"The situation developed faster than I expected..."
In the study, Lorne considered what would come next.
He hadn't anticipated the Hall Family's dire situation, but since Audrey had asked, he could only try to help.
"At first, I thought the nobles' infighting would end once they'd torn into one another enough. They were all nobles, after all. Surely they'd preserve a little dignity..."
"I never expected them to push things to the point where they wouldn't stop until one side was dead."
Originally, Lorne had thought the royal family and the churches would step in at the last moment to restrain them, acting as a political fuse to preserve the basic balance among Loen's upper ranks. Now, however, not only had they failed to intervene, they had allowed the chaos to escalate.
This sudden turn of events had disrupted many of Lorne's original plans at once. For a moment, he felt rather at a loss, unsure where to start. As for exactly how to protect the Hall Family, he still needed more information.
Besides discussing countermeasures with Earl Hall, he needed news from other channels.
"I'll ask Maric later. I could also use the Society's intelligence network..."
As a Cadre, Lorne had considerable authority; he simply seldom exercised it.
"Come to think of it, the Church of Evernight abandoned the Hall Family this time..."
"Then what about the Fool?"
A thought suddenly flashed through Lorne's mind. Audrey was a believer in the Fool! Now that the Hall Family was almost at the end of its rope, would Mr. Fool help?
Also, could the Fool have had something to do with the churches' ruthless abandonment of the Hall Family? Perhaps their senior members had noticed the family's wavering faith and discovered that they secretly worshipped another Hidden Being, prompting them to