a sea attack was most likely, but which plan to use against it was still up for grabs. April and David stood nearby trying to calm him. “Sam we ran through every single one of your scenarios twenty times over,” April stated, her arm still in a sling from the night before.
“The only one that worked was an evacuation,” Sam argued.
“That was before you had the army,” David countered
“And the navy,” April agreed.
Sam looked like he was hit with a sudden realization.
“That’s right, the Lochkary Navy is still anchored in the loch. That means we can’t use Plan F’s blockage of the canal to the sea. Damn!” Sam pounded his fists together in frustration.
April moved towards him and stopped his incessant pacing. She held his arm with her free hand, a comforting gesture. “Sam, stop. Panicking won’t do anyone any good.”
Sam nodded. “You’re right, I should calm down before you punch me or something.”
“Don’t tempt me,” April gave him a sly grin. “They’ll have to wheel you off in a cart.”
Sam’s eyes widened. “Cart… April you’re a genius!”
Sam leaned forward and kissed her cheek in excitement. April released his arm and touched her face, blushing. Sam darted to a nearby paper and quill and began scribbling plans and notes. David walked beside his sister who was still reeling from Sam’s sudden sign of affection. “Was it something you said?”
“Evidently,” April couldn’t wipe the smile from her face.
“Are you ok?” David asked her.
April gathered herself. “Fine… just fine.”
Nathaniel and Lucas entered the lobby and motioned for them to follow. Nathaniel didn’t look happy to see them. The Aidyn twins practically had to drag Sam from the lobby, who continued to scribble notes onto paper as they walked down the hallway. “I hope you have a plan Sam. There are a lot of scared people in there,” Nathan stated.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got it,” Sam scribbled the final notes down.
“Just now?” Nathan asked.
Sam showed him the paper and Nathan’s eyes widened. “That’s brilliant.”
“I just can't figure out what to do here… and here…” Sam stated.
David looked over their shoulders. “Well I can help here…”
“Yes! And we can post the police here, and the army here…” Nathan agreed.
The three were still in the middle of discussion as they came to the door to the planning room. “Ready?” Lucas’ asked.
The three were so busy discussing they were completely oblivious to Lucas’ question. April smacked the side of her brother’s arm. “Boys!” She barked.
Sam, Nathan, and David all composed themselves and nodded confidently. Lucas shook his head pessimistically. “Good luck, whatever you have up your sleeves.”
The doors were opened and they entered the room where King Jeremy, Prince Edmund, General Sillis, and the advisors all waited for them. Sam stood where everyone could see him and placed his notes on the table in the center of the room. Before him was a large scale map of Lochmare and the surrounding water.
Sam greeted everyone and then King Jeremy spoke. “So, Guardian, I am told you have a plan to defend Lochmare?”
“I do your highness,” Sam responded.
Jeremy motioned to the table. “Please, enlighten us.”
Sam sighed heavily, preparing himself. “Well, I know Cain won’t try to attack by land. He’d spend too much time and too many lives breaking through the northern front lines.”
“Agreed,” General Sillis stated. “We’ve had no reports of troops massing along the borders.”
Sillis’ agreement with Sam’s assumption made the Guardian feel a little more confident in his tactical prowess. “That being the case, it means he’ll have to attempt a naval landing.”
Murmurs circulated through the room. “Impossible, Cain's fortress is in the mountains, he has never had a navy before,” Edmund argued.
“It doesn’t mean he hasn’t found someway to create one now. If he’s threatening every capital he needs some way to back it up with forces,” Sam argued back.
King Jeremy thought for a few moments. He finally nodded and pointed towards Sam. “Continue.”
Sam nodded and felt his confidence rising as more people started to believe in him. “My plan is something we used to great success in the exodus from the valley. A cartwheel. We take the Lochkary navy and anchor them bow to stern one in front of another around the outer boroughs, effectively creating a perimeter. We then build larger siege weapons on top of the ship’s decks and point them outwards. This effectively gives us twice the firepower.”
“But none of the maneuverability,” Edmund spat. “Father are we really going to…”
“Quiet Edmund!” Jeremy commanded.
The prince bit his tongue and sat in his chair, pouting. Jeremy thought for a moment and looked at Sillis. “Would the ships be able to cover the entire perimeter?” He asked.
Sillis shook her head. “Not likely, but if we were to contact the corsairs…”
Lucas lit up. “We have a contract with the pirates and the smugglers for food supplies; perhaps with some extra funds they could aid us.”
An advisor quickly counted using an abacus and whispered in the king’s ear. Jeremy nodded and motioned to Sam, “It appears we may be able to scrounge up enough ships. What do we do when Cain’s navy appears? Sit there and take the beating as his ships circle our city? Our food stores will not survive a long siege.”
“That’s where I come in, your Majesty,” David stepped forward.
Jeremy and the room sat back in their chairs, somewhat surprised. “Do tell, Apprentice Aidyn,” Jeremy stated.
“With our ships safely anchored and tethered to the docks, the waters of the loch can be altered to make Cain’s ships collide with each other, run aground, or capsize and sink entirely. I could create a storm that disorients their vessels and make them susceptible to attack from our defensive positions,” David stated confidently.
“There’s no way an apprentice could control a storm of that size,” Edmund argued.
“With our help he could,” Minerva stepped forward, Gladius behind her.
David smiled as Minerva and Gladius nodded towards him, the elf sneaking him a wink. Jeremy spoke then, “And if Cain gets forces into the city? What then?”
“We have the police defend the outer boroughs, the army the central and the palace,” Nathaniel now stated. “If one is compromised, we sound an evacuation signal and the citizens move into the center of the city for temporary housing inside the arena, church, or palace.”
Jeremy shook his head. “No, I have a better idea. Sillis, form the militia. Make sure one caretaker per household and all children are moved into the central borough starting today. If Cain gets access to a district we conduct…”
“…a purge,” Sillis finished. “You’re sure your Majesty?”
Mumbling continued amongst the king's advisors as Jeremy nodded. Sam was lost. “Purge?”
“Dislodge the borough from the rest of the city, isolate the threat,” Jeremy stated.
Sam shook his head. “Sire, that’s a dangerous strategy. Not only will that leave a hole in our perimeter but thousands of people will lose their homes, not to mention the lives of the militia and sailors who will be fighting in the borough.”
“If we do not isolate the threat on the boroughs in question there won’t be much of a city left to defend. Cut off the foot to save the rest of the body,” Jeremy stood. “It’s a good plan Guardian but this is the kind of decision a king must make.”
Sam shook his head again. “Sire I strongly urge you to have faith in your defenders and…”
Jeremy began to walk towards the door. “Guardian, it’s done. We’ll use your plan. Sillis, begin work on this immediately. We have a month people, let’s get started.”
General Sillis stood and nodded as Jeremy and his advisors started leaving the room. “It will be done at once, your Majesty.”
After the mob of political figures had vacated the meeting, Sam was left in the room with the Magi, his companions, and Sillis. The General walked towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “It is a good plan, Guardian. Take a small victory in that at least. Do not worry of the battle, I will take it from here.”
Sam nodded and the General left the room. The Magi spoke with David in the corner as April and Nathan came to congratulate him. For some reason, Sam did not feel as jubilant
as they did. The king’s final decision had left a sour taste in the Guardian’s mouth. Sacrifice potentially thousands of homes, hundreds of soldiers’ and sailors’ lives, just to keep the monster at bay? The long term ramifications seemed too much of a risk. This is the kind of decision a king must make. Did Jeremy know the lives he was sacrificing?
* * *
It was dusk by the time they returned to Whitespell Manor. The four relayed the news to the group and began sitting down for dinner when Haven gathered April’s attention. “Let’s check on that arm of yours, sweetie,” She beckoned.
April, anxious to be back to fighting shape, grudgingly obliged. She sat in silence in the living room, watching the logs spark and pop as Haven went to work removing her arm from the sling, unwrapping and checking bandages, and casting the warm healing spell over areas that hadn’t completely mended to her liking. It was the first instance where the two of them had been alone together for quite some time.
Haven smiled at her after a few minutes of awkward silence. “I wanted to thank you… for saving my life. You really stuck it to that Lilith from what I’m told.”
April shrugged awkwardly. “It was no big deal, bitch had it coming.”
“Still,” Haven said, “If it wasn’t for you, I would probably be dead.”
April nodded. She supposed Haven wasn’t all bad. Sure she could be annoying and there had been that whole Sam and her thing. But, at the end of the day, she was at least tolerable. “We need you,” April said.
Haven smiled warmly. She could see past April’s tough exterior. She knew what it was like to grow up around mostly men. You either adapted a sense of cute charm, like she had, or you grew tough, like April. Gender equality was pretty apparent in progressive places like Lochmare or Tuckerville, but in the south they still had some strides to make. Haven had only lived in Tamrien for a couple of years, she hadn’t of needed to adapt that much, but April, she had lived her entire life in the south. April noticed her smiling and cleared her throat, obviously uncomfortable. “I... uh… kinda ruined your dress though.”
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