Mind over matter - part 2

"What are you a daft dimbo. You must be aware of such news considering you belong to the royal family of hunters." Tethys condemned.

Selene rolled her eyes, realizing her mistake. It was obvious Tethys would not reveal any information without belittling her in return and his insults were just getting more and more personal by the hour. She learnt that the hard way and eventually decided to stay shut for the rest of the journey back.

But when she did not speak for a while Tethys broke the ice himself.

"Do you think father would consider us worthy of participating in war?" He questioned as he stared blankly outside the window.

Selene quickly noticed the changed in his tone and sensed the vibe. It was a tough question to find answers to. In all honesty, she felt the same tension coursing through when she put a thought to it. Were they really worthy of something like that.

It was an honour to any hunter to fight for their people. And Tethys and Selene wanted the same but being the royal children not always felt like a cherry on top. They had to abide by certain rules, ones that included men below twenty one years of age cannot participate. And for Selene that was even worse cause she was not a woman.

She put her hand on his as she said, "He will definitely consider that brother. And if he doesn't then you and I will make sure to help him in any way possible." She promised and smiled at Tethys.

"You are right." He replied. "After all you are not that useless sister!" And with that he joked again to bring back normalcy between them.

*******

"You called for us Father?"

Themiesto who has been walking back and forth inside the tent finally let his notions slide away on the arrival of his sons, Callisto and Oberon.

"Come on in!" He replied and then stood in front of the map that was laid on a table inside the tent. Several pointers like miniscule flags and pins were placed at targeted spots.

Themiesto finally cleared his throat as he began.

"I have complete faith in both of you. . .", he assured meeting them directly in the eyes, ". . . and so I have called you two here to ensure if the duties you two have been put in charge of are coming together properly." He demanded.

"Yes Father." Callisto began. "All the men, under my jurisdiction, have been trained well and been taught the recent war strategies and tactics to deal with situations. I have personally taught them swordsmanship and the results are coming in as expected." He finished.

Themiesto swivelled his head sideways at Oberon.

"I have done the same with the men placed under my observation. And besides that, I have run background checks on each and every man who has volunteered for the war to ensure no werewolf learns about our strategies in disguise of a hunter. And so far, we have found no spy among them." He stated.

"Some new men have also showed a sudden interest and have participated in archery. I had them investigated twice just to make certain, we are not being taken advantage of. Apart from controlling men under us, Brother Callisto and I have been making sure they learn to wield other weapons like spears, knives, twin blades etcetera." He added in his report.

"Very well boys!" Themiesto smiled. "I have never doubted you two for once."

As Themiesto finished, Jonathan, the royal advisor entered the tent and bowed to the King.

"Prince Tethys and Princess Selene have left the premises and are now headed for the castle!" He reported and took his place beside the King.

"Father! Is there anything else we can do?" Callisto confirmed.

"Jonathan and I were going through the war strategy just now. It is imperative for you two to learn about it as well." He commanded.

Callisto and Oberon both nodded and now stood across the table. On the orders of the King, Jonathan began to detail the strategy to them which was to be learnt and followed during the war.

The sun moved lazily across the horizon and so did the world with it. An hour went by and several minutes were spent explaining each and everything in detail. By the time Jonathan was done, Callisto and Oberon were already beginning to make sense of the whole thing.

To begin with, women and children were the first on priority to be safeguarded. Everything was planned keeping in mind that the effects of war should not reach to the kingdoms where people lived. All the werewolves were supposed to be beheaded right on the battlefield. None was supposed to be find a route inside. I t would not only give them an upper hand but would also risk the safety of the citizens Of Bellicus.

In conclusion, the safety of families of hunters was given the priority over the goal which was to wipe out the werewolves. Because it was the existence of people that outstood all the other things for them.

********

Near the borders of the kingdom of Ardolf, galloped the three wolves, hopping and sprinting in the dark dense forest. They rounded up the forest twice, patrolling the borders of their kingdom and now ran free through the woods.

Of the three of them, the huge black one with crimson eyes was reining in the other two. Of the remaining two, one was a brown haired she wolf while the other one was black with flecks of grey on his fur. The three of them were eventually heading back to the kingdom, as the distance gradually diminished.

It seemed like the three wolves belonged to some royalty or were acquainted with them. Once they were inside the castle premises where the Alpha of there pack resided, they ceased their frivolous activity and each one of them began to transform back into their human forms, and near their spots were their clothes laid down as a pile in the meadow.

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Spoiler : a new character going to be introduced in the next chapter!!!