might have before thrusting her hand into fire.
Almost timidly, Xanetia’s arms slipped around Sephrenia’s
shoulders. ‘Well met, sister mine,’ she murmured.
‘Well met indeed, my sister,’ Sephrenia replied.
‘Did you notice that the world didn’t come to an end, Betuana?’
Ehlana said.
“I think I did’d feel it quiver, though,’ Sarabian smiled.
‘We seem to be surrounded by people obsessed with their
own cleverness, Xanetia,’ Sephrenia smiled.
‘A failing of the young, my sister. Maturity may temper their
impulse to levity.’
Betuana straightened in her chair and put Danae down. ‘This
alliance meets with your approval, Sarabian-Emperor?’ she
asked formally.
“It does, Betuana-Queen.’
‘Then I shall abide by it.’ She rose to her feet and went to the
two sorceresses, holding out her hands. Sephrenia and Xanetia
took those hands, and the three stood together so for a long minute.
‘Thou art brave, Betuana-Queen,’ Xanetia noted.
‘i’m an Atan, Anarae.’ Betuana shrugged. Then she turned
and gave Engessa a stern look. ‘Why did you not tell me?’ she
demanded.
“I was told not to, Betuana-Queen,’ he replied. ‘SarabianEmperor
said that you would need to see Xanetia-Anarae before
you would believe that she is who we say she is. He also wanted
to be present when you and she met. He takes delight in the
astonishment of others. His is a peculiar mind.’
‘Engessa!’ Sarabian protested.
“I am bound to speak the truth as I see it to my queen,
Sarabian-Emperor. ‘
‘Well, I suppose you are, but you don’t have to be quite so
blunt about it, do you?’
‘All right, then,’ Vanion summed it all up, ‘we start marching
north with the knights, the majority of the local Atan garrisons,
and the Imperial Guard. We’ll make a great deal of noise and
show about it, and Ekatas, Cyrgon’s High Priest, will pass the
word to Zalasta and Cyrgon that we’re on the way. That will
give Stragen’s murderers a free hand, because everybody will
be watching us. Then, when the Harvest Festival’s over and the
bodies start to turn up, our friends out there should be a bit
distracted. At that point, Sparhawk takes Bhelliom to northern
Atan and releases the Troll-Gods. Northern Atan becomes
totally secure at that point. We reverse our line of march, pick
up the bulk of the Atans, and go south to meet Scarpa. Are we
all agreed so far?’
‘No, we’re not, Vanion-Preceptor,’ Betuana said firmly. ‘The
Harvest Festival’s still two weeks away, and the Trolls could
very well be in the streets of Atana in two weeks. We have to
devise some means to slow their advance.’
‘forts,’ Ulath said.
“I must be getting used to you, Ulath,’ Kalten laughed. “I actually
understood that one.’
‘So did I,’ Sarabian agreed, ‘but the Trolls might just bypass
any forts we build and keep marching on Atana.’
‘The Trolls might, your Majesty,’ Sparhawk disagreed, ‘but
Cyrgon won’t. Cyrgon’s got the oldest military mind in the
world, and a soldier absolutely will not leave enemy strongholds
behind his lines. People who do that lose wars. If we build forts,
he’ll have to stop his advance to deal with them.’
‘And if the forts are in open fields, the Trolls won’t be able to
hide in the forest,’ Bevier added. ‘They’ll have to come across
open ground, and that’s going to put them in plain view of the
Peloi archers, my catapult crews, and Khalad’s crossbowmen.
Even if they cover the field with smoke, we’ll be able to put
down a goodly number of them with blind shots.’
‘My Atans do not like to hide behind walls,’ Betuana said
stubbornly.
‘We all have to do things we don’t like sometimes, Betuana,’
Ehlana told her. ‘Forts will keep your warriors alive, and dead
soldiers don’t serve any purpose at all.’
‘Except to provide supper for the Trolls,’ Talen added. ‘There’s
an idea, Sparhawk. If you could train your Pandions to eat their
enemies, you wouldn’t need supply trains.’
‘Do you mind?’ Sparhawk said acidly.
“It still won’t work,’ Betuana told them. ‘The Trolls are too
closely engaged with my armies. We don’t have time to build
forts.’
‘We could build the forts a few miles behind your lines and
withdraw your troops into them once they’re finished, your
Majesty,’ Sparhawk told her.
‘Have you had many dealings with Trolls, Prince Sparhawk?’
she asked tartly. ‘Do you have any idea at all of how fast they
can run? They’ll be on top of you before you can get the walls
up.’
‘They can’t run anywhere if time stops, your Majesty. We
used that when we were on our way to Zemoch. The Troll-God
of Eat can put people – or Trolls – into the space between one
second and the next. We found that when we were in that space,
the rest of the world didn’t move at all. We’ll have plenty of
time to build the forts.’
‘Why don’t you verify that with the Bhelliom before you start
making predictions, Sparhawk?’ Emban suggested. ‘Let’s be
sure that it’s going to work before we base any strategies on it.
Let’s find out if it has any reservations about the notion.’
Bhelliom, as it turned out, had several. ‘Thy design is flawed,
Anakha,’ it responded to Sparhawk’s question. Vanion’s hand
lifted Sephrenia’s tea-cup and released it.
The cup stopped in mid-air and hung there.
‘Take the vessel down, Anakha,’ Vanion’s voice instructed.
Sparhawk took hold of the cup and immediately found that
it was as immobile as a mountain. He tried as hard as he could
to move it, but it simply stayed where it was.
‘Thou couldst not so much as move a leaf, Anakha,’ Bhelliom
told him. ‘Thou canst easily move thyself through that frozen
moment, but to move other objects would require thee to move
the entire universe.’
“I see,’ Sparhawk said glumly. ‘Then we wouldn’t be able to
cut down trees and build forts, would we?’
‘Are those structures of great importance to thee? Doth some
obscure custom require them?’
‘Nay, Blue Rose. It is our intent to place obstructions in the
path of the Trolls that they may not attack our friends, the
Atans.’
‘Wouldst thou be offended were I to offer a suggestion?’
Ulath looked sharply at Tynian. ‘Have you been talking to
that poor stone in secret?’ he accused.
‘Very funny, Ulath,’ Tynian said sourly.
“I did not understand.’ Vanion’s tone was slightly chilly.
“It is an ongoing discussion between the two, Blue Rose,’ Sparhawk
explained, giving the pair a hard look. “It hath reached a
point so obscure now that it is incomprehensible. Gladly would
I hear thy suggestion, my friend.’
‘is it needful to injure the Trolls, Anakha? If they be totally
denied access to the lands of thy friends, the Atans, must thou
kill them?’
‘indeed, Blue Rose, we would prefer not to cause them harm.
When their Gods wrest them from Cyrgon’s dominion, shall
they be our allies.’
‘Would it offend thee should I erect a barrier before them? a
barrier beyond their ability to cross?’
‘Not in the least. Indeed, we would be most grateful.’
‘Let us then to Atan, and I will make it so. I would not see
any destroyed needlessly. My child will surely aid me, and
between us, she and I will bar the Trolls from proceeding farther
southward. ‘
‘Thou hast a daughter too, Blue Rose?’ Sparhawk was
stunned.
“I have millions, Anakha, and each is as precious to me as
thine is to thee. Let us to Atan, then, that the bloodshed may
cease.’
northern Atan was forested, but the more rugged mountains
lay to the south. The mountains of the north had been ground
down by glaciers in ages past, and the land sloped gradually on
down to the Sea of the North where eternal pack-ice capped the
globe. Sparhawk looked around quickly. Bhelliom had
responded to his unspoken request and had brought only warriors
to this northern forest. There were certain to be arguments
about that later, but that could not be helped.
‘Engessa-Atan.’ Vanion’s voice was crisply authoritative. An
absurd notion occurred to Sparhawk. He wondered suddenly if
Bhelliom had ever commanded troops.
‘Yes, Vanion-Preceptor?’ the big Atan replied.
‘Command thy kinsmen to withdraw one league’s distance
from the place where now they are engaged.’
Engessa looked sharply at Vanion, then realized that it was
not the Pandion Preceptor who had spoken. ‘That will take some
time, Blue Rose,’ he explained. ‘The Atans are engaging the
Trolls all across the North Cape. I will have to send messengers.’
‘Do thou but speak the command, Engessa-Atan. All shall
hear thee, thou hast mine assurance.’
“I wouldn’t argue, friend Engessa,’ Kring advised. ‘That’s the
jewel that stops the sun. If it says they’ll all hear you, they’ll all
hear you, take my word for it.’
‘We’ll try it, then.’ Engessa raised his face. ‘Withdraw!’ he
roared in a shattering bellow. ‘Fall back one league and regroup!’
The huge voice echoed and re-echoed through the forest.