Flicker-birds went out to the armies, too, one to every battalion Commander and to the Generals of the First, Second, and Third Armies, to let them know what they should expect from the nobility. I didn't send one to Dain. I knew he'd find out on his own; I hoped he would be proud of me. I couldn't hope to fight alongside him, but there were a thousand and one tasks to be done to support the armies, and I would do them.

Evacuation orders went out to every settlement on the map near the dead army, and everything between us and it. One of the advisors mentioned, hesitantly, that some of the more nomadic fae in the region might be willing to keep tabs on the dead army for gold, and I immediately approved the necessary funds for it. By the time the sun rose, there was an information relay going between the army and their new eyes on the ground.

I drew mercilessly on the power of the Crown, and on the oaths every one of the ruling nobility had to offer to the Crown. Under ordinary circumstances, I had my issues with dictatorships and the absolute power of the monarchy, but these were hardly ordinary circumstances. Even on Earth, when shit absolutely hits the fan, martial law is a thing. Sometimes the best way to get shit done is to stop arguing about it, and just fucking do it. Disband the senate, lock up the politicians, whatever. Stag Court didn't have a senate to disband, of course, but the advisory council certainly attempted to argue with me.

"Attempted," of course, being the key word. I'd spent the past year going toe-to-toe with Dain, and a bunch of upset fae courtiers did not even come close to him at his worst. My ability to bellow commands at my climbing partners wasn't quite up to snuff with Dain's battlefield roar, but it sure fucking shut up the council when they tried to protest the use of their friends' fancy homes as military quarters and hospitals.

Hauling one of the lords out of his seat and dragging him nose-to-nose with with me while I informed him in a cold voice that this was happening, that this upstart bitch of a human was the Regent and he was going to either help or get thrown in a jail cell for getting in my way didn't hurt, either. Maybe I wouldn't have actually put him in jail for the next five days, but the fae tended to automatically assume that direct statements were true – for obvious reasons – and nobody muttered snide comments under their breath after that.