Spring rain had fallen over Dawnlight City for three days straight.
Inside the Drunken Bear tavern in the south of the city, a fur merchant who had just come in took off his cloak, sending rainwater streaming from its edges onto the floor.
"Damned weather," he muttered, squeezing up to the bar. "A hot ale."
The tavern keeper slid a clay cup toward him and asked casually, "Come from the south? Roads still peaceful?"
"Not peaceful at all." The fur merchant took a long drink and exhaled a cloud of white vapor. "Word's spreading everywhere that our countess is going to ally with some baron from a swamp. Even Sunyang has gotten involved."
His voice was not loud, but the name "Sunyang" landed like a stone in a pond. Conversations at several nearby tables immediately quieted.
A local cloth merchant at the next table leaned over, lowering his voice.
"I heard that too. They say Baron Veylin is a scoundrel who used trickery to drive away Count Philip and Viscount Valerius. Now he's trying to deceive the countess into trusting him."
"That's not the half of it!" The fur merchant warmed to the subject and lowered his voice. "A fellow from Wind Crow Castle told me Viscount Valerius was furious. Said that brat impersonated a clergyman and blasphemed against the gods. Under church law, he should be burned at the stake! Sunyang has already declared that it will never allow the Dawn Family's bloodline to be tainted by an opportunist like him."
"Heavens... doesn't that mean our Dawn Territory is headed for disaster?"
"Exactly. Going to war with the Sea Folk and offending our liege besides. Our countess is still too young..."
The murmurs spread through the tavern, mingling with the sound of rain and carrying an undercurrent of unease.