Inside the Council Hall of Crystal Radiance's Royal Palace, the intelligence report that had just arrived was violently hurled to the floor. The scroll slid a long way across the smooth marble.
"Those treacherous Steppe Barbarians!" Rhodesney XVIII's roar made the crystal chandelier tremble slightly. He yanked open the golden buttons at his collar. "How many years has it been since we signed the peace treaty? And they're already so eager to tear it up!"
Earl Merlin bent down and picked up the scroll containing the intelligence report. "Your Majesty, my people have confirmed that Alba's Golden Tent has moved to the border of the Blackstone Plains."
The king's knuckles struck heavily against the long table covered in maps. On the map, dense clusters of little red flags represented the southern garrison—the forces that had been left behind after Giles's rebellion was only recently suppressed.
His gaze swept across the shadow in the northeastern part of the kingdom marked as the "occupied zone"—which had now become a stepping stone for the orcs' southward advance.
"At least we won't have to face enemies on two fronts."
Rhodesney XVIII suddenly let out a cold laugh and grabbed the silver goblet for a gulp of wine. As his Adam's apple moved, some of the deep-red wine spilled from his mouth and dripped from his chin onto his gold-embroidered collar.
"When that pack of beasts attacked last time, that old fox Giles was still squatting in the south."
A court attendant cautiously offered him a silk handkerchief, but the king waved it away. He turned to look out the window, where Crystal Radiance City's rooftops resembled burning armor beneath the setting sun. He seemed able to hear the faint sounds of a new batch of troops drilling on the training grounds outside the Royal