I stared at her, amazed and frightened by her words. I didn't know if I could make the same decision. I’d had a hard enough time leaving Alexandria without at least trying to warn her. She was braver than I.
“We'll avenge your people, Your Highness,” Jastillian said.
“We might not have to,” Sharald said. “Premier has not sent any messengers or shown us any bodies. Once the princess was gone, Premier might have decided it was unnecessary to kill anyone else.”
“Gentlemen, I thank you for your concern,” the princess said, “but right now we have more urgent things to worry about. Premier also let it slip that the bulk of his forces will arrive soon.”
I sighed at this news. Just how many more creatures could there be? My master wasn’t as surprised by the information as I was.
“How did you escape Premier, Your Highness?” Master Stradus asked.
“I was worried that Premier might have used a spell to bind or track me , but I had to risk it. I thought your arrival was more than enough to keep Premier occupied. He had imprisoned me in my chambers, with two ogres to guard me. However, he only gave my rooms a cursory search for weapons.” She gave a small smile. “He seemed to forget that I am the descendant of a thousand years of warrior kings and queens. All the royal chambers are fitted with numerous secret compartments where we keep hidden weapons.” The smile grew wider. “The ogres were very sorry that Premier had not searched more thoroughly. At least, they were when I killed them.”
I stared at her in awe. Having gone up against an ogre myself, I knew how tough they were—and I had magic. The princess had nothing but her wits and sword. And she was wounded.
“But how were you able to get past the castle walls and all the creatures?” I asked.
“Easily. There are secret passages throughout the castle and the city that only a few are privy to. I escaped through one of them and made my way here.”
“We'll need to work together to win back Alexandria,” Master Stradus said. “Princess, do you know if Premier’s creatures outnumber us?”
“Judging from what I’ve seen and been told, our forces roughly equal theirs,” Krystal said. “This includes all three armies, which means those in the city.”
“We must get those inside the city to attack,” Lenora said. “Premier is in the best defensive position. We don't have time to properly siege and storm the city before Premier's reinforcements come.”
“A direct attack would be foolhardy,” Sharald agreed. “Alexandria can withstand months of siege.”
“The problem isn’t numbers or defenses,” Krystal said. “The problem is that Premier has the creatures organized and disciplined.” She sighed. “As we’ve found out to our sorrow.”
I looked around at everyone. They all had more experience at this. No one wanted to fight a losing battle, and no one wanted to lose any more people than they had to without a good chance of success.
Lenora shifted the map of Alexandria on the table. It detailed the city, the castle, and the surrounding area. Different colored stones represented the three forces. The black stones were Premier's forces. There were far too many of his stones, and they were all inside Alexandria.
“Wizard Stradus,” Lenora said, “we were going to send a group inside Alexandria to help free the loyal guardsman locked in the dungeons and rally the people to fight. Tonight. The main attack begins at dawn. My people can see just as well as those foul creatures in the dark, and King Sharald’s people can compensate with their excellent hearing.
“That strike force is vital. We need one of you to go with them. We expect there to be little resistance, since we'll be keeping the bulk of Premier's forces busy on the southern walls. We need a wizard to boost their chances of success.”
My master's blue eyes gleamed while he played with his beard. “It's a good plan. I'm just not sure about one of us going into Alexandria.”
“What do you mean, Stradus?” Sharald asked.
“Neither of us would be able to use our magic once we reached the city—Premier would detect it and pinpoint the location of the strike force immediately. We could only use our power to fight Premier himself, if we happened to stumble over him. Premier is much more likely to engage those attacking the city. My magic will be needed to counteract his. And even if that shining force of yours does run into Premier, I don’t know that having Hellsfire with them will save them.” He looked at me apologetically. “Hellsfire lacks the experience to fight Premier on his own.”
I clenched my fists. “That doesn't mean I won't try.”