Valkyrie's Shadow-Chapter 21Before the Storm: Act 11,

Chapter 21

“Welcome to Re-Blumrushur. Your hotel is this way.”

“H-Hotel?”

Liam turned and reentered the gate, ignoring the dumbfounded expressions of the freshly arrived rebel forces. There were a lot more than he expected, and, for the time being, he was only concerned with getting them to the recently vacated pleasure district before any trouble could happen between them and the citizens. After that, he would have to get together with Raul to figure out what would happen next.

“I knew something would happen to the defences, but I didn’t think they’d just be gone.”

He glanced to his left as Reed fell into step beside him.

“The March’s politics made it easier than it should have been,” Liam replied. “It’s not like the problem’s gone, though. House Blumrush still controls the castle and the upper city.”

“How’s that workin’ out for ‘em?” Reed asked.

“We just cooped them up a few hours ago,” Liam answered. “All the High Nobles are stuck in there with each other, so I can’t imagine things are very pleasant.”

“Lady Beaumont’s in the upper city, too?”

“Uh, no. I had her faction positioned in the southern quarter on the premise that they’re leading their men. They’re either still there or in a camp outside of the city.”

“Sounds like you’ve got things wrapped up nice and neat.”

Liam could only hope that was the case. If his job in Re-Estize had taught him anything, it was that people had minds of their own and there were a lot of stupid people. He wanted everything to be over with before something incomprehensible overturned months of work.

“How are you doing for supplies?” Liam asked, “We can probably fit everyone in the pleasure district, but feeding them won’t be so easy.”

“Won’t have to worry about that for a while,” Reed answered. “We made off with half of Laval’s granaries on our way out.”

“You took the town’s food?” Liam frowned.

“House Laval hoarded a good bit,” Reed shrugged. “The Nobles do every year. Store up all the rent they collect to sell back to their tenants in the spring. Looked like they built up extra to sell up north, too.”

It wasn’t a particularly uncommon strategy, but the Nobles of the Azerlisian Marches had a way of making everything they did seem especially evil. Broadly speaking, Nobles were supposed to manage resources and people in a way that improved the prospects of their respective fiefs and society as a whole. These ones managed resources and people in a way that ‘improved’ their ability to participate in pointlessly destructive games of power. It was like what had happened in Fassett County, but expanded to cover an entire march and amplified to the extreme.

With how the Sorcerous Kingdom operated, it was impossible to see how anyone still siding with House Blumrush would survive, even if they completely submitted to the Sorcerer King. If their past transgressions didn’t condemn them to eternal punishment, their wasteful habits would earn them the wrath of the administration. Ultimately, both paths led to being tortured by Demons.

The thugs loitering at the entrance to the pleasure district nodded silently to Liam as he walked past them with Reed and his followers. As a collection of mostly Farmers, they looked none too comfortable as they were scrutinised by bored-looking brigands and prostitutes alike.

“Some of these guys might go home ruined,” Reed chuckled.

“I arranged for accommodations,” Liam said. “Nothing more.”

“Then they’ll just be ruined another way,” Reed said. “Seen plenty of poor kids get fleeced for everythin’ they have on their first time in town. City’s ten times worse.” 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

“We’ll just have to keep them busy.”

“You know what the plan is?”

Liam shook his head. Despite things feeling slow on the ground, they were still progressing quickly enough that it was hard to know what was going on. Raul was in the best position to figure things out, but he hadn’t heard from him since the Nobles holed themselves up in the upper city.

They stopped in front of the gaily decorated riverfront, where a battery of local managers awaited them. At first, they showed the apprehension they usually did when speaking with Liam, but that quickly changed to confusion, then dismay as more and more rebels strolled into view. Alfonse, the brave: or perhaps ambitious: restaurant proprietor who had contacted Liam shortly after Olin’s disappearance, was prodded forward to speak on the managers’ behalf.

“Mister Liam,” he said nervously, “we agreed to accommodate your guests, but this number is quite unexpected…”

“I mentioned something about taking up the space those Mercenaries used to occupy, didn’t I?” Liam said.

“Yes, but…”

“They won’t be here for long,” Liam told Alfonse and his fellows. “They even brought their own provisions. A roof over their heads and a place to socialise should keep them satisfied. They shouldn’t be here for long, anyway.”

Liam turned to Reed.

“How are these guys organised?” He asked.

The woodsman frowned.

“Organised?”

“Yeah. Do they have squad leaders or anything like that?”

“Uh…no? Guess they’ve formed their little gangs, but that’s about it. It’s mostly people from the same villages stickin’ together.”

“I guess that’s better than nothing,” Liam said. “Can you get them set up while I check on some other things?”

“Sure,” Reed replied. “Where do we find you once we’re done here?”

“The southern gatehouse. You might get there before me, but I shouldn’t be far behind.”

Reed nodded in response, and Liam slipped away into the night. On the way back out of the pleasure district, he walked along the upper city wall to gauge House Blumrush’s reaction to the rebels’ arrival.

While they had taken quite a few losses in the attack late that evening, there were still plenty of armsmen manning the fortifications. They looked somewhat wary, but the way they were gathered near their braziers suggested that they weren’t aware of the new arrivals or assumed they were part of the same group of citizens that had taken the lower city. With the fires they were standing around sabotaging their night vision, it would be difficult to discern the difference.

So even if their leadership somehow became more responsive, their subordinates’ incompetence undermines them.

Back when he was still training in the Sorcerous Kingdom, Lady Zahradnik sometimes went on about the importance of tradition and culture. Liam figured it was just something that Nobles were inexplicably sticky about, but now that he had seen the difference between the aristocrats in different places being forced through various crises, it was clear how crucial they were. Not only were the people of Re-Blumrushur saved by their enemies’ deeply ingrained incompetence, but the fall of House Blumrush and its allies was generations in the making. Even without the Sorcerous Kingdom’s meddling, the chasm of failure would have only yawned wider with every passing harvest.

The scenes along the length of the wall stayed roughly the same as Liam followed it around to the upper city gate. There, the sentries appeared more vigilant, though it was more likely due to their proximity to Sir Damien than anything else. Every ten metres, an armsman had a crossbow cradled in his arms, which they had used to great effect against the citizens once they recovered from the shock of the initial assault. Dozens of corpses littered the approach, marking a grisly path to the new picket that the citizens had set up close to the intersection with High Street.

Despite their losses, the citizens were far more lively than they had been earlier that day. Liam wasn’t sure whether it would happen, but it seemed that they had finally finished transitioning from a collection of individuals who happened to have overlapping interests to a community under threat. Any adversity now would only serve to fuel their anger and resolve.

He watched the citizens crowding the intersection for a while longer before moving in the direction of the southern gatehouse. As motivated as they now were, Liam couldn’t imagine that they would try and storm the upper city walls before Raul could put whatever he was planning in motion. Much like their rural counterparts, the people of the city were mostly active during the day, and night was an unfavourable time for Human activity in general. Add to the fact that they were probably exhausted from their day-long standoff with House Blumrush and its allies, he figured it would be at least partway into the morning before they mustered the will to try anything further.

Roughly halfway to his destination, the sound of an altercation turned his attention to the nearby temple row. He dropped back onto the street, making his way past the shrines of various minor faiths before joining an aged Priest of the Six watching a crowd from the front of his hole-in-the-wall chapel. By the looks of the crowd, they were part of the rebel ‘army’ that had just arrived from Laval.

“Good evening, Priest Francis.”

“Hm? Ah, young Liam. Good evening.”

“What’s going on here?” Liam asked.

The Priest of the Wind God cupped his cheek in his palm as he watched the gathering.

“I have no idea,” Priest Francis said. “They arrived not ten minutes ago, demanding to see Emberson. Well, not specifically, but whoever was in charge.”

Atop the steps of the cathedral, a pair of Paladins cast dubious looks at the collection of Farmers waiting below them. Reed hadn’t mentioned anything about sending people to the Temples, and the demeanour of the crowd didn’t suggest that they were there for some sort of ministry.

“What else happened today?” Liam asked.

“Here? Well, a great number of injured people trickled in over the course of the evening. Nearly all of them went to the cathedral for healing. I heard that many died in the fighting today, though you may know more about that than I.”

“The mob organised by the Guilds chased the Nobles into the upper city,” Liam said. “I think most of the deaths happened when the fighting got too close to the gate.”

Priest Francis shook his head with an expression of resigned disgust.

“I suppose it had to happen eventually,” he said. “Turning away from the divine order is the same as denying reality. Sooner or later, it catches up with you. Our very souls are roused to restore justice and return to a life of righteousness.”

As with any follower of the Six Great Gods would, he attributed the overall condition of the city to the apostasy that had led the people astray from the proper way of life prescribed by the Scriptures. Simply put, if everyone did their job properly, Re-Blumrushur and its constituent territories would never have fallen into their sorry state. Instead, the heretics went and did heretical things, undermining the legacy built by their ancestors to no good end.

“Do you believe that it’ll happen?” Liam asked.

The Priest scoffed, then sighed.

“Not so easily, I suppose,” he said. “If the citizens succeed in taking the city, they will no doubt credit their victory to their egotistical selves. And even if they do take the city, they are outnumbered twenty to one by their rural counterparts. I cannot see any outcome that ends well for them. By summer, we will be back to a world where brute strength is foolishly conflated with justice once again. The stain of sin runs deep here. Only divine intervention can save these people now.”

A dull boom reverberated down the street as the heavy wooden doors of the cathedral swung open. Vicar Emberson emerged from the candlelit interior, flanked by a pair of male acolytes.

“What is the meaning of this?” He demanded in cross tones, “If you’re with the fools involved in today’s senseless violence, I’ll have you know that our mana reserves have already been exhausted by your idiocy.”

That wasn’t very nice.

Not that Vicar Emberson was a nice guy, but members of the clergy usually conducted themselves with a certain degree of professionalism when interacting with the laity.

“Ain’t none of us is hurt,” a woman’s voice sounded from somewhere in the front. “In truth, we bring good news! The gods ‘emselves’ve made themselves heard, and through their divine providence, the Nobles’ll be punished for their evil!”

Liam frowned as the woman’s words clashed with her telltale Farmer’s drawl.

“What in the world is she talking about?” Liam muttered.

“What in the world are you talking about, woman?” Vicar Emberson spoke down on the crowd with undisguised incredulity, “Have the events of the day driven you mad? Or have you lot become drunk on your ‘success’?”

“Neither! We all heard their words! When the Nobles were doin’ their killin’ and rapin’ and burnin’, the gods saved us! When we followed their orders, we won against those bastards! Now we’ve come to the city to bring divine punishment to Laval and his master!”

Vicar Emberson’s expression grew increasingly perplexed as the woman spoke. Liam couldn’t blame him. He had assumed they were part of the Guilds’ uprising, then learned that they had come from the countryside. Realistically, the probability that two rebellions would occur simultaneously was slim to none, and the idea that one of them could just walk into the city was preposterous.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I’ve heard enough of this madness,” Vicar Emberson said. “I don’t know where you’ve come from or what you’re on about, but the idea that the gods would do such a thing is utterly absurd.”

“But it’s true!” The woman insisted, “They even sent a representative!”

“Oh?” The Vicar crossed his arms, “And, pray tell, where might this ‘representative’ be?”

“Uh, he ain’t here right now.”

“Of course,” Vicar Emberson smiled thinly.

“He’s in the pleasure district!”

The Vicar silently shook his head, bestowing a look of pity on the crazy woman before turning away with a sigh of disgust. Another dull boom reverberated down the street as the cathedral doors shut behind him.

“I can’t say that’s something I see every day,” Priest Francis said.

“What do you think?” Liam asked.

“It is the result of having such an empty faith,” the Priest answered. “By turning from the truth, they have nothing but falsehoods to build a foundation upon. Those who believe in nothing will be taken by anything.”

“What will the Temples do?”

“The cathedral doesn’t like it, as you can see, but I don’t think they’re in a position to do anything about this…movement? Normally, they would turn to the authorities for assistance, but the authorities are dealing with the consequences of their own actions at the moment.”

“I see,” Liam said. “Well, I guess that’s all there is to see for now. Have a good night, Priest Francis.”

“And you, young Liam.”

He walked past the crowd on his way out of the temple row, catching a glimpse of the woman whom the Vicar had spoken with. Her appearance matched her voice: a farm girl of average stature who possessed little to distinguish her from any other farm girl her age. How she had become the spokesperson of the odd group, he couldn’t guess.

Back at the gatehouse, he found Countess Beaumont sitting at her desk with a few Nobles standing around the captain’s office. The Countess rose to greet Liam as he crossed the floor to stand before her.

“The rebels from Laval have arrived, my lady,” he said. “They’re being assigned quarters in the pleasure district at the moment.”

“How many are there?” The Countess asked.

“Just under two thousand,” Liam answered.

“How convenient for those Mercenaries to have vacated their accommodations for their sake,” Viscount Ranford snickered.

“I’m sure it was all a part of Lady Albedo’s plans,” Countess Beaumont nodded.

The other Nobles added their voices to the affirmation of the Prime Minister’s plot. Was it actually the case? Did Lady Albedo order Olin to build the new pleasure quarter because her foresight and intellect were such that she could predict everything leading up to the rebels’ arrival in the city and their precise needs? And that Liam would similarly conclude that it was the best way to house them? For that matter, had she predicted that a fire would sweep the city, clearing the room for new construction? Maybe the stories about Fiends and their schemes were actually true.

Or maybe the Sorcerer King ordered the Prime Minister to do everything.

If it was that, then it was hardly surprising. ‘Ainz Ooal Gown’ was a god, after all. His machinations far exceeded the comprehension of mere mortals.

“What is to happen next, Mister Liam?” Countess Beaumont asked.

“It should be Raul’s show from here,” Liam answered. “I haven’t spoken with him since early this evening, but he should show up sooner or later.”

“Who is this ‘Raul’?” Viscount Ranford asked.

“A Commander dispatched from the Sorcerous Kingdom to handle the martial side of things,” Liam told him.

“…but won’t that diminish our achievements?” The Viscount asked, “We’ve handled things well thus far, haven’t we?”

“Have you?”

A long pause hung in the air between them. Liam figured it had to happen sooner or later. As inexperienced as the Nobles here might be, they were quick to seek advantage as they jumped from one political pyramid to another.

“As far as I know,” Viscount Ranford said, “no issues have arisen under our watch. We have maintained order, yes?”

It took everything Liam had not to roll his eyes.

“A lot more went into making that outcome possible than you probably realise,” he said. “Look, I understand that this is how you were raised, but believe me when I say that the achievements that matter won’t be anything you accomplish here. When this is all over and you actually go and see what’s going on in the Sorcerous Kingdom, you’ll instantly realise how petty everything you’ve experienced actually is. You won’t even dare bring up any ‘achievements’ accomplished here out of embarrassment. The Nobles in the Sorcerous Kingdom are literally transforming civilisation season by season. What you’re doing here is merely a declaration of loyalty. That declaration of loyalty buys you a chance to participate in that process.”

“I see…wait, there are Nobles in the Sorcerous Kingdom?”

“Of course there are,” Liam said. “When the Sorcerous Kingdom was founded, it adopted the laws of Re-Estize. The Nobles who didn’t run away when the Duchy of E-Rantel was annexed just kept administering their fiefs. The ones who did well were granted more territory or assigned special duties.”

The Nobles visibly brightened at his words. They sure thought a lot of themselves. Then again, all of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Nobles were doing well: spectacularly so by Re-Estize’s standards. Prosperity was guaranteed so long as resistance to their new methods was kept to a minimum. Between the Sorcerous Kingdom’s superior logistics, tireless industry, and use of magic, failing to prosper was an impossible challenge.

A soft thump sounded above them, as if someone had lowered a heavy piece of furniture onto the roof of the gatehouse. Every head turned at the sound of footfalls coming from the stairwell. Raul appeared a moment later.

“Oh,” he said, “you’re here.”

“You didn’t see me come in?” Liam asked.

“Do you know how hard it is to spot a Rogue wandering around a city in the dark?” Raul answered, “I saw Reed and his gang coming this way, so I decided to drop in.”

Viscount Ranford stepped forward.

“Commander Raul, I presume?”

Countess Beaumont smiled apologetically from behind the captain’s desk.

“This is Viscount Ranford,” she said. “There will be time to introduce everyone later properly, but you should know that he and several other Noblemen have been helping lead the watch.”

“So they’re Martial Nobles?” Raul asked.

“Are not all Nobles martial by nature?” Viscount Ranford said, “It is our heritage, after all.”

“That may be true historically,” Raul said, “but the practical differences between types of Nobles are huge. Are you all stronger than the average person around your age?”

“…what do you mean by that?”

“How many raids have you defended against?”

“…”

“Do you at least train?”

“…”

“How about hunting?” Raul asked.

A Noble standing along the wall raised his hand.

“I attended the fox hunt every summer with my father and brothers,” he said.

“Does that even count?” Liam frowned.

“It does,” Raul said. “Most people might think it’s a frivolous pastime, but hunting on horseback is a foundational component of cavalry tradition. It’s the same in the Empire.”

Several other noblemen came forward to claim that they also hunted with their families.

“It’s not like they’ll be on horseback here,” Liam said.

The gathered noblemen deflated at Liam’s words. Raul shot him a look. Liam raised his hands in submission. If Raul wanted to recruit them for the Royal Army, that was his headache to deal with.

“So long as you follow my orders,” Raul said, “you may continue acting as officers. It’ll be useful to have more control over the units on the ground for this.”

The noblemen brightened again. That they would provide better ‘control’ was dubious, but it wasn’t his call to make.

Raul reached into his pack and pulled out a long scroll, unfurling it over the captain’s desk to reveal a detailed map of Re-Blumrushur and its surroundings. As he searched for paperweights to hold down its corners, a woman’s voice sounded from the office stairwell.

“AHH!!! What’re they doin’ ‘ere?!”

Liam turned his head to find the crazy woman from the temple row pointing a damning finger at the assembled Nobles. Reed stood beside her with a flabbergasted look.

“Mister Reed,” Countess Beaumont said icily, “what is the meaning of this?”

“Don’t ya dare speak to Mister Reed, like that, ya harpy!” The woman planted her hands on her hips, “The gods sent ‘im to punish you evil Nobles fer yer evil ways!”

The air seemed to cool as the Countess fixed her armsman with a withering glare. Reed looked like he wanted to squeeze himself through the nearby arrow slit and escape.

“They’re rebel Nobles,” Liam offered.

“Eh? What’s that now?”

“They’re fighting against House Blumrush and its thugs,” Liam said. “Your people aren’t the only ones who’ve been mistreated. The Guilds are up in arms, too.”

The crazy woman looked askance at Liam, then questioningly at Reed. Reed nodded silently in response.

“Now that that’s settled,” Raul said, “I’ll–”

“Wait a minute,” the crazy woman said, “haven’t I heard you somewhere before?”

Reed and Raul froze. The Nobles looked back and forth between the two sides with unknowing looks.

“…I get that a lot,” Raul said carefully. “I’m just a farm boy, yeah?”

Raul was, in fact, a farm boy. He was actually about as generic as farm boys got. At least if one discounted the fact that he had commanded an Undead army in a war deciding the fate of a kingdom, slaughtering hundreds of thousands of Demihuman invaders in the process.

The crazy woman peered at Raul suspiciously before backing down again. She clung to Reed’s arm as he came forward to join them at the desk. Raul remained silent for several moments longer to see if anyone else would interrupt him before explaining the city’s situation to the room.

“House Blumrush and its allies in the city were driven into the upper city this evening by Guild forces earlier this evening. The battle’s far from won, however. Before the uprising in the city started, House Blumrush was already raising levies from its territories in the east. I believe this was in response to the rebellion in Laval, but, as it stands, they’ll be put to use here.”

Raul ended his opening remarks on that ominous note, as if to settle the room with the grim reality it presented. Viscount Ranford gestured to the eastern portions of the March.

“How many men has House Blumrush raised?” He asked.

“As far as our reconnaissance has reported,” Raul answered, “roughly five thousand. Five hundred of that number is a regiment of armsmen led by Knights.”

“The city has suffered much over the winter,” Countess Beaumont said, “but there should still be well over twenty thousand citizens within its walls. Five thousand will stand no chance against them.”

“If they tried to storm the walls, they would fail,” Raul agreed. “Even if those walls were only defended by civilians. But that isn’t the problem. Five thousand is enough to encircle the city and stop caravans from getting in and out. Castle Blumrush effectively bars access to the city by river. Additionally, as soon as House Blumrush’s reinforcements realise what’s happened to the city, they’ll call up even more men: this time from all of their vassals.”

“In other words,” Viscount Ranford crossed his arms grimly, “we’ll be facing a siege. One with devastating timing, at that.”

“Exactly,” Raul said. “I know things might have felt easy so far, but we’re actually up against a very capable Commander.”

Everyone stared at Raul.

“Who?” Liam asked.

Raul tilted his head curiously.

“Lord Reginald?”

“Hah?”

“House Blumrush might be corrupt,” Raul said, “but it isn’t stupid. Lord Reginald was put in charge of the city for good reason. Everything he’s done so far in response to our moves has been strategically sound, at least if you go by what his side knows. Even that deal he made with Olin back in the autumn: why do you think he gave them that part of the riverfront?”

“But Olin’s subordinates all say they got the better deal,” Liam said.

“From their perspective, maybe. But look at how things are now.”

Liam stared at the map. Raul was right. Olin wanted one part of the city because it was better for his pleasure district. Lord Reginald kept the more strategically valuable side. He knew he couldn’t stop the Eight Fingers if it came down to it, but he could easily control the citizenry arranging things the way he had.

“So the weird behaviour that happened when the citizens revolted…”

“That was Lord Reginald,” Raul said. “I’m pretty sure it was the moment when he started treating the situation in the city as a battle instead of business as usual.”

“I dunno…” Liam said, “I’ve seen him do some pretty stupid things during battle.”

“Being a Commander doesn’t mean you’re immune to doing stupid things,” Raul said. “Maybe he wasn’t doing what he was supposed to be doing and got in trouble for it. Anyway, that’s the reality of things at the moment.”

“But you’ve described a hopeless situation,” Viscount Ranford said.

“Can’t we deal with ‘em like we did Laval?” Reed asked, “Five thousand all at once is too tall of an order, but once they spread out to trap us in here, me and the boys can open holes all over the place.”

“It’s an option,” Raul said. “There’s a tradeoff, though. The more men we send out to raid, the weaker we become in the city. I can only assume that Blumrush’s forces will move close enough to the walls to keep you from freely going to and from, so once you’re out there, there’ll be no easy way to respond to trouble inside.”

“So anyone goin’ out, stays out,” Reed sucked in his lower lip. “Send too few, and we can’t work quick enough. Send too many, and they’ll stir up trouble in the city.”

“A siege is also probably larger than you think,” Raul said. “Not only will they be trapping people in the city, but they’ll also be sending squads of men to the towns along the trade routes to stop Merchants from even thinking about delivering goods to Re-Blumrushur.”

“Well, shit. We don’t have the men for that.”

“In that case,” Countess Beaumont said, “what do you propose?”

“That we don’t fight on Lord Reginald’s terms,” Raul replied. “If you don’t want to fight a losing battle, then fight a different battle. There are only really two sources of supplies to a city in any duchy. The primary source is from the agricultural fiefs it presides over. The secondary source is trade. Since most of the Beaumont faction rules over woodland territories, the only viable source of grain for us is trade. The north suffered from an early winter this year, so we can’t expect anything from that direction. The heartlands to the west have their own troubles to prepare for, so nothing will come from there. Only the south has any realistic chance of sending food our way, so we’ll take control of the southern highway.”

“If Lord Reginald is as capable as you claim,” Lord Ranford said, “should he not realise this as well?”

“He should,” Raul said, “but knowledge isn’t power. House Blumrush still has to deploy men around the city as a precaution, and the further from Castle Blumrush the fighting is, the less influence he has over the outcome. Keeping the civilians out of battle for as long as possible will allow us to maintain the ‘weight’ of our forces, as well.”

“So we drag the men he can spare up the pass and rip them to shreds,” Reed said.

“It should be a good way to get rid of a decent chunk of his army,” Raul nodded. “After that, it’ll be easier to deal with what’s left.”

Liam nodded slowly as he digested the implications of Raul’s strategy. At face value, it already seemed promising, but there was an unspoken aspect to it that only he and Raul were probably aware of. With every skirmish, Reed’s men became stronger, and their ruthless fighting style denied the same benefits for Lord Reginald’s men. The way that Raul was setting things up maximised the number of battles faced by a limited number of men in a manageable way to exploit that fact. They might return with the same number they left with, but they would also be more powerful than before. Perhaps powerful enough to dismantle the siege in its entirety.

“Does anyone have any questions?” Raul asked, “Anything to add?”

The Nobles around the table shook their heads. Even the crazy woman clinging to Reed didn’t have anything to say. Raul waited for a full minute before leaning forward to roll up his map and put it away.

“Great,” he said. “Everyone should get some rest. I’ll go over what we’ll be doing inside the city in the morning.”