As Carissa and Mnie were leaving, Victoria sent Keith to escort them out of
Serenity Pce.
Carissa took the opportunity to slip him a letter. "Would you be so kind as to pass
this along to Her Majesty?"
Keith blinked in surprise. "Why did you not hand it to Her Majesty herself just now,
Lady Sinir?"
Supporting her mother gently, Carissa replied, "It''s merely a note of thanks. I''m
not good with words, so I thought it best to write it down."
Keith chuckled. "I see. Very well. I shall see it delivered."
That very afternoon, Carissa set out for Victory Pass, taking Travis and Lulu along
with her. Before departing, she also sent letters to Violet, Bun, and Cynthia,
asking them to travel to Victory Pass as well. They all had to arrive before the
city''s defenses were tested by war.
As for the letter to Victoria, it held no words of gratitude at all.
Instead, Carissa wrote to inform the queen dowager that Winona, who had long
wandered abroad, had returned with troubling news. Westhaven''s factions were
tearing themselves apart, and were likely to seize upon the conflict between the
two kingdoms to further their schemes.
Though Victoria typically refrained from meddling in affairs of the kingdom, this
matter was far from trivial. If she believed it, she would surely speak to the king.
Salvador respected and trusted Victoria deeply, and he would dispatch carrier
pigeons to his spies stationed in Westhaven without dy to investigate.
If reinforcements could be sent to Victory Pass sooner than in Carissa''s previous
life, then the battle need not be so desperate. Fewer soldiers would have to give
their lives.
When Carissa and herpanions finally arrived at Victory Pass, tensions
between the two kingdoms had already begun to re, though no full assault had
yet beenunched.
The Sullivan family was naturally d to see her, but when they thought of
Carissa''s father and brothers'' sacrifice, they couldn''t help feeling sad. They asked
about how things were at home, and while they were told everything was fine, no
one truly believed it could be.
Carissa wept more than once, partly when speaking of herte father and
brothers, but also when she saw with her own eyes that her third and seventh
uncles were alive and well. And her grandparents were also still in good health.
During the family dinner that evening, she excused herself and asked to meet
privately with her grandfather in his study, saying she had urgent matters to
discuss. She also invited several of her uncles to join them.
At first, they thought perhaps something had gone wrong in the capital. But when
Carissa revealed that Westhaven''s inner strife might soon ignite a full-scale war
between the two kingdoms, the room fell utterly silent.
They looked from one to another, speechless and grave. No one spoke a word.
Carissa thought they didn''t believe
her and hurriedly said, "I speak the
truth. In Westhaven, the Stellwyn
brothers are at odds. General Leroy
seeks to seizemand of the
army. He has allies at court, and
ns to trick the crown prince into
going to the front lines, thereby
cing him in danger. Once General
Liam goes in search of him, General
Leroy willunch an attack on
Victory Pass."
Her grandfather and uncles looked at one another, yet still no one spoke.
"It''s true, everyone. Please, believe me," Carissa urged, growing more anxious.
Atst, Wade stroked his chin and broke the silence, saying, "We do believe you,
Cari. Your guild senior has always brought sound intelligence. We didn''t speak
because our scouts have sent back some odd reports over the past few days, and
we were already uneasy. Now that you''ve said this, it begins to make sense."
Wyatt nodded. "Indeed. The scouts
reported that Westhaven has been
moving grain to Fawnrun City, which
we all found strange. Westhaven''s
supplies are typically stored in
Brightmere City, near the western
mountains. That''s where most of
their soldiers are stationed. Why
send rations to Fawnrun? We
couldn''t make sense of it until now."
Dominic was deep in thought a little
longer, then looked at Carissa and
asked, "You mean to say that
General Liam will be lured away, and
General Leroy will take temporary
Victory Pass. But if that is so, then
all this movement of troops and
grain...General Liam doesn''t know of
it? How many men do they mean to
gather?"
For as it stood, Westhaven''s current border forces were far too few tounch a full
assault. And yet, they must be calling in reinforcements if they truly meant to
attack. But how could such a major shift in troops be hidden from Liam?
"He likely knows nothing of it. He may believe it''s only routine supply or small
reinforcements. General Leroy must be hiding it from him, likely with help from his
allies at court. As for how many men... the report didn''t say exactly, but it won''t be
less than 200,000 soldiers," Carissa answered quickly.
Dominic''s expression changed. "200,000? Then, we must make preparations at
once, or we''ll be caught off guard when their army reaches our gates."
He dared not imagine what kind of chaos that would bring.
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