The morning that would reshape continental politics began like any other, with family leaders across the nine Great Houses opening intelligence briefings they trusted completely.
In crystalline towers and fortified estates, in council chambers and private studies, the most powerful people on the continent absorbed information that would guide their most crucial decisions.
None of them suspected that every report, every analysis, every crucial piece of intelligence had been carefully crafted by a single consciousness that understood their weaknesses better than they understood themselves.
In the Northern Reaches, Lord Commander Astrid Northwind studied intelligence reports that painted an alarming picture of southern family military preparations.
