The noon sun hung directly overhead, baking the cobblestones of the Western District's main thoroughfare.It was a wide, straight avenue usually reserved for noble carriages and military parades, flanking the high walls of the Baroness Vane’s private granary complex.Today, however, the street was eerily silent.The Second Knights had cleared it.Perched on the slate roof of a clock tower overlooking the route, Pyralis Cinderfall adjusted the strap of his leather gauntlet.The heat radiating off the tiles was uncomfortable, but it kept his muscles loose."Transport in sight," Elara's voice crackled through the communication stone in his ear. She was positioned three blocks down, hidden in the shadows of a chimney stack. "And Pyralis... it’s massive."Pyralis raised a brass spyglass to his eye.She wasn't exaggerating.The convoy rounding the corner was a fortress on wheels.Six massive, reinforced wagons, each pulled by four heavy draft horses, rumbled down the street.They were piled

The Third Knight’s Citadel was usually a place of relaxed discipline, much like its commander, but today the atmosphere was suffocating.Jinto Kyoran sat at his desk, staring at his bonsai tree with a look of profound irritation.Across from him, Lord Johan—head of House Aris and the man currently funding the 'Shadows'—was pacing back and forth, his face flushed with indignation."This is an insult, Jinto!" Johan spat, waving a hand toward the window where black-armoured Second Knights could be seen marching through the streets below. "Since when do the Second Knights patrol the Common Lands? This is your territory. The jurisdiction laws are clear. The Three Orders are equal under the Crown!"Jinto sighed, pouring himself a cup of sake."Sit down, Johan. You're making me dizzy.""I will not sit down! You are letting Theron and Erebus walk all over you. Are you a Commander or a doormat? Why does Erebus, a man who ha