***

  Prince General Uthman Sukkan II looked at the roughly made sand table constructed while drinking from a goblet filled with fermented berry wine. On the sand table, multiple rocks that were painted purple and red sunken into the soft sand. The purple stones represented military forces under his command, and each stone was equivalent to a thousand troops.

  Eighteen thousand troops, Prince General Uthman counted the purple stones for what had to be the hundredth time. He looked at the sand table, studying the positions of his infantry and archers, tapping the side of his goblet with his finger. In his other hand, he held two green rocks that he kept rubbing together in a circular motion. The green stones represented his mounted forces, another two thousand soldiers. There was another white stone painted with a green scorpion sitting on top of a larger rock marking the position of his headquarters. His headquarters rested on top of the only large hill in the area with a cliff face pointed at the Loudas’ enemy lines. A solid strategic point the idiotic commanders of Loudas missed. The blunder was a monumentally egregious act of negligence, and if Uthman were the one to make it, he feared even his father would contemplate having him executed over such an oversite.

  On the opposite end of the sand table were ten smaller red rocks standing in contrast, marking the Loudas’ army positions. A single white stone marked what they believed was King Danyais’ command tent.

  “They only have ten thousand men and no cavalry. Are you sure, Meckus?” Prince Uthman asked his second in command and uncle.

  Meckus was a tall man, corded with muscles, and his beard was long with gray streaks, matching the dark and gray streaks in his hair. Like many of his countrymen, Meckus was tan because of the scorching sun in the Sukkan desert. Over his right eye, there was a gold ring piercing his brow. Meckus was a supremely skilled tactician and an even more vicious warrior. He had to be. After all, Meckus was the half-brother of King Uthman Sukkan I and the only living sibling outside their sister Princess Shevannis. Both Shevannis and Uthman shared the same mother, the only reason she survived her older brother’s murderous rampage.

  Many of Prince Meckus’ half-siblings were murdered by Uthman, purged in his pursuit of the throne. Meckus proved elusive and escaped his brother’s treachery during the early days. Still, the king pursued him, unwilling to leave a capable heir to the throne alive. After losing scores of men to Meckus, King Uthman eventually contracted the assassin guild, and they sent one assassin after another to kill Meckus. He kept sending the heads of each killer to King Uthman as gifts.

  The assassination attempts continued, and it was not until Meckus stealthily sneaked into his half-brother’s chambers one night that the contract was withdrawn on his head. Meckus woke his brother using the King’s own dagger, cutting Uthman under the right side of his jaw. That night Prince Meckus offered his brother two options, the gift of King Uthman’s own life and faithful service from him, or else he would have killed King Uthman where he slept.

  Prince Meckus had no intention of ever sitting on the throne. Meckus always enjoyed wandering about the sands of his country or traveling to faraway lands in search of adventure. He would rather enjoy the privileges of royalty with none of the responsibilities. So, the thirst for power did not even interest him at all. King Sukkan accepted his brother’s generous offer, and the scar on the right side of his neck was a constant reminder of the bargain struck between them. After their conversation, King Uthman lifted the assassination order on Meckus. It was rumored that the king had to pay a hefty penalty fee for the loss of the guild’s resources and for them to set their pride aside.

  “My Prince, it is as we all reported. Our scouts are pushed to a day out, and not even a whiff of them,” Meckus said.

  “What army travels without cavalry?” Prince Uthman asked, his men shrugging their shoulders. The lack of any calvary was odd, idiotic at most, but its lack of was nonetheless disconcerting.

  Another man who somewhat resembled the prince spoke up. It was his cousin Ahshean by way of his father’s sister, Princess Shevannis. “Our spies say the cavalry lags behind trying to purge the northern portion of the south of dire wolves. The Stone Wolves will be disappointed at the prospected loss of new pups.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “I wish my father would have given me the Stone Wolves to command,” Prince Uthman said.

  “They would have mauled them to death for sure. Remember, cousin. Great King Uthman sent you here to secure the plains before our main army arrives. Maybe King Danyais marched here ahead of the cavalry for the same purpose as your father sent us,” Ahshean said, offering a feasible explanation.

  “Uncle, you have always said that war is moving forward for victory,” Prince Uthman said, repeating one of his uncle’s teachings.

  “It is as such, Prince Nephew. War is like the weather and seasons that farmers watch. They never know if the Gods will grant them a favorable harvest or curse them to starve. But the farmers will still sow their fields because they know you cannot eat if you do not plant. There will be no victory without blood,” Meckus said. Several commanders, including Prince Uthman, who was on the fence about attacking, nodded or voiced their agreement, won over by the sound advice of his uncle.

  “We have no way of knowing if they have a reinforcement army on the way in the next day or two, just like us, and what of the Magus?” Prince Uthman said.

  “Even if they have reinforcements, we can hold this position,” Meckus said, getting up from his seat. Walking to the sand table, he tapped the larger rock representing the higher ground they held.

  “It is a superior defensive position,” Ahshean said, siding with his uncle.

  “It is as my noble nephew says, my Prince. We can easily hold for a week if need be, to allow your father to come up with our main army to smash them. As to the rumor of the magus, even our Great King, your father, believes they created the legend to act as a deterrent in Loudas’ weakened state. Both he and I don’t believe in the stories of the fire rain. It is nothing more than arrows dipped in animal fat. Besides, no scouts have seen a glaive wielder amongst their army since our arrival.”

  “Send more scouts to look again,” Prince Uthman ordered. Best to be cautious.

  “Prince, you can sweep Loudas from the field before your father arrives. They have no cavalry, and we have the high ground. It will be a great victory if we manage to kill King Danyais in battle and end this war before your father shows up,” Meckus said, picking up the white stone representing Danyais’ command tent and tossing it to the ground.

  “It is a sure victory. Should we not wait for Father so he can have the honor of taking Danyais’ head,” Prince Uthman asked.

  “Your father would hang me for being negligent if we do not attack when the victory is overwhelmingly ours for the taking,” Meckus said, putting his hand around his neck and mimicking a choking motion with an exaggerated gagging noise. “Maybe even hang you, eh?”

  Prince Uthman smiled at his uncle’s joke.

  “I guess we best save our lives then,” Prince Uthman said. His war council spent the night planning for the battle the next day.

  ***

  “Peace! Peace! Peace!” the Loudas army shouted in answer to the Sukkan army’s war cry. The men on the frontline of the Sukkanian army were nervous about the Loudas’ army reply. The way the Loudasian army said peace was not as if they were asking for it. It was said in a way that death would be the final peace for the Sukkanian army.

  Prince General Uthman Sukkan II watched the Loudas army and smiled. This will be a glorious victory. He did not read the tension in his men well, and he just assumed it was the nerves of the coming battle. Right now, the Sukkanian squad leaders would be assuring their men about how they outnumbered their enemy. Encouraging them to take comfort in their numerical advantage. They would emphasize to their squads the lack of cavalry among the Loudas army and how theirs would break the back of Loudas army with them doing little more than clean up duty.

  I hope Father approves. Prince Uthman was always seeking his father’s approval and seldom ever achieved it, but the times when he did, his father would make proclamations and declare celebrations for his son throughout Sukkan. Prince Uthman raised his hands and colored banners raised high in the air in response. Within the ranks of the Sukkan army spread out over the perspective battlefield, other banners raised in confirmation.

  The day before, when his twenty thousand men arrived, he sent out scouts, and they reported back on Loudas’ strength. Prince Uthman and his generals delighted in the numerical and geographical advantage they held. Prince Uthman’s men held the high ground, and his headquarters rested on top of a hill with a long cliff face, allowing for superb communications and logistics. In an unfathomable worst-case scenario, the hill would be a horrendous fortified position for the Loudas army to assault, a bitter, grotesque mistake the Loudas army made by letting his army have it. “Be sure the archers maintain constant fire until our cavalry is in danger of our own arrows,” Uthman ordered. More flags went up, and the wind whipped at them. Both armies moved to engage each other. “This will be our victory!”

  ***