While the Codes of Hastina set out vast powers for the King, the Union was governed largely by a Council of Eight – the Apparent, the Master of Ships, the Master of Peace, the Lord Commander of the Army, the Master of Laws, two Masters of Revenue and Taxes, and the Head Acharya nominated from Meru.

‘At the Tournament of Heroes, before the Resht showed up, when the sons of your brother, dressed in red, carried their bastard sigil, and your sons in black, fought under the Hastina sigil, you think it went unnoticed?’ The Hastina sigil was a red eagle on the backdrop of a black sky. ‘The sons of Pandu either hired a, forgive me…colour-blind designer or they deliberately appeared under the sigil of a black eagle on a red sky. And now the Hundred have split into blacks and reds.’