“I promise to keep my words short,” the king said. “Are we all here?”
“No,” General Gregor said loudly. “There are three more coming. I will hurry them along.”
The general moved quickly to the door and exited the room. People began talking again, but the king remained alone in the center of the room. A few moments later, the door opened again and the general walked through and returned to where he had been standing. He left the door open and the king raised an eyebrow. Before he had a chance to say anything, Wylan and Sheri walked through the door. Zalaharic entered behind them and closed the door. The room erupted in cheers and shouts of joy. Even the face of Alexander Tork broke into a smile.
“Blessed Sword!” exclaimed King Arik as he moved towards the couple and embraced each of them in turn. “Now we have yet another reason to celebrate.”
Everyone in the room wanted to talk to the two Knights of Alcea, but Wylan merely bowed to the king. Sheri smiled broadly and curtsied and then the couple moved to the side of the room so that the king might address everyone. The room fell quiet again.
“I said that I would be brief,” King Arik began, “and I will be brief. The main purpose of bringing you all here tonight is to make sure that your views of this war are written down and preserved for future generations, but it also allows me a chance to tell all of you how we fared during the 13 Day War, and how much I appreciate the sacrifices made by all Alceans.”
The king unfolded a piece of paper and looked at it before continuing, “In the last thirteen days, we lost over eleven-thousand Alcean patriots, a loss that will be greatly mourned throughout the kingdom. The Federation lost over sixty-five-thousand men. That is such a large number that it is hard to fathom, but there are larger numbers yet. We captured over one-hundred-fifteen-thousand Zarans in the three provinces of Lanoir, Sordoa, and Targa. We also have isolated sixty-thousand more in an alternate Universe. That is a far better result than any of us had imagined when this war began.”
The king folded up the paper and continued, “We were able to accomplish this great feat because of the people who make Alcea what it is. If we had had to depend only upon the humans among us, we would have failed miserably, but Alcea is much more than just humans. Without the elves and the dwarves, we would have lost battles in all three provinces. Without the dragons and the unicorns, we could never have even made it to some of the battles, never mind win them, and without the fairies, we would have been fighting blind, with no knowledge of enemy movements or even our own. The Federation generals never counted on such support for our war effort, and that is why they lost. We cannot expect them to act so foolishly in the future. That is why our fight must be carried to Zara. The Federation must be destroyed completely, and that part of the war will begin soon. Some of us in this room will be involved in battles over there, but all of us in this room will be involved in the struggle in one way or another.”
King Arik paused and gazed around the room at the people gathered. “I just mentioned that we have one-hundred-seventy-five-thousand Zarans under our control. Most of those men have been placed in internment camps where we are responsible for feeding them and tending to their welfare. This task is not to be taken lightly. I want these prisoners well cared for. Other than the security provisions to keep them from escaping, I want them treated as guests in our country. They will not be given rotten food or filthy water. They will eat as well as our own soldiers, or even better. If there is a shortage of food, the Zarans will be fed first.”
Murmurs ran around the room at the king’s statement, and he paused to allow the noise to die.
“These men will eventually be repatriated to their homeland after the Federation is destroyed,” the king continued. “We have already taught them that we Alceans are not prone to laying down our arms before an enemy. Now I want them to remember that the Alceans treated them well. If we fail to do this, another generation of Zarans will grow up with its eyes on our riches, and we will go to war again. I will not leave such a legacy to our children, and neither will any of you. Go out of your way to ensure that the Zarans are well taken care of. In this way we preserve our own future generations.”
King Arik moved to the queen’s side, and Prince Oscar immediately moved to the center of the room before the talking began again.
“If I can just add a bit to King Arik’s words,” he began, “there is more we must do with the prisoners than just feed them. Men cannot remain idle for long periods of time without becoming discontented, and we don’t know how long it will be before we repatriate them. I think it is essential to find meaningful work for the Zarans. I have drawn up plans that will employ tens of thousands of them in making ships for their voyage home, but we need to come up with other useful purposes that we can get them engaged in. None of the Zarans will be forced to work, but I suspect most of them would want to remain active in one fashion or another. If any of you come up with ideas, I would like to hear of them.”
Prince Oscar left the center of the room and the noise level rose considerably as everyone began talking again. Jenneva turned to find Alex chuckling to himself.
“What is so funny?” she asked.
“Oscar has found a way to expand his fleet,” replied Alex. “The Zarans will gladly work on the ships to take them home, and he will own those ships once he delivers the prisoners. I fully expect him to start a trading route to the Sea of Tears as soon as the Zarans are delivered home.”
“And he is already soliciting other ideas,” laughed Jenneva. She looked into Alex’s eyes and smiled warmly, “It is good to see you smile again, Alex. You, too, have been a gift to the Alcean people, and you should never forget that.”
“The people of Alcea will never forget it,” said the queen as Arik and Tanya joined Alex and Jenneva in the corner. “This country owes a great debt to both of you, but then they always have. When are the two of you leaving for Zara?”
“In the morning,” Alex answered. “We have governments to topple and princes to crown.”
“And battles to wage,” added King Arik. “May the gods watch over both of you.”
THE END
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13 Day War Page 63