Her Graceful War Song

As Carissa and Melanie were leaving, Victoria sent Keith to escort them out of

Serenity Palace.

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 Sinclair?"

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 delay 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 her companions finally arrived at Victory Pass, tensions

between the two kingdoms had already begun to flare, though no full assault had

yet been launched.

The Sullivan family was naturally glad 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 her late 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 seize command of the

army. He has allies at court, and

plans to trick the crown prince into

going to the front lines, thereby

placing him in danger. Once General

Liam goes in search of him, General

Leroy will launch 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.

At last, 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, whichnoveldrama

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

command, then strike against

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 to launch 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.