Memory in the End

Chapter 46: The Night Before

That night, I spent the whole time going over battle plans. As much as I admired the dedication given by the self-appointed leaders, there was only so much experience that they had in battle. They each had a different idea on how to proceed but according to the Five none of them were good enough. More than strategy, though, we didn't have enough people. Even for the most basic plan, we needed enough forces to break through the castle wall to allow the Five and I to enter. But we simply did not have enough men to do that.

I don't like thinking about it, but we needed Arkade. Those extra reinforcements would have been just what we needed. There's no use brooding over a lost cause, though. We needed a plan to make the most out of the numbers we did have. That, however, proved to be easier said than done. Whenever it seemed like we were finally making a breakthrough, there would be some sort of disagreement and we would have to start over. It wasn't long before everyone was getting restless. Even the Five, whom all previously served as generals in the royal army at some point, couldn't make an agreeable plan.

"What if we station a group of thirty at the gates and twenty to each side of the woods?" Owyne pointed to several spots on a drawn out map of the castle and surrounding areas.

"It won't work," Ivan responded, gesturing to other areas, "We should have men covering these areas as well, and we need to be left with a substantial number that can enter the castle walls with us."

Michael leaned back and rubbed his eyes, "There must be a way."

One man named George, who was sitting next to Harold, spoke up, "We could have three groups of fifteen and three group of twenty at the most. One of each will be at these places," he circled three spots on the map, "And the remaining will go into the castle."

Everyone stared at the map and pondered over the man's plan.

"Why those areas in particular?" Aru asked.

"We've kept notice of any patterns in how Victor has his men stationed and on patrol. We'd have to time our attacks appropriately, but if done properly we should be able to keep Victor's troops at bay, without allowing them to send for back up."

It was a rather good plan. With the numbers he mentioned, we'd be spreading our men just enough so they'd stand a chance against Victor's men. There wouldn't be a lot of men entering the castle with us, but it would be just enough to aid the Five and I.

"I think we should do it," I say, "It sounds like a good plan."

The men agreed and we quickly proceeded with the rest of our preparations.

There were a few long-retired knights in the resistance, and even though they were far from the age where they should be in battle, they still took up their weapons and helped to train the more inexperienced men. They'd asked that, seeing as how the Five were well-versed in military training, if they could help. And so Ivan and Owyne were assigned to training the men. Henry and Aru aided the blacksmiths with inspecting and stocking the weapons and armor. There were far too many men and not enough resources to make a full set of armor for all of them, but they could at least cover the most essential parts. Michael and I worked with the strategists of the group to refine whatever parts of the plan that we could, and see if we could possibly recruit any more people.

With each passing day a mix of anticipation and dread churned in my stomach, and I wished so badly that the former would outweigh the latter. I had confidence in our little makeshift army, but at the same time I knew that I was putting at risk the lives of hundreds of citizens who believed in me.

One afternoon, Michael found me staring blankly at a pile of documents. He set a cup of tea in front of me, the clacking of the plate against the wooden table snapping me back into focus.

"A gift from the kitchen ladies," he smiled, "They are sorry they could not serve you a porcelain cup."

I picked up the warm ceramic cup and breathed in the warmth of the tea, "They are silly to think that such things should matter to me. It is I who should apologize for taking their husbands, their fathers, their sons."

He frowned and sat down across from me, "Princess, these men are willingly giving their lives for you. You cannot blame yourself for whatever happens on the battlefield."

I slid the papers that were in front of me towards Michael, and motioned for him to look at the top one, "Do you know what this is?"

"The names of the men who will be fighting with us."

I flipped over to the next page, "And this one?"

"The number of men that Victor has stationed in each area."

"Numbers, Michael. Our army fits on a single sheet of paper, and Victor has thousands of troops at his disposal..." I bit my lip and looked down, "I screwed up with Arkade. That's the thought that keeps running through my head."

"That was not your fault, Arrabella. King Philip has always been scum, you know that."

"But we need the power of his military. I should've found some way to negotiate or pull a ruse on him."

Michael reached over the desk and put a hand on my head. Normally I didn't like it when he did this, it made me feel like a kid, but right now, the warmth of his hand was comforting.

"You're doing well, Princess. Don't worry about past things that are out of your hands now," He faced the list of names in front of me again, "If you are worried about the lives of these men, then focus on just them. Put all of your anger and regrets into vanquishing Victor, and show everyone in the kingdom - no, in the entire land, so that even Philip knows, that Arrabella Embertail, Isaigalla's one and only queen, is an undefeatable force."

Michael's words mulled in my head, and a look of determination returned to my face. I stood up and looked at Michael with a smile of renewed confidence. I can't keep doubting myself. I have the blood of generations of powerful Embertails in me; as long as I keep looking ahead, we can win this.

Before I could say another word, there was a knock at the doorway. Michael and I turned to see who it was.

"There's a visitor..." a young man with an unsure look said.

"What does he have to say?" Michael asked.

The young man took a moment to answer, he kept taking glances at something in the hallway, "He says...he's from Arkade."