The morning dawned and the Emperor and Empress exited their tent looking, for the first time in a long time, like the world was not resting on their shoulders.

"It is amazing what a good night's sleep can do," Devrim said as he wrapped his arms around his wife. "Perhaps we should go back and rest a little more, you know, to make sure we are at full strength."

He tugged her slightly, and she nearly gave in. But her senses returned at the last moment and she resisted. "We need to rally and plan our attack. The New Emperor's army will come for us any day now that we are together. We cannot lose any more time on such…wonderful pursuits." The woman blushed slightly.

Devrim wanted to press further, but knew he could not. He released his grip and reached for the Empress's hand instead. "Of course you are right, but at least we had one night. I know we had good men watching out for us, isn't that right, Junayd?"

The General appeared from some hidden location. "Everything is in order, Your Majesty. Nurlan and I took turns heading up the watches. Couldn't let anything happen to our glorious leaders."

"Thank you. You and Nurlan are relived to get some rest. We will meet in a few hours to finalize our battle plans." Devrim saluted the soldier.

"Who would you like to assign to guard you in the meantime?" Junayd inquired before he left.

"I will guard my wife for today. That is, if it pleases Her Majesty." The Emperor bowed deeply like a dutiful subject.

Aurora hid her smile behind her palm. "It pleases me," she answered once her face had straightened. "I must admit, I have never seen such a handsome personal guard. No offense, Junayd."

Junayd gave a conspiratorial grin. "None taken, Your Majesty. I was just saying yesterday that His Majesty is the most handsome man to ever grace this world."

The Empress burst out laughing. "Why did you feel the need to pay such a compliment?"

Devrim glared at the soldier, who fiegned ignorance. "Ignore him, Junayd is just sleep deprived. Get some rest before you say something else you regret, my friend." The Emperor patted his hand firmly on the general's shoulder twice before pushing him gently.

Junayd staggered backwards and bowed. "Yes, Sire. I will endeavor to keep my head for another day."

"I have missed him," Aurora said when the general was gone. "I almost started making puns to fill the silence on our trip…"

"You didn't!" Devrim gasped dramatically. He had suffered through all of Junayd's antics and stories, but he had to admit they did ease the tension.

"On my honor, I spent a good couple of hours trying to think of good unicorn joke while riding Utku."

"That must of left you quite on the horn of a dilemma," Devrim stoked his chin playfully.

Shaking her head, the Empress laughed quietly, "I think Junayd is finally rubbing off on you."

The grey-eyed man shrugged. "I could think of worse things, and I could certainly think of better." He smiled mischievously before kissing his wife squarely on the mouth with abandon.

"There's the other married couple! I was hoping we might find you awake and decent." Alvar joked as he approached with Brinn. The elven pair were obviously in good spirits.

Breaking off the kiss, Aurora touched her fingers to her mouth and puckered them. "Married? Oh no, today this man is my personal guard. He told me so himself."

Brinn shook her head with a disapproving glance. "It is not wise to get romantically involved with your servants. Imagine the rumors! It is better to avoid scandal altogether."

"And here I thought it was romantic," Devrim tried to sway the Empress.

"No Brinn has a point. Romantic entanglements cloud judgement. We should be professional." Aurora said seriously.

"Captain Caleb!" Devrim caught sight of the soldier as he passed at a distance. "My wife is in need of a personal guard. I have recently retired from the position."

"Yes, Sire!" Caleb came dutifully to her leader's side.

"Now, my wife, I will kiss you whenever I like," Devrim assured her. He demonstrated to prove his point.

"That has to be the shortest military career in history." Aurora laughed.

"You'd hope so…" Brinn agreed. "But somehow I doubt it."

—————————

As promised, a grand celebration took place as part of the breakfast meal. Everyone was heartened by the appearance of their Empress and the magical reinforcements. Despite the looming war, the mood was jovial. This was not a time for gloom.

After a time, Mairwen stood on a stool and gathered their attention. "We are happy to have my mother, Empress Aurora, back among us. I pledge my allegiance to her and dedicate any troops loyal to me to her."

"Glory to the Warrior Princess!" The Dunesman sang. "And glory to the Empress!"

Devrim also stood above the crowd as he raised a cup high. "This may come as a shock, but I also pledge my allegiance to the Empress." His words were met with ripples of laughter. "May she reign forever!"

At this, "Glory to the Empress!" Was chanted so long that it became second only to breathing.

Finally the crowd quieted such that Aurora could take the floor. "Thank you, brave men and women, for your faith in me. I will do my best to be worthy of your loyalty. I know that humanity hangs in the balance of the upcoming war. Together we will fight for freedom. We will fight for justice. We will fight for Valiant!" She cheered.

"FOR VALIANT!" the troops yelled.

"For Valiant," Aurora repeated in a lower tone. "And for the fate of the world."

————-

"Our best option is to place the Fairies and Elves agains the gnomes." Aurora stared at the strategy meeting later that day. "Use magic on magic. They would obliterate our human troops."

The leaders of the different people and magical creature groups stared at a map of the surrounding area. They had chosen this location, now they needed to use it to its best advantage. Only Brinn was noticeably absent from the group.

"Seems an unfair fight if you ask me. Those gnomes won't stand a chance." Reyan tilted up his nose as if he could smell their earthy stench.

"Do not underestimate the gnomes. That is the fastest way to lose," Zoltan warned.

Aurora shrugged, "Fair or not, it is the best use of our resources. Devrim has volunteered to take a portion of our army to fight Xander and his pirates."

"One of his ships was spotted on the horizon through a spyglass. The rest cannot be far behind." Devrim informed them.

"Although I hate to part with him, I think the Emperor and General Junayd will be the best to direct our our resources to take out their ships. That and I believe our water friends will listen to him better than anyone else."

"I will do my best." The Emperor nodded with determination in his eyes.

"What about us?" Vahan asked. "We are willing to fight the gnomes as well." His eyes flashed silver to convey his conviction.

"I am sure you are, but I need you to join up with the infantry and cavalry that will fight the humans on land. I cannot see a scenario where Cafer intermixes his human and magical forces. It is the same reason I am hesitant. If the magic gets…messy…then he will loose a large portion of his army to his own attacks." Aurora could see the huge human casualties that would be lost in that melee.

"And what if you are wrong about his tactics? What if he puts humans and gnomes together side by side?" Vahan was not so quick to accept her reasoning.

Aurora closed her eyes. "Then we will regroup. But I hope it does not come to that. Nurlan will be leading that charge for me. General Nurlan, I am sending Mairwen with you. I know she will not stay put in camp, and you are my best option for protecting her."

"Of course, Your Majesty. I will protect her with my life." Nurlan would have preferred to protect the Empress, but he knew this task was even more precious.

"What about you?" Alvar asked in his wife's absence.

The Empress had secretly hoped this question would not come, but she had known it was inevitable.

Her face hardened. "I am going to put myself in the only place that has a hope of ending this war before the battle begins. I am going to face Cafer head on."