The dam broke the way dams always break. One crack. Then everything.
Thornback stood. The man who had switched sides twice in two days and would do it again if the wind changed had apparently found a direction he intended to keep.
"Thornback stands with Shadowfell."
Grimscar didn't stand. He uncovered his face from his hands for the first time in two sessions, which for Grimscar was the equivalent of a standing ovation and a twenty-one-gun salute.
"Grimscar seconds. Obviously."
The small packs went next. One by one. No speeches. No performances. Just names and nods delivered by men who had spent their entire careers being too small to matter and had just been offered portal anchors, wards, and a defense network funded by the man in the chair. The math was simple and they were done pretending it wasn't.
"Redclaw Reach backs Shadowfell."
Reed leaned back in the upper stands like a proud parent at a recital where his kid just nailed the solo.
Reed: Count?
