Chapter Summaries

Gaita learned that Geshilton’s Northern Frontier Chamber of Commerce had built a powerful network in Blackwater City and was prepared to help Viscount Victor take control. Impressed by Victor’s desire to preserve the Governor’s Mansion’s records, Gaita agreed to Geshilton’s protection and left the tavern with the Governor’s Guard.

• Geshilton told Gaita that his agents controlled hundreds of Garrison Regiment soldiers and that more officers, including a battalion commander, had begun contacting him.
• Geshilton revealed that the Chamber of Commerce had hidden hundreds of armed guards among the forces of cooperating businesses.
• Geshilton explained that Viscount Victor was waiting so he could secure the documents and land registers in the Governor’s Mansion intact.
• Gaita shared his knowledge of Blackwater City and offered suggestions that impressed Geshilton.
• Geshilton offered to assign men to protect Gaita, and Gaita accepted before leaving the tavern with the Governor’s Guard.

Victor's forces used Gaita and other insiders to defeat Blackwater City's defenders and seize the city with little damage. By sunrise, Viscount Krick was dead and Victor had become the city's new master.

• Krick promised to support Gaita's inheritance if he helped the Northern Alliance Army capture Blackwater City, and Gaita accepted while secretly passing the defenders' plans to Victor.
• Victor learned that Rust's forces would attack his camp and planned to use Gale to track their movements, hoping to take the city without bloodshed.
• Rust led six hundred cavalry out of Blackwater City at night and attacked Victor's apparently empty camp, where Victor's forces surrounded and trapped them.
• Fire arrows ignited the camp, Rust's troops fled and were captured, and Rust died by suicide in the flames.
• Gaita's men disarmed the Governor's Guard, seized the eastern gate with help from insiders, and let Victor's troops enter as city defenders defected.
• Gaita and Geshilton secured the Governor's Mansion, Krick died in his sleep, and Blackwater City woke to find Victor in control.

After taking Blackwater City, Victor tasked Gaita and Geshilton with restoring trade and stabilizing grain prices before autumn. He proposed a tax rebate to persuade the city's merchant guilds to buy goods from the Eastern Region, leaving Geshilton to coordinate the effort.

• Victor watched crowds and merchant caravans leave Blackwater City as Northern Alliance soldiers kept the gates open.
• Gaita described Blackwater City's strategic importance, and Victor credited Gaita and Geshilton for helping him capture it.
• Victor promised Gaita and Geshilton that their achievements would be recognized, then demanded that commercial tax revenue reach seventy percent of last year's level before autumn while grain prices remained stable.
• Victor said he had asked nobles in the Eastern Region to prepare scarce goods and assigned Geshilton's Northern Frontier Chamber of Commerce to coordinate purchases with the city's merchant guilds.
• Victor proposed returning fifty percent of commercial taxes to merchant guilds as rewards based on their total purchase values.

Victor secured Blackwater City’s commercial recovery by promising merchant guilds a rebate of half the commercial tax revenue, then reviewed his forces’ losses and the city’s captured supplies. The city remained under his control, and he planned to transport more grain from the Golden Sunflower Territory while sending the captured craftsmen back there.

• Victor promised Geshilton that at least half of Blackwater City’s commercial tax revenue would subsidize merchant guilds, prompting Geshilton to organize them to restore trade.
• Victor appointed Gaita to draft the Tax Rebate Policy standards, instructing him to balance profits on both sides while maximizing tax revenue.
• Victor learned that his troops had suffered few serious injuries and that most of Blackwater City’s defending soldiers had been captured or surrendered.
• Victor’s secretary reported that the city held only about eight hundred tons of military grain but abundant other supplies, including weapons, materials, and more than a thousand craftsmen.
• Victor decided to send several thousand tons of grain from the Golden Sunflower Territory and recognized that many of the craftsmen had come from Haiden City.

Victor planned to expand the Southern Marching Legion with prisoners from Ironvine Territory and Blackwater City while anticipating the Duchy's eventual defeat. News of Blackwater City's rapid fall spread through the armies in Sextus County, leaving the Northern Alliance jubilant and the Duchy Army's morale shattered.

• Victor decided to prepare two new regiments, using captured Duchy soldiers and supplies purchased through the Northern Frontier Chamber of Commerce.
• Victor sent news of Blackwater City's capture to Northern Alliance Command and trusted Count Colt to respond appropriately.
• The Duchy Army learned that Viscount Golden Sunflower had taken Blackwater City after fewer than five days of fighting.
• Despite having grain and materiel stockpiled, the Duchy Army lost confidence in victory, while the Northern Alliance Army celebrated.

Viscount Borey convened the Duchy Army’s commanders after the Northern Alliance Army cut off their supply and retreat routes, and they argued over how to restore morale and expose enemy spies. Geis announced that the grand duke would send the Silver Maple Secret Guard to purge the camp, with orders to treat anyone who obstructed them as an accomplice.

• Viscount Borey told the commanders that the Northern Alliance Army had cut off their supply line and retreat route, then asked them to propose a response.
• Count Kimberly argued that supplies would last for now and urged the army to raise morale by rooting out spies spreading rumors.
• Legion Commander Rabia called for severe punishment of suspected rumor-spreaders, while other commanders warned that harsh measures could spark a mutiny or riot.
• Geis challenged Rabia’s proposal and said the grand duke would send the Silver Maple Secret Guard into the camp to find enemy agents.
• Geis ordered the commanders not to interfere and warned that the guards could treat anyone obstructing them as an accomplice of the Northern Frontier Rebels.

Viscount Borey and Labia used Grand Duke Mora’s order to purge the Coalition of Nobles’ legions, replace their officers, and transfer troops into the Duchy Legion. The furious nobles went to confront the grand duke, while Labia asked why Mora had ordered the move.

• Viscount Borey assigned the First Regiment of the Imperial Guard Legion to assist the Silver Maple Secret Guard in purging the army.
• The purge arrested or executed officers and soldiers in the Coalition of Nobles’ two legions, while new officers took command under orders from the grand duke and the War Department.
• Viscount Borey and Labia directed the transfer of units into the Duchy Legion as the independent nobles realized they had lost control of most of their troops.
• The nobles confronted Viscount Borey, accused him of forging Grand Duke Mora’s order, and left to seek an audience with the grand duke.
• Labia asked whether Grand Duke Mora had truly issued the order and why he would offend so many independent nobles; Viscount Borey confirmed it was genuine.

Labia learned that Grand Duke Mora was stripping command from nobles whose loyalty was suspect while Kimberley’s Fifth Legion distracted the Northern Frontier Rebels. Kimberley halted his advance and formed a defensive position, waiting for Imperial Guard Legion reinforcements.

• Viscount Borey told Labia that nobles who had received letters from Colt but failed to surrender them would lose command of their private armies.
• Labia realized Kimberley’s Fifth Legion was guarding against a rebel attack while the other forces seized control of the Coalition of Nobles.
• Kimberley led the Fifth Legion toward a key Northern Alliance Army camp, but nearly ten thousand elite enemy cavalry stopped its advance.
• Kimberley recognized that the purge was meant to place military power under Grand Duke Mora’s control and decided to support it despite the nobles’ likely objections.
• Kimberley ordered the Fifth Legion to halt and form a defensive position, assuring his officers that the Imperial Guard Legion would reinforce and escort them back.

Viscount Hawke and Ricardo failed to break Kimberley's Fifth Legion and settled on surrounding it until Alex arrived with news of a rift within the Duchy Army. Alex planned to join his father’s approaching army and attack the Duchy Army’s main camp.

• Viscount Hawke refused Ricardo’s proposal to charge the Fifth Legion with the light cavalry and waited for infantry reinforcements.
• Ricardo searched for a weakness in the Fifth Legion’s formation, but its defenses repelled him and the cavalry.
• Hawke and Ricardo blocked retreat routes and then attacked with infantry and cavalry, but the Fifth Legion held firm.
• Hawke ordered his forces to surround the Fifth Legion and wait for it to retreat.
• Alex arrived and reported that the Coalition of Nobles and the Duchy’s Direct Legion were at odds, then announced a plan to attack the Duchy Army’s main camp with his father’s approaching army.

Hawk prepared to block the Fifth Legion’s retreat as the Northern Alliance Army’s main force advanced, but Kimberley chose to fortify his position instead of fleeing. Alex revealed that his spies had lost contact with their senior agents and suspected the Silver Maple Secret Guard had destroyed his intelligence network.

• Hawk decided to lead his Infantry Regiment and elite Cavalry Regiment to block the Fifth Legion’s retreat, despite Ricardo’s objections.
• Alex offered to accompany Hawk and asked Ricardo to command the main force.
• The Fifth Legion shifted pikemen to its flanks and strengthened its formation rather than retreating.
• Alex told Hawk that his agents had sent few reports and that he had lost contact with his most important senior spies.
• Alex concluded that the Silver Maple Secret Guard had likely dealt a devastating blow to his intelligence network.

The Duchy Army arrived to reinforce the Fifth Legion as the Northern Alliance Army faced them down. Count Colt chose to avoid a decisive battle, and both armies withdrew after the Fifth Legion escaped.

• Kimberley refused his officers’ pleas to retreat and used executions to stop soldiers from deserting.
• Viscount Borey led a force of fifty or sixty thousand from the duchy’s camp to relieve the Fifth Legion.
• Count Colt and Alex learned that the Duchy Legion had purged traitors and forcibly absorbed the Coalition of Nobles.
• Count Colt ordered Alex and Hawk to open a retreat route for the Fifth Legion rather than start a decisive battle.
• The Fifth Legion withdrew to join the duchy’s army, and both sides pulled back.

As the armies withdrew without fighting, Viscount Borey nearly collapsed from exhaustion, and Rasul discreetly helped him mount his horse. Alex confronted Count Colt over his decision not to attack, but their argument over the failed intelligence network deepened their rift.

• Viscount Borey nearly fell after the danger passed, and Rasul caught him and helped him onto his horse without drawing attention.
• Viscount Borey hid his exhaustion as the Fifth Legion began its withdrawal, concerned that others might exploit news of his condition.
• Alex demanded that Count Colt explain why he had refused to attack the Duchy Army while it was positioned between Alex's and Hawk's forces.
• Count Colt blamed Alex's intelligence network for failing to detect the Duchy Army's movements and ordered him to rebuild it.
• Alex and Count Colt argued fiercely and parted in foul moods.

Alex restored the Northern Alliance Army’s intelligence network, revealing that Grand Duke Mora had seized the independent nobles’ military authority while the Duchy Army’s new command structure remained fragile. Count Colt and the Northern Alliance Command decided to attack the Duchy Main Camp in three days.

• Alex reestablished contact with the Northern Frontier Chamber of Commerce’s surviving intelligence agents inside the Duchy Army.
• The restored network sent the Northern Alliance Army intelligence about unrest and the Duchy Army’s recent takeover of the nobles’ forces.
• Count Colt and the senior officers learned that Grand Duke Mora had imprisoned the nobles who opposed him and that the Duchy Army’s orderly appearance concealed incomplete integration.
• Count Colt called a general meeting, and the Northern Alliance Command ordered the army to prepare for battle.
• The Northern Alliance Army planned to attack the Duchy Main Camp in three days, while its forces were still weakly integrated.

Alex opposed Count Colt’s plan for a decisive battle, warning that the Duchy Army was prepared and that the Northern Alliance should exploit its supply problems instead. Count Colt overruled him, scheduled the battle in three days, and ordered Alex to use his intelligence network to stir unrest in the Duchy Army’s camp, leaving Alex to accept the risky assignment.

• Alex objected to Count Colt’s decision and warned that Grand Duke Mora’s forces had likely prepared countermeasures and consolidated their army.
• Count Colt rebuked Alex for speaking out of turn and demanded concrete intelligence to support his claims.
• Viscount Edmund, Viscount Philip, and other Northern Frontier nobles argued that the Duchy Army could not fully control the nobles’ private troops.
• Alex reasoned that Grand Duke Mora could install lawful heirs to gain control of the private armies, while the Northern Alliance could weaken the Duchy Army by maintaining its supply blockade.
• Count Colt rejected Alex’s advice and set the decisive battle for three days later, apparently intending to act before Victor’s troops could join.
• Count Colt tasked Alex with contacting the imprisoned nobles and inciting unrest in the Duchy Army’s camp, and Alex accepted despite the likely damage to his intelligence network.

Alex worried that the army’s commanders were rushing toward a decisive battle for personal reward, despite the risks. Viscount Hawke advised him to write to Viscount Victor in Blackwater City for help.

• Alex ordered the duchy army’s intelligence network to contact imprisoned or surveilled independent nobles while avoiding the Silver Maple Secret Guard.
• Alex fell asleep from exhaustion and later woke to find that several hours had passed.
• Viscount Hawke brought Alex dinner and apologized for failing to support him at the assembly.
• Hawke explained that Viscounts Edmund and Philip backed the risky decision because they feared earning too little merit for the postwar rewards.
• Hawke urged Alex to send a letter to Viscount Victor in Blackwater City for advice.

Victor visited the Southern Marching Legion’s camp outside Blackwater City to meet Luoza and inspect urgently needed warhorses sent from Two Rivers Territory. He headed to the temporary horse ranch as Luoza assured him the horses would strengthen the army.

• Victor rode out of Blackwater City to inspect the Southern Marching Legion’s temporary camp near the docks.
• A wounded gate officer recognized Victor and promised his young auxiliary guards stories about the battles he had fought alongside him.
• Victor crossed the camp and met Luoza, the chief overseer of the Two Rivers Warhorse Ranch.
• Victor recalled that cavalry losses had weakened the legion and that he had ordered Two Rivers Territory to send warhorses and strategic supplies by sea.
• Luoza led Victor to the temporary horse ranch to see the arriving warhorses undergoing recovery training.

Victor inspected the warhorses recovering from their sea voyage and learned from Old Buck that a special wild grass called Horse-Waking Grass restored their vigor and reduced stress. The horses could be sent into battle immediately, though their stamina had not fully recovered.

• Victor saw hundreds of warhorses exercising under the Hanging Horse Method as Luoza explained how the training helped them recover from sea travel.
• Luoza told Victor the horses could fight immediately, surprising him because their condition made them vulnerable to exhaustion and stress reactions.
• Luoza credited Old Buck, whom Victor recognized as a former POW camp guard and auxiliary captain.
• Old Buck explained that he had discovered Horse-Waking Grass while caring for racehorses and found that it restored their vigor and reduced their stress reactions.

Victor rewarded Old Buck for sharing a valuable horse-restoration formula, assigning him to work under Luoza and taking his two eldest sons into the Guard Cavalry. After returning to Blackwater City, Victor received an urgent military-intelligence letter from the Northern Alliance Army's Main Camp.

• Old Buck gave Victor a secret formula for restoring horses and explained that he offered it out of gratitude for Victor's kindness to his family.
• Victor offered Old Buck a reward, and Old Buck asked to work under Luoza as a steward and help breed warhorses.
• Old Buck asked Victor to take his eldest and second sons into his service, and Victor accepted them as Guard Cavalry.
• Victor told Luoza to prepare to transfer two thousand horses to an elite Cavalry unit the next day, then rode back to Blackwater City.
• A Guard Cavalry brought Victor a sealed letter from the Northern Alliance Army's Main Camp containing urgent military intelligence.

Victor received Alex’s warning that the Northern Alliance Army was preparing an all-out assault despite Alex’s failed efforts to stop Count Colt. Worried that a defeat could jeopardize the civil war, Victor called an emergency meeting at the Governor’s Mansion.

• Victor recognized Alex’s personal seal and read a letter warning that the Northern Alliance Army was about to attack the Duchy Army.
• Victor concluded that Count Colt would not listen to him, but worried that a rash assault could endanger the civil war.
• Victor left his dinner and went to the Governor’s Mansion’s conference room to study a map of the Grand Duchy.
• Victor ordered a meeting with the regimental commanders, Knight Yellen, the nobles commanding troops, and Mr. Gaita.
• Victor’s guards arranged for soup and pastries, and Victor praised the squad leader for noticing he had skipped dinner.

Victor summoned the Southern Marching Legion’s leaders and ordered an elite force to reinforce the main battlefield at dawn for the decisive battle. He revealed that thousands of additional horses and mules had been secured to speed the deployment.

• James, Ron, and Baron Brown speculated about why Victor had called the late-night meeting.
• Victor ordered the legion to send battle-hardened, healthy soldiers who could ride and fight to the main battlefield at dawn.
• Viscount Markut asked whether Count Colt’s Northern Alliance Army had been defeated, and Victor said the main battlefield was fine and he planned to lead them into the decisive battle.
• The nobles and officers cheered at the chance to fight, and Victor quieted them to continue the briefing.
• Victor announced that two thousand warhorses had arrived, and Gaita reported that the management committee had requisitioned over eight thousand mules and horses from the Great Merchant Guilds.