17. Pledge fealty to me

Queen Qarinah and her cohorts started to make plans and moves on conquering Darca. She sent signs and warnings each day she killed my people. She even sent notes through her evil bird ordering me to relinguish my throne to avoid war from the kingdoms, and we were outnumbered. One of the notes read 'Dear lady Diana of Darca, I queen Qarinah of Tron and ruler of Galtelo have an offer to you, PLEDGE FEALTY TO ME and your kingdom shall be peaceful once again or it can go back to how it was 100s of years ago' I was quite a stubborn one and I can't just pledge fealty to of all people Qarinah. I squeezed the paper whenever I received them. I wasn't scared of facing Qarinah but I was scared of facing her and her cohorts put together. I was scared but I knew Torren would not be happy if I couldn't face them. I didn't know how to do it but I knew I had to protect Darca and defend Torren's throne.

I never thought I will be in a position to make a decision that will affect an entire kingdom without Torren. I was glad I had loyal citizens like Kahlan, sir Magnus, sir Leon and my entire army and kingdom. I was also glad to have Louisa by my side. She did everything to keep Torren safe and reduce his pains.

I sat on my throne discussing with Sir Magnus and Kahlan when Sir Leone entered the palace. "My lady, this note was delivered with a dead body" Sir Leone said and handed over the note to me. The note read You're quite a stubborn one. You cannot give your people a good life. Pledge fealty Diana, I can make their dreams come true" I read it and handed it over to sir Magnus "Queen Qarinah has been constantly sending me notes like this. I think it's time to respond to her" I said thinking of a better way to respond.

"My lady I think we should just ignore her for now. We need to gather our army and prepare for war. Qarinah wants you to strike first and if you do my lady, we will lose Darca. We are outnumbered 6 to 1" Sir Magnus explained.

"Our army is not enough sir Magnus" I sighed "gather other men and train them, they will fight with your army. Kahlan will assist with the training" I said to sir Magnus.

"But my lady....." I cut sir Magnus short before he said his mind. "You will do as I have said sir Magnus. We don't have much time left before Qarinah strikes. We have the strongest soldiers you can think of to face and a powerful as well, does that clarify your confusion?"

"Of course my lady" Sir Magnus bowed.

I thought of another plan because I knew that even all the men in Darca is not up to one fourth of the soldiers we are about to face.

"Erm, sir Magnus?"

"My lady" he responded paying attention.

"Ready some of your men, we'll leave for Draven at dawn tomorrow" I said.

"My lady please permit me to ask why we have to go to Draven"

"To seek help. How long will it take to get there?" I asked.

"My lady Draven is a very dangerous place to visit" Kahlan said.

"And they will never help us" sir Leone added. Sir Magnus was speechless and was still trying to understand why I would even consider Draven as an option.

"I asked how long it will take to get there" I didn't really mind their comments.

"2 nights my lady. But my lady they can't possibly agree to help us" Sir Magnus finally spoke up.

"And why is that?, they are vampires, lord Torren's kind" I added.

"And also lord Torren's greatest enemies my lady, Lord Torren would never solicit for their help no matter what" Sir Magnus added sharply. I knew this but at this point, I already decided to do it. I knew Torren will be mad at me when he finally recovers, if he ever will but I was left without a choice.

"Lord Torren can single handedly conquer Qarinah but we can't sir Magnus" Now I got angry and spoke in an angry and hurt tone "Lord Torren is sick Magnus, we could lose everything he has ever protected, our land, our lives. We have no powerful sorcerer who can face Queen Qarinah, we have no other choice sir Magnus" I looked at the three of them and in a clam tone I asked "Does anyone here have a better plan?" They all kept mute, "then you leave me no choice. Magnus, Ingrid and two other nights will follow me to Draven, Leone, Kahlan, you both have to protect Darca and recruit soldiers, I will have to do what my husband will never approve of".

"My lady it is my primary duty to protect and keep you safe" Kahlan complained. She never wanted to worry about me out of her presence for one day.

"I can protect myself Kahlan. Darca needs you more. They are my people and I must keep them safe" I reassured her.

"Kahlan is right my lady. We have enough knights to protect Darca and recruit soldiers, I think we'll need Kahlan more than we'll need Ingrid" Sir Magnus objected as sir Leone concurred with him.

"What about lord Torren and Louisa, they need someone to guide and keep them safe" I said as Louisa's voice interrupted me.

"No we don't. I can keep us safe from my mother" Louisa entered the palace "I'm sure any servant can assist with whatever we need, you can assign Ingrid to us"

I smiled and agreed with all suggestions made.

"We will leave tomorrow, at sun up. Sir Leone, I'm trusting you with my kingdom" Sir Leone reassured me. I believed in him because I know his skills. I know what he is capable of. I wasn't also confident to leave my husband under the care of a little one but then I had no choice and I had to believe in Louisa and her powers.

The next day, we prepared, all five of us got ready and got up to our horses to set out. Sir Magnus gave out his final instructions to sir Leone before we left. "Protect the citadel. We lose it we lose everything, keep the little one and lord Torren safe we will be back in a four days, five at most"

Sir Leone listened to him attentively and promised to protect Darca with his life. We all bid farewell before we rode off in our horses.