SM, just as you so effortlessly pick right back up where you leave off when taking a break from writing, I too pick right back up where I left off in being amazed since the last time I read this work. Now caught up again, I can say - outstanding! The battles you have been waging are not flawless (though the writing is) and thus very accurate and the tension between the various elements of battle extremely well played.
The scenes leading up to Carlos and Toledo's end were perfect, and the death scene cinematic, only to be followed by their terrible treatment at the hands of that coward Innsbruck. You are correct - he got what was coming to him even without "the pain."
And I think you've done well in the last few pages of mixing in the exorcism with the King's battle. A little here and a little there to remind of things going on back in Spain, yet not losing focus at all on the war. What will become of that storyline is still very much in the air and I am interested to see where that one is leading.
As for the seeming arrival of the young Toldeo...well, just in time. Can he be enough to help the King? I certainly hope so and I'm glad I caught up just in time to catch the climax of that event. Keep up the great work!
