The Three Kingdoms

Chapter thirty five - Priorities

She shot him an angry glance. Despite what she had said back in the tent, he'd just made public whatever was between them. And now he was standing there really satisfied with himself.

Well... that grin will soon disappear from his face, once he hears what I intend to do...

All this time, while listening to the discussions in the tent, Lavena had wondered who was really in charge of the troops gathered in the camp. Could she assume herself to be the commander in chief? In the end she concluded that yes, she could. She was, after all, the King's daughter and the next in line for the throne. And if that wasn't argument enough, surely none of the generals could deny that the idea to end the war had come from her. If it hadn't been for the words she had spoken to Ansgar during the meeting in the throne room just a day earlier, many of the men would not have decided to come here.
Indeed, she was the one who had given Hagan the upper hand and allowed him to lead this meeting, but she lost patience soon enough. Lavena did not want to be only the observer anymore. She knew she had to show the generals the respect they deserved, but decided she would start acting like the commander in chief. In case someone objected, she would discuss the subject only then.
"First of all," she started loudly, "We have to remember that we will stand against Garlans! Protecting the ones on our side, but also the ones on the opposite side must be our priority."
"My Lady, but..." Greger tried interjecting, but Lavena hushed him by raising her hand.
"I'm not naive, Greger. I know we are still at war, but we will not walk towards peace on the corpses of Garlans!"
"What are you suggesting then, Lavena?" Hagan asked in a reconciliatory tone. "It seems that a fight is upon us."
"For sure this is what Enar thinks... I'm sure he will meet us with all his forces." She could see others agreed with her at least in that matter, as they were nodding deep in thought. "We need to confront them far away from the castle. We would then surround and disarm Enar's army. At the same time a small unit led by me will get to the castle and seize the King."
"Surround and disarm Enar's army?" Greger did not even try to hide his doubts. "Even if we get reinforcements we will not manage to surrender our opponent, and on top of that not shed a drop of blood in the process..."
"We will not be able to surround them, that's true," Lavena answered calmly, "but it will not be a problem for Prince Benen."
All eyes turned to Benen, who indeed was no longer smiling. Lavena knew very well how he felt about fighting the war with magic. She was of an opinion however that in the current circumstances the Prince's feelings were not a priority.
"You saw what he can do," she turned to Hagan, seeing him deep in thought. She knew that look; Hagan was already putting a plan together.
He did not answer. He just nodded.
"Prince Benen," upon seeing the surprised looks coming from the others, Lavena tried explaining, "Has an ability... hmmm how should I put it... to create a stone wall where there's normally none."
"We would disarm them one by one," Hagan said. "We could imprison the troops in a stone trap and then disarm... That bloodless rebellion of yours might just work..."
"Do I have any say in this?" Benen interjected, annoyed.
"I'm afraid, you don't," Hagan answered openly and Lavena just shook her head as a confirmation of the General's words.
"There is nothing else I dream of than to fight against Enar, and you..." Benen said.
"You will stay away from Enar, as far away as you can!" Lavena interrupted, determined.
"Excuse me?"
"This must be our next priority!" she added more softly, seeing the anger on Benen's face and in his stance. "I'm sorry, Prince, but if we want to have a chance at victory, we have to keep you safe. You cannot get captured." Lavena tried to make her voice sound dry, without emotions, but she wasn't sure she managed. She turned to the generals again. "It's the Prince's powers that my father wants. If Benen ends up in the dungeon once more, we can be sure that they will kill him at best... worst case scenario, they will use threats, blackmail and torture to get that power out of him and will use it against us, against Hillon, against anyone who stands in their way."
"Come on, Princess, you are exaggerating, surely!" Benen shook his head in disbelief.
"I'm afraid, Prince, that Lavena might be right. However bad that sounds, you are a weapon. We cannot let that weapon get in the wrong hands."
"You two ever disagree!?" Benen snapped, completely unnerved.
"Hagan, Princess," Greger interrupted annoyed, "will you enlighten us already about these great powers the Prince supposedly possesses? It seems not many have witnessed them, so it's hard to believe..." he stopped mid sentence as the earth trembled.
A wall, so well known to Lavena, just grew in front of Greger.
"We are done for today," Benen added, heading for the door. "You know where to find me." He moved his hand, as if waving goodbye, and the wall was gone.
Lavena squeezed Greger's arm. He looked shocked.
"It's late... We will continue this discussion tomorrow, first thing in the morning."