The Queen maintained a calm composure as the possessed Caroline informed her of what would have normally been ludicrous but with the events whirling around her as they were she was in a mood to believe such a mad claim. She turned to Revaz and called to Henry before he had properly descended the steps.

"Lord Henry! Lady Revaz, I believe you have something else to consider in your strategies. Prince Jochi, Princess Elaeria and myself will go and speak to our respective peoples and build morale before the battle as is our charge and duty." She slid her hand through Jochi's proffered arm and they descended the steps from the wall together with Elaeria close behind. She stopped for a moment as she passed Henry and laid a hand on his shoulder to stop him. She was surprisingly strong for a woman of her size.

"These people have shown you no mercy, Lord Henry. This is not war as you know but it is war nevertheless; you must return to being a warrior and not a knight." Then she was gone leaving Henry to grit his teeth in frustration. She was right, of course. He hated to admit it but Revaz was also right; the year of peace had let him hope it might last and he had lost his edge for strategy. Rolling his great shoulders he found the deep-seated rage that had carried him through most of his life and re-joined Revaz looking out over the terrain around them.

"You're right. It appears you've still got a mind for war while I temporarily lost mine." He looked towards the forest, his brow furrowing in thought. "Bring us a map of the grounds." He called to one of the few guards on the wall who hurried off to do his bidding. In the meantime Henry dragged one of the benches on the wall over out into the light properly and sat on one end. When the man returned with a map he laid it out on the bench in front of him.

"There's no doubt they'll attack this gate; setting Unity on fire outside our walls will frustrated the aim of our archers from here and gives them the best cover possible to attack. If we assume that the gate will fall easily then they'll first march out possible four hundred yards along this road so that the bulk of their forces are beyond the wall and then they'll redeploy." He pointed to a road on the map. "Their vanguard will be here, probably skirmishers. If we assume the range of their weapons is similar to that of a normal bow then a recurve or longbow will out distance them. So the archers from Elianst, Anstarn and your people will all be able to safely cut down their numbers while remaining out of harms way for the most part." He drew his finger further along the map.

"They'll probably then advance along here as we fall back and they try and brush away our skirmishers. If I have my heavy cavalry from Elianst on the wings of the skirmishers then they'll be safe from any enemy cavalry rush." He paused for a moment, sliding his finger along to the wood. "If their commander has any intelligence at all, even with over confidence they won't commit their entire force to chasing us. If we have the Professors help us then setting fire to the wood will be no issue even with this dew; I don't think the students here have much experience of magic use at all or at least not enough for this to work." He looked up at Revaz and circled the wood with his finger.

"After that I'll leave whatever remains to you and yours; my people are good for coordinated charges and immovable defences but nothing as mobile as keeping a force from regrouping whereas yours are fast and, I fear, actually blooded unlike most of my men." He looked down at the nobles and it was clear who had seen battle and who hadn't. The veterans were busy checking their equipment time and time again, inspecting saddle buckles and swearing oaths to other veterans to pass on last messages in the event the worst happened. In direct contrast the unblooded stalked about arrogantly, swinging blades and tiring themselves uselessly while boasting about their future prowess. It worried Henry how few were at all experienced, especially from Elianst where older men still led the armies.

Shaking off his fears he traced his finger down the road.

"If we assume that their target is the Academy they'll prioritize at least some of their force in attacking there directly, especially if they believe we've already been routed. If we construct the barricade at this crossroads we have routes to fall back on and regroup if necessary but it's far enough away that their forces will be completely isolated from one another." He circled the place on the map with a piece of charcoal from a nearby burned out brazier and mapped out the proposed routes the enemy would take. He thought for a moment and dotted a smaller wood to the west of the road; opposite the woodland Revaz had proposed for their ambush.

"I'll have Granthar concealed here amongst the trees. If we need him to support either of our groups then he's there to attack them in the rear." He looked up at Revaz. "Once we've broken them then victory is ours; we're entirely mounted and we can hunt them down at our pleasure. If we're successful in your plan then Granthar can attack the second part of the force making their way to the Academy in the rear and that'll have them running before long." He stood up, looking down at the people below them.

"I'll have those from Elianst take the most dangerous positions and also have them acting as messengers; they're too unblooded to be relied upon in the heat of actual battle but they still need to do something." He turned to Caroline then, or the one possessing her, and thought.

"We could use the extra troops. Whether we use them as bait to split up their forces or to support the blockade by the Academy they'll be the most useful. Finally this isn't about our glory; this is about everyone here trying to survive. You can take the credit for it, after all it is your plan, but as long as most of us make it out alive I don't really care either way. I just want a chance to rip the guts out of whoever put my father's head on a pike."