knife. He swore a blood oath then and there to avenge his wife's murder. He held the high elves, all of them, responsible for his wife's demise. They will pay for this unforgivable treachery!
CHAPTER 10
The sky was clear as the sun rose steadily higher as the morning progressed. General Yukio's army watched anxiously for their leader's return. He had left so quickly that he did not say when or if he would return. His men caught sight of something in the distance heading toward them at a steady pace. They immediately sprang into action and closed the main gate. The archers prepared to fire while the catapults were readied behind the wall. They were not going to let down their general by allowing anyone into Alanderas. The figure glinted as it continued up the path to the entrance.
As the visitor came closer, they could tell that it was a person who was heavily armored riding on a massive war horse. One of the archers, who had excellent vision, yelled out that it was their leader and to open the gate. As the rider approached, the gigantic doors swung open to admit him. General Yukio had a fierce look on his face and did not look at any of his men as he passed through the entrance. He brought his horse to a halt behind the walls and dismounted. He rummaged through his saddlebags for something while his men closed the massive gates and gathered around their leader.
'Men, we have been deceived,' General Yukio said dejectedly. 'Queen Kira, my wife, was murdered by General Marek!' He lifted the head of his former friend into the air for all to see. In his rage, he had picked up the severed head of the traitor Marek and carried it out of the cavern before its collapse. Consciously he did not remember doing this.
Silence fell over the troops; everyone was trying to get a look at the traitor's head. They simply could not believe that Kira's general could do such a terrible thing. Some noticed that he had something else in his other hand. They started whispering to one another to pass this new information along. They all tried to get a better look at what he was holding in his left hand.
'I have here the mangled crown of my dear departed wife as proof of this treachery. Also, I have the badge of the chairman of the High Council, Bronwen Merindiel, as a token of their deaths,' he said sadly. He did not think it would have been this hard to tell his men what had happened. He had been numbed by shock and from the melancholy he was experiencing. He had not yet grieved for his wife or his good friend Bronwen. This was not the time for grieving either. That would have to wait.
'I believe that we have all been lied to and deceived from the very start. The high elves knew that the men of Nairi would pose a threat to their plans to dominate the other races. They believe that they were better than anyone in Tuwa. They even blasphemy the gods by killing their chosen leader because she would not go along with their treachery!' blasted Yukio. He was so angry that he could barely contain his rage. He cast down the evidence in utter disgust. I cannot believe she is gone. I will not rest until justice is served!
The stunned looks on the faces in the crowd of soldiers around Yukio flushed red with anger at this betrayal. The people of Nairi had had dealings with the elves for centuries without any conflict or deception. They could not accept the fact that they were protecting a people that would kill their own leader. To make matters worse, they killed their own queen for not wanting to be a part of their ludicrous plan for domination. Why did they choose to rebel against the mighty Kana and her plan for saving the elves?
'What do we do now, General?' asked one of his captains gruffly.
'We prepare for a surprise attack on these fiendish high elves. I doubt that the people of Queen Kishi had anything to do with this plot, so we will leave them out of this unpleasant affair. I believe she had an idea all along that many of the people were plotting to take over the lands of Tuwa and that is why she left,' explained Yukio confidently.
'What do we need to do first, sir?' asked the same captain.
'First, send a messenger to Commander Drujien. Tell him what has happened, and have him make haste to the base of Mount Quang. We will not attack until we have their numbers added to ours. The inner wall is defended too well for the troops we have stationed at the outer wall,' instructed Yukio. 'Second, we prepare for a direct assault of the inner wall. After we breach that barrier, we will then direct our efforts toward the castle and the council chambers. Our element of surprise will be realized when the high elves recognize that we are inside and outside their wall at the same time.'
Immediately the men sprang into action knowing that the tasks before them were urgent. A messenger was sent on one of the fastest horses to retrieve the soldiers under the command of Favian Drujien. The rest of the troops returned to their stations as if nothing had happened. They were to make their preparations while performing their other duties. They high elves needed to be lulled into a false sense of security. This would give them the edge in the fighting ahead.
Meanwhile, their general went to the high elves to report a slightly altered version of what occurred in the mountain. He would assemble the High Council in one week from today in order to officially report his findings from his investigation into the deaths of Queen Kira, Chairman Bronwen, and General Marek. Little did they know that this was a stall tactic to allow for Commander Favian to arrive and to make his final preparations for the siege of Alanderas.
General Yukio rode slowly toward the main gate of the castle. His mannerisms clearly indicated to the home guard that something horrible had happened. They had not heard anything from general Marek since the rumblings from Mount Quang and the mysterious disappearance of her majesty the day before. The guards on the wall bowed their heads solemnly in acknowledgment of the general and in response to his now apparent sullen demeanor. No one dared to look him in the eyes because they were afraid that the horrible truth would be realized if they gazed into them. Yukio brought his valiant steed to a halt in front of the doors that had opened at his appearance. He waved for one of the high elves stationed at the gate to come to him. As the beckoned soldier saluted the general, the dejected leader of the army of Nairi bent down and whispered something in the ear of the guard.
After a brief moment of silent instruction, the guard snapped to attention and saluted the general before he did an about-face. He took off toward the living quarters of the High Council members. He had been told to summon the members for an unofficial report regarding what had happened to the queen. Yukio then continued on his horse through the gates of the inner wall and headed to the castle. Once he was directly outside the double doors to the royal house, he dismounted slowly and removed several objects from his saddlebags. He then opened the doors and disappeared into the shadows. He felt sadness and loss for the first time since the horrific events of the previous day. Tears streamed down his face as he neared the bedchamber.
As the general looked around the disheveled bedroom, he tried to envision exactly what happened. He seated himself on the floor where he crossed his legs, closes his eyes and opened his mind in an effort to sense traces of magic if there were any. There was a powerful vestige of magic all over the room, much like a spider web. As he touched on the magical cords he understood quickly that there were two different people using their magic to hide their presence. One of them in particular was using an unnatural psychic power to control the minds of everyone in the room. He felt certain that this person was the one responsible for the tragic deaths. The identity of the assassin was not yet clear to him, so he decided to do some tracking by retracing their footsteps.
He looked around the room to where the trap door should be. He stomped his foot on the door to get it to open, but nothing happened. He went to his weapons cabinet and retrieved a few items he thought might do the trick. He hefted an enormous war hammer over his should and set down his other options on the floor. He did not have much time to do his investigating because of his meeting with the council, so he was quick to try his new idea of breaking the door open. Down came the war hammer with a deafening thud as it smashed into the floor. He made an indentation in the floor, but it would not give way. For the moment, he left it alone so he could go and meet with the people who were likely responsible for his wife's murder. He looked forward to this opportunity very much.
He went back to his closet to change out his armor. He walked toward his kingly armor that was displayed in the very back. It seemed appropriate to wear this special suit when he addressed the treacherous villains. Even though the queen was gone, he was technically still the king. He did not like the idea of being a royal figure, but it
