Probing from All Sides

After leaving the Weeping Saint Altar, Lorenhill kept turning over everything he knew about Shien.

As soon as he returned to his residence, he had someone fetch the files on the candidates, including Shien. Before long, they covered the long table.

There were even earlier statistical predictions of each candidate's chances of becoming governor, though those predictions now seemed useless.

Lorenhill sat at the long table and opened the candidates' files.

Raymont's votes were the easiest to gauge.

He had spent decades in the Legion and was its current Legion Commander, with ample military achievements and prestige. Even if the major legions did not vote unanimously for him, most of their members would naturally favor him and cast their votes his way.

Edwin's situation was much the same as Raymont's, and his votes were even more secure.

The secretary standing beside Lorenhill placed a list before him. "My lord, the clerical hierarchy is more united. In the last few council sessions, the bishops have largely voted in line with Edwin.

"And some legion commanders who favor stability will cast their votes for him as well."

Lorenhill nodded. That had been his assessment too. This man should have been his greatest rival.

But now Shien had emerged as an unexpected factor.

He had studied Shien before and spoken with him several times.

Until today, however, he had thought the governor intended to groom Shien into the next governor's right-hand man, perhaps even into a bishop of the Holy City. And Shien had indeed made substantial contributions to reform.

At the time, Lorenhill had never considered Shien a rival. He was simply too young. Perhaps the Holy City or the nations of the interior had Church leaders that young, but there had never been such a young candidate for governor.

This was,