Meribabell writes:
I received two replies from the High Fairy to my message of last night. In the first he stated that he was unaware of any troop movements from the capital to the frontier, especially in light of his understanding with the Queen and his agreement with her about our mission.
The second followed moments later and was a dire warning. Having contacted the Queen he learned that she had not ordered any extra troops to the frontier. In consequence he advised me to exercise extreme caution in our approach to the frontier town, and to try to find out and report back what actually is going on there. But to remember at all costs to push on in our mission.
After I shared with my companions, we stopped to discuss our options. We decided that only one of us would go forward while the others would await developments. Rumble was the obvious choice. He knew it and volunteered before being asked.
After he left I caught Willie smirking from ear to ear.