Knot of Blood

When the informal duel between Phillipe Bellatrix and Ytien Sone ends the "meat market" at the Castle of the Sea, the Princess Consort Kimiko Sone is one of the first guests to depart. She arrives at the Royal Capital in record time, and is immediately taken to the Crown Prince's chambers for a private audience.

Three days later, the Princess Consort rides forth at the head of a company of Royal Guard. More troops meet her as she travels east, and by the time she reaches Minamet lands, her army is formidable. She cuts straight through the Minamet lands towards the Seneschal's camp on the desert's edge. When her army comes within two days' march of the obelisk, the Seneschal's forces use their artillery to destroy the obelisk, and turn quickly south to disperse amidst the Minamet border cities.

Weeks later, Minamet generals wonder how the Black Pharaoh's forces discovered the obelisk's destruction so swiftly. Whatever the method, blood is spilt within hours of the obelisk's fall. As the Royal Seneschal's forces slip away, the Princess's army finds itself in the midst of a serpent attack on the remnants of the village of Sabledown. And then another. And another.

Meanwhile, back in the Royal Capital, a curious drama unfolds around the results of the meat market. First, the Yuasa and the Komaru announce the engagement of Romana Komaru, the Crown Prince's second cousin, to Xavior Yuasa. At first, the Countess balks at the marriage. When the Yuasa name Xavior as the Marquis of Gibroth, Romana's reticence vanishes. They are married in the spring.

Other marriage plans are not as successful. At first, Ytien Sone's engagement to the celebrated Arabelle Sone seems certain. However, when rumors of irregularities in Ytien's bloodline and an apparent counterproposal from the Bellatrix surface, Arabelle slips free of the noose. The party she throws outshines even Onyx Touraine's fete celebrating his engagement to Komaru Meiko, Viscountess of Hikari no Hana. Arabelle's audacious behavior remains the main topic of gossip within the kingdom up until the moment the Crown Prince collapses in his chambers. Although Alessandro recovers quickly from the poison, his would-be assassin escapes discovery.

By winter, the Minamet, with the assistance of the Royal Army, are embroiled in a continuous string of serpent raids led by the elite forces of their unknown enemy across the Furnace. The situation is exhausting, constantly demanding that troops be shifted, relieved, or redeployed to respond to the enemy's threat. It is what the Minamet do best.

In the spring, Alessandro Komaru leads his own army east across the Sentinels to support the Minamet defensive effort. At last, the Princess's army, battered and bone-weary, is able to return to the Capital. When her forces arrive, the Royal Seneschal holds a festival in her honor, capping a season of celebration. During the course of the event, Glorianna Touraine unveils an orphanage dedicated to the Church of Inner Light, and publicly offers an apology for the actions that led to her estrangement from the Church. To preserve her soul, she asks to take vows as an initiate of the Church. The Church accepts, lifts her excommunication, and then escorts the Duchess of Touraine to a Bellatrix nunnery for several months to assist her in atoning for her past mistakes.

As the celebration surrounding these blessed events ends, rumors from across the land find their way back to the capital. In the east, news comes that Alessandro has led an attack into the desert in an attempt to confront the true enemy. In the north, courtiers reveal that the Yuasa are moving into the mountains again, but this time in force. As always, the Yuasa remain smugly silent on their activities, only assuring the Royal Council that they are necessary for the security of the kingdom. Speculation runs rampant for weeks.

Until the Twilight Crux brings it to a screeching halt.

In a break from tradition, the Royal Council chooses to admit Preceptrix Camilla Tomei of the Twilight Crux into its chambers. There, it listens in shock as the Crux ambassador reveals a sordid tale of seduction and betrayal. It centers upon a woman of ignoble blood who used her wiles to bewitch the Crown Prince himself, and details how she sought to use him as a tool to destroy the nobility she secretly despised. Tomei explains how the woman would have succeeded, had not her own jealousy at her lover's marriage driven her to madness. It was that madness that led her to betray her adoptive family and tear it apart, and it was that same madness that led her to try to poison her lover Alessandro Komaru. Camilla Tomei names Ciarra Lacroix, the so-called head of the Dawning Star, as the source of these evils. Camilla Tomei's words echo through a silent Royal Council, "In the name of the Twilight Crux and the Light itself, we demand she die for her crimes."

Chaos follows in the wake of the announcement. The nobles, prepared for argument, find that the Crux has simply acted: within days, the Minamet lands are under Twilight Crux trade embargo until they surrender the Prince's would-be assassin. The Minamet are shocked, and struggle to keep pace with this economic assault. One ancient lord curses, "Our lives to protect you, and you give us this." The moment the Minamet complain about their starving peasants, the Royal Seneschal sends troops to the region to ensure the fair distribution of food in this time of crisis. With an army in their lands and all of their cities in a siege, the legendary Minamet obstinacy rears its head, and a thousand Minamet ride forth to the second front.

And not a single one knows the fate of the Crown Prince or the five hundred men he took to the desert.

On the eve of battle, the Royal Seneschal comes before the Council. "Perhaps," he says, "bloodshed may yet be avoided. Shall those involved meet at, say," he considers the issue, "the Castle of the Sea?"

It is the 210th year of Paraceln's Age, and knots of blood bind the land to its fate. While many yet speak of peace, every soul hears the whisper of war upon the ocean wind.