directly at him. “What do I call you? What would be a fitting name?” Jonas thought for a moment. Suddenly he smiled at himself. “I shall call you, Tulari,” he said, “my mother’s middle name. It is elvish.”
“What does it mean?” asked Taleen.
“Honorable,” replied Jonas.
“A fitting name for such a fine steed,” added Kiln.
***
King Olegaurd was a tall man, lanky, with sharp features like the craggy edges of broken rock. His armor was polished silver and edged in gold. Draped over his shoulders was a cavalry cape the color of deep purple, and embroidered in gold thread was the Annurien emblem. His hair was cut short, infantry style, and he was mostly shaven except for a few days of stubble. The king’s hair was dark brown and interlaced with silver. Thick bushy eyebrows edged his dark eyes, tired from hard riding and lack of sleep. But that did not take away the aura of power that emanated from him as he stepped into King Gavinsteal’s command tent.
With him was his younger brother, Lord Dynure of Ta-Ron, who was a spitting image of the king, but with lighter hair and much less silver. He too was tall, and together they portrayed a sense of calm power.
They had ridden hard with their army and had arrived at the Lindsor Bridge just before sunset. Orders were dispatched and their men had set up camp in the large open fields that covered the Finarthian hills for miles. Moments later they were escorted to the command tent.
Inside, King Gavinsteal was looking over several maps with his commanders. In audience were General Kuarin, General Ruthalis, and General Gandarin, along with first lance, Tilvus, leader of the Finarthian Knights. All the men were in battle armor and dressed for war. Standing next to their father were Prince Baylin and Prince Nelstrom. They, too, were in full armor in preparation for the coming violence.
King Gavinsteal withdrew from the map and moved to greet the king. “King Olegaurd, Lord Dynure, we thank you for coming, your presence is of great value to us.” The Finarthian king shook each of their hands in the warrior’s grip.
“Of course, we came in all haste and I’m glad to see that we were not too late,” replied King Olegaurd. His deep voice sounded like the rumbling of an angry mountain.
Lord Dynure spoke. “King Gavinsteal, please inform us what you know as we have received no other information from your messenger other than the fact that an army approaches bearing the banner of Lord Moredin. What else can you tell us?”
“Please, come and take a look at the map,” the king replied as he beckoned to a servant who was standing calmly at the edge of the tent. “May I offer you some wine?” he asked.
“That would be most gracious,” answered King Olegaurd. The servant went to a nearby table and poured several goblets of red wine.
“King Olegaurd, Lord Dynure, it is good to see you again. It’s been too long and I dare say I wish the circumstances were different,” Prince Baylin added as he greeted them both with firm handshakes. “You remember my brother, Prince Nelstrom.”
“Of course,” replied King Olegaurd with a nod to the younger prince.
“And General Ruthalis, Kuarin, and Gandarin,” continued Prince Baylin as they all greeted each other.
“Yes, it is good to see you all,” replied the Annurien king nodding to each of them as he took a goblet of wine offered by the servant. “Now, let us get to business so we can hope to get a few hours of rest tonight.”
The commanders smiled briefly at that comment as they knew that most of the night would be spent planning, issuing orders to subordinates, and preparing for the coming battle. Little, if any, sleep would be gotten this night.
“Very good,” King Gavinsteal began, “what we now know is that Lord Moredin’s army is one day out on the east road to Stonestep,” he said as he indicated the positions on the map.
“Do we have accurate numbers assessments?” asked Lord Dynure.
“No,” replied Prince Baylin, “our best guess is that he has near twenty thousand troops, ten of which come from various Sithgarin tribes. Our spies and scouts have not been very successful as the enemy is using boargs to guard their perimeter. The beasts can sniff my men out a mile away,” continued Baylin, frustration evident in his voice.
“Your court wizard?” questioned King Olegaurd. “If I recall correctly, Alerion was his name. Why has he not been used to