Bloodcrete: Chapters 17-18 (The Weirkey Chronicles) (Patreon)

Unfortunately, I made an error with this book. Not a contradiction that could be pointed out, or anything that my beta readers would have been capable of catching, but rather a discrepancy between my notes, my intentions, and the book as written. It was only when evaluating some feedback that I realized this mistake.

The result won't require that much work: some edits to the previous Theo chapter and some chapters you haven't received yet. Still, I'm very displeased about this. I plan carefully and I try to avoid such mistakes. If I had taken time to do more full revisions of this book, I probably would have realized. If I could afford to take time off in between books to reread the entire series, it certainly would have been avoided. Unfortunately, that's not the situation I've placed myself into, so some rewriting is necessary.

There will be no delays to chapter postings. Check the previous post (https://www.patreon.com/posts/72737569) and note that there is a whole additional mini-scene at the end of Theo's chapter. Otherwise, you should be able to proceed.

I've also made another change to previous chapters based on feedback. It turned out to be fairly small: in one of Nauda's chapters, she thinks a little about how weirkeys are usually acquired in her experience. Originally I wasn't going to include this information, but I've been convinced that there's no reason to withhold this information since it's not really consequential. There will still be more secrets of weirkeys to unveil later.

Instead of going back to edit, here's the added paragraph now:

"The compass itself had surprised her, since in her experience weirkeys were controlled by powerful organizations. No soulcrafter she'd ever met could create them, but she thought the ability must appear at Stronghold or above, because she knew that new weirkeys were still being created. On Tatian, they were purchased from more powerful regions. Apparently on Fithe, they were only available from inter-world organizations, meaning that they were more likely to seek out old weirkeys using devices like the compass."

All of this is disruptive for my process. Hopefully it's less so for readers. Anyway, that is the situation. Please enjoy this week's chapters.

-

Chapter 17

Nauda flew away from the edge and tried not to think about the Tatian that lay below. She had wanted to stand there and stare over the world she hoped to one day impact, but it would have been a waste of time and a risk. The risk was that one of the enormous beasts called eryos might attack her, and the rest was driven by a sense of urgency she couldn't quite explain.

Instead she flew her Fithan chariot over the borderlands that separated the two halves of Tatian. Even at the highest speed she could sustain as a Ruler, it was going to take some time. These barren lands might be normal enough on many worlds, but on Tatian such an emptiness felt like the end of the world. She suspected that some soulcrafters from adjacent cities had explored deeper, but as far as she knew the majority had never even considered venturing into those empty lands.

That had been difficult for her to believe when she had first journeyed to the upper half of Tatian. It had seemed impossible that the villagers above didn't know about half of their world, and had never even imagined her home might exist. As she had adjusted to the simple and contented nature of the communities there, few of them even once questioning her origins, she had come to believe it.

Most villagers traveled by wagon, or packbeast if they were in a hurry. Swift transportation like her chariot was uncommon, and everyone who gained the ability to fly was recruited to the Landguard. It occurred to her for the first time that the state of things might not be due to small-mindedness... from a certain angle it looked like an intentional plan to keep Tatian the way it was.

Normally, she would have dismissed such thoughts. But Nauda had a long way to go before she reached any of the places that had once been home.

~ ~ ~

The city of Nlukoko was far worse than she remembered. They had built a fortress wall around the lake on which the city floated and the entrances were doubly guarded. When she questioned the guards, they said that it was due to increasing dangers that threatened the community, but she wasn't sure even they believed it. Only the fact that she was a Ruler allowed her inside.

Within, she found the streets more fearful than she remembered. Everyone smiled at one another and pretended to embrace as if everything was normal, but she could see that the community had been twisted. On her previous visit, Archcrafter civilians had come together to help stop a demon attack. If another one occurred at that moment, she imagined they would just retreat to their fortified homes.

It took her over an hour to find someone who was willing to talk about Ariano of the Golden Wings. Nlukoko's rogue Authority was increasing his control and it seemed like the Landguard wasn't going to do anything about it.

When she asked why more people didn't move away from the city, she learned that Ariano would apply heavy taxes to their relatives who remained. That was a nasty trick they didn't even try below. The dark half of Tatian might kill you, but they wouldn't twist a community like this.

If she ascended, one day she might be able to do something about this instead of watching helplessly. For now, she needed to press on. Because she couldn't ignore the temporary home she'd built in Fithe.

~ ~ ~

Though Nauda seriously considered taking the gate to enter Deuxan, she decided that the risks were too high. They hadn't heard anything from the Armeau family since they tried to attack Theo, but someone might recognize her. That meant no Deuxan sublime materials, and unfortunately no Deuxan sublime foods to recreate her Nine Worlds Feast. 

At least she was able to build the Tatian portion of her feast mezzanine. As she got further away from Nlukoko, the villages became the warm communities she remembered. The only limit was the strength of the sublime foods they had: her income from House Blacksilver made her more than wealthy enough, but the average little village didn't have anything with Ruler-tier cantae. Excellent food that made her sigh in satisfaction, just little cantae.

Those sighs always ended too quickly. Nauda had been alone with her thoughts for months on Slest, but in some ways the warmth of Tatian communities cut deeper than the alien cruelty of the Slescan hives. It reminded her just how much she missed Theo and especially Fiyu.

When she got back to them, she should be more open about her goals. She had already told Theo that she wanted to free Nlukoko, and he might be willing to help her after they'd ascended. Most importantly, she wanted Fiyu to understand her. Even if Fiyu didn't enjoy Tatian communities, she would understand how they were being corrupted. Perhaps one day they could return, and eat platefish like she had promised, and she could even show Fiyu her original home...

None of those thoughts helped her, and they isolated her from the cheerful communities. So Nauda buried her emotions and focused on soulcrafting. All the work made it easy to distract herself: she was making rapid progress on her staff tower using the Arbaian materials, and she found more Tatian materials than she'd expected. They might not be the most powerful, but they felt deeply appropriate.

At least for a little while, before she started thinking again.

~ ~ ~

Finally Nauda spotted Myufuru in the distance: the broken tree appeared first, then the city clustered around its base. New shoots were growing up from its broken trunk, but it was still a terrible monument to the destruction that the spatial trap had caused. Nauda shivered as she remembered that moment.

It felt like so long ago that the three of them had met in Myufuru. She had been the leader of their entire family, one of the strongest Farmguards and the closest to Archcrafter. At the time, Fiyu had been uncertain of her power and Theo had barely begun soulcrafting. Now Theo had surpassed her and Fiyu had no doubt followed her relative's path to Ruler perfectly. She desperately needed to avoid falling behind the two of them.

Part of her had been afraid that Myufuru would have been perverted in her absence, but it remained a healthy city. She preferred the large Tatian cities best: they were the perfect balance between the suffocating villages and the hostile anonymity of a city like Norro Yorthin.

The environment closed around her like an embrace, and Nauda wished that she could stay. She almost visited one of the warmthgivers, just to feel someone, but even the idea raised painful thoughts of Fiyu. Nauda pushed aside such ideas and rushed to the old Farmguard school.

Of course it was abandoned now: the outsiders had returned to their worlds and the vaults were destroyed. But she could feel a powerful presence working alone in one of the orchards, and she closed on it to find Nanjuma.

"Nauda." The old man smiled as he turned to face her. Perhaps his face was a little more lined than before, but his body remained powerful and he looked wonderfully stable in a world that changed too much. She embraced him before she could stop herself, and he patted her on the back gently. "You feel like you've been through much, child."

"You could say that." She finally pulled back and sighed. "Do you have time to talk?"

"It seems I have little else, these days. The community of Myufuru runs the city, of course, and since demon attacks have been declining ever since we returned our guests, I have little fighting or teaching to do."

"Has there been any trouble through the Arbaian gate? I know it's some distance away, but if they had Ruler-tier mercenaries..."

"Oh, the mercenary issue was dealt with some years ago. We have actually started using that gate instead of blocking it off, since the School of Emerald Indulgence has been reasonably friendly. Indeed, I had a conversation with their leader that was a welcome change of pace." Nanjuma touched her back and led her through the complex. "Come now, I have some new trees to show you and I think you might have more interesting tales for me..."

Of course she could never tell him everything that had happened to her, but he understood her limited version and didn't press like other Tatians might. As they walked and caught up, she stared over the complex she had once fled. All the damage from the demon attack had been completely repaired, down to the slightest stains on the stone courtyards, yet seeing the school empty left her deeply melancholy.

There was the arena where she had fought her first battles alongside the other two, and where Navim had been injured...

Eventually they walked the path that curled around the side of the tree. It broke down well before the top, but Nanjuma simply leapt the rest of the way to sit atop one of the remaining giant boughs. He didn't offer to help, apparently having realized she was a Ruler now despite her shielding wall. For all that he smiled like a Tatian villager, she wondered how much he saw.

As she jumped up after him, Nauda did her best to compare their soulhomes. They might be on the same tier now, but she couldn't compare herself to his carefully polished power, not to mention his wisdom and experience. He might never have been able to reach Authority, but he had been improving his soulhome for years. Later she hoped to ask him to spar, but not because she wanted to know who would win.

"I do have some questions for you," Nanjuma said quietly as she sat beside him. "The three of you vanished so abruptly after all that regrettable violence..."

"You know why, don't you?" Nauda had examined the area carefully for Landguards, for all the good it would do. She believed there were none, as she was fairly certain that Nanjuma had covered for them before.

"I had my suspicions. That dear girl was an Ichili, but the boy... I doubted that he had come from the Nine Worlds."

"Why didn't you tell the Landguards?"

Nanjuma was silent for some time as he stared out over Myufuru. "I support the Landguard when it protects our world against hostile invaders, but the one they were searching for died when the tree collapsed. Your friend... there was great hatred in him, but I don't think he had truly chosen his path. Has he yet?"

"Maybe." Nauda shook her head and smiled at Nanjuma. "Thank you. I know I should be simply grateful, but... I wanted to ask you what you thought about the Landguard. They must have had their reasons..."

"They struggle to balance a great deal. Especially recently, they have been overtaxed in the heart of Tatian."

"Deeper into the villages?" Nauda snorted. "What are the problems, not enough singing around campfires?"

Though Nanjuma chuckled, his eyes looked deeply sad. "Nothing is ever as simple as it looks, child."

They sat in silence for a time before Nauda decided that there was no choice but to move on. "You know that I'm not here just to reminisce."

"Of course not. I saw you had a fire in you back then, and I'm pleased to see that it hasn't burned out. But I wonder what you expect to find here. All of our sublime materials at Authority and above were destroyed, and I think you now understand that a Ruler is not so powerful in the grand scheme of things."

"No, it's not like that..." Nauda started to reach out to touch his shoulder, hesitated, then realized her new instincts were unnecessary in Tatian. She touched him warmly and tried to find her old smile. "I have strength, and a blueprint I'm happy with... but I need your knowledge."

"I will help you if I can."

"Where to begin... I wanted to talk to you about the giant acorn you used to transport us, and more importantly the giant forest where you found it."

"Ah... that is a little different." Nanjuma shook his head slowly. "I visited there as a young man, and I am still surprised that I survived. I do not believe this is the right time for you to visit... neither the right time in your growth, or the right time for Tatian."

"Are you sure I can't convince you?" Nauda asked. "There are so many things I need..."

"I didn't say that I couldn't help." Nanjuma leapt up with a twinkle in his eye. "And as for the acorn... would you like to give it a try?"

-

Chapter 18

Now that Fiyu had a storage room full of sublime materials from Nondol, she was eager to return to Norro Yorthin. Yes, she had a great deal of soulcrafting to do to become a full-fledged Ruler, but she could soulcraft alongside her companions. Not only did she want to see them again, she was eager to show her relative all the sights of Norro Yorthin.

They arrived to find chaos.

She had been marginally worried about getting her relative an identity slate, but no sooner had they arrived than they were escorted directly to House Blacksilver. Nearly all the people she passed in the streets were stiff with tension, ranging from anger to confusion to fear. Everyone spoke as if war was imminent, even though she couldn't sense any hostile forces near the city.

When they reached the complex itself, they were met by Associate Karchibol. The Blacksilver Authority was even more bent than usual, but his soulhome blazed as if he intended to fight at that moment. He glared first at her, then at her relative.

"Is he going to attack me again?" Associate Karchibol demanded.

"No, of course not!" Fiyu moved to stand in between them. "He understands that we are allies now. Please, tell us what is happening."

"Never mind that. Return our weirkey at once - the House needs every Fithan weirkey it can get its hands on." Even after her relative returned it, Associate Karchibol seemed little appeased. "Now, just where is Peanen?"

The use of Friend Theo's exterior name tripped Fiyu up briefly, and she wondered what the problem could be, but it didn't change her answer. "We were hoping that you could show him to us. We have not seen him in some time."

Associate Karchibol cursed and turned away. "Then he and Dhan are still missing. Look, if the two of you are combat-ready, we need you to prepare. It's impossible to know how this will develop, but we could be going to war at any moment."

"Please, tell us what is happening!"

"The Asplundat Movement has declared war on Norro Yorthin. Not on the Ruling Cities, but on us in particular. They claim that we instigated an attack on them in the Dustwind Plateaus. We don't think we did, but they might have seen House Crimson's manipulations, or mistook our aid efforts, or this might even be one of Dhan's schemes. Multiple Houses are already gathering there, and-"

"War?" Relative Guchiro spoke up for the first time to interrupt.

"Not truly war." Associate Karchibol waved the word aside with one hand. "They called it a 'preparatory action' to avoid bringing every Ruling City down on them. But it could easily lead to a full war between the sides, especially if someone really did act against them."

It was a troubling development, but Fiyu felt more confused than anything. She had been gone so long, she was no longer familiar with the actions of Norro Yorthin, or even her companions. Associate Karchibol said that they would be transporting out another group of soulcrafters at the end of the day, so she had a brief period of time to orient herself.

First she visited the living quarters, hoping that Friend Nauda would be present to explain everything. No sign of her presence, and one of her neighbors said that she had only returned from Slest briefly before leaving on a longer journey. Friend Theo was also absent... but Betrayer Senka emerged from his room when she passed by.

"I know where Theo is," Betrayer Senka told them. "He was on a secret mission from Dhan out to a different continent. No idea when he's coming back."

Fiyu had hoped that she would never again see the small creature who had deceived her. She could barely accept that Betrayer Senka operated as their ally and may have saved their lives in the Chasm of Lamentations. But this creature had intentionally deceived them, even taking advantage of her small appearance to manipulate Fiyu's behavior. It had been too much to hope that she had gotten what she wanted from them and disappeared forever.

But as much as Fiyu disliked Betrayer Senka, the information she offered now was unlikely to be deceptive. "Do you know more about the conflict in these Dustwind Plateaus?"

"I was there, but not when things turned bad. If you ask me, I think the Asplundat Movement probably has a real cause for complaint. There are a lot of Houses manipulating things out there... but there's a bigger problem about the demons. It's a secret, but I think Theo would want me to tell you."

"I will speak to her," Relative Guchiro said, turning to Fiyu. "You should assemble any resources or allies we require for this conflict."

Fiyu had already warned her relative about Betrayer Senka, and he was much better at piercing deceptions, so she agreed. She considered retrieving their sleigh, but decided that it might be better not to take it into a war zone. Instead, she traveled to the Arbaian quarter of the city.

Her hope had been to speak with Ally Navim, since his view of current affairs would no doubt be carefully reasoned. Regrettably, it seemed that he was absent. But just as Fiyu was about to return in disappointment, the locked door opened and Associate Krikree emerged.

"Fiyu-queen?" The Slescan bowed deeply to her, but her nervousness seemed different than normal. "Ivo-sister where?"

"I do not know," Fiyu answered honestly. She still wasn't sure what to make of Associate Krikree. She had been a useful ally on Slest, and was clearly a companion to Friend Theo. But where many social interactions were troubling to Fiyu, Slescan conversations could be entirely baffling. "There is a significant conflict in the region where he was working."

"What? What?" Associate Krikree rushed closer to her, but thankfully stopped before touching her. "Demons attack dust beetles?"

"I... do not believe it is a demon attack. Other powers are threatening us over politics in the region."

"Bad!" Associate Krikree reached into her soulhome with all four arms and revealed a whole array of new weapons. It didn't seem she intended to use them, but she stuck close to Fiyu with great intensity, as if she was ready to attack an opponent at any moment.

Technically, this was an improvement, so Fiyu guided her new ally back through the city. Associate Krikree was a Ruler-tier soulcrafter, so she would be an asset if fighting began. But Fiyu was constantly uncertain how much the Slescan understood about her environment, and it was always possible she would take aggressive actions. What if Fiyu needed to communicate clearly and was unable to? She desperately wished that either of her companions were present to use the "signalscent" communication they spoke of.

It was deeply unfortunate that her relative did not possess a Fithan weirkey, otherwise they could have traveled there immediately, or gone to recruit Friend Theo. Because he had been focused on assisting her, there had been no time to acquire one. If the conflict had terrible consequences because of her... Fiyu resolved to use her new strength to make a difference.

She was able to meet with Relative Guchiro and several Blacksilver members before Associate Karchibol returned. If only she had more time... but there was no more, and there was little else she could do. Fiyu simply braced herself as the weirkey hurled them across Fithe.

They arrived in a strange region: large rocky plateaus divided by regions of sand so dense they felt more like liquid to her senses. She flinched at the feeling of many soulcrafters near her, but they appeared to be Blacksilver allies. Associate Janne was present as well, meaning that the House had deployed almost all its available forces. How terrible could the threat be?

"Everything's changed," one of the Blacksilver Archcrafters told them. "We desperately need to fully scout the situation."

"Fine. Get Janne and we'll-" Associate Karchibol had been rising into the air, but Relative Guchiro reached out a hand to stop him.

"My ward and I can extend our senses to examine the area, including piercing many defensive or illusory shields. If you offer us a little guidance, we should be able to assist you."

"Well... it's better than drawing fire." Associate Karchibol returned to the ground and escorted them to the Blacksilver strategists.

In truth, Fiyu and Relative Guchiro could easily have scanned the battlefield on their own. She realized that her relative had only asked for guidance so that Associate Karchibol would not feel like they were replacing him - it was a trick! Such things had often passed by her before.

Now, however, she needed to work together with her relative to assist House Blacksilver. His senses were strictly superior to hers, but he was unfamiliar with the local organizations. So they coordinated and he shared experiences, which she translated for the strategists. As she gained a better grasp of the situation, Fiyu realized just how bad it could potentially be.

Currently only a small group was fighting on one of the central plateaus: some Asplundat soulcrafters and some forces that she couldn't identify. That conflict could be contained, and was not yet damaging all the local farms she felt nearby. But all around them sat unguarded lanterns that could burst into light at any moment.

A substantial army of soulcrafters from the Asplundat Movement waited on one of the northern plateaus, including a Stronghold. To the west, a solitary Stronghold from the depths Fithans watched, and some strategists feared they might be an Asplundat ally. House Crimson had brought only a small force, but she recognized the shape of the vessel that had carried Stronghold Wiltur. Hidden within the dust storms, the House of the Lost waited silently, and Fiyu suspected they had a Stronghold as well. There was a small group from the House of Coin as well, but they didn't appear to have brought their strongest soulcrafters.

Four Strongholds present on one battlefield. Now she understood how the conflict could devolve into war at any moment.

"I want to examine the central conflict in more depth," Relative Guchiro told her. He extended a hand, so she laced her fingers through his and tried to align their senses.

At first she thought that they could uncover nothing new, then she made a terrible realization: the forces she had taken to be Asplundat soulcrafters due to their armor largely wore the robes of the Order of the Deepest Blue. Could the two be allied now? The other side still appeared to be a collection of assorted soulcrafters, and she wondered why they were presumed to be from Norro Yorthin.

"You can't go out there!" Associate Karchibol swept in as soon as they started to act. "Right now, both sides are denying involvement in the battle. If we send support, or anything that looks like support, the Asplundat Movement will consider it proof and begin their attack."

"Then we need to open negotiations," Relative Guchiro said. Fiyu would have been dismayed by Associate Karchibol's aggressiveness, but her relative was unmoved. "Surely you have mechanisms in place to avoid unnecessary combat."

As it happened, they weren't able to make any progress before someone else took action. Adversary Wiltur floated from his vessel over the battlefield and brought his presence down on all the fighters, pinning them to the ground. He immediately had the attention of all sides, and Fiyu could feel three other Strongholds preparing to take action.

"Enough of this squabbling!" Adversary Wiltur projected his voice so it boomed out over the plateaus. "I do not know what happened here, but let us determine the truth instead of fighting with one another!"

"And what right do you have to lead?" A sphere of stone the size of a house floated from the Asplundat camp, a woman's voice emerging from its depths. Fiyu's senses couldn't penetrate past the surface, but it must be their Stronghold. "A tyrant of the Ruling Cities has no reason to enact justice."

"House Crimson has no part in this conflict! We came only to answer the allegations against us, without any army." Adversary Wiltur swept an arm over the small group of Crimson forces. "If they trouble you, I can send them away. Only let us come together and speak as reasonable soulcrafters."

To Fiyu's mind, this was meaningless posturing, because Adversary Wiltur was more powerful than all of the other Crimson forces combined. It seemed that the others were somewhat convinced, however, because both sides began to approach the center. These were complex schemes of deception that she didn't feel equal to unraveling, so she remained close to Relative Guchiro. Associate Krikree moved quietly in their wake.

Yet, if this was a deception, it hadn't quite worked. The Stronghold representative of the depths Fithans joined them, but no others. All of the House of the Lost's forces remained stationary, and Fiyu realized that they had raised subtle defensive workings. Meanwhile, the House of Coin representatives seemed to be retreating from the plateaus.

"I can smell betrayal," her relative said softly. "The fewer forces are involved, the more likely this conflict is to be controlled by one party. We should not allow that faction to leave."

"I don't know if I can convince anyone," Fiyu said. But when her relative insisted, she let him fly her after the House of Coin contingent. They should have left Associate Krikree behind, but she stuck close and even tried to grasp her cloak, so Fiyu allowed her along.

The House of Coin group consisted of an Authority and three Rulers... one of whom was Acquaintance Kathina. Fiyu knew their forces in Norro Yorthin were limited, so this was a significant fraction of their numbers. She had hoped they would bring their Stronghold, or perhaps even more soulcrafters from other branches of the House in the region.

"Excuse me, Kathina?" Fiyu felt that her only chance was to approach the one individual she knew. "Can we convince you to stay? This conflict desperately needs neutral forces."

"What, you can't trust House Crimson to work in everyone's best interests?" Acquaintance Kathina smirked with her face, but the noose of tension across her neck and shoulders remained unchanged. "I'm afraid we're leaving. The only reason we were even here was to extract the sublime materials we were in the process of trading. This is likely to turn bloody, so we need to protect our investment."

"Trading... to the local Fithans, you mean?" Fiyu frowned as she considered it. "If you considered them trading partners, how can you leave them like this?"

Acquaintance Kathina hesitated, but after a glance at the Authority in the group, she answered firmly. "It's a cost-benefit analysis. Have they told you the secrets in the Dustwind Plateaus? There are demons proliferating and several plots and we don't know the why for any of it. Staying is an unacceptable risk, much less getting involved."

Fiyu wanted to wring her hands and give up, but she couldn't, not with her relative just behind her. She understood a little about the House of Coin, so she tried to think about what Friend Theo would say... "This region will need many supplies in the aftermath. Shouldn't the House of Coin be the one to supply them?"

"Assuming everyone here isn't dead." Acquaintance Kathina looked like she was about to say something else, but then there was a brief and fierce discussion in the group. Eventually she turned back and shook her head. "We'll remain in range while we extract a few more assets, but you can't convince us to get anywhere near the Strongholds."

This was not what Fiyu had hoped, but it was better than nothing. Her relative seemed to agree that they could do no more to convince the House of Coin, because he flew them back toward the central plateau. Associate Krikree made statements regarding beetles that Fiyu did not understand in the slightest, as there were no beetles present.

It seemed that the initial arguments had largely passed, leaving the different sides to debate who was attacking who. Unless the Asplundat Stronghold was blatantly lying to everyone's face, the Movement truly believed that Norro Yorthin had launched an unprovoked attack. Exactly why, she didn't specify. House Blacksilver had sent Associate Karchibol, who was not helping calm tensions. Adversary Wiltur pretended to be a neutral party, but he clearly wanted something else.

All of that was too much for Fiyu to untangle, so she looked to the fighting groups. They were still flattened by Adversary Wiltur's power, but up close she could sense them in much greater detail. As she had suspected, one side was Order of the Deepest Blue soulcrafters wearing Asplundat armor - she wasn't sure what to make of that.

What surprised her was the other side: it was composed of random Fithans and Arbaians, and one strange individual. At first Fiyu was entirely uncertain about him, then she connected him to something Friend Theo had once said: there had been another person from outside the Nine Worlds in Norro Yorthin. This must have been him, and if so...

"Guchiro, we have to tell them." Fiyu brushed his outer robes to pull his attention from all the Strongholds. "The Asplundat movement will use this as proof against us unless we speak first..."

Her relative listened to her, and his body grew tenser. She understood why: taking this action would involve stepping into a debate between great powers. But there was no other choice, so her relative flew in to join the negotiation.