DAWN’S POV
I was absolutely confused by the way she reacted when I hugged her. She did not reciprocate or try to say anything. She remained there, adamant, standing like a log of wood.
She is still angry at all that happened. Who wouldn’t be? Even I was yet to forgive myself. I pulled away from her, maybe it was still too soon to show emotions towards her, or maybe as the queen of Pixolands, it was wrong to try to embrace her. If any of these are the case, then I am deeply sorry.
“Maybe I should never have done that” I mumbled in my confused state.
“Are you kidding me, just come right here” she laughed and embraced me tightly.
I was relieved because for a moment I was so sure that I must have done something wrong.
I was still lost and dwelling in the euphoria of her warm embrace when a sudden noise erupted from outside. There seemed to be some chaos outside, and the whole noise frightened me.
There was the sound of horses squealing and groaning that filled the whole place. I could also hear chants of war songs from the intruders. There were also sounds made by different weapons. It was so loud that I feared that there might be a fight going on outside already.
I looked at Scarlet at least to get some sort of consolation from her to calm my fears but from her reaction, I saw that she was as surprised as I was.
“What is that, sister?” I whispered, afraid that the intruders would hear me and be drawn towards here.
“We might have to go find out by ourselves” she grunted.
She was enraged and made for her corridor. I tagged fearfully behind, I wouldn’t want them to detect my presence.
When we arrived at the corridor, I peeped down and saw a large number of men and horses gallivanting the outside. Scarlet’s army watched them and did not put up any resistance but carefully maintained their distance.
“Are they your men?” I whispered.
“No, they are not” she replied.
When the men felt her presence, they stopped with their display and looked up at her. Her look was expressionless. She said nothing but pulled away.
“Have they brought the war here? Oh no, Diamond Cut had decided to attack us here instead. They are so cunning” I cried out in panic as I followed her.
SCARLET’S POV
“Have they brought the war here? Oh no, Diamond Cut had decided to attack us here instead. They are so cunning” Dawn cried as she followed behind me.
That was my first impression. I thought the war had begun and the mere thought caused my heart to boil. But as I looked at the intruders from my corridors, I saw that there were no soldiers from Diamond Cut. Who then are they?
Stake was already prepared to take over, and I would not have stopped her if it had been different.
I reached for the wardrobe and took out my golden cloak. It was a symbol of my authority and it allows me to make a declaration even when I am not seated on my throne.
I put the cloak over me and grabbed my fancy hand fan. I turned to Dawn. “You should remain here. On no account should you leave this place” I ordered.
She nodded and bit at her lower lips to stop herself from putting up any protest as she knew such would annoy me.
I gracefully walked out of my room and saw Mia waiting by the door. she must have arrived with Dawn and decided to wait outside. She kowtowed as soon as she saw me. I handed her my hand fan and she followed behind me.
By the time I got outside, all the noises had completely died down and everyone bowed. Chamlee arrived too and came to stand beside me.
One of the men stepped forward and demanded an audience. “May I be allowed to speak my queen?” he asked.
The man looked familiar, but I could not place it. “Okay,” I replied authoritatively.
“I am Leon, leader of the warriors of Wild Cloak” he paused awhile. “And today, I have come with my warriors to lend our support to Pixolands. We are ready to fight by your side in this war and even if we lose the last drop of our blood, we will not stop until we register victory”
His armies all let out war cries. I waited for the cries to die down and when it did, I spoke. “It is with great pleasure that I receive the warriors from Wild Cloak. But I already made it clear that we don’t want any form of payback” I paused. “You have done noble, and now you can all go back and return to your land”
With this, they all knelt down, and every one of them, except for Leon, had their head touching the ground.
“You can see, great queen, we are not here for payback. We are here because this fight is also about us. It is said that when two elephants fight, the grass suffers. We are as nothing before you but just like mere grass. But all my soldiers, twenty thousand of them are ready to die for you” he persuaded.
I looked at Chamlee and he took over from me. “And what do we have to offer for your help?” he asked.
“You have done even more than enough for us, and should all of us die in this battle, it would still not measure up as an adequate repayment for all you did. Our land is alive today is because of you. We have food in surplusage and we are not dying of hunger is because of you. We are able to live through the plague is because of you, our children are roaming around the streets of our land happily is because of you. That we all have our wolves strong again is because of you. That our horses can get back on their feet is because of you. The list can continue going on and on. And of a truth, we are better off dead than being turned back. Please allow us to do this, our hearts would be shredded and slowly we would die of sorrow if we were not given this rare privilege” he begged.
Chamlee sighed. “You all can get up now. You will not want to go into battle exhausted and with weak knees” he said.
Upon hearing this, the men all stood up and screamed in jubilation. I could see the raw joy on their faces as they gave themselves hugs and handshakes.
I cleared my throat, and quickly the noise died down. They all turned to look at me.
“As you all know, we were just about to leave for the war. So you will be taken to camp and I will have Lara fortify all of you. General Rich will remain behind and bring one-third of you to the fight. The rest would return to Wild Cloak until they are sent for” I instructed.
They all screamed and shouted in excitement as Chamlee led them away.