(Lavinia's POV —Eastern Region, Towards the Red Wall Castle—Pre-Siege Night)
The moon hung in the sky like a dull silver coin—cold, distant, and unimpressed by mortals trying to survive beneath it, the sun will rise in three hours.
We had marched through the forest and plains for hours. By the time Redwall Castle's massive silhouette emerged in the distance, night had fully settled.
We made camp in the thin stretch of dead valley before the fortress—just out of archer range, just close enough to taunt.
No torches were lit.
No banners waved.
Silence itself became our armor.
Marshi prowled the perimeter, growling at anything that dared rustle. Solena perched on a rock, wings folded but eyes sharp—the calm before she carved the sky.
And then—Footsteps. Hundreds of them.
Colonel Zerith approached, fist to his chest.
"Your Highness," he announced quietly. "The villagers have gathered. All of them."
I didn't move at first.
Then I rose.
