Amelia Merlin and the Game for Okamila

Part 47: Organizing the Troops

Her dress was a deep wine coloured burgundy while her hair was pulled back in loose curls knotted at the back of her neck. Al was always telling her it was important to look the part so Amelia took it to heart. Her thick, black velvet coat was short and buttoned up her front with pearls instead of buttons. She had the same crown that she wore the other day in her hair, the silver flowers went just as beautiful with this dress as they did the last.

Amelia walked through her camp with her chin held high and a small smile on her face. People took their hats off and bowed their head when they saw her coming. Mostly she just said, "Good Morning," or "Thank you,". She had left Moira in charge of the North which would be interesting to see how Blaxton reacted as he was technically the heir. She walked into the main tent where Al and Jeremy were. Amelia had to remind herself that this Jeremy was not the one she had arrived with earlier this week. She only had two days before the time turner pressing against her chest would run out and she would have to return to where she started. Otherwise Fred would be waiting in her parlor for a very long time.

At the thought of him she couldn't help smiling. His goofy grin that always made her laugh even if he didn't say anything funny which was rare. How she loved him when he looked at her out of the corner of his eye and winked slightly so only she could tell exactly what he was thinking. How she adored him when he would run out of nowhere and throw her over his shoulder like she was a sack of flour. How besotted she was when Fred Weasley fell asleep in the common room with his head on her lap and all she got to do was play with his hair for hours. How so madly in love Amelia was as they lay on the floor in the dusty astronomy tower, both breathing heavily and then he would tickle her and her laughter would be so loud it filled the entire space.

"Amelia!" Al said beaming at her which made her snap back to reality. "What a pleasant surprise!"

"I'm sorry I didn't warn you-" she began to say.

"Nonsense!" he waved her concern aside. "This is your army not mine. You're welcome anytime here."

"Yes well I didn't just come for a visit." she smiled as he poured her a small glass of wine which she took graciously and sat down on a rather comfortable chair. The whole tent looked quite lovely and the living conditions were not bad at all, for Al at least. A fire burned heavily and the floor was covered in furs of all sorts while a large table stood in the middle filled with battle plans and food. So much food her stomach ached looking at it.

"Sounds serious." Al sat down but Amelia could tell he was mocking her ever so slightly.

She nodded and took a sip before speaking. The wine was the same colour as her dress which gave her a strange satisfaction. "I've just come from the North where Brice Gorodetsky killed Roderick Monatheon. Don's run off and I've left Moira in charge for the time being. But seeing as Blaxton is the heir, we should send him back and Moira should come here."

"Blaxton won't like that." Jeremy shook his head. "Better to leave Moira in charge."

"Moira doesn't have a claim." Al disagreed. "Amelia's right. Doesn't matter what he wants, Blaxton needs to send for Rose and his son and go rule over the North. At least for the time being, he needs to be there until he establishes himself as lord. Otherwise people will think the North is weak and they'll come and take it. I agree with Amelia."

"Thank you. That also leaves the matter of High Valley. We can't leave Brice to rule, not after the shit he pulled in Stone Garden." she felt her heart rising at what she knew she had to do soon. "We need someone who knows the politics well enough to rule High Valley, temporarily until we can find a good enough replacement or better yet set up a council of people who can rule the city together."

"Good luck finding someone who knows High Valley customs." Al snorted. "That place is godforsaken. I can't think of anyone besides myself who knows it well enough to set up a proper council."

"Yes," Amelia said slowly. "Which is why you're going to have to go there as soon as possible."

"No." he laughed. "No fucking way. I need to be here! At the head of the army!" he glared at her.

"Look, for the summer, I'll be back anyways. I'll have Oliver, Fred, Lavender and Parvati to help advise me. As well as Jeremy and Moira. I'll be fine. It'll be two months of you getting things sorted and I can handle it. Then when I go back to school, you can come back to the army. It makes sense, Al. And it's the decision I've made."

He stood up and started to pace. His hands nervously fixed his already flawless hair. "Fine." he eventually said. "I'll do it. But only for two months!" his eyes flashed and Amelia nodded.

"Of course. Thank you, Al. I really appreciate it." she sighed heavily and said, "There's one more reason I'm here."

"Tell me some good news please." Al sat back down heavily, still fixing his perfect hair. His jaw was clenched and she had to admit, at the moment, it was hard to ignore how damn attractive he was.

"Yeah not really going to happen." Amelia cringed. "The thing is, Akkedis is planning an attack on you. Tonight."

"No he's not." Al shook his head. "Our spies-"

"Your spies are wrong." she cut him off. "I know this is going to happen. Don't ask how, just trust me. I need your help to cast a spell that is going to prevent them from falling asleep under his dream shit that he does. If I can keep everyone safe from that then he won't dare try an attack."

"How can you be sure that he won't?" Jeremy folded his arms.

"Because the ancient laws say that he cannot use his powers to hurt entire armies. He can make them fall asleep sure, but hurting them is something else completely. The laws were put into place to make sure that one single person could never have that kind of power over everyone. If Akkedis wants to hurt someone, he can only hurt the leader." Al jumped in.

"Exactly." Amelia nodded her head. "And Akkedis isn't ready to face me and his army isn't ready for another battle. Not after what happened with the last one."

"Right. But explain to me why the hell he would follow that law? What does he care about anything someone put into place in a time long past?" Jeremy frowned and shook his head before lighting a purple cigarette.

"Don't think of them as laws of humans." Amelia spoke. "They're more similar to laws of nature."

"So how are you going to protect us from it?" Al asked and Jeremy continued to take deep purple breaths into his lungs.

"It's a very simple set of enchantments actually. But I just need you guys to make sure no one disturbs me at all for about an hour. I'll be in the forest so I can draw my power from the trees and all the incredibly fertile life in there. But I need someone watching me because as I'm casting it I won't be able to protect myself."

Al sighed and called out. "Someone get me Schwann!"