Eirian's words put Chenzhou and Mingzhe into an awkward stand down as Yuze rolled into his weekly intelligence briefing.
"The movements of the tribes are the major concern." Yuze shifted the pieces representing the Bandri and two of the southern tribes closer together. "They're months early for the regular conclave and historically, that's meant an earlier start to the fighting season. Most of my agents are still out gathering information, but I expect we'll hear the meeting took place in the next few weeks."
"How soon after that could the fighting start?" Eirian asked.
"Days."
"We need to start sending out patrols." Chenzhou sighed, squeezing the bridge of his nose. "Which means we need finish the training classes immediately and we should have finished the re-supply weeks ago. We can't send them into battle without weapons and armor."
"Or food." Mingzhe muttered. "Do we even have the necessary number of horses?"
"I'll request a status report from the Master of Horse." Chenzhou sighed.
Mingzhe crossed his arms. "You may as well request one from everyone at court. I can have two companies ready to head out in three days, but it will take a week to get any others ready."
"We need to increase the guard on the estate if they're getting inside." Eirian pointed out. "And it would be wise to use more experienced soldiers for that." The other three looked confused so she continued. "The more experience, the better they'll be at balancing the concern for the safety of the population verses the security of the estate. The tribes may have recognizable features, but the Camelia is rather diverse. A less experienced soldier might let their nerves get to them and mistake an unfamiliar civilian for an enemy infiltrator."
They paled.
"We usually put the newer soldiers on the walls." Chenzhou admitted.
Eirian snorted. "And now you've been invaded."
Mingzhe frowned. "I supposed it wouldn't hurt to try something new."
"It's been years since we updated the estate's security." Chenzhou looked thoughtful. "It would be quite the task on top of everything else."
"Have Captain Li help." Eirian suggested.
"One of my captain's just reorganized my family's security." Mingzhe said and then paused. "Although now that I say that the timing seems somewhat suspect."
Eirian raised an eyebrow. "That could just be a coincidence."
Yuze cleared his throat. "As useful as updating the security would be, and you should definitely do it at some point, I don't know if now is the time."
Confused, Chenzhou turned to him. "It's already been broken."
"Yes, and if you change it now, the people that broke it might realize they've been caught."
Eirian straightened, eyes alite. "You want to set a trap?"
"Maybe," Yuze admitted. "But first I want to track down exactly where the break is and who's involved."
Reluctantly, Chenzhou and Mingzhe nodded. "How long would that take?" Mingzhe asked. "Serious damage could be done if it's allowed to go on too long."
Yuze raised a calming hand. "Agreed. I'm quite confident I can find what I need in a matter of weeks."
Chenzhou chewed on his lip, unsure.
"Given who may be involved, I think it's more important to discover as much as we can." Yuze pushed.
"You need to find out how long it's been going on to." Eirian pointed out. "Otherwise, you're not going to be able to judge how much damage has been done."
Chenzhou glanced at her. "You think it could be related to the miasma?"
Eirian shook her head. "No, but there's a big difference between a recent infiltration and one that's been here long enough to establish its own network."
Mingzhe cursed. "I didn't think of that."
"Me either." Chenzhou admitted. "This is a mess." He turned to Yuze. "Take the time you need but put as many on it as you can."
Yuze nodded in understanding. "I will."
"Lord Zhao and I will handle getting the Crimson Army ready." Chenzhou's face fell a bit. "Eirian can continue the investigation into the pendant."
She reached out and patted him on the arm. "We can work together. If we lose the war, we lose the Camelia anyway."
"She's right," Mingzhe said quietly. "We need to face the most immediate threat first."
Reluctantly, Chenzhou nodded.
***
Finn stared at the room in despair. Artifacts were stacked in piles in every corner. There was no sign of any attempt at organization, and this was the third room in a row that they'd found like this. "I don't understand." He moaned. "It's dangerous to have contact between magical artifacts, who approved this?"
Emmy ignored him, having heard the same thing at the last three rooms.
Patrick, sympathetic as ever, just shook his head and said again. "They probably don't know any better. It's not like everyday people can afford them. They were just stories when we were growing up. Didn't really think they were real until we joined the Crimson Army."
"My family has a vault like this in our ancestral home. I used to sneak down there to play when I small."
"I'm shocked." Emmy drawled sarcastically, nudging a stack of cups with her foot. "We've already confirmed things are missing. Isn't that enough for Fox?"
Finn and Patrick shook their heads so quickly she was briefly worried they'd hurt themselves. "No! We need to find something we can use to track whoever's selling them. All we've found missing so far are small things no one's going to notice."
"We need to find a missing weapon." Patrick's eyes gleamed.
"How about something that won't kill us when we track it down." Emmy sighed.
"I mean, if they're magical, can't they all kill us?" Patrick shrugged.
"Not all magical items are for violence." Finn said. "My grandmother had a necklace that enhanced her voice. And I think I read that Queen Helia had a pair of earrings that told her when people were lying."
"Those would be the most useful magical artifact I've ever heard of." Emmy cheered. "Do you think they're in here somewhere?"
Finn shook his head. "They were destroyed by her daughter after she died. They had a falling out while Queen Helia was alive and she struck her daughter from the royal registry. After Helia died, her daughter came to power briefly and destroyed most of Helia's belongings and works before her cousin overthrew her."
"I feel like I've never heard a completely happy story about a royal family." Patrick muttered.
Emmy snorted. "Those kind of people are never happy."
~ tbc