“Yes, when they’re sleeping,” I said. “It’s the best chance we have.”

“Princess, I don’t know if that’s possible.” Thomas shook his head. “We can’t plan a ful scale attack in a few hours.”

“As soon as the King finds out I’m Queen, he wil be at our door with an army of hobgoblins.” I pointed toward the door to emphasize my point. “We are talking a matter of days here. What more can you do in the next two days that wil be superior to getting the jump on the Vittra?”

“I don’t know,” Thomas admitted. “But it doesn’t mean we should embark on a suicide mission.”

“You’re talking suicide?” I asked. “You saw the painting. Your son is dead. Everyone in this room, except for you, is dead.” I paused, letting that sink in. “We have to do something to change that.”

“Attacking the Vittra palace wil only change the location that we die,” Finn said.

“Maybe so,” I agreed. “But so what? I have read book after book of Tryle history. And you know what it says? We concede.

We wait. We avoid. We only defend. We never stand up and fight for ourselves.

“And now is the time to fight. This is our last chance. Not just ours, as in the people in this room, but our entire kingdom’s last chance to stand up and fight against the Vittra. If we don’t do this now, they wil conquer us.”

“That’s a shame,” Wila said, looking awed.

“What is?” I asked.

“That you used that speech now instead of saving it to help me convince the Markis and Marksinnas to go fight with us tonight,” Wila said.

“So it’s agreed then?” I asked.

“You know that I’l always have your back,” Tove said. “No matter what.”

“I almost hate to say it, but yes, I’m with you,” Loki said. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I’l attack the Vittra tonight.”

“I stil think there’s a better way,” Thomas said. “But I don’t know what it is. If this is the best we have, then this is what we must do.”

“Is there nothing that can convince you to stay?” Finn asked.

“No,” I shook my head. “This is my fight as much as it is yours, if not more. I wil be there.”

“Fine,” Finn sighed. “Then I’m in too.”

“Excelent,” I said. I wanted to smile. I felt like I should, to seal the deal somehow, but I didn’t. My stomach was twisted too much.

“We have a few hours until we leave then?” Thomas asked.

“Yes,” I said. “After my coronation.”

“I suppose that I need to brief everyone on the layout of the Vittra palace,” Loki said.

“That would be helpful, yes,” I said.