The palace attendant arrived at the mansion mid-morning.
Not the formal sealed-letter summons of the throne room — something more direct, the specific format of someone who wanted a response rather than a ceremony. A note. Two lines. Seravine's seal.
The northern border settlement of Beth is under attack. Opportunist faction — organized, not a raiding party. Please aid the local in haste; the best steeds are ready. You may bring your own party.
Lexel read it. Read it again. Looked at the seal.
"Beth," Lulu said, through the Anti-System. "Northern territory. One of the settlements the war council marked as a pressure point."
"Yes," Lexel said.
"Are you going?" Lulu asked.
Lexel looked at the note. At the two lines. At the queen's seal on a direct message rather than a formal summons, which was its own kind of statement about what this was and wasn't.
"Yes," he said.
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