Reinforcement Arrival

Chaos ensued the next morning after a nearly immediate reply from King Donovan showed that his troops were on the move and ready to join those training at her castle. Because of this quick reply, maids and soldiers were running around the castle trying to get extra beds ready and getting accommodations from the King ready. He had not specified if he was coming along or not so they were forced to prepare extra rooms in case his family or any officials arrived with him.

Morgan was in the field trying to arrange the training areas to be ready to accommodate a large increase in people. She had already directed the target range to be extended outwards which did cut into the physical training area. This was fixed when General Taok reminded her that they had an entire forest right on the edge of the grounds to use as a running and agility course. Of troops that were supposed to be training today, some had been outsourced to the castle to help with heavy lifting as furniture needed to be moved from room to room and some had been enlisted to help General Taok and Morgan prepare emergency barracks in the woods so everyone could at least have a bed.

The temporary barracks had been set up in tents in an open space in the woods. They could be seen from the watchtower at the castle but very few people actually went up there so they were relatively hidden. Morgan had watched as people basically disappeared into the woods with arms loaded with bedding and linen materials and then reappeared later after moving everything. That was the beauty of the heavy shadows along the forest's edge and for once it was actually in their favor. People would see King Donovan's troops arrive and then quietly disappear.

Inside the castle, Astraea was directing the preparation of the rooms and menus. They were in war-time so the expectations were lower but still high. Her head-maid had very inconveniently fallen ill so Astraea was striking a balance between preparing her papers and presentations of plans and delegating jobs to maids that came in unsure of what to do next. Eventually, she was able to mostly retire to her office as Colin took over supervising.

The announcement bells started ringing barely an hour past midday as King Donovan's troops cleared the outer limits of the city. The happy whoops and music could be heard

Astraea ran from her office to the watchtower just in time to see Drystann lead his father's troops through the castle gates. His horse was decorated with ribbons and held its head up proudly. Drystann looked proud though, as he surveyed the palace courtyard. Astraea had made sure that everything had been cleaned and ready for the best impression but somehow Drystann still found something to scowl out.

The candles in the watchtower were blown out as Astraea practically flew past them. She made it to the main entrance hall with barely enough time for Leah to fix the strands of hair that had fallen out of the meticulously woven braided bun. Leah shook her head as she tucked it artfully away. Astraea could tell she wanted to say something but Leah held her tongue before stepping back to rejoin the line of servants.

Astraea took a big breath and looked to Morgan for support. Morgan nodded at her and backed the scabbard at her side. Astraea looked back to the front and mentally ticked off the weapons stashed on her and in the room right now.

With a nod from Morgan, the decorated main doors swung open and King Donovan and Drystann walked in.

Astraea smiled and spread her arms wide as everyone around her curtsied bowed. "Welcome King Donovan and Crown Prince Drystann. Thank you for coming on short notice."

"Thank you! The troops you requested are in the courtyard right now. Where should they go so they won't be standing around?" King Donovan pulled off his travelling cloak and passed it to a maid.

Morgan bowed and and walked out as Astraea said, "My Commander will direct them. Thank you for arriving so fast. you must be tired from your long journey."

"Oh not at all. My son has travelled from Perwasia but the rest of us were much closer. We had been out on a training exercise when your bird reached us."

"Still, I will have Leah," Astraea waved her lady's maid forward. "Show you the rooms we have prepared for you and then she can lead you to our dining room. We plan to have dinner before briefing you on where we are. Is this agreeable?"

King Donovan nodded so Leah led him away while Astraea diminished the rest of those lined up to go back to their normal duties.

It was their last official family dinner together because Daphne would start her charade tomorrow. She was carrying the conversation with King Donovan asking him question after question. Astraea was too aware of Drystann's movements as he reached for his. When he reached for his drink, she almost jumped up when she thought was going for his knife. Teresa was still sulking about having to ignore Daphne until the war was over. Morgan was thinking too far ahead to the meeting to participate in the dinner conversation. Daphne was more than happy to keep prattling on about her favorite sword in the courtyard and King Donovan was happy to indulge her questions about his named sword and the adventures he had been on. Astraea announced that dinner was over when she felt the conversation steer towards Daphne asking him how many people he had killed. It tended to make people uncomfortable when she did and Astraea didn't want to answer the question of why a six-year old thought that was cool and Morgan was no help. Morgan had actively encouraged Daphne's curiosity and none of them had thought anything of it until Daphne asked Council Member Thomas why there were many graves there were in the family cemeteries and she knew how many there were because she had counted them all.