Page 120 of First Ritual
Good to know.
Sage circled the hologram. “Let’s start at the top of the proven and work down. Wild.”
I nearly groaned. Why was I bothering to expend energy on the barrier when Wild’s name would always find me anyway? There was a difference though, and the barrier that was ticking away between the two of us settled me with its presence. Far more than it unsettled me. And that discomfort was all from the ritual fallout. There was no way I would be bothered by this barrier without it.
“Corentin, you’re in the outskirts of our south territory. Are you happy to be matched to Wild?”
He grunted. “Yes. With Bedwyr. Unless fighting Wild will make you hard again, Bedwyr?”
Ah, rock jokes. There were a couple of chuckles, but judging by Bedwyr’s sudden tension, he didn’t find the comment funny.
“He makes everyone hard,” Bedwyr replied, eliciting louder laughter. “I’m in.”
They moved through the lists of names provided by the attack and defense teams, pushing about 60 percent forward for attack, me included, and holding the remaining numbers in the wings for defense. Some proven were assigned to battle a novice and weaker proven.
The matches almost seemed automatic for the proven in the room. I supposed they’d been pitted against the same few magus their entire time playing Caves. This was where things had become stagnant. Vero and Fertim match based on pure power levels. These combinations must have brought them success in the past, yet changing up combinations here was the only area to create imbalance.
With a sweep of her hand through the air, Sage shrunk the southeast territory game plan and placed the image in the pocket of her green robes. She made the two remaining maps larger. “The defense and attack teams are at odds as to which second territory we should aim for.”
“Of course they are,” Sven heckled.
More than a few proven snorted.
I hadn’t noticed him by the door. Had he been here the whole time?
Sage cleared her throat. “Yes, well. This does happen from time to time. Please take a moment to analyze both plans. We’ll vote and the team leaders can review our suggestion.”
This meeting gave me a whole new appreciation of all the aspects in Caves. A person couldn’t only contemplate the attack, they had to think about what unknown move Fertim might make. I’d supposed the attack’s plan to be pretty good while discussing it in Winona’s quarters, but looking at the defense’s numbers, I could see their logic too. When a 70-percent occupation rate for mission success was considered, and then that 60 percent of our magus in the area would attack while the rest defended…
“Neither will work,” I murmured.
“What?” Bedwyr asked me.
I shook my head. “Never mind.”
“Sage,” he called. “Bronte has something to say.” To me, he said, “Payback. It’s petty but makes me feel better. Now we’re even.”
A grin made its way to my lips, making them feel like they were about to crack. “Low blow.” I was glad Bedwyr wasn’t going to be weird about everything. I couldn’t have blamed him, really, because weird was an understatement for what he’d been on the fringes of.
The chamber of proven and Sage looked my way.
“Bronte?” Sage asked kindly.
I blew out a breath. “I was saying that neither will work. There’s a good chance the southeast plan will work. Neither of these.”
The councilwoman didn’t blink for the count of seven seconds.
“Why?” Sven demanded, squinting at the two plans.
I hadn’t unloaded today’s info into my quipu yet, but its magic worked through me. I was connected to the artwork, and though adding on to the piece tonight would bring most clarity, I could see some of the new connections already in my mind. “The attack percentage is too low in both of these plans. They allow for 60 percent attacking, 40 staying to defend. In the attack team’s plan…” I quickly counted the additional threads in my mind’s eye. “… you’d need five more proven and three more novices to attack. In the defense’s plan, you’d need three more proven, and six more novices to attack.”
The silence wasn’t the awe-filled kind. It was the doubtful kind.
“We always leave 40 percent in defense,” Sage answered. Eventually.
Corentin drawled, “Which Fertim know.”
I leaned forward. “What are the chances of Fertim having a mission that would have them attacking our territories?”