"The three most influential novices in the city?"

Arran understood that Darkfire was talking about Amaya, Stoneheart, and Zehava, although he was surprised to hear that Zehava was included in the list — from what he had seen, she lacked both Stoneheart's power and Amaya's cunning.

"You know about the conflict in the Sixth Valley, right?" Darkfire asked.

"I have," Arran said. "It's about the successor to the Patriarch, isn't it?"

Darkfire shook his head. "It isn't. Or… it is, but it isn't."

"You've lost me," Arran said. "Is it or isn't it?"

Darkfire let out a frustrated sigh. "It's complicated," he began. "As Liane tells it—"

"Who's Liane?" Arran interrupted him.

Darkfire raised an eyebrow. "Liane Tirrand. The Governor's daughter. The girl I've been… I didn't tell you her name?"

"You've barely said a word to me since we arrived at the palace," Arran pointed out. "But go on."

"Right," Darkfire said, his eyes once more narrowing with the effort of trying to remember the details. "So, as Liane tells it, the lands beyond the border have changed over the past decade, becoming far more dangerous than before. And rumors abound that things will get worse."

Arran nodded. So far, the story matched what he had heard.

"At the same time," Darkfire continued, "the Patriarch of the Sixth Valley has fallen ill — or maybe he's been gravely injured, or has died already. Nobody knows exactly what the truth is. But whatever the case, a successor is needed."

"So it's about the successor, then," Arran said, wondering why Darkfire was struggling with such a simple story.

"No, let me finish. The Patriarch himself doesn't matter. He's a figurehead more than anything, and his successor will be, too."

"Why would they be fighting over a figurehead?"

"That's where it gets complicated," Darkfire said. "There are several factions within the Sixth Valley, and they—"

He stopped mid-sentence, and his expression turned frustrated. "You know what, forget it. I'm going to get Liane. She's brilliant — she can tell you far more about this than I can."

Before Arran could respond, Darkfire was out the door, leaving Arran behind in the empty room.

When Darkfire returned a few minutes later, the Governor's daughter — Liane, Arran reminded himself — was with him. She greeted Arran with a friendly smile.

"Darkfire has told you about the situation?" she asked.

"After a fashion," Arran said. "But it seems the factions are beyond his understanding."

Darkfire scowled, but Liane merely nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"It's complicated," she said. "And although I hear many things from my father, there's much the Shadowflame Society doesn't discuss with outsiders."

"So what can you tell us?" Arran asked, eager to finally hear what was behind the Shadowflame novices' strange behavior.

"First, you need to understand the role of the Patriarch," she said. "He's the leader of the Sixth Valley, but not its ruler — that role belongs to the Elders."

"Then why is there a conflict over who succeeds him?" Arran asked. "If he holds no real power, what does it matter who gets the title?"

"It's about the factions behind him," Liane explained. "When a new Patriarch is chosen, his allies also rise in power, because the Patriarch is the one that decides who are allowed to become Elders. And that's what the conflict is about — which faction will rule the Sixth Valley."

With this, Arran finally began to understand the situation. "Which factions are there? And why are they fighting?"

"That's a big question," Liane said. "There are many factions — dozens, if not more. But of those, there are three that truly matter: the Scorching Sun faction, the Waning Moon faction, and the Iron Mountain faction. And they disagree not just about who should be Patriarch, but about the very future of the Sixth Valley. "

Arran nodded thoughtfully, committing the three names to memory. "What are their differences?"

Liane hesitated before speaking. "There's not enough time to explain all of it," she finally said. "Not unless you have a week to spare. And even then, all I know I've heard from others, so I can't be certain how much of it is true. But with that said…"

She took a deep breath and a look of concentration appeared on her face. Then, she began to speak.

"The Scorching Sun faction believes that the Sixth Valley must grow, becoming larger and less dependent on the Empire. To accomplish this, they have begun recruiting large numbers of fighters. Their main support is the Naran family — you've already met one of their scions, Stoneheart. The Naran family is small but extremely powerful, yet their support within the Society lies mostly with the Valley's younger members.

"The Waning Moon faction agrees with the Scorching Sun faction that the Sixth Valley must change its path, but they believe that the Valley should forge alliances within the Empire. Still, they have also begun to recruit more fighters, to compete with the Scorching Sun faction. Behind them stands the Tir family, a large family that is almost as powerful as the Naran family. The novice you met at my father's gathering, Amaya, is one of them.

"Finally, the Iron Mountain faction belongs to the old Patriarch's allies and does not see a need for change, preferring to continue on the current path. Theirs is the largest faction by far, and they don't rely on the support of any single family. Yet with the troubles beyond the border getting worse every year, they've slowly been losing support. Zehava is a member of one of the more prominent families within the faction."

As Liane finished speaking, Arran took some moments to consider what she had just told him. It was a lot to take in, and he wanted to make sure he remembered it all.

"So if I get it right…" he finally said, "The Scorching Sun faction wants to recruit more fighters, the Waning Moon faction wants to strengthen ties with the Empire, and the Iron Mountain faction just wants things to stay the same?"

"More or less," Liane replied, somewhat hesitantly. "There's far more to it, but you could put it like that."

"Any suggestions on which we should choose?" Arran asked. Although he understood that he and Darkfire would ultimately have to make the decision, it couldn't hurt to get Liane's opinion — she clearly knew far more about these matters than they did.

She shook her head. "If you choose anyone who belongs to one of those factions, it means more than just who you'll face as a recruit. It will also determine which faction you'll be allied with once you return to the Valley after a year."

"We'll have to make it through the year first, for that to matter."

"That's another problem," Liane said, her expression showing some worry. "In the borderlands, there will be far more novices than here in Hillfort, and many of them will be allied with one of the factions. Regardless of who you choose, you can expect to have many enemies."

"What if we join a novice who isn't in any of the factions?" Arran asked.

Liane hesitated before answering. "I'm not sure. The rumors I've heard, though, say that many of the unaligned novices are forced to choose — either join, or die."

"They'd go that far?" While he knew the matter was serious, Arran still found it difficult to imagine that novices could kill each other without the Valley's leaders intervening.

"They're fighting over the future of the Sixth Valley," Liane said. "From what I've heard, there's little they wouldn't do."

"So it's a choice between either joining one of the factions and facing the other two, or joining none and facing all three," Arran concluded glumly.

He sighed deeply, then turned to Darkfire. "What do you think?"

"That is something else we must discuss," Darkfire said. "Something important."

"What is it?"

"The tournament… I'm not taking part."

"That might actually be a good idea," Arran said. "Avoid further attention, join some low-level novice, and be gone before the others arrive. But if we…" The words died in Arran's mouth as he looked at Darkfire and Liane, suddenly understanding the meaning of Darkfire's words.

"You're staying in Hillfort."