Five powers watched the Second Mugna Feud.
Altea watched Fandor.
Fandor watched Altea.
Ahriman watched the borders.
Aos Si watched the past.
Norn watched something they refused to name.
And somewhere between them, the war continued.
In the north, Geddo received the news without surprise.
Finias had survived wars before.
Kings had risen.
Kings had vanished.
Through all of it, the Norn continued the same duty their ancestors had carried for generations.
A duty they did not explain to outsiders.
Far from the eastern roads, the Aos Si watched from places mortal maps had long stopped naming correctly.
Lucia heard of the feud and did not ask which army was winning. She asked where the bodies had fallen.
Then she asked whether anyone had disturbed the old places near them.
“Ahriman will not sell its blood for another king’s war.”
The messengers thought the price was too low.
That was their mistake.
He was asking a different question entirely:
How long must a people exist before the world stops calling them hired swords?
While Altea and Fandor prepared to bleed for Mugna Vale, the rest of Legrand watched.
Some with interest. Some with contempt.
And some with the uneasy patience of people who had seen kingdoms make the same mistakes before.
There were five powers in Legrand.
The Second Mugna Feud did not begin with a battle.
It began with a convoy that never arrived.
No declaration.
No challenge delivered at the gates.
Only burned wagons on an empty road, blackened wheels, and men who had been sent to speak of peace.








