The third came almost eagerly, a small settlement that had, unbeknownst to Kael, quietly despised Lucien's rule for years, their surrender less an act of fear than of long-suppressed relief.
Orin found himself buried in the impossible task of turning four hundred strangers, three different governing structures, and a dozen unfamiliar customs into something resembling a single, functioning community.
"We've gone from struggling to feed a hundred mouths to struggling to feed nearly four hundred," he reported to the council, exhaustion and quiet pride mingling in his voice. "But we have hands now. Farmers. Builders. People who know trades we desperately need, and people who know Leo-kin politics well enough to warn us what's likely to come next from the territories that didn't surrender."
"What is coming next?" Lira asked.
