Chapter Summaries

After returning home late, Karl found Princess Louise awake and concerned for his comfort, and her ordinary kindness brought him warmth as he struggled with guilt over thinking of Charlotte. Louise also realized that she had grown uneasy sleeping without Karl beside her.

• Karl returned home late, declined the servants' offer to prepare a bath, and washed his face with cold water.
• Karl entered the bedroom quietly, but Louise woke and asked whether he had bathed or eaten and offered to arrange both.
• Karl reassured Louise, guided her back to bed, and lay down beside her.
• Karl felt comforted by Louise's concern but felt guilty as he imagined how Charlotte would have cared for him.
• Louise lay awake and realized that she had become accustomed to Karl's presence and felt afraid when he was away.

After a night of conflicted feelings, Louise found comfort in Karl’s presence while feeling guilty about her lingering attachment to Henry. They both slept late, shared a quieter morning, and Karl left after breakfast for an important military meeting.

• Louise relied on Karl’s presence to feel safe, then fell asleep torn between that comfort and her guilt toward Henry.
• Karl and Louise slept until near noon, and Karl reflected on how his married life had changed his habits.
• Louise woke as Karl prepared to rise, and he reassured her that she did not need to worry about his duties.
• Lady Eileen teased the couple for sleeping late, then had the kitchen prepare a simple meal.
• Karl finished the late breakfast and left the dining room for his important military meeting.

Karl gathered his commanders to plan an offensive against the Saurons and seize Tyrol, assigning the returning cavalry leaders to protect the main force. He revealed that Earl Rochefort would reinforce the operation with three thousand elite infantry and one thousand cavalry.

• Lyon reported that his eight-day campaign destroyed Sauron outposts, killed about five hundred soldiers, rescued more than five thousand captives, and cost his unit two lives.
• Karl announced that the army would attack the Sauron-held stronghold of Tyrol.
• Karl assigned Lyon and Thorsten to command the cavalry and shield the infantry's flanks and rear from enemy cavalry.
• Karl told the commanders that Earl Rochefort would provide three thousand elite infantry and one thousand cavalry for the operation.

Peter prepared for a day of tending his family’s land in Tunbao and remembered how his family’s fortunes had improved after fleeing to Carnford. The chapter ended with Peter, Amina, and their mother quietly eating breakfast.

• Peter planned to repair his family’s irrigation ditch, mindful that Lord Edgar’s inspectors could punish households that neglected it.
• Peter recalled that his father had died defending the border and that his family had struggled to survive before leaving their old home.
• Peter remembered that his brother Daniel had passed Carnford’s workshop selection exam and now earned silver coins as a shipbuilding apprentice.
• Peter recalled that Daniel’s wages had helped the family move from the Shantytown Area into a small house in Stockaded Village Number Three.
• Peter made toasted black bread and oat porridge, then ate breakfast with Amina and their mother.

Amina proposed raising poultry and sheep to improve the family’s finances, but her mother’s concern for Daniel left her feeling overlooked and resentful. The conversation shifted to Peter’s militia training and their mother’s dream of buying a seaside home near Daniel’s workplace in Amber Bay.

• Amina suggested buying chicks and ducklings, and her mother agreed while proposing that the family also buy lambs after the autumn harvest.
• Amina grew bitter when her mother said they should bring goat’s milk to Daniel, whom Amina resented for his past distance from family work and his brief visits home.
• Peter noticed Amina’s mood and their mother’s favoritism, but said nothing as the family ate breakfast.
• Militia chants reminded their mother to ask Peter why he had not attended training, and Peter explained that his company had the day off.
• Their mother urged Peter to attend every training session for the pay and imagined saving enough to build a seaside home near Daniel’s workshop in Amber Bay.

Peter and Amina worked their family's fields while comparing their poverty with the better-off people around them. Amina revealed her resentment that the family's stone house was meant for Daniel and wished she could have livestock of her own.

• Mother urged Peter to be clever, obey his officers, and train hard, hoping he would be selected for the Lord's Main Corps.
• Mother went to Tunbao's market to ask neighbors about raising livestock while Peter and Amina headed to the fields.
• Peter and Amina noticed the fine clothes of wealthier townspeople and felt envious of their comfort.
• Amina watched a neighbor graze sheep and collect manure, lamenting that her family had no animals and used its fodder as green manure.
• Peter tried to comfort Amina by pointing out their sturdy stone house, but she said it was intended for Daniel and that she wanted sheep of her own.

Peter and Amina discussed their resentment over Daniel’s distance from the family while working in the fields. An emergency militia assembly call interrupted them, sending Peter racing to camp as Amina ran home in fear.

• Amina complained that Daniel had grown distant and that their mother seemed to care only about him, while Peter defended his younger brother and promised to speak with him when he returned.
• Peter and Amina finished their farmwork and rested, and Peter said Daniel should be home in a few days.
• An emergency assembly bugle sounded from Tunbao, and Peter hurried to the military camp after telling Amina to inform their mother.
• Amina watched men rush toward the camp, then ran home, frightened that something terrible had happened.
• Peter reached the camp and joined his formation as other soldiers arrived, and sergeants punished those who had come after the call ended.

Oliver announced that Carnford's militia would be mobilized to fight the Saurons and ordered the recruits to return for intensive training that night. Peter hurried home to tell his family, leaving his mother and siblings frightened and worried about his deployment.

• Oliver told the formation that war with the Saurons was coming and that every soldier in Carnford would be mobilized.
• Oliver gave the recruits half a day to settle their affairs and ordered them back to camp before eight that night.
• Peter returned home and told Amina that he would be going to war with the Saurons.
• Daniel asked Peter whether he was really going to war, and Peter explained that he would be stationed at the camp and unable to come home.
• Peter told his mother about the coming war, and her face turned pale with worry.

As Peter prepared to return to the barracks for wartime training, his family struggled with fear and grief. Daniel promised to come home each day and look after their mother and Amina, and Peter left Tunbao with his family’s supplies and farewell.

• Peter told his mother and Amina that he had to return to the barracks and might not come home until the war ended.
• Amina begged Peter to abandon their home and return to their old land, but he refused, citing their hard-won life and the danger of desertion.
• Daniel promised to return from the workshop each day to protect their mother and sister while Peter was away.
• Peter’s mother and Amina packed warm clothes and food for him and saw him off in tears.
• Peter left the house and joined the soldiers heading through Tunbao toward the barracks.

Peter joined the militia as Tunbao's men were mobilized for war against the Sauron. After Tommy's speech and Oliver's reorganization order, Peter left his family behind and entered the barracks, resolved to defend his home and avenge his father.

• Peter joined the column of militiamen leaving their families and gathered at the barracks, where Tunbao officials completed the handover to the Main Corps.
• Tommy told the militiamen that the Sauron were massing to attack the Iron Islands and urged them to fight before Carnford was threatened.
• Peter was stirred by Tommy's speech and resolved to fight the Sauron, who had killed his father.
• Oliver announced that his unit would become the Third Battalion of the militia and join the First and Second Battalions to form the First Regiment.
• Peter saw his mother, sister, and younger brother Daniel one last time, then followed the column into the barracks.

Karl prepared for Carnford's first large-scale field battle against the Sauron people and welcomed Sir Kylan's Northern Border Iron Cavalry as reinforcements. He outlined a plan to attack Tyrol before its defenses were completed and assigned Kylan's cavalry to guard the army's flanks and intercept enemy reinforcements.

• Karl worried that Carnford's army would face its first field battle without the protection of city walls or prepared fortifications.
• Three days later, Sir Kylan arrived outside Carnford with one thousand Northern Border Iron Cavalry, and Karl welcomed him warmly.
• Karl brought Kylan and Carnford's officers to the command center and identified Tyrol as their objective, explaining that its unfinished walls made it vulnerable to attack.
• Sir Kylan asked what role his cavalry would play in the campaign.
• Karl ordered Kylan to scout for Sauron cavalry and block any attempt to ambush the main force's flanks or rear.

Karl and Sir Kylan prepared the Fran City Cavalry to support the campaign against the Saurons, and Kylan pledged to stand with the Carnford Army. As the thousand reinforcements arrived, Karl imagined building a powerful cavalry force for Carnford.

• Sir Kylan promised that his cavalry would patrol and protect the infantry’s flanks, while Karl ordered him to preserve the cavalry and retreat if the battle became hopeless.
• Kylan refused to abandon his comrades and pledged that he and his thousand Fran City Cavalry would advance and retreat with the Carnford Army.
• Karl ordered the cavalry to rest, eat, inspect their equipment, and study maps of the Sauron settlements, roads, and water sources.
• Karl and Sir Kylan went to the temporary camp and watched the thousand cavalrymen arrive in disciplined ranks.
• Karl admired the cavalry’s power, and Sir Kylan predicted that Karl could build a much larger armored cavalry force for Carnford.

Karl checked that Edgar had prepared supplies for the approaching campaign and inspected the newly produced cannons and artillery crews. After returning home to a seafood dinner, he faced Lady Eileen's worried question about whether war was imminent.

• Karl asked Edgar about logistics, and Edgar showed him a map of supply depots, provisions, ammunition, and the packhorse train.
• Karl visited Hector and Elmont's workshop district, where craftsmen had completed a three-pound Eagle Cannon, five Minin Cannons, and an artillery drill manual for trained crews.
• Karl watched an Eagle Cannon crew perform a coordinated loading drill and saw that the Minin Cannon crew could prepare its weapon quickly.
• Karl returned to a seafood dinner with Lady Eileen and Princess Louise, who told him that fishermen from Amber Bay had brought the catch.
• Lady Eileen asked Karl whether the military preparations and arriving cavalrymen meant that the territory was going to war again.

Karl told his family he would personally lead Carnford’s offensive against the Sauron-controlled north, despite Lady Eileen’s objections. In Frosgard, Harald heard that Walter’s rebellion had failed and that the Iron Islands had descended into violence.

• Karl confirmed that Carnford was preparing to launch an offensive to reclaim territory from the Sauron people.
• Lady Eileen urged Karl to send Brendan or Roland instead, but Karl said his presence was necessary to inspire the troops.
• The family finished dinner in tense silence after Karl explained why he would fight alongside his soldiers.
• Three guards who had fled the Iron Islands reported Walter’s failed rebellion to Harald and described the killings and chaos there.
• Harald listened as his commanders gathered, reflecting that Walter’s rebellion had still spread suspicion and hatred across the Iron Islands.

Harald ordered preparations to conquer the Iron Islands before autumn, combining a planned military campaign with efforts to deepen the islands’ internal divisions. Meanwhile, Karl’s allied army marched north with support from Grimm’s caravan, whose commercial ambitions Karl knowingly accepted as useful to the region.

• Survivors reported that the Iron Islands were weakened by factional fighting, and Harald asked Gron and Ivar for their assessments.
• Gron urged an immediate invasion, while Ivar advised using covert support and bribery to worsen the islands’ divisions; the commanders argued until Harald silenced them.
• Harald ordered Gron to assemble about two thousand men and requisition ships, while Ivar was told to spread rumors, bribe factions, and weaken the Iron Islands from within.
• Harald declared that the forces must be ready to make the Iron Islands submit before autumn, with the attack’s timing to depend on developments.
• Karl’s army marched north with troops from Carnford and Fran City, refugee logisticians, and supplies and transport help from Grimm’s caravan.
• Karl recognized that Grimm wanted to profit from the campaign but accepted his support, expecting the merchant’s network to help manage and revive any lands the coalition gained.

A seven-thousand-man army marched from Carnford City with its supplies and concealed cannons as Franz traveled undercover in Grimm's caravan, gathering information for Carnford. Franz prayed for the scouts operating ahead and behind enemy lines.

• Lyon's light cavalry scouts screened the army as Sir Kylan led the Fran City Cavalry along its flanks and the Carnford Main Corps marched behind them.
• Two thousand conscripted refugees and Grimm's hired workers hauled supplies, including grain and canvas-covered cannons kept secret from Empress Dowager Katerina's agents.
• Franz traveled disguised as a carter and gathered information on the army's morale, supplies, and people encountered along the march.
• Franz thought of Richter's scouts risking their lives near the enemy and prayed for his unnamed comrades.

Harald reviewed the Sauron recruits’ training and received news that King Edwin had delayed support for the planned attack on the Iron Islands. The chapter ended with Asgeir reporting that Karl’s cavalry had withdrawn into Carnford City.

• Harald watched the mixed force of Broomflower Defectors and Sauron recruits drill, noting the defectors’ growing numbers and the divide between them and the Sauron Descendants.
• Asgeir delivered Gron’s report that the Hound Corps had reached the coast and was preparing ships for an invasion of the Iron Islands.
• Harald learned that King Edwin had failed to provide the expected naval support and vowed to punish him after dealing with the Iron Islands.
• Harald asked about Karl, and Asgeir reported that Karl’s cavalry had withdrawn into Carnford City about ten days earlier.

Harald suspected Karl was preparing to attack while the main forces moved toward the Iron Islands, so he ordered reinforcements for Nalan Town and Tyrol. Despite his deployments, he remained uneasy about Karl’s intentions.

• Harald questioned Asgeir about the withdrawal of forces and learned that Leon’s spies in Carnford City had mostly lost contact.
• Harald concluded that Karl had likely discovered the planned move toward the Iron Islands and might attack a forward stronghold.
• Harald ordered two thousand guards to reinforce Nalan Town and sent guards and slaves to accelerate construction at Tyrol.
• Harald ordered Domenic to send one thousand elite cavalry to garrison the Tyrol area.
• Asgeir hurried off to carry out the orders while Harald watched the recruits train and continued to doubt whether his preparations were enough.

Lucas and Felin secretly monitored a Sauron scouting patrol and recorded its movements. While Felin kept watch, he spotted a large army advancing in the northwest and warned that Sauron’s main force might have arrived.

• A fifteen-rider Sauron scouting unit rode south, then turned west onto a woodland path to probe the flank of the Carnford Army.
• Hidden beneath camouflage, Lucas identified the riders and their equipment while Felin recorded the intelligence.
• After the patrol disappeared, Lucas and Felin switched observation shifts, and Lucas asked about Felin’s sister in Amber Bay.
• Felin rebuffed Lucas’s questions about his sister, but then spotted dust from a large force approaching from the northwest.
• Felin warned Lucas that Sauron’s main force might have arrived.

Felin and Lucas reconnoitered a Sauron army advancing along the northwest Official road and recorded its strength and composition. After the army passed, they hurried back to report the intelligence to Lord Karl.

• Felin spotted the approaching Sauron army and reported its estimated strength, units, equipment, and route while Lucas took notes.
• Lucas observed the army’s disciplined formation and praised its military bearing, while Felin struggled to contain his hatred over his parents’ deaths at Sauron hands.
• Lucas urged Felin to stay focused on their mission and deliver accurate intelligence to Lord Karl, and Felin resumed observing the army through his telescope.
• After the Sauron army disappeared beyond the horizon, Felin and Lucas left their observation post and hurried through cover toward camp to report its movements.