Revolt

"What?" Did Nina hear that right? Taken away by demons!?

Nina's father put his hands together on his lap and explained to Nina what had happened. "Siegfried told me that the demons had taken someone away that matched Kies's appearance. Kies was also nowhere to be found after the battle..." Rene didn't have to say the rest. The chances were that Kies had been taken by the demons. It was either that or he was one of the bodies that were still being retrieved from the battle.

Nina fell to her knees with a blank expression on her face, unable to take in what her father just said. After a few moments of silence, she started sobbing.

***

As Siegfried walked back to the tent where Lentis and everyone else was, he saw soldiers running around frantically, grabbing weapons and armor. Everything was a mess since the revolt was hastily planned.

The Council rejected Otane's offer for a truce when it was brought up to them without even a thought. Lentis argued with the Council and explained that there were demons interfering with the battle and that if they don't stop the war right now, the demons will end up destroying both of them. Both kingdoms were very weak right now and the threat of demons rising up again was not something they could ignore. They needed to call off the war and do whatever they could to get rid of the demons first.

But despite Lentis's sound reasoning, the Council refused to listen to him and threatened to try him for treason if he didn't continue fighting against Otane. With no other choice left, Lentis decided to stage a rebellion right away. Word spread like wildfire and the Council immediately tried to suppress Lentis but was unable to since he had the protection of the Otanian army and had already won over all the commoners in under an hour after announcing his intentions. So here they were planning a rebellion that was to happen no later than midnight today.

Siegfried entered the tent and found Lentis and Jenabas still discussing some matters. They greeted him and went back to their conversation. There were plenty of empty seats around but Siegfried decided to stand by the entrance.

"Though we massively outnumber them, most of our soldiers are commoners with no fighting experience," said Lentis. When word spread of the revolt, a considerable percentage of the population gathered under Lentis. Almost all of them were from the lower and middle classes. The only nobility that joined him were the unsatisfied ones and a good portion of the knights.

The nobles on the other hand had a very small force. However, a great number of them were magic users, and that combined with the fact that they are holed up in the palace which was pretty much designed to be a fortress made it a tough fight.

"Is it possible to surround the palace just as we have done with your walls?" Jenabas asked. Since they vastly outnumber the other side, if they just surrounded the entire place, it would be difficult for them to defend the palace since they wouldn't be able to protect every side at once. The soldiers could climb over the walls of the unguarded side and it would be a swift victory from there.

"No," Lentis turned down her idea. "The entire palace is surrounded by a moat. The only way across is by a bridge in the North, which the nobles had raised. We have to find some other way across," he explained to her.

Lentis tried to think if there was some other way for them to cross the moat and get into the palace. After a few minutes of thinking, he figured that there was no other way to the palace except for the bridge. Unless... "Actually, I think your idea might work. The south side of the palace is where the defense is the weakest. I can try using my magic to build a bridge across the moat, but it'll take some time so I need to be defended while doing so."

"That's not a problem. Our mages are trained to shoot down projectiles. Also, coincidentally the south side is where our siege weapon is. We can move it into the city and break the wall. That way we wouldn't need ladders and it would allow the soldiers to make it into the palace faster."

Jenabas supported Lentis's plan, but he shook his head which made her confused. "Is there something wrong with that idea?"

"Are your mages able to shoot down magic missiles and cannonballs?" he asked her.

"What?"

"Although the south is the weakest side, it is still armed with powerful weapons. We need to find some way to either disable them or render them useless. Your siege weapon would not be able to get a shot off with them there."

Jenabas placed her hand on her chin. "Hm, that is a problem."

"Why not have soldiers surround one or two of the other sides and once the enemy is distracted with defending those sides, we can attack from the south?" Siegfried suggested.

Lentis and Jenabas both looked at Siegfried and thought about his idea.

"That could work..." They both said at the same time.

Siegfried opened the flaps of the tent and peeked outside. There were still soldiers running around arming themselves, but most of them had finished preparing. "Alright then, now that we have finished planning, let's start the siege. I don't think that the soldiers can wait any longer."

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