Finn smiled broadly at the General. No Peacekeeping officer could arrest her for doing her job as a doctor's assistant. If played correctly, it was unlikely that the Provider would even find out that she would be with Ashley. He couldn't possibly keep track of every person the young woman ever saw.
If she sat in a dim corner, or even behind a privacy screen, taking notes while Dr. Sherman examined the rest of the troops, no one but Ashley would even be able to definitively state that they'd been in a room together, let alone spoken.
The General was a clever and strategic man, but she wondered how much all of this weighed on him. He looked exhausted and drained beyond simply a lack of sleep. He looked ill.
"General, may I ask you a question?" The man nodded, "Are you feeling all right?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but no. I have not been feeling well for a while now." He admitted.
"I hate to ask this, but you mentioned a moment ago that your cook had adopted one of the orphans... might they have had any access to your food?" Finn cringed and reminded herself that she was accusing a grown adult spy, not a child, of an evil act.
The General's mouth fell open.
"Don't worry, um, I can send you some tea that I hope will help you feel better!" Said Finn, "Only, I wanted you to be cautious, just in case..."
"In case a spy posing as a child within my household is poisoning me." He finished. It would reflect badly on him to insist his cook immediately take a newly adopted orphan out of his home, but there had to be something he could do. He glanced at the door. If not for the guard he'd posted, the little spy could be lurking and listening to his every conversation! Digging into his papers!
Children were small and clever enough to be sneaky, but a child-sized spy was an order of magnitude different.
"Does your cook have family she could go visit?" Finn asked suddenly. "Maybe you could send her away for a time. Someone else could care for the 'child,' or they could run away. If they go together, you could send someone to keep watch and keep her safe."
The General nodded slowly, "A competent idea. I will investigate somewhere to send her with the 'child' which would not arouse suspicions. Though I hate to keep her in any danger, I imagine the little spy will stay undercover until the plan proceeds further, whatever it may be." His brow furrowed.
He briefly considered exposing the spies immediately, but as most of the populace did not believe in the existence of halflings, it might give the Provider opportunity to attack his credibility and paint him as going mad under the pressure of command. Perhaps he would even call for the General to be replaced, doubtlessly with a puppet general of his own choosing.
"Are there any more at the orphanage?" He asked. At least he could do something to keep those away from innocent people.
"Four or five, I think," Replied Finn. She hadn't been to the orphanage in a few days, so she wasn't certain.
"I'll make sure they are brought here in a way that does not arouse suspicions and only questioned by my most trusted soldiers." The General grimaced. It would be a difficult ask until everything was understood. After all, they looked like children. His men would follow orders, but they were not heartless and might have trouble with this.
Dr. Sherman cleared his throat, "It sounds like you have many things to do, and I will need to finish my rounds if I'm to inspect the troops. We'll excuse ourselves." He bowed as the General nodded to him in dismissal.
Finn curtsied and followed the doctor out. There was indeed much to do.
_____________________
She felt overwhelming relief at being, insofar as she could tell, believed about everything. Shocked, almost, if she were completely honest. Each thing she learned was more outlandish than the last, and it stacked up into a ridiculous sounding tale. The fear of being set aside as crazy had been gripping her more tightly than she'd even noticed, and the dissipation of that fear was difficult to completely come to terms with.
Still, the General had seen much in this life, and had learned more from the records of the General before him. He was a reasonable and learned man, and she should have trusted him better to take her information into consideration.
She wondered if she would have done the same. She hoped so.
Getting back to the house, she was overcome with exhaustion. Staying up late, getting up early, and the sudden absence of the emotional burden she'd been carrying left little but fatigue behind. She decided to read the journal the General had given to her from the previous holder of the office.
She yawned, expecting some dry recounting of various military records, but instead the journal was highly personal and descriptive. A marker had been put towards the center of the book, and she flipped there to begin her reading.
A loose couple of pages fluttered out, clearly torn from a larger book. They were the records of Ashmayne's exploits and how he came to be awarded the Valor Sword. Finn barely scanned the first few lines before making a decision.
"Mayra?" Finn called softly, in case the girl was in earshot.
"Yes, Finn?" Mayra called back, coming closer as she wiped her hands on her apron.
"I think you might like to read these before I do." Finn handed her the two pages, and turned back to the journal.
The previous General recounted several visits with Betty, whom he also called Beatrice, and her infant nephew... Roland, abducted Heir to the throne of Rhone.
Finn stared a long time at the page. She couldn't even digest the information. Her brain refused to accept it. It was impossible. The journal must be a fake.
"Finn??" Mayra was snapping her fingers in front of the girl's face, trying to shake her out of her stupor.
"Yes? What? I'm sorry, I..." Finn shook her head.
"Did you see this?? This wasn't our Roland, right? He wasn't a... prince?" She whispered the last word.
"I was just coming across that myself. He had mentioned an Aunt Beatrice, but... I just can't believe this." Finn finally collected her thoughts enough to keep reading. The past General had kept track of Betty in the poorer part of town, providing her with food that, more often than not, she gave to the other poor after feeding her nephew.
When sickness spread through the city like wildfire, he didn't find out until it was too late that Betty was sick. She was already dead, and neighbors had taken Roland to the orphanage. Rushing over there in person, the General found that the boy had run away.
He spent months searching for the child before he was forced to abandon the efforts. There were too many other things to focus on, and it was highly unlikely a child could survive that long on his own, on the streets.
Tears streamed down Finn's face. Roland had been so close to a completely different kind of life, in several ways. To meet his end with the attack dogs of the people he had been born to rule! What cruel irony life held.
But what if... if he hadn't died?
"Mayra?" She asked slowly.
"Finn, what is it?" Mayra was worried after Finn had so thoroughly been lost in her thoughts a few moments ago.
"If... if he survived, they have him. And if they know who he is..." Finn swallowed.
"I don't think we can think about that," Mayra said. "It's too much. That would be too much, right?"
"There's no body. Maybe they knew who he was all along, or found out somehow. Maybe the wolves dragged him off on purpose, making it look like he was dead so that no one would go after them to rescue him. The notes say that the Queen was shrewd and crafty. If she's still alive, or if her heir was like her, this could all be a plan. All of it. And if they have Roland when they come to attack Klain--"
"He'll either be executed by us as a traitor, or killed by them as one." Mayra finished grimly. "But how can we know? How would we find out whether he's ok or not?"
"Maybe we need to get ourselves captured." Finn said.
"That's irresponsibly insane," Mayra stated, as if there were responsibly insane alternatives.
"You're right, but do you have any other ideas?" Finn sighed.
"Make butter tarts for Jimmy and ask if he can go through this other world to find some information for us?" Mayra ventured.
"That's actually not a terrible plan. It probably won't work, but it's way less dangerous than my idea." Finn admitted.
"All right, I'll get to baking! When do we go?" Mayra brightened.
"I'm doing military inspections with Dr. Sherman starting tomorrow afternoon. If we leave early in the morning, we should be back by then." Finn said tiredly. She should take a day off soon to catch up on all the rest she'd been missing staying busy.