RD 5 Ch 29

I slammed my hand against the table in frustration as the plan we’d just made was already falling apart.

“Well, that’s just wonderful, isn’t it?” Winnie said, crossing her arms and turning to me as if it were my job to find a solution.

I suppose it was, now that I’d taken the leadership role among this group. It wasn’t time to be upset; it was time to think about next steps. “We’ll simply have to trap her within the Citadel.” A quick and easy plan, one that would give us time to come up with something better.

“Didn’t you just want to avoid a siege because it would take too long?” Winnie asked.

“Don’t talk back to Bran,” Simone snapped, looking ready to throw fists to defend me. But I didn’t need it. 

“No. Winnie isn’t wrong that a siege sucks. This isn’t the ideal solution; it’s just the reaction we have to take. If she takes the Citadel, all three of you should launch your forces and surround her,” I said, glancing at Circe to see if she understood.

The blue-haired woman shook her head gently. “I’m unsure what the princess does and does not know. Our actions yesterday could have reached her by now, yet it’s unlikely she could’ve mobilized her forces and taken the Citadel in that time. It’s far more likely this was already in the works.”

“Perfect,” I said. “There’s a chance we can keep this new alliance among our three forces our secret for now. Instead, we should work with the expected reaction of sieging her. We’ll have all three forces try to force her out of the Citadel. That’s what would’ve happened before, correct?”

Simone nodded. “I took the Citadel in the recent past, and everyone went up against me until I was forced out, suffering small losses. I assume the plan is for our three forces to do the same to Almeria?”

“You’re as brilliant as you are beautiful,” I said, smiling at Simone; a bright blush warmed her cheeks. “That’s perfect, with the small addition that we should hold off on joining our forces until there’s a more opportune moment to isolate Princess Almeria. She needs to think we are only a token alliance in this siege.”

I knew that it would generate more opportunities to trap her if she thought she could use each of the different armies against each other.

“Good,” Winnie said. “Which of our three forces will you be traveling with?”

I found myself staring into three pairs of expectant eyes. “For now it makes the most sense that I travel with Simone. After all, if Princess Almeria got wind of a prisoner exchange, that’s where she’d expect me to be at present. We want her to think everything is as expected so that she does not question what she believes to be true.”

My logic was begrudgingly accepted by Circe and enthusiastically accepted by Simone. Winnie did her best not to let her emotions show. She was likely bottling them up to deal with later.

Seeing Winnie, stripped of years of experience and struggling to manage the curse, gave me an interesting perspective on how she came to be. She was physically and psychologically tormented for years, desperately trying to hold it all in. No wonder she hated the Demon King so much.

“Well, that’s that,” Simone said, already grabbing me and pulling me out of the room. “I’ll take Bran back with my people and we’ll launch from there.”

“We will be laying a siege. Is there anything else?” Circe asked.

“At least the makings of one,” I said. “It would be best to keep her trapped until we can figure out our next steps.” My mind buzzed with what those steps might be.

From what the ladies had told me, the princess was well prepared for the trial and a capable leader. That made me wonder what she planned now that would benefit by having the Citadel. If Simone had suffered heavy losses, then certainly Almeria might have too; yet her plans hadn’t faltered, which only made me more suspicious.

“Don’t worry now that she’s in the Citadel, she’s trapped and will be easy pickings for the rest of us,” Simone said, smiling as we stepped outside. The bright morning rays of sun made Simone even more beautiful and filled me with hope for the campaign ahead.

***

The bright, sunny day I’d walked out to had turned rather dreary. The sky went overcast, clouds hanging low, and a fine mist of rain peppered the afternoon. It wasn’t enough to halt the mobilization, but it made everyone preparing a little more miserable.

But the gross surroundings in no way affected the spirit of the Mul Branova. Each one had a giant smile across their face. It was easy to see what was encouraging those smiles as I glanced over at Simone who was beaming ear to ear as she refused to leave my side.

The rain hadn’t dimmed her spirit one bit.

She’d had to put on a convincing act when I first arrived and ‘pretended’ to be Bran, but the reciprocal response she was now getting from the Mul Branova told me there was a real difference in their eyes between Simone pretending I was Lord Brand and the Simone who actually believed it. That distinction was plain to see.

The Mul Branova whistled and sang as they chopped down the already sparse forest around the Citadel and began making siege weapons.

Even if they were innately powerful enough to smash boulders with the palms of their hands, hurling boulders was still an effective long-distance strategy. If the Citadel of Blood’s inscriptions were powered with enemy blood, the last thing we wanted was a melee assault against the walls. As a result, siege engines were almost a necessity.

“What do you think, Lord Bran?” An unfamiliar Mul Branova practically skipped up to me and stopped as if suddenly nailed to the ground while a dozen others carried a catapult high above their heads. Apparently there was no need to put wheels on the contraption when superhuman strength was available.

“It looks lovely,” I said, smiling. “I don’t suppose I could interest any of you in some ammunition?” I gestured to a pile of head-sized and larger stones at my side. Each one imbued with my blood and inscribed with powerful, single-use runes. There was no need to reinvent delivery; in an age of the system, the ammunition simply needed an upgrade.

“Thank you for the gift, Lord Bran!” The troop leader cried, grasping the hem of her robes and dipping low in supplication. Even some of the Mul Branova with a catapult on their shoulders attempted a half-curtsy, which was unnecessary and nearly caused a domino effect of the women toppling over with the unfamiliar weight on their shoulders.

Simone giggled, covering her mouth with her hand, then stared at me with shining eyes. “Morale’s the highest I’ve ever seen it and we’re going to war,” she breathed.

“Somehow I think it has less to do with me and more to do with you, Simone. While they’re smiling at me, all of them are really checking your reaction and whatever they’re finding only makes their smiles wider.” I told her.

“Well, you can’t blame me for being giddy like a young maiden,” she said, beaming. “After all, I just got you back. This smile isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.” To prove the point, she spread her grin even wider and let it rest on her face while she watched me.

“And that,” I said, pointing at her, “is exactly why none of them can stop smiling. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. No man would be sad about being surrounded by smiling, lovely ladies.” I kissed the top of Simone’s head to see if the smile could get any wider. Her lips couldn’t stretch farther, but an extra sparkle lit her eyes, an odd mix of quiet contentment and being overwhelmed with happiness to the point of being about to burst.

“Sorry to interrupt,” another Mul Branova called as she hurried in. This one was familiar; she'd been taking orders and relaying them through the higher levels of Simone’s cohort.

“Yes, Amber?” Simone asked, masking any worry as her smile faded and she focused on the report.

“As you anticipated, Circe’s and Winnie’s forces have also encircled the Citadel. It seems the princess may have bitten off more than she can chew,” Amber said, trying not to giggle.

“Don’t let your guard down,” I said, sweeping my gaze over the field that would soon be full of flying boulders. Almost as if my thought had summoned it, a rock launched from the Citadel and hurtled toward Circe’s forces on our right.

The projectile struck the boulder mid-flight and detonated with a far louder boom than a stone should have managed at that distance. Some of Circe’s soldiers nearest the blast dropped to their knees and covered their heads.

“There was some sort of sonic attack in that boulder,” I said, clicking my tongue. Sound was a cruel weapon to defend against, and an excellent choice for the princess to use against multiple forces and varying strengths.

“Would earplugs stop that?” Simone asked.

“No,” I replied, shaking my head. “Earplugs might blunt it, but they won’t make you immune. Sound waves can still damage you. The saving grace is that most of the Mul Branova have regeneration so while sonic attacks are devastating, they’re unlikely to kill someone with one blow, at least at these levels. Our people should have time to recover between strikes.”

Even as I spoke, more rocks peeled out of the Citadel toward the various forces. Princess Almeria had called the bluff of the siege. She wasn’t waiting for us to drag the fight out. She’d come prepared, armed with powerful ammunition to fight back and keep her hold on the Citadel.