“You want us to do what?”

“Storm the castle.” The King was as calm as if he was ordering his nightly meal.

The General, the King’s friend and right-hand man was not enthusiastic. And his voice was downright sarcastic. “Right. The seven of us are going to storm the castle, which, by the way, is full of elite troops who want to kill you and us, because they know that we are planning to take back the kingdom, which is rightfully yours. Is that your plan? We’re going to storm the castle?”

The King nodded. “Yes.” He smiled. “Well, not all of us.”

“Not all of us? Not all of us? What are we going to do, split our forces into what…” The General looked at his loyal band one by one, nodding his head as if counting. “…seven factions of one?”

The King smiled. “No. Three factions. Two factions of two and one faction of three.”

The General slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand then slid it slowly down his face. “Do tell.”

The King pointed. “These three will go through the forest in a counter-clockwise motion toward the back of the castle. They’ll cross the moat in a raft operated by the quartermaster. He’ll take them across the moat into the larder where they’ll find a small group of loyalists.”

The three nodded.

The King turned to his left and pointed at two others. “These two will go clockwise toward the south side of the castle. There they’ll swim across the moat in the shadow of the wall below the rear guard tower. They’ll find a rope hanging from the tower. Then, they’ll climb up to meet a group of guards who are loyal to me as well.”

The two nodded.

The King smiled and looked at the General. He grabbed his shoulders with each hand. “You, my friend… You and I will storm the castle gate. Just before the drawbridge is taken up at sunset. Okay. We won’t exactly storm the castle. We’ll just stroll right in with our weapons and identities concealed. We’ll walk along with the others returning from the fields and going into the safety of the castle. And when the drawbridge is drawn and the portcullis is lowered, we’ll have that evil usurper just where we want him. The people will turn on the enemy, our loyalists will back them up with muscle. The walls will have our people on top instead of theirs. And we will rule this place in peace again as it has been for decades.”

“Am I the last to know of your plans, O King?”

The King pursed his lips. “The would be usurper had thought to put a listening ear in our camp. A new confidante who would speak lies in my ear. Indeed, I had heard that one of my most trusted men, one of you six was not who I thought he was. I looked with suspicion on all of you as this false friend whispered in my ear.”

“Damian,” the six whispered as one.

The King nodded. “Damian went back to the usurper with the notion that I had made foolish plans without your counsel. He thought that we were disjointed and without allies or a plan because I had kept you in the dark. He smiled when he snuck off to his evil master.”

The King smiled. “I only doubted you for a moment. Then, I realized that your character had always shown you to be true. But I had to keep you in the dark for our subterfuge to work on Damian.”

The others nodded agreement.

“And now it is time. Time to take back the kingdom.”

“Your kingdom,” the General corrected the King.

The King smiled. “Our kingdom.”

---

When it was all over, the General kneeled and bowed his head to his liege. “It is finished. The kingdom is yours…” He looked up at the King. “…ours again.” He smiled as he stood. Then he said to his friend, “That was probably the worst idea you have ever had, my King.” He smiled even broader, if that was possible. “But it worked!”