Roland prepared for war. Despite the knowledge that he would lose. Despite the overwhelming odds that would only become more so when Beast inevitably commandeered many or most of his people.
He'd gotten as many people out as he could. He'd refrained from revealing anything about the plan to a single person more than necessary, especially those who were staying behind.
If they retained their knowledge and memories when enthralled by the Beast, the monster would instantly have all their plans and intelligence within his grasp.
Part of Roland wondered why he was even trying this hard. Gwen had left. There was not much to be done. Most of the city had stayed, either unwilling to believe the hideousness of what was to come or deciding that facing it here was better than retreating to the unknown.
He forced no one. Roland lived in his office at the City Hall now; sleeping in an empty house was too much for him to bear. He could not face his bed without his wife, his home without his children.
Emotion choked Roland's throat. He had died for them once. He could do it again, even if the Sorcerer would not intervene this time.
Now, he sat in the Council chamber, poring over maps and battle plans and defenses. As if it would do any good. His ever-present, mostly-silent bodyguard was outside the door to give him privacy.
As if that's what he needed in such a lonely time as this.
He stared until his vision blurred, then rubbed his eyelids with his fingertips.
"You're really focused on this," A voice mocked from the corner. "Did you forget that war is my job, not yours?"
Roland's lips twitched lightly. "And just what is my job, as king-commodore-emperor-sultan-whatever-else-you-called-me?" He looked up at Riley.
"Well, as far as this particular city is concerned, you are the Provider and the Judge. You just got rid of half a million mouths to feed–"
"Sending rations with them which vastly depleted our own." Roland interrupted.
"And the jail population is at an all-time low!" The General grinned.
"Because we offered all nonviolent criminals the chance to work off their sentences and fines by cultivating the outlying farms to feed the city." Roland ran a hand down his face. "And many of them ran off into the wilderness to either starve or join Beast."
"Further reducing the number of mouths we have to feed," Riley said cheerfully. "See, you're doing great at all of this."
"Riley, while I admire your unwavering optimism, I'm not in the mood for it just now." The king rested his forehead in his palm.
"It's when you want it least that you require it most," The General retorted. "Come on, I have nothing better to do than torture you just now. If you want to plan a war, who better to spend your time with?"
Roland was actually rather surprised Riley wasn't visibly stressed. The man before him stretched lazily.
"You're very calm." He observed.
"Why wouldn't I be? Ashley and the kids are off on a grand adventure, well-guarded and safe, and I got to sleep last night without infantile interruption for the first time in years." Riley yawned.
"You slept?" Roland asked with surprise. He'd tossed and turned the entire night.
"Like a baby. Which I have far too many of, the little munchkins," Riley said fondly. "Look, I know you had a trial-by-fire having three at once and all, but they all grew out of that newborn stage of needing attention twice an hour. I, on the other hand… I barely get one sleeping through the night before Ashley's having another. Not that I mind, of course, but it does take a toll."
"You realize who is at fault for her pregnancies, of course," Roland said mildly.
"Oh, well, yes," Riley shrugged. "I told you I don't mind. Prefer it this way, if I'm honest. But a night of rest did me a lot of good."
The king shook his head in disbelief that the General could have such a pleasant outlook with the worlds closing in around them.
"And in your good mood, you've come to torture me?" Roland asked.
"I was actually on my way to finish battle plans," The General smirked, "and thought you could use some exercise. Don't want you to get fat and lazy before your time."
"My time, indeed." The king rolled his eyes. Fat was out of the question with rationing in play, and lazy was something he didn't think he'd ever be allowed to be.
"I'm just saying, without our wives here to nag us, I intend to take up the task," Riley tilted his head. "I imagine yours gave you quite the fight about leaving. She looked like her head would explode when you said so in the Council meeting."
Roland sighed and gave a curt nod. "We had words, but the wisdom behind my decision was plain. Though her gut feelings are often the right way to go, she admitted that her protests were more out of love for me than of some deep conviction about the right course to take."
Riley looked at him out of the corner of his eye as the king stood and they strode out together. "I did wonder if she'd sneak away from the caravan like that night she went and got into the booby-trapped tunnels below the city in the middle of a war."
"That was the height of her…" Roland didn't want to call it 'misbehavior', but he scrambled about for a better word. "Recalcitrance."
Riley chuckled. "I'd call it idiocy, but I guess it did ultimately work out for all of us."
The king tensed, but called to mind Finn's parting kiss and her promise that she would stay as safe as she could and protect the children and the caravan to the best of her ability.
He was comforted that even if she did run headlong into danger, at least it was far from here. Far from Beast, who could turn brother against brother. Having Finn turned against him sounded far worse than death.
"So, General," Roland turned back to business, "what are your battle plans for today?"
"Layers of patrols," Riley laid out details of the early-warning system of horns he'd devised. No one knew how far Beast's powers reached, and so he had spread troops of men far and wide with instructions for a series of horn blast relays to warn the city of the enemy long before he came into sight of Klain.
All troops outside the city would rush outward, putting distance between themselves and the citizens they were to protect. This would hopefully keep the battle further out, and at the very least give a longer delay before they could turn around and come back to attack under Beast's orders.
The evacuation of the city itself was something that was heavily debated. Everyone willing to leave under the rumor of threat had already gone. Many were determined to defend the city to their last breaths.
No previous battle plan had hinged on abandoning Klain without even waiting for the walls to be breached, and whispers had called the General cowardly for suggesting it, let alone commanding it.
The actual plans were sealed, and each commander was given only a small piece of what was to happen so that any one captured or enthralled captain or lieutenant could only give a bit of the puzzle to their enemy.
Even the destination of the evacuation was divided into sections, with only Gwen knowing all of them. Roland did not even trust himself to escape the Beast's clutches. Once each group from Klain reached their final waypoint, a scout from the original evacuation party would locate and guide them to the main group.
"While we have a moment–" Roland grimaced, and Riley glanced at him. "I… Gwen said those with more darkness in them, hiding, would be more vulnerable to the Beast and I really don't want to be a slave, so,"
"Oh! The baring our souls moment." Riley turned to fully face his old friend with a cheeky grin. "All right. Darkest secrets, in the open, nothing hidden. Go."
Roland blinked, and cleared his throat. "I'm… afraid to die… again. I had so little time to actually think about it last time. I didn't remember everything for a long time, but I remember now. And I'm terrified. More than that, I'm afraid that the fear of death will keep me from doing what's right. I lay awake at night dreading that I will be taken from this world before I can save it, or that my people will die cursing my name because I didn't do enough to save them.
"Most of all, I feel guilt that I… fear death more for myself than for them. They are innocent, or have their own crimes to atone for. I am not sure how to atone for mine. All this is my fault. My choice brought the worlds crashing together, all this blood is on my head, and I'm horribly ashamed that what I fear most is my death, instead of worrying about theirs."