Arlo and his friends arrived at the mess hall.
"Wait, so how did you guys run into each other?" Arlo asked Sara as he sat down at a chair.
"Oh! After we were attacked, we managed to get away from them, but they were checking up on the site so we had to find a way back to stay hidden," Sara sat next to him.
"We found some tunnels hidden in the ground and we decided it was our best way out. We were lost and we somehow managed to find Claire and Pierce in there." Troy laughed.
"Huh. And what were you guys doing in the tunnels?" Arlo raised an eyebrow as he turned to Claire.
"Oh, we work as thieves. We were trying to get into Vaequiles."
"Oh."
Troy leaned back in his seat.
"What about you, Arlo?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, we thought you were taken down by the Vaequilians. What happened?"
"Oh... I was ordered to retreat by Commander Eunice. She said we didn't have time to get back to you guys."
"So... you left us to...?" the excitement in Sara's face disappeared.
Arlo winced.
"No... I..." he lowered his head.
Troy patted Arlo's back to try and comfort him.
He had abandoned his friends without a choice, after all.
"At least we're all here together, right?"
Pierce chuckled nervously.
"I feel like I'm intruding in on the group here."
"Hey, you helped Claire get here. Any friend of hers is a friend of ours." Keith smiled.
"If you say so..."
Arlo thought about what Sara had said.
"So... you left us to...?"
The look on her face felt like a sting, even now.
He shook his head. They knew that he had no other choice. They would forgive him.
"Arlo, are you alright?" Gale asked.
"Yes. Sorry."
A couple of days had already passed, and they were back discussing their next move.
Gale sighed.
"Well, as I was saying, we're in a lot of trouble right now. We're in fear that the Vaequilians will attack, and there is absolutely nothing I can do if they decide to."
"We can't win the battle?"
"Not in a million years. We don't have enough soldiers."
Alice leaned back in her seat.
"Pegasi are out of the question... they'll be easily shot down. Our armies are practically useless against Vaequiles's army; larger by tenfold."
"There really is nothing we can do. Did we really fight for nothing?" Hound had a blank expression.
"We didn't fight for nothing. We'll find a way," Arlo crossed his arms, "Is there any way we could possibly attack from the inside?"
"That's a terrible idea. Attacking from the inside would mean that they have more reinforcements."
"Maybe take down the queen before they realize we're there?"
"Difficult, but possible. Only problem is, how do we get inside?"
Eunice snapped her fingers.
"What if we give them a large gift that has hidden assassins inside?"
"I like the idea, but you have to remember that we are at war with them right now. A gift would be suspicious." Alice corrected her.
Arlo put a hand on his chin.
"There is a way, but I can't seem to... remember it? I don't know, but I'm pretty sure I've heard of a way we can get inside."
"Tell us the moment you remember it."
"Of course."
