Chapter 311: A Victory They Couldn’t Explain

A million shafts of radiant light descended over Divine Province. Every Lord stood bathed in their glow, feeling the increase in strength.

Only then did some of them truly believe the announcement.

"We won. Divine Province really came first!"

"And the Homeworld Channel said he was paying for attention. Gathering Faith Power! What a load of nonsense."

"Another fifty points to every attribute. I’ve lost count of how much stronger the boss has made us."

Amid the celebration, one Lord broke into particularly wild laughter.

"I put a thousand Aether on Divine Province. A hundred and fifty thousand back!"

The envy was immediate. A sum like that mattered a great deal to an ordinary Lord.

"A hundred and fifty times the stake. Why didn’t I bet on us?"

"I’ve decided. From now on, if there’s a pool, I back Divine Province. I don’t care what the ranking tests."

"That’s why Nessa is the clever one. She just hides it well!"

[Nessa Fenwick: Hides it well? Are you saying I look stupid?]

Everyone could hear the joke in her reply. Laughter filled the Channel again.

Then a much less confident message appeared.

[So... does anyone actually know how we took first?]

The celebrating Lords looked at one another.

——

The Homeworld Channel was even louder. Among the thirteen Provinces’ enemies, many were still struggling to accept a result written across the sky.

"Divine Province? It really was Divine Province?"

"Why does Cassian always come first?"

"It’s a curse. Are we never going to break it?"

"Who was saying he only wanted attention for Faith Power?"

Cloudrest or Dawnspire taking first would have been easier to bear. Divine Province had only a few hundred thousand Lords. How had so few people outbuilt everyone else?

Once the first shock and anger passed, that question remained.

Gavin Roswell rarely spoke in the public Channel. Now Fairhaven’s Governor gave a firm answer.

[Gavin Roswell: There are only two possibilities. Divine Province has hundreds of Legendary Buildings, or it has claimed a World Wonder. I consider the latter more likely.]

A Province with hundreds of thousands of residents could not hide everything. Information known only to Cassian’s inner circle might stay secret, but rival powers had a reasonable grasp of the scale of ordinary construction within its borders.

Another Lord agreed with Gavin.

[Neither explanation sounds possible. But think of the naval battle a month ago. Divine Province showed only a few thousand Legendary troops. If it had hundreds of Legendary Buildings, its army would have looked very different.]

[Walter Norman: Control of a World Wonder barely half a year after the sector opened. In tens of thousands of years of recorded Homeworld history, no newcomer has done that.]

Alton Greaves of the Coral Federation sounded almost eager to flatter him.

[Alton Greaves: No wonder Lord Cassian develops so quickly. Even creating his own troop line! He must have the favor of a powerful god.]

Corven Talcrest gave a soft laugh.

[Corven Talcrest: Then perhaps we should ask which god favors him. A friend of the Homeworld, or an enemy? A benevolent deity, or an evil one?]

The question gave everyone pause. Even among the Crown Lords, smiles faded.

A god and a Mythic Lord were two different things. A god was a distinct form of life, part of the rules themselves, and did not necessarily possess overwhelming strength. Gods accepted faith and sacrifices from Lords, granting power in return.

The Black Banner offered familiar examples. House Morvane worshipped Gluttony. House Velisse served Lust.

Such beings stood far above their followers and seldom shared their attachments. The deeper a Lord’s dealings with a god, the tighter the restraints could become, until the Lord was little more than a puppet.

A benevolent patron was one thing. If Cassian had given himself to a powerful evil god...

[Nerissa Vaust: Cassian! Tell us which evil god you serve. We must establish that you have not betrayed the Homeworld.]

Piers followed at once.

[Piers Haldane: Exactly. What did he promise in return for all that power? How do we know he won’t sacrifice the entire Homeworld Realm to his patron?]

They knew how little those accusations could force him to do. But if public pressure made Cassian reveal his secrets, fighting him next time would be easier.

Silence would serve them too. Suspicion could linger among the Homeworld’s Lords, perhaps even drive a wedge between Divine Province and its twelve Crown allies.

Lana answered fiercely.

[Lana Whitmere: You think Cassian is like the Black Banner? Worshipping the Spirit Realm’s evil gods and turning yourselves into those half-human Spiritbound things?]

[Darian Frost: If you want to discuss betraying the Homeworld, start with that bastard Osric Vaust. He did it long ago.]

A little doubt was nowhere near enough to make the thirteen Provinces treat Cassian as an enemy. Their Lords came forward to defend him, and the Channel dissolved into another furious argument.

——

At Highcrest, Edran sat facing the other two rulers’ projections with an expression he had not worn in a long time.

Annoyance. And, rather worse, embarrassment.

Ten billion Aether was no great loss to him. Confidently staking it on his own side, only for Divine Province to sweep past Cloudrest, was another matter.

At least only these two know whose money it was, he consoled himself. I can leave the youngsters in the newcomer sector to take the blame.

He had no idea that his beloved son had already told everyone at the lunch table about the wager. Nor did he know that Cassian had long since recognized exactly who Darian’s father was.

As the embarrassment eased, Edran began considering the more serious question.

"Could a powerful god really have intervened for him? How else does a newcomer gain control of a World Wonder in half a year?"

Gods were bound by rules when they bestowed power too. Even so, they had far more freedom than Lords in the upper Realms.

The Spirit Realm, on which the Black Banner relied, existed outside the Seven Realms. Lords from the main world did not descend into it. With its evil gods supporting Osric Vaust, even Edran would have to pay a dreadful price to kill him.

But that protection had its price as well. Osric Vaust would never be able to sever his ties to those gods.

The danger was common knowledge. Knowing it did not make everyone capable of resisting the offer of quick, overwhelming power. Young people could be especially vulnerable to the temptation.

That was what troubled Edran.

The Sovereign of Caerwyn frowned as deeply as he did.

"An occasional fair exchange with a god need not be disastrous. Perhaps something like that helped him develop his troop line. But helping a newcomer claim a Wonder this quickly could exhaust an ordinary god’s divine power. What could Cassian have promised in return for that?"

The Valcrest founder spoke up immediately. His impression of Cassian was far better than that.

"From what my descendants tell me, he is certainly no puppet who has sold his soul. They’ve seen no sign of religious devotion in him either."

Silence followed.

At last, they had found a young Lord with the reputation, strength, convictions, and Fortune to lead the struggle against the Jade Court. They had placed real hope in him.

If he had already sold his soul, what a waste it would be.

After a moment, Edran spoke.

"Leave this to me."