"There just happens to be an army in the way," a moustached Halrana lord whose name Miro couldn't remember said wryly.
"There are some items of good news that I think we should discuss," Miro said. "First: the situation in Vezna. High Lord Tiesto, I think you'll like hearing this. Marshal Rogan?"
Rogan spoke, "The Veznan High Lord, Dimitri Corizon, had the taint." Rogan inclined his head to acknowledge Miro. "The Lord Marshal here was on a fact-finding mission in Rosarva when Dimitri was first given the elixir. Dimitri Corizon has since become the Primate's man through and through." Rogan paused. "However, just over a week ago, a minor lord and the captain of the High Lord's personal guard swept Vezna's leadership clean."
"It can't have been easy," Miro said.
"That's incredible news," High Lord Tiesto said. "How did they succeed?"
"Well," Miro took up the conversation, "as you know Vezna is administered from the Borlag, in the heart of Rosarva. Around the Borlag is a moat, and the only way to cross the moat is via the Juno Bridge, a living system of vines and plants, imbued with the cultivators' lore. An activation sequence must be spoken to be allowed across the Juno Bridge, otherwise the bridge… reacts."
"The two conspirators changed the sequence at a very opportune moment," Rogan said, "and let the Juno Bridge do the work for them. They took out Dimitri Corizon and his coterie in a single sweep."
There were murmurs around the chamber at the news.
High Lord Tiesto smiled, turning to Miro. "Yet you've been there, yourself, Lord Marshal, and survived to tell the tale. One day you'll have to tell me that story."
"At your convenience." Miro smiled. "So, High Lord, we can safely assume the Veznans are out of the war."
"Can we expect any assistance?"
"It's highly doubtful," Rogan said. "The Veznans, true to form, are already implementing an isolationist policy. I'm sure they wish they'd never entered the war."
"Leaving us to pick up the pieces," Tiesto said.
Miro looked at his second-in-command. "Marshal Beorn, you're the most up to date with the Petryan situation."
Beorn scratched at his beard before speaking. "The second item of good news is that the desert men of Raj Hazara have taken Tlaxor, the Petryan capital."
There were gasps around the room as those who hadn't heard the news reacted.
"They say a great magic was performed at Lake Halapusa," Beorn looked sidelong at Miro, "and the unconquerable city was taken in a day."
Miro had the news second-hand, but had been relieved beyond belief to hear about the incredible freezing of the lake and the golden-haired woman who had saved innumerable lives, both in Petrya and here in Halaran.
His thoughts darkened, however, when he thought about an eventual meeting with this desert prince. No one, not anyone, came to Miro's home under the pretence of friendship and took his sister away from him.
"The Petryans are also out of the war," Beorn said, "but these horsemen are heading for Tingara as we speak. They move faster than we do, and they haven't made clear their intentions. Rumour says the Hazarans are building a city, deep in the desert, and I hear they are a violent people."
"This is a matter for concern," High Lord Tiesto said. "We have to place this at the top of our agenda, even higher than the destruction of these horrific essence plants, I'm afraid. The Hazarans cannot be the first to reach Seranthia. The empire is in ruins, and what happens to Seranthia will determine the future of the world."
"I agree whole-heartedly," Miro said. "We must be the first to Seranthia. This Prince Ilathor is not to be trusted, and his motives are unclear. Which brings me to the next item on the agenda," he paused, licking his lips, "the Akari."
One of Tiesto's lords, a man Miro knew not at all, raised his eyebrows so high it looked like they would jump out of his head. "The Akari? Tales to frighten children. Any rumours about them should not be credited."
"Let the Lord Marshal speak," Rogan growled.
"We've sent some scouting patrols into the Azure Plains — risky ventures behind enemy lines. We expected losses, but nothing of this scale. Hardly any of our patrols have returned, but those who've made it back alive speak of white-eyed warriors who cannot be defeated."
"Revenants?" the Halrana lord snorted. "I thought we were here to discuss strategy."
"I've questioned them all myself," Miro said, his patience growing thin, "and my men are not prone to delusions, particularly not when their honour is at stake."
"Think about it," Rogan said. "It makes a horrible sense. The Akari are said to have been exiled to the north by the first emperor, Xenovere the Great, when the Tingaran Empire was newly formed. They used their dead in unholy ways — that's the story. What if this has something to do with Primate Melovar Aspen's new source of essence? What if the Akari have allied themselves to the Primate, or are perhaps under the thrall of his elixir?"