Arthur stared at the dead crystal in Valentina's shaking hands, his mind already running through battle plans. The leftover magic on the broken pieces made him understand everything—this wasn't some random malfunction.
Someone had jammed their entire communication network.
"Valentina, breathe," he said, his disguised voice cutting through her panic like a blade. "Tell me exactly what you saw before these things died."
She pulled herself together, her spy training kicking in despite the fear. "Coalition banners coming from three directions at once.
Eastern forces hit our main gates an hour ago with siege weapons we've never seen before.
North and south are getting hammered too—it's all coordinated." Her purple eyes locked onto his. "They moved early, Arthur. We had another week before they were supposed to attack."
