The Adventures of Emily Tual Book Four: The Rising
Chapter Ten

Seraphina looked down at her map of the kingdom. She had to replace the next location for the Resistance to strike. In the last few years, she and her Resistance army had grown in numbers. There were more X’s on the map. Each X was a Black Hand location where she and her forces had struck, crippling the Black Hand greatly. Each victory they had encouraged more people to join the Resistance. There had been word reaching her every once in a while about villages defending themselves against the Black Hands without the Resistance being present. The X’s were getting closer to the Dark One’s palace.

Seraphina looked up as she heard people entering the war pavilion. It was Gabriel, Victor and a few other Resistance leaders. They had all become members of Seraphina’s Resistance council. They were the ones who helped her with deciding where to strike next. Seraphina didn’t know all of them but she did value their advice. The only member she didn’t entirely trust was Victor. Gabriel’s older brother had become more sullied and kept to himself whenever they weren’t having meetings or attacking Black Hand spots.

Seraphina looked at Victor. The man had his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t look happy. Not that she could remember him ever having a smile. He always had a mad look on his face. It did creep her out though whenever he was looking at her. Like he was eyeing something. Seraphina always talked to Gabriel about it but Gabriel always said Victor was probably just trying to replace something wrong with Seraphina’s leadership so he could wrestle control away from her.

“So what’s the plan? Where do we strike next?” Gabriel asked. He was impressed with Seraphina’s leadership. She had changed from a young teenager to a confident young woman. She was getting her people to believe that there was a better future for them all. He would follow her to the ends of the world. It wasn’t just because she was leading them all to freedom. Over the last few years, he started having feelings for her.

Seraphina looked at Gabriel. Victor’s younger brother made her feel safe and confident. She could always count on him to help her with making choices. Gabriel was like a bodyguard to her. A friend and maybe someone she could see herself with when this was all over. She couldn’t deny that she had feelings for him. She could also tell that he had feelings for her but he never acted on them. No doubt because they were still busy with this fight.

Seraphina looked down at the map. She had to figure out the next place for them to hit. The problem was, most of the closest locations were heavily armed and close to each other. At least a day’s ride from each other. If they were to try to attack one place, it could take a lot longer than past victories did. If they didn’t take the next place within a day, the other fortresses near it could send reinforcement or put up more defenses at their spots. The fortresses were made to be impossible to invade. It was why they made a circle around the Dark One’s palace.

Seraphina shook her head. “We can’t strike until we have more Resistance fighters.” She told the council. “The fortresses of the Black Hand make a ring around the inner villages and the Dark One’s palace. If we tried to just take one, the ones on both sides of it can send in reinforcements or cut us off if we do make it past the one.” She pointed at the map past the closest Black Hand fortress. “If we do make it into the ring, they’ll outnumber us and it won’t matter if we take the Dark One’s palace or not, they’ll be able to reinforce the Black Hands at the palace.”

The council looked down at the map. Seraphina was right. It would be risky to try to just attack one fortress with the other twelve around left unconquered. It would give the Dark One the perfect chance to defeat them all. They all knew that there were rumors of the Dark One being furious that they had gotten this far with their victories. They had more victories than any other past attempt of a Resistance. Their spies reported that the Dark One had more weapons transported to the palace walls and had as many Black Hands as he could at the palace. The recruiting age had been lowered to five, not that it did much good. The villages no longer hid from the Black Hand. The men would fight against the Black Hands while the women took the children to safe places.

The Dark One was losing more and more Black Hands while the Resistance gained more support and troops and everyone knew that. It made these fortresses even more dangerous. The Black Hands in the fortresses would fight to the death and not give up so easily. They had the weapons on the battlements and the gates were locked. The Resistance only had what they could carry with them.

“So what do you suggest we do?” Victor asked. “Just give up and go home with our tails between our legs like dogs?” Was this really going to be the end of the Resistance? He couldn’t believe that he had stayed this long with them. The only reason he did was that he knew that Seraphina was the key to the future of the empire and that if he had her as his own, he would be the next ruler. He refused to give up now. Not with their victory so close.

Seraphina shook her head again. “No, we’re not giving up. We just need to plan this carefully or we’ll be forced to give up.” She answered. Didn’t Victor realize that they needed to be careful now? This wasn’t just raiding small supply wagons and saving prisoners. They had taken as many of the outer fortresses and prison camps. Now they were up against the more dangerous fortresses and more lethal Black Hands. The upcoming battle decided whether or not they would be able to continue their war against the Dark One for years to come. There had never been such a strong Resistance army like this before and there would never be a Resistance like this in the future.

Seraphina looked at her map. She could tell that Victor’s words had rattled a few of the Resistance council members. No doubt they were all wondering now if she could lead them against the Dark One’s forces. Seraphina’s eyes wandered to the Dark One’s palace. It was in the center of the ring that the thirteen fortresses made. If only they could make it to the palace and take it before they dealt with the fortresses. Then they could call on the villages throughout the empire to attack the fortresses. The Black Hands in the fortresses would be forced to surrender because the Dark One would be locked up in the dungeons.

Seraphina pointed at the Dark One’s palace. “This is where we strike next.” She told the council. “I know it’s risky but if we can take it, we can call upon the villages on both sides of the fortresses to help force the Black Hands in the fortress to surrender. We cut off all of their supply runs and force them to use up whatever food and water they do have. If we try to attack the fortresses now, we’ll just be wasting our time and killing our own people.”

One of the council members cleared his throat. “But if we go for the palace, we risk a massacre.” He told Seraphina. “The fortresses will just send Black Hands to aid the ones at the palace, trapping us on both sides.”

Seraphina looked at the council member who had spoken. It was Jasper. He had come from one of the villages that they had saved towards the beginning of their campaign. He and Gabriel were like brothers. The two of them always presented ideas together and would talk to each other often when Gabriel wasn’t with her.

“So what do you suggest we do?” Seraphina asked Jasper.

Jasper looked at the map. There had to be something that they could do. He knew that the fortresses were a day’s ride away from each other. He counted it up in his head. It would take thirteen days just to get to each of the fortresses. That didn’t even cover how long it would take to conquer each fortress. He looked up at the others. “What if we were to attack a fortress with a small army and send the next army to the next fortress while we attack the first one and then once we have the next fortress busy, we send the next army to attack the third one and so on and so forth until each fortress is busy?” He asked.

Jasper took out thirteen of the Resistance pieces. He laid one at the closest fortress. “While this attack is happening,” He put two pieces on the map, one at each of the next fortresses. “We send our two armies to the next fortresses at the same time. That way, they can’t send reinforcements to the ones we’re attacking without meeting our armies head on.” He kept putting two pieces on the map at a time as he spoke until each fortress was covered with a Resistance piece. Jasper looked up at them all. “It will take time and give the Dark One more time to put up defenses at the palace but it will give us the chance to trap him within the ring.” He said.

Seraphina thought about the plan. “We’ll need thirteen different armies.” She said. “I don’t think we even have enough Resistance fighters for four armies.” Even with all of their victories and volunteers coming to join them, Seraphina seriously doubted that they had enough to take on all of that. She looked at Gabriel and Victor. “You’ve been with me the longest in this war.” She said to them. “Do you think that we would be able to do something like Jasper suggested?”

Victor and Gabriel looked at each other. “I think we could.” Gabriel said. “But it would take time to get the troops we need to carry out such a plan.” He shook his head. “At least a week if not more time.” It was a large plan. According to Jasper’s plan, it would take about six or so days just to get to each fortress. Gabriel knew that it would take longer to win the fight at each one. “Maybe while we have the attacks going on at each fortress, we send a small strike force to the palace and try to sabotage the weapons and supply runs to the palace while smuggling people to safety.” He said. “That way, neither the fortresses nor the palace can send reinforcements to each other.”

Everyone thought about it. “It will be a steep price to pay.” Seraphina said. “Lives will be lost in this. Even our own lives could be taken. When this war is over, not all of us will be standing in this pavilion again. If we do this, there is no going back. It’s a price I’m willing to pay.” She took a deep breath. “We wait two weeks for more volunteers and to start splitting up our forces into thirteen armies. Then, once the two weeks are up, we go to war against the Dark One’s fortresses and his palace.”

Later that day, Seraphina was walking by herself along the edge of the Resistance camp. Her mind was on the upcoming war. She knew that there was a good chance she could be killed at any given time during the fighting and that it might be her own father who kills her. Her hand stayed on the hilt of her sword. She wasn’t going to go down without a fight. She would fight her father if she had to.

Each time she heard something move, Seraphina turned to it. Now that it was clear to the empire that she was fighting her father, she knew that she had to keep her guard up all of the time. Any snap of the twig could be caused by the boot of a Black Hand. Any bush shaking could be a Black Hand getting ready to pounce on her. A creaking of a tree could easily conceal a Black Hand assassin. She had Gabriel use his magic which he had recently started using to test her food for poison. She kept a dagger under her pillow when she slept at night. Seraphina always had Resistance fighters check rooms for possible traps before she entered them. Each person who came to join the Resistance was checked for any Black Hand emblem. Seraphina knew that Black Hands always had the emblem branded somewhere on them.

Seraphina saw a few of the Resistance fighters on border patrol. She was relieved that they were there. She could see the closest Black Hand fortress from where she was. The Resistance fighters would be able to alert the rest of them if the Black Hands decided to launch an attack. She was surprised that the Black Hands hadn’t attacked yet. They had been there after all for a few days now. It was hard not to see the Resistance camp. Seraphina thought for sure that the Black Hand would have attacked while the Resistance had been setting up camp. They must have been ordered not to or were setting up more defenses around the fortress.

“I thought I would replace you here.” Seraphina turned around to see Gabriel standing there. The young man had his arms crossed over his chest. “You always seem to be on guard.” Gabriel continued as he joined Seraphina.

Seraphina nodded but removed her hand from the hilt of her sword. She knew that she didn’t need it when Gabriel was near her. “We are very close to my father’s palace and the most lethal Black Hands.” She reminded Gabriel. “If I’m not, the Black Hands might try to kill me.” She didn’t need to remind Gabriel that the Dark One had gone from wanting her captured to wanting Seraphina dead for treason, causing rebellion and unrest throughout the empire. If her own father wanted her dead, the Black Hands would carry out the orders.

Gabriel looked at the fortress. “Still no sign of attack.” He said. “How odd.” He thought that the Black Hands there would have done something by now. Resistance spies reported that the Black Hands in the fortress would just be setting up defenses each time they had gone to the fortress. It was like the Black Hands cared more for the fortress and staying inside.

Seraphina shook her head. “You wanted to see me about something?” She asked. She seriously doubted that Gabriel had just shown up to discuss the Black Hand fortress. She was hoping that Gabriel was about to tell her how he felt about her. Now was probably the last time he would have the chance until after the war was over. Assuming of course that they were both still alive after it.

Gabriel nodded. “I wanted to talk to you about something very serious.” He told her. His heart was beating very fast at this time. He was nervous but he wanted to do this before it was too late. He knew the real reason why Victor was so interested in Seraphina and he wanted to spare Seraphina from that kind of life. “Every once in a while a man replaces someone he wants to be with for the rest of his life.” He continued. “But he is never sure when the right time is until it’s too late.”

Seraphina felt her heart began to beat faster. She had a feeling she knew what Gabriel was about to say to her. Gabriel took a breath before he continued. “In the last few years we have been together, we have fought against Black Hands side by side. We’ve liberated many who were oppressed and saved as many lives as we can. We’ve fought together, wept together, lost friends together.” Gabriel shook his head. “I don’t want to be looking back at this years from now and regret not doing what I’ve wanted to do for a while now.”

Seraphina took a step back as Gabriel knelt on one knee. Her heart was beating even faster now. She knew what Gabriel was about to do. Gabriel took something out of his pocket and held it up to Seraphina. Seraphina saw that it was a ring. It looked a bit dented and rusty. No doubt Gabriel had had it for a few years now.

“Seraphina, I can’t offer you a home or a good life now and I might not be able to for years to come after this war is over but I still want to do this because I love you.” Gabriel took another breath before he continued. “Seraphina, will you do the honor of becoming my wife?”

It was very quiet all of a sudden. Seraphina’s heart was beating fast. It was like nothing else mattered or existed to her at that time. Her eyes were on Gabriel’s eyes. She took Gabriel’s hands in his after a few minutes. “I do.” Seraphina told Gabriel. “I would love to be married to you.”

Gabriel smiled and stood up before he slid the ring onto Seraphina’s finger. They shared a kiss right there. They didn’t care if the Resistance border patrol saw them. The two of them were in love with each other and not even the Dark One himself could ruin this moment.