"My Lady! Come here, quick!" A panicked voice came from the hallways leading to the throne room.
There sits an elegant lady, prim and proper, and a bored expression on her face. "What kind of insolence is this, George?" The chin that was once rested on her hands rose as he looked down on her servant.
"I-I'm very sorry, M-My L-Lady, but someone has intruded the palace!"
A loud bang was heard all throughout the palace. The poor servant George was scared in wits end while the other staff of the castle were terrified for their co-worker.
"George."
Flinching at how his name was called using such a chilling voice, he looked at the woman who had now stood up. Her cold stare looking down at him, like she's discerning if he was worth giving food anymore.
"What were the palace guards doing when the break in happened?" Walking away from her elevated throne, down to the staircase, she got closer at George who was frozen in place.
"Th-They w-were stationed at their d-designated places, My Lady."
"How did they not see the intruder? Are they blind? As far as I'm concerned, I do not pay blind people to look out for potential murderers." She massaged the space between her already knitted eyebrows.
"N-No, y-you do not have b-blind--"
"And when did I say you can talk back to me, George?" Not wavering from her cold demeanor, she looked at the man intently and that made the man shuffle in his feet straight to the guard house while spitting apologies as he ran.
"Incompetent."
Clack.
"Useless."
Clack.
"Can't do a single, JOB!" She sat on her throne again, she sighed. "I got to take matters into my own hands like always."
There was a dangling rope in her right side that led to a special bell, that when it rings,
The whole palace will be sent into a state of urgency.
"Get the horses ready!"
"Shine the swords!"
"Restring the bows!"
"Get ready for the Lady's orders!"
The palace staff were all over the place but as soon as she entered a hallway, the scattering staff got themselves in line, not missing a beat in greeting The Lady of The Palace formally.
Her posture stern, her expression looking for order in everything, her aura screaming authority,
That's her, Lillian Tame. The sixteenth Lady of the Tame Palace. In the history of the family, she can be called the most ruthless of them all, but at the same time the most talented in ruling a palace.
She entered a room and just as she expected, all of her most trusted strategizers were there. There were five of them to be exact.
The doors made a loud sound so instinctively, all of those who were inside turned their heads to the one who entered.
"My Lady, are you sure you had to make the whole palace go into a state of panic because of a single intruder?" A man in his late 20's said. His name is Kalil John, the general of the Private Sector in her military faction.
"Of course she had to, they got through my elites!" The one who just said that was the commander of her Security faction. James Fritz, a capable man at the age of 21.
"Stop being so proud of your pitiful excuse of a security unit, Fritz."
"Your air force didn't do much help too, Freid!" The woman named Freid just laughed at James who was much more annoyed at her than how someone unnamed just busted through his elite force.
"I, Tori Fried, Commander of the Air Force Faction, am very much happy to announce that there was--"
"No one who intruded and it was just the imagination of my brother George? Yeah right, Commander." The fourth of her circle entered the room with George tailing him from behind.
George and Gregory Reed, Messengers of the Tame Palace. Their family has served Lillian's family for centuries, and of course they have to follow the tradition. Though Lillian highly disagreed with them continuing the tradition, they insisted saying that it was their "duty".
"Late, noisy, out of order, do you all think this meeting is a joke?" At the voice of the lady in charge, the two who were late immediately rushed to their seats, those who were bickering set their differences aside first, while the one who had been calm throughout the whole ordeal just kept his calmness at bay.
"W-We're sorry, Lillian--"
"Lillian? I'm not going to waste time on your choice of addressing me. What I want to know is how someone can break through our defenses. Our defenses are the best in this whole nation, so I expected results of one."
Standing up from her seat, she went around the table, eyeing each and everyone of her trusted members. "Now, report."
"Yes ma'am." said James as he grabbed the scroll from his pockets. He layed out the scroll on the long table. There, it illustrated the totality of land the palace utilizes. It came with the illustration of the walls, where the guards were positioned, and every room inside and outside the main palace building.
James pointed at the gate which acted as the front entrance. "As you can see here, about 10 men were stationed in the walls that are the acting pillars of the gate. Over here," he said while encircling with his finger the space a bit further from the gates. "This is where the witnesses saw the man, or woman, who got inside."
"Tori, what about the air force?" Tori nodded and pointed at the space a bit farther away from the main palace building. "Over here is where the hot air balloons were placed. The placing allowed it to see the walls from a farther distance."
She then pointed at the giant window of the room they were in. "Since it is concluded that the intruder did in fact enter by going over the walls, they must have used a technique to hide their overall presence."
"Does that mean there's an unknown way of fighting we do not know?" Calmly stated by Kalil while sipping his tea. When he finished sipping, he set it down on the saucer and looked at her higher up. "Is that even possible, My Lady?"
"It is." This shocked the whole table. "Claire." Those who were inside the room were confused but when the maid named Claire entered the room with a map, they were even more confused.
"M-My Lady! You let someone listen in on our strategy meeting?!" Tori exclaimed and James, for the first time in a while, agreed. "Why would you have us when you're going to let others listen in anyway?!"
Not bothering to look up at them, she layed out the map and overlapped it with the one James brought out earlier. "Maynard isn't the only nation out there. Think bigger you fools." She pointed at a landmass, far bigger than the one they were in.
"Rumors are circulating through the capital about this nation here, Frag. Some say it's the center of technology but no one has proven that rumor true yet. The other one, no matter how ridiculous it seems, magic."
"M-Magic?!" George exclaimed but regretted it when Lillian's focus went to him. "Yes George, magic. Even though it sounds absolutely hilarious, that's the basis we are going to go with."
She heard Kalil humm so she looked at him questioningly. "Do you have something in mind, Kalil?"
"Well, My Lady." He chuckled and looked at her with intense seriousness. "Why don't we use our secret weapon?"
Someone hit the table hard and it made a loud sound that seemed to irritate the esteemed lady. "Gregory, do you dare?" The man just shook his head.
"You'll be in deep danger, My Lady. I cannot let us use our secret weapon." He glared at her but Lillian didn't falter. She held his stare with far more intensity. "Do you have any other plans?"
It was quiet and there were no back talks coming from the man. His gritted teeth and clenched fist were simultaneously released as he heaved a deep sigh. "A-As you wish...My Lady."
She briefed all of those at the table on what they were going to do. Some were reluctant to agree to the plan, but since it was Lillian's last word, they couldn't do anything.
"That is all. I want everyone to notify each of their factions on what they are set to do."
"Remember, this is a battlefield. We do not know who we will be fighting so I suggest you move fast but carefully, accurately but discreet. I only want one thing and that is not winning." She moved towards the door but before she completely disappeared from the room, she looked back at her allies.
Allies, friends, they were close people to her. "I don't need to win if my trophy would be a casket with your decayed bodies. If you guys win alive, then that's a bonus for me."