in favor of the present situation in Jacintha, nor the present leadership," the mystic reasoned.
"Tohen Bardoh has ever been an ambitious man."
"As we have discussed before, to a degree," Pagonel remarked. "Your agreement of a joint, open city under the command of Brynn Dharielle was based primarily on these very fears, was it not?"
"And now I pray that your friend the Dragon does not disappoint me. It is in the interest of Brynn Dharielle and of To-gai that the present leadership in Jacintha overcome any threat by Tohen Bardoh. If Behren is united under him, he will not tolerate the addition of Dharielle to the name of the city Dharyan. He opposed the end of the siege of the city, vehemently so. You know this as well as I."
"Do you believe that he is strong enough to go against the Jacintha warriors?"
"Many of those warriors have still not returned from the field outside of Dharyan-Dharielle," Yatol Wadon explained.
"They stood down readily enough when word came to them from Jacintha."
"True, but I assure you that at that time few in Behren wished to continue battle against the Dragon of To-gai. This is a different matter.
All across the kingdom there is war now, as old disputes renew without the control of the Chezru Chieftain to mute them."
Pagonel sat back and considered the startling admission. To have a Behrenese leader revealing such a weakness within his country to a member of the Jhesta Tu was incredible enough, but when that Jhesta Tu was well known to be in league with the To-gai-ru, the admission became even more unbelievable.
Pagonel sat back and folded his hands before him. That Yatol Mado Wadon was able to speak so bluntly and openly to him here confirmed the level of desperation that was obviously growing within the man. That Yatol Mado Wadon would even receive Pagonel in anything more than a polite manner in a general audience chamber was a clear indication that the man was deathly afraid of Bardoh. Apparently, the rumors of the Yatol of Avrou Eesa building a tremendous army were not understated.
"Brynn Dharielle has fewer resources at her disposal at this time than you may believe," the mystic honestly replied, for he understood that such information would not imperil Brynn in any manner. Certainly Yatol Wadon was in no position to even think of striking against her.
"Her dragon alone - "
"Fewer than you may believe," Pagonel interrupted. "And there is no formal agreement between Dharyan-Dharielle and Jacintha."
Yatol Wadon's dull eyes widened and he gripped the arms of his chair, seeming ready to spring up and assault the mystic.
"Her course seems clear, though," Pagonel remarked, and that settled him back just a bit. "What do you ask of her?"
The simple question seemed to catch Yatol Wadon off-balance for a moment, for what indeed might Brynn be able to do? She wouldn't march her army from Dharyan-Dharielle to Jacintha to protect the ruling Yatol from another Yatol, after all! "I have come to understand that she is no friend of Yatol Bardoh," Yatol Wadon said hesitantly.
Pagonel merely smiled in response to that monumental understatement.
Yatol Bardoh was the man who had ordered Brynn's own parents murdered. He was the Behrenese leader who had conquered To-gai so brutally a decade before, a man who had never expressed anything but contempt for the To- gai-ru and their traditions. Bardoh had left the field outside of Dharyan-Dharielle, but he had not done so with a light heart. More than anything else, he had wanted to retake the city and be rid of the Dragon of To-gai.
"To fully engage Jacintha, should it come to that, Yatol Bardoh will need the north road," Yatol Wadon explained. "He will need Dahdah Oasis, else the promises he feeds to his soldiers will die in the desert sands."
"You would like Yatol Bardoh to be looking over his shoulder at another enemy as he marches toward Jacintha," Pagonel remarked.
"Or looking over his shoulder at another enemy as he marches on Dharyan- Dharielle," Yatol Wadon was quick to reply. "He covets Jacintha, agreed, but he covets Brynn's city for even more personal reasons, and he may come to believe that retaking Dharyan for Behren will elevate him among the people and make his march toward Jacintha all the more plausible."
That disturbing thought had carried Pagonel every step of the way to Jacintha.
"It is time to open a dialogue between our two cities," Yatol Wadon said.
The mystic nodded. "Your words are wise, Yatol. I will carry them to