''Another carriage was attacked yesterday, Your Highness, three bodies were found, while twelve are still missing", Henry frowned while listening at the bald man across the round table. It wasn't uncommon for the demons to attack humans as they were their main source of food. However, the numbers were alarmingly high, not to mention the locations and recurrence. Due to the curse on their kind, the demons were not able to walk in day light nor step too far into the human lands away from their exiles. Nevertheless, their latest attacks defined all the known facts.
Pinpointing the location of the attack on the large map, Henry looked at it thoughtfully, his thick brown eyebrows knitted in a deep frown as tried to connect the knowledge he had with the data displayed in front of his eyes. Looking back at the generals, ready to share his conclusions without taking offense by their doubtful eyes. They watched every single one of his moves carefully as not all of them believed in the crowned prince abilities to lead and protect the kingdom. But since the king had been neglecting his duties in the past few months, more evidently in the past few days due to health problems, they were left with no choice but to give the prince the benefit of the doubt.
"Have you scanned the entire area?", Henry didn't need anything beside their nods to understand the situation. Looking back at the map, he focused on the little red pins, all five of them.
"Sir Lucas.", The bald general straightened his back in a sign of respect, he was yet to witness the crowned prince ruling proficiencies but he was well aware of his military excellence, his wits and good judgment over matters. He was one of the very few who believed that the young prince deserved a chance to shine and prove himself, especially after being shadowed by his father all his life.
"I need you to spread a royal decree. Everyone shall stop using that road, and any road near the dark forest or the king's forest. We also need to start recruiting and training new soldiers, we must increase our numbers. Quickly", At the unexpected words, the generals all stared at Henry then at each other.
"These attacks are anything but ordinary. I know some of you think it is merely a bunch of savage demons unable to control their blood thirst. However, if you looked closely, you will see that these attacks have some kind of a common pattern. First, they only attacked transportation carriages which had enough people but not enough protection, they didn't attack villages, nor soldier troops, only helpless travelers. Second, these carriages' timing was wrong, they were all late."
"I believe that the tardiness resulted from the king's decision about the forest and no…", The blond general was silenced immediately by Henry's cold glare, he didn't have the best relationship with his father but he wasn't going to sit still and hear a mere general accuse and disrespect him.
"Secondly, the state we found the bodies was also strange, the deaths were clean and fast, unlike what is known about the demons and their love for gore. The other bodies were not found either nor was any proof that they were killed in the first place. I am thinking that these attacks were not only planned and organized, but the point of them wasn't to kill and feed, but to kidnap as much people as they could, women and children as they preferred those. The question is why? And for that I have two possibilities. One, they are taking hostages for trading, but that is very unlikely since they have nothing to ask of us. The second however, is that they are keeping the hostages as live stocks."
"Live stocks? But why?". The same blond general who interrupted him earlier asked, worry lacing his voice.
"For the same reason as us when we start stocking our food. A hard time is coming, and I believe it will be a war…"
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Henry greeted the generals politely as they walked out of his office, finally allowing him some room to breathe. A tired sigh escaped his lips as he closed his eyes and laid back on his grand chair behind his desk.
"Are you okay, Son?", Henry opened his eyes to look at his mother, the sight of her gentle face and concerned eyes already doing wonders to him as his mind instantly relaxed while a warm smile graced his handsome face.
"I am, Mother. Just a little tired." Henry said while getting up from his chair behind his desk, taking his mother's hand, he guided her to sit next to him on a small sofa, away from all the maps and scrolls.
"It is just too new for me; you have nothing to worry about". It is not getting any easier, the young prince wanted to add but he didn't want to add any worries into his mother's plate as she had enough of those already. He looked at her lovingly, noticing the dark circles she tried to hide with that weird powder women used to look pretty.
"You have never been a good liar." The queen said knowingly without depriving her eldest son from her affectionate smile. Henry chuckled softly at her comment, his mother always knew him, to her he was an open book that she could understand with a single look, a fact he was grateful for, with a stone hearted father like his, the only source of affection he and his siblings had were their mother. The word generous was not enough to describe the amount of love and care his mother had given them over the years, all while her own heart was broken.
"Strong rulers create good times, and good times create the weak rulers who create hard times, those hard times recreate the strongest of rulers. You were born in a hard time, Son, maybe the hardest since the great war, but I believe it wasn't arbitrary. You are a great person, son, and would lead the kingdom out of these rough times." The queen assured her son with a squeeze of hand, encouraging him to be the man was meant to be.
"Did they ask about your father again?", unlike seconds ago, Queen Katherina's wasn't smiling but instead wary and cautious.
"Of course, they did..." henry said with a sigh, "And I am running out of excuses…".
"Did anyone suspect anything?" The queen asked, worry written all over her face.
"Even if they did, they are hiding it well enough. Father wasn't a popular man after all.", seeing the sad look his mother gave him, he caressed her hands with his thumb, "How can you love him so much, after everything he have done to you".
"You will understand once you fall in love, Son", Queen Katherina said while caressing her son's cheek, admiring the shocking resemblance he had with his father, he was a splitting image of his father except for his eyes as he had her blue ones.
Henry on the other hand, grabbed his mother's palm to kiss, no words could describe the way he loved the woman who gave him life. He wondered for so long how could his father betray her, she was so beautiful with her red curls and blue eyes, and even her angry freckles were so adorable, she was the kindest woman, her ability to love and give always surprised him, she was of a great family and played a major role in the kingdom's affaires. She was just, too perfect, unlike the excuse of a human he had as a father.
"We should start preparing for our next step though, Son. We can't waste more time. Especially after everything that demon said…", both Henry and his mother dropped their smiles, replacing it with utter seriousness.
Both the crowned prince and his mother thought back about the creature they were keeping locked in one of the safest cells they had, It was a miracle for them to capture it alive, of course that miracle cost Henry some of his best men but the information he acquired was worth the price.
"He mentioned they had a new lord, and that he was looking for her. The hybrid". Henry said with a pointed look.
"We can't let that happen...". The queen nodded at her son, hoping the decisions they made were the right ones.
"Do you think she is there? In the forest?" Henry asked while noticing the turmoil in her eyes, before she shook her head with a sigh…
"The time is way too perfect, He declared that the western forest was a king's land and forbade everyone from walking in it right after the attempt on his…daughter, But I still don't get why, whether she is the one the demons are after or not, the western forest is right next to the dark one.it is the most dangerous place in the kingdom."
"Maybe he knew we were after her as well." Henry said knowingly, before shaking his head, "Not that it matters now with where he is."