In Seamist, Cuinn deposes Caron Duene and installs Moerel Valmyrri as count of Seamist; an investiture is held and his regency is made official. The army marches on Stormpoint. They decide to assault the northern gate, Boreas, on the grounds that the other gates breached by the Imperial army are likely fortified stronger than they were before, and Boreas will give them the most direct access to Midpoint and the great central plaza.
Cathal sails south with his Rjuven warband. He and Dolan, disguised as traders, land briefly in Tariene once again to gather information about their home. They are able to determine that there is full-on civil war in Taeghas, but the Imperial army has been driven out by a coalition led by an upstart House from the north, and that they next mean to liberate Boeruine-occupied Stormpoint. He decides to aid the Taeghan army by attacking Stormpoint from the sea. The seer Njorna augurs that his warband is likely to succeed via the switchback path up the sea cliffs, but at a high cost in blood.
The artillerists of Brosien, led by a brilliant siege engineer named Rhathwyn, begin the attack, ravaging the Boreas gate with a hail of fire from the ballistae. Mara summons her magical firehawks to harry the defenders on the gates, and soon after, the elite heavy infantry from Bayside storm the walls with their ladders. But a powerful priest of Cuiraecen is evidently among the enemy ranks, and the terrifying lightning that Aerona herself wielded in previous assaults descends from the sky, exacting a terrible toll from the soldiers of Bayside. Not long after, a second wave of magic destroys Mara's firehawks.
Cathal arrives almost simultaneously. He rams his longships into the dockyards and he and his warriors disembark. They fight savagely to gain ground on the switchback stairs up the sea cliffs. They are heartened by the sight of a glowing scarlet sky and the sound of artillery coming from the north-- the Taeghan offense has clearly begun. They manage to make it to the top, but their disadvantage due to the lower ground hampers them-- heavy casualties are sustained among the Rjuven infantry. However, they are successful, and they enter the sea gate, Nesirie's Kiss. They enter Midpoint, and Cathal glimpses a white-robed figure upon the walls of Highpoint. Fearing it may be the Dragon, he orders his warriors to take cover and make stealthily as possible for the central plaza.
Aerona, desperate to neutralize the threat posed by the other priest, summons a magical storm of hammers to shatter the enemy unit's morale. They manage to hold their ground, but are deeply shaken and terrified. This, plus the cover provided by the artillerists' tortoise, turns the tide, and the Taeghan army manages to smash through the Boreas gate. They fight their way to the Temple district, and take cover in the deserted temple of Haelyn.
Cuinn climbs to the top of the temple to gain a vantage point on the city, and glimpses a band of what appears to be a host of black-clad Rjuven warriors approaching. She calls a challenge to them in Rjuven, but it is Cathal who answers her. She makes her way down, and is torn between shock, her anger at his perceived abandonment of the House, and bewilderment, but their bonds of love and family prevail, and she embraces him.
They enter the temple along with the Rjuven horde, where Cuinn presents Cathal to the rest of the Taeghan heads of the houses. Afterwards, Cathal endeavors to summarize the events of his journey-- the Yngvi clan summoned him to locate the missing queen Freila, he tracked her to a mysterious barrow deep in the Rjurik wilderness, he and Dolan fought and slew the terrifying ancient dragon guarding it, and within, he found both Freila's body and a message from her, and discovered the dark truth behind the history of House Fulcairn. A withered draugr within the tomb arises and speaks to Cathal. Their ancestors, evidently, were ruthless Rjuven kings whose power was built on the sinister ability to steal the blood-powers of Scions. Eventually they were brought to heel by the other clans and given a choice-- either cease use of their dark power and bloodthieving ways, or be exiled. The group who chose exile in Anuire were the first Fulcairns of Taeghas. The draugr gives Cathal a circlet-- the twin of the one currently worn by Cuinn, that they have been calling the Crown of the Kings of Taeghas. Upon his exit from the tomb, he is surprised yet again. The Reaver Queen of Rjuvik, Authild, whose deeds the Fulcairns had heard of even in Taeghas, greets him. She is, apparently, Authild Fulcarni, a descendant of the branch of the family that chose to remain in Rjurik. She promises him that someday, she will come to claim the crown he bears.
Cuinn recounts the events of the past months in Taeghas for Cathal, who listens intently. When she is done, Cathal gives her the second half of the crown, and the two fit together perfectly. The company retires to make ready for the assault that is to resume on the morrow.
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