Chapter 19

Felek watched as Elven troops came over the Southern Harbor wall, Polish soldiers fleeing before them.

Raising their bows, archers already in position fired, the pointy-eared creatures falling swiftly. Another squad was rushing to fill the gap on the wall, officers trying to regroup those retreating. As elsewhere, the Polish defenses would hold.

Felek looked away. This had not gone well. Too many problems had been uncovered. Too many things to fix before others sought to invade the Polish Kingdom. And they would. War seemed to be swirling everywhere, and it had come to Poland.

Really, the one good thing about this battle was how one-sided it would look to outsiders. Elves attacked with who knows how many troops, and almost all were drowned before reaching shore. Very impressive. Yet, it should have been more so. The artillery batteries had been poorly positioned. They did not provide support for one another. There were "safe" areas, artillery blind spots where ships could settle while they released their troop filled longboats. One cliff top battery was even overrun. Felek looked up. The Polish banner again waved over it. Thank the Lady none of the Elves had known how to either use the cannons, or destroy them.

He was going to recommend the recruitment age be lowered to 10. They could have those new soldiers in two years, not five or six.

A laugh came from him, drawing the eyes of others. Yes, two thousand ten year olds armed with pikes. THAT would help the Kingdom!

A rider approached. Two, actually. They eyed each other as they slowed, trying to determine who had the more important message. Both riders were male, so Felek couldn't use that as a factor. He looked at the closest.

"Report."

"Sir. No reply yet from the King. The last relay station suspects their tower may be damaged. They're sending out riders."

"That'll take awhile," Anelie muttered. Felek nodded. He looked at the other messenger.

"Sir. General Wojo reports remaining ships are moving off."

He nodded again. The Elves weren't fools. You don't toss good soldiers away for no reason. Now he, personally, would have fled long before this, but then his survival instincts were a touch too good to be a soldier. He swept his eyes around the island plain.

"I want a sweep of the Kingdom. Make sure any Elves who washed onto shore and are hiding are rounded up. I want prisoners, if possible."

"Sir!" They saluted. Klocia, standing beside her wife Anelie, let out a sigh.

"I think I understand why His Grace's hair has grey in it already."

"I think we've made a mistake."

Liuz could not help but chuckle at the Watu General's comment. His Grace was amused as well. He raised an eyebrow.

"Which one have you noticed?"

"We accidentally killed the BAD officers. Whoever's leading the Elves now knows what they're doing." He motioned to the map before them, Kasia's new observations already marked. "They've swept soldiers through the northern woods, all the way to the river. South, too. Secured their flanks. Their soldiers are now deployed more reasonably. I expect much more discipline when they come again. That Kikker balloon girl even thinks they're trying to fix one of the trebuchets. They'll be back to bombing us."

"Wonderful," someone muttered.

"What are these troops doing here?" His Grace motioned to the banks of the Orlan, both north and south of the city. Liuz frowned.

"I THINK, Your Grace, those are archers. They'll try and silence the gunships when they pop into view."

"Can they?"

"We're adding wooden shielding as best we can, but there's no time to add a roof. We made a bad design." Liuz shrugged. "I'm sorry, Your Grace. Our artillery isn't going to be as big a factor as we hoped."

His Grace nodded.

"We blew our advantage on that first wave. Things will be bloody from here on out."

Liuz looked out the large tavern window. He should have come here earlier. Should have experimented with different ship designs. Maybe not had them. Maybe they could have built some sort of artillery position immune to trebuchet attack. So many possibilities left untried...

"James."

The Elven Queen was standing beside the King. A delicate hand lay on his arm. The looks from most of the others in the room seemed wary of that contact. Only Prince Ajani regarded it calmly.

"Yes, Your Highness?" King James smiled at her.

"I am ready, James. We must stop this. Before the blood of all our peoples waters this land."

Liuz felt his own blood leave his head. That was a ... very disturbing image. Again, he thought of his father. He thought of Harveen. Of their children. He wanted to see his son and daughters again. He wanted...

"What do you two have planned?" The Watu Mayor did not look pleased. The King seemed to ignore that.

"A long shot, Your Honor. Something that will either win the day, or cause countless deaths on both sides." He paused. "Or both."

"We trust you." Prince Ajani gave the Watu Mayor and his generals a hard look. "You begged for our protection. Let us give it."

"Do you need anything?" King James asked the Queen. She shook her head.

"No. I have studied. Readied myself for this." She paused. Took a deep breath. "Take me to a high place."

The Queen stood in the center of the stone circle, head bowed.

Liuz, like the others, ringed the edge of the tower, staying to the back. Whatever she was going to do, they wanted to stay behind it. Liuz looked over his shoulder. Kasia was on the ground, balloon no longer airborne. Good. He didn't want her caught up in this.

Queen Catty began moving her hands, voice whispering. A Watu messenger appeared atop the stairway. A Polish messenger appeared as well, expression one of exhaustion. Both stared at the Elf, mission forgotten.

Light flashed above the tower.

Kasia slowly rose to her feet. Yaa followed suit. So, too, every Pole and Kikker around them, balloons forgotten.

In the sky, above the city, the form of the Elven Queen floated.

Kasia closed her eyes. Opened them. Impossible. More, it was unbelievable. It wasn't the Queen herself up there. No. She knew that. That she could have believed. No, this was something many times her size. Almost, but not quite, transparent. Like a ghost a hundred feet tall.

Yaa's small hand pressed itself against hers, the Kikker girl squeezing tightly. Kasia found the contact reassuring. Calming.