Preparation
2889 Words
I woke up to the sound of trumpets. Lines of stone and clay men marched in sync. A rounded guy with full beard headed the corps. Suddenly, they stopped in their tracks and turned slightly towards my direction.
“Men, commence attack!” Garreon shouted from behind.
Their fingerless arms pointed at the marked metal dummies resembling human figures. Sharp triangles struck the center most red circle. Some overlapped over the other. But it didn’t stop there. Half of the men’s line replaced the punctured targets.
They roared and locked fists as if they had fingers. One bumped chests with another and the rest wrapped around the other. Lines of a darker hue ran down from their foreheads. Then a stick with wrapped cotton at the tip struck the brass disk in front of them.
“Men, ten hut! Salutations for the soon-to-be queen of Drabian Beach. All hail the future queen, all hail Drabian Beach and its limitless sands,” Garreon gestured for his men to bow.
“Good job, Garreon. But, I believe they can do better than that. How are our special units doing, Charreon?” Darleen had her hands behind her back.
“They are undergoing stealth training, Daupha Darleen. My assistant is overseeing their progress as we speak,” Charreon proudly announced.
“Sounds promising… and our artillery?”
“Shined and sparkled. Are you really sure about this?” Sirreon leaned towards her.
She whacked his back with a few pats, “Seeing how things are going, I’m confident we will win this war.”
“That’s the spirit! As expected of our future queen!” Garreon cheered for her.
“Have you heard from him?”
“We are yet to find this ‘Luke’ person, your Daupha. What does he look like? It might help narrow the scope of our search,” Charreon frowned in reply.
“He is a shy guy, half the height of a Drabian soldier,” she sighed. “If he had only asked me, I would give him anything, even my world.”
“You cannot be serious about this. Do you know what you’re saying, Daupha? This is treachery!” Sirreon cut in.
“I wouldn’t let humans rule us again! I have had enough of their tyranny. Did you know how much our people suffered during the First Draconian War?” Garreon roared.
“We must put our country first! It disappoints me to hear you throw everything away for a human. Think of your situation for once! You are soon to occupy a highly sensitive position. Be careful what you say, Darleen. People might take your words to their advantage,” Charreon howled at her.
“I’m not yet queen, so I can say whatever I want! And do you think I will be willing to sacrifice my country for love? That’s absurd! You guys should know me better,” Darleen retaliated.
“You looked serious when you said that and almost gave me a heart attack,” Garreon held onto his chest.
“Garreon, are you alright? You don’t look so good. Maybe you should take a rest,” Charreon caught his shoulders.
“I’m fine. Let me bask under the light of Drabian sun and it will soon recover me.”
“At least, drink some liquid. Here, take my packed grape juice. I squeezed them this morning,” Sirreon offered a violet substance trapped in plastic.
“Thank you, Sirreon. You always come prepared. Why didn’t you join the scout’s army?”
“I wish I could. It would be an honor to serve my country that way. Because of my health conditions, I dropped out. Thankfully, our ancestors gave me another chance. I worked my way up from being a simple castle servant until I ended up where I am now.”
“That’s a heartbreaking story I can write on your tomb, Sirreon,” Charreon commented.
“Shut up, Charreon. If I die in this war, at least, I died serving under the kingdom.”
“Your dedication will be preserved in the memory of our people. Now, I wonder where I should put it,” Darleen pondered.
“Daupha, not you too!”
“Anyway, we should head to our usual meeting place. We still have a lot to discuss about our war strategy.”
“Can I skip this one? I have somewhere important I had to be,” Sirreon raised a hand.
“Nothing is more important than our meeting. We should prepare ourselves during the week, and we can’t rest until victory is within our grasp. No one is to be excused for whatever reason he may have.”
“Before I forget, my men detected someone infiltrating the castle,” Charreon’s words made me flinch.
“Did you find this intruder? What’s the visual on our brave assailant?”
“From the information I received from our guards, it’s a male, small in stature, and he managed to slip away from them,” Garreon answered. “I think these guys should find a different career. Rats aren’t hard to exterminate if you know where their hole is.”
Two men jumped from their pace as they heard Garreon’s words. They stopped for a moment, then resumed their march as if they heard nothing. It must be tough for them.
“Sorry, guys,” I whispered to myself.
“Well, it couldn’t possibly be him, could it?” Darleen pondered.
“No human would dare enter the palace. I couldn’t even imagine a human surviving the intense heat of Drabian sun. He would surely wish he had died with a sword through his chest instead,” Garreon laughed.
“You’re right, humans will be dried to the bone before they could reach the palace. Maybe it’s a kid? You know how children are these days. Let’s slide it under the table for now and focus on forging our strategy,” Charreon lead the way towards the dusty door.
“Alright. Men, proceed with your training. My assistant here will take over for me. As for you, my assistant, if I caught you slacking, I hope you won’t mind sleeping with sharks. We don’t want that, do we?”
The cleanly shaved boy, slightly shorter than him, held his fingers under his chin, “Understood, sir. Alright, boys, you heard the general.”
“Your boy certainly looks up to you. Are you sure he will do fine? Your retirement isn’t that far away,” Darleen pointed out.
“Who says I’m retiring? I must serve the kingdom until the last fiber of my life,” Garreon flexed his arm.
“Not ready to admit you are old yet, eh? I wish you could find the fountain of youth somewhere in this world,” Charreon chided.
“Watch your mouth, Charreon. I still have it in my blood. Do you remember what happened to your busted lip and chipped shoulder a few weeks back?”
“Stop flexing, Garreon. Your pits smell like soiled socks buried under the soil.”
“You want to have a go at it? I was holding back on you last time.”
“You got lucky. The weather was in your favor.”
“Was that an excuse I’m hearing?”
“Children, you better not start anything,” Darleen stood between them. “Save your energy for the battlefield.”
“Let me hit him just once. Just once!” Charreon formed his fists into a ball.
“You will have your chance once the war is over. For now, I want everyone to focus and never lose sight of our victory. Is that understood?”
Silence was what she got in reply. I climbed down from the shade of leaves while turning my neck around as if crossing the street. I took a deep breath and ran to the closest wall. Heavy vibrations on the ground came to a full stop. My hands traced the sandy walls.
“What was that? Did you see that?” asked one of the soldiers.
“Was it the intruder from yesterday?” another soldier gasped.
“I couldn’t tell. Shall we take a closer look?”
Their footsteps shook the ground like an earthquake. I slid my feet under the sand and sifted my way towards the other corner of the wall. From this side, I could hear another set of footsteps approaching a chair. The wood grated against the floor.
“Sirreon, I noticed that these chairs are crumbling. Can you see these splinters on the arm rest pointing at me like nails? This is a death trap!” Garreon shouted.
“Calm down. I will get this sorted out with my staff after the meeting.”
“When we come back from the war, make sure these things are dealt with.”
“If we come back from the war.”
“Settle down, boys. The meeting has not even started yet and you are already fighting about small things,” Charreon interfered.
“Hey, I think he went this way! Alert the others to cover the opposite side,” ordered one soldier.
“I have alerted them. Some men from the line will accompany us,” replied another soldier.
“Dang it! They caught up to me already,” I thought, breaking away from the conversation.
I crawled behind the small bushes until I reached the dusty door on the other side. It creaked loudly as my hands cracked on the knob. They should get these things oiled. Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind me after setting foot inside.
“We must not let the infiltrator reach the Daupha. We must protect her at all costs!” alarmed one soldier.
“Storm the door! We have caught you now,” grinned another soldier.
My hands happened upon the tapestry and pulled myself upward. Distant voices sounded behind the velvet curtain. Soldiers marched inside the place and covered every square inch of the hallway. My heart stammered against my chest. How was I supposed to get out now?
“Ugh, our head of staff always makes us do overtime. We can’t go home without waiting for everyone to empty the palace. I have my needs, too,” complained one servant.
“Bear with it for now. You have not lasted a year working here. If you try to quit now, the companies where you will apply for next might not take you seriously. I heard some applications get thrown straight into the trash upon hearing some brief work experiences,” an elderly voice warned.
“What am I supposed to do? My child needs me, but I also needed the money.”
“You will figure something out. Hurry, we still have to prepare dinner.”
“I guess you are right. I’m working as fast as I could.”
A pair of footsteps sounded distant. I sifted through the curtain and peeked behind it. Men had guns pointing above their thick shoulders. The balcony gave way and fell down like breaking glass. As if children who have broken a vase, they fled the scene with light feet.
I navigated my path from this dark room.
“Hey, could you preheat the pan? I forgot something back here. This won’t take long,” the elderly voice walked in a hurried pace toward where I was.
“Sure, hurry back,” the other servant hurried down the stairs.
She circled around the room, looking for something. I crawled away from the sound of her feet and jumped out to the opening. My legs took me behind the stair rails. Red curtains alerted my presence. The old woman in formal serving clothes ran out, fingers shaking.
“What was that?” she exclaimed and ran the opposite side. “Sir Darian, please don’t scare me like that. I hope you are not here. Sorry to disturb you. I’m leaving now. Ahh! Somebody help me! There’s a ghost!”
I steadied my heartbeat as I walked down the sandy steps, lifting my feet. When I reached the last step, familiar voices reached my ears. They seemed to discuss something important. The room had various books occupying the area, muffling the words. I placed my ear behind the crusty door.
“According to the information gathered by my men, Hurvala has all its towers equipped with artillery. There are places where the light does not reach,” Charreon informed them.
“We could take their eyes out first before storming the door,” advised Garreon.
“Their weapons will be on standby,” Sirreon announced.
“I will act as decoy,” Darleen offered.
“Haven’t you learned your lesson, Daupha Darleen? You got lucky the human king didn’t point the light at you. We cannot sacrifice our queen, especially early in the battle.”
“I can’t do nothing and sit while you do your thing. Besides, I’m an excellent diversion. Don’t you see these curves? Taking out the lights won’t be that hard.”
“Are you certain about that? What if you get decimated like our soldiers who came with you that night?” Garreon sounded concerned.
“You worry about little old me? I survived something far worse than that.”
“Certainly, the human king won’t be an easy target once we plug out their eyes. How do you want to proceed with this, Daupha?” Charreon asked.
“Try the best as you can to leave little to no human casualties.”
“Understood, Daupha Darleen,” the three of them conceded.
“Good. I will be off now. Our meeting is adjourned. See you all tomorrow,” Darleen escaped the scene.
“You aren’t staying for dinner? Goodness, she ended the meeting abruptly,” Sirreon sighed.
“Let her be. We must use this time to plot our move against her. Drabian Beach doesn’t deserve a queen anymore,” Garreon declared.
“Agreed. The first thing we should do is to concoct a potion—something discreet.” Charreon suggested.
“You want me to do that, right?” Sirreon’s voice quivered.
“You do have some rat poison and muriatic acid stored underneath the kitchen sink.”
“I do not want to be blamed for killing her!”
“No, my friend. Don’t kill her yet, but weaken her so that he perishes under the light.”
“Isn’t it the same?”
“It isn’t. Trust me on this one. Here, take this sheet of paper. If you follow my recipe perfectly, it guarantees our success.”
“She wouldn’t know what hit her,” Garreon let out a throaty laugh.
“When will the war begin again?”
“About a week or two from now. You must make that special drink for her before the battle,” Charreon reminded him.
“Okay! But promise me I won’t be hanged for this.”
“Of course. You have us by your side.”
“Oh no, I must warn Darleen about this!” I muffled my voice. One book fell from its shelf like a nuclear bomb.
“Who goes there?” Garreon’s voice rose a timbre.
I slid under the clay table closest to the triangular door. It opened wide. Hands grabbed at my quaking legs as I watched them scout the room. Finally, they dashed towards the staircase. Before the door closed, I escaped toward the other room.
Through the glass window, I saw Darleen tending to the grass. Her smile radiated towards the orange sun. Suddenly, my stomach grumbled. Her neck snapped towards my direction. In a split second, I ducked under the table.
This window would not budge when I tried opening it from my hiding spot. Smashing through the window wasn’t a good idea. On the other side of the room was a hallway.
“What happened here?” Sirreon gasped.
“This is coming out of your payroll, Sirreon. You are supposed to take better care of the palace,” Garreon implied.
I slid behind the tapestries and reached for the door. When I saw Darleen, a handful of soldiers blocked my path, watching her. I slid back behind the tree and thought about my next move.
I decided I needed to get out of here without being detected. I saw the door quite close to where I hid. Two men stood by the gate, marching in opposite directions back and forth. There has to be a way for me to distract them. I threw my eyes around for something I could draw their attention away with.
- Writer
