The week after the events in Anticourt, Reitz's private council had convened. Among them were Lady Blackfyre; the Master of Instruction, Aed Grimfire; the Master of Coin, Corvin Rufs; the Master of Works, Wulfric Draffen; the Keeper of the Peace, Kendric Ashen; and the Master of the Rolls, Kestel Rowan.
"Alright." Reitz cleared his throat. "We need to discuss two matters. First, Terros."
"We've consolidated the reports after Anticourt," Reitz said. "Let's review them again. According to Evan's letter, and confirmed testimony from Rycharde and the others, thirty thousand cores were used to buy the Shadow Walkers."
Draffen's quill scratched across the page. He wrote the number once.
Corvin looked at the boxed number like he was already turning it over in his head.
Captain Ashen sat forward, hands folded. "We captured some of the men who survived the retreat," he said.
"They can talk," Reitz said, "But that is not enough proof to merit an audit."
Captain Ashen nodded once. "They can describe where they were paid. Who met them. What wagons moved. Which inns. Which markers on the road."
Aed's eyes stayed half-lidded. "Talking isn't proof."
"It's the start of proof," Draffen said without looking up. "But only if we can tie it to something the Imperium will care about."
"And only if it's admissible," Kestel added. "If we want Imperial men to act, we need forms they recognize."
Reitz looked at him. "Right now we can't link it."
Draffen nodded once. "Right now we have stories. We need paper. We need a chain. If we report right now, it could backfire. House Blackfyre's reputation will take a hit."
Corvin finally spoke. "Thirty thousand cores means payment had structure," he said. "That moved through hands that keep accounts. Someone stored. Someone signed. Coin leaves entries even when men try to bury them. Thirty thousand cores is no sum that can be parted with easily."
He kept his eyes on the number. "This has happened before," he said. "Because there has to already be a way to move cores to Arcanists without looking suspicious. Routes that don't get questions. Wagons with cover. Stops that can be explained. If this was their first time, it would be sloppy. Something would break. Instead, it worked."
Reitz tapped the table once. "Did the exchange happen in Anticourt?"
Ashen shook his head. "As far as we know, no exchanges happen in Anticourt," he said. "Deals are struck, and proof of them, but no coin or core changes hands there. It would be too obvious. And we know that delivery and shipment of unprocessed cores are dangerous."
Draffen's quill paused. "Then we should track where they can deliver their goods."
"Agreed," Reitz nodded, "But we don't know which routes they pick. Do they directly send it from the mines, or do they send it to Loria's capital and route it somewhere else?"
"Do we have ears or eyes on this?" Reitz asked.
"I'm afraid not," Captain Ashen replied.
The council paused.
"It's a dead end, then," Reitz started to speak again. "We can't report this directly to Rexasticus; depending on timing, it could backfire," he said. "If we go too early, Terros calls it Blackfyre slander. He makes himself the victim."
Grimfire added, blunt. "He could justify marching toward Bren for this."
Reitz smirked. "I don't think he can with the Aufstiegsjahr coming up. Even though he can have all the justification in the world, he wouldn't muster troops and dare. He isn't one to gamble pillaging Fulmen with the duels coming. His position in the duels isn't as good as mine. He has offended enough people to merit a duel. That we know. Besides, he's a coward; he can't rally half his bannermen."
"But we also know that he has vassals loyal enough to act as shields. In the upcoming Aufstiegsjahr, he would need disposable bodies. A war could risk that, and he wouldn't. He's hated by half, but all it takes is a few to stop a duel," Corvin replied.
"Then we need to look at a different angle," Reitz said. "We need to be able to trigger an audit."
"Aye, there needs to be something that triggers it," Draffen said. "Something official. Not a Blackfyre request. An incident that makes the auditors show up because they have to."
"The Crown will support," Reitz said. "That I can guarantee."
Kestel nodded once. "If it reads like accusation, it becomes politics. If it reads like compliance, it becomes duty."
Reitz leaned back. "What are our options?"
Ashen answered first. "We hit his supply chain."
Reitz's eyes narrowed. "Meaning?"
"Meaning we don't hit it with knives," Ashen said. "We track where wagons route from Loria. I doubt that any wagons Loria containing cores are routed through Bren, but we still hit them with inspections. We send over ears and eyes to understand where they route. We hit them with "bandits." The missing cores will trigger an audit."
Draffen's mouth tightened. "That's cleaner."
Corvin's gaze stayed steady. "And it's only useful if it ends on paper we can point to," he said. "If it's just 'a wagon was seen,' Terros calls it rumor. If it's 'sealed stock moved through a bonded store under false tally,' that draws the Empire."
Kestel added, "And we decide now what we're allowed to seize. If we start pulling ledgers—inns, stables, warehouses—I want writs ready. Clean ones. No room to challenge form."
Corvin said it anyway. "So do we do it? Dress ourselves as bandits?"
"No," Reitz said. "On top of killing innocents, if we do that, we hand Terros standing," he said. "That would just give Terros something to sling at us; we'd probably get some Imperial sanctions, extra taxes on Bren."
Grimfire's tone stayed flat. "And you don't want your first real move to be 'we became the thing we accuse him of.'"
Ashen tapped the table once. "Then we need a trigger that isn't us."
Reitz leaned in. "We have mines next to his, right?"
Corvin answered, "Yes."
"And this whole thing started because of the mining contract," Reitz said.
Kestel added. "If the cores came out of that belt," he said, "then the belt is our lever. If there's even a hint they're being diverted, they audit."
Reitz held his gaze. "But we still need the trigger."
Draffen spoke carefully, because he knew what he was proposing. "We trigger a cave-in."
Ashen didn't react. He was already thinking in angles, beams, and timbers. "A controlled collapse?"
"Controlled," Reitz repeated. "No bodies."
Ashen nodded once. "Possible. Not quick, but possible. We need to properly plan this, without communicating it to Loria."
Corvin's voice stayed calm. "It will cost," he said. "If there will be an audit, then it means mining will stop until the audit. Can we handle the pressure?"
Reitz replied, "I think that would be your field of expertise, is it not?"
Corvin replied, "We can hold for half a year; after that, if we don't get coin from the cores, grain rations might drop."
Reitz paused, deep in thought. He then opened his mouth. "We can make the auditors be lenient with us since we were the ones triggering the audit. We also have the Emperor's backing. I think we can manage."
"It's risky," Corvin said. "You know, that Officium Censurae is headed by the Primarch bloc, right?"
"Once we touch that, it could go hard on us," he continued.
"Thalmaris wouldn't give us too much pressure if the Crown can help it," Reitz snorted.
"Still, we need contingencies if it gets ugly," Corvin replied.
"What are our options? How can we recover? Worst-case scenario." Reitz closed his eyes, tension in his voice. "Should we raise taxes?"
Corvin shook his head once. "Taxes are last. Taxes create challengers."
"We hold six months by cutting, not by squeezing."
He ticked it off. "First: reserves. Grain, coin, stores. We count what's in bins and vaults. And we sell anything that isn't structural—plate, art, spare horses. Quiet sales."
"Second: freeze works. Every project that isn't safety or defense stops. Stone doesn't feed men."
"Third: cut court spend. Gifts. Feasts. Stipends. If we're asking the domain to hold, the castle holds first."
He glanced at Ashen. "Fourth: manpower. Rotate paid men down where we can. Use militia for routine watch. Keep the professionals where they matter."
Corvin's tone stayed level. "That buys time. If the audit runs long, time is all it buys."
"No, I have another avenue," Reitz said.
"Sire?"
"If the Crown can't hold back the Censurae and its auditors, I can negotiate the dowry payment, just spread them thinner."
Corvin nodded.
"Now that is settled. How do we execute it?"
Draffen nodded. "We declare it as a safety concern in our own workings. We request an audit of our mines for compliance. We make it look like we're cleaning our house."
Kestel nodded again. "We file it as safety and Guild compliance," he said. "We can coordinate with the Crown to persuade the auditors to spread the audit."
Ashen answered. "If auditors are looking at the belt, and if the Crown supports it, they don't stop at our fence line."
Draffen put it in plain terms. "We use our mine to open the door. Then Rexasticus widens it to the whole location. 'If Blackfyre had a collapse, we must inspect neighboring operations. Shared tunnels. Shared seams. Shared risk.'"
Kestel added, "And once the Crown widens it, Terros can't call it a Blackfyre accusation. It becomes Imperial procedure."
Reitz stared at the reports again.
"This does two things," Ashen said. "It gives the auditors a reason to dig, and it gives us cover. We're not accusing. We're cooperating."
"And if Terros has anything buried in his books," Draffen added, "this is when it surfaces. Missing stock. Unstamped cores. Payments that don't match output."
Grimfire's voice was hard. "And if he's clean?"
Reitz answered without hesitation. "Then we lose time and pay for a collapse we didn't need."
Corvin didn't argue. "Then we lose money," he said. "But Blackfyre's name is intact."
Reitz let it sit. Then he nodded once.
"Okay," he said. "We can do this. This is better."
He looked at Ashen. "You plan it. Quiet. Controlled. No deaths."
Ashen nodded. "Aye, my lord."
He looked at Draffen. "You write it so the auditors can't refuse, and so it doesn't read like a trap."
Draffen's quill moved again. "I'll draft the petition. I'll cite safety and Guild compliance. We shall coordinate separately with the Crown."
Reitz glanced at Kestel.
"I'll give you the phrasing that holds," Kestel said. "And the filing path that can't be quietly buried."
Reitz glanced at Corvin.
"I'll tell you what it costs," Corvin said, "and where we can hide that cost so it doesn't look like preparation."
Reitz exhaled once through his nose. "Good."
He sat back.
"Now," Reitz said, voice lower, "Ezra."
"I know where we are," he said. "I don't want another Anticourt. If I cage Ezra, he'll fight it. And we agreed we're not doing that again." He looked at Ashen. "So what do we do?"
Ashen nodded. "Two fronts, my lord. Probes and knives."
"Agreed," Reitz said. "Probes first. The ones we can see—letters, requests, invitations." He rubbed at his glabella. "I can handle those."
Aerwyna's voice stayed tight. "And the ones we don't see."
"The ones we don't see," Ashen agreed. "Eyes and ears. Men placed as stablehands. Couriers. Clerks. A cook's cousin. A dockhand with a reason to be near our gate."
Reitz leaned forward. "Where will the knives come from?"
"Gates," Ashen said. "River ports, any gate going inside Bren, and through vassal land if they can't come straight in."
"So everywhere," Aerwyna said.
"Yes, my lady," Ashen replied. "We answer it by controlling contact."
Reitz paused. "Meaning?"
"Meaning Ezra can move," Ashen said. "But he doesn't move into unknown hands. We give him places he can go, people he can speak to, and we keep strangers at distance."
Aerwyna nodded once. "We build him lanes," she said. "Not walls."
Ashen held up a finger. "First: gates and docks. We tighten screening. Quietly. Not a siege. We don't stop trade. We record names, sponsors, and purpose. More questions. More eyes."
Reitz grunted. "That slows the city."
"It does," Ashen said. "That's the point. Slower gives us time."
Aerwyna cut in. "No public panic. No visible lockdown. If Bren thinks Ezra is under threat, rumors become weapons."
"Aye," Ashen said. "We make it look like routine enforcement. Smuggling. Tariffs. Something boring."
Reitz nodded once. "Second."
"Second: reduce churn in the inner ring," Ashen said. "Not freeze everyone. But no new hires without sponsor. No contractors walking in and out. No sudden visitors."
Aerwyna's gaze stayed steady. "Strangers are the risk."
Reitz said, "Third."
"Third: Ezra's contact rules," Ashen said. "He can go out. He can see the city. But every interaction has a known adult attached to it. Not to leash him. To keep the situation readable."
Aerwyna nodded. "And we choose who that is. We already have people in mind."
Ashen continued. "And we give him choice inside those rules. He picks which yard. Which tutor. Which route today. But the routes are checked and the people are known."
Reitz sat back slightly. "So he gets room to breathe."
"He gets room," Ashen said. "And we get control."
Aerwyna's tone tightened. "Also: no drifting near gates."
Reitz looked at her.
"Not as punishment," she said. "As a boundary. If he wants to see caravans, we schedule it. We bring vetted caravans in. Controlled yard. Controlled time."
Ashen nodded once. "That works."
Reitz's jaw worked. "And if he slips the lane again?"
Ashen didn't hesitate. "Then it's treated as a breach, not a tantrum. We tighten for a day. We review what failed. Then we reopen. Consistent. Not a cage."
Aerwyna nodded once. "He responds to consistency."
Reitz said, "Vassals."
Ashen answered. "We send guidance. Quietly. Gate logs, dock tallies, escort rules. If something suspicious crosses their roads, we hear first."
Aerwyna hesitated. "There is one option some of the vassals will push," she said. "Bring every trueborn we can into Bren."
Ashen nodded. "If we pull everyone into Bren, the perimeter thins. Roads go blind. Border towns get hit."
Reitz rubbed his face once. "Bren safe. Domain burning."
Aerwyna agreed, "It would also look like fear."
Ashen nodded. "So it isn't viable."
Reitz looked at Ashen. "Progress on Catalyna?"
Ashen's mouth tightened. "Not enough," he said. "We can't reliably screen a void-silk user at a gate. Not if they're disciplined."
Aerwyna's eyes narrowed. "So we don't have a counter."
"No," Ashen said. "Void-silk scrambles sensing. If someone walks in wearing it under their clothes, a normal gate check won't catch them unless we strip them."
"And we can't strip every traveler," Reitz said.
"No," Ashen agreed. "Not without turning Bren into a riot and advertising why."
Aerwyna's voice stayed controlled. "Then answer the real question. If an Archduke tier passes our gates, can we identify them after?"
Ashen nodded once. "Sometimes. Pattern breaks. Men who don't sweat. Footfalls that don't match weight. Paper that's too clean. But that's not a stop-at-the-gate solution. That's a catch-after solution."
Reitz tapped the table once. "Which means we assume they can get in."
"Yes, my lord," Ashen said. "We assume they can get in. So we plan for response, not perfect prevention."
Aerwyna leaned forward slightly. "Then we stay close."
Ashen looked at Reitz. "For the immediate future, you can't move without moving Ezra, or leaving a response that's equal to the threat."
Reitz's jaw tightened. "Meaning I don't ride out."
"Not far," Ashen nodded.
Aerwyna didn't soften it. "If something like that hits again, I need you in Bren. And you need me in Bren. One of us alone is a gamble."
Reitz let out a slow breath. He didn't like the words, but he didn't deny them.
"Alright," he said. "For now, we hold Bren. I don't leave the city without you and Ezra accounted for."
Ashen nodded. "And if you must move, it's planned movement. Escort. Routes. No surprises."
Aerwyna's eyes stayed cold. "And anyone who tries to reach them gets caught in the act."
Reitz exhaled. "Good."
He looked between them. "Ezra stays free. But we make his freedom defensible."