Page 4 of The Stolen Princess
“Assuming we find them,” Bryant added.
Trev nodded. “That’s why I called you all here. I want to form a secret alliance between our six kingdoms.”
The other kings looked at each other.
“What exactly would the secret alliance do?” Davin asked.
Trev lowered his voice. “I want to go after Adler’s weapons.”
Reddick and Marx scoffed, but Trev ignored them, continuing, “I thought we could each send a man from our kingdom—our best man—to Tolsten to work together to retrieve the weapons.”
“What would they have to do?” Reddick asked.
Trev shrugged. “Bryant and I have spoken, and we have a few ideas, but first, I want to make sure you’re all on board. We all have to agree to complete secrecy,” Trev said. “If anything goes wrong, Adler will come after Albion first, and I don’t want to put my kingdom in danger.”
“He may even come after New Hope. If he thinks this mission is a retaliation from…” Bryant’s voice cracked and he coughed back his emotion before continuing, “my daughter’s death.”
“Are we sure Adler was involved in the princess’s death?” Hilton asked.
“Joniss Doman admitted that he had been working with Adler and that the man who shot Seran was one of Adler’s men,” Trev explained.
Reddick leaned back into his chair. “What if Adler didn’t know? What if his man went against him and shot the princess on his own?”
Bryant tensed. “What would be his motivation?”
“We have proof of letters between Joniss Doman and King Adler,” Trev said. “We know for a surety that they were working together and that Adler was involved. His goal was to break up the alliance between New Hope and Albion.”
Davin nodded. “Because of that, I don’t think we should go after Adler immediately. If something goes wrong, it does put an unnecessary target on New Hope and Albion. I think we should take our time planning and strike in a few months when Adler least expects it.”
“I agree,” Trev said. “Our story needs to be that as a Council, we decidednotto go after Adler. We need to say that none of us wanted to start a war.”
“I’ve heard rumors of Tolsten rebels. Perhaps we can also say we are waiting to see if Adler’s people challenge him,” Davin added.
Trev nodded at the king of Enderlin. “That’s good too. This is the story we have to use around our advisors, our families, our High Rulers, our friends. No one is to know about what we’re planning besides those of us in this room.”
“What about your commander?” Marx asked, looking directly at Drake.
What was with this guy?
Drake stepped forward. “I’ll be the operative we send from Albion, so you don’t need to worry about me.”
Trev looked back at him. They hadn’t discussed who they would send from Albion, but there was no way Drake would send anyone but himself. This mission was too critical, and he didn’t want anything to go wrong.
“Fine,” Marx muttered. “Besides this Rommel guy, who else in Tolsten do we have on our side?”
“Rommel said in his letter that he has a guard inside of Tolsten House whom he trusts and is working with. Some man named Officer Arco.”
“And,” Drake added, “there is a village north of Tolsten House that is willing to turn against Adler. Other than that, the operatives will be on their own.”
Davin rubbed his chin. “I’m in. I want those weapons destroyed.”
Marx shrugged. “Why would I get involved with Tolsten when I have no reason to?”
“No reason?” Bryant flared. “Up until a few months ago, I never had any problem with Adler or Tolsten, but Adler didn’t care about that. He targeted my daughter. Murdered her! All because he didn’t want my kingdom to align with Albion. He’s responsible for one of the biggest losses in my life. Who’s to say that he won’t target someone you love next?”
Hilton, Marx, and Reddick looked at each other. Trev and Drake had known that those three were going to be tough to convince. They all ruled their kingdoms as isolationists.
“We need to think about this logically,” Trev said. “In the past, we haven’t had anyone inside of Tolsten working with us. Now we do. As leaders, if we don’t take this opportunity to go after Adler, we’ll be endangering our kingdoms.”
