Victoria walked straight into the carriage without announcing her presence. While Ursa was helping with Samira, she could be heard squealing about Toni. Lily walked out with a confused expression and semi-panicked.
"Who is that?" Lily asked before seeing Samira. She rushed over to the lamia and checked her over. "My Gods, it's like she hasn't eaten in a week."
"That is Victoria, Lady Efreit's spy," Claire explained. Then she gestured to the rest of the newcomers, "This is Elincia Roseline and her retainers. I don't think we ever asked about your party name."
"We're the Roses. It's a party name passed down in my family," Elincia explained. "It's been around since our family gained nobility."
"Right," Jasmine nodded. She had heard of the party. "Should have connected that."
"To be fair, you were quite distracted," Elincia smiled brightly. "Had a lamia you needed to save."
"Let's get her into the carriage," Lily interrupted the conversation. She propped the door open and caught Victoria squeezing Toni in a tight hug. "Miss Victoria, move Toni so we can get Samira in."
Victoria nodded and picked the man up. She opened the driver's window and helped him into the seat.
"Right," Mabel tapped her chin. "Anthony Efreit is a Revered. Probably best to keep Joslyn and Frida away."
"My resistance should be high enough," Frida muttered. But she didn't continue to argue.
"Ariah, help the lady," Elincia gestured towards Lily. "Everyone ready?"
They all nodded and slowly moved Samira into the carriage. Thankfully, the carriage was wide enough for them to maneuver around in. So they could bring Samira's human half in, lay her down, then bring her tail in. Joslyn and Ursa did most of the coiling, since they were the strongest.
She fit, but took up the entire walkway.
Lily's portable workshop had to be pulled out, then onto the carriage roof. Then they shuffled around some of the supplies under the seats for better access. It only took twenty minutes to get everything sorted.
"Thank the Gods you have such a large carriage," Joslyn exhaled after wiping her forehead. "Ours is so fucking small. I wish ours had more leg room."
"Mhmm, I'd love to just sprawl out on the floor," Frida stretched and leaned against the carriage.
"Maybe," Elincia looked around the carriage. "It is quite reinforced, too. Excellent craftsmanship." Elincia ran her fingers over the dents in the armor. She could tell it was from arrows, given the size of the impact crater. She continued around the right side of the carriage to explore further.
"Ah, our village has a family of builders, and Jazz's sister is a blacksmith," Claire explained as she walked with the noblewoman. Elincia was examining the carriage from head to toe. "My mom had them build it. It was supposed to be for my birthday, but it wasn't done in time. She did have Daphne make my sword."
"This level of engineering is incredible," Elincia muttered. She examined the suspension and axles underneath the carriage. She crawled underneath it and lay on her back. "The spring-loaded suspension isn't something I've seen very often."
Claire tilted her head. She bent under the carriage and looked at the suspension. "Really? All our carriages in Restol have them. Even the ox-driven plows. Though I think this one was more intricate since it's what delayed everything."
"Victoria has a point," Elincia mumbled after glancing at Claire. "What is going on in your hometown?"
Claire could only shrug. She couldn't take her eyes off the noblewoman anymore. It was getting hard for her to really think again. "No idea. I am curious how you know so much."
Elincia shrugged. "Engineering was a subject I enjoyed while growing up. Had I not had obligations, I'd like to have studied it further."
Claire felt a bit of pity swell up in her chest. "I mean, you still can. There isn't a lot to do on long travels."
"Maybe," Elincia said as she climbed out from underneath the carriage. "I did find myself with far fewer administrative obligations thanks to my sister. I could do that."
Claire couldn't help but smile. Something about her taking to her suggestion made her chest feel warm. "That's good! I was never very good with school, let alone math and engineering. I'm a Goddess's Champion, and yet I nearly failed my religion classes."
Elincia couldn't help but laugh, which made Claire even happier. "I should ask more about said Goddess," Elincia said after a few seconds. "Jasmine said She was unnamed. What are the attributes She resides over?"
"Secret," Victoria popped up beside Claire. "Never let a pretty face drop your guard, Claire."
"I wasn't…" Claire was going to say some of Her Goddess attributes. She couldn't even lie. She cleared her throat and tried to calm herself. "Surely I can tell Miss Elincia about my mission and some of Her attributes."
"Missions fine, attributes no," Victoria smiled smugly.
"Fine," Claire sighed. "I guess I can't explain that part. But She wants me to liberate men, return them to their families and figure out why so many have died."
"Died?" Elincia tilted her head.
Claire looked to Victoria, expecting her to explain. But the spy gestured for her to do it. "Well, in our travels, we've come across traffickers. We actually met Ursa after she took out a caravan."
"By herself?" Elincia asked in bewilderment.
"Yeah," Claire nodded. "She gets empowered when fighting werewolves, it seems."
"So that's linked to this, too?" Elincia's eyes widened. She also looked at Victoria, who just nodded.
"We found carriages full of dead boys and men," Claire could feel her body shiver and cool down. She remembered the lifeless faces of the boys from that day. "Jazz told me about an inconsistency in the census. That there are far fewer men than there should be."
Claire froze up for a moment. She thought back to the discussion she had with both Jasmine and her Goddess.
"Men make up 1 in 10 births," Victoria picked up the explanation. "Yet they only make up 5% of the population. That's half of them unaccounted for."
Elincia leaned against the carriage. Her eyes darted to the ground as she wrapped her head around that statistic. "That… how was that hidden?"
"Fudging the numbers, I believe, is the expression." Victoria dropped the smile. "When Anthony visited Myrtles's estate, I used that as a distraction to do some digging. Myrtle's been bribing officials to ignore that exact inconsistency. It's the same in other fiefs too."
"Surely the Queen has to know," Elincia said as she stood up. "Right?"
"If she did," Victoria put her hand on Elincia's shoulder. "She's doing nothing about it. I'd rather hope she is ignorant than complicit."
Elincia ran her hand through her hair. She had several thoughts and questions, but she'd get them when she returned home. "No wonder a Champion appeared…"
"Indeed," Victoria smiled at Claire. "I'm so glad you got to meet her. Claire's quickly been getting stronger, but needs more allies."
Elincia had a look of realization. "Ahh, I see. You wanted us to meet so I could help."
"Yes and no," Victoria's smile returned. "Also, to open your eyes to said problems."
"Well, you have my support if I'm able to," Elincia turned to Claire. "But, internoble politics may get in the way. Don't expect an army."
"Anything helps," Claire nodded, reentering the conversation. Her mind had wandered to the dead boys from that day.
Victoria opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. "Nah, that'll give away how much I know."
Claire eyed Victoria in confusion while Elincia rolled her eyes. She held out her hand to Claire. "I offer what support I can. Hopefully, it's more than I assume."
Claire took her hand, and they shook. "Like I said, anything helps."
"That's good!" Victoria clapped her hands together. "Now, both of you should get going. Also, I should thank the Blue Bulls."
Elincia shook her head. "Indeed, more werewolves to track down and investigations of our own to begin. You likely have contracts you need to fulfill."
"Trolls," Claire nodded. "Then we can focus on Samira and purifying her magic."
Victoria watched the two depart while trying her best to hold back a smile. It was only when both women were out of earshot that she acknowledged Jasmine's presence. "I will answer one question."
"You were going to say something after Elincia said she wouldn't be able to send an army," Jasmine dropped from the roof of the carriage. "What was it?"
Victoria looked into her deep, grey eyes. She dropped her smile, then pulled out something from behind her cloak. She handed it to Jasmine without a word. Then, as if she were never there, she disappeared. She left Jasmine staring wide-eyed at the object she handed her. It was similar to something they'd found roughly a month ago.
A single flask with the smell of whiskey on it.