Staring down a pair of eyes that were all too confident, Jovan knew he had to consider his words carefully. Kinga was not only Jagoda's dearest of friends, she was also someone whose opinion mattered in the camp. As such, Jovan knew that the answer Kinga expected to hear from him regarding advantages of his plan of attack had to both make sense, and erase any and all doubts in Kinga's mind as to where his loyalties laid.
"For one, what matters most is that the attack and the strategy of the steps we follow come as a surprise. And two, I would not be standing here if I did not believe that we will succeed and that Jagoda's name is cleared of all accusations and that she is declared the rightful heir of her father's legacy." He would have kept going, but Jagoda raised her hand.
"What would Your plan entail?" Jagoda inquired.
"If we know where to attack and where to find Your sisters, and if we attack at night, most guards would be asleep, and Our mission would be accomplished by dawn. Once Your sisters would be captured and taken out of the fortress, we would demand that they surrender to Your rule and admit to conspiring against You and Your father," Jovan concluded his words by looking deep into Jagoda's eyes.
"What if they will not surrender?" Jagoda asked.
"They will. If we remove them from the fortress and they realize that they are on their own, they will," he nodded.
"My sisters will not go down without a fight," Jagoda replied.
"That would be in their blood. I would not expect anything less of them. Those who take authority by force rarely surrender without a fight," he pointed out.
"Our warriors are not experienced in this sort of attack." Blagun advised Jovan and others gathered around the bonfire agreed.
"But I am. And I would train those we would select," Jovan nodded in Blagun's direction.
"How would You know that the warriors would be ready for the attack?" Kinga asked Jovan, no longer suspicious but intrigued by now.
"They would be. I am sure of it. This sort of... thing..." Jovan paused briefly to gather his thoughts. "This is what I used to do for a living. We would weigh in all the best possible options and choose the quickest, most logical, and most effective way to complete our missions," he smiled directly at Kinga.
"You were an assassin?!?" Anil exclaimed, very much impressed.
"No, not an assassin. I guarded the freedom of Our country against those who undermined it. At all cost." Jovan's words hit home for Kinga. She realized she may have underestimated Jovan, and worse - misjudged him. And that never really happened to her in the past. She also realized that they were fortunate to have him on their side.
"And You are sure this would be Our best option? A handful of warriors as opposed to all of them?" Jagoda asked.
"I am sure. You may not be used to this way of attacking, but neither will be those within the fortress. That is a tremendous advantage. We've already trained in combat. The warriors know how to fight. All we have to do now is figure out where to attack and train for possible ways of capturing Your sisters." Jovan finished by looking at Jagoda.
"How many men would You suggest?" Jagoda inclined her head at Jovan.
"Do You have a group of, say, 8 or 9 trusted warriors that know their way around the fortress and where to look for Zora and Zoja?" Jovan looked at Jagoda and decided to pay little attention to Kinga.
"Well, there's Kinga, Blagun, Anil, Yourself, myself, and these warriors sitting with Us today," Jagoda spread her arms.
"You and Anil are out of the question," Jovan objected.
"And why is that?" Jagoda's temper rose immediately and simmered right under her skin.
"For obvious reasons. You look like Your sisters. We could not risk You getting caught or hurt. And Anil would stay behind to make sure You stay out of harm's way." Jovan pointed to Anil.
"Blessed be the day! I mean, what a shame!" Anil replied and pouted his lips, though Jovan knew how relieved Anil felt to hear that he would stay behind.
"Though I don't like it, Valiant's words make sense. We cannot risk mistaking You for Zora or Zoja," Kinga nodded.
"I disagree. Zora and Zoja are my sisters. Your lives would be at risk trying to take back the control that was stolen away from my father," Jagoda announced and found it hard to keep her temper in check.
"That may be so, but if something happens to You all this would be in vain," Jovan said in a calm tone of voice that made Jagoda recall the way her father used to speak to her. It made her realize that she meant more to Jovan than the danger awaiting them.
"But a leader never sits back doing nothing while others wield their sword for the just cause!" She raised her voice, which also made her realize that she was losing her side of the argument.
"Nor would anyone ever expect You to do so. We have to move the warriors in this camp closer to Sofia in case Zora's followers would consider a counter-attack. We have to be prepared for it. Since we have a few days to finalize Our plan of attack, we would have to choose the best place to set up the base camp. And You would stay in the base camp and command it until we come back with Your sisters." Jovan looked at Jagoda, and she knew by the look in his eyes that this really was the best of possible options.
"I don't like it one bit," she replied and raised her hand the moment Jovan tried to speak up. "I said I don't like it, not that I won't do it".
"Does this mean that we get to stay behind? Such a shame, such a shame!" Anil exclaimed, but Jovan saw the smirk he tried his best to mask.
"Unfortunately," Jagoda advised him, as her heart skipped a beat the moment she felt Jovan's hand atop hers...
YOU ARE READING
THE TIDES OF TIME
Romance⚔️ "Being born and raised to respect life and its rules, Jovan Galanis made something of himself. He was ambitious, outgoing, disciplined, and righteous to his very core. His parents died when he was a young boy, and having been raised by his Macedo...
