Control The Board First
Out of nowhere, he saw it: nobles clawing at control while commerce frayed thread by thread. Along the edges, fights broke out - sudden, sharp, like flames catching tinder.
"If Gary collapses outright, Moonstone splinters," he murmured, walking slowly along the stone path. "If Aurelian rises unchecked, he becomes a future threat."
His jaw tightened.
"And if I weaken both?" he asked the empty air. "Do I stabilize the board… or invite chaos from every direction?"
A quiet place, really, this kingdom - no war sounds here. Instead, it held itself up through thin agreements, tied tight by dread, ego, hunger, and cold feuds that still breathed underneath. Take out just one support without care and everything above crashes at once.
What stuck was how quiet Skyfall had become.
"They're not idle," he whispered. "They never are."
A hush followed as he exhaled. Pine mixed with old dust in the stillness. Quiet, yes. But not honest.
