[b]Chapter 28: Her father's daughter[/b]

Josephine shuffled through the narrow street and its people with relative ease. From Sir John's suggestion she had put on a simple, hooded cloak to better blend in as a simple peasant girl to prevent any unwanted attention. She was following Sir John, who like her, had switched out to simple clothing; though the high-quality sword he carried by his side attracted more than a few inquiring looks. Behind the princess in turn followed a small contingent of marines, who had accompanied them from the ship. They too were wearing simple tunics and britches, with only one or two being armed with clubs in the unlikely event that someone would pick a fight with them.

Josephine and her party slithered around the streets of Cliffport for near half an hour until Sir John finally stopped infront of a building. The building, a large house of four floors, carried a distinctive official look about it - banners of the nation's colours were draping down on either side of the of the entrance, but their sigils were that of a golden anchor instead. The Admiralty's headquarters. Josephine wasted little time outside and barged past her protector and stepped inside.

*

The doors leading into the Lord-Admiral's office swung open and Josephine stormed in inside. The office had been re-purposed into a war-room of sorts, as several men in uniforms stood around a large, square table in the center of the room, with a myriad of maps and navigating tools spread out across it. They all looked up at what they could only first interpret as an angry little peasant girl that flew inside their decision-making.

"What is the meaning of--" a middle-aged officer with his hair loosely set up in a ponytail behind his head began, though he was promptly shut down as Sir John appeared and positioned himself next to Josephine, who then lowered her hood. "Lord-Admiral Spire, I need your ships."

The officer who went by the name of Spire, who had also been the first man to protest, widened his eyes and then humbly bowed before the little royalty - the other men around him immediately did the same. "Princess Josephine! Forgive us. When we heard about what happened at the capital we feared the worst. We didn't expect you to walk through those doors."

Josephine wafted a hand dismissively to shut the man up. "Your lack of decorum is forgiven, but I have preciously little time - as does my father. He is fighting outside Monarch's Rise this very moment. I saw your ships in dock, and I saw that they were preparing for war. You need to send them to the capital at once and help my father, your king, to retake the city."

Spire looked at Josephine with his mouth ajar as she bombarded him with words and commands. He then cleared his throat and dusted off his black and gold coat from invisible dust. "The ships you saw in harbour were destined for elsewhere by your father's command, but we'll gladly re-direct them to support the king in our hour of need. How do you propose we support your father's forces from the sea?"

Josephine barely gave Spire the time to finish his question before she was quick on her tongue again to flood the man with orders. "You have marines, do you not? As do Admiral Aversbury, whose fleet is in blockade around Monarch's Rise. Your ships will join up with his and together you will send your soldiers to a stony shore - Aversbury knows of it - which has a tunnel that leads into the royal keep. Your men, Lord-Admiral, could cause havoc and confusion amongst the invaders if you were to attack from within. It would give my father some much needed time."

The officers in the room looked between themselves but did not dare to speak up in protest, if they had any. Spire frowned somewhat but eventually nodded his head. "The chance of survival for the soldiers who enters the keep would be quite low, I imagine. Still, those men would gladly sacrifice their lives for their king and country if it meant turning the tide in this unprovoked invasion..."

Josephine tilted her head. "Good. As far we know, the invaders aren't even from this world. They appeared out of thin air and possess powerful magic. People will die, my father's and mine people, will die in this war. But without risk and sacrifice we won't win the day, and the consequences will be far more severe if we fail to break them in Monarch's Rise. But between your men and my father's army, I am confident we will triumph over the enemy."

The sailors in the room looked up the young princess with dumbfound expressions; never could they have imagined such viciousness and resolve from someone so young. At Josephine's side, Sir John smirked - he had undoubtedly seen the princess in action before, and always with the same results.

Lord-Admiral Spire glanced between his subordinates before nodding. "Of course, princess. We'll win the day."