Beads of sweat dripped down the Duke of Sofia's forehead. He had remained in the same chamber as His Highness the King ever since they began discussing how to deal with the Bharatiya Navy advancing toward the Bosphorus Strait, and since then, more than a dozen messengers had rushed in, each carrying a different report, and without exception, every single piece of news had been extremely unfavourable to them.
It started with the news about the Bharatiyas killing all the defence guards at the beach, and then, the latest, the coastal defences being dismantled and the Bharatiya Battle Group fast approaching the Bosphorus Strait.
At first, he could still give some suggestions to cope with the enemy, like bringing over the reserve troops that were undergoing training in the nearby town of Arnavutköy, but as time went by, when the news of the Bharatiya's relentless charge from the southern frontier was heard, he could no longer utter a sentence.
