Corvin Voss had not slept.
He sat in the same chair he had occupied for nearly three hours, one hand resting against his forehead while the other held the first issue of The United Kingdoms Chronicle.
He had read it seven times.
The words had not changed.
The numbers had not changed.
The implications had only gotten worse.
Sixteen cities.
Trade routes.
Infrastructure investments.
Schools.
Warehouses.
Gate networks.
Public projects.
All connected.
All moving through Solmere.
All tied, in one way or another, to Jax Darquebane.
Corvin slowly lowered the paper.
"We underestimated him."
Across the room, Maelis Thornreach sat with one leg crossed over the other.
Her own copy of the Chronicle rested across her lap.
For once, she was not smiling.
"No," she said.
Corvin looked at her.
Maelis tapped one finger against the paper.
"We misunderstood him."
Corvin's jaw tightened.
"Explain."
"We thought he was reacting."
She lifted the paper.
"The Slave Guild falls. He builds businesses."
"The Empire attacks. He declares independence."
"Rumors spread. He creates a newspaper."
She shook her head slowly.
"But that's not what happened."
Corvin stared at her.
Maelis's eyes narrowed in thought.
"The school existed before the Empire arrived."
"The printing equipment was already secured."
"Paper production was established in two cities."
"Distribution routes were already connected through his gates."
Her finger stopped tapping.
"The children were organized."
Corvin said nothing.
Maelis looked directly at him.
"He didn't create the Chronicle because the Empire attacked."
The room became very quiet.
"He was already building it."
Corvin felt the same uncomfortable sensation he had experienced outside the mayor's office.
Jax leaving.
Moments before they arrived.
The Mayor suddenly unwilling to meet.
Their plan collapsing before it had even begun.
Then the Merchant Association.
Jax was there.
Again.
Another door closed.
Another route removed.
Another move countered.
Before they made it.
Corvin slowly placed the Chronicle on the table.
"How many steps ahead of us is he?"
Maelis leaned back.
"Three?"
Corvin looked at her.
She shrugged.
"Five?"
"This isn't amusing."
"I didn't say it was."
"You look amused."
Maelis smiled faintly.
"I'm intrigued."
Corvin stood.
"That is because you do not understand the situation."
The smile disappeared.
Maelis's crimson eyes sharpened.
"I understand perfectly."
"No. You don't."
Corvin paced toward the window.
"I have dealt with Imperial governors. Guild Masters. Generals. Nobles. Merchant kings."
He looked back.
"They are predictable."
"Greed."
"Power."
"Legacy."
"Fear."
"Find what a man wants and you understand him."
Maelis tilted her head.
"And Darquebane?"
Corvin looked toward the streets below.
"I don't know what he wants."
"Money."
"He gives too much of it away."
"Power."
"He refuses titles."
"Women."
Corvin glanced at her.
Maelis smiled.
"He does seem fond of those."
"Four women," Corvin said. "All absurdly powerful. All apparently loyal. And I have yet to find evidence he purchased, threatened, coerced or politically arranged any of them."
Maelis's smile faded slightly.
"That is unusual."
"Everything about him is unusual."
Corvin turned fully.
"He owns pieces of dozens of businesses but rarely takes more than twenty percent."
"He builds infrastructure on property he doesn't fully control."
"He creates trade routes and then allows competitors to use them."
"He funds schools."
"Public parks."
"Bathhouses."
"Orphan programs."
"Now a newspaper."
Corvin pointed at the Chronicle.
"Men do not spend this much money without wanting something."
Maelis studied him.
"Perhaps you're asking the wrong question."
Corvin frowned.
"What question should I be asking?"
Maelis stood.
"What if he doesn't want anything?"
Corvin stared at her.
"Everyone wants something."
"Then what if he already has it?"
That stopped him.
Maelis slowly walked toward the window.
Below them, Solmere moved.
Workers.
Merchants.
Children.
Beastkin.
Humans.
Elves.
Dwarves.
All moving together.
Not perfectly.
But peacefully.
Productively.
Maelis watched them.
"What if this is what he wants?"
Corvin joined her.
"What?"
"This."
She gestured toward the city.
Corvin's expression twisted.
"That's absurd."
"Is it?"
"Men do not build nations out of generosity."
"Perhaps not."
Maelis smiled faintly.
"But they do build them out of vision."
Corvin looked at her.
There it was again.
That expression.
Interest.
Excitement.
She was enjoying this.
"You think this is a game."
Maelis looked at him.
"I think we've finally found someone worth playing against."
"This man destroyed our entire regional industry."
"He changed it."
"He abolished it."
"Yes."
"He cost us millions."
"Yes."
"He has made our names synonymous with an industry half the continent suddenly finds morally repulsive."
Maelis's smile widened.
"He's very good."
Corvin slammed his hand against the window frame.
"HE IS DESTROYING US!"
Silence filled the room.
Several former Slave Guild merchants seated behind them looked away.
Maelis did not.
She watched Corvin.
Calm.
Almost disappointed.
"You are afraid of him."
Corvin's nostrils flared.
"I respect the threat."
"You are afraid."
"I have survived three changes in Imperial leadership, two regional rebellions, the collapse of the Eastern Slave Exchange and an assassination attempt."
"And now?"
Maelis stepped closer.
"Now you don't know what to do."
Corvin stared at her.
She had said it quietly.
That somehow made it worse.
Maelis walked past him.
"He's three steps ahead of us," she said. "Fine."
She picked up the Chronicle.
"I'll figure out how."
She flipped through the pages.
"I'll learn how he thinks."
"How he chooses his investments."
"How he identifies opportunities."
"How he anticipates opposition."
She closed the paper.
"And then I'll beat him."
Corvin almost laughed.
"You are inexperienced."
Maelis's eyes narrowed.
"You mistake confidence for inexperience."
"And you mistake danger for entertainment."
"Perhaps."
She smiled.
"But at least I'm still moving."
Corvin's expression hardened.
Maelis walked toward the door.
"You're standing still."
She left.
The door closed behind her.
Corvin remained at the window.
Standing still.
He hated that she was right.
The next morning, Corvin called another meeting.
Maelis was not invited.
A dozen merchants gathered in the back room of an abandoned textile warehouse.
Men and women who had lost the most.
Plantation owners.
Processing warehouse operators.
Transport coordinators.
Mine owners.
Textile manufacturers.
Businesses built around labor that did not receive wages.
The abolition of the Slave Guild had devastated them.
Not because their products were unwanted.
Because their costs had become real.
Workers wanted wages.
Rest days.
Medical treatment.
Safety.
Some even wanted a share of increasing profits.
Absurd.
At least, that was how many in the room viewed it.
Corvin stood before them.
"We have attempted politics."
Several nodded.
"We have attempted influence."
More nods.
"We have attempted public discourse."
A merchant scoffed.
"And Darquebane created a newspaper before we even opened our mouths."
Corvin's jaw tightened.
"Yes."
The room fell quiet.
Derrick Malvos leaned forward.
He had once owned three processing warehouses.
Now he barely operated one.
"So what do we do?"
Corvin did not answer immediately.
He looked around the room.
At the frustration.
The anger.
The desperation.
These were not loyal followers.
Corvin knew better than to believe that.
They were wounded people looking for someone to blame.
That made them useful.
"We find dirt."
A few exchanged glances.
Corvin continued.
"Every man has secrets."
"Former business partners."
"Former employees."
"Adventurers."
"Women."
"Competitors."
"Find someone he threatened."
"Find someone he cheated."
"Find a contract he violated."
"Find a business that claims his twenty percent was not voluntary."
Derrick slowly smiled.
"And if none exist?"
Corvin looked at him.
"Then find something close enough."
The room grew still.
"Truth is irrelevant," Corvin said.
One merchant shifted uncomfortably.
Corvin noticed.
He lifted the Chronicle.
"Do you believe this is powerful because every citizen personally verified every number printed inside?"
No one answered.
"No."
He dropped it onto the table.
"It is powerful because people believe it."
Corvin stepped forward.
"We change what they believe."
"One merchant."
"One victim."
"One woman."
"One frightened former employee."
"One person willing to stand before Solmere and say Jax Darquebane is not the man they think he is."
Derrick nodded slowly.
"Fear."
Corvin looked at him.
"Fear motivates action."
He turned toward the others.
"The Empire will return."
That truth required no invention.
Everyone knew it.
"One hundred soldiers failed."
"The next army may be one thousand."
"Ten thousand."
"Fifty thousand."
He let the numbers settle.
"And when they come, whose businesses will burn?"
"Whose homes?"
"Whose children will be branded sympathizers?"
Corvin lowered his voice.
"Darquebane can summon dragons."
"Can you?"
Silence.
"His Vixens are S-Rank adventurers."
"Are you?"
Nothing.
"He can raise defeated boss monsters."
Corvin slowly scanned the room.
"Can your family?"
Fear moved through them.
There.
That was better.
"We don't need to prove Jax Darquebane is evil."
Corvin's voice softened.
"We only need people to ask whether following him is worth dying for."
By the end of the meeting, assignments had been given.
Money distributed.
Old Slave Guild contacts reactivated.
Names compiled.
Routes studied.
Jax would be investigated.
The Vixens would be investigated.
Every business.
Every contract.
Every former associate.
Corvin wanted everything.
And unlike Maelis—
He had no interest in understanding how Jax thought.
He wanted the problem removed.
Three nights later, Corvin entered an abandoned tannery alone.
Five men waited inside.
Black clothing.
Light armor.
Faces partially covered.
The man seated at the center did not stand.
"Corvin Voss."
Corvin stopped.
"You know me."
"We don't accept contracts without knowing who pays."
Corvin placed a heavy pouch on the table.
The assassin opened it.
Gold shimmered inside.
"Target?"
"Jax Darquebane."
Silence.
One of the men laughed.
Another shook his head.
The leader did neither.
"That's not enough."
"That's half."
"Then half isn't enough."
Corvin's jaw tightened.
"You haven't heard the contract."
"We've heard the name."
Corvin placed a second pouch beside the first.
The assassin looked at it.
"Observe him."
"Follow him."
"Learn his routines."
The assassin leaned back.
"And then?"
Corvin stared at him.
"Kill him."
The room became very quiet.
The leader studied Corvin.
"Jax Darquebane defeated an Imperial force."
"With shadows."
"He cleared Frostveil."
"With the Vixens."
"He killed the creature beneath the mountain."
"Allegedly."
The assassin smiled beneath his mask.
"You don't believe the Chronicle?"
"I believe legends grow with every retelling."
"And if the legends are accurate?"
Corvin's expression hardened.
"Then wait for an opportunity."
"When he's asleep."
"Drunk."
"Separated from the women."
"Poison him."
"Cut his throat."
"Drop a building on him."
"I don't care."
The assassin tapped one finger against the gold.
"Double."
Corvin stared.
"I already doubled it."
"No."
The man leaned forward.
"Double that."
Corvin's face reddened.
"That's outrageous."
"Then kill him yourself."
Silence.
Corvin hated everyone lately.
He slowly placed two additional pouches onto the table.
The assassin pulled all four toward him.
"We begin tomorrow."
Corvin left the tannery feeling something he had not felt in weeks.
Control.
He had made a move.
A real move.
Something Jax had not anticipated.
Something Maelis did not know about.
Something the Chronicle could not counter before it happened.
For the first time—
Corvin was ahead.
Five days later, Maelis Thornreach walked into Corvin's office.
She closed the door.
Locked it.
Then threw a knife.
The blade buried itself in the wall beside Corvin's head.
Corvin did not flinch.
Barely.
"What have you done?"
Corvin looked at her.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Maelis crossed the room.
Fast.
She planted both hands on his desk.
"Do not insult me."
Corvin leaned back.
Maelis's eyes burned.
"Five professional killers entered Solmere four days ago."
Corvin said nothing.
"They have been rotating surveillance positions around Darquebane and the Vixens."
Still nothing.
Maelis's expression changed.
Not shock.
Realization.
"You hired them."
Corvin stood.
"I took action."
"You hired assassins."
"I removed a threat."
"You attempted to remove a threat."
"They haven't failed."
Maelis laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
"Corvin."
She shook her head.
"You stupid bastard."
His face hardened.
"Careful."
"No."
Maelis stepped closer.
"You wanted to know how many steps ahead he was."
"I just found out."
Corvin stared at her.
"What are you talking about?"
Maelis pointed toward the window.
"He knows."
Corvin felt something twist inside his stomach.
"You don't know that."
"The assassins changed rotation twice yesterday."
"So?"
"Today Darquebane changed his route."
Corvin's mouth went dry.
Maelis continued.
"They moved to the rooftops."
"Darquebane entered covered markets."
"They split into two teams."
"The Vixens separated."
Corvin stared at her.
Maelis's voice lowered.
"He is moving them."
"No."
"He is."
"You're guessing."
Maelis smiled.
This time there was no excitement.
"That's the difference between us, Corvin."
"I wanted to learn how he thinks."
She leaned forward.
"You were so afraid of him that you attacked before we understood him."
Corvin's fists tightened.
"I am not afraid."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
Silence.
Maelis nodded.
"Exactly."
A pounding struck the door.
Both froze.
Another pound.
"CORVIN VOSS!"
The voice came from the hall.
"BY ORDER OF THE SOLMERE GUILD, OPEN THIS DOOR!"
Corvin slowly looked at Maelis.
Maelis closed her eyes.
"You idiot."
The pounding came again.
The door frame cracked.
Maelis moved first.
She crossed to the window and looked down.
Three floors.
Corvin joined her.
Guild officers filled the street.
Adventurers.
Town guards.
And children.
Children?
Roger stood on the corner with a stack of parchment.
The bunny boy held one high.
"WANTED POSTERS!"
He shouted happily.
"NEW WANTED POSTERS!"
Corvin stared.
His own face looked back at him from the page.
Maelis's face beside his.
CORVIN VOSS.
MAELIS THORNREACH.
WANTED FOR QUESTIONING REGARDING CONSPIRACY, ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION, AND ASSOCIATION WITH PROHIBITED SLAVE TRADE OPERATIONS.
REWARD FOR CAPTURE.
ALIVE.
Maelis stared at the poster.
Then at Corvin.
"You put my name on this."
"I did no such thing."
"You hired assassins while actively working with me!"
"They were my contacts!"
"Do you think the Guild cares?!"
The door splintered.
Corvin turned.
"We need to leave."
Maelis looked at him.
"Brilliant."
She opened the window.
Corvin stared down.
"We're three floors up."
"Then I suggest you don't land on your head."
She jumped.
Corvin hated her.
He jumped anyway.
They escaped the district.
Barely.
The gates were watched.
The portals were watched.
The roads were watched.
Their faces were everywhere.
The Chronicle's distribution network had transformed overnight into the most efficient wanted-poster system Corvin had ever witnessed.
The irony was not lost on him.
He simply did not appreciate it.
By midnight, Corvin and Maelis stood behind a livestock warehouse near the eastern agricultural wall.
Maelis stared at the cart.
Corvin stared at the cart.
Neither spoke.
A farmer lifted another shovel.
The contents landed in the back with a wet slap.
Maelis slowly shook her head.
"No."
Corvin looked at her.
"We don't have another option."
"There is always another option."
"Name one."
Maelis looked toward the wall.
Guards.
She looked toward the road.
Guild patrol.
She looked toward the portal district.
Wanted posters.
She looked back at the cart.
The farmer added another shovel.
Horse.
Goat.
Grim Ox.
And something neither of them could identify.
Maelis swallowed.
"I would rather fight."
"You would die."
"I would die clean."
Corvin climbed into the cart.
Maelis watched him disappear into the pile.
A moment later, his face emerged.
Only his face.
"This is your fault."
Maelis stared at him.
"My fault?"
"You wanted a challenge."
"You hired assassins!"
"You kept saying he was three steps ahead!"
"So you decided to stab three steps forward?!"
"Get in the dung, Maelis."
She looked back toward Solmere.
Bells rang.
Guards moved along the wall.
Roger ran past another intersection carrying more posters.
Maelis Thornreach closed her eyes.
Climbed into the cart.
And lowered herself beside Corvin.
The smell hit immediately.
Maelis gagged.
Corvin smiled.
For the first time in days—
He felt slightly better.
The farmer returned.
Climbed onto the front.
The cart rolled toward the agricultural gate.
A guard stepped forward.
"What's in the back?"
"Fertilizer."
The guard leaned slightly closer.
Then immediately recoiled.
"Gods."
The farmer shrugged.
"Good batch."
"Keep moving."
The cart rolled beyond Solmere.
Neither Corvin nor Maelis moved.
Not for an hour.
Not for two.
When Maelis finally lifted her head from the pile, Solmere's lights glowed far behind them.
She wiped something from her cheek.
Looked at it.
Decided ignorance was preferable.
Corvin emerged beside her.
His expensive coat was destroyed.
His dignity had been abandoned somewhere near the eastern wall.
His entire life had collapsed in less than a week.
Maelis looked back toward Solmere.
Quiet.
Thinking.
Corvin watched her.
"How?"
Maelis glanced at him.
"How what?"
"How was he ahead of us again?"
Maelis looked toward the distant city.
The assassins.
The routes.
The counter-surveillance.
The bounty notices.
The gates locked down.
The posters distributed before they even knew they were exposed.
Three steps.
Again.
Always three steps.
Corvin slowly sank lower into the dung.
"I don't know what to do anymore."
Maelis looked at him.
For the first time, she saw it clearly.
He meant it.
Corvin Voss was afraid.
Not of Jax's dragon.
Not of his shadows.
Not even of his sword.
He was afraid because every move he made seemed to have already been considered.
Every path blocked.
Every weakness protected.
Every plan answered.
Corvin no longer knew how to fight someone like that.
Maelis turned back toward Solmere.
And smiled.
Corvin saw her.
His expression twisted.
"How can you possibly be smiling?"
"He beat us."
"We are hiding in animal shit."
"Yes."
"Our organization is exposed."
"Temporarily."
"We have bounties on our heads."
"Alive."
"This is not a game!"
Maelis's eyes remained fixed on the distant lights.
"No."
Her smile widened.
"It's a puzzle."
Corvin stared at her.
Maelis wiped another unidentified substance from her shoulder.
"He knew about the assassins."
"He anticipated our political moves."
"He built his information network before we knew we needed one."
She slowly nodded to herself.
"Three steps."
Corvin swallowed.
Maelis's crimson eyes narrowed.
"Fine."
She settled back into the cart.
"I'll learn to think four."
Corvin stared at her.
There it was.
The difference between them.
Corvin saw Jax Darquebane standing three steps ahead...
And wondered how he could possibly continue.
Maelis saw the exact same thing...
And wanted to catch him.
Corvin slowly sank back into the dung.
He hated Maelis Thornreach.
He hated Jax Darquebane.
And at that particular moment...
He hated goats most of all.