The Courier who delivered the letter from Emperor Gustavus to House Franklin wasn't a family member. While every Franklin served as a Courier, they weren't the only ones and others were recruited from all over the Empire. House Franklin tended to produce the best and most well-known Couriers. But they also caused a lot of problems, often finding solutions that cut through 'Political Bullshit' as they referred to the delicate arrangements between Nobles and the Wealthy of the Empire.

Most recently that had resulted in the destruction of a large bridge that prevented a horde of vacationing ogres from the Mountains of Morn from ravaging through five small villages. The bridge had been the pride and joy of Baronet Greystone, second only to his lovely chateau on the hill overlooking it. With their way across the river blocked, the ogres had decided on an extended stay in the chateau and their Chief had taken to calling himself 'Boss Greystone'. To the Baronet's embarrassment, the ogre clan rebuilt the bridge when their vacation was over, and began charging only half the toll that the noble had been collecting. There was a petition making the rounds of the villages to petition the Emperor to acknowledge Boss Greystone as the ruler of the area.

It was a Courier with the last name of Franklin who was blamed for the resulting political problems caused by their torching the bridge and saving the villages Unrepentant like most of her family, Harmony had rode on to the next emergency, leaving Harmonia to pick up the pieces. Letters like this ended up on her doorstep with an alarming regularity. Harmonia took the letter with a wry smile,

"And what are they blaming us for now? Early snowstorms? Rampaging dragons? Or something Damien did thirty years ago?"

The Courier, ill at ease, answered the best he could, "I'm sorry ma'am, too far above my pay grade to even speculate. They called me into the throne room, and the Emperor was just sealing the letter with hot wax. He handed it to me and said to hand it to you personally."

Now that caught Harmonia's interest. The normal letters informing her of problems she was expected to apologize for came from nobles who advised the crown or career politicians in the government. If this came straight from Gustavus, it was worth reading immediately.

"My apologies, Courier, you're doing your job and don't need questions you can't answer from my sharp tongue. Please come inside and take a break here. I'll have wine and food brought to you. I'll read this and have an answer for you in less than a bell."

That sounded much better to Andrew. He'd heard strange things about the head of the Franklin Clan, but she seemed an OK sort, for a noble. He thought even better of her when within five minutes a mug of hot mulled wine was put in front of him along with two hearty sandwiches. One thing Franklin House knew was how many calories a Courier could burn during a long day.

In her study, Harmonia sniffed the wax before breaking the seal, catching familiar scents. Gus preferred a sealing wax scented with Hawthorne and Spruce. The letter was on his official stationery but he'd written it himself. The shape of his 'r's and how he crossed his 't's was distinctive.

'Harmonia,

No time for official pleasantries. My scribes would have fits to see I wrote this like a common letter without four pages of idiocy proceeding the important details. I need you, and your House, and I need them immediately. Circumstances give us a chance to strike against a small force of Winter and rescue a large contingent of Mages who have endured a long, cold siege at Crystalstone. Themis is in command. She is bringing supplies and infantry from Rowan Keep to follow behind the cavalry. This is going to be a fast dash with two hundred of the Legion's veteran light Cavalry, the Red Banner led by Captain Bernice, numbering the same and every Franklin you can put in a saddle to speed them along. Meet them at Stoneburrow at dawn, ready to ride for Crystalthorn Academy. Needless to say, this gives me a chance to wipe the political slate clean and lets me tell your detractors to shut the hell up. Go cause some trouble and see if you can keep Themis and Claudia alive until I can get a few thousand infantry organized and on the way.

-Gustavus'

As she folded the message it grew hot and burned to ash. "Dammit, I hate when he uses that trick ink. Never should have given him that Flaming Ink for his birthday when he was seven."

She went to the hallway and pulled on a bellcord seven times. Somewhere above a large bell rang out an equal number of times, the sound ringing throughout Franklin House. From all over the house came the pounding of feet as Franklins in all manner of dress descended the staircases at a run. (And even a few wrapped in towels and still wet from a bath.) Seven bells meant 'Drop everything and get your ass in the saddle.'

"We have a mission. If you are an active Courier, you're with me and under my command. If you are inactive or retired, it's optional. Meaning you're coming along as a volunteer, but you can have a lot more fun. Unless things go amazingly well, we're heading into a battle with Winter. So wear something warm and bring along the healing potions, dirty tricks, and an extra bottle of wine."

Harmony was one of the people in a bathrobe, having just returned from a long scouting mission to the far south. She'd looked forward to a long soaking, a day's sleep, and several full meals. She was technically on vacation for a week, but no Courier passed up a chance on a mission like this. "Any particular details to be aware of?"

"Yes, it's going to be damned cold, we'll be moving fast, and we have some VIPs to protect, namely the Captain of the Red Banner and General Themis, two people I'd normally say could handle anything. They'll have their own bodyguards, of course, but the Emperor is worried. And if he's worried, then something's likely going to happen." That brought nods. Some Nobles waited for people to tell them things. But others were connected to their lands in some way that gave them information about threats to their people. Gustavus was one of the latter, and it was a wise person who heeded him when he had a vague hunch or worry.

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"So let's get ready people. We need to be in Stoneburrow by dawn." She caught Harmony's eye, and as others scattered to get to work, they talked. "I'm going to be sticking close to Themis. She's coming from Rowan Keep with some infantry, but if I know her, she'd ride ahead. I need you to pick two people to help you keep an eye on Captain Bernice, people with some healing abilities, preferably, because she is bound to get beat up, one way or another. Get into the storage area behind my office and raid the potions rack. Take anything that cures or heals, and there should be a few Cold Resistance Tonics. This might be a bad one."

"What about the more interesting things?"

"You shouldn't know about those more interesting things!"

"Well, you should hide them better then. There used to be a Dwarven Hand Cannon and a Rod of Blazing Bolts in there. Both sound handy for this mission."

"Fine, scrounge whatever you think is useful. It's about time to clean the place out, anyway. If Gus is good to his word, we'll be off the banned list at the Artificers Guild and can restock easier."

Every Franklin child grew up wanting to see what was in 'The Forbidden Room'. Having seen it twice before, Harmony was excited to see what else she could find in there. She made a hard decision to at least get dressed first. Her bathrobe only had two pockets. But besides forbidden and potentially dangerous magic items, something else was on her mind.

"You mentioned Rowan Keep, any chance that General Themis is bringing along Couriers that might be roaming in that area? Benjamin has some powerful healing spells. He'd be helpful in keeping Claudia alive."

"So he does. Yes, you can recruit him for your team. At least it will be easier to keep an eye on the two of you. Both of you are far too like your Uncle Damien sometimes. Now, get some clothes on. The sooner we get to Stoneburrow, the sooner you can look for your boyfriend."

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Suspecting what going to be coming from Rowan Keep and Sedgewick, Rastfian called a meeting of both the exhausted Mages who had been working with him for the last day and their replacements who were just arriving. His eyes fell on Leonid in particular. The Level 12 Mage wasn't known for his cool head in an emergency, but they were short of people right now, so he'd have to do. But Rastfian was only too aware of how some mistakes could happen and didn't want to see a repeat

"Regardless of what you think is coming through the teleporter from Rowan Keep, you will not impede the transfer in any way. Certain items are being transferred that will be traveling with General Themis's expedition. These are military supplies. Some of them may have a very high mana content and normally be against the rules. Forget the rules, they don't apply in this case, or to these people. They don't need to fill out forms, and you won't ask questions. And in particular, please don't annoy the Butcher. He's bound to be a little tired right now after destroying buildings and burning out terrorist nests and shouldn't have to deal with people asking about what is in his wagons. Is this understood?" There were nods from all around. Leonid was scowling at first, the reminder about the Butcher did the job and he started nodding vigorously. That was going to have to be enough, as Rastfian had no energy left for such things.

In fact, he thought he might never have the energy again. Inside of him was a small ball of simmering Heat and an awareness of the molten rock far below. He wasn't going to grow his skill with Heat sitting in Wolfsburg filling out paperwork and pushing his mana into the teleport system. With his last duty to the Guild finished, he walked to where Caldrius was relaxing and drinking the last of the invigorating wine the Butcher had provided. The old Fire Mage handed him a glass and they sat and sipped the wine until the first units of soldiers began to appear and then disappear, followed by the large, heavy wagons pulled by the Baron's Contract Workers.

As more wagons passed through, he was doubly glad for his warnings to Leonid. The man's eyes were wide with terror as wagonloads of enchanted wine, barrels of potions, and Smoke-infused sausage passed in front of him. From his questioning expression, he had no idea what was actually in those wagons, and Rastfian didn't feel like explaining. Then the Butcher appeared pulling a load of explosive death that even had Caldrius raising an eyebrow.

The Butcher smiled at them, "Need a ride? I guarantee you'll keep warm."

Caldrius examined the load in the wagon. "I can sense high-proof alcohol and an abundance of capsaicin extract, but some of the ingredients are eluding me. I approve of the infusion of Smoke and Heat you've done, it's blending together well."

"Those mystery ingredients are a puzzle to me as well. Myrna gave me a sack to sprinkle in, saying it was some extract she used in her tacos to spice them up. We'll have to see how the Ice Wizards like her recipe."

A small and very colorful wagon appeared on the teleporter next to Ozzy's wagon. Myrna stood on her seat, shaking her fist at him. "Get moving, Fat-Fingers, Myrna has new places to be, and new customers to take shiny coins from!"

Caldrius sniffed the air and bowed to her. "Madam, I am pleased to make your acquaintance and I have a pocketful of shinies to hand over whenever you have time to make breakfast, the hotter, the better."

A moment later they were gone, Caldrius seated next to Myrna and having a heated discussion in her native language.