Heretic Spellblade 8 by K.D. Robertson

Author:K.D. Robertson [Robertson, K.D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-07-26T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24

“Do you think it’s wise to travel to Arcadia for this meeting after their threats to Imperial Bastions?” Seraph asked as they rode north.

“We don’t have a choice,” Nathan said. “Our intelligence on Arcadia is thin and Novai is our best chance to connect Tarkan’s resistance with the faeries who oppose Sofia.”

He’d brought more than his closest Champions and tamed Messengers on the march across the border. Several companies of Royal Knights marched alongside their automaton horses. Traufaumh’s and the Empire’s Lodges had lent a small team of sorcerers, given neutrality was unnecessary when dealing with a foreign entity, and they were accompanied by a number of battlemages.

All in all, he led a small army into Arcadia. His trigems alone constituted a declaration of war by any standard. If Sofia wasn’t present here, he could upend the country overnight with their might alone.

How things had changed from the days when a single trigem could decide the course of wars.

Seraph remained silent as she rode alongside him.

“I take it you’re concerned,” he said.

“I’m worried it’s a trap,” she replied. “And, yes, I know you’re taking precautions. Tarkan’s allies have scoped out the area and met with the Bastion, confirming Novai’s authenticity, and Kadria has been keeping an eye on the area now that Reine can’t scry Arcadia or the border.”

Atlas’s magic fog had worsened, stretching over the border. Nathan now felt it along the leylines near Castle Forselburg, which confirmed the activity by the elite Messenger. It meant he needed to rely entirely on old-fashioned intelligence gathering along the entire border with Arcadia.

Even with Sofia’s little insurgent fortresses dealt with, her agents remained active. Reine’s agents were stretched thin and so was the Inquisition.

Ironically, the situation enmeshed Reine within the Inquisition. While she’d never had many difficulties with the organization, thanks to its fanatical structure, her expertise and enthusiasm at rooting out spies and enemies of the state generated immense support. She excelled at the fundamental work of the Inquisition.

Adding on the fact she diverted more resources to the grunt work of the organization, the Inquisition’s ordinary agents found their new overlord highly agreeable.

Nathan tried not to think about the implications. He and Reine had intended to strip back the Inquisition’s powers and role, and ended up being supported by it more than ever as they fought against Sofia’s unending war of deception. Hopefully, the reforms Rosewald and Alice put in place for the nobles at least limited the Inquisition’s influence at a political level.

“If it’s a trap, then it’s one we can’t avoid walking into,” Nathan said, pulling himself from his thoughts. “Like I said, we have to enter Arcadia and Novai is our best bet. That makes him Sofia’s target. We can confirm he hasn’t been controlled by a succubus. Anything after that is a consequence of our limited range.”

“He’s a chokepoint, and Sofia likely knows it.” Seraph sighed. “If so, why bring all of us? What if she attacks while we’re away?”

Ah, so that was what this was about.

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