Chapter 117: Every One of Them

The square in Varek’s Domain was full of guests.

Twenty-nine of the thirty-four Wardens on his list had accepted the Sorns’ invitation. Bren Orwick, Cedric Voss, and the other leading Black Banner Lords stood among their finest Heroes and several squads of troops. Only five had stayed away.

Normally, even allies thought carefully before entering another Lord’s Domain. But Varek was about to become Commander of the Shattered Marches. Ignoring his invitation would hardly make a good impression.

Besides, they had brought their strongest guards.

Varek raised his cup, unable to hide his excitement. The task Cassian had given him was almost complete.

"After today, the Shattered Marches will enter a new age!"

"To Black Banner!" Bren called.

Another Warden raised his own cup.

"And to Varek. Thanks to him, we’ll get the greatest rewards for the least expense!"

The others joined the toast. After spending the morning together, they had begun to relax.

Varek’s mouth twisted briefly behind his cup.

Then the betting pool locked.

One of the Wardens, who had staked heavily on Sable, opened the final figures at once.

"Who put ten million on Riftward?"

Bren rose abruptly.

"Varek! What are you doing?"

The scroll in Varek’s hand tore apart.

[Channel Mute Scroll activated.]

[Shattered Marches Channel: Muted.]

"What am I doing?" Varek gave a cold laugh. "Giving you Black Banner dogs the chance to offer everything to my great Lord."

For a moment, nobody moved.

Black Banner dogs?

From a Sorn?

The Domain’s portal flashed again and again. Cassian stepped clear of it, Aurelia and Celia at his side, his elite troops emerging behind them.

"Cassian?" Cedric stared. "House Sorn has joined the enemy?"

The Sorns were one of Black Banner’s great families. This was as absurd as Seraphine turning against her own side.

"For our Lord! For Riftward!" Varek cried.

Cassian looked around the square and smiled.

"Nearly noon. Time to send you on your way."

Bren shouted over the uproar.

"He can’t have enough of those Legendary troops to stop all of us! Get clear and expose the Sorns. The other Lords in Sable will help us kill them!"

The other Wardens rallied at once.

Then they discovered what their expensive guards were worth against Cassian’s force.

Aurelia and Celia drove into the defenders. The Heroes and troops the Wardens had trusted to protect them were cut down, their formations broken before they could force a way out of the square.

The Sorns did not even need to join in.

In less than a minute, the fighting was over.

——

Cassian brought Bren back to Forgotten Shrine first. The man had been the loudest of the lot.

A green light fell over his head.

Bren’s struggles stopped. He bowed respectfully.

"Master, before I die, please allow me to hand over all my property."

"Quickly. I’m short of time."

"Yes, Master."

The Level-6 Mindseal Tower still had two empty places. Cassian only needed one. Each captive entered its range, fell under the Tower’s control, handed over his assets, and was put to death. The freed place was used for the next.

Within a few minutes, all twenty-nine Wardens had paid and died.

Cassian paused over the three Sorns.

Their usefulness as spies was finished. Black Banner would soon suspect them, and even suspicion would be enough for their family to demand that they return to the homeworld for investigation.

"Keep them for now."

He had no better targets waiting to take their places. All three had Epic Lord Hearts and troops of at least Epic Quality. Their overall strength could stand beside Seraphine’s. They would still make useful assistants.

The captives had yielded another hundred and twenty million Aether.

A fine morning’s work.

And the money was not even the best part. The attributes were still to come.

——

By the time Cassian reopened the Channels, the brief mute had ended. People were discovering the ten-million-Aether stake on Riftward, and everyone had thought of the same person.

[Elara Vayne: Cassian... don’t tell me that was you again.]

[Tobias Reed: Of course it was!]

[Nessa Fenwick: I should have put more in. There goes a hundred million!]

Several minutes passed before Darian answered.

[Darian Frost: You... underhanded bastard.]

[Seraphine Valcrest: Why does this feel so familiar?]

If anyone else had done it, they would have thought him mad. Because it was Cassian, their first instinct was to believe he could win.

Even for him, though, this was a little much.

[Cassian Vale: I kept it quiet to get the best result. Darian, I’ll return your stake in full once the pool pays out.]

His admission removed their last doubts.

[Darian Frost: You think I care about that money? You lied to me.]

Cassian was not having that.

[Cassian Vale: Think about what I actually said. When did I lie?]

He cast a hundred thousand Ballots for Ironwake.

Its vote count shot past Sable’s.

Darian fell silent.

Cassian had promised that Ironwake would finish ahead of Sable. He had never said Ironwake would finish first.

Yesterday, those had seemed like the same thing.

[Seraphine Valcrest: Calm down, Darian. He’s certainly underhanded, but this still secures the Marches for our side.]

[Gareth Halvern: And gives us both first and second.]

Darian could not argue. Now that he had time to think, he also understood that if Cassian could win without soliciting votes, telling them beforehand would not have changed the result.

Without Cassian’s help, Ironwake might not even have beaten Sable.

[Mira Calder: A hundred thousand votes... do you still have enough for yourself?]

[Cassian Vale: Who said we were only taking first and second? Watch this.]

Five hundred thousand Ballots went to Greyfen.

Seraphine’s Region appeared just below Ironwake, pushing Sable down to third.

——

Far out at sea, Seraphine stood motionless on the deck of her Epic warship.

"That is ridiculous."

She had done nothing, and suddenly she was second.

Then her eyes widened farther.

"There’s more?"

A hundred thousand votes appeared under Northwatch. Another hundred thousand went to Stoneward. Both Regions entered the top ten.

"How many Ballots does he have?"

Before she finished speaking, every name in the top ten moved down one place.

[1. Riftward — 666,666 votes]

Seraphine swayed. She caught the rail and steadied herself.

"More than a million votes, including what he gave us. From one Lord?"

Even the great figures in her family’s history had not achieved anything like this at his age.

A thought struck her.

Someone with that much Fortune should be a friend. Better still, family.

Her uncle had a daughter, a beautiful young woman with remarkable talent. Seraphine would have to introduce her to Cassian.

She looked back at Greyfen’s vote count and sighed.

"A gift like this can’t be measured in Aether. I suppose I’ll have to introduce you to my cousin instead."

——

Cassian checked his Inventory. More than seven hundred thousand Ballots remained.

He stopped voting.

Fourth through tenth received the same rewards. A hundred thousand each was enough for Northwatch and Stoneward. Greyfen had received more because he respected Seraphine’s willingness to step aside.

He had planned to put a million votes on Riftward. Looking at the standings now, there was no need. The first four places were all under his control.

Six sixes or six eights. Both made a pleasing number.

He had chosen the sixes.

[Cassian Vale: All done. Everyone happy?]