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Aladdin's father frowned, "Yes, the plan has its virtues, but I dislike my son being put up as bait."
"Oh father...." Aladdin started.
"Don't 'Oh father' me! I am your father, and you are still too young to be here! Your safety is still on my mind. I consent to consider anything with your presence here only because of your powerful friend." he nodded to the genie.
"Servant." the genie corrected, "I am Aladdin's servant until this affair is settled. And part of my duty as his servant is to protect him. I would not support this plan if I didn't feel it was the best way to deal with these people, given the resources we have available."
The genie continued, "OK, lets review. The goal of this plan is to get the Iron Men to move away, rather than move up the valley and attack Induslan once again, right?"
"Right." the men agreed.
"The Iron Men have just finished a difficult desert crossing. They are refreshing and regrouping, and they soon will move again. In the meantime, they have sent scouts into the hills to size up the opposition they will face coming up the valley, right?"
"Right." the men agreed again.
"If we make them nervous and uncertain about coming up the valley, we win."
"Right."
"So, the heart of our campaign is to make them nervous. We will do this in several ways. One, we will drive their scouts out of the hills, so they are 'blind' about what lies in front of them. The iron is too heavy to wear climbing up and down hills, so one-on-one in the hills your men should be equal to theirs. The main job of your men, the brave soldiers of Induslan, is to make the hills unpleasant for Iron Men soldiers and scouts."
"Right." they all said. "... But what if they rush up the road while all our forces are scattered in the hills?" one added.
"The same thing will happen as if all the Induslan men were lined up in front of them... they will smash you and ride through. That's why you are so nervous now, and why we have to do something smart, not brave. Again, the smart thing we can do is make the Iron Men so uncertain that they won't do the rush."
"While the brave men of Induslan work hard at keeping the Iron Man army scouts out of the hills, Prince Aladdin and I will be doing some Djinn Magic to convince the Iron Men to go elsewhere. I won't go into the details of that, other than to say the magic will only work if you are successful at keeping scouts out of the hills. And... don't believe everything your eyes tell you." the genie winked.
"So, you will be using illusion?" asked Aladdin's father. He had become the leader he was because he was a straightforward man and did not leave things to chance or confusion.
"I will, indeed. Much of war-making is about illusion."
For just a moment, Aladdin's father's face carried a look of deep disgust. He hated illusion... which is why he was a sub-chieftan, and not a chieftain or prince himself.
"I will leave that aspect of war-making to you, servant of my son. But, I approve of this plan. It is better than our previous plan. Men, we had best be about clearing the hills."
And with that, the meeting broke up. Aladdin's father and his men rode off to explain the plan to the other chiefs of the Induslan militia, leaving Aladdin and the genie to work their own mischief.
"First, we should give your people encouragement." said the genie, "And to do that, we are going to change our form of transportation."
The genie waved his arms again. It took more that a few simple motions this time, and it took some chanting, but what appeared was a richly embroidered carpet. The genie motioned for Aladdin to get on. "Sit, please." he said, "It's more comfortable." Aladdin sat on the carpet, and so did the genie. A few moments later, the carpet rose into the air!
"A flying carpet?" said Aladdin, "Ohhh, this is really neat!"
"I'm glad you think so. It's slow, but it's easy to maneuver, and the view is wonderful." said the genie.
"Where are we going now?"
"We are flying over the Induslani troops to encourage them. This way, they will all know for sure that they have a magic prince fighting on their side."
"If that is the goal, I will stand." said Aladdin, and he stood up. It was a little tricky to keep his balance as the wind pulled his long robes behind him, but he looked very princely, indeed. The genie flew the carpet over the various Induslani camps and detachments of soldiers. At first, Aladdin waved and shouted to them, but then he decided that looking Princely and Commanding was a better choice, so he did that instead, and waved only a little, and with grave dignity.
The first time they flew over, the men below were dead quiet. "Is it working?" asked Aladdin.
The second time there were thunderous cheers. The genie smiled, "I think so."
The genie flew them to a natural rock tower that overlooked the road. The tower was a 30 meter column of rock with a fairly flat top. Only a person who was half-monkey could climb to the top, but the carpet flew there easily. The genie landed, and quickly put up another lunch pavilion.
"What I do next will take some serious conjuring on my part, and it will take time. I suggest you have lunch and rest."
"I want to help... or watch." said Aladdin.
"You can't help, and there's not much to see. You can watch me think, because that's what I'll be doing, mostly. Watch, or not, what I do need you to be is fresh and rested for what comes next. It will be a long and difficult adventure."
"OK..." Aladdin went into the tent, and he was all alone... except for the six manservants who said, "We are here to freshen your clothes and feed you for this evening's activities." and the six nubile serving maids who said, "We are here to see that you are relaxed, refreshed and well-rested."
Aladdin's jaw dropped. "Are you real?"
The chief manservant answered, "Umm... how do I put this in human terms.... We are part of the genie's imagination. We are real as long as he wishes us to be real. We disappear when he is done with us, then reappear when he wants us again. So... yes! I am real!" the manservant smiled. "Please, let us help you slip into something more comfortable, my Prince. It will be many hours before the genie finishes his work outside."
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