The Dead war.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Queen Serena

As I approached the room with my brother on my heel and David in my other heel I straightened my crown and my dress and walked in that room with confidence. Not a single person could know I was terrified. When I opened the door my fellow guards were standing to greet me. For the first time I smiled a real smile. I was back with my family and even though I lost my parents, all of my best friends who were like my siblings from the guards were all there to smile back at me. I took a deep breath and walked to the front of the table and I took my seat at the front of the table. I was now in charge of protecting my kingdom and my people and I would not take that lightly. After I had sat, all of my guards sat with me.

"Yesterday was a day of tragedy, we lost two loyal and amazing leaders and friends and family. We lost our protection. My father knew how to win this war, he knew how to protect his people, my mother knew how to care for thousands of people. And although I may not be the best queen or the most Capable queen it doesn't mean that I won't try my best to protect my people and live up to my fathers and mother's legacy. If we are going to win this war we need to work together and we need to be a team. We need to work as a people and a kingdom." I declared. I looked over at Alex who stood leaning against the door with his arms crossed and he smirked and nodded in my direction.

"How do you plan to stop them from invading?" Arthur asked.

"They know our weak points and they know that we would probably switch and put more men on the weak parts because they are weak so if we put more men on our strongest points of the wall we could cut them off before they managed to destroy us from the ground up." I explained calmly

"How do you find out what their plan was?" Liam asked again.

"We convinced King Leonard that we were helping him, we told him where my father would supposedly hold his men to keep us safe. And when I planned to return before I was taken and kidnapped I planned to tell my father all about their plan and help him be ready. Well I wasn't able to return to Umbris in time. And my mother was killed and my father passed away. But I will not make that mistake again." I paused and took a deep breath before I continued.

"I don't know how to do this. How to lead a kingdom into battle. To protect thousands of people to keep everyone alive. I don't know how to raise an entire kingdom but what I do know is that it is my duty to honor my father's legacy no matter the cost." All of the men nodded. Alex looked down and looked at the floor and I took another deep breath.

"So what is our next step?" David asked. David had become the new Leader and Chief of the army. Since both Nathaniel and I went missing David got the position.

"We need to focus all our energy on training, getting stronger and faster. And we need to take any able bodied man and teach them to fight. And Liam I want you to take all the adult women and teens and teach them how to take care of the wounded. We need all hands on deck if we are going to have a chance at winning this war. We need to have two men stationed out in the forest." I pointed to the map exactly where I planned to have the men. "5 miles in each direction. Every two days the men will switch out. They will get one day of rest and sleep and plenty of food and it's back to training. We will bring in any men who are capable of fighting in order to learn to fight. All the women will be taught how to tend to wounds." Once I had finished explaining the men nodded and looked around at each other.

"You're gonna be a great leader." Oscar said with a chuckle. "Already got her leader dress on, or should I say leader pants." He said with another laugh. I rolled my eyes and laughed. He and all the guards knew how much I despised dresses. After three hours of deliberation and conversation I let the men go to rest to prepare for tomorrow. Tomorrow would be the start of a future I had no idea how to insure.