Plans

It is a tense morning in the palace of king Remus of Esop as he watches his chiefs from the comfort of his throne, the king received news from one of his spies in the kingdom of Dars that their king had a meeting with his cabinets and has decided to send his first son as an emissary to deliver a message of warning to him, he was so enraged that he killed the spy out of anger immediately he got the message but now he is a little bit calm as he awaits a reply from his chiefs after he has told them the gist of the matter. Seated right now on his throne, he looks at his chiefs and wonder what use this stupid old fools are to him exactly, he considers them as yes men who agrees with everything he says in his presence and pretend to love him but he knows it is all a lie, he knows they despise him but are just afraid of being buried in the sky, but he is not concerned about their feelings towards him, all he is concerned about is making sure they do not oppose his rule and the only way he has made sure of that over the years is through an iron rule.

"My king…" The prime minister started bringing the king out of his train of thoughts, he was just thinking about the day their father had told them that his older brother Silas will be the king of Esop, he had been enraged but kept his calm, he was enraged because although Silas is his older brother and by right is supposed to be the king but Silas had been nothing more than a man of the world, chasing around ladies in the kingdom and the surrounding kingdom with his friend the king of Dars, whereas he has been the one who stood by their father as he manages the affair of the states, he is the warrior he could count on and at the end he was overlooked in favor of his brother only to be made chief general of the whole army, although at first he was angry by the situation of things but he had turned things around to his advantage, it had taken him years to accomplish but he had manage to gain the loyalty of the soldiers under him and hence he was able to overthrow his brother.

"I believe we should welcome the emissary from Dars and hear what they have to say, we are not a nation under their rule, so we do not expect them to dictate to us."

"Yes, my king, they cannot dictate to us so we need not worry at all." The minister of finance, a short bulky man with a balding head said.

The other chiefs chorused their affirmation regarding what the two chiefs said, the king looks at them all and decides to accept their thoughts.

"Okay, we will welcome him with open arms and moreover we are expecting him on the day our tournament begins, so he will be a welcomed guest." King Remus said whereas he is already hatching a personal plan of his own in his mind, the thing that bothers him is how Dars would think themselves superior just because his own kingdom has fallen on hard times in recent years because he remembers that during the reign of his father king Francis, the kingdom of Esop could not be taken lightly, other kingdoms fear them and his father made sure it stayed that way, now that he looks back on those days, he feels a pang of guilt as it is during his own time that things became this way, now that he is thinking about those days, he decided that he is ready to start getting back the glory days of Esop and he will start by making an example of the so called prince coming from Dars to dictate to him in his own kingdom.

"Your majesty, I think that is a splendid idea, let us hear what they have to say." King Remus was brought out of his reverie; he looked at his subjects and nodded his agreement at what the prime minister said.

"Ok I have heard you and we will give the emissaries our utmost welcome, you are all free to leave." The king said dismissively, and the chiefs all stood up and bowed to the king before filing out of the room.

After the chiefs are gone from the throne room, the king signals to one of the guards to come closer, when the guard came at his king's behest, he bowed and waited for his king to give his command, "Get me the chief general and tell him to come over here this instant" the guard immediately bowed and exited the room.

As the king sat waiting for Nemas to come, his mind couldn't stop going over different scenarios of what he could do and how to go about doing it. He knows that Dars are powerful now compared to the past when Esop was the powerhouse but what the other kingdoms fail to understand is that apart from his standing armies that are increasing by the day, he is scouting for thousands of mercenary fighters in the outlying territories.

King Remus looks up to see general Nemas walking in swiftly into the throne room, "My king, you wish to see me?" he said bowing to his king.

"Yes Nemas, sit down." The king said wearingly looking troubled.

"My king, you look troubled, what is the matter?"

The king sighed and arched forward in his chair, "Have you heard about the emissary coming from the kingdom of Dars?" he said putting his right hand under his chin and biting the nail on his thumb.

"Yes, my king, I heard about it, and I intend to talk to you about it during the session, but I had to leave the city yesterday night to go check on my men at the border so I couldn't attend the meeting, I was just heading back into the city when I saw your messenger so I decided to head in immediately."

"Oh ok, so how was your patrol?"

"The men are okay your majesty, I would prefer if we dealt with the more important issue at hand." Nemas said making sure the king understands the importance of what he is saying.

"Yes, I know, but what do you suggest?" the king asks.

Nemas looks around the room to ascertain if they were alone before continuing, "I suggest we send them a clear message of strength, they think we are weak, let us show them otherwise."

"Ok, but what exactly do you suggest?" the king asks pensively.

"This is what we should do my king." Nemas moves closer to the king in order to tell him his plans.