"The Sovereign will not fall in our lifetimes."
The Arbiter spoke the words without anger, without frustration, and without the slightest inflection of disappointment. He stated the conclusion with the absolute, cold certainty of a mathematician resolving a ten-year equation.
Thendris, the chief spymaster of the Korthane Hegemony, stood on the polished marble floor of the central sanctum. His hands trembled slightly as he clutched the heavy, decade-end intelligence report.
For ten years—from the initial Morreth Tremor in 950 AF to the current, grinding stalemate of 959 AF—Thendris had funneled millions of silver into the Sovereign Imperium. He had funded the Tremor Cult. He had weaponized starvation on the frontier. He had subverted Zephyr's intelligence apparatus.
And yet, Zephyr still stood.
