[2] WEEPING MONK║you're not what I was looking for

64| When Storms Gather (Part One) - 𝐈

═ 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘎𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 ═

[CW// Mentions of blood. Minor injury. Fire. Peril]

Squirrel gets himself into trouble. Tragedy strikes.

The days were dwindling fast. Nine were left between this day and when the armies marching towards them were expected to be close. And no one in the camp was able to stand still.

The councillors shifted on their feet, disturbing the dry dirt of the den's floor. Across the centre stone, the largest map that they had of the south was spread and highlighted by the broken dawn light. Ari, rotating one of the pebbles that usually marked locations on the map between her fingers by her side, was flanked by her most trusted warriors.

Lancelot stood at her right hand. Thinking until his capacity to do so caused his head to hurt. He knew the Paladins and Uther's armies best, and was holding his shoulders tall under the pressure to get his knowledge right. One tiny detail had the potential to make all the difference to their plans.

The Fey Queen's army had no room to make mistakes— enough lives had already been lost.

"We will intercept them," Arthur said, glancing around for approval. "Catch them off guard."

Gawain flexed his fingers around his folded arms, cutting in with his take on the matter, "Forests hold our advantage for an ambush." His opinion was met with a few short and shallow nods from the council, as usual.

"They will avoid them for that reason," Lancelot spoke up and for once, he was not commanded to keep his mouth shut. The elders regarded him as though the information he was giving was actually worth their limited time. "Paladins have witnessed that forests are where our fighters thrive. They will travel by open land to give themselves the best chance."

Ari had kept her focus upon the map, turning and turning the pebble between her cold fingers. If they were going to catch their enemies off guard, then she needed to decide where to do it. But for the moment, she was letting the people who had travelled the kingdom more than her, speak.

Kaze put a pebble down upon the map. "What of the White Hart fields, near the Avalon lake?"

Her gaze remaining low, Ari turned her face halfway towards her right shoulder.

Lancelot glanced that motion out of the corner of his eye, understanding the indication for him to answer. He scanned up the length of the map and followed the trails drawn out in charcoal of the routes without woodlands. Any of which, their enemies could be marching along at this very moment.

"It... could be on their route." If they knew exactly where the armies were basing their camps, then he could give a more certain answer. But Ari's spy, Iain, had not responded to her last letter.