Planning

"Mero, we need to talk" said Wura as she walked into Mero's office without warning as he was busy working and he looked up and sighed at her.

"My Queen it is late, I thought that you would be sleeping by now" said Mero as Wura just glared at him as she sat down across him at his desk.

"It seems that everyone knows just what I should and should not do" said Wura with a hint of annoyance in her tone as Mero just looked at her.

"I am serious my Queen, you should be asleep right now, it is very late, and today has been a long day, you need to get some rest" said Mero as Wura scoffed.

"You say it as if I am a child that does not know when she should go to sleep" said Wura.

"That was not what I meant my Queen" said Mero as he could tell that she was offended, and he did not mean to offend her, it was just that it was late, and he was just as tired as everyone else.

"I meant that it has been a long day for everyone, and it would be better that we all rest" said Mero.

"I know what you really meant Mero, and I ask that you do not treat me like a child and keep me out of important matters that I need to be involved in" said Wura.

"I know that my Queen, and I apologize for offending you with my words" said Mero.

"It is alright Mero, I accept your apology, only that you say that it has been a long day and everyone should rest, and yet here you are, still awake, is that not hypocrisy?" asked Wura.

"I understand what you mean my Queen, but right now, I cannot afford to rest, we need a battle plan, we are in a serious mess right now, and relaxing at this point in time would be insensible" said Mero.

"Glad that we agree on the same thing Mero" said Wura as Mero sighed internally, knowing fully well that she was not going to leave now, she wanted to speak to him about something.

"I agree on many things with you my Queen, only that we do not see eye to eye sometimes" said Mero.

"I know that, and that is because you believe that I cannot handle things, while in reality I can, so instead of pushing me away and resorting to do things on your own, carry me along and keep me informed" said Wura.

"Would that make you happier my Queen?" asked Mero.

"Yes Mero it would" said Wura.

"Alright my Queen, you have my word, I will tell you everything that you need to know" said Mero.

"Thank you Mero" said Wura as she hoped that he would keep his word.

"Now that we have that settled, tell me what you are planning" said Wura as she knew that Mero of all people, already had a plan, she just wanted to know what it was and if it was safe.

"Well my Queen, the East have already struck first and they will definitely strike again, which means that we need to strike them first before that happens" said Mero.

"Alright, and how exactly do you suppose that we do that?" asked Wura as she happened to have a bad feeling about this.

"There is no other way to do that, than to attack one of their towns in return" said Mero as Wura looked at him with wide eyes.

"But that would just be unfair, why do we have to attack one of their towns in return?" asked Wura as she definitely did not like the sound of this at all.

"Is there not any other way to fight without harming innocent people who have nothing to do with this?" asked Wura as Mero looked at her.

"There is no other way my Queen, this is the only way for us to fight back" said Mero.

"I do not agree with that Mero, this is unfair, it would be wicked of us to use innocent people as a means for revenge in this stupid war" said Wura.

"My Queen I understand you, but this is the only way" said Mero.

"No Mero, I refuse to turn innocent people into a game for this war" said Wura.

"There has to be some other way Mero, why do we not just fight then directly?" asked Wura.

"We cannot do that my Queen, currently we have the lowest number of troops that we have ever had, we are outnumbered, to try to attack them right now would be the equivalent of trying to kill ourselves" said Mero.

"You have to try to understand my Queen, this is our only option" said Mero as Wura sighed.

"Mero, I will not allow you do that, I mean if we do that, how does that separate us from them if we use the same dirty methods that they do?" Wura.

"My Queen, I am sorry to say but you know nothing about war, this is how these things work" said Mero.

"That may be true, I might not know how things work, but I surely do not agree with the way that things are being done" said Wura as Mero sighed, she was not understanding him, that was why he did not want her to be involved in this, she would not understand,

"Mero, do not give me that, tell me what do you think Liam would do in a situation like this?" asked Wura.

"Liam has never been in a tight situation such as this before" replied Mero.

"Do not say that Mero because you know the truth, answer me, what would he do?" asked Wura as Mero looked at her and sighed.

"He would want to save as many people as possible" replied Mero.

"Exactly, and you know that is what he would do, and we are going to do no less than that" said Wura.

"I know my husband, and he is not a killer, he derives no pleasure in killing innocent, people, and neither will we" said Wura.

"And that is final Mero, do not dare test me, I would rather we hand the kingdom over to them, than resort to being as wicked as they are to kill many innocent people, separate many innocent families and destroy many happy homes" said Wura in a very stern tone.

"My Queen, you did not let me finish, I never said anything about killing anyone" said Mero.

"Then tell me what you mean Mero, tell me now" said Mero.

"I already asked Lown to scout around the East so I can draw a map of their less populated cities and towns, we can target those to just give them a scare, but we will in no way harm any of the people there, so as long as they do not try to fight us we will not fight them" said Mero.

"Are you sure about that Mero?" asked Wura as she looked at Mero.

"I am very sure my Queen, you have my word that no one will be harmed, as long as they comply with us, if they agree that they want no war, and that they are on our side, then they will be protected" said Mero.

"And if not?" asked Wura.

"Then we will have to imprison them until this is all over" said Mero.

"And you are sure that this will work Mero?" asked Wura.

"Or at least for now it will, until we gather more troops, then we can attack them directly, but for how, we have to play things safe" said Mero as Wura sighed.

"Alright then…" said Wura as she knew that she was asking a lot from Mero with all her demands, but she really wanted for no one to get hurt, and this whole thing was just stressing her out, she was sure that with all the thinking she was doing, she would soon start to get white hair all over just at her age of nineteen.

"Yes my Queen, I hope that everything is settled now, and I also hope that you will trust me" said Mero.

"Mero I trust you, I really do, you are Liam's right hand man, who else would I trust if not for you?" asked Wura.

"I just wish that things did not have to turn out like this" said Wura.

"Me too my Queen" said Mero.

"But for now, it is late please get some rest I beg you, Liam would want you to rest despite everything" said Mero as his words caused Wura to smile sadly.

"I know he would, but he is not here right now, so I can do whatever I want" said Wura as Mero smiled and she stood up.

"Goodnight Mero, and thank you for bearing with me" said Wura with a smile as Mero smiled.

"Goodnight my Queen, and please rest well" said Mero as Wura nodded and she left.