I need advice for a secret society.

[Feriority]

Group A, with its cadre of brilliant enchanters, has been manipulating various states for quite some time... usually subtly, manipulating influential people and intellectual fashion rather than directly trying to control those with the most power. But now, Group B's religion's influence has grown far faster than Group A expected, and any means of countering that would have forced them to act too overtly and reveal their presence. Now, with a converted ruler of some powerful state, or shortly after a coup influenced by Group B's religions movement (maybe orchestrated by Group B, maybe just followers of their religion seeking power and inspired by the religion, but either way breaking away from Group A's plans), Group A is scrambling to regain its degree of control over the nobility/rulers without revealing its presence or hand in affairs. Group B has worked out that Group A exists, but doesn't have enough information to just reveal Group A's presence, and at any rate would have problems going up against a group with enough skilled enchanters to turn opinions and thoughts against them once forced to act openly.

That might come a little too close to the groups being affiliated with the state, even if both are more puppetting the state than directly running it, and it doesn't have a clear motivation or goal that A is manipulating the state towards, but it does at least provide a conflict that isn't just A being against B's religion itself.