“Jack, summon all the commanders of The Eagle Mist,” I ordered Jack after I was dressed in my military uniform and left my chamber.
“Yes, General. I shall summon them at once.”
“Tell them to meet me in my study room. I need to speak with them. Immediately.”
I headed straight to the field to check the training of the soldiers. The course training I did was different from the ones General Cairo had made. It was a very strict one and it would exhaust them. But this would benefit them in the long run.
“Philippians,” I called.
“Yes, Your Majesty?” I sighed when he really came in an instant.
I already assumed that they were following me as per order from Claude for sure. Of course, Silver must be somewhere here. I turned around to see him kneeling his one knee to the ground.
“Send me a list of the knights and the knight segment order of authority to my study room,” I said seriously. “Bestow me the list after lunch. I need it.”
He nodded. “As you wish. I shall fulfill my job.”
I gestured my hand to have him leave. I returned my gaze back to the soldiers. Even the generals I picked were also training. I couldn’t have them slack off because there is a high chance that they would be also set off to the battle.
“Your Majesty, Luna Queen Rachelle.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose upon hearing Felix’s voice. “What?” I asked in a hostile tone.
“His Majesty, Alpha King Claudian needs your opinion. He needs to consult something about tightening the security system here in the Waevalon Kingdom.”
That surprised me. I took the scroll from him and unrolled it. I hummed as he was proposing to place a significant number of soldiers and knights in every town of the Waevalon Kingdom. I frowned when I read that this had been approved already by the military officials.
“What’s the point of asking my opinion if it’s already approved?” I asked, frowning as I returned the scroll to Felix.
Felix silenced for a moment. “His Majesty wants to consider your thoughts on this,” he said politely.
I glanced at him before returning my gaze back to the field. I felt happy that Claude considered me this. I cleared my throat as I didn’t disappoint Claude. “The towns which are near Auritaurie… more people need to be added. I don’t want the rogues to use other innocent people as their hostages. Send this word to him.”
Felix bowed his head. “Your wish is my command, Your Majesty.” Then he started to leave. But before he could do that, he halted and turned around. “Also, Alpha King Claudian wants to dine with you at the pavilion this noon, Your Majesty.”
Chuckling, I nodded. “Of course, I will come…”
When I was very sure that he had already left, I went back to my study room where I was supposed to work. I arrived there seeing Jack waiting for me at the door.
“Are they there now?” I asked as I fixed my hair.
He nodded. “Yes, General. I told them to wait for your arrival.” He smiled.
“Good.” I twisted the doorknob and opened the door. There, I came to meet eight people waiting for me.
“Your Majesty, Luna Queen,” they said in unison as they deeply bowed their heads.
I chuckled. “Raise your heads.” I beckoned my head after ordering them. I turned to Jack who bestowed me the folder. “Piran Polister, Samson Brisco, Cornelius Haynes, Jarrett Devon, Flora Wallace, Aurora Risackin, and Eden Valentin.” I looked up after reading the reports in the folder while mentioning the names of my eight commanders of my elite soldiers called The Eagle Mist. “It has been a long time since we gathered together,” I said cheerfully as I gestured my hand to have the seat. “Let’s have some tea before I will discuss some matters. Shall we?”
They all nodded and didn’t say a word. I am glad that they were all disciplined although I happened to hear some news that made me frown a little. They acted a little immaturely. It must be that they inherited it from me. I chuckled mentally.
Jack served us some tea at the moment.
“Your Majesty, are you sure that you only want to bring half of The Eagle Mist?” Jarrett asked.
I crossed my legs and leaned to my seat as I nodded. “Unfortunately, yes.” I sighed.
They exchanged glances. They had a protest written in their eyes. Chuckling, I summoned my hand to stop them.
“I know what you are all thinking.” I turned at Jack when he bestowed my tea. “As much as I want to bring the whole Eagle Mist, I have already prepared something for the other half of the troops.” I looked at my tea. “I know that you all had been wanting to go to war. That is why I picked rightful soldiers to train to be my elite soldiers when I was still a Commander.”
“Can the other half still go to the war, Luna Queen?” Flora asked.
I looked at her playfully. “Part of.”
“Part of?” they said in unison.
I nodded. “Jack, will you explain the details to them?” I smiled at Jack.
“Yes, General.” Jack made a bow before them after he bestowed them the folders that contained the details they needed to do. “The other half of the troops will be relocated in the nearest towns that surround the Auritaurie. Meaning, in that location, the other half is bound to look for the other hideouts made by the rogues in a discreet way. The plan is to locate them, trap them, and prevent them by killing them from frightening the nearest towns,” he explained briefly.
Piran raised his hand. “This will cause distortion. If Magnius Lothim notices the unusual behavior at every town and we happen to locate their hideouts, then he starts to go there, what are we going to do?” he asked politely. “What if we happen to face them at such short notice and we can’t ask for a backup just in case?”
I clicked my tongue and smiled. “We’ll be using distress signals and flares to call for backup.” I wiggled my eyebrows at them, looking at them playfully. “In this way, all the elite soldiers must carry a necessary flare for distress signals in case of emergency. When you need a backup or the situation cannot be controlled anymore, you have to fire the distress signal. The soldiers in the other town that is near that particular town must assist them immediately.”
Cornelius raised his hand. “Is there any specific signal flare should we use in case we have different situations, Your Majesty? For example, Samson is located at Ursupol. He happens to encounter a group of rogues distorting the balance in that town and as you said, Your Majesty, we can’t control the situation anymore and we fire the signal for requesting a backup. But what if at that time, Magnius Lothim had come to that town? Should we use a different flare signal if in case he is there and that will be the time all the elite soldiers should be summoned at once to capture him?”
Smiling, I crossed my arms. “You have a good point, Cornelius.” I turned my head at Jack and nodded. I waited for Jack to get something in the drawer. Then he showed it to them when he placed it on the coffee table. “Flare guns,” I said and took it from the container. “Though this hasn’t been used much in the military as we only used mind link to summon more backup, I thought that this would be useful to signal each other if you face a dire situation.” I took the three ammo that had different colors. Red, blue, and green. “Green flare.” I showed them the ammo. “It can only be used to signal the other elite soldiers in the other towns that you are all under the attack by the rogues. It means there is no need for assistance.” I bestowed them the flare gun and the green flare ammo so they could check it. “Red flare. This is for you to need assistance and backup as soon as possible. Lastly, the blue one is signaling that Magnius Lothim is in that certain location.” I leaned in my seat. “I’m thinking of using one color which is red. And what you all need to do is to fire how many times to create the meaning of the signal.” I hummed, looking at the ceiling and twitching my lips. “Perhaps, let’s set the testing process tomorrow with Claude. Let’s test it day and night. But we will be using a smoke flare signal, not a flare gun. What do you all think? Are you all available tomorrow?” I asked, feeling hopeful at them.
They all chuckled. Eden was the one who spoke. “Your Majesty, you sounded like we are not always present.”
“Luna Queen, of course, we are available. If it’s only for you, we are available,” Samson said through chuckling.
“Your Majesty, visit us often. We haven’t seen you always,” Aurora said, sighing.
“True! I wish to have some tea with Luna Queen Rachelle but unfortunately, we can’t do it anymore.” Flora pouted.
I laughed. “I shall take some time for that. Jack, can you set me a schedule for once or twice per week?” I wiggled my eyebrows.
“But you already have a full schedule, General Rachelle.”
I arched my eyebrow. “Do something. I can’t have my commanders sulk at me.” I opened my palms and held Flora’s hands. “I can’t have the youngest commander here waiting for me.” Flora and I both giggled.
Jack sighed in distress. “I just hope Alpha King won’t scold me with this additional schedule.” He rolled his eyes which I just chuckled.
“He won’t. I assure you.” I stuck my tongue out.
“Your Majesty, you are still as childish as before,” Cornelius said in a neutral tone but his eyes had amusement in them.
I grinned. “As cold as ever, Cornelius. You never changed yourself.” I was about to say some more when I suddenly sniffed the mint and after rain. I stood up in no time when I turned to the door. “Claude…”
People here in this room turned their heads to where I was looking at. Then moments later, I heard the banging in the door and some scratches.
“I shall tend to it,” Jack said and opened the door.
My eyes widened seeing Claude’s wolf form looking annoyed right now as he snorted when he saw me. He even squinted his eyes at me when he took strides in my direction.
I smiled wryly. What did I do this time?
“Claude…” I gulped when he was right in front of me and transformed into his human form. He looked annoyed right now.
“Greetings, Your Majesty, Alpha King Claudian.” The people around me said in unison.
Claude just nodded. “I’ve been waiting at the pavilion. Didn’t Felix instruct you to come there for lunch?” he asked, frowning.
I covered my mouth with my hand, looking at him surprised. “W-What time is it?” I asked nervously. Claude didn’t say anything but he was just glaring at me. I slowly turned my head to them. “W-What time is it, everyone?”
They checked their pocket watches. “1:20 PM, Your Majesty,” they said in unison.
“Oh my…” I laughed nervously, looking at Claude. It was supposed to be lunchtime. I already didn’t notice the time. “I-I can explain…” I said, feeling nervous right now. “I am still not yet finished speaking with them. C-Can you wait outside for a moment, Claude?”
“Why? I can’t be here?” he said in a hostile tone, squinting his eyes at me. “I’m the Alpha King so I can be here anywhere and anytime I like.”
“You can be here…” I said, chuckling. I have him sit down. Dear moon goddess… Claude is sulking. “We are discussing the flare signals that will be used by half of the troops of Eagle Mist.” Then I explained to Claude how things were going to work. But even after I explained, the knotted on his forehead couldn’t just be easily gone.
In the end, I approached him and hugged him. I made him lean to my chest which surprised the commanders and Jack when Claude hugged me back. They all looked away when Claude growled at them. I hit him on his shoulder.
“Behave.” He just frowned at what I said. Then I turned to them. “Samson, Aurora, Eden, and Jarrett…”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” They nodded their heads.
“You will be assigned to this certain area.” I watched as Jack bestowed them another parchment to read on. “That will be the certain locations that you all need to monitor. I have already done some deductions with Claude. We thought that would be the locations that Magnius Lothim will be planning to attack in the near future. The rest of the commanders are going to the battlefield with me.” I turned at Claude. “I decided to do some flare signal testing tomorrow. Will you be available in the morning and evening?” I asked softly.
Claude looked up. “I can tell Felix to clear my schedule for the whole day.”
“No, not a whole day!” I said, feeling distressed all of a sudden. “This six in the morning and eight in the evening…” Calm down, Rachelle. Calm down…
“Or I can clear up the whole schedule…” He shrugged.
I sighed in defeat. He really was acting stubborn today. “Jack, tell Felix not to clear his schedule tomorrow. If I happen to know that this Alpha King of yours has cleared his schedule for the whole day tomorrow, I will have him sleep outside my chamber.” I scoffed.
“What?!” He looked at me in disbelief. “Rachelle…” He shot me a glare.
I smiled sweetly at him and pinched his cheek. “Yes, I am threatening you. Arrest me, Your Majesty.” I grinned.
Jack looked frightened before he hesitantly nodded. “Y-Yes, General… I shall inform… Sir Felix.”
“Good. Meeting adjourned. I’ll see you all tomorrow!” I said, waving my hand at them.
They bowed their heads. “Your Majesties, we shall take our leave,” they said formally.
“Have your lunch, Jack. You can come back later.” I smiled at him.
“Y-Yes.” Hesitant, he also left.
“That’s not a good threat to use…” Claude said as he distanced himself from hugging my small waist.
“It is a good threat,” I smirked at him before I lowered my head to kiss him fully on his lips which surprised him.
When I broke the kiss, Claude was still in shock. But later on, he smiled. “Threat me again. Then kiss me after so I wouldn’t mind it.”
“What the hell…” I rolled my eyes as I hit him gently. But I smiled. “I am famished. Shall we eat?”
He nodded. He stood up and immediately hugged me from behind. “Can I have you for my dessert later?” he whispered huskily.
I gasped as my eyes widened. “Claude!” I said, feeling my face flushing in embarrassment. But Claude, as evil as he was, just laughed at my reaction.