The report arrived six days later, and it arrived with none of the careful, measured pacing the last several weeks of crisis had at least allowed them.
Lei burst into Jian's study without knocking, a dispatch clutched in one hand, his expression grim enough that Yuan felt his stomach drop before a single word had been spoken.
"The rebellion's moved," Lei said, without preamble. "Not another garrison skirmish this time. A direct assault on Wren's Pass itself — the same garrison that held during the first attack. They hit it again, harder, with considerably more organization than the first assault showed."
Jian was on his feet instantly, all trace of the softer domestic warmth from the past several days stripped away, replaced by the sharp, focused attention of a man already calculating troop positions and response times. "Casualties?"
