The Mechanical Era

In a room hidden away inside Grendleburg's castle, the three families got together at a round table with a few large maps of multiple cities and the entire continent. The room itself, which consisted of stone brick walls, and a cold stone floor, was lit with lanterns on the side of the walls.

Sitting around the desk, other than the knight commander, were Danial, Corel, and Salvatore, all in their lavish renaissance outfits. Danial, the tallest of them all, had black hair with ice-blue eyes on his sleek face, a trait he passed down to his boys. He wore formal blue attire for this occasion.

Sitting next to Danial, the knight commander was Corel Grendleburg. He had ruby-fusion hair, with cocoa-brown eyes on a round face. His favorite color is green, thereby, meaning most of his suits were green themselves.

The final king present was Salvatore, who had long black hair and hazel-green eyes on a sleek face like Danial's. He wore a brown and white suit. Other than these three heads of the families, was the knight commander, who was the only one standing in the room, holding a stick.

"There are only 12 days left till the month is over. What do you have planned Knight Seamus?" Danial asks the knight.

"Well your highnesses, the plan is simple. Like your original plan, we first sneak in a decoy into the city Vallina or Villina, whichever you all prefer..."

"Villina. We all agree it is Villina. Right?" Salvatore asked while pointing at the other two. They both smiled and nodded at his response.

"Villina it is then. Anyways, we will send in our decoy and have him switch places with his holiness at night. Then, he gets on the cart and is escorted out of the city. From there, he enters a small boat, travels to a nearby town, and gets on a larger sailboard there."

As the knight spoke, he pointed to where the things occurred in the city of Villina. He first pointed to the gate, and then took the stick's point through the city to the inn he was talking about. Then, as it seems if there was a tunnel, carved through the inn and into the cathedral. Afterward, he stayed there for a minute, before returning to the inn, and then to the city gates.

"How do we get the decoy in?" Corel asked the knight commander.

"It is simple, your highness. He will nearly act as an old oxen carrier, carrying hay bales to the city," Seamus replied. Danial's hands instinctively move up to his chin.

"Will that work?" Danial asked, a bit doubtful.

"The young knights barely even know the elderly coming from the rural parts of the city. He should be fine. I already have a good alibi and ally for this operation."

"An ally, you say?" Salvatore asked

"Yes. A local, living in the more rural parts of the outskirts. Many still believe in the church there. Recently, his father contracted an illness, so we gave him an option. Help us, and we will give you the medicine, or do not. Thankfully, he agreed."

"I see, continue."

"The decoy will make his way into the city, where he will stay at an inn till dawn. When the night commences, it is when he will make a move into the cathedral, and switch places with his holiness. They will exchange clothes, and the holiness will leave the city from there onwards."

There was a moment of silence in the room as the three thought of the plan presented by the commander. Though it sounds reasonable, they were skeptical whether the disguise would work."

"Who is the decoy? He must look pretty similar to pass as his holiness, don't you think?" Corel asks. A smile formed on Seamus' face.

"Worry not, your highness. I may have already found the perfect man to be our decoy pope. He is currently behind that door," he said.

"Well, is that so? Then show us! Let him in" Danial replied. The knight commander then walks up to the door. An old man, who looked early identical to the pope, enters the room. He was wearing peasant attire and was a bit frail.

The kings all got up and walked closer to the man. They examined him, grabbing his arm and looking at his body with shock and awe. Though there were slight differences, being that there is a black lump on his chin. His eyes were also the wrong color, blue instead of brown.

"Knight Commander Seamus. Where on earth did you find this man?" Salvatore asked in amazement. The knight commander smiled.

"I got an artist to sketch a good picture of his holiness and gave it out to some knights. One of them found him on the streets. It appears that god truly wants to banish the heretic queen to the pits of hell."

"It appears so," Corel commented with a smile.

"Impressive," Danial said. His head then turned around to face Seamus.

"But what about the children?" Danial queried. Seamus turned his head to Danial.

"I am sorry, your highness?" he asked, wanting him to repeat his question.

"I am talking about our children, as well as the others. What about them?"

"Ah yes. Regarding the princes and princesses inside the academy, there were a few complications regarding getting them to safety. However, we have managed to formulate a scheme."

"Good." Danial turned to the old man.

"You can leave now," he told him. The old man bowed and left the room. He was soon escorted by the knights guarding the door. The kings all went to sit back on their chairs, wanting to hear about Seamus' plan.

"If I can remember correctly, the plan for your..."

"It's fine."

"...children, is that we cause an incident somewhere, and smuggle them out to the same boat we are bringing the pope to." Corel bobbed his head.

"Alright then. Go on." Using his stick, he pointed at the dorm rooms.

"On the day that his holiness would be snuggled out, they will be holding classes. We will get a spy to educate beforehand about the plan. Once the classes are over, and they all go to 'bed'," he said the word bed while making air quotes with his finger.

"...is when we will take them out of there, and have them travel through the night. There, they will get on the boat, which will set sail in the morning. At the very least, even if someone squeals, it will give us a few hours head start, and if it all goes to plan, a day or two, when people really start to recognize that they have gone missing."

"Alright. Sounds good. So what is the route this ship would be taking."

"The ship will travel upstream, all the way to Damascus, which is halfway to Peckerson. From there, they will travel through multiple small towns until they get to Tyrol. From there, we they should be safely in our hands, and we will be able to initiate the invasion.

Does your majesty have any questions regarding the plan?"

"Just one," Salvatore said.

"How long will it take for them to get to Tyrol?"

"Assuming we start on the 28th, they may reach Tyrol on the 30th at the fastest, or 4th of Nummum at the slowest. Did you find your majesty find that answer satisfactory?" he smiled.

"Yes. Yes, it is."