" Her Majesty Queen Bitaqir " The Aghas announced as she walked into the study. The worried expressions on the viziers faces raised all warning bells in Bitaqir.
" Viziers, what is the matter?" She asked as she took her seat.
" The messenger has returned" Azim Pasha spoke and the look in his eyes were screaming bad news.
"And ... " Bitaqir asked whilst trying to calm her beating heart.
" They refused the treaty, Shanara wants war with the loser becoming a territory of the winner" Azim Pasha spoke in a monotone and all traces of tiredness left her body and she stood alert .
" Pasha we cannot afford a war right now , is that correct ?" Bitaqir asked praying that it isn't so, but the look in the Pashas eyes slapped her right back into reality.
" Can we be able to provide for our people amidst this war?" Bitaqir asked concern lacing her voice .
" We have enough in storage to last the citizens a month, maybe two" Abdul Pasha replied. Bitaqir wanted to swear the agricultural minister but then again she was aware he wasn't at fault.
" How much longer can the soldier hold them back, before they storm the remaining cities " Bitaqir inquired.
"Three days, a week at most" Azim Pasha
replied with uncertainty.
" You don't sound certain, ride to the north immediately and make sure of that, buy us some more time, if possible" Bitaqir instructed. Azim Pasha might try to get on her nerves a lot but he is an excellent strategist, so for that she really admired him.
" Yes Majesty" Azim replied and left the study at once.
" The women and children in the palace should be moved to the underground beneath your chambers and latch the entrance, the enemy might try to infiltrate the palce in our absence. There is a passage way that leads out of the palace with twelve different exits, in case of an emergency they should leave through the most secured passage. I know the underground more than anyone." Mahdir Pasha spoke in a very confident voice.
" Do so Pasha, without raising an alarm, make sure to create fake trails leading away from the palace towards the south." Bitaqir spoke in one breath already feeling her nerves getting the best of her. Mahdir Pasha took his exist to start carrying out his tasks .
"And what about the townspeople, we cannot just leave them to fend for their selves at times like this." Bitaqir inquired again worried.
" The moment we match through the town the guards will lead them to the old palace at the mountain top, they will be able to survive for a month as there's a lot of food in stock and also fresh flowing water, also there has always been very tight security at that location, very easy to ward off intruders, a hundred guards can lay ambush and fend off ten times more soldiers if they're attacked." Abdul Pasha replied.
" Good! then in that case start the preparations now" Bitaqir ordered realising the breath she wasn't aware she was holding on to. Abdul Pasha then left the study.
"With a