Eyna couldn't help but smirk at the regent's shock.
"Could you repeat that?" Helena asked, her oh-so-graceful voice pitching up. The entire throne room was gasping with her. "How many prisoners did Kon—I mean Duke Halstadt take?!"
"Forty-six hundred, Your Grace," she said with a little bow. "The entire nomadic vanguard."
The result was immediate and rather entertaining.
"How?!" The regent yelped, her jaw hanging open.
What an insolent question.
"He is the Prodigy of Haiten, My Lady," Eyna pointed out, feeling a little insulted.
Helena was massaging her temples, leaning back against her brother's throne.
"I know that," she claimed with a sigh. "What I was meaning to ask is—how many dead?"
"Oh, about three to four hundred," the tribesgirl counted. "It's hard to tell because some of them fell into a deep chasm, others burned to ashes. But Master spared anyone he could."
That got her eyes going wide, before the spark of understanding glistened in them.
The regent shook her head.
"No, no, I mean, how many of ours?"
"Ah, of course," Eyna chuckled. That was the best part. "Seventeen."
The throneroom fell silent. Everyone held their breath, waiting for her to continue.
She didn't.
"Seventeen?" Helena repeated in disbelief a few long seconds later. "Seventeen hundred?"
Eyna tried not to laugh. Even a single death was a reason to mourn, of course.
But they were at war, and against overwhelming odds.
It was no surprise that they couldn't believe it.
"Seventeen brave soldiers sacrificed their lives for Kasserlane so far," she said. "Twelve of them belonged to the Royal Garrison, two to the Aset Defenders, one to—"
"Seventeen people in total?" the regent interrupted her again. "And the wounded?"
That she had to write down earlier; even she couldn't remember every single number.
Taking a peek at her notes, Eyna continued with an unwavering smile.
"One hundred and thirty-seven, Your Grace. That said, thanks to Lady Liliana's power, they're all back on the frontlines already. And she healed all the nomadic prisoners she could, too."
That was on Konrad's specific orders.
He didn't want any unnecessary deaths, whether it was his men or the enemy.
A benevolent leader, her Master was. But she did expect some muttering after that.
The regent seemed to ignore them all, scratching her temple again.
"And why doesn't he keep all those prisoners, then?" she asked a little later. "Didn't he say his coffers were empty? He has good relations with peddlers. If he sold the nomads into slavery—"
"Your brother banned the trading of slaves in Kasserlane, Your Grace," Eyna reminded her.
She made sure her purple eyes weren't glaring too hard. While she never met the king—and he disappeared more than a week ago—that was his one act she valued the most.
She adored Konrad for saving her and her tribe.
So, of course, she could only feel gratitude towards the king for outlawing the practice as well.
"Right, right. That he did, of course," Helena mumbled, acting all embarrassed on the throne.
She wasn't exactly cut out to be a queen. She was careful not to use that title either.
Her men still searched for her lost brother every day across the whole kingdom—
Even though they would have been better used on the frontlines.
Not that her Master could feed them right now.
"So he sends them here?" Helena asked, her feet tapping a nervous rhythm. "All four thousand?"
"Forty-six hundred," Eyna corrected her with a nod. "Yes. He cannot accommodate them while also protecting the Halaima Pass. He lacks both the food and spare men to guard them."
Helena shook her head again.
"I get that, but what am I supposed to do with them?"
Yeah, no, she wasn't cut out to be a regent, either.
Eyna did her best not to show her disappointment, pulling a parchment out of her dress.
Because, of course, her Master thought about this, too.
"If I may—Duke Halstadt suggested a prisoner camp to be set up near the Sivala Basin."
She held out the rolled-up document, and a knight took it straight to Helena.
"The Sivala Basin?" the regent repeated as she took the paper and unrolled it. "Why there?"
"That's where Kasserlane's most fertile lands are," Eyna explained. "Much of the food gets wasted in delivery, so Master's idea was to bring the people we need to feed there instead."
And if they were ever assimilated, they could work the fields right away.
Her Master thought of everything.
"The parchment you hold is a blueprint for a prisoner camp. It also details the amount of food and materials the whole compound would need daily. That includes the guards. Per thousands."
"P-per thousands?!"
"This was only the vanguard, Your Grace," Eyna confirmed. "Duke Halstard made sure the camp would be modular and easy to scale up if needed."
Because, well, they couldn't trust the regent with figuring out the logistics, either.
But again, Konrad was the master of numbers, so it took him no time to put everything on that paper. Helena read through it, her lips moving in silence, before handing it to an advisor.
"See to getting this done," she ordered. "Follow it to the letter. And assign some of the levies."
This started more murmurs in the large chamber, but it died when she cleared her throat.
"We are all grateful to Duke Halstadt, and once Kasserlane's armies gather, we'll send help. If he needs anything else from us in the meantime, he should not hesitate to ask."
An empty gesture, though it was for the show anyway.
She let the assembly know that she trusted and supported her Master with everything she had.
Which was nothing at all.
When Konrad requested food or money, Helena admitted the kingdom was broke.
Not as broke as Halaima, but they didn't have a prodigy to build everything up from scratch.
As for soldiers, it took ages to assemble the levies. If it weren't for the tournament and all the dukes gathered there, the Halaima Pass would have been wide open.
The nomadic vanguard alone could've overtaken Kasserlane.
But lucky for them, the Prodigy of Haiten, savior of the Black River tribe and much more, was there. It was a great honor to be his envoy. Not as great as being his wife, but—
No. She had no right to be jealous. Envious, sure.
But both Lady Liliana and Gabrielle were crazy powerful.
Compared to them, she was a little nobody.
Not worthy of her Master's love or even interest, so she should have been grateful.
"Thank you for the report," Helena nodded, dragging her back to the present. "Please tell Lord Halstadt that we all include his name in our prayers and wish him well."
Not exactly useful, but oh well. Eyna bowed even deeper, taking a step back.
"You are too kind, Your Grace," she said. A few more seconds, and she'd be free.
She had enough of this facade, the nobility, to act like she was a princess herself.
She was missing the tribes, the lowlands, the forests—and Konrad.
But a few more steps, and she could be running back to him. She was about to reach the huge double-winged doors when they flew open with a loud creak, and she almost fell.
The envoys rushing through seemed both tired and excited.
"Y-your Grace," they panted as the guards jumped in their paths. "T-the king. We found him."