Warin
“I’ll say this, Lord Wild has taken care of the Order within Furia,” Aslaug, said from the small briefing room on the ‘Ice Hammer’.
“I don’t know,” Ozma disagreed, and Warin had to agree with her.
“There is less in the files on the Orders members and operations within the Furia Sector than any other in the Commonwealth,” Bethany agreed with Aslaug. “The Dagport System is almost void of all mentions.”
“The files are uncomplete,” Warin said softly. He had grown tired of that statement. He let out a sigh. “We can all agree that Lord Wallis Wild is no pawn to the Order. Thane Underwood was more comfortable speaking here than he was in Bloom with his own brother, but that does not mean they are not here.”
Ozma nodded before she spoke. “Plus, the Furia Sector is one of the worst raided sectors in the Commonwealth. If the files are to be believed, the Order does have major operations to disrupt trade, commerce, and just generally make the sector unstable. Lord Wallis might not be a lackey, but the sector suffers much worse than Holderness.”
“Lets not forget that the Wilds are a very connected, and powerful family,” Bethany agreed.
Warin nodded. “There are what, five or six Lord Wild System-lords, and Highlords?”
Ozma nodded. “King Oswald might have revoked the titles, but Lord Wallis is Lord of Furia in name, while his cousin Lord Stella is Lord of Warwick, and it was not that long ago that the Lords of Daxholm, Furia, Warwick, and Kingsguard. King Oswald shares blood ties with them, as do half the lords of the south, and they once ruled as kings before bending the knee to the Redmane Kings of Warwick.”
“In other words, they are an old rich, and powerful house with royal ties which make them hard to touch, even for King Oswald,” Warin said sharply.
Ozma nodded again. “They have connections that others do not.”
“That we do not,” Warin finished for Ozma.
“House Ice has an older and more renown name, but…” Ozma began but stopped as Warin spoke.
“But we are not as well connected in the Commonwealth, or the south, and in truth, not nearly as rich,” Warin said with a grin.
“Hell your name could be why your still alive,” Aslaug said with a shrug.
Warin looked at Aslaug, and she shrugged again. “I mean, who else has given the Order has much trouble as you, and lived too tell the tales?”
Warin smiled for a moment. “We owe much to my father, that is clear now, but it’s also clear that we aren’t alone, and that the threat we face is much bigger than we thought. Lord Wild is a promising ally, and one which I would like to make, but I will not lay all our trust in him. As Ozma said, the Furia sector is the worse hit, and I will not bring that to Holderness.”
“How do you keep it from Holderness?” Beth asked.
“Thats what we need to find out. We need to learn what has worked, and what hasn’t for the Lord Wild, and not repeat his mistakes,” Warin said.
“What has worked for you my lord,” Asluag said. “Is hurting the bastards. Lord Wild has been playing a game, but you have been fighting them, thats the difference.”
Ozma sighed. “You know I don’t like agreeing with her, but she is right. Lord Wild has played their game, in the shadows and covert, and well he has had success, they have also had success, and the Sector has suffered as a whole because of it. Say what you will, there may be agents in Holderness we knew nothing about, but they fear acting because that will draw you down on them, and for the time being, they fear taking action against you because of what your father would do.”
“So what do we do?” Warin asked calmly.
Bethany looked at Warin. “Learn what we can, gather what information we can, and than burn them all,” she said harshly, and everyone around the table agreed.
