The Queen & Her King (sequel to the princess & the lost boy) Completed

Chapter 24 - Play The Game

(Pan's P.O.V.)

Pacing outside the physician--Sonya's--chamber was the only thing I could do that would take my mind even remotely off the image of Ash just collapsing out of no where. Only by luck had I managed to catch her before she hit her head on the floor. If that had happened, whatever was wrong with her would have been much worse.
     Regardless of my several attempts to draw out any information I could that would alert me as to what plagued Ash, I was kept out of the loop. Already it had been a couple of days since she had been attended to and yet she hadn't come out. Sonya hadn't even acknowledged what was even wrong. All she would say was that Ash was resting and needed to be left alone for now.
I didn't care. No matter how many times she or Mithian tried to get me to retire to a room that had been drawn up for me I refused. Nothing they said or did had managed to drag me away from outside the door. And nothing ever would.
I would be outside the door in case Ash requested for me or needed help. With her being potentially ill, she would need protection in case there was a spy of Samuel's or an assassin sent to harm her. As long as I remained outside, I could ensure nothing of that sort would happen.
Whenever Mithian wanted to address the plan going forward she would come to me. Already she was preparing her army for the upcoming battle. The only problem laid out before us was how we would take out Morgana and Samuel at the same time. Two costly battles, one right after the other, wouldn't bode well for either army. And based on the plan Ash had told me Morgana had, it meant that she would be nowhere near the Isle of the Blessed. Only Samuel.
     My plan was to take the Isle out of the equation completely. An island made of stone surrounded by water isn't exactly an ideal place. Based on the couple of maps brought to my attention, there was plenty of coverage in the woods for my boys to move around undetected. Plus there was a large clearing in the dead center where we could ambush both armies before they even knew what hit them. All we would need was bait.
Morgana would have to show up if she thought her plan was going awry. Say if she found out that her daughter was being held captive by the boy meant to be sacrificed? More than likely she would show up to rectify matters and take things into her own hands. Both people in the same place.
Unfortunately Mithian wasn't entirely convinced by my plan and instead wanted to hear from Ashlynn even know my plan is pretty great. I could easily make it go off without a hitch. But that wasn't the case here. And so far, Ash refused to come out and wasn't allowed visitors even from Mithian.
The both of us were stuck waiting for Ash to come out of her own will, to be sent for, or for Sonya to say we could see her. So far, none of the options had happened and I was growing more annoyed by the second.
The only thing that calmed me down was playing my flute. Multiple times during the day I would play as to soothe me. The guards that saw me playing stared as they walked past having not heard a thing. Not that they would. Unless I enchanted it, only a certain group of people could hear the call, luring them over to then be taken away to a place they could call home.
My pacing had only gotten worse over the last hour or so since Sonya left to collect herbs. She was skittish around me. Peering up at me only to then quickly look away when she realized I had caught her. She would also jump everytime she saw me waiting outside her courters or when I would get too close to her. Her replies always came out fairly quick whenever I asked a question as to get away from me as fast as possible.
The sound of footsteps approaching caught my attention. Mithian soon appeared from around the corner with a determined yet annoyed look as she gracefully walked over to me.
"We're running out of time," she briefly stated, pulling out a key and unlocking Sonya's door, before she waltzed into the room.
I couldn't help but smile as I followed in after her.
I had to stop in my tracks though as Ash spun around from where she stood in the center of the room with a bunch of books spilled out before her on the table. Even Mithian seemed slightly confused. Ash looked fine. Healthy even. Like there was nothing even remotely wrong with her. She even had a glow about her.
Based on the look of surprise on her face, I would say she wasn't expecting us to show up at all.
"We must talk now, Ashlynn. Come up with some sort of plan. It's the only way I can prepare my army to aid you in any way that I can."
Ash nodded as she took a seat at the table and prompted Mithian to do the same.
As I approached closer to the table, I was able to make out some books that had spells on them, others with maps, some with history on certain places, and even some that discussed battle strategy. It slightly irked me that she had been doing all of this and hadn't once asked for me to help her when I would have. She knows it too.
"I've been thinking about the best way to achieve our goals. I have a plan already in place. All that's needed is for me to visit Annis. We can meet in the ruins of Oathbeth and come up with a battle strategy together."
"That's all great, Ashlynn, but I need a plan now. Give me and Annis one and our armies will be yours I have no doubt about it. I need something concrete otherwise this will all be for naught. I know your mother from stories and the time I spent with her. Annis is the same. You're the only one that truly knows her and can understand how she thinks. You're our secret weapon here."
"She's right," I admitted, catching Ash off guard by my statement. "You know her better than you think. You spent time with her. You understand how she manipulates. Know her weaknesses. Know how she thinks because you know what she wants. You can destroy her with one smart blow that she won't see coming."
She sighed, shaking her head. Her eyes drifted from Mithian to mine. A small glimmer of worry in them.
"You're the only one that can get your mother to go where we need her to."
"I don't know where that is!" She shouted.
"There's a forest just before the Isle with good coverage and a large clearing that we can ambush your mother's army with as well as Samuel's. Or...there's the Valley of the Fallen Kings. Or," I paused and took a deep breath, "there's Camlann, up in the White Mountains."
Mithian's head snapped over to face my direction as she stared in disbelief and horror that I would even mention that place. I knew as well as she did that's where many lives were taken and where Arthur promptly disappeared. As well as the fact that Morgana had lost her best warrior, Mordred, that day. I knew the story far too well.
"No. Not Camlann or the Valley. Those won't work. The forest outside the Isle will work perfectly though"
"It's a manner of getting your mother there with her army. She won't come if she knows what we are planning. She'll send her army and Samuel's but nothing more. She won't see us as a threat," Mithian stated.
Ash merely nodded.
"We could always send word to her that I'm holding you captive and will kill you in the most excruciating way possible, thwarting her plans," I suggested.
"That could potentially work," Ash said with a small grin. "Which makes this all the more worse."
"What?"
"My mother sent me a note a couple of days ago requesting my prescense. Seems she had a vision she has deemed frightening."
"Then you must go to maintain pretenses," Mithian replied all too happy about the sudden revelation.
"And what happens if she realizes that I'm no longer under her control?"
"We ensure that she doesn't."
"How do we do that?"
"Easy," I said because it was so obvious. "You have to play the game."
"Game?" Ash asked in disbelief.
"Think of this as a game of chess or follow the lady. I trick the person playing against me by saying the right thing or doing the correct move to catch the attention for just a second to make the switch to make my grand play and win. I keep them come back for more and more because they're too blind by the desire to beat me that they don't notice the obvious that I'm playing them."
"My mother isn't a drunkard fool gambling money away to win a game of cards."
"Then think of it as chess. A game of patience and strategy. You just have to make the right moves to deflect from your true purpose while setting the game up for when your Queen will strike and take the King. By sacrificing certain players that your mother will become enamored by, you can sneak up behind her and take her Queen down to then take everything. Therefore winning the game. You just have to be smart about the moves you play."
She scoffed and shook her head until Mithian agreed with me.
"My mother will know that I'm here if she's done a locator spell on me."
"And that's the perfect deflector."
"How so?"
"It's a story we can play with. You can tell her that I ended up leading the both of us into Nemeth territory. We were spotted by the patrol and because you were worried that Mithian would ask questions about why you are so far away from Camelot you played the role of the victim having been driven out of your kingdom by Samuel and in search of help. Tell her that Mithian fell for it and welcomed the both of us into her kingdom and cared for us. Even mentioning that you were ill will help deflect from the truth. Then mention how you overheard Mithian consulting with the leader of her army about striking Camelot in let's say a couple of weeks. Giving us plenty of time to prepare. Tell her that they are going to join forces with Annis who Mithian will send word to alerting her that we will be stopping by and are in need of help. To even act as if she is rallying her army."
"And you think that will distract her?"
"It will worry her because she'll see just how close it is to where we need to be. And how the time lines up exactly for when I'm meant to be sacrificed. If she questions how you snuck away, just say that you barely managed to do so and don't think you'll be able to do so again with the army on high alert as they prepare. Stress how you're worried about not succeeding. How you think Mithian and Annis especially will see through your act. That should make her think of how she can make her plan work."
"She'll figure out something."
"Not if you suggest that if she launches an attack with Samuel's army and uses her magic to surprise us that you will be able to sneak away with me to the Isle where you can do what needs to be done. Even say that you believe that to be the only way. Drive the thought into her head. She'll end up doing as we want."
Mithian stood up and smoothed down her dress a little bit. "You can do this, Ashlynn. I know you can. You're a Pendragon." She offered a smile that Ash returned after a few moments. "I'll go send word to Annis. To keep up pretenses so to speak."
Ash and I remained silent as Mithian left. Even a few moments afterward until Ash stood up. She crossed the short distance and smiled up at me.
"If I didn't know that you would be returning back to Neverland when this was all over, I would consider having you on as an advisor for battle."
"You can still come back with me."
If she honestly thought that I would just give up that easily, then she was wrong. I'm not about to let her go that easily. If helping her save her kingdom from her mother put her at ease just a tiny bit afterwards, I could still have a chance at getting her to do as I want. If necessary, I would just bring her back to Neverland once this was all over.
"You know I can't even if I wanted to. My uncle died for Camelot and what he believed in. My father gave up everything to make this dream of a United kingdom a reality. He would die for Camelot. I'm willing to do the same. For my kingdom, my people, my knights, even you," she whispered the last part as she gazed down at the ground.
     I cupped her face and forced her to look up at me. "You are not going to die. Do you understand? You will not die. I forbid it."
She nodded quickly just as she stretched up and kissed my cheek softly before shrugging out of my hold. "I need to get ready if I'm going to set the plan in motion. Do you think you can ask Mithian for a horse for me to borrow while I get some supplies? I'll meet you out by the stables. I promise."
I eyed her hesitantly before nodding. There was something definitely wrong. I could see it in her eyes. She was on edge. I just wish I knew why exactly. She smiled at me as I retreated outside to pick a horse for her that I could enchant so I would know where she is at all times. That way I knew where she would be at all times and could easily go after her if I needed to.