"Indeed it is, Sergeant," she said, with a peculiar smile touching those perfect lips.

"We've made quite a bit of progress in Wekti," Althalus reported. "I'm sure Brother Bheid's told you about our conference with Exarch Yeudon. The Exarch's a little suspicious about our motives, but he's in no position to argue with us. Sergeant Khalor here looked over the ground where we're going to meet the Ansus, and he thinks it'll be defensible after he puts up some earthworks. Oh, I almost forgot. We saw Ghend."

"You what?" Her tone was decidedly unfriendly.

"He looked well. We didn't get the chance to talk, but I'm sure he'd have sent his regards to you if we had."

"You're starting to make me cross, Althalus."

"Althalus came up with a way to use the doors that hadn't even occurred to me," Eliar broke in eagerly. "Did you know that if you open one of those doors near where some people are talking, you can stand out in the hall and hear what they're saying?"

"I suppose you could," she replied. "I have alternatives available to me, so I've never really needed to do it that way."

"What makes it so good is that the people you're listening to don't even know you're there. As long as you stay on your side of the door, they can't see you."

"How did you come up with that particular notion?" Dweia asked Althalus curiously.

"My shady background, probably," he replied. "The point, though, is that we were eavesdropping while Ghend was giving Pekhal a fairly thorough dressing-down. It seems that Pekhal and Gelta have been amusing themselves by raiding down into Wekti, and Ghend spoke quite firmly to Pekhal about that. Then he ordered the brute to start the invasion one week from today."

"Can you be ready for them, Sergeant?" Dweia asked.

"I think so, ma'am. Once we get some troops up along that frontier, I'll send out scouts. I'd like to know whether I'll be facing cavalry or infantry."

"It'll probably be both," she said. "Pekhal's a foot soldier, and Gelta's spent most of her life on horseback."

"That's useful to know, ma'am. Althalus here tends to gloss over details sometimes."

She smiled. "I know," she said. "He can be very offensive sometimes, can't he?"

Khalor shrugged. "He's useful right now, ma'am, so I can put up with his little quirks. I think his whole problem springs from his notion that he's amusing. When you get right down to it, he's not really that funny, but I suppose I can learn to live with him."

Althalus gave Khalor a hard look.

"Is everybody teasing you, Althie?" Leitha asked with feigned sympathy. "Poor baby."

"I gather that you're the one in charge, ma'am," Khalor said to Dweia.

"More or less. Althalus usually does what I tell him to do-eventually. Will taking orders from a woman disturb you, Sergeant?"

"Not particularly. I'd rather take orders from a clever woman than a stupid man, but we're facing a policy decision right now. I'll handle strategy and tactics, but I'll need to know what policy you want me to follow."

"Could you clarify that, Sergeant?"

"Our enemies, Pekhal and Gelta, are going to make their move next week, and I'm going to meet them. Just how far do you want me to go? I can give them bloody noses and let it go at that, if you want."

"But you'd rather not do it that way, I gather."

"No, ma'am, I wouldn't, but I'm not involved in the political side of this war. A good soldier avoids politics and religion, but if all you want me to do is spank them and send them home, we'll do it that way."

"But you wouldn't like it."

"No, ma'am. If all I do is rough them up a little, they'll be back again next month, and I'll have to tie up troops I might need someplace else just to guard that frontier."

"What's the alternative?"

"Annihilation, ma'am. If I kill everything that moves along that border, I won't have to go back and do it again. It's brutal and messy, but this is a war, not a tea party. You're a lady, and ladies are tender-hearted. My best advice, though, is for you not to put any restrictions on me."

"Burn, fight, kill?"

"Exactly."

"All right, Sergeant, your leash is off."

"You and I are going to get along just fine, ma'am," Khalor said with a steely smile.

Despite Khalor's impatience, Dweia insisted that they all stay for supper. "The ladies are feeling sort of left out, love," she explained privately to Althalus. "Let's keep peace in the family, if possible."

"I'm a little pressed for time, Dweia."

"You're forgetting where you are, pet. These golden moments won't interfere with your schedule at all, since time here moves-or doesn't-as I tell it to."

The ladies took a while-quite a while-to dress for dinner, and then they all sat down to what could only be called a banquet.

Andine reverted to hovering, and she filled Eliar's plate three times before he advised her that he was "full clear up to here" with a gesture in the vicinity of his throat.

"How long's that been going on?" Khalor asked Althalus.

"Quite a while now."

"I was sort of wondering why Eliar's been having trouble concentrating here lately The same sort of thing's happening between the priest and the witch, isn't it? Do you think you could persuade Dweia to hold off on the weddings until after the war? Married men don't make good soldiers."

"She's sort of keeping things under control," Althalus said. "I think she agrees with you on the issue of mixing wars and weddings, Sergeant." Then he looked across the table at Dweia. "Would you be offended if we talked shop while we eat?" he asked her.

"As long as you don't get too graphic," she replied.

"I think we'd better have Eliar take Brother Bheid back to Keiwon," Althalus said. "There's a redheaded shepherd there that Sergeant Khalor's going to need when the fighting starts. We'll want him to gather up as many other shepherds as he can lay his hands on and start them toward the frontier."

"You're going to actually make them walk?" Bheid asked.

"We aren't going to need them for several days, so let's keep them out from underfoot until the earthworks are complete. If they make it to the trenches on time, fine. If they're still too far away on the day before the invasion, Eliar can use the doors to get them where they need to be."

"Should I stay in Keiwon with Bheid?" Eliar asked.

"No. Just take him to Keiwon and come right back. You have to take Khalor and me to see Albron. We need to decide which clan we want to use to build those fortifications, and I might need some kind of authorization to start that clan marching."

"A keg or two of those gold coins is probably all the authorization you're going to need, Althalus," Khalor snorted. "I think I'm going to use Gweti's clan to build the fortifications, and the word 'gold' gets Gweti's complete attention."

"Let's pay attention to the courtesies, Khalor. I don't want to offend Chief Albron."

"Excuse me," Gher said. "I just had an idea."

"Brace yourself, Sergeant," Althalus warned Khalor. "Gher can be very creative when it comes to using those doors. Some of his ideas are so complicated that half the time I don't even understand what he's talking about. Go ahead, Gher."

"This war's not the only one we'll have to fight, is it?"

"I'm sure it's only the first one. There'll be others."

"Then wouldn't it be a good idea to start all the Arums marching right now?"

"Where to?" Khalor asked curiously.

"That doesn't really matter."

"I don't exactly follow you, young man."

"Well, it takes a little while for them to get started, doesn't it? I mean, they've got to gather up their equipment, say good-bye to their lady friends, get drunk a time or two, and things like that. Isn't that sort of the way it goes?"

"It's pretty close to that, yes."

"The time might come sometime later when one of Ghend's people surprises us, so we might need a lot of soldiers in a hurry. If they're already marching up and down the hallways here in the House, Eliar can pop them through a door, and they'll be right where we need them in about a minute."

"You mean just walk them around in circles?" Eliar asked in a puzzled tone.

"Why not? Wouldn't that fix it so that Emmy won't have to trick them into thinking that they've been walking for months and months? Some of them really will be walking for a long time. They'll be right here any time you need them. You'll have seven or eight armies right in your pocket, and you can take them out any time you need them."

"Can we do that?" Khalor asked Althalus incredulously.

"I don't see why not. We might have to work out a few details, but the basic idea's perfectly sound."

"Did I leave something out, Althalus?" Gher asked.

"We'll have to tell them where they're going, Gher. We almost have to let them know where the war is before they start."

Gher shrugged. "Tell them they're going to Fiddle-Faddle or Hippety-Hop to fight a war against the Whiz-Bangs or the Furpleinians. Make up some names. The way I understand it, the Arums don't really care where the war is or who they're going to fight. All they're interested in is getting paid."

"I knew there was something wrong with this idea," Althalus said triumphantly.

"Did I miss something?" Gher looked a little crestfallen.

"The unpleasant word 'pay' just cropped up, Gher. As soon as they start walking, I have to start paying."

"But you'll be paying for the time out there, and it's shorter out there than it is here-or longer, maybe. If you start counting it all up, I think you'll find out that you're paying less. Besides, you said that when you went into that storeroom where you keep your gold, the light from your lantern wouldn't even reach the walls. If the place is that big, you've got so much gold that it doesn't even mean anything anymore."

Althalus stared at the boy. The urgency that'd been in Ghend's voice when he'd given Pekhal his orders had strongly suggested that he was afraid. Althalus had assumed that he was the one Ghend feared. Evidently that wasn't quite true. This tousle-haired little boy who hadn't even seen his tenth birthday yet was the one who really frightened Ghend.

'That's all right, Althie,' Emmy's voice murmured inside his mind. 'I still love you-even if you have just been outclassed.'

"There are better warriors in Arum than Gweti's clan, my Chief," Khalor was saying to Albron a few hours later in the smooth-shaven Chief's study, "but they're the best when it comes to field fortifications."

Albron nodded. "Gweti likes it that way," he noted. "He adores stalemates, since he gets paid by the day instead of the job. His men are far more expert with shovels than they are with swords."

Khalor nodded. "I don't really like them very much, but in this situation, they're exactly what I'm going to need. I don't want somebody like Twengor. He's too unpredictable for this kind of battle."

"What's your overall strategy, Sergeant?" Albron asked.

"I'm still working on some of the details, my Chief, but I've got a few surprises for Pekhal and Gelta up my sleeve."

"Oh?"

"As it turns out, the Wekti aren't quite as meek as we all thought they were. They're quite militant when it comes to protecting their sheep. They use slings-and I'm not talking about some child's toy. We came across one young fire eater who killed three of Pekhal's mounted men when they attacked his herd."

"With a sling?" Albron seemed startled.

"A rock right between the eyes kills a man-or a horse-even faster than a sword in the belly, my Chief. Gelta's Ansus are cavalrymen, and that had me a little worried. My cares are all gone now, though. The Ansus may start their attack on horseback, but they'll be on foot by the time they reach the trenches. Then the Ansus-who don't know a thing about infantry tactics-are going to have to attack uphill on foot."

"Very shrewd, Sergeant."

"That's only the start, my Chief. I'm going to put old Chief Delur's clan somewhere close to the battlefield on the west side, and I know quite a few people down in Plakand. The Plakanders are even better horsemen than the Ansus, and I'll hire a cavalry army down there. They'll sweep up around the east side of Wekti. They've got a week, so they'll be in place when the battle starts. I'll let Pekhal's Ansus wear themselves out trying to attack Gweti's fortifications, and then I'll signal Delur's men and the Plakanders, and they'll rush the Ansus from behind. I don't think there'll be very many survivors, my Chief."

"Brilliant, Khalor! Brilliant!"

"I rather liked it myself, my Chief. I'd like to borrow your sister's husband, Melgor, though. I'm going to be scampering around like a dog with his tail on fire setting everything in motion, and Chief Gweti encourages his men to take their time while they're digging trenches. I think I'll need somebody on that line to crack the whip over them every so often. Those earthworks absolutely must be in place before the week's out-even it if means that poor pinch-faced Gweti has to get by with short pay."

"I'll take care of that, Sergeant," Albron said, obviously trying to make it sound casual.

"You said what?"

"I think it's time for me to get my feet wet, Khalor. I spend all my time here making business arrangements. You know, I've never actually taken part in a single one of the wars I've hired you out to fight since my father died. I'm tired of being nothing but a businessman. I want to be a real Arum."

"You aren't good enough, Albron," Khalor told his Chief bluntly.

"I'm a quick learner, Khalor. Whether you like it or not, I am the Chief, and I am going to Wekti to crack the whip over Gweti's ditchdiggers."

Khalor winced. "Would you agree to taking Melgor along to advise you, my Chief-and to flex his muscles when some Gweti man starts to argue with you about how long it takes to throw a shovelful of dirt out of a trench?"

"I don't really get along all that well with my sister's husband, Khalor. I am a Chief, and I do know how to give orders. I'll take care of the trenches, Sergeant." Then he grinned almost boyishly. "I'm being just a little childish about this, aren't I?"

"A little, yes. What brought this on, my Chief?"

"The excitement, Khalor. Despite all the hours I have to spend adding up columns of figures and counting stacks of pennies, I'm still an Arum, and when the homs blow, my blood starts to race. This might just be the most important war in the history of the world, and I'm not going to be left out."

Khalor sighed. "No, my Chief," he said in a resigned tone of voice, "I guess you won't be at that."

Eliar returned from Keiwon early the following morning. "Exarch Yeudon didn't like it very much," he reported. "I guess he thought that none of his shepherds were going to have to do any of the fighting. He really likes the idea of having other people do his work for him. Bheid changed his mind for him, though."