More than two years had passed since Princess Antalasia's first encounter with the Karas. The entire nobility and all the soldiers across the kingdom had by now moved into the town by the castle. The high nobles and generals moved into the castle with their families. All the adults were on edge, snapping at the slightest mistake. 

King Charles issued a proclamation making it mandatory for every man over the age of sixteen to join the army. Murmers of dissatisfaction spread throughout the kingdom.

The Army General increased the security and made it mandatory for anyone leaving the castle to take a contingent of guards with them. With everyone being busy, enough guards were not available to accompany Antalasia, Lizzy and Michaelo on their little trips, thereby, confining them to the castle.

King Charles and The Army General decided to have all the children in the castle only taught warfare in light of the despairing situation. For the first time, the children were made to sit in a single room and listen to a single tutor. Previously, each family had their own tutor and each child was taught separately. The girls were usually never taught tactics and warfare. In this regard, King Charles was an eccentric man amongst his peers as he wanted the girls to be equally skilled and educated.

In the classroom, as is the case with most youngsters, there was a lot more frolicking than learning. 

The girls wore garish dresses in bright neon colors. The wide collars stood stiffly at a forty-five-degree angle, making it impossible to turn the head. The tight corsets provided hardly any space to breathe. The dresses were so puffed up and stiff, that at times, it was a wonder that the girls could enter the doorway. With faces so caked up with make-up that not an inch of skin could be seen, the girls would cast shy glances at the boys. Huddling together, they would pass time giggling amongst each other and pointing at different boys.

The boys were no less either. They wore flamboyant waistcoats over frilly shirts and colorful breeches with bunches of strings at the knee. The boys would try to outdo each other in wearing the most extravagant cravat (neckband similar to ties). Trying to impress the girls, the boys behaved in the most ridiculous fashion. For instance, one of the nobles, Peter, would mix his own snuff flavors. Snuff was smokeless tobacco that was inhaled through the nose. Unfortunately, the flavors that Peter mixed only ended up making the classroom stink. 

Antalasia watched all this in fascination. Protected and isolated from the rest of the world by her parents, never before had she seen such extravagance. Shocked, she went to her mother and asked, "Mama, everyone dresses so ostentatiously. Aren't these clothes from the olden days? Why do they dress this way?"

Queen Eliza Rose replied, "We don't dress this way because of your father's principles. These are times of war and everything must be consumed in appropriation. Your father and I decided that it should begin with simple things like dresses. We have adopted simple gowns in the hope that others would follow us and conserve what they can in these difficult times. Most do not agree."

Antalasia pondered quietly for a while and then replied seriously, "I'm sorry Mama for troubling you so much. I'll wear what you ask."

Queen Eliza laughed and said, "That's fine Antalasia. Rebelling is in your blood. You come from a lineage of strong women. Since centuries, King John's heirs have only given birth to girls. As girls weren't allowed to rule, the Sun Kingdom ruled us unofficially. My mother fought for an equal say and I fought for equal rights and education. At one point, tensions were so high that I agreed to marry your father for peace. The reason I push you to learn social skills is that it plays a major role in how people respond to you. It has been my experience. Also, the fact is that our kingdom is weak and you must at some point in future marry for the betterment of our nations. Which is why you must learn to behave, dress and talk appropriately for all our future."

Antalasia asked quietly, "What about love mama?"

Queen Eliza sighed and responded, "We have responsibilities Antalasia. You are the apple of your father's eye and he is bringing up with idealistic and impractical values. Look around Antalasia. Grow up."

With a heavy heart, Antalasia began dressing in simple long silk gown and attending the classes. Yet, she could not bring herself to interact with the other girls. Finding gossip on boys boring and the sheer amount of time spent on giggling frivolous,  Antalasia ignored the girls. Sitting on the window sill in the classroom, with a book on her lap, Antalasia would sometimes covertly glance at Albert. Albert was one of the few who dressed simply like the royal family. In simple riding clothes that consisted of black narrow pants and a plain shirt, Albert would studiously listen to the tutor, noting everything in his little black book. Antalasia was fascinated by Albert. For once, she attempted to put an effort into her dressing and wore long silk gowns.

Unfortunately, one day, Antalasia overheard Albert say, "I don't appreciate Antalasia ignoring the tutor and reading whatever she wants to in the class. For all I know, they are probably silly romance books."

Furious at his prejudice, Antalasia went back to her favorite riding clothes promising to never change herself for everyone. Her mother's words were lost as she went back to wearing the custom riding clothes which was knee-length simple frocks over tight pants and boots. Lizzy and Michaelo too dressed simply. This was in stark contrast to the rest and to anyone who was not aware of the facts, the three children would have looked like peasants. 

Among all the students, Michaelo had the most fun. Having spent two years under Lehrer, both Antalasia and he were already familiar with the topics being discussed. Bored out of his mind, Michaelo constantly played tricks on everyone. If Michaelo was around, screams and shouts could always be expected.
"Ouch, something poked me. Damn it, did I sit on pins?"
"Wait! Why can't I get up? I'm stuck to the chair. Someone help. My pants are glued."
"Darn it! The paper is botched. This is not ink. This is blue-colored water."

Yet another day, Michaelo went to Sarah and said, "Here, Carlos asked me to give this to you." 

Sarah blushed as she read the letter. She went up to Carlos and said shyly with her eyes averted, "I accept."

Carlos mumbled, "Um, accept what?"

Sarah answered, "Your proposal, of course."

Poor Carlos. No matter what he said after that turned into a fiasco.

Michaelo and Lizzy's favorite pastime soon turned into following their big brother, Prince John. Prince John had just started to woo girls and the children were fascinated by his attempts. They were always around giggling, "He is K-I-S-S-I-N-G" or "His hands are on a girl. Danger. Danger," making the girls blush and run away. 

Prince John's furious bellowing could be heard throughout the castle, "ANTALASIA! Watch these two brats."

One day, King John and the Army General entered the classroom. With grave faces, they said, "Children, we shall quiz you on strategy today." 

In reality, this was not a quiz, but a last-ditch attempt for King John and the general to come up with an out-of-box strategy to save the kingdom since all conventional approaches had failed so far. They pulled out a map of the castle with the surrounding villages. They indicated the villages that were being attacked on a regular basis over the recent years. They then asked the children to suggest a strategy that would best address the issue.

Carla, Queen Eliza's niece suggested, "We could all move to The Sun Kingdom." 

All the boys objected strongly. Michaelo being the loudest of them all, shouted, "There is no way we will run." 

Prince John suggested, "We could wait for the enemy to come to the castle. They will at some point."

Michaelo looked at his brother with contempt and said, "What about the other villages, brother? Do we condemn them all?"

Albert studied the map with intense concentration and said, "Let's attack the Central Continent. That's where most of the Rhazaqats reside. Let's hit them."

Michaelo replied, "Interesting strategy, 'Sometimes Offense is the Best Defense'. However, we do not have enough soldiers and we will entail a lot of casualties."

Albert and Michaelo debated various formations, measures and counter-measures. However, they failed to come up with a satisfactory approach.

"This is war. We will have casualties. It is time you accept that," declared John. Albert agreed. 

Michaelo looked furious and said angrily, "I refuse."

"Then, give a solution or back down," shouted John. 

"We could ask our neighboring kingdoms for help," Michealo responded adamantly. 

The general immediately replied viciously, "They offered help. However, we are The Dragon Kingdom. We do not beg for help. Besides, they are not kingdoms. They are simply groups of men fighting for survival." 

Michaelo sat down pouting.

Michaelo suddenly straightened and turned toward his big sister. She was lost in her book. He shouted, "Antalasia!" 

Antalasia jumped startled and asked, "What's wrong? Why are you shouting?"

With a blank stare and a frustrated sigh, Michaelo explained the problem presented by the general and the various solutions discussed. "What is the solution Hayiti?" he asked.

Without wasting any time to ponder, Antalasia replied, "Moving to the Sun Kingdom will not work as it is on the other side of the continent. We cannot afford to cross the central continent as it is overrun by Rhazaqats. We could set sail avoiding the central continent but, there are not enough boats for the entire kingdom. Additionally, the waters are infested with Rhazaqats making the journey perilous." 

She looked at Michaelo and continued, "We also cannot wait for the enemy to come to us as we will be condemning the villagers to death."

She studied the map carefully and mused, "Attacking the central continent will be useless for various reasons. One solution would be building chains of high towers from the villages to the castle. The towers would sound a horn or light a fire if the village is under attack. The warriors would leave immediately and defend the village. At the same time, we should move the resources out of the villages on a regular basis. We should also evacuate the young girls to the castle where they will be safer. Suffering more losses than what they gain should deter the enemy." 

She looked at the map once more, nodded and went back to her book.

There was absolute pin-drop silence in the classroom. Lizzy was busy drawing as usual. Michaelo wore a smug expression and preened as if he had given the solution. Everyone else in the room stared at Antalasia with quiet perplexity as they never expected Antalasia to answer the question with such clarity, precision and comprehension.

Albert asked the question on his grandfather, the General's mind, "Why would it be useless to attack the continent?". 

With a longing look at her book, Antalasia looked up and replied, "One, we would have many casualties. Two, the villages that have been attacked are far away from the Central Continent and close to the coast. It doesn't make sense that they are the attackers. Three, the fact that our neighboring kingdoms offered help implies that they aren't being attacked by the Central Continent. This reinforces point two. Four, if we do attack the Central Continent and incur high losses, we will not have enough men to defend our castle let alone our kingdom from future attacks".

Before anyone could assess her reply, King Charles stepped forward and said angrily "So what are you saying, Antalasia? Are humans attacking the villages?". 

Wide-eyed and confused, Antalasia replied, "Oh no Papa, I just meant it's possible that the Central Continent may not be responsible". 

King Charles stomped his feet and shouted, "It's that Kara filling you with these ideas. They said two and a half years ago that a human was responsible. Lehrer is poisoning you. I forbid you to meet him". 

Antalasia grew angry and shouted back, "No!". 

Furious, King Charles took out his sword and marched out shouting, "I'll kill him". Antalasia ran after King Charles begging him to stop.

However, to everyone's bafflement, Lehrer was nowhere to be found. Neither were his possessions, few as they were. It looked as though he was never there.

Thank you for reading this far.

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