Artur Korth sat in a chair in the sky, clouds moving around him like silken whips.

He held out his opulent chalice and a pretty pleasure doll rushed to fill it.

“Thank you.” He muttered, as she rushed away. The girls graceful feet made barely a sound on the smooth glass platform.

Artur looked down, enjoying the view of the Herundus, and the wider Ignatium far below. This was a view seen only by a few dozen Blessed in the history of the Noveriat. The view from the Grove, the secret meeting place of the God’s chosen Apostles.

The Grove was an oasis in the sky. A circular platform of glass, surrounded by a grove of trees resting on a bed of clouds.

Even with all his resources, Artur still hadn’t figured out how that was done. The math just didn’t work out. The magical capacity alone was astounding…

“...Interesting data near the Blasted Lands. The number of cleansings has dropped by 20% over the last ten years.”

Artur glanced up from his cup, eyes alighting on Jaleel Doene.

The bulbous Apostle laid out on an open couch enjoying some tobacco leaf from a long pipe.

“Something caught your attention, Artur?” Dalia Inkhold asked from across the table.

The Korth Apostle glanced at the woman, irritated by her probing eyes.

She was a beautiful woman, lounging languidly in a dress of gray and green that accentuated her best features.

The Inkhold Apostle raised an eyebrow at him, taking a small sip from her glass of liquor.

“It’s just interesting, that’s all…” Artur muttered, swirling the purple liquid in his cup. “I wonder if there are any confounding variables. Populations decline or corresponding decreases in waver births.”

Doene let out a puff of smoke, scratching at a spot on his hairless chest.

Artur grimaced.

The man’s robe showed far more skin than was appropriate, and the fat man had a lot of skin to show. The Korth Apostle was quite certain he did it to put people off balance.

Jaleel frowned, noticing Artur’s gaze.

He sat up, covering himself.

“Populations have been stable in the Arid Zone for centuries and there has been no decline in Waver births.”

Dalia frowned.

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“Reporting error?”

Artur shook his head.

“The Church manages all cleansing activities in the Arid Zone and they take their job very seriously. I doubt they’d miscount by such a margin.”

“And our agents would have notified us of any deliberate changes.” Inkhold added.

All three Apostles frowned, unsatisfied with the answer.

Artur resolved to send someone to check in on things.

“In more interesting news,” Daria cut in. “It seems your wayward boy has popped up again.”

The Korth Apostle looked at her, confused.

She grinned mischievously.

“Gile is with the Church now, it seems. He’s just made partnership with House Vorva in District 13.”

Artur choked, the wine going sour in his throat.

“District 13, you say?” Jaleel cut in. “I’d heard someone was running the Prophet’s Refrain there, but I’d never considered it was the Church itself.”

The golden chalice bent under Korth’s tightening grip.

“You’re just telling me about this now?” He growled.

Daria raised her hands in appeasement.

“I only just heard about it an hour ago.” She argued. “One of my agents saw his name on the paperwork for the agreement.”

Artur’s cheek twitched in annoyance.

“That should have been the first thing we discussed.”

Daria shrugged.

“Sorry, it slipped my mind.”

“It’s quite a clever move.” Jaleel commented. “Connecting the Church with House Vorva. If they lift each other up, we could see his star back in the sky.”

Artur shook his head.

“He’s tied himself to a sinking ship.”

The Doene Apostle grimaced as he flipped through Daria’s report.

“You know… this Refrain they’ve done is very interesting.” He muttered. “It says here, he sent secret messages to the Kadenites district wide, undermining the Lord’s authority in only a few weeks.”

Daria’s brow furrowed.

She reached across the table, grabbing her own copy of the note packet.

“It’s quite brilliant really.” Jaleel commented.

“Concerning, is what it is.” The Inkhold Apostle muttered. “This Sentinel your boy created… It’s a powerful tool.”

“He’s not my boy.” Korth growled.

Daria gave him a concerned glance.

“Artur, this is dangerous. If he uses this in our districts, we could see mass chaos in months. We could lose our grip.”

Artur rolled his eyes.

He stood, moving to the glass lift behind him.

“We need to do something about this, Korth.” Daria called. “You’re boy’s created something novel here. Something powerful.”

The Korth Apostle scoffed a laugh, entering the circular lift.

“We’ll just do as we did with Fadien, and Talund before him.” He stated. “We’ll take his new tool, sharpen it, and cut his throat with it.”

The Apostle put a hand to the glass wall. The door slid closed, lift descending through the clouds.

Artur let out a deep sigh.

Despite his surly performance, he was worried.

Things were changing in the Noveriat. Ominous trends were growing clearer by the day.

And that boy…

Gile was far more dangerous than any of them knew.

He needed to prepare.