“You see why I wanted to catch you at the gates, I suppose,” Ada said once Tobias had left. Her armour rasped as she shifted on her stool, the sound filling the quiet air. “I’ve sent a message to Elder Vanarr. Once he responds, I’ll let you know. Until then, I’ll do my best to turn aside any Sorcerers heading this way. I don’t need a hotheaded idiot, guard or Sorcerer, trying to force matters and causing a fight.”

  “Is getting through the city that important?” Gwen asked curiously. “Can’t they just go a different way?”

  “There are few paths across the mountains. Few safe ones, anyway. The problem will be those who have planned to go this way for an assigned mission. They’ll be forced to either take a less safe path, or add a week or more to their travel time.”

  “How many Steel Custodians actually cross the mountains, though?” Verdan asked, intrigued despite himself.

  “Quite a few. We act in response to reported monster sightings, potential new ruins and to support communities trying to reclaim the wilderness. We’ve never been able to establish a true outpost thanks to the difficulty of supplying it, and this was meant to be a step to changing that. Having that opportunity thrown in our faces will not go down well.”

  Verdan pinched the bridge of his nose and resisted the urge to curse Edward Hobson, not to mention Bardhi and Dervi, the other two newcomers. They were going to cost the city a lot of goodwill with the Steel Custodians. Holding the Sect back from making the other side of the mountains safer wasn’t ideal either.

  Right now, there was a solid band of wilderness that sat north of the Grey Peaks and south of the Kranjir lands. Clan Mhorgain had once occupied a portion of it, but after they fell, the land was lost. The Steel Custodians and the Defiant Flame were both working to pacify the land, but without a proper supply chain, it was an impossible task.

  Verdan thought back to the marauding Darjee he’d fought when he first arrived in the city. That was exactly the situation that a squad of Steel Custodians was perfect for.

  “If we can find a way to restore passage, or otherwise give you that support, we’ll do so,” Verdan said, drawing a surprised look from Ada. “I fully support your Sect’s intent to reclaim the land, though I need to ask. If a Kranjir Clan or some other group were to do so, would that be a problem?”

  “Not at all.” Ada was firm and to the point. “What we care about is having it back under the control of humanity. The Defiant Flame should feel the same. If not, we would intercede, I can give you my word on that. We’ve failed to make any true progress for far too long not to act. Are you expecting such an event?”

  “Not immediately, but perhaps in the next few years.” Verdan didn’t want to commit Dirk and Sinead to anything, but he gave it a good chance that they would retake Blackpeak for the Mhorgain.

  “Why exactly have you struggled to make any progress?” Gwen asked with a frown. “My family used to live north of the mountains. We had done for generations.”

  “With a spirit protecting you,” Verdan said, giving Gwen a pointed look. “Remember what happened to the village we passed when we went north.”

  Gwen shuddered and nodded. “I don’t think I could ever forget. Those poor people.”

  “The horrors that exist outside of these relatively safe lands are many,” Ada said sadly. “What exactly did you see?”

  “A Gormagyr,” Kai said, absently rubbing at the arm he’d almost lost on that trip. “It escaped, but we later killed it.”

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  “Good. They are a blight that we hunt whenever possible.” Ada rose to her feet and frowned thoughtfully. “I knew you had gone north and had fought many monsters, but I admit I hadn’t expected you to be so staunchly in support of our mission. I hope that when the time comes, we can work together to do more. Ferd and I will remain in the city for the time being. Call on us if you need anything.”

  With that, Ada left, her metal armour rasping faintly as she exited the room.

  “Quite the mess we’ve come back to, isn’t it,” Verdan said, leaning back in his chair with a sigh before pausing as the door opened once more. Verdan turned, expecting Ada, only to see Henry walk in with a tray of mugs, Adrienne a step behind him with her own tray.

  Henry was the mute chef who kept them all well fed, while his wife Adrienne kept the more mundane day to day affairs of the estate running. They were both lovely, warm people, and Verdan had never regretted bringing them into his employ.

  “I’m glad to see you’re back…” Adrienne began, only to gasp as she Verdan’s face. “My goodness, are you alright?”

  “It’s fine, Adrienne,” Verdan said, rising to take a sandwich from the tray she was holding. “I’ve lost it, but my other one is just fine.”

  The older woman gave him a look that told him she knew he was lying. “Well, if you need anything, anything at all, you let us know, alright?”

  “I will, thank you.” Verdan felt touched by the obvious care, even more so when Henry put his tray down to rapidly sign something to Adrienne.

  “My husband says that if you haven’t been doing so already, you should be careful not to strain your other eye. He says that it’s easy to overcompensate in the early days.”

  Verdan nodded, realising that he did actually have a mild headache that was right over his eye. Henry had lost his ability to talk as an adult, and while it wasn’t the same, it was close enough that he understood.

  “Thank you, both of you,” Verdan said, smiling as he took a mug of coffee from Henry. “I do appreciate it.”

  Adrienne fussed a little more, but once the coffee and sandwiches were passed out, the two of them withdrew, closing the door on the way.

  “Did anyone actually ask for sandwiches?” Vaijon asked, staring in bemusement at the heaped plate Adrienne had given him. The housekeeper had taken one look at Vaijon and declared that he needed more meat on his bones, something which had amused Gwen no end.

  “No, but I never turn down Henry’s cooking,” Verdan said with a chuckle as he bit into his sandwich and groaned at the flavour. They’d been living on trail rations or hurried meals since they left, so some good cooking was a treat. “So, back to the topic at hand. What should we do?”

  “I’d instead say, is there anything we could do that won’t potentially make matters worse,” Kai said, biting into his sandwich as Vaijon and Gwen nodded.

  “A good point. Things must be quite delicate at the moment,” Vaijon said, having somehow already finished one sandwich. “Tobias is clearly favouring us, what with the visit here and working to support our general aims. The other councillors will know that as well, which limits what he can do in the open. I’ve been around Sect politics long enough to know that if we turn this into a power struggle, the whole city suffers.”

  “Then what do we do?” Gwen asked with a touch of frustration. “This isn’t exactly something we can just fight or drive off.”

  “Exactly, which is why we need to leave it to Tobias. I trust him to work on our behalf, so we have to give him the time and space to do so.”

  “So what you’re saying,” Verdan said, putting his plate down and sipping his coffee before continuing. “Is that we don’t respond to any of this? We just let the discrimination against non-humans stand and ignore their bad faith dealing with the Steel Custodians?”

  “More or less, yes.” Vaijon met his gaze calmly. “It’s either we take a passive approach for long-term results, or we challenge their power base and go aggressively. That would mean claiming political power for yourself, though.”

  Verdan scowled at the thought. He had so much he wanted to do still, and taking some sort of position in the city was certainly not on the list. “Alright, I hear you. Let’s take it on the chin for now and just do what we can to mitigate things.”

  Vaijon nodded as he rubbed a hand absently over his bald head. “I hate it as well, but I think it’s the right choice.”

  “If not the right one, at least the best of the worst,” Gwen said with a heavy sigh. “This is really not my expertise, so I’ll leave it to all of you. I see what’s coming, though. Today it’s Fwyn and Sorcerers, but the fear of Witches and uncontrolled magic runs deep. If these councillors have their way, my Coven won’t be long for this city.”

  “I won’t let it come to that, not without as much of a fight as I can put up.” Verdan promised before getting to his feet. “For now, though, I’m going to carry on checking in on things.”