"You still wish to protect your sister?" asked the Lord General in a soft, calm voice that somehow sounded… dangerous.
Hilde gulped. This was another hard evidence that he too was only duping the Queen, though she didn't need more evidence at this point to be convinced.
The Lord General continued, "She left you in command here fully expecting you to fail in some way. It's not for any tender notions like having faith in your capabilities, I can promise you that."
Smiling tightly, Hilde thought, 'Ah, Uncle, I knew that already. There's really no need to tell me.'
Aloud, she said, "The people would eventually hear of the Queen's flight this day, but we can't have them finding it out right now or we'd really have a full-blown riot on our hands."
'Besides,' she added silently, 'just like
