There was a knock on the door and a guard opened it. Orkid stood there for a moment, looking grim and displeased. Areava absently wished he would soften bis appearance by shaving off his beard.

"And I would, of course, expect each of you to send a representative to sit on this council. In kindest regards, so on and so forth. For my signature this afternoon."

"Your Majesty," Harnan said.

"Orkid? You look like a startled bear."

"May I see your Majesty privately for a moment?"

Areava nodded. "Thank you, Harnan. I will call you when I am ready."

Harnan stood up promptly, gathered together his writing materials and small desk, bowed to the queen, and shuffled out. Orkid shut the door behind him.

"I saw a messenger arrive for you," Areava began.

"She came from the docks. I have a post down there."

"I know. I pay for it, remember?"

Orkid looked uncomfortable.

"Oh, come now, Chancellor. You can't expect to keep all your secrets for yourself."

"My operations are an open book for you, your Majesty, you should know that.

Something else troubles me."

Areava nodded.

"The message was from one of my agents on a Lurisian ship that came in today. The ship recently completed a long voyage along Theare's east coast, north to Chandra and Hume ... and Haxus."

"So, Salokan is still letting trade get through? That's a promising sign.""The last, I'm afraid," Orkid said somberly.

Areava felt her chest tighten. "What word have you?" she demanded.

"The agent managed to journey with a caravan from the Oino delta to Kolbee itself. He reports the city came under curfew while he was there. Over several nights he heard large numbers of troops moving south through the streets. He assumed they came from the royal barracks. On his last morning he visited a market place near the barracks, and no one would open for business since there was no longer any business to be had. The Kolbee garrison had gone-all of it."

"Salokan is mobilizing." She tapped her fingers together. "And it ties together the fragments of intelligence we are getting from other traders and our spies, that Salokan is storing more grain and cattle than usual for winter, and that he is limiting the trade in iron ore in his own country." She looked up at Orkid, unable to hide completely the fear in her eyes. "The king of Haxus is preparing to go to war."

Orkid sighed heavily. "Yes, your Majesty, I believe so." He cast his gaze down and his fingers fidgeted.

"There is more?"

"The agent reports there are rumors among many in Kolbee that Lynan has been seen in Haxus."

"That isn't possible. He escaped Rendle. Prado told us so himself."

"That doesn't mean Rendle-or some other captain-did not capture him subsequently, or that Lynan did not go to Salokan of his own accord."

Areava felt unsteady. She grasped the back of a chair then sat down. "No. I won't believe it. Not even of Lynan."

"He killed Berayma, your Majesty. Fleeing to Haxus is a small treason beside that."

Areava did not reply. Her skin had paled to the color of ash and her hands rested in her lap like dead weights.

"There is more," Orkid said, his voice straining.

"Go on," Areava said shortly.

"Some of the rumors insist that Lynan has been made commander-in-chief of the Haxus army to march south into Grenda Lear."

Again, Areava did not reply.

"If true, there can be no greater proof of his guilt," Orkid continued. "And there is nothing Lynan could do that would more alienate the people of Grenda Lear."

"He would lead an army against his own people?" Areava asked, but Orkid knew the question was not directed toward him. "He would take arms against his own country?"

Her skin now darkened with anger. She stood up suddenly, her hands bunched into fists.

Her ice-blue eyes seemed to glimmer.

"How long ago was your agent in Kolbee?"

"About three weeks, your Majesty."

"Three weeks!"

"He returned as soon as he could, but he had to be careful getting back to the ship in the Oino delta."

"And how long would it take the Kolbee garrison to reach the border with Hume?""About the same amount of time, as long as it was not stopping to recruit new members or pick up extra units on the way."

Areava started striding up and down the chambers, her fists still bunched and kept behind her back. "It is too late for them to attack. It will be winter in a month."

"I agree, your Majesty, but King Salokan-or Prince Lynan-is well in place to launch an attack as soon as the spring thaw starts."

"Then we must mobilize now and send regiments north."

"The first snows will have come by the time they are ready to leave the south."

"I don't care. They have to march north. Our defenses must be ready by the time winter is over."

"You'll need to increase taxes, your Majesty. Our treasury is healthy, but will not withstand the expenses of war for very long."

"Call my council immediately. They will support me."

"As will all Grenda Lear," Orkid said.

She looked at him grimly. "I hope you are right, Chancellor, for all our sakes."

Somehow, despite his fogged mind, Olio had found the old library tower. He made his way to the top, carefully ascending each step with exaggerated caution. He stood in the middle of the chamber and turned in a circle, looking at all the old books unread by anyone for hundreds of years because no one could understand the writing.

All this knowledge waiting for someone to unlock the secret, he thought. What magic do they hold?

The question wearied him, and he slumped to the floor, careful not to smash the flagon of expensive red wine he was holding. He took a good swallow from it and grinned to himself.

I bet Edaytor and the theurgia would hate the idea that there's power here they know nothing about and cannot use. What a joke.

Morning light crept in from the tower's single window. He looked up and saw that the shutters were slightly ajar.

Lynan liked it here, he remembered. He was probably the last person to look out that window.

Olio stood up unsteadily and opened the shutters wide. He could see only part of the city, but in the distance he recognized the coastline of Lurisia and the distant mountain-tops in Aman. And westward were the Oceans of Grass. Somewhere out there was his brother. God, Lynan, are you still alive?

He collapsed to the floor again, overcome by sudden grief.

I wish you were here, Lynan. I wish you were home.

The tears came unexpectedly, and he scolded himself for blubbering. He tried to hold back, but he could not stop crying.

After a while, exhausted, he lay down on the cold stone floor, hugging the flagon close to his chest. Sleep came quickly, and he dreamed that his younger brother was sitting with him in the chamber, watching over him.The council received Orkid's news with silence. No one knew what to say. Areava let them think a while on what it meant for the kingdom, and then asked Marshal Lief about the state of readiness of Grenda Lear's armies.

"On your command last summer I mobilized a few regiments, mainly cavalry, to bolster our border units in Hume. They are there now."

"Will they be enough to thwart a full invasion from Haxus?"

"No, your Majesty. Nowhere near enough. They can deal with any minor border incursions, but if they encounter anything stronger than a couple of enemy divisions, they'll be scattered. I never really believed Haxus would actually go to war without some border raids to test our strength."

"Nor did I," Areava said bitterly. "Chancellor Orkid, what are our estimates of Haxus'

strength?"

"Twenty thousand infantry, at least five thousand cavalry. That's their regulars. We don't know how many militia they can call up."

Marshal Lief said, "Your Majesty, in the last war they had a similar-sized army, but not the logistical support to send them too deep into our territory."

"That was fifteen years ago," Orkid said dismissively. "We don't know how good their logistics are now. Besides, if they move quickly enough and capture Daavis, they would have the supply base they need to move on to Chandra, and from there onto Kendra itself."

"How long would it take to mobilize our entire army, Marshal?"' Areava asked.

"Three months at least. We don't have the equipment and weapons in our armories to field an army much larger than twenty thousand ourselves, although over time, as our weapon smiths, cloth makers and granaries went to a war footing, we could double or even triple that. But contingents would have to come from Lurisia and Storia and Aman, and that will take time as well. And if the bulk of our troops are in Hume to stop an invasion, we'll need the fleet's help to keep the army fed and clothed; we'll also need the navy to move much of our southern forces north."

"Which raises another problem," Admiral Setchmar added. "Most of our fleet is laid up.

It's too expensive to maintain all our transports and warships during peacetime. It will take us at least two months to get them ready and crew them all. Even if they were ready sooner, it would be foolish to risk sailing a fleet against winter's storms; we could lose everything."

"How many troops can you have on the border with Haxus by the end of winter?"

"Twenty thousand," the marshal said despondently. "Maybe. Including the regiments that are already there."

"You're not including the heavy cavalry, Marshal?" Galen Amptra asked in an arrogant voice.

Lief blushed. "I would not presume ..."

Galen waved him silent and turned to Areava. "Your Majesty, the cavalry from the Twenty Houses can be riding north in a week. That's three thousand of the best soldiers on the continent."

Yes, and risk the Twenty Houses taking control of my army in the north, Areava thought. She hesitated."Your Majesty, that is the perfect solution," Shant Tenor said. The news of Haxus'

mobilization had almost made him spasm with fear, but then the thought of his city's industries gearing up for war and the profits that would bring Kendra had calmed him remarkably quickly. And the thought of selling the food and extra supplies the heavy cavalry from the Twenty Houses would need almost had him salivating.

"We are going about this the wrong way," said a new voice, calm and measured. All eyes turned to Father Powl. In the four meetings since he had been one of the council members, he had hardly spoken at all. Even Primate Northam looked in surprise at the priest. He was a small, thin man who often wore a smile but whose hard gray eyes never seemed amused at all.

Areava considered him. "Father?"

"I think sending our army north piecemeal is inviting disaster."

"But the kingdom is under threat!" Shant Tenor exclaimed. "We can't wait until our enemies reach the walls of Kendra itself!"

"Which is what will happen if King Salokan is allowed to destroy one regiment here and two regiments there. Even the renowned cavalry of the Twenty Houses could do little by themselves against an army more than ten times its size."

"He speaks the truth," Marshal Lief said despondently. "We have been caught by surprise, and our forces are too scattered or not up to full strength."

"Not completely by surprise," Father Powl said, "thanks to the offices of Chancellor Orkid Gravespear." Priest and chancellor exchanged courtesy glances. "And there is a way through this problem."

Shant Tenor could see all the city's short-term profits evaporating before his eyes.

"With all due respect to Father Powl, I think military planning is best left to the marshal."

"Go on, Father," Areava said, throwing the mayor a warning look.

"I suggest we reduce the border garrison to a line of lookouts. The remainder should be sent to garrison Daavis. In the meantime, a proper army is gathered here and sent north as soon as spring comes."

"But we would be surrendering almost all of Hume!" Galen said.

"Only for a few weeks at most," Marshal Lief said. "The priest is right. If the forces already in Hume garrisoned Daavis, the city should be able to defend itself against the army of Haxus long enough for our army to relieve it."

"There is another factor to consider," Powl said. "Prado and his force of mercenaries.

He will be in Hume before winter bites too hard. He could reinforce Daavis, or support those forces we leave on the border."

"Or change sides as soon as Salokan crosses the border," Dejanus growled, still stinging over losing the command of that expedition.

"He will not," Orkid said firmly. "He hates Rendle, and Rendle is with Haxus."

"I would not see Prado deterred from his mission," Areava objected.

"If Prince Lynan is indeed with Salokan, Prado's mission and our need dovetail, your Majesty," Powl said.

"Thank you, Father," Areava said. "Your words have made the situation at once less dire and its solution much clearer."