Chapter 21

Galva presents Pol’s writ to Nouva, which authorizes Nouva to exercise the terce-general’s power over provisions. Despite acknowledging it as blatant nepotism, Nouva resolves to use it to feed the starving corvids. For the next week, the Raven Knights act as foragers and enforcers, seizing food from farms and overstocked units, becoming reviled across the army while the corvids regain strength and friendliness.

Resentment grows as their requisitions target units of higher status. While the army sees little goblin action, pressure builds for the Raven Knights to prove themselves before hostile Ispanthian units move against them. The most dangerous confrontation arrives not with goblins, but with the Scarlet Company of Sword and Horse at the village of Ceques—Migaéd’s command—where they find carts heavy with seized food and loot.

Nouva asserts authority; Migaéd needles her with rank and lineage while implying Galva’s culpability. Tension spikes when a Scarlet Company fighter edges forward with a mace. Dalgatha snatches the weapon; the man punches her beak; Bellu responds by kicking him breathless. Lines harden, but Galva’s dams stand ready, and the corvids’ presence unnerves the looters. Reading the danger, Migaéd orders his troops to stand down.

The Raven Knights take half the provisions and withdraw without further bloodshed, but the exchange marks a point of no return. The birds are fed, the unit’s notoriety rises, and Migaéd’s grudge deepens. A week later the army is set to fight a major action to lift the siege of Carrasque near Goltay, promising the hard proof the Raven Knights still lack.