The Crown courier reached the registry with the territory notice as a third bell rang from the northern outer village.
Marrick broke the seal beside Didi's letter and checked the campaign authority before recording the delivery time beneath both witnesses.
{Formal notice has been delivered, House Flint may contest control of the Sixth Region under Crown law until surrender, withdrawal, or royal judgment}.
The notice gave Dreth permission but not speed, and every minute spent arguing at the bridge carried the village closer to the Gate.
The sentence gave Dreth legal cover to cross the eastern marker, though it did nothing about the bells beyond the ridge.
Juna entered through the open window with purple residue across one sleeve and dropped a cracked Gate fragment onto the map.
"The portal pushed through its frame," she said, pointing toward the outer stockade. "Hounds are coming down the ravine ahead of the larger scents."
