The New King (Sequel to The Prince Behind the Veil)

Chapter 19: Plan and Attack

"Thomas," Harvey said, shaking him awake. "Thomas!"

Thomas sat up, and looked around. He saw Everett, Simon, and Harvey, his hands still on Thomas' shoulders.

"Wha-What?" Thomas shouted back at Harvey, groggily.

"You slept until the next morning, Thomas." Everett said, smiling, then laughing a bit. "Must have been tired!"

"Well," Thomas thought. "I had been tortured the past few days so, yes. I was very tired."

"The portal's open," Harvey whispered to Thomas

before standing up.

Thomas lept up, a glimmer of hope blooming in his heart. "It's....open? And you've tried it?"

"Everett went through," Harvey jerked a thumb at his

daughter. "She said everything was the same. Same black palace, same violets...." Thomas shuddered when Harvey said 'violets'. He still missed Violet so much. It seemed as though the pain was worsening.

"Then, let's go through, and beat Edward!" Thomas shouted, regaining his train of thought.

"Thomas, it's not that easy," Simon cut in. "We need a plan-"

"Of course we have a plan!" Thomas kept arguing. "WE defeat Edward! Sounds like a pretty good plan to me!"

"Thomas," Harvey said, handing him a canteen of water. "Drink." Before Thomas could argue, Harvey raised an eyebrow. Thomas grabbed the canteen, and drank. The water felt very good going down his dry throat.

"Let's not make any irrational choices now," Harvey continued, walking towards the campfire, and sitting down beside it. He patted the dirt next to him, and Simon, Everett, and Thomas shuffled over, and sat down.

"We need a well-thought-out plan," Harvey said. "Any recommendations?"

"We kill Edward," Thomas mumbled, fingering a twig.

"Use the burning spell to destroy Edward and the Kingdom Violet?" Simon said, wondering why it sounded like a question.

Thomas' ears perked up, and he lifted his head. "The burning spell," he whispered. "That's it! True love and the burning spell! Why hadn't I ever thought about that?"

"What did you say, lad?" Harvey asked.

Thomas stood up. "It's exactly like when Violet and I destroyed Britania and Provost! We used true love and the burning spell, and it worked! Provost died and Britania was burned to ashes!"

"But," Harvey said, shrinking Thomas' spirits a little. "This time, Edward loves Violet, and is most likely watching her, maybe even wanting to marry her..."

"Provost would have done the same! He planned on marrying her anyway!" Thomas exclaimed. Everyone's eyebrows shot up.

"I'm sorry, what!?" Everett said, her eyes wide.

"That old creep wanted to marry her?" Harvey shouted. "Pff," he mumbled. "Guess it doesn't surprise me..."

"Don't you see what this means?" Thomas said, throwing his arms in the air. "We don't need to create a new plan! I've already got one in here," Thomas pointed to his head.

"What do you mean?" Everett and Simon asked in unison.

"Is it the killing Edward plan?" Harvey asked, an eyebrow raised.

"No," Thomas lowered his arms, and looked at Harvey.

"It means," he continued. "That when I was trapped in Britania, I came up with a plan to destroy Provost and Britania! Although," Thomas whispered to himself. "We can probably leave out the Violet part...." he laughed to himself.

"Well, what was your first plan?" Harvey asked, still looking suspicious.

"Here's what we do," Thomas leaned in to the group. "We turn invisible, and go through the portal. We have to be sneaky though," Thomas shook a finger at them. "Edward probably has Violet in some protection unit, because he knows we'll come back for her. So, still invisible, we find her, use magic to transport ourselves back to the main gates, and we burn the Kingdom Violet to the ground, all of us safely back above." Thomas crossed his arms, and smiled.

"That'll do," Harvey said with a half smile.

"Well, what're we waiting for?" Everett said, standing up. "Let's go get Violet, and destroy Edward!"

"Woo-hoo!" Simon said, raising his fist in the air.

"Let's go," Harvey said, standing up, and walking deeper into the forest, heading towards the portal.

Simon and Everett followed him, while Thomas stood in place, and watched them. He kicked the dirt in front of him, and stuffed his hands in his coat pocket. Did they really know what they are dealing with? Thomas thought. This is dark, dark magic. And I have some bad experience with it. He sighed, and followed the group.

Harvey was standing by the portal, waving Thomas over. "Let's turn invisible on the count of three. Ready?" Everyone nodded, Thomas' reaction delayed. "1...2...3!" Harvey, Simon, and Everett turned invisible.

"Guess we're doing this!" Thomas said, then turned invisible.

"Strictly follow the plan," Harvey warned. "Things could get messy, and I don't want us to be in the middle of it." With that, he stepped through the portal, the magic glistening behind him.

After every else went through, Thomas took a deep breath, and stepped through the portal, worried sick about Violet's safety.