the great assembled force.
"If Behren is truly secured and his intentions are as his courier has stated, then why would he come here with ten thousand warriors? Dharyan- Dharielle could not resupply them all in any short order, and Yatol De Hamman knows that. Nor is Dharyan-Dharielle a considerably easier march from Avrou Eesa than Jacintha itself. He has crossed a huge expanse of open desert to come to pay you a visit, my friend."
"Whereas his march back to Jacintha from Avrou Eesa would have been along a defined road, lined by oases," Brynn finished the reasoning.
"So will you open wide your gates?"
"As soon as I have finished opening the horse corral for the wolf pack,"
a determined Brynn replied, and she looked back out at the courier. "We have not the facilities for so large a force," she called. "Our stables alone would be overwhelmed. Nor do we have sufficient supplies on hand to carry such a force all the way to Jacintha. Twoscore at a time, you may enter and resupply."
The man hesitated. "My master, Yatol De Hamman wishes to be done here more quickly than that, I fear," he called. "He bids that you throw wide your gates, as per your agreement with Yatol Mado Wadon upon the treaty between our countries that ceded Dharyan into your province. We will not tarry long about your fair city, Dragon of To-gai. We have horses needing shoeing and waterskins for dipping."
"Indeed," Brynn replied. "And so you shall have your needs fulfilled - twoscore at a time."
"But my master - "
"Those are the terms, courier."
"There is a treaty here to be considered."
"And so I have," Brynn replied, her voice strong and firm. "Twoscore at a time."
The courier started to respond, but apparently thought the better of it.
He motioned to his men and they wheeled their horses about and went galloping back to the Behrenese line.
Brynn looked to Pagonel and the mystic nodded his approval. Then she looked past him, to one of her guard commanders, and said quietly, "Muster all the warriors, but keep them below the wall top. Send the signalers to the towers."
"What word shall they send?"
"None as yet," Brynn explained. "Tanalk Grenk and his warriors are not far, nor is Agradeleous. If we need them, they will come with all speed."
The commander nodded and hustled away.
"Yatol De Hamman will waste no time," Pagonel remarked a few moments later, when the couriers were almost back to the distant Behrenese line.
"You believe he will dare to attack?"
"Or encircle," the mystic replied. "Yatol De Hamman would not take this initiative on his own - particularly not with soldiers of Honce-the-Bear among his ranks. He comes here under orders from Yatol Wadon."
"And Abbot Olin."
"Likely," the mystic agreed.
"But to what end? Does Abbot Olin act so boldly as to begin a war with To-gai before Behren is even properly secured? Were we not declared as allies only a few weeks ago in Yatol Mado Wadon's own palace?"
"We do not know if our fears are correct," Pagonel replied. "Perhaps this is, as the courier said, an honest visit."
Even as he spoke, though, the distant forces began to stir, moving left and right with practiced precision, widening the line as if preparing a charge.
"Perhaps the leaders of Jacintha now wish to test you for themselves. I hold no doubt that Abbot Olin's designs are imperialistic, and if that is the case, he surely desires this city returned to Behren."
"We held off the Behrenese once before," came a determined reply, but the woman's gritty resolve seemed less apparent when she turned to face the knowing Pagonel once more.
"The fall of Chezru Chieftain Yakim Douan precipitated the Behrenese retreat more than any victory won here," Pagonel said quietly. "How long would you have held off Yatol Tohen Bardoh if Jacintha had not recalled her forces?"
"True enough," Brynn admitted. "And now they are reinforced by gemstone- wielding Abellicans and the armored warriors of the northland." She paused a moment to reflect. "I trusted Yatol Wadon. Was that my error?"
"You could not have foreseen the insinuation of Abbot Olin's designs,"
Pagonel said to her.
From the center of the Behrenese line came forth another group of riders, this one centered by the familiar figure of Yatol De Hamman.
"Brynn Dharielle!" he called when he neared the gate. "What folly is this? Was our cause not one and the same when you ventured to Jacintha to aid in the struggle against Tohen Bardoh and the dog Peridan? Was it not your own