121 - Between The Lines - Part 1

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Lionel's Point Of View

The first thing on the order of things I had to do was to find out where Lily's bodyguard has gone, and thankfully it didn't take me long to find him. As expected he was looking around desperately for Lily and had already run himself ragged. He had probably woken up after Lily left the infirmary and had no idea where to go when he didn't find her at the persecution site or in the keep where she should have been.

There were two reasons I was looking for Asher, one being because of a nagging suspicion that Lily was going to be curling and screaming with nightmares, and the second to have him protect her from potential assassins. I don't know how heavily Lily is going to sleep, and the maid is unarmed. Since Asher had traveled together with Lily, I made the assumption that Asher knew how to wake her up without getting hurt and how to deal, if only temporarily, with Lily's nightmares. As I informed him of Lily's return to the keep his expression fell in relief. He barely remembered to excuse himself before heading back to the keep with hastened steps.

I assumed that most of the Celeste knights would have their loyalty given to Eric or Adam, but Asher seemed to have nothing on his mind but Lily's safety. Considering that he started following her around back at the academy and swearing his loyalty to her there, I think he's the perfect person to send to her side. Yesterday he was not in a shape where he should have charged into the enemy by my side, but the instant he noticed that Lily was there, there was no hesitance. He'd begged me to join, though I'd ordered him to the infirmary. I ended up giving in as I didn't see a way I could get Lily back for sure. I'm certain he can be trusted with her safety.

—-*—-

The second part of what I had to do concerned discussing the enemy alliance and their accusations towards our royal family with my father. Needless to say, he did not believe the accusations even for a moment. However, I know that the reason he did not believe them is different from Lily or I. He cannot see any way the accusations could be right. He has not noticed anything odd about how House Listere keeps losing their light blessed children, how we get much more than we should, how the north fighting affects the balance of Ristaze, or how suspicious it is that Alstair has lost four younger siblings at the age of exactly five over the years, which none but he and I outside the royal family knew about... neither does he find it suspicious that Alstair's only living siblings Emilia and Maja are currently hidden away deep in the royal castle.

I did mention the existence of a female sibling indirectly when I told her about House Listere, but I do not think she noticed it. Honestly it was a test at first to see if Lily or the enemy would know of her... but either way, right now Lily's family would be in serious trouble if she acted on it. Being House Tepet we have a bit of leeway and goodwill from the royal family to deal with. Emilia will turn five in a few days, and from that point onward it will be a race against time to get her out of the hands of the royal family. Maja is still only three. In case we fail the defense here, the royal castle will burn. It's practically defenseless against an invading army. If the princess of Crinia speaks the truth, then they will stop at the king and Alstair. As long as Emilia and Maja survives, and they are raised well, then the worst case scenario is prevented.

For the same reason I discuss reordering our troops in the lands behind us. There is a thing the princess of Crinia has not considered. Their mission would be fulfilled as long as we do not have enough forces to perform said purge. I'm certain that Headal knows this. Though they attack us every year, they never go for assassination. They do have a certain amount of honor, otherwise we likely wouldn't be able to keep ours. For this reason I argued with my father that we should move the southern troops north. The north-most areas are only farming lands and are undefended by the environment. The southern area is not only protected by the Plymfell Swamplands, but it also borders to the land side of House Salender's territory. House Salender has made the sea-side environment beyond hostile, and their land is mostly grasslands. However, with a force big enough you do not need an ambush against house Salender. Overwhelming them is the best tactic you can use. If they cannot keep you at a distance, they're doomed.

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