Chapter 76 Northern Alliance
LUCIEN'S POV
“This should be sent out immediately.” He motioned to the letters in front of him.
He glanced at Sam on his right, and Marcus on his left.
“You shouldn't be here, Marcus. Sam and I can handle this perfectly.”
“I know that, Your Majesty.” Marcus stepped forward. “But it would kill me if I didn't help.”
Sam snickered at his statement, before rolling his eyes. “That should come from someone who has dignity.”
Marcus ignored Sam as he faced Lucien. “What would you have me do, Your Majesty?”
Lucien sighed. Both men could never stop bickering. Sam took pleasure in picking on Marcus and Marcus never seemed to care, which made Sam all the more angry.
“It's time.” He whispered to the men, who turned their attention back at him. “My seals are all here.”
Sam stepped forward, obstructing Marcus's view with his larger frame. “The men are ready.”
“Good,” Lucien nodded in appreciation. He pointed to the map on the display board. “This is where we kick off.”
Sam nodded. “Mike and his people are ready to take off.”
“Good.”
“I have a question.” Marcus's voice rang out, stopping Lucien who was stamping the letters with his seal.
“We were compromised?” Lucien was doing everything to keep himself from screaming at the men who stood in front of him.
They all looked away except Marcus and Sam.
The generals, Lucien's friends across the globe had been summoned.
Konstatin stood on one end, chewing his lip slightly, and on the other, Olivia stood in a white overall, her hair flowing, her skin glowing; her presence a stark contrast to the other men in the room.
“Clear the room,” Lucien muttered, waving the men away.
Six people, including Lucien remained in the room. Sam, Marcus, Konstatin, Olivia, Lucien and Seth.
Lucien allowed his gaze to roam around the room, before it landed on Marcus.
“You were right.” He commented, pacing. “We have a mole within us.”
Marcus nodded. It felt good to be right, but this was not the best time to celebrate.
“Luckily, we took your advice,” Sam grunted, his expression one of respect.
“Still doesn't excuse that you are weak.” Konstatin snickered from the side.
“First it was your kingdom and now, one of your men has betrayed us. What's next?”
Lucien rolled his eyes, not in the mood to bicker with his annoying friend.
Marcus sighed. “The letters have gotten to the appropriate people.”
“Which is why we are here,” Olivia added, speaking for the first time. “Finally ready to act?” She looked around dramatically. “I don't see your beloved Queen with us.”
Lucien groaned, massaging his temple. They'd only just gotten here but they were already giving him a headache.
“Seth?” Lucien directed his attention to the only person in the room who had not spoken.
Seth raised his brows. “Oh? My turn?”
Konstatin and Olivia sighed in frustration, simultaneously. “Remind me why you brought him here?” Konstatin complained.
Lucien smiled wryly. “The same reason I brought you.”
“Still haven't gotten over losing yet?”
“Me? Lost?” Konstatin sputtered at the man Lucien had just called Seth.
“Also heard how you couldn't take your eyes off Lucien's mate.” Seth continued.
Lucien's jaw worked overtime. He had to curtail this before it got out of hand.
“Gentlemen and Lady.” Lucien's voice rang out. The room turned quiet as they all faced him.
“I know you're having fun. Of course, it's not always the four of us get to be together all the time.”
“That's for you, Seth.” Olivia snickered. “You're the wanderer.”
“Liv?” Lucien groaned.
“Sorry,” she mouthed.
“We have a war to plan, people. And we are almost at our wits' end.” Lucien continued.
“We don't plan for wars. We fight them.” Konstatin corrected immediately, an annoyed expression on his face.
Sam had a pleased look. For once, he and the annoying general were finally agreeing on something.
“That's a fallacy, K.” Seth pointed out immediately.
Lucien hid his smile at Seth's use of Konstatin's nickname. He'd not heard that name in what seemed to be ages.
Konstatin howled, his eyes changing. Lucien had a sense of what was going to come in a few seconds.
His eyes locked with Olivia's, before she smiled.
“Alright boys, wrap it up. This isn't some playground.”’
Seth looked away. That would have really been a fair fight. Cause now I know you're ready.” He snickered.
Konstatin scoffed. “Fair my foot.”
“Perhaps we should leave you to fight. By the time you're done, Damien would have taken over your kingdoms and put some random lords in charge of them.”
His words seemed to do the trick as Konstatin puffed, returning his attention to the map pinned to the wall.
“What have you got?” The words slithered through his teeth.
Lucien exhaled in relief. “These,” he pointed to a section in the map. These are the people on Damien's side.
“That's the Eastern plains, isn't it?” Olivia pointed out.
Lucien nodded, deftly picking up a pin as he pinned that other part to the wall.
“And this is where we've got.”
“The Northern plains.” Seth's voice was quiet.
“Not all,” Lucien corrected, his hands pointing at the left part of the Northern plains.
“Grey Walls.” Seth's voice was quiet, eerie even.
The temperature of the room dropped as the other generals looked away, except Lucien.
“Their reason?” He pressed, his hands grabbing a table as he clenched his fingers.
“Nothing of good measure,” Lucien spoke, his eyes glancing warily at Seth. But that was not the truth. The Grey Walls were refusing to offer their support on account of Seth.
“Damn it, Lucien. Tell me the fucking truth.” The table gave way under his arms, making Olivia flinch.
“That's not really important, Seth.” This time around, Konstatin spoke.
His voice was bereft of all his usual arrogance. There was a bit of fondness in it.
Seth nodded, pursing his lips. “I'm sorry about your table.” He motioned to the broken table on the floor.
The veins that had been protruding out of his head a few seconds ago had suddenly disappeared.
“What's next? I could go talk to the Grey Walls if you need me to.”
“No!” All three of them screamed at once, making him smile.
Lucien pointed at the map. “We still have the Southern and Western Frontiers.”
They nodded eagerly. “And if I'm to guess, your opponent already has half of the Southern Frontier on his side.” Konstatin snickered.
Lucien nodded, ignoring Konstatin's bicker. “That leaves us with the Eastern part.”
“No, it doesn't.” Seth protested, making them turn their attention to him.
“This part.” Hos fingers circled a small part of the Southern Front. “I believe it's the Hale Mansion.”
Lucien narrowed his eyes. “What are you trying to do, Seth?”
“Relax,” Seth smiled. “I'm the wanderer, aren't I? How else do you think I managed to come home in time?”
“Can you quit talking about yourself and just tell us what you've got,” Konstatin muttered impatiently.
Seth ignored him, a satisfying smirk creeping up his face.
“Damien doesn't have this part.”
“And you're sure, how?” Lucien beat Olivia to it by asking first.
He shrugged. “I know.”
The room fell quiet, each man left to their own thoughts. “Say, you're right…”
“He isn't.” Konstatin interrupted.
Lucien glared at the General. “Say you're right, that only gives us a small portion of the Southern Frontier. Our army needs to be equal.”
“I think you're forgetting something.” Seth pointed out. He seemed to be having the time of his life, keeping them in suspense.
“Can you just spit it out, Seth?” Olivia groaned, her frustration building. “I'm pretty sure we've got other things to attend to.”
Seth shrugged, glancing at her and looking away almost immediately, his lips curled, signifying that he was restraining himself from retorting.
“The mercenaries.” He turned back to Lucien.
Lucien sighed in exhaustion. With all of his planning, he'd completely forgotten about the mercenaries in the plot.
“That's true…wait,” his head whipped up in shock. “How on earth do you know about that?”
Seth rolled his eyes. “I'm a wanderer, Lucien. Every one of the mercenaries has that information.”
Lucien gulped. He'd begun pacing again.
“But there's something else,” He smiled triumphantly. This time around, he wasn't going to wait for their anticipation to build up.
“These mercenaries aren't loyal.” He completed
“They're for the highest bidders.” Olivia chimed in.
Konstatin nodded.
One after the other, their faces lit up.
Lucien could feel the frown that had settled on his forehead easing off. “Now, that's something.” He muttered.
“But that's not even the most beautiful part,” Seth said with the annoying smile they'd come to associate with him.
“Seth?” Olivia groaned.
“I'm familiar with the head of the mercenaries.”
Gasps filled the room.
Lucien narrowed his eyes.
“Or,” he smiled as he stood up and walked to where the map was. “Succinctly put, I'm the head of the mercenaries.”