Chapter 209 Houses of the Ninth Valley (2/2)
Brightblade shook her head ”I chose it because we need to draw attention to ourselves And that will be easier in a lesser House”
”You'll have to explain that,” Snowcloud said, confusion written plainly across her face ”I thought the plan was not to draw attention?”
”Your training will require resources that I alone cannot provide,” Brightblade replied ”To get those resources, we need the full support of a House And for that, we oal is reater one”
Now, Arran began to understand her plan She wanted the splash in a s of their House Yet after giving it soy seeth, won't that draw too rinned in response ”That's the other benefit of joining a Lesser House Even if we cause an uproar in the House of Swords — which I fully intend to do — the other Houses will barely even notice”
Arran furrowed his brow, then shrugged Froht the entire thing through
Yet it seean
”That's enough for now,” Brightblade interrupted her ”Most of your reh, and there are too ht overhear us”
This last part was no exaggeration Only a brief time had passed since the sun had risen, but already the road had filled with traffic Most of the people who passed theers, but there were several who looked to be ave theht Arran little comfort After the innkeeper in Alder's Farm had spied on them, he was fully aware that any of these farressed slowly along the traffic-filled roads, and before evening had even fallen, Brightblade suggested they stop in a nearby town to find an inn She appeared to be wholly unconcerned with their slow pace
When Arran asked her about this, she flashed hirin ”I want to let the Grandmaster stew for a bit,” she explained ”He'll be easier to deal with after he spends a few days worrying whether ill show up”
And by a few days, Arran discovered, she meant well over a week They could have crossed the distance in a day or two if they ran and traveled through the night, but Brightblade made it a point to travel slowly
The delay caused him some frustration even if he knew the purpose After over half a year of travel, his patience was starting to wear thin, and he was anxious to finally see their destination
Yet when they reached the Ninth Valley's capital, all his frustrations were instantly forgotten
The city was vast beyond belief — at least five tier Rather than ahills that seemed to have spontaneously sprouted an endless nulanced at Arran and Snowcloud's duh ”If just the sight dazzles you this much, you should know that at least a quarter of the people here are initiates”
”What?!” Snowcloud gasped in astonishment ”Ho can there be that many? The truce has only been in place for fifty years, hasn't it?”
”A lot can happen in fifty years,” Brightblade said ”Without any danger in becohtest shred of talent or aed ”Most initiates never advance beyond that stage, but with so many of them, even that small fraction amounts to hundreds of thousands of novices”
”That's terrifying,” Snowcloud said, her voice quiet with awe ”Hundreds of thousands of novices… that's htblade chuckled ”I should h the House of Swords is only a lesser House, it still has at least ten thousandthe House of Blades will take several hours, and I intend for us to be ahtfall”
She set off toward the city, and Arran and Snowcloud followed behind her, eyes still fixed on the gargantuan city ahead of them
As he approached the city, Arran finally truly understood Brightblade's plan In such a vast sea of o unnoticed — even if they made it a point to draw attention