What Berry spoke of next, however, wasn't something William found particularly fascinating. She began to detail the ripple effects of the battle throughout the spirit master community of the academy and the kingdom at large.
News of the Long clan's improbable victory had travelled with supernatural speed, spreading far and wide. In response, many neighbouring powers and minor houses had expressed their jubilant "happiness" and offered generous "support" to help clear the aftermath of the disaster.
But as William suspected, the old patriarch had seen through the thin veil of altruism. Most of those offers were politely but firmly declined.
The patriarch knew that his clan wasn't nearly as crippled as the outside world believed, and that old fox understood exactly what the other foxes were eyeing: a chance to plant their own people inside his walls under the guise of reconstruction.
