"Please rest tonight. I want you to revisit my tent before sunrise. I shall discuss our strategy then."
They left the main tent as quietly as they could. It was around seven at night. Yulia slept soundly on her bed in the family's private tent. There were three beds fixed on each side. One belonged to her and the other belonged to the marquess.
—"Father's sleeping with us!?"This was unexpected for her.
Azriel was in the main tent talking to a soldier.
"Father seems to be busy," she mumbled under her breath.
"Milady, welcome back. Did everything go well?"Cecile asked as she prepared her nightdress.
Sloane nodded.
" Yes, everything went well. Thank you for your concern, Cecile."
Cecile smiled placing the nightdress on Sloane's bed.
"Milady, please have some dinner. You've not eaten anything since morning."
"Thank you, Cecile."
"Oh and..." Cecile looked around then closed in.
"Sir Orion came here and gave this to me. This letter is addressed to you milady." She whispered in Sloane's ear and handed out an envelope.
"He also said that you don't need to worry."
Sloane took the envelope from Cecile's hand.
"You don't need to stand here Cecile. Please go and rest. You haven't recovered from the last incident."
—"Milady noticed?"She was embarrassed.
"Then I shall take my leave. Goodnight milady."
"Goodnight," Sloane responded as she focused on her dinner.
Just when she changed into her nightdress, Azriel entered the tent.
"Welcome back, father." Sloane greeted him.
"You haven't slept yet? It's almost eight."Azriel asked her.
" I was getting changed. I'm about to sleep."
"I see." Azriel took off his overcoat and gave it to the servant who followed him. It was studded with various military medals he received.
"Father. Can you give me the papers that contain information about my teammates?"
"Why need them, Sloane? Those documents are top secret. Since you are participating as a normal knight I can't possibly hand them just like that. Unless it's something important."
"It's important to know about your teammates before trusting them. These are the words you often say to me. Am I mistaken, father?"
Sloane looked into his eyes with overflowing confidence.
"..."
Azriel stood near his desk speechless.
Sigh*
"Very well."
He took a thick file out of the drawer and placed it on the desk.
"Thank you for understanding me, father."
She bowed humbly.
"It's the least I can do for my daughter."
Sloane went out into the main tent.
Meanwhile, Yulia woke up and looked around. She saw Azriel sitting on his bed staring at an ornament. It belonged to the late marchioness.
"Papa?" She called out half asleep.
He straightened up looking at his daughter.
She got off her bed and climbed on his bed.
"Papa...Is that mother's brooch?"
Azriel nodded smiling faintly. Yulia snuggled up near her father.
"You know what I dreamed about? I saw mother sitting in a beautiful flower field filled with tulips. She was wearing a gorgeous white dress. I ran into her arms and she smiled gently and hugged me tightly. And then she kissed me on the cheek."She pointed at her right cheek.
Azriel listened to his innocent daughter. Her golden eyes reminded him of his wife.
"That was a wonderful dream."
"I miss her..." Yulia said drowsily.
Finally, her eyes closed and went back to sleep.
He smiled bitterly as his heart ached while he saw his daughter sleeping without any worries. He gently caressed her shiny black hair.
"Your daughters miss you, Estelle."He spoke to himself portraying a virtual image of his wife in his mind.
———————
It was the third part of the night. Sloane woke up earlier than usual and got ready.
" My lady. I've brought them."Jack called out in a low voice.
—"Right on time. I respect you, Jack."
"Come in."
Sloane stood near the conference table. There were a map and a few handcrafted figurines that were placed randomly on the map.
"Please have a seat."