Queen Louise remained silent as Beowulf voiced his contempt of her and then stalked away. She looked after the large man sadly; she had seen visions of Anstarn as well; they would join the alliance and through no meddling by herself. Jochi began to speak again when Caroline collapsed, apparently in a fit. The familiar appeared immediately to protect her and it took all her self control for the Queen not to jump. Instead she reached carefully to check that the young girl was still breathing before turning to Henry.

"Lord Henry, if you would ensure Caroline is taken to the Medical Ward. I do not think she is any danger but nevertheless we should be cautious." Henry hesitated for a moment but the standoff-ish atmosphere had vanished from the table and so he felt it was safe to leave the Queen in the care of her familiar and her soon-to-be-husband. Standing up he collected the girl easily in his strong arms and began to carry her out of the banquet hall. It would appear that only as he had been given the command by the Queen had Caroline's familiar not fended him away. Meanwhile Queen Louise turned back to Jochi.

"I'm afraid the tension may have been too much for her." She didn't believe a word of her explanation and she didn't expect Jochi to either but it meant they could continue with the matter at hand. "I feel the best way to ensure no friction within a unified army is for ourselves to command it directly; those from Helgland will be under the command of their own lords and the same goes for those from Elianst. I doubt, however, that we will fight a pitched battle side by side. The riders from Helgland are skilled in skirmish and raiding warfare as well as cavalry tactics while those from Elianst are specialists in pitched, defensive battles; the tactics we will most likely employ suggest that a single command would be unsuitable in the first place." The Queen had an apt mind for strategy, despite her being a woman; it was no coincidence that Elianst had been in a position to lead peace talks after she came to the throne.

"I believe that the hardliners in Helgland and Anstarn will be difficult to persuade and first hand experience of the invaders will be the best solution. Elianst will not be an issue because the attack on our capital will have shocked the populace into understanding and Fristha has been our ally for some time. Princess Elaeria already has command of the army, by virtue of the current King and his Privy Council and those from Anstarn respect her as if she were one of their own; ironically because of the effectiveness of her slaughter against them in the war. Bringing Anstarn into the fold will be made easy shortly as well... I had visions of more than one invasion force landing on this continent's shores. Although I have warned the King of Anstarn I suspect he has dismissed my communications. After the attack on Eleshir he may take things more seriously however... if they have already fought against the invaders then I am afraid his army will have been crushed." The sad smile returned to her face.

"You see, Prince Jochi, it is only in the face of inevitable defeat that we will unify ourselves against this common enemy." As she finished there was the clatter of hooves up the steps to the banquet hall making all turn to look at who was breaking etiquette so seriously. Elaeria was dismounting at the door with Elizabeth McArthur by her side. They made their way quickly over to the Queen's table with all eyes on them.

"Gardos saw the camp fires of an army to the North along the road from Eleshir." Elaeria said, briefly nodding to Jochi; the time for manners had passed. "Until daybreak we can't be sure who they belong to but I think we can make safe assumptions." She looked between the two. "Between us we can command the loyalty of most everyone here; there's no time for a relief force to arrive and I'd rather not run from an enemy we can defeat with my tail between my legs. If Eleshir was any sign then they'll break through the gatehouse within hours of their attack; we have horses and weapons aplenty here." Louise nodded again and turned to Jochi.

"Might I suggest a joint command... between the Lady Revaz and Lord Henry? I believe they've fought against one another many times. Let us see what they can accomplish when the fight on the same side."