The Marquess visibly swallowed but continued under the weight of my impatient glare. “The Church of Light is making a play for the Holy Kingdom’s High Seat,” he said, pausing to look at me with pleading eyes. I narrowed my gaze, urging him to continue. “They… they’re backed by the Pandorian Empire.”

I stretched my legs and motioned toward Nida to heal Juniper. “Don’t let her die.” Then I turned back to the Marquess. “Where do you come in? Sealrite? The Cardinal and the Light Church put in all this effort to elevate your magic power—that, I understand. But why? Why go through all that effort?” When he hesitated, glancing at his healing daughter, I sighed. “Don’t be complacent, Marquess. I can order her death as easily as her life. All you must do is answer my questions. This will be the last time I remind you. Do not test me again.”

The Marquess’s answers surged from him like a waterfall, so fast I nearly lost track. “I’m not the only one they’re helping on behalf of the Pandorian Empire. Nobles from all the Pularean Kingdoms are being influenced—Cael, Tenebris, Velora, Noctaron, even Lysoria. The Empire is reaching everywhere. Once the Pope of Light has the High Seat, it’ll be the beginning of the end for Pularea as we know it.”

I squatted next to the broken Marquess. “And you were okay with that?”

He looked at me with an expression I hadn’t seen before. Where horror and fear had previously dominated his gaze, now there was only the exhaustion of an aging man. “It was a decision I made long before I understood the responsibilities of leadership. I’ve lived with the choice. I don’t know whether I’d make the same decision again; this is the only life I know.”

When I glanced at Nida to check on the healing progress, I was surprised by how pale she had become. She stared at the Marquess, white as snow, her mouth agape with shock. “My Queen,” she whispered, her voice a mixture of fear and awe. The tigerkin licked her lips and inhaled deeply. “If the Pandorian Empire themselves are involved in this… I think the Marquess is right. We’re probably all going to die.”

I looked at both of them with raised eyebrows. “I would have thought there’d at least be some great war, no?”

The Marquess and Nida shook their heads in a shared understanding that I clearly lacked. Nida was the one who responded. “Your Majesty, do you remember the High Pandorians?”

I nodded. “The silver core blue warriors.”

“I’ve never been to Pandoria myself,” she said. “But I’ve heard there are hundreds of them serving the Pandorian Imperial Family—thousands, even. No one knows exactly how a Pandorian becomes a High Pandorian. My… my father used to tell me that the Pandorian Emperor kidnaps children of nobility from all around Pularea, trains them, and then pits them against his High Pandorians in combat. If the Pandorian survives the death match, they become a High Pandorian.” She shrugged slightly, her face grim and hopeless. “I’ve never even heard of a High Pandorian losing in battle before you killed one, my queen.”

Although she didn’t say it, I knew she was also implying the existence of the Desire System.

Marquess Sharma’s gaze flickered toward me, his eyes wide with disbelief. “You killed a High Pandorian? Even Alistar would have had to use every tool at his disposal.”

Nida laughed, some of her usual bitterness and sarcasm returning. “One? She killed four.”

Marquess Sharma seemed at a loss, remaining on the floor and wincing as parts of his body spasmed. Whatever dignity he’d wielded as a Marquess of Cael had long been beaten out of him.

But I wasn’t done with him just yet.

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“Nida, you said they kidnap children of nobility?” She nodded, and I allowed some of my authority to seep from my core, pressing down upon the Marquess. He choked back a scream despite the gentleness of my influence. “Were you helping with that? Is that why I was kidnapped?”

“I… I don’t know,” he gasped between breaths. “I only… only did… only did what I was asked.”

“What were you asked, Marquess?” I pressed.

“I… I was told to… set slavers… around our border around…” He paused to draw in a large breath. “Around the Misty Veil Forest.”

An image of the Demon Progenitor I’d met in that forest flashed through my mind. What were the chances the Marquess had been ordered to place slavers in the exact location I’d been fleeing from a Progenitor?

Blood drained from my face as I considered the worst-case possibility. Just because Progenitors didn’t usually rule over people didn’t mean they weren’t capable of it. Technically, nothing was stopping them from trying to conquer worlds. There were stories in Ordite of at least one ancient Progenitor attempting it.

“What can you tell me about the Emperor of Pandoria?” I asked the Marquess, nudging him with my foot.

He winced. Either the slave mark didn’t let him fight back, or he didn’t have the energy. Instead, the man chuckled—a fit of coughs and blood more than actual laughter. “I’ve never met him. Few have. The Pandorian Empire is nearly three times the size of Cael and Lysoria combined. The Emperor is said to be more God than man. I heard from some in the Church of Light that many of their faith believe the Emperor to be the Herald of the Light Goddess.” The Marquess did what I figured was supposed to be a shrug. “If true, that would make him the emissary of the heavens. Who am I to deny the heavens?”

I struggled to maintain my composure as what felt like confirmation of my fears settled in. I snorted at the Marquess’s words, though my attempt at confidence fell flat even to my own ears. “The heavens? Ridiculous. Though I suppose any real power in this weak world would be seen as godlike.” At the rate I was progressing, some might begin believing me to be ascendant soon enough as well. From the expression of many Paragons, some probably already did.

Sharma seemed to wrestle with something before his face sagged, and for the first time, he started speaking unprompted. “The Duke had dealings with the Holy Kingdom as well.”

“Duke Alistar?” I asked, not particularly surprised. That strange golden aura around his knights had been troubling, though I still couldn’t explain how. If it was the meddling of the Holy Kingdom, that would explain it.

He nodded vigorously, letting out a short whimper of pain as his body protested the movement. “His Golden Knights, as he calls them, are more like golden puppets,” the Marquess spat. “The man preached dignity and honor, but he was no better than a slaver himself.”

“Go on,” I said, and Marquess Sharma didn’t need to be asked twice.

I expected him to grumble or show some sign of discontent at the brusque order, but he seemed more than happy to talk about his archnemesis. “As I told you earlier, the Church of Light and the Pandorian Kingdoms have spread their influence to many across the continent. I don’t know every deal they’ve made, especially with those outside of Cael. But anyone with a third-realm magic core can sense the corruption in their auras.”

“And why do you think that has anything to do with the Holy Kingdom?”

The Marquess sneered. “The Duke had no mage or sorcerer strong enough to complete such a spell.”

“He could have paid for one,” I said.

“Doubtful. Mages that powerful have no need to run magic errands for others.”

“Perhaps,” I replied, mulling over the words. I’d need to take a closer look at the golden aura if the Marquess’s accusation had any truth to it. I couldn’t very well have the Holy Kingdom’s influence infecting the foundation of my rise. “Is she healed?” I asked Nida, who confirmed with a grunt. “Is she conscious?”

“No, my Queen. I believe my strike knocked her consciousness into tomorrow.”

With a sigh, I motioned for her to grab Juniper. Nida chose to grab the woman by a leg and drag her along. I didn’t say anything and did the same with the Marquess, who let out a yelp of pain that he quickly stifled. Likely just happy I hadn’t killed his daughter. Or enslaved her.

I let him think that was the end of it and tossed him atop my wyvern, then gestured for Nida to do the same with Juniper. We tied them to the wyvern’s harness so they couldn’t move or escape, and I disarmed Juniper. She had a good enough blade that throwing it away would be wasteful. I unbuckled the woman’s belt, releasing it along with the blade’s sheath. Then I clipped it around my waist with a satisfied smile at the familiar weight.

With that done, it was time to see how the hunt for the Holy Kingdom’s soldiers had gone. I was confident the Duke’s knights would have easily cleaned up the remaining Cael soldiers, but I sent them a message just to make sure.