heights are attained can a true measure of the man be taken. For then the leader faces a challenge of empathy. With great success oft comes a sense of entitlement to that success. The wealthy merchant, the landowner, the feudal lord, the king, the abbot all risk the danger of dismissing good fortune as part of their rise, instead coming to view their fortune and power as something that separates them from the common folk. Even those whose position was gained through heredity instead of effort share this dilemma, oftentimes, illogically, more so.
Was heredity a factor in bringing young Aydrian to the throne? Whether that is true or not, whether it was effort or heredity or a combination of the two, Aydrian's temperament might well prove to be the determining factor in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people over the next few years. If he has internally elevated himself above the rabble, as his imperialistic exhibitions seem to indicate, then the world will know war on a grand scale, and for no better reason than to satisfy the ambitions of a few men.
Brynn ascended to power through effort and determination and no small amount of luck. Had she not encountered Agradeleous on her journey through the Path of Starless Night, she would have lacked the tools truly to overcome the Behrenese. But with her rise to power, Brynn Dharielle never forgot the second truth of a great human. She has cried for every life destroyed in the To-gai uprising, To-gai-ru and Behrenese alike. She understands and appreciates the sacrifice and bravery of her own soldiers, the sacrifice of those To-gai-ru they left behind to tend the villages, and the pain brought to innocent Behrenese as well. Even the Behrenese soldiers, Brynn understands, are men swept up in a situation beyond their control.
Brynn cannot dismiss any of them, which is why she understands her position to be more of a burden than a pleasure, more of a necessary responsibility to her community than an avenue of self-gain. Her overriding desire is for peace and prosperity, for her own people and for her neighbors. She would be grateful if her rule over To-gai became an uneventful one, measured in the calmness of passing years rather than in the false glory of murderous conquest. If every kingdom in all the world were ruled by people of mind akin to Brynn Dharielle, then the brotherhood of man would know its greatest age.
And so I must come to understand this Aydrian and the motivations behind his insinuation in the southland. I must come to understand the motivations of those who have guided him on his ascent and who now serve as his advisors. Are they all akin to Abbot Olin, who so obviously has craved Behren and now seizes upon the southern kingdom's weakness to his own gain? This danger cannot be underestimated, for young Aydrian is so obviously possessed of the first knowledge of what it is to be a great man. That knowledge, if not in league with the second tenet, is a truly dangerous thing.
A great man knows that no one is better than he.
But a truly great man appreciates, too, that he is no better than anyone else.
Chapter 28 When Aydrian Comes Knocking
"They are efficient, if nothing else," Brynn said sarcastically.
She stood next to Pagonel on the battlement of Dharyan- Dharielle, looking out over the southern sands where the great army of Jacintha had assembled under the dual banners of Chezru and, amazingly, the Abellican Church.
"Yatol De Hamman must have come straight from Avrou Eesa," Pagonel agreed. "I would have expected him to turn his attention to the south to solidify all of Behren under Yatol Wadon first." Still, the mystic gave a sigh of relief that they had not been caught unawares. In addition to the forces Brynn had ordered mustered at the plateau divide, the woman had sent out some of her own garrison commanders and the dragon Agradeleous to organize the line.
"You believe that he erred?" Brynn's hopeful look, the woman grasping at a possible weakness, reminded Pagonel of just how young and inexperienced she was.
"That, or we have underestimated the power of Jacintha with the addition of Abbot Olin's forces," the mystic answered, and he made it clear with his tone that he thought the latter the more likely scenario. "Few of Behren's western cities gave allegiance to Yatol Bardoh, and so with Avrou Eesa gone over to Jacintha, Yatol De Hamman might well believe