"It's just noon so there's still time..." Matteo started the meeting.
"The reason I called this meeting is to let you all in on my plan as it might directly involve you all soon enough."
"I know you all might be asking yourselves if I've gone mad for daring to agree to uncle's order. Today I'll tell you why I agreed to such an obvious death sentence."
"It will be advantageous to us because we will not fight that war. I shall leave for Minivar tonight with my twelve personal guards on horseback. The prince and the king are my friends, I shall tell them of my plans to bring uncle down from the throne and expose him. We shall meet at the tavern close to the borderline as they have already sent word of their presence."
"A good plan indeed but it's too risky. I can't bear to lose you my son, and Angela can't survive without you around." Maria said in a worried tone.
"Worry not mother, all has been planned well and it will all go well." Matteo assured Maria.
"So what's our role in this brother?" Garcia asked.
"You will follow me and my army and be second in command, mother will have 10,000 soldiers at her command, 5000 of which will protect the ladies and mother while the other 5000 will protect the mansion in case of any unwanted visitors after our departure."
"Our personal army should number around 300,000, that's more than enough to deal with uncle as his army and the royal army aren't up to 150,000."
They kept discussing and Matteo kept giving everyone their roles in the grand plan.
"Goodnight everyone... Let's see how it all goes... Let's hope for the best." Matteo bid everyone a good night.
"I hope it all goes well too... May the gods keep you son..." Maria said and they all left.
(Later that night...)
"Is everything ready?" Matteo asked in a low voice.
"Yes my Lord." A hooded man answered. He wasn't the only one as there were 11 others behind him who were waiting for Matteo's orders. They were his personal guards, the most elite unit in the kingdom known as 'the ghosts of Kirn'.
They were to venture to the border tonight to meet with the Prince of Minivar who was to await their arrival at the Olive Tavern.
"Let us begin for there isn't much time left." Matteo ordered.
They rode fast under the moonlit sky, covered in hooded cloaks. They made sure they weren't being followed before they left the kingdom. Leaving was easy as Matteo had stationed all his men at the gates before his departure.
They finally arrived at the Olive Tavern.
"Matteo, brother, how have you been? I heard of what happened. I hope you're in good health now?" Prince Arom asked.
"I am brother." "How is father? I hope he is strong?" Matteo asked.
"He is strong indeed. He sends his greetings." Arom replied.
"Alright, there is no time, we must begin planning." Matteo said.
"You already know my uncle has declared war on your Kingdom, even though both our kingdoms are on good terms. I have a solution to deal with this, but you must trust me. Can you do that?" Matteo asked.
"The matter of trust should not be spoken of when you have helped our kingdom become who we are now. We will help you to the best of our abilities." Arom replied.
"Good then. This war shall be of advantage to us because it will be fake. I shall be in command of my army and the king's army too. You shall fake a surrender and we shall go deeper into your territory and wipe out the king's army. I know he will have spies around to report back to him on the happenings in the war. The 12 men I brought with me will work with your men to take care of them. I have another army hidden in the kingdom that will escort my family to your kingdom." Matteo laid out his plan to the prince on the map before him.
"Why the need to escort your family to my kingdom? Why not take care of the remaining men in your kingdom?" Prince Arom asked.
"That is because you are at war with two kingdoms without knowing about it. You remember the Kingdom of Tonga? They made an alliance with my uncle. They plan to conquer all the neighboring kingdoms with the intention of creating an empire." Matteo replied.
"By the gods!!!" Arom shouted in shock.
"Those useless btrutes!!! We'll chop them into pieces one by one and feed them to the wolves of the wild!!!" He said in anger.
As he said that, a picture appeared in Matteo's mind and he could swear that he was about to salivate.
He gulped and shook the thoughts from his head, he didn't know what was wrong with him but he needed to focus on the task at hand.