‘Pleasure’ seemed to be an understatement on the Prince’s part. Over the course of the next two weeks, he so actively participated in Saorise’s discussions and the process of drafting the Eastern Contingents that Saorise was beginning to question if the Prince had ever actually played a vital role. He had led an army of course, but that seemed to be him being told what to do more than anything else. Here, after a few times where Saorise had simply told him to give a plan to Lady Helen, or judge the sword skills of a few of the arriving conscripted, he had begun to actively seek out work to help.

The initiative he showed, and the bright-eyed wonder of having his work appreciated. Though he tried to hide it, Saorise began to question if Peter had ever actually said thank you for the help his brothers had given him.

She imagined for one such as Peter, it was a hard sentiment to convey.

What was truly a benefit of the Prince’s initiative however, was that he had little time to question Saorise’s movements. Everyone was busy organising the conscripted easterners, so when Saorise took a few aside every now and then, it seemed to all those present that she was simply assessing them.

Saorise had a total of six hundred volunteers for her Shadow Messengers. A Hundred more than she had asked for. But over the two-week period she met every one of them, and handed out assignments as she saw fit.

For four hundred of them, she instructed them to go south. To spread out across the continent and embed themselves into various walks of life. They were not to go all at once. She would send a large group at first, disguised as Eastern refugees who were refusing to bow to Wendolan rule. Clarisse would not doubt hear word of it and Isabella, Peter’s sister, would send word, but by the time she or Peter had the power to chase them, they would have already left the country.

Others were to leave over the course of the next two months. To spread out their departures so that it was not so obvious. They would be provided with forged papers to pass any borders that Peter erected in light of the refugees.

For one hundred of the Shadow Messengers, they would remain in the Wendolan army for now. As Saorise was not sure how the Easterners were to be divided among the Wendolan ranks, she could not risk a smaller number for fear of her net of influence being too concentrated or small. As it was, one out of every thousand men that Saorise sent would be a Shadow Messenger.

For the remaining one hundred individuals, fifty would become travelling messengers. Their sole purpose was to travel between countries, passing messages from Saorise to the ranks and back. The final fifty were her private guard, most of which were currently made up of less skilled individuals at this moment that Saorise planned to train on her estate. From those that volunteers, Saorise also chose six sub-commanders for the Shadow Messengers, all of whom would accompany her as bodyguards to the capital.

The first, and only noble among them, was Quinn Moratone. Quinn came from a lesser noble family, but he had fought alongside Isaac against Clarisse, and had proven himself a gifted commander and strategist. He was five years Saorise’s senior, and a second-born son. Saorise admitted she had interacted few times with him, and her impression of him had always been that he was quiet, but the moment she met with him as a Shadow Messenger, he’d made it clear that he fully supported her goals and was loyal to them. Saorise gave him the position to prove himself and he did not disappoint as he proceeded to organise the departure times and various new identities for those leaving to the south.

The second of her sub-commanders was Isla Kent. A mouse of a girl, she was underestimated more times that Saorise could count, even by Easterners. But Isla had a way about her that even Saorise could not match, silent as the wind and just as fierce when provoked.

The third of her sub-commanders, Laurent, was an ex-slave from the south. Few people among the Easterners were not born in the East, but Laurent been but a child when Lord Ridgelam had purchased him and twenty others before freeing them in the East. His dark skin was an oddity here, but he was as much an Easterner as Saorise and her family, having grown up, trained and become a man here and under Leisha’s watchful eyes. Lord Ridgelam favoured him, so Saorise had been somewhat surprised to see him as a volunteer, but Laurent had conveyed to her that it was a choice he had made for a cause he believed in passionately.

The fourth of her sub-commanders was an older woman named Jelica Hyne. She had confessed to Saorise quite plainly that she had been one of the Lilies of Saiva since she was a child. She had been sent by the Head Priestess, who Jelica stated had been under the thumb of Peter for near a decade. The spread and variety of rumours regarding Peter’s licentious habits became abundantly clear. The Lilies of Saiva were Priestesses of Ika, Goddess of Desire. Saorise knew that admitting her allegiances took enormous risk, and Saorise took the risk in return of making her a sub-commander.

Saorise’s fifth and sixth sub-commanders were both members of the Caramort guard. Saorise had grown-up and trained with them, and she trusted the inexplicably. The Twin Hunters Killid and Kavish Octena.

And so, the Shadow Messengers were decided upon and assembled right beneath the Prince’s nose, and as Saorise passed her plans and responsibilities to her sub-commanders, she turned her attention to the selection of officers.

“You’ve gone above and beyond, your highness,” stated Saorise as she looked at the fighting rings in the courtyard below.

Prince Isiah took his seat beside her, “Only the best for the Wendolan army, nothing should be missed”.