Chapter 14 - Drawing the Perfect Plan

"What do you think, Big Brother?" Zenia asked Zander zealously as she showed Vaughn's letter.

Zander was too cautious to offend Zenia again. It had only been days since they made up. Zekiah tried his best to keep the animosity between Zenia and Zander, but Renaria cut in and put an end to it. Zekiah could never go against his mother – none of the siblings could. Ovid Anisen was the same. They all agreed that Renaria's words must be obeyed at all costs.

He kept reading the letter over and over again as if his eyes would be able to burn that thing when he stared at it for a long time. He let his guard down that this letter was able to get through undetected.

'This is a love letter, a love letter, a love letter…' Zander kept repeating these words in his mind.

Even if the letter stated Vaughn's plan, it was without a doubt a love letter. Zander looked at Zenia who did not seem affected or touched by the content of the letter. She was still thinking of the best way to carry out the plan.

Zander heaved a sigh of relief. He seemed to be worrying for nothing. His cute little sister was still the same. Zander closed his eyes and brought himself to Lala Land where Little Zenzen was running around wearing a cute dress and a hair band. Ahh, his little sister was the most adorable girl. No man should ever taint her, not even that Crown Prince.

"BIG BROTHER!" Zenia's loud voice rang within the military camp.

Zander was forcefully taken back to the present by that loud, lovely shrill.

"Yes, my adorable little sister?" He asked as if he had taken a hallucinogenic drug.

Zenia was infuriated by Zander's lack of interest at the matter at hand.

"Wake up Big Brother!" Zenia slapped Zander as hard as she could.

Zander staggered a bit from the impact of the slap. But it did the trick. He was fully awake.

"I'm okay." He said reassuringly to his subordinates and himself.

Everyone who saw what just happened was stunned. They knew that Zenia is powerful, but they never thought that she would be bold enough to give her brother a slap without holding back.

"Are you fully awake now? You always do this when you don't want to listen to me." Zenia complained with all her heart. She did the slapping, but why did the people there feel like she was wronged?

Everyone shook their heads and decided not to intervene. Anyway, their commander had always spoilt his sister. If it was another woman who slapped him, Zander may have executed that woman right then and there.

"Yes, so what's the plan?"

Zenia looked around when she noticed that someone was missing.

"Where's Zekiah? This plan includes him too."

"Who knows, maybe mother beat him up." Zander shrugged his shoulders. He would never tell Zenia that their mother found out what Zekiah was trying to do, and being punished for it.

"But he should be here. I plan to leave for Tissuria before daybreak."

Zander was startled at Zenia's declaration, "Alone?"

"Yes! Is there a problem?"

"Without bodyguards?"

"Yes!"

"On a horse and not carriage?"

"Yes! Do you want me to travel on foot?"

"No! Can I come along so I can carry you when you get tired?" Zander said this with puppy-dog eyes.

"Don't imitate Zekiah, you're not cute at all! And no, you can't tag along. This is a covert operation, a C.O.V.E.R.T. You don't know the meaning of the word."

"Oh…Okay then."

Zenia just couldn't understand the inner workings of Zander's brain. He was a military commander for crying out loud. How could he just leave his post?

"We'll have Zeze dressed as me when the time to depart for Tissuria has come. I need to be there ahead of time. Vaughn said I just need to look for someone named Mathilda to take care of everything for me." Zenia's face was beaming while uttering such words, it seemed like she was going on an expedition.

"Wait, isn't the wedding a month and a half from now?" It was Zander's turn to get confused by Zenia's decision.

"Yes!"

"You are leaving for Tissuria at daybreak?"

"Yes!"

"Are you nuts?! It's too early to set off!" Zander flipped the table and couldn't believe what was going on in Zenia's head.

"It's a perfect time while the enemies are still not aware of what's going on. By the time they realized that I might set off at an earlier time, I'm already in Tissuria."

"Does father know?"

"He will be elated when he finds out my enthusiasm for this marriage."

Zander furrowed his brows and became suspicious. "Don't tell me you fell for that good-for-nothing prince?"

"NO!!! Absolutely not!" Zenia protested strongly and could not believe that her brother would spout such nonsense.

"You are against this marriage before, how come you are willing now?"

"He told me he would request the King of Tissuria for the divorce if I am not satisfied with him. He said that to me in this letter." Zenia shoved the letter to Zander's face.

Zander took the letter from Zenia and read it again. "Where is it?"

"It's there!" Zenia snatched the letter back and looked for the part that said:

[If ever you are not satisfied with me after being together as a married couple, I will personally ask my King to allow us to divorce. I will definitely regret it, but your happiness is more important to me.]

Zenia stopped looking when she remembered something. "Oh, I smeared this blue pigment all over and it covered that part."

Zander wanted to smack Zenia on the head but couldn't. Both of them did not utter a word. Silence enveloped them for a while.

"Does mother know?"

Zenia looked at her brother and gently shook her head. Silence enshrouded them once more.

"Big brother, I know I won't be able to escape this marriage. The prince himself presented me with a way out of this marriage. I just want to get this over with and capture those people so I can go back to my normal life."

"What if he is good to you? Do you still want to divorce by then?"

"But that's not the life I want right now. I want to explore the world and he will only be in the way even if he is good to me." Zenia was beaming when she said it. Her eyes were sparkling.

Zander did not say anything anymore. He somewhat got the answer that he wanted to hear.

"Which route are you going to take?"

The siblings discussed the plan in details. Zenia would go to a place a bit far from the palace. She wanted to explore Tissuria for a bit. She promised Zander that she would be at the designated place after three weeks. She should keep herself safe while waiting for the arrival of her wedding entourage with Zekiah posing as her.

Renaria and Ovid would depart three weeks before the wedding and they would be the ones who would bring Zenia's wedding dress. It was Ishelon's tradition to meet the parents of the groom before the wedding. Zenia's entourage, with Zekiah in the carriage, would depart two weeks before the wedding. They should reach Tissuria two days prior to the wedding day.

In case the carriage failed to arrive on time, Zenia should inform Vaughn through Mathilda or the shadow guards. Zekiah and Zander would find their way to meet with Zenia in Tissuria. The real wedding carriage that Zenia would use on her wedding day should be the one that took Renaria and Ovid to Tissuria.

"We need to synchronize every move. Everything depends on the right timing. When one of us failed to appear on time, it means something bad already happened. We can only proceed according to schedule and treat it as nothing happened."

"What if all of us failed to appear on time?" It was Zander who asked.

"Whoever the enemy is, I don't think he can put someone on each station that we just discussed. Anyway, I also can change my destination on a whim." Zenia winked at Zander and laughed out loud.

The soldiers outside the camp no longer bothered with them. These pair of unpredictable siblings never failed to amaze them. Whatever they were discussing was no longer their concern. They were there just to follow orders and not participate with brainstorming.

* * * * *

Zenia went home earlier than usual under the pretext that she was not feeling well. Everyone bought the excuse and thought that she was just feeling nervous due to her upcoming wedding.

The shadow guard had seen her and found nothing wrong. Renaria saw her daughter and seemed to know what was going on.

"Are you sure it has to be now?"

Zenia was startled when her mother asked her such a question. She nodded her head. Renaria also thought that if she had to go it should be done as soon as possible to avoid giving the enemies a time to counter.

They talked for a while. In the eyes of those that could see them, they seemed to be having a normal conversation. Zenia did not act like she was saying goodbye to her mother, and Renaria did the same.

"Zeze is waiting for you in the cave where you used to go." Renaria did not say more and turned around. Zenia took one last look at her mother's departing back and headed out to meet Zekiah.

"What took you so long? I've been here since forever." Zekiah complained when Zenia finally arrived.

"I need to talk to Big Brother and you know how much time I need to spend just to convince him."

"Quick, change into this and give me your clothes."

"The usual?" Zenia gave Zekiah a meaningful smile.

"Yeah, the usual." Zekiah smiled back.

The shadow guard monitoring Zenia just waited outside the cave at a safe distance. They had no idea why their Crown Princess would go there. They did not see Zekiah went inside the cave earlier.

After some time, the shadow guards saw Zenia coming out of the cave. She trod the path that led to the Anisen Manor. The maids greeted her.

"Good evening Young Miss. Do you want to take your supper now?"

"Yes." Zenia went inside the manor and the shadow guard finally relaxed.

At daybreak, a shadow of a young man emerged from the cave where Zenia and Zekiah met. No one was around and everything was dead silent. The shadow ran as fast as he could to the carriage that seemed to be waiting for him.

"Good evening sir. Everything is ready." The coachman greeted the Young Master.

"Let us set off. I need to reach the first trip of the caravan going to Tissuria." The young man had an imposing tone that was hard to deny.

"Yes, sir."

The road was bumpy and the young man did not expect that the route that he decided to take would give him so much trouble. He was looking for an adventure, but he wanted everything to be smooth and comfortable. Right now, he was two bumps away from throwing up. If they would encounter another set of bumps after this, he may give up the whole thing and plan another course of action.

"Are we there yet?"

"I'm sorry sir. We need to take this bumpy route to avoid the carriage that crashed earlier on our original route."

"What happened?"

"Seems like an ambush, sir."

Zenia, who was dressed as Zekiah, began to suspect something. She could be wrong, but she could never take chances.

"Sir, I'll be getting off on our next turn. Don't bother to turn and look. Here's my payment." Zenia handed the money to the coachman.

The coachman counted the money just when the carriage just made the turn.

"Young Master this payment is too much." When the coachman turned around, Zenia had already jumped off without a trace.