The Savior's Throne

Chapter Eighteen

My head is exploding with frustration as everything I say gets shut down by Desmond. "Look," I bellow. "We cannot attack the East head on like we did the North. We barely won that battle, there is no way we will beat the East with the same strategy we had for the North."

My reasoning is not even considered as Desmond stands up, "You are a simple girl who grew up in a palace, you have no idea what goes into planning a war." He belittles me in front of the whole room-a room filled with generals, guards, Gifteds, and Ungifteds. I tighten my hands on the arms of the chair I'm seated in and use a stern voice, "I have brains, Desmond, I know what will work and what will not. The Eastern army is no doubt very large and while we now have some Gifteds from the North on our side, we still do not have the numbers needed to defeat the East."

The first thing we did when this meeting started was look over numbers. The Eastern army has two thousand men in their army, the population in the North is just under 9,000 people and 8,000 of those people are civilians. Our army is extremely small compared to the East. We simply do not have enough men and women to fight. Our losses in the first battle were vast and there are a lot of Northern soldiers who refuse to fight under my rule. Desmond is not thinking clearly and his faulty planning will get all of us killed.

"I will not condone a battle that I know we will lose," I tell Desmond. Tulsa raises a hand and places it on Desmond's left shoulder, "Perhaps the girl is right, maybe we should think of other ways to go into battle."

I breathe a sigh of relief, glad that at least someone is listening to me. Then Desmond shakes Tulsa's hand off and fixes a glare on me. "We have gifted on our side now-"

"And the East also have gifted-thousands of them," I interrupt.

"I understand the odds and I know that we are capable of overcoming them. Our army is strong enough and smart enough. This is happening and soon, we don't have time to waste." Again with no time to waste.

Desmond faces the members sitting at the table, "We cannot just sit and let this poor treatment continue. We are going to stop the slavery our kind has been forced into and we're going to do it now. Attack each society-that was the plan all along."

"Plans change," I inform him.

"Not these ones," he says, practically seething with anger. Looking at him, I know that I'm in my own losing battle. Realizing he won't give up, I switch the subject, "What are we to do with the prisoners?" The change of subject has heads swiveling towards me. "I'm tired of discussing war; we have other matters to deal with. Now, the prisoners..."

Shockingly, Arlo speaks up, "Should we hold trials?"

"Executions?" A random general calls out. Immediately, I shake my head, "No executions." I look over at Desmond who is staring at the general with interest. "Executions could serve as a warning for those who refuse to accept you as their ruler," he says.

My voice rings out with finality, "executions will only give way to more hatred. I will not allow them, end of story." The veins in Desmond's neck pop as I turn him down, "So what shall we do?" He asks me.

Thinking through the possibilities, I eventually decide to agree with Arlo. "Trials will be sufficient. We will inform them of their options and allow them the chance to follow me under my rule."

"We already offered them that chance," Desmond says, his voice crackling with anger. "Then we'll offer it again," I shout. Taking a deep breath, I allow my sudden anger to relax and lower my voice. "The trails will be scheduled in one week," I look to one of the generals, make sure the prisoners are ready. General Kai's trail will be first and remember, he is a valiant, so it is imperative that we have extra security on him."

Desmond unsurprisingly speaks up, "What happens if the prisoners refuse to cooperate?" 

Thinking about it now, an easy answer comes to mind, "I will have a jail built in the city, a jail built by Uniteds, so not even the strongest valiant can escape them. In the meantime, they will wait out their time in the dungeons below the palace." Everyone in the room, except for Desmond-whose lips are puckered in annoyance-nods after I finish speaking. With a quick glance at my watch, I notice the time and realize this meeting has come to a close. I dismiss everyone and try not to notice how Arlo dwells behind. 

Without a second glance, I leave him alone in the meeting room and head back to my bedroom. The gold specks in the ruby wallpaper sparkle and gleam in the low lights. I hear light footsteps behind me, but refuse to look back. I know it's Arlo, but I'd rather not have another argument at the moment.

When Arlo understands that I'm not going to talk to him, he gently places a hand on my elbow. "Please wait," he pleads.

I hesitate for only a second before turning around. I cross my arms over my chest and stare up at Arlo with a blank expression on my face, "What do you want?"

"I see it now," he says, his voice thick with regret and the sting of betrayal. "Every time you tried to talk, he spoke above you, he made all the decisions and dealt with everything, no matter how much you tried to speak up, you couldn't." I lower my arms, grateful he believes me.

"I'm sorry he betrayed you and your trust," I tell him.

 He shrugs and looks at me apologetically, "What do we do now?" 

I place my hands on my hips and use a regal voice, "Now we plan a counterattack."