Before we even reached the War Room, I could hear them arguing. There were too many voices to clearly understand what they were fighting about, but they were upset.

“We al need to calm down!” Finn was shouting to be heard over them when Wila, Duncan, and I arrived. Finn stood at the front of the crowded War Room, but nobody paid attention to him.

Tove leaned on the desk, watching them al. The Chancelor, his face beet red, was yeling so much at poor Markis Bain that spittle flew from his mouth. Marksinna Laurent was standing up and screaming at Garrett, who tried to keep his expression neutral, but I knew he wanted to smack her.

“Excuse me!” I shouted, but nobody even noticed me.

“I’ve been trying to get them to calm down.” Finn looked at me apologeticaly. “But they’re in a complete frenzy. They think we’re next.”

“I got this,” Wila said.

She climbed up onto the desk behind Tove, carefuly because she was wearing a short dress, and she put two fingers in her mouth and let out a loud whistle. So loud that Tove actualy covered his ears.

Everybody stopped talking and looked up at her.

“Your Princess is here, and she’d like to talk to you, so you should give her your attention,” Wila said with a smile.

Duncan walked over to the desk and gave Wila his hand to help her to the ground. She thanked him, then smoothed out her dress, and I walked over to stand between her and Tove.

“Thank you, Marksinna,” I said, then turned my attention to the angry mob. “Who knows the most about the attack on Oslinna?”

“I do,” Thomas said, stepping forward from behind Aurora Kroner.

“Tel me everything you know,” I said.

“We’ve already gone over this,” Marksinna Laurent said before he could say anything. “We shouldn’t be rehashing the same things.

We should be plotting our attack.”

“I am sorry to be wasting your time, but nobody is making any decisions until I know what’s going on,” I said. “This wil al go much faster if you simply let Thomas tel me what happened.” Laurent muttered something and looked away. When I was certain she was done, I turned back to Thomas and nodded for him to continue.

“Sometime late last night, the Vittra attacked Oslinna,” Thomas said. “It’s one of the Tryle’s larger compounds located in northern Michigan. Reports vary, but we believe it started around 10:30

p.m.”

“Are we certain it’s the Vittra?” I asked.

“Yes,” Thomas said. “The King wasn’t there, but a message was sent on his behalf.”

“And the message was?” I prompted him.

“‘This is only the beginning,’” Thomas said. Whispers filed the room, but I held up my hand to silence them.

“Do we know how many Vittra they had with them?” I asked.