All is Fair in Love and War 2.0

"Hmm, it's sorta like," moving her hands around in a very anime-like way of explaining things, "Little man, turn into BIG TIGER!"

This was too far, even for His Majesty, but Beatrice didn't dare say anything against his plan. She simply bowed and said, "As you wish, Your Highness." She bit her lip for a moment, then said, "I just pray your people won't disapprove of such a tactic," before turning and heading back to her small chambers.

"They're quite nasty," Taelin said, shaking his mane. "My grandma was attacked by one once. We got it off her, but she was never really the same..."

"We'll keep that in mind," Regius said to Taelin, though what happened to his grandmother didn't particularly interest him, and probably not the others either. He didn't want the unicorn scaring Danica. "We'll have to make sure to avoid that laguz."

"Brilliant!" Regius cried. He looked to Taelin. "Tell the others. Especially the faeries. Tell them to spread it just inside and outside the barrier."

The unicorn nodded and moved swiftly to give the command. It was a good plan. He himself hated the smell of garlic. It hurt his sensitive nose.

"Why did you tell that witch about the plan?" Sokra was angry that the king revealed her plan, so flippantly, and her voice showed it.

"I see," Sokra told him politely. At least he gave an honest answer. Perhaps there is trust between us. She then bowed, slightly, and walked out.

Regius was sitting by the cooking fire, prodding the ashes to burning life so that the meat-eaters could cook and the vegetarians had a place to sit and warm themselves in the chilly morning air.

Taelin was rooting around at the edge of the clearing, looking for fresh grass to eat. There was plenty of hay, but the unicorn much preferred things that were still green. And apples. He just adored apples.

When Danica stirred, he looked up. "Morning!" he called, trotting over to them. "Did you sleep well?"

"Probably cooking," Taelin said. "Try going to the cooking fires." The unicorn shrugged. "I don't see why you humans eat meat. You have to cook it, after all."

"Good morning," Regius greeted cheerily. "I hope you slept well?" He prodded the fire again, then placed a heavy pan over the coals. "Care for some breakfast?"

Walking over to the campfire with her eyes half-way shut, Sierra muttered. "Morning...", gave a loud yawn, then plopped down on a log.
"Night duty's tiring..."
She lied down on the rest of the log, yawned again, and began speaking softly:
"Oh, by the way Regius... some of our scouts reported in last night. *yawn* They say Kalani's finished some sort of ritual or something..."

This surprised Regius. What was his brother up to now? "Ritual? What kind of--" A loud shriek stopped him mid-sentence.

Taelin reared and bucked, kicking the creature that bit him in an attempt to get away from the teeth that had sunk into his leg. He galloped toward Regius, but his leg gave way mid-stride. "Regius! Something's broken in!"

"I can see that," he murmured. Already things were getting chaotic. "Centaurs! Handle the intruder. Everyone else, retreat!" He bent and pressed some healing magic into Taelin's wound, enough to heal it so he could canter a mile or two with Regius without collapsing. "We have to get out of here." He whistled for a few more unicorns to come over for the others. "Let's ride!"

Sokra woke up lying on the floor of her ritual chamber deep beneath the castle. She had been down here all night performing one of the most complicated spells known, but it was worth it. When she sat up, she discovered that it had been a success. Standing before her were 11 skeletal undead warriors. They bowed to their new mistress, ready to receive orders.

Here she had a choice. She could use her army to search for the brother, bring him in, and gain power, or she could use this army to overthrow the king and make herself queen. She headed to the king's chamber to let him know the ritual went well.