Through a mix of intimidation and enticement, Starfall extracted three hundred militiamen from several minor lords, the Porcupine Knight included.0

They did not go willingly, but they had no choice.0

If those ten paladins truly lost their restraint, they could butcher every one of them and leave unhurriedly afterward.0

Starfall was a black knight. Their moral code was notoriously flexible; otherwise, how could the Lyon Empire have conquered so vast a territory relying only on paladins who lived like ascetics and saints?0

The Porcupine Knight sent off eighty men, wincing. Starfall paid generously, but coin alone could not keep a fief running. People mattered more. A major war had already claimed many lives; losing dozens more able-bodied men now meant that he...0