Micheal had actually sent a message to Alterra the previous night using the Village Center, as lords of allied and subsidiary villages could do. However, him being him, he just told them a surprise was coming with this caravan.
At the time, Ansel sneered. 'That jerk is always trying to appear mysterious,' he said, and he was right. One of Micheal's sources of small joys was to keep people guessing.
Anyway, the leading party was expecting people coming in and they assumed they were someone's acquaintance. If her children weren't with her and asking for attention everywhere, it was estimated that Althea herself would be monitoring the changes.
Ansel did go out to greet them when they were notified that the caravan had arrived.
At this time, Juno had already led the newcomers to the Village Center. Juno had been here often enough to know the process and he knew that anyone who missed this step would be recorded as suspicious individuals.
