(Caleb’s POV)
The Pioneer Camp's auditors arrived the next morning. They checked the brief, the field count and my acceptance seal, then opened the accounts and enforced every term of the contract.
Eighty percent of the treasury went first. Their inventory teams removed the armory's finest blades, registered the deeds to the southern territories and transferred mining rights my family had held for generations. They weighed the ceremonial silver from the Great Hall against the unpaid balance.
Every transfer bore my authorization.
While the auditors worked, our Elders called an emergency session. None of them offered me the respect they had shown before the battle. I stood before the Council alone.
"Caleb Blackwood," the head Elder said, "for bringing financial ruin upon this pack and f
