*Declan*

It had been a week and a half since the Reynish had attacked Port Abbaster. Declan had spend nearly every day since barricaded in the council room, or stud at a desk. He was more than ready to do something that did not involve sitting and talking.

"I confess, I've half a mind to go down there, myself" Declan admitted to Idris, after one meeting that had gone particularly long. The commander laughed and quaffed a goblet of cider.

"Elizabeth would have your head on a spike," Idris joked. "And then who'd look after your girl for you?"

Declan choked on his cider. "My girl?" Idris raised his eyebrows. "I don't have a girl. You know that."

"So you don't fancy her?" Idris asked. He frowned and took another sip of cider. "I thought it was strange, is all."

"Who are you talking about?" Declan demanded, leaning forward. Idris looked genuinely startled.

"Lady Mary, of course," he said, and Declan jerked back as if he'd been struck. "I mean, why else did you go to all that trouble for her?"

"It was a favor for a friend."

"A friend," Idris said, testing a words. "And here I was thinking you didn't have any friends." His eyes danced with the enjoyment he took in tormenting his friend. "Who is this friend that you've somehow managed to retain, even being the insufferable ass that you are?"

"Larieux."

"Larieux? Do you think he fancies her?"

The thought of Larieux fancying the sweet girl was too funny, and the two men collapsed with laughter. No, Larieux wouldn't fancy Mary; the thought was ludicrous.

"Getting back to the problem at hand..." Idris said finally, and they sobered. Declan fiddled with the corner of the map of the area around Port Abbaster.

"Right, well, I've word from Theoria," Declan said, handing Idris the letter that had come by bird the day before. As he read, Idris began to frown.

"The Warlord has lent us ships?" he asked. "I don't like this. It'll put us in his debt. That's something we could lie without, more debt."

Declan understood, but they were trapped. Elizabeth had already agreed. "We can't do it without them, you know. I think Elizabeth did the only thing she could to keep the Reynes from destroying us."

Idris jotted a note in charcoal on the map, something they could wipe away when they were done. He'd added the Warlord's fleet to the mapping of the siege. "Fifty ships," he said with disgust.

"The Warlord could spare twice that number, easily," Declan said, equally unhappy. "Ah, well. It's something, at least."

"Yes, something, but the twenty five ships Lord Tam has provided is also something," Idris said, glaring at the markings on the map. "Something is Lord Dor's fifteen ships and hundred troops, and Lord Fairley's ten ships and three hundred men."

"Something is also the fifty ships and six hundred men Lord Westover has withdrawn from our cause," Declan reminded him. "The Warlord's men can make up for that."

Idris stood and circled the table, studying the layout of the battle to come. "You know, if Lord Rolond can spare us another fifty ships from Shadowhall, and a few hundred troops from Queen's Reach and Montavelier, we might just be able to pull this off."

Declan nodded. "But I can't ask," he said helplessly. "I'm his wife's bastard I'm a slap in his face. I can't ask, and you can't ask, because he knows about you and Elizabeth..." He spread his hands, as if imploring the gods. He hated being helpless when there were people who needed his help.

"No," Idris agreed. "Neither of us can, but, thanks to you, there is someone who can, and who might be willing to, after what you've done for her."

"Mary?" Declan asked, yet already admitting to himself that it was worth a try. "But, well, she's a bastard. She's no relation to him."

"She's the daughter of his sister-in-law, whom he was incredibly close to," his friend pointed out. "She's our last chance. What else can we do?"

"He's also her guardian and godsfather," Declan remembered, speaking slowly as he thought about the implications of that fact. "That should mean something to him, shouldn't it?"

"Send for her," Idris urged, chalking in another note on the map. "We won't know until we try, will we?"

So Declan sent for her. He sent two of the Royal Guardsmen to fetch the girl, and then turned back to the maps on the table. He picked up the charcoal and circled Shadowhall, far to the north, beyond the Bay of Shadows.

Idris was slumped over in his chair, head back, eyes closed, worn out. He looked like all he needed was a moment of quiet, and he would be asleep. Declan figured that, were he in Idris's shoes, he, too, would be exhausted.

As military commander, Idris had ridden to Griffin's Coast, the nearest holding to Port Abbaster that was not besieged, three times since the original attack, to set up a naval and military base there.

Declan took a seat across from his friend and waited. How long did it take, anyway, to bring a girl to an office? Fortunately for the guards, they arrived before he began to devise ways to punish them for their tardiness.

"She was in the Temple, sir," one of the men said, shrugging, in response to Declan's glares. "We didn't think to look there until we talked with her maid." He sounded almost apologetic.

"You didn't think–" Declan said with agonizing slowness. "It's your job to think, you idiots! Get out, the both of you, and you'd best practice thinking before I see you again!" At this point, he was seriously considering punishing them with riddles instead of drills.

The two men saluted him and fled, practically tripping over each other in their haste to get away.

"New recruits?" Idris asked sympathetically. Declan nodded. The were the worst kind of new recruits. They thought that, because they'd been accepted into the Guard, they knew everything there was to know. Either they'd get themselves killed, or they'd marry some heiress and drop out. Their kind never lasted long.

Mary had stood before them throughout the entire exchange, hands twisted in her skirts, eyes on her feet. She was clearly frightened witless. For all she knew, Declan was about to send her back to her tower prison, or even order her death.

"My lady," Idris said, and Declan was glad to have been spared the need of speaking just yet. He wasn't entirely sure that he wouldn't start yelling if he opened his mouth. The last few days seemed to have taken their toll on him, as well as on Idris.

"Why don't you sit?" Idris offered, and Mary slid into a chair, still not meeting either of their gazes.

"Am I in trouble?" she asked her voice soft and surprisingly steady. From the way she was hunched over, Declan realized she expected the worst.

"No," he said, and stood to touch the spot on the map that was Port Abbaster. "Look here," he directed her, gently but firmly. "What do you see?"

"Battle plans?" she asked uncertainly.

"Yes, now keep going."

She frowned at the markings. "We're outnumbered," she said after a short pause, then ducked her head. "Forgive me, I was out of line."

"No, you weren't," Idris assured her. "And you're right. We don't have the troops, and won't, unless Lord Rolond lends his troops to our cause."

"So why don't you ask him?" she asked. Declan winced. She was blunt, he'd give her that. She wasn't looking at them, but at the map, and missed the look they shared, a look of embarrassment and pain.

"We can't," Declan went for the direct approach. "I'm his first wife's bastard, and Idris, well, let's just say that Lord Rolond learned about a little secret between my sweet sister and this dashing fellow." He gestured at Idris, who looked absolutely mortified.

"You want me to ask him for you," Mary guessed, and Idris nodded. She thought it over for a moment, and then reached for a parchment and pen. "I'll do it. For the kingdom."

Declan noted her careful avoidance of mentioning any allegiance to the Crown. She may have agreed to write to her godsfather, but she was not doing it for them, or for Elizabeth. Declan didn't know whether to admire her boldness, or worry about her loyalties.

Either way, at least they could–hopefully–rely on Lord Rolond to free Port Abbaster.

A/N: Hey, guys! Here's this weeks update. I'm sorry that it's not exactly the most exciting chapter, but it is necessary. Don't forget to VOTE/COMMENT, and I'll update again next week.