Page 3138 -- CCLXVIII.

Chapter Two Hundred Sixty-Eight: 'The approaching bloodstorm...'
Click to display entire chapter at once -- (mobile link)

Indeed, Hector's hunch proved correct. The news had been just about the worst thing he could've possibly imagined, right now. Or close to it, at least.

Abolish was about to launch a major offensive into Lorent, apparently.

"I'm sorry we can't provide direct assistance," Ravi was saying. His reaper, Beldorix, hovered right behind him, his skeletal face looking somehow even more dour than it normally did. "This warning is the best I can provide. I don't have the authority to go against Bloodeye's sect."

'That right?' said Garovel. 'A member of the Freeman Fellowship lacks the freedom to do as he pleases? Bit of a misnomer, in that case, don't you think?'

Ravi returned a strained look but made no response.

'Look, if you're just scared to fight him, then fine,' said Garovel. 'I wouldn't even blame you. He's a scary son of a bitch. But you don't need to dress it up in political excuses. This isn't Riverton Hall.'

"Th-that's not what this is," said Ravi.

Hector had never seen the man look so disheveled before. His normally pristine suit and tie were scuffed and misaligned; his dark hair, untidy.

It certainly wasn't a comfort, seeing him this way. The man had never presented himself to Hector as anything less than confident and secure.

'If we raise a hand against Bloodeye and his men,' said Beldorix, 'it won't just be Ravi and I who reap the consequences. The entirety of the Fellowship would be threatened. Our status within Abolish is still greatly contested. We have countless peers who would like nothing more than to finally be given permission to treat us as enemy combatants. If we fight alongside you, we would be providing them with the excuse they need in order to do exactly that.'