Hellhounds of Providence

We Who Wait at Home

To My Dearest Olivia,

While I understand that I have not given you enough time to send your reply to my previous letter, I am writing to you now about a different matter. As you've probably guessed by the fact that one of our knights is handing you this letter personally, the news I bring is dire. How have your correspondences with Lucina Felswore gone?

At the time of writing, I am receiving assistance from the Hellhounds in taking a fort and was able to catch a glimpse of Lady Lucina before she and the other knights went off on their mission, but what I saw shocked me. Lady Lucina's clothes appeared ragged and not fit for a winter campaign which was a surprise as I recall you mentioning sending her winter clothing in a previous letter. It was too late to ask her about this, and for all I knew she might have made up an excuse to not worry me, so I instead visited the Hellhound's courier, a man named Hopper, and inquired about any packages. Hopper told me that during his runs he never received any packages for Lady Lucina. I doubt she would have stayed completely quiet about this in her letters to you, and you've made no mentions of any difficulties while sending your gifts, so this leads me to believe that your packages and letters are being intercepted before delivery. Any packages seem to be taken and I'm guessing your letters are being searched which is why I'm having an Azure Hawk deliver this to you instead of going through the normal procedures.

I have my assumptions on who is doing this, as I'm sure you do as well, but I will not write those thoughts down. However, I believe you should know what is happening here. Be careful going forward, Olivia.

-Richard

***

"..." Olivia's hands shook as she clenched her father's letter in her fists. Her teeth began grinding against each other as her anger started to boil and her mind churned through how long this could have been going on.

"Olivia?" Cassandra asked upon seeing her friend's expression continue to darken after reading the letter. Olivia, Cassandra, and Margaret were enjoying tea by the fire in Olivia's room inside the royal palace. Margaret was here on business with Olivia, and Cassandra was visiting since her father was attending a meeting in the palace since her mother, the Baron, was off fighting in the war. The mood was originally cheerful until the Azure Hawk knight arrived bearing a letter from Olivia's father that he refused to hand over to anyone except Olivia. He had apparently been traveling nonstop for almost an entire week by horseback. "What's wrong?" With a wave of Olivia's hand, all the maids in the room left.

"I knew he was petty," Olivia spat once the maids all left, and she tossed the letter onto the table for Cassandra and Margaret to read, "But even pettiness should have its limits!"

"!?!" Cassandra and Margaret's expressions darkened as they read Richard's letter and Olivia's fingers started to meticulously tap against the wooden arm of her chair. In a hushed voice, since the walls of the royal palace had ears of their own, Cassandra whispered, "Do you think it was His Majesty?"

"No," Olivia flatly answered, not caring who heard her. "I'm sure this is James' doing." After her long campaign around Urldrusk, Olivia's mind felt clearer than ever when it came to how she saw James; he was a spoiled child with too much power. Even though Marcus was the one who declared Lucina a wizard and pressured the Felswores into sending her to war, Olivia now held suspicions that it was James who incited his father into doing so. "Thinking back, there were sometimes long pauses between Lucina's letters. Those times were probably when Lucina tried reaching out to me about the gifts but the letters were intercepted by James' people." She gave an annoyed sigh and rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Even if I'm the crown princess, James is the king's son and the current heir to the throne so I doubt any of the servants would go against him if he asked them to look through my letters. Since Mary also hasn't said anything about this, even now that I'm back, I'm guessing the intercept is happening somewhere outside the palace." Olivia brought her teacup up to her lips but stopped before taking a sip. She looked down at the warm tea she was drinking along with the sweet snacks on a nearby plate to go with it in a cozy room with her friends she would talk the day away with; luxuries that were being actively denied to Lucina who was fighting for her life in a war without even a proper winter coat. Bitterly, Olivia set down the cup as she lost her appetite.