Chapter 486: A Request Turned Threat

"It is good to see you again, Sect Leader Nightshade. Master Hestia and Elder Adrian are waiting for you."

Lara stood beside the crimson-gold doors on the top floor of the Crimson Spire, her silver-crimson hair resting over her sect robes. She greeted him with a warm smile before gesturing toward the entrance. Nightshade returned her greeting and followed, his attention lingering briefly upon the Astral essence he could sense from her.

He had already heard about her advancement. Seeing it himself still brought back memories of a very different Crimson Vital Sect, when Hestia had been its only cultivator capable of standing alongside him. Her elders had gradually reached Peak Rule during the preparations for the war, closing a gap that had once seemed enormous. Now Lara had gone beyond it, along with the other senior elders, while he remained at the same stage. He had lived long enough to watch sects rise and disappear, but very few had changed so much in so little time.

As Lara reached for the doors, he remembered the young man who had accepted his ten-second test. Adrian had caught his wrist when he continued after the allotted time, bringing him close enough to look directly into those white-grey eyes. Nightshade still could not explain what he had seen within them. It had felt as though something far older and more powerful had looked back at him, frightening him enough to break his control over his own abilities. It had helped persuade him to support Crimson Vital when its future was far less certain. The reports of its recent growth had surprised him, but they had also brought him back to that encounter more than once.

The doors opened, and Adrian and Hestia turned toward him from beside the meeting table. Both came forward to receive him. "Have you been waiting long?" Hestia asked, smiling as Adrian extended his hand.

"Only long enough for Elder Lara to make me feel that I should spend more time cultivating," Nightshade replied as he shook Adrian's hand.

His gaze briefly returned to Lara, and she smiled before withdrawing. "Please pass my congratulations to the others as well. I had heard the reports, but it is different seeing one of you in person."

"I will," Lara said as she left the chamber.

"Please, sit," Hestia said, gesturing toward the chair as she took the one across from him. Adrian settled beside her. "Your message said there were several things you wanted to discuss. Has something happened?"

"Nothing urgent," Nightshade replied. "But it has only been three days since the Ebon Meridian envoy visited, and the reports about your disciples have already brought far more attention to Andromeda. Several sect leaders contacted me before I came here. They are pleased that Crimson Vital has grown stronger, but they are also worried about what may follow."

Thousand Veils remained an independent ally of Crimson Vital, but Nightshade had dealt with many of the subsidiary leaders for years through business and the relationships between neighboring territories. He had been preparing to ask Hestia what the increased attention meant for his own sect when those conversations began. Once the others learned that he intended to visit, they asked him to raise the questions they shared.

"Some lead sects under Crimson Vital, and others came to me through the sects working beneath Thousand Veils," he continued. "They could each send a request, but most would be asking you the same things. So I thought it would be easier to discuss them together."

Hestia nodded. "Tell us what concerns them."

"The cultivators arriving within Andromeda now belong to organizations much stronger than most sects here. A High Rule leader of a lesser minor sect can deal with an ordinary visitor causing trouble, but if an Astral arrives with demands, that becomes a very different matter." He continued, "Your announcement recognizing Ebon Meridian's standing under the covenant has added another question. With their office being arranged here, some leaders want to know whether its officials can give them orders."

"They cannot," Hestia replied. "The recognition concerns their standing under the covenant. Their office can handle the business we agreed to, and they can use our commercial routes and markets. But it gives them no authority over the sects here."

"That is what I understood," Nightshade said. "But a small sect will hesitate if an Ebon Meridian official tells it otherwise. Its leader may be afraid to refuse before finding out whether the demand came through you."

"If that happens, they should contact us before agreeing to anything," Hestia replied. "We will make the office's limits clear to them. Crimson Vital will meet its own obligations to Ebon Meridian. We will not pass those costs down to other sects."

Nightshade inclined his head, then continued. "There are similar concerns about trade. Some sects depend upon a few buyers or a single route. They want to know whether the larger organizations coming here will receive rights that interfere with their existing business."

"Their agreements will remain in effect," Hestia said. "New merchants can negotiate purchases like anyone else. They will not be allowed to take a mine, claim another sect's production, or force a supplier to abandon a contract because they have stronger cultivators behind them."

"The difficulty is that some may try regardless of what you allow," Nightshade replied. "The leaders know you would object. What worries them is how much damage could be done before help reaches their territory."

Nightshade had seen how carefully merchants and visiting cultivators behaved around Crimson Vital's disciples. He wanted the smaller sects to have that same security, even when there was no Astral nearby to make an outsider think twice.

"I understand the concern," Adrian said. "No matter what laws or rules we establish, we cannot completely control what an outsider chooses to do. But if someone enters Andromeda believing it is weak enough for them to harm even one of the Lesser Minor Sects here without consequence, we will make certain they understand the price of that mistake."

"There is also the possibility of war," Nightshade said. "Most of the leaders who spoke to me were Lesser Minor Sects. They remember being ordered to fight in the last one. If an outside sect moves against Crimson Vital, they want to know whether they will be called upon again."

Hestia's expression grew more serious. "They will not be forced to take part. When we met after the war, I told them that they could keep their territories and govern their own people. I asked them to respect the peace, trade fairly, and stop attacking one another out of greed. Our growth has not changed that."

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She looked directly at Nightshade as she continued. "We are not going to start collecting tribute because stronger sects have noticed us. If there is a war, anyone who wishes to help can do so, and we will provide the resources they need. Anyone who wishes to remain with their people can make that choice."

"And if they choose to stay out of it, will they still receive protection?" Nightshade asked. "Some are worried that refusing to fight would leave them responsible for defending themselves."

"They will still receive our protection," Hestia replied. "I cannot decide whether another sect will attack us, but I can decide whether I force people into that battle. I wanted Crimson Vital to be a place where people could live without being dragged into someone else's ambitions. I still want that for Andromeda."

Nightshade relaxed a little in his chair. Several leaders had asked him that question privately, worried that even raising it might make their loyalty seem doubtful. Hestia had answered without asking for their names.

"We will establish more defensive bases across the galaxy," Hestia continued. "We will station capable cultivators there to respond to threats, and they can call for stronger reinforcements when needed. We will also connect the bases through portals, so help can move between them instead of every request being answered from Sanguis Prime."

"The local sects will need a way to reach the nearest one directly," Nightshade said. "If they have to explain the problem to several different officials first, the help may arrive too late."

"Each sect will receive the contact details for the base responsible for its region," Hestia replied. "Until those bases are ready, they can report threats directly to headquarters. We will have to choose the locations and arrange the connections, but we have enough capable cultivators now to begin."

"The bases will handle outside threats and enforce the peace we already agreed upon," Adrian added. "The local leaders will continue running their own sects. We do not need to take over their daily affairs to help defend them."

Nightshade considered that before giving a slow nod. "That will answer most of what they asked me. It would help if they heard these promises from you as well."

"I will have Lara send the terms to them directly," Hestia said. "They should have our answer in writing, including the limits of Ebon Meridian's office. If any of them have a problem they would rather discuss privately, they can request a meeting."

They spent a little longer discussing the routes used by Thousand Veils and the regions where help would take longest to arrive. Nightshade offered to have his people share their information with Lara, giving her something useful to work with while the bases were being planned. By the time he rose to leave, they had settled the questions concerning his own sect's trade as well.

"I am glad I came," he said as Hestia and Adrian stood with him. "I can tell them what you intend to do now, instead of asking them to wait and see."

Hestia thanked him for bringing the concerns to her, and Adrian accompanied them to the doors. Lara was waiting outside. After exchanging their farewells, Nightshade left with her, and the head chamber grew quiet again.

By the time Lara returned with the next visitors, Adrian and Hestia had taken their seats. The two brothers entered together, both tall, with muted red skin and small bony ridges rising beside their temples. Their faces bore a clear resemblance, though the man Lara introduced as Oskel was broader through the shoulders. Neither wore a sect insignia upon their robes.

Adrian watched them approach with interest. Requests had been arriving from cultivators across the surrounding galaxies, but these were the first outside Anchors to come personally seeking a meeting since the reports of Crimson Vital's growth had spread. Their request had said little about what they wanted.

Hestia welcomed them and indicated the chairs opposite her. Lara withdrew after the introductions, and Rethan waited until the doors closed before speaking.

"Thank you for seeing us. We have come to ask for help with our younger sister, Mireth. She completed her first Divine Concept a long time ago, but she has struggled with the second despite everything we have been able to provide."

"What kind of help are you hoping to find?" Hestia asked.

"Something that can help her comprehend the rules more easily," Rethan replied. "My brother and I followed the same inheritance. We have taught her ourselves and obtained resources that help her study, but the improvement never lasts long. She works through one difficult part, then spends years struggling with the next."

He glanced toward Adrian before continuing. "We read the reports about your disciples. We know they do not explain everything, and some of those cultivators may have been close to advancing already. Even so, enough people seem to be making progress that we hoped you might possess something useful for her."

"You only want access for Mireth?" Adrian asked.

"Yes. It could be a chamber, a resource, or a treasure she could study beside. We do not know what you use, so I cannot make a more exact request," Rethan replied. "We are not asking for your inheritance or ownership of anything. We only want Mireth to receive whatever help is suitable for her, and we are prepared to pay for it."

Oskel sat quietly beside his brother, watching them while Rethan explained what they could offer. Valuable resources were one possibility. If Crimson Vital needed work done elsewhere, both brothers could provide their services, once they agreed on the work and how long it would take.

Adrian looked toward Hestia and found her already looking at him. Neither spoke for a moment.

The Crown of the Source had helped make the growth they were discussing possible. Time formations, complete inheritances, and years of careful instruction had given the disciples what they needed to cultivate, but the miniature seeds had allowed them to understand far more during those years. Hestia knew that as well as he did.

Yet Adrian had never met Mireth. A connection required real trust and willingness from both sides, and even disciples who wanted its benefits had sometimes been unable to accept it fully. Her brothers could offer their wealth or years of service, but neither could make that trust exist between two strangers. Explaining the Crown to them would reveal a secret without solving the difficulty.

"We do not have a treasure that we can lend your sister for that purpose," Hestia replied. "Our disciples cultivate within time formations, and we have spent a great deal of effort improving the way they are taught. Much of that work concerns Crimson Vital Dominion and the foundation they study afterward."

"The inheritance matters," Adrian added. "A place that helps someone understand our concepts may do very little for hers. We would need to know where she is struggling before we could tell you what might help."

Rethan leaned forward slightly. "We can explain the parts she finds difficult. We have worked through them with her many times."

"That would be useful," Adrian replied. "But I would also like to hear her explain them herself. If you bring Mireth here, we can meet her and see whether our teaching or any of our training facilities can help. I cannot promise that we will succeed, but we are willing to try."

Oskel had remained still throughout his brother's explanation. Now he straightened in his chair, his gaze moving from Adrian to Hestia as Rethan turned toward him.

"We have already spent years teaching her," Oskel said. "Your disciples are advancing in numbers that time formations and ordinary guidance do not explain. We came here because you seem to have something better, and you are offering us more of what we have already tried."

Hestia was about to answer when Oskel continued. "Two Anchors have come to ask you respectfully. We have offered resources and our own services to help one person. I suggest you reconsider before refusing us. You may find that keeping this advantage to yourselves costs you far more than helping our sister."

Rethan turned fully toward his brother, but Hestia spoke before he could intervene.

"We offered to help her," she said. "That did not give you the right to threaten us. This meeting is over. You may leave."

Oskel stared at her as Rethan rose beside him. His brother placed a hand upon his forearm, and when Oskel looked up, Rethan held his gaze. "Come with me. We are leaving."

Oskel stood, his chair shifting back across the floor. Rethan kept hold of his arm until they approached the entrance, where Oskel pulled free and continued through the opening doors with his hand clenched beside him.

Adrian and Hestia remained seated, watching the two brothers leave the chamber.