16 —Expectations

True to the informat's word, Civil came crashing into the king Alok's chambers at the crack of dawn, an excited light in his eyes and holding a sheet of parchment like some medal.
Without punishing the man for not knocking or for not greeting, king Alok shot out of bed and grabbed the package, skimming through it and smiling as he pushed the man out of the way, already thinking about calling council members when Civil cleared his throat.
"My Lord, there is more." Civil said in that even voice of his, making king Alok pause in his tracks and turn around, cursing at the fact that he was wearing nothing but the same pajamas bottoms as the night before.
"Speak up, Cival, I have a plan to make," king Alok impatiently said, surprising himself that he even remembered the messenger's name. Civil looked pleased at this fact before he realized that the king's patience was worn thin.
"The informant has said the information provided will be enough to help us strategize and plan as much as we need and that no more help or information will be received to protect his anonymity and save his hide. The infirmat has also said that when the war breaks out, as promised, you will hide him here. He said that a lot of faith has been put in you and you shouldn't mess up," Civil said, bowing and excusing himself.
King Alok only smiled at the information. It didn't matter if he chose to not help anymore, he'd already given them the most important thing, king Alok thought, looking down at the parchment that contained both the fighting moves and the weak points of the kayaans' cave.
With this information, the kayaans were roast meat, he thought, walking out of his chambers to bark at the guard seated there.
"Call the council members, tell them it's time," king Alok said, watching the guard now and walking away before he went into his chambers. Today was a good day.
******
The council members and king Alok were deep in conversation, the warriors having been provided with something different to train with and thus, encountered some difficulty that they quickly got over, when the head of security opened the doors of the plan room with a resounding bang.
Every eye swiveled to his direction and they immediately knew the other part of the informant's other information was taking place.
Straightening slowly from all the bending he'd been doing, king Alok looked the head of security, Salvada, in the eye and asked in an even calmer tone.
"What is it?"
Salvada replied, clearly out of breath from running, having sighted the kayaans walking towards their side of the boundary with fierce determination.
"My Lord, my men and I have sighted the kayaan priestess and an old man walking together and approaching us. They don't seem to be backing down sir and are very intent, it seems," Salvada said, wondering why the mayans were suddenly interested in them.
However, king Alok didn't explode in a fit of rage, like Salvada had expected. Instead, he gravelly nodded and shared an inside look with the council members that went over Salvada's head.
"Show them here, Salvada. Do not rough handle them, that is an order," king Alok said, very intent on making that piece of information clear.
Any sort of provocation from them could result in the kayaans calling a war, something the bear shifters didn't want because they hadn't mastered the training just yet. King Alok didn't want a repeat of what had happened in the first to happen again.
"Yes, my Lord," the head of security bowed and then walked away, barking orders at guards as he walked past them.
King Alok shook his head and faced the now weary council.
"Our informant was right. We are being paid a visit and by no there but the priestess and an old man." King Alok repeated, not because he felt the council was dead but for his own sake.
"What are we to do, my Lord?" Someone asked and a murmur went round then council. They were afraid, king Alok saw with disgust.
"We will stand and face their confrontations with one of our own. Besides, in all actuality despite the informant working for us, we aren't the ones who shed blood, as the informant put it so free your conscience and grow a pair of balls!" He thundered.
Few minutes later after this short speech, the doors were ,once again, rudely thrown open and standing there was the priestess and an old man who king Alok now saw was Baba Mbari.
This would be interesting.
"To what do I owe this visit?" King Alok said, striding slowly towards the pair still standing by the door and glowering at every one in the room.
Kayaans, king Alok thought with distaste, always felt like they were somehow superior because they could fight well and wield a sword as if they were doing the simple task of breathing. Their superiority complex, king Alok thought with disgust, was more disgusting than a sheep's butt.
It was the old man who spoke first.
"We should ask you that question, king Alok because you were the one who trespassed on our lands," Baba Mbari vehemently said.
King Alok felt his temper rising.
"We did no such thing, old man," king Alok barked at the man and saw the priestess move forward.
King Alok had to admit, the priestess, a woman as old as the hills and still not dead, was scary. She was wearing whatever the kayaans called a short shirt and a flowing skirt that trailed on the ground and had her face decorated in the most obscene and disgruntling way king Alok had ever seen.
Basically, this old prune was frightening and a sight for sore eyes. King Alok could remember her still being this old at the time of the first war and he vaguely wondered if the hag never aged. He wouldn't be surprised if it was her curse. To be ugly as shit.
"We are here, king Alok, to ask you why you have decided to come out of this hellhole and attack our men in the cover of the night," the priestess, humorless and dead serious as always said, nose raised in a way that told king Alok she clearly thought she was better than him.
"Attack your men? What nonsense do you speak of?" King Alok denied, watching impatience cloud Baba Mbari's face.
"We found two of our men stabbed. We have no one else who would like to play a fools game and so, it was easy to pick out our rival. The bear shifters," The priestess spat with so much contempt, it could've killed. The old lady was actually smart, king Alok would give her that. She had balls as well. Something his due-to-speak council members clearly lacked.
"I have no idea if old age is finally doing a toll on you, old hag but you've got it all wrong," king Alok said, walking closer to the old pair.
"Do not talk to the priestess in that manner!" Baba Mbari barked and king Alok countered this by shouting in a voice even louder.
"Do not tell me what to say, you old buffon! You come to my lands with no invitation, you kill my son, you wage war on my kingdom and you still have the audacity to wander in here like you own the place and question me on something I clearly didn't do!" King Alok thundered, watching as the two kayaans began to converse with each other in their dialect.
King Alok didn't care. He hadn't realized how disturbing seeing a kayaan would be, especially one of a high ranking like the priestess. It made him almost want to reach across the room, grab her neck and snap it into two. Of course, nothing with the kayaans was ever that easy.
He knew that though they looked old, they were still very much good in fighting and could defend themselves very well.
Baba Mbari, maybe reaching a conclusion that this meeting could end very badly, he nodded and said in a calm voice.
"Very well then. We shall investigate the murder and if you are found to be the killers, your kingdom will not survive the war we will bring to you," Baba Mbari said and king Alok smugly thought of how oblivious the kayaans were.
It would be they who wouldn't survive the war that they would bring to them, not another way round. It would be the kayaans that would scream in agony as the bear shifters cut down every living soul in that accursed cave. King Alok would take this old hag prisoner and make sure she duly suffered until she died.
The kayaans would suffer and would learn that no one was more superior than the bear shifters.
Baba Mbari turned on his heel and nudged the priestess who, after one last condescending look, spun on her heels and walked away with the old man supporting her.
Breathing a sigh of relief at the sudden toxic air that had filled the place which was now gone, king Alok sank down on a chair and buried his face in his hands.
He couldn't help but think of the other case scenario if they failed. If they failed, they would never, ever be able to raise their heads in pride because not only had they been beaten once but if they were beaten twice, it would be a disaster.
It was no secret that the mayans were very well equipped and now that the euphoria had cleared from king Alok's eyes, he was seeing the possible errors in the plans.
What if the informant had given them wrong moves? What if it was all a faux? King Alok couldn't bear to think what would happen at that point and didn't want to see his council right now.
They had not grown a pair of balls like he'd asked them to and they had been quiet, wearing guilty expressions like children.
"My Lord," someone began to say as king Alok strided out of the plan room, a dark cloud over his head.
"Not a word," he thundered before swiveling to face them, anger written on his features.
"I want all of you here to make a plan, make a strategy or whatnot and if I like it, we'll go with it. If I don't like it and I find it too holey and stupid, you'll all answer to me," he threatened, giving them one last disgusted look before shutting the door as he walked out.
He walked to the training ground where the warriors were already training. They looked tired but he knew that the master in Chief of the warriors was not going to let them slack. He knew the man would press them until they had nothing to give .
"How are they doing?" He asked the man who was looking at the warriors with some worry in his eyes.
"They are holding up poorly but I hope that by tomorrow, they will have mastered at least two fighting moves or more than that, my Lord," the man replied gravelly, pausing to bark at one of the warriors.
"We cannot have them slacking, they must be in their best capacity, make sure they are well in line with the fighting moves!" King Alok said.
" Yes, my Lord. I'm well aware that a war is coming and I will do my best to equip them. I have already I formed the blacksmith to provide weapons, my Lord. Everything will go as Anne's, don't worry."
King Alok couldn't help but worry as he walked out.
He was doing all these for the sake of Chad, for the kingdom, for his wife, for every soldier who ever dies at the hand of a kayaan .
The kayaans would suffer and king Alok would make sure of that even if it was the last thing he did.