Queens & Liars-Sequel to Three Broken Kingdoms (Completed)

Chapter Thirty-Three: The War to Come

Myra paced the war council tent, running over the plans in her head. Nala gave her a worried look, but she ignored it.

"We number two hundred ten thousand in all. Far more than we had last time-but also with far less experience and skill. Some of us have only a few months' training. The Second Army and the Silver Guard and Court are the only ones with roughly the same skill as the elfin armies they'd had before. The others are nothing compared to their predecessors. And of course, the vast majority of our army are Kallians. Their abilities are nothing like the valkyries' or elves' and most have little training. But there are still thousands of them."

They had about ten MindWeavers controlling them. How that worked when it usually took a skilled Weaver to control two or three at a time, Myra did not know, but they said something about the now-removed slivers opening their minds up.

A further eight thousand of Tarua Teris existed throughout the continent, many of them spies deep within other kingdoms. Only five thousand would fight with them, including those who had taken to the air upon wyverns and gryphons.

The Aerial Legion was composed of three thousand wyverns and gryphons, a thousand formerly retired or injured valkyries riding them as well as fifteen hundred Tarua Teris and five hundred valkyries.

There were seven hundred and fifty valkyrie warriors ranging from fourteen to twenty-two and fifty of their mentors. Only two hundred and fifty would fight on land, the remainder in the Aerial Legion.

The Silver Guard and Court numbered around fifty, ten of which were devoted to controlling the Kallians. The Second Army numbered around fifty as well. There were the smallest portion of the army...but arguably the deadliest.

"Someone needs to tell Lysandra," Nala said, interrupting her thoughts. "She should know that everything' s about to begin."

"How exactly?" Talia snorted. "The Isthmus is far too heavily guarded for a messenger to get through."

"Then we go through the islands," Nala continued doggedly.

"In the middle of the seasonal storms," Zara sighed. "No ship's going to get through those now they've set in. They'll be over in a couple of weeks or so, but there'll be no point in warning her by then."

"Are you telling me that the elves can't get through a few storms?" Myra asked, raising her eyebrows.

"The LightningSifters and Tidals are usually our best when it comes to travelling during storm season," Zara said carefully. "But we don't have any powerful enough for the trip.

"What about Maia?" Nala insisted.

"Maia is a warrior, not a messenger," Talia retorted. "She might be powerful enough to handle the storms, but she's better off at the front, not on a dangerous—and, frankly, irrelevant—mission to Crimsith."

"Not irrelevant," Nala snapped. "Lysandra is a vital member of the rebellion and she needs to know about major attacks."

"And Maia is a vital member of a war effort and needs to be a part of them," Talia persisted, but everyone knew she was just trying to shield her niece from a dangerous mission.

"Stop your squabbling," Maia interjected, striding through the tent flaps. She'd clearly been eavesdropping, to Myra's amusement. "You need me to go, and I'm happy to. Next matter?"

"We've had waited three and a half months to attack. Even the newest joiners-stolen from throughout the Empire-had some ability, be it the war-gift or magic." Myra continued. Nala stifled a yawn and Zara started to fiddle. She'd been through this a dozen times before. But still it didn't feel like enough. There would never be enough preparation for this-this most vital part of the war. They had no choice, though. The Empress was hunting for them everywhere. Soon enough she'd find them—so they had to make their move first.

They would strike three cities in Miras at the same time to maximise the advantage of surprise. Topaz, Citrine and Zerena were all made to withstand war and were strategically positioned and valuable, like every Miras city. Once they'd taken those three, thus blocking off any support to the northern half of Miras, they would take Azul and the surrounding areas before progressing to the the Birds of Prey Mountains, the perfect place for them to base themselves. All of this would have to happen too quickly for anyone to react. Too quickly for the Kallians to come in mass and quash their hopes of rebellion. Speed was what would win them Miras in the end.

With the fragile relationships between the elves, valkyries and humans likely to cost them lives and organisation, the three units of their army would split up to tackle the three different cities.

The valkyries, along with sixty thousand Kallians and half the Aerial Legion, would attack Zerena. Tarua Teris, along with another sixty thousand Kallians and the other half of the Aerial Legion, would attack Topaz. The elves would handle the third city: Citrine, bringing with them eighty thousand Kallians.

There were two hundred thousand soldiers in Miras-all under the command of General Hadlow and overseers that had joined the army ever since Jasper and Talia had stolen the Kallians. They were evenly divided amongst the four main cites-Azul, Citrine, Topaz and Zerena-leaving around fifty thousand in each city. And whilst on an open field they could have been confident that with elves and Aerial Legion they would win, things were not so certain in a siege.

For one, Citrine, Topaz and Zerena were all built nearer to the Hawk Mountains and the Isthmus. They had been made to outlast all kinds of sieges. It was only now they realised that that would be turned against them. For a second, every city was well-supplied and ready to face attack. The time they had spent preparing their army had also cost them and whilst Myra wouldn't change her choices, she certainly had the right to be pretty annoyed about it.

"These won't be easy fights by any means." Myra added. "Each city will cost us in blood. But once we've taken them...then finally we will be able to send out a call through all of Miras and Asriel. A call to arms. A call to join their queens and take back their homes." Rebellions didn't win because of spies and sieges. They won because they gave people hope and an opportunity to fight too. To rise up in the streets, in their own homes, in every crack and crevice. Medea couldn't fight all of them.

Their rebellion was nothing but a spark to lit up the gunpowder that was the empire. Once they took the three cities, the whole country would be set aflame.