Hrosskell Guthrumsson was seated in front of the assembled emissaries of the Divergence powers, with Her Majesty the Queen to the side. Napoleon was absent, already gone trying to restore control over the territories of the Dominion. Rather than have Deschanel be the face of France, he’d delegated a tier-six, Perseverant General Suchet. The United States had someone Jonas never met before, a young-looking tier seven Scaling Marshal that was working directly for the Federal Labyrinth Bureau. As for, Zenzele, he was now… what? The new King of the Zulus? Did the Zulu settle kingship by combat, like barbarians out of a novel?

It didn’t escape Jonas that all present were Professionals. There were other Professionals all around the audience room, the same one he’d been knighted over a year ago, but no mundane once the ushers had finished bringing everyone around.

“I am not a dedicated negotiator, but I am going to make sure everyone understands the base facts. Normally, we – the High Lords and the various associations of Panomekon – wouldn’t intervene in politics of a Divergence, but yours is already a case of bad things compounded.”

“Like a renegade from high tiers taking over?” Queen Charlotte drily remarked.

“That’s deplorable, I’ll grant you that. But mainly, multiple attempts at messing with the Labyrinth Gates by different parties. It seems so innocuous, even if you don’t add Lords of the Labyrinth in the mix, but it ramps up. Every time you destabilize things, they take longer to restart. No one has managed to permanently harm the Labyrinth because everyone always put a stop to it early, but no one wants to see such experiments done on the place where we all truly live.”

The glare of the giant Norseman did relatively little to the targets of his pointed remark. But none of the three other powers were spared as he moved pointedly to look at their representatives. Everyone – save possibly the Americans – had the means.

“But we are very enlightened, or so my boss Kong Jingyi is fond of saying, so this will not be cause for a full sanction. At least not an immediate one. What you will have instead is a probation period, of twenty years, during which you will be prohibited from waging any war between your five kingdoms, through OR outside the Labyrinth.”

“We accept those terms,” Suchet instantly said.

Charlotte’s gaze turned to the Frenchman, but Hrosskell smiled and replied first.

“Smart guy, eh? Yes. There will be lawyers, of course, to go over what makes a war of one against another and all kinds of technicalities, and an umpire to judge disagreements between all five of you. But if you want to attack the Rus, be my guest.”

“We already have their lands,” Suchet replied back with a knowing smile.

Hrosskell shrugged as if to say “whatever”, before turning back.

“Of course, violating probation terms… or using any form of ‘Gate Closers’ even after the end of the period will be met with not-so-enlightened consequences. Starting with the execution of the entire government who did that. Kings, Queens, courts, ministers, assemblies, whatever. Professionals included. Once you’ve been warned this is a big no, you no longer have an excuse to engage in reckless behaviour.”

“That is… harsh.”

“Calculating Tactician Charlotte, you are right. But they are reasonable, and Panomekon has the means to enforce those dictates. It took planning, betrayal, trickery and the best of your Divergence to deal with one rogue median-tier, a lopsided tier-fourteen, and that’s with help from a pair of Lords of the Labyrinth. If I think us four aren’t enough for the task, four months top, and I can have a hundred such descending on you with some help up to tier-twenty if need be.”

The perspective kept everyone silent.

“Of course, you’re also getting things out of it. More importantly, you’re joining the community of Divergences across the Labyrinth. That means trade and exchange. Mostly of ideas, but things, both in and out of the Labyrinth, have value, as long as they can be transported by people. You should see what the 21st century or early 22nd can do.”

The spellcaster woman at his side snorted and interrupted the Norseman.

“Just make sure you get a good price for the Gioconda. There’s a High Lord in Katerlikon that wants every original copy of her from every post-1500 Divergence. And he has the means to purchase.”

Suchet replied, smiling, “Unless someone steals it from the Consul’s bedroom, I don’t see that happening.”

As everyone started to leave the audience chamber, Jonas was not surprised to see the leader of the Inquisition team beeline toward him.

“I wondered why I was included,” Jonas said.

“I said I wanted to talk to you, and maybe the rest of your team, and your Queen assumed it would be better if you were immediately available,” Hrosskell replied as they both left the room.

“Are we that important?”

“Yes and no. What we truly value in a Divergence is young, early Professional Lords like you. That’s mainly why we’re hunting for opening Divergences. If you discover the trap of high Adjustment on your own, it’s usually too late.”

“Not for us, then.”

“One or two Adjustment steps the wrong way don’t hamper you truly. But a lot of the first Lords simply ploughed through. That’s why they’re on top of the ladder, but they also are dying twice or sometimes three times every time they try to pick a new Profession. You will take longer than they did to get to the same point, but you’ll be in a better position, trust me. Three centuries, maybe, and you’ll be ahead of any non-Lord, no matter how long they’ve been at it. You’ve seen my own descriptor. I got greedy for power early, disdaining the lessons of pain, and got caught just in time. If the tiers go a lot further… your generation of High Lords will be the ones who can truly make it to the top. In a few centuries.”

“How far do the tiers extend?” Jonas asked, curious.

“We call it the Wall. All tier 20 zones have the same generic setup when they have a tier 21 Gate. There are always twenty lairs where you can find an ancient – or even sometimes merely elder – last guardian, then the rest are all major lairs with a Legend to fight for completion,” Guthrumsson said.

“So… There is a tier 21… but you can’t get into tier 21 on your own. Well, with just one team. We have the same thing in a zone around, a tier-five named Biskanta that works like that,” Jonas said, musing.

“Well, if it’s a tier-five, you can probably bypass that one. And probably even find a path to that tier-six connection from somewhere else without going very deep. It’s not that way for tier-twenty. Every zone that has been found and mapped across the entire known Labyrinth is locked by a major lair requirement. That doesn’t stop some people from trying to find an anomalous zone that would somehow have a way to get up more easily. But nobody’s found any in thirty years since the first teams got access to that tier.”

“And you are recruiting for that Wall.”

“You are too young, Sims. It’s taken almost four hundred years for the first Lords to get there, so it will take you centuries to rise to that level, more if you are careful not to jeopardize your progression for a quick burst of power like many of the early timers. By that time, our people will have enough high-tiers to mount regular assaults and bring more through the Wall. Even I will probably not be part of the first. Estimates are around fifty solid tier-twenty or equivalent Professionals… and then you can start peeking beyond that barrier.”

“What do you think we’ll find there?”

“Who knows? It’s the Labyrinth, and it has held surprises for four hundred years. But the first wave that breaks the Wall will have exhausted their path, risking True Death at every step. It’s the ones who follow, me and you later, that will see beyond how much the Labyrinth extends further.”

“My friend Ira will be sad.”

“Don’t worry. There’s plenty to do in the meantime. We have maps, lists, build guides. The distilled wisdom of four centuries, and the benefit of errors you don’t need to make. I’ll get you some English editions for that.”

Most of the Professionals had departed and the rest of Hrosskell’s team finally did close rank with their leader, and did the same, switching to Sabir, which none of the locals would know.

Although an Intellect build with a couple of thousand points might be able to remember the conversation after learning the language.

Once out of hearing, in the open between Saint James and the Queen’s House, he asked Haussegger, “What about the third brother?”

“Got all the details I could about who it is, without sounding… too curious.”

“Variations about the Aetheric Extenders have been put forward since the first was designed three centuries ago, but one that shuts down skills and gear bonus…” the Norseman’s voice trailed.

“That’s the kind of weapon specifically aimed at Professionals, Lord or otherwise. Highly destabilizing for Divergences,” the German acknowledged.

“Thankfully, that kind of specific aether intuitive genius is rare. And he’s not a Professional. The odds of any of his incarnations across the Labyrinth being around and in position to reproduce that one device…”

Hrosskell sighed.

“I would hate to have lied about being lenient. I don’t know what Panomekon will choose.”

Haussegger drily said, “Let’s hope they are enlightened. Because interdicting a Divergence isn’t something I want to hear about. Ever.”

“It would attract attention. Nobody seems to have asked the wrong questions about Meshindi, but trying to blockade a Divergence?” Ahati-waqrat said.

Hrosskell winced again.