The King of Rats and The King of Men

I arrive at the human encampment out of breath. Why are jarcoba so damn fast? He led me straight to the King who was sitting under a tent at the head of a round table, surrounded by generals, both princes Zachary and Killian, and Aurora. So, she is fine. A strange sense of relief and distrust washed over me. How did she escape?

There’s no open seat, but Aurora calls out “Sir Kar’Desh! We were soon about to
discuss you. Come, stand next to me.”
It would probably be weird if she called me by my casual name next to the king and her brothers.

Before I make my way over, I salute to the king. “Your majesty.”
Then the same to the princes. As expected, King Alister is large for a human. If he
weren’t sitting, I imagine he would almost be as tall as I am with a face cut from
stone. Unlike Aroura, he has hazel eyes that aren’t as vibrant as Toross’ but
somehow demand even more respect than his. His hair is covered by a crown, but
you can tell he has a mix of dark and light grey hair from his beard that holds a
wide never-ending smile.

I feel like an actual rat standing before a King. I had just run all the way here in a light rain after being out all night in one of the most dangerous places there is. My hair
was matted in the rain and sweat, I was breathing heavily, and my clothes were torn
to tatters. Aside from that, I was covered in mud and blood all over, meanwhile the
King sits there neatly clean and calm.

The King waves his hand. “None of that, son.”
His voice isn’t as deep as I imagined it would be. It’s light and cheerful, but somehow commands respect from the air around it. He continues. “It’s to my understanding
that you gave the Karvithians quite the thrashing in our last battle. Well done. Not
many can claim the feat of taking a wizard’s head.”
I want to correct him and claim that head for Wal. He was the one who opened him up after all, but Alister doesn’t pause.
“Princess Aurora speaks highly of your valiant deeds as well. I’ll speak frankly. You’ve impressed me. Especially for an elf. And I wish for your council on this next matter.
As it stands now, we have little chance in defeating the Karvithians. Even with a good chunk of ‘em taken out by Lunatic’s Spires. The presence of mages and the orc-kin
offer a magical advantage like no other. A resource, I’ll admit, I have neglected.”
He glances at Aroura when he says that last part. I still can’t figure out why he called
just me here. Surely all the captains would serve him better. Something seems off.

One of the commanders speaks up. “Your majesty, we have a number of catapults
the dwarves have constructed. If we use those to thin their forces before they get to
the wall, I’m certain we can overpower them.”
Many other members of the circle agree and start laying out defense plans.

What? The presence of artillery would certainly bode well in our favour but what
happens when they reach the wall? Surely, we can’t launch boulders at our own wall. I speak up. “With all due respect commander, do you really believe that it will be that simple? Have you actually seen the force they have at our gates? A few falling rocks will not save our city.”

“Just because you were commended by his majesty, you think you have any right to
speak? Know your place-”

The King interrupts. “Enough Sir David! Go on son. What do you suggest?”

The younger of the two princes raises his voice. Zachary, I believe. “Father, surely
you jest? A mere elf guiding us on battle strategy? Understandably, he may have had some worthwhile ideas during the battle, but that can’t compare to our generals
with years of experience under their belt.”

He sternly and blandly stated “Years of fighting armies of our size, with nothing but a human army. We stand on a new age of war.”
He turns to me. “You seem like a family man Kar’Desh. A man willing to do anything
for your family. I’m sure that you are one of the many elves who steal from the
vendors weekly are you not? Go on, be honest. You’re pardoned for any crimes.”

That statement. He wasn’t asking a question; he was stating that I was a thief. He
knew. He’s never met me before and as far as he knows, I’ve only existed since I
joined the war. But he saw through me as though I were a book to be read. Out of
panic I look down to the one person I know here for assurance. Aroura merely
looks at me awaiting my answer.

Can I admit to that? Would he have me executed or my family? No no. At most he’ll
hold them as leverage. If he saw through me this far, he knows I wouldn’t do
anything if my family was dead. If I’m just a tool to him, I better prove my worth
before he has me executed. “Yes, your majesty. I often stole from the
vendors.”
I think I know where he’s going with this, so I continue. “Almost every day, I had to
fight an enemy who outnumbered me, dozen hundreds to one. To do so, I had to
use my surroundings to outwit the enemy.”

The King laughs! “You’re exceeding my expectations Sir Kar’Desh! That reason right
there is precisely why I wish to hear his input. If we are going to survive this fight,
we must think outside the box. And Sir Kar’Desh here can do just that. Any
objections?”
That last sentence was another statement rather than a question. “Go
on son. Tell us your plan.”

Everyone but Aroura and Alister are staring at me with malice in their eyes. “Thank
you, your majesty.”

The King juts in a comment before letting me continue. “Didn’t I say, no need for
that? Just sir or Alister’ll do.”
He has his chin resting on his fists and a smile that I could only consider scheming
even though his face hasn’t changed from the carefree grin I saw earlier. His eyes
burn through mine to my very soul. This human is nothing like the others. He
doesn’t see me as a tool. He doesn’t see me as a rat, like all the others do. He… He
sees a rival? An equal? That can’t be true. No… He sees himself. That’s why he
called me here alone. No wonder he was able to see through me so easily. No
wonder I’m the only one able to see through his carefree smile. Because he and I
are the same.

I let out the breath I was holding as a single laugh. At my realization, I can feel my
own smile creep across my face. “As you wish. Alister.”
His eyes narrow and his smile deepens ever so slightly. The glares from around the
table intensified into pure fury. Aroura had maintained a sense of composure
through out the whole meeting but when she heard me call her father by his name,
her head whipped towards me, eyes widened in shock.

Before I can continue with my plan, I need to ask a question. “Princess Aroura, what’s the largest offensive spell you can cast?”

She must not be used to being called on during these because she stutters and
fumbles before she answers me. “Well, that uhh. Depends on the allotted time I have before I cast.”

“How long would it take for you to cast a spell to cover the entirety of the western
slums?”

Generals begin to abject, but the Alister silences them with a wave of his hand.
Aroura’s eyes fill with worry for a moment before she looks to the roof of the tent in contemplation. “I don’t think I could…“
She begins mumbling to herself about magic circles, mana sources, and possible
spells. She answers again reluctantly. “If all goes as I desire, six hours. But what
could you be plotting?”

“A sacrifice.”

I gathered the inspiration for my plan from a memory I’d rather forget. Back before mother was remarried and I was around 15 years old, we only had enough money
for food or the tax. No tax meant instant death, and no food meant a chance. I was
solo then and clumsy, but somehow stealing food worked out. During one of my
raids, I wasn’t so lucky. The guards never really lost my trail and I was getting
cornered. As I was running through an alleyway, I found a group of kids bulling a
cat or something and dropped the bag of food with them before turning another
corner and hiding behind some empty barrels.

The kids, of course, opened the bag to see what was inside just as the guards had
caught up and found them in my place. They didn’t even hesitate before slapping the poor kids with their weapons and dragging all three of them off, all the while I
watched horrified from the safety of my barrels. I found those three kids the next
day, beaten and bloody, in hanging cages. I still haven’t forgiven myself for that. Ren
is the only other person who knows about that.

Before I let him join me, I told him about that to try and save him from suffering the fate of a thief, but he came along anyway to feed his new sisters. He wasn’t able to
look at me in the eye for a long time after that, although I think he found the
forgiveness in his heart to see me normally after a long while. This time around, I
wouldn’t be sacrificing lives. I would be sacrificing homes.

When my thoughts are finally gathered, I turn back to the table and command their attention with my voice. “The Karvithians will break through our wall. With the
presence of trebuchets, that much is almost guaranteed. If Princess Aurora can live
up to my expectations, we should be able to wipe out almost all of their army at the
cost of the buildings in the slums. All the while, the soldiers on the front line can be,
mostly, spared.”

Alister holds up his hand. “Know that I hold the value of property much higher than
the value of demi-human lives.”

My eyes turn to him. “Can empty, run-down houses save your city?”

He shrugs. “Fair enough. Any objections?”
Really? That’s all it took? I prepared more arguments to convince him. I’m almost
disappointed.

A commander stands up “Sire, surely you can’t be serious! Sacrificing an entire
section of our city for a plan that may or may not work is foolhardy at best! Not to
mention-“

The smile hasn’t faded from Alister’s face, but the world darkens around him to the
point where only his hazel eyes glow in the dark as they stare down the commander who dared speak up. All sound from around the world has disappeared as though it could sense the impending wrath of King Alister and if any sounds should arise, it
would surely draw his attention. Except, nothing changed at all. Despite the
overwhelming presence of the King bending the rules of the world to his will,
nothing changed as he spoke.

“Are you questioning my decision, commander?”

The nameless commander broke out into a furious sweat at the impossible sense of dread radiating from Alister. He quickly fell to his knees and spat out, “No, your
majesty! I! I simply!”

As he continued to struggle for an adequate answer, Alister’s smile slowly faded and the world brightened once more. He sighed and stood. “I have my reasons for
accepting Kar’Desh’s proposal. Understand, that I am no fool. That is all you need to
or will know, unless I permit otherwise. Understood?”

The knights at the table all nodded their head and spoke in shaken voices. “Yes, my
liege.”

His smile plopped back on to his face. “Good! Kar’Desh, explain the remainder of
your plan. Aurora, begin setting up immediately. We expect them to attack today.
Good luck!”
He strode off whistling a merry tune.

The rest of the table turned back to me and Aurora stood up and began asking for
paper. My plan was fairly simple. Before the spell, we blow a horn signaling the
retreat and give our troops enough time to escape, then another horn when there
was enough Karvithians in the city. Once the spell finishes casting, we surround the
western slums in archers and rain arrows down upon the survivors. The
commanders simply agreed. They even helped with backup plans in case the spell
wasn’t as effective as we hope. Alister must be truly terrifying if they were all willing
to set their hatred for me aside even when he wasn’t here.

When we can’t develop any more plans, they ride off to the front line to share it with the demi-humans. I’m stopped by Aroura. “Kar, I’m not certain I can do this.”