Recindril Tostral restrained his urge to pace while he waited for the signal to come. It wouldn't do to show signs of nervousness in front of the dozens of other nobles assembled for this ambush, after all. Still, he couldn't stop his thoughts from going over all the ways disaster could happen. It's been 4 days since I forced Prince Hinren to respawn. The Crown has shown no public reaction yet, but surely they have at least considered how to prevent a repeat. Will we find ourselves facing King Elston himself? We're not ready for that yet!He carefully kept his face a mask of calmness despite his racing thoughts. No, no, he wouldn't involve himself so directly yet. I think. The Crown will no doubt escalate, yes, but Elston himself is their ultimate and final option. They have not yet exhausted their other tools. Perhaps, they might even exercise caution? The Crown cannot ignore a threat to a house treasure—regardless of how unprecedented vault-breaker devices this capable are, such a clear break of their sworn promise would be intolerable—but they might send a large contingent of royal guards, perhaps even with a field deployment of a royal mage, in lieu of a Kalor scion. If so, then a fraction of our prepared forces will suffice to overwhelm them.He was tempted to hope for that outcome, but a shrewder part of him rejected that hope. No, they might hold back the scions in reserve in case they're needed elsewhere, but sending royal guards in lieu of a scion when a scion is unquestionably called for would be admitting weakness. Besides, I shouldn't be hoping for an outcome that would negate the point of today's attack; our goal with this is to weaken the Crown by killing another Kalor scion.Preferably a different one. He huffed and smiled slightly at the thought of the youngest and weakest member of House Kalor. Probably a different one. They might send Hinren again to rectify the disgrace of his (...)