Roland heard the threat behind Queen Titania's words and knew that it would not be possible to leave again. She would keep him there at all costs. Perhaps she even knew all he had done while he was gone; he didn't know the full extent of her powers.
"I'm glad to be back to find all has gone well in my absence." He bowed deeply in thanks to her ruling prowess, and partly so he had an excuse to move her hand away from his cheek.
"We were worried for you," Titania cooed as he stood, "Now that you are back with us we can commence the attack without fearing you might be caught in the cross fire."
It was difficult to keep calm when Titania spoke of attacking his home. She was almost gleeful in her eagerness to destroy the city that had stood for hundreds of years. Though Roland had slowly grown used to the black eyes of his native people, hers were curiously and ominously darker somehow.
"What is my part in the battle plan?" Roland asked. He wanted to just ask the entire battle plan, but that might be suspicious. He should appear to be focused on his own duty to Rhone and either glean what information he could from his instructions or hope that the entire battle plan would be revealed to him regardless.
"Worry not, Derek," Titania assured, "Your part is yet to come, and the primary stages will not endanger our men."
"The primary stages?" He asked curiously.
"You will see in the morning," She smiled tolerantly. "The cowards hope their precious wall will protect them. It will not stand for long."
______________________
Finn took a deep breath as she stood in front of the General's residence. Though she had not requested an appointment, she had been summoned to see him. It was unusual, but everything about life lately was unusual.
Entering shyly as the guards let her by, she found herself led again to the study she'd visited several times before. The General, unlike before when he'd seemed ill verging on the point of collapsing, he now appeared tired but focused.
"Come in, Serafina," He urged, not yet looking up from the paperwork he was studying. "Please, sit."
She curtsied before sitting, wondering if she would ever have the time and inclination for learning all the proper manners for addressing an official of Klain.
"Thank you, Sir." She said. Was she here to be asked questions or to be informed of an assignment the General had for her? She tried her best to wait patiently instead of impulsively interrupting him as she often did.
"I'm sure your far more aware of our current circumstances than the standard citizen," The General began. "There are many things that need to be done, and little knowledge on how to do some of them. I know you have a potential way to protect Klain from magical attacks, has that been accomplished?"
"I am waiting for Gwen, the Fae helping me, to bring me a little more of the herbal mixture necessary. I have almost enough, but not quite." She gave a halfhearted smile and the General frowned.
"Is there anything else you have that may help?" He asked.
"I'm working on deciphering the prophecy for Roland. Of course, if I have some sort of breakthrough I haven't entirely figured out how to get that as a message to him. Other than that... I have a recipe for a healing tea, the same one I sent to you before, a recipe for some sort of poultice that I have no idea what it does, nor do I have all the ingredients, and then a recipe for wolf repellant." She tried to concentrate on if there was anything she was forgetting about.
"Wolf repellant?" The General repeated curiously.
"Yes, I think it works. At least, Mayra and I did not get attacked by wolves while we were in exile, though they were near enough for us to hear them." Finn responded.
"I'm sorry I could not help with that," The older man sighed. "I did not know of it until you were already gone, and your imprisonment was also hidden from me until Riley brought it to my attention. I apologize for the injustice done to you under this government."
"It's not your fault!" Finn cried. "I understand, or at least I think I do, that the parts of the government are intended to remain separate. You couldn't have fixed overnight what a spy had spent a year putting together. The fake Provider was very clever. Have you gotten any useful information out of him?"
"He will not speak," The General's mouth twisted into a decided frown. "Despite our best efforts, it seems the man is determined to be absolutely silent for the rest of his days."
"And the halflings?" She inquired.
"Though I believe I have rounded them all up, they will speak of nothing of importance. Stoic, emotionless little things. Unnerving. They claim they were enslaved and are innocent of all wrongdoing." He blinked tiredly. "They have no useful information to give, or won't give it."
Finn bit her lip, pondering her next move, and decided to defer to the General.
"Is there anything you would like me to do?"
"Make as much of the wolf repellant as you're able to. Our soldiers may have need of it if we cannot complete the evacuation of the towns into the city before the attack commences. Thankfully, it is almost done, and they are rounding up the last of the supplies to bring with the refugees. Hopefully before sundown, the last of them can be inside the walls."
"That's excellent news." Finn smiled genuinely. It seemed years of training for war might finally be of benefit to the people.
"I hope it will be enough. I do not yet have the full accounting of the emergency stores. Thankfully, it seemed that the fake Provider was waiting to destroy the backup supplies until the battle commenced, so that no more could be gathered. We are in the process of testing all of the food stores to make sure nothing was poisoned or tampered with."
The woman nodded, seeing the wisdom in the decision. She probably wouldn't have even considered that.
"Is there anything else I can be doing?" Finn asked, eager to be helpful in any way she could.
"Yes, actually." The General sat up in his chair. "I had assigned Corporal Riley to help search under the city for clues to the prophecy. Since you have been researching it already, you may have a keener eye to know what is relevant. There are two teams searching, and he is following one. If you could follow the other during the day, would that leave you enough time to make the wolf repellant?"
"Yes, I think it should," But that largely depended on how long they spent searching during the day. Finn had yet to catch up on her missed sleep. Maybe she never would. Ah, well.
"Good." He took a piece of parchment and took a few moments to write out the official military orders, then stamped them with his seal. "Take this to the City Hall. The entrance to the tunnels is not far from there, and I have provided that one of the guards should escort you to make sure you reach it. You can begin right away, if you're able. Someone should show you where the teams are searching."
"Thank you, Sir. I can begin immediately." She stood and curtsied before taking the orders he held out.
He smiled at her genuinely. "I'm glad you're all right. I worried for you during your absence. You are my most valuable honorary soldier."
"How many are there?" Finn asked curiously as he walked her to the door.
"Just you," He winked and she smiled. It was nice to be appreciated.
She made her way through the streets to the City Hall, enjoying the cooler weather and the sunshine. She wondered how winter would be here in the city... if the city survived that long. She shook her head at the thought, and replaced it with musings of a winter wedding. Of course, waiting for summer would be more traditional, but there was no real reason to do so, as long as things could be worked out sooner.
By the time she reached her destination, there was a smile on her face, and her eyes danced as she pictured a beautiful wedding gown. Perhaps Ashley would help with some beautiful embroidery to make it extra special. The woman dressed immaculately and maybe she would let Finn benefit from her fashion prowess.
Finn found a guard who seemed dispensable and handed him the orders from the General. He saluted her (what was her honorary rank? Should she be saluted?), and escorted her to a very small building beyond the town square, towards the cliffs. It was heavily guarded for such a small building, but they stepped aside when they read the orders.
Opening the door, the guard closed it behind them both before taking a lamp from the wall and opening a hatch in the floor to reveal stairs leading deep into the ground.