Chapter 28 - The Failed Plan

It has been three days since the arrival of the king to Azurethra. All necessary plans have been made, but the people of Punt are yet to be seen under the lights of the sun. A very strict and strategic plan was taken to make sure they, the people of punt, are taken by surprise and will be done for good.

Carthage, the seat of the king, has been in total worrisome and met with the absence of the king. Gladly, the queen and her daughter are left behind to take care of affairs from where the king left them. Akinidad is also with his mother, prepared to take down anyone who attempts tempering with the land of his birth and its dwellers, while Hakeemi has also shown some level of unflinching personality by joining the King and the rest of the army in the fight for their land.

Back in Carthage, some few soldiers are left with the same purpose of protecting the people and the throne, but not much strong and brave men are left.

The punt people have been defeated several times by the Ptolemaic people and during those times of their defeats, they are determined to win in whatever battle that might occur between them and the Ptolemaic people again. With their determination, they studied all war strategies of the Ptolemaic people and decide to take them by a sortie.

Amongst all four kingdoms that occupy their respectful locations, the Mapungubwe Kingdom occupies the East, the Kush Kingdom occupies the West, The Punt Kingdom occupying the South whiles the Kitara Kingdom occupies the North. It is also believed that aside the Ptolemaic Kingdom being the strongest amongst them all, the Punt Kingdom, with a few populations, comes second after them, then comes the Kush Kingdom before the Mapungubwe Kingdom. The Mapungubwe Kingdom are the weakest yet with the most and hardworking people after the Ptolemaic Kingdom.

The Ptolemaic Kingdom, with their population, made use of their men by training every child that reaches the stage of puberty in preparing them for such situations. Military training is not made only for the male child, but also for any female child that think they are brave enough to face any enemy that tries attacking its Kingdom at any given time. Due to this scheme, they are not so worried about their increasing population, but rather try utilizing them in the best ways that they can, by grooming them into warriors.

The Mapungubwe on the other hand, are more into farming, fishing and carpentering, which makes them the weakest amongst all Kingdoms. They prefer heeding to their day-to-day life activities rather than indulging in any form of war. With this unique behaviour of theirs, they pay their most obedience and alliance with the Ptolemaic Kingdom, because they ensure their safety and wellbeing.

With the people of Punt, knowing so well of the consequences that awaits them if they move ahead with their attack on Azurethra, knowing the two greatest warriors of their time are involved in the battle, they decided to pass through the Mapungubwe Kingdom, capturing them as their slaves, and enroute to Carthage, where the palace of the king reside.

This battle has been a crucial one for the king, with the determination of wiping and taking the Punt Kingdom under siege, because it is the only way to end the continuation of such taboos always committed by them. With all these being the motive of the king, he took away some soldiers guarding the borders of the Mapungubwe Kingdom, to join them on the battlefield, leaving them with few to nothing security at the borders. This being the thinking of the people of punt, it will serve them great benefit and favour taking the land of Mapungubwe. This time, the kingdom is about facing its toughest battle experienced in a very long time.

Azurethra has been on the watch out for long and are beginning to wonder why their enemy is taking so long to attack. Having killed the moon wings should be enough reason for a reckless and swift attempt attack on Azurethra and should not take that much long of a time. As the waits keeps prolonging, the king then ordered some of his men to go into the forest and see if the enemies are there. Before the men went into the forest, all imperative backup measures have been taken and ready for any attack if any should happen. The men took on their heels into the forest as the king has commanded. On their reach to the forest, the men realized there was no one in the forest. Just the ashes of some moon wings and traps left.

The men quickly rushed back to the palace and stated their observations to the king. Upon hearing this, he realized the mistake he must have committed, leaving the borders of the weak amongst the kingdoms bare and unprotected, which is a sure enroute guarantee to Carthage, his town.

Traveling to the east is not that far but it is quiet a journey. It takes a whole day's journey to ride from Azurethra to the east by horse and take more than a day traveling by foot. This really took the king by a stupefy.

Akinidad and Hakeemi looked on with astonishment as they wonder what might happen if no one is to be at Carthage to ensure the safety of Princess Nala and the queen mother. There is a large surprise look on everybody's face, as they are all dumbfounded and thinking to themselves -our land is finally taken.

Upon noticing the mistake done, the king did not know what to do. He quickly ordered some soldiers to take their rides and begin their journey back to Carthage. It is obvious Mapungubwe will be taken by the people of Punt, and what is left to do at this time is ensure the borders of Carthage is safe and allow them no entry into the kingdom. The soldiers selected by the king, took their horses and weapons, and start their journeys back to Carthage.

On the flip side, the intention of the Punt people is not to take over Carthage upon their arrival, but to take the princess hostage and demand the resignation of the king as the ruler of the kingdom, in exchange for his precious princess. It is well known that the king will do absolutely anything to ensure no harm comes to even a single hair on the princess's body. She might not be the heir to the throne, but she is certainly the most precious thing to the king. The few securities left at the borders of Mapungubwe are strong, but not strong enough to take on a whole army designated for a whole battlefield.

As the people of Mapungubwe face their daily life activities, they cared less of what might befall them in the next few minutes or hours or days, since their concern is having a good life and knowing so well their security and well being is being taken care of by the Ptolemaic Kingdom. As they go on with the daily affairs, the dwellers living close to the bordders examined a wide range of unusual noises from the security camp that houses the soldiers from Ptolemaic. As this being unusual, they quickly run to the palace to inform their king of what has befallen the soldiers at the camp. The king is worried now and wondering what might have happened to the soldiers. The only was to redeem their land and ensure their security back is by the intervention of their strongest ally.

It hasn't been long when the noise starts getting closer and closer to the market square, and even to the palace. The people being just normal people and weak at defending themselves, the whole kingdom gets in the state of panic and begin to wonder what their fate will be. If the king's palace is taken over by the soldiers of punt, it will surely be a game over for them. All that is left is for the king to flee his palace and move to the next town or village leading to the Kush Kingdom.

The kingdom is overtaken a total chaos and wander. Life is beginning to take a steep turn on them and this will surely lead to the end of their reign if the coupe is successful. They begin to lament on why they haven't taken their securities serious. They are all at the verge of becoming slaves to the most heartless and greedy people amongst them.

Due to the small number of soldiers left at the borders of the Mapungubwe Kingdom, it was easy for the soldiers of Punt to take them under captive, drive them into the kingdom and begin to destroy any property that stands their way. As they approach the inner towns and villages of Mapungubwe, the intent heading straight to the kings palace, have him captured and them enroute to their land of destination, the Ptolemaic Kingdom.