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If all of that was so, then Graves had effectively stalemated him on the matter of Vanderberk.

And perhaps all of his clones, for that matter.

Agh. The paranoia was rearing its ugly head again. And bastards like Graves thrived on that, didn't they?

Heh. But in fairness, bastards like Jercash did, too.

There was little point in getting all worked up about it now, he figured. Too many wheels were already in motion. This was just how things were, sometimes.

You prepare as much as you can, scheme as much as you can, but at some point, you just had to let the dice fly and see how they fell.

Yeah. He much preferred thinking about it like that. Excitement. Soon, he'd get to see how Graves' machinations measured up against his own.

He was especially curious to see if the Pale Hawk would be able to protect his fellow marshals. Jercash still owed Kane and Grant something fierce after they spoiled his victory party back in Kavia and slaughtered his men.

He knew they were on the move. Coming here, most like. To Intar. Jercash had all but invited them with that little preamble on Livingston Grand Castle.

Then there was Sermung, of course. Ever the wild card, of late. Perhaps he'd decided to take a page from Morgunov's book.

Jercash was still fully expecting the Crystal Titan to show up at any moment and try to ruin everything, but he to admit, the man sure was taking his sweet time. Being given this free reign was certainly a welcome surprise. If he'd known that he would have so long to prepare, then he might have approached things very differently.

Played with his cards a bit more.

How many more aces could he fit up his sleeve? It was hard not to be antsy about the inevitable encounter. Like all this prep work might abruptly be for nothing when Sermung showed up out of the blue and smoked his ass in a minute flat.

Wouldn't be the first time that had happened.

On the subject of payback again, Jercash owed Sermung most of all. In their last meeting, the Titan had him dead to rights. Granted, in that particular instance, it had at least been long and arduous journey getting there, but still. Jercash knew only too well that, if not for Morgunov's last minute intervention, he would not have survived the Titan's wrath.