said seriously, "with every town that gladly throws its allegiance to Aydrian.
We will find battle soon enough - probably at the gates of Palmaris, if not before. The more of the kingdom that comes over willingly, the greater our claim of legitimacy against Prince Midalis."
"And against Fio Bou-raiy," Aydrian put in, eliciting a wicked smile from De'Unnero.
"I do believe that our friend Sadye is bored," Aydrian remarked offhandedly. "She spoils for a fight. Take care, Sadye," he warned.
"Boredom is the impetus to greater heights, 'tis true, but it can prove the enemy to those who do not truly understand the heights to which they aspire."
The irony of that statement in light of their private conversation, especially with De'Unnero nodding his agreement at her side, was not lost on Sadye. But she wouldn't give Aydrian the satisfaction of seeing it on her face, and so she just laughed absently and moved off, towing De'Unnero with her.
Aydrian watched her go, every step.
Ever was he the ambitious lad. Ever was he ready to conquer every challenge.
Chapter 7 A Soft Wall of Resistance
"I want you to go with me," Jilseponie said to Roger Lockless, a diminutive man, stunted by a childhood illness that had nearly taken his life. But while Roger was short in stature, he was long on character. In the war with the demon's minions, Roger had stood firm as a beacon of hope, a lone hero to forlorn people. And he had stood strong beside Jilseponie and Elbryan through the ordeal of Markwart. Roger had grown under Elbryan's tutelage and proven to be the best friend Jilseponie - Pony - could ever know.
"Go?" Roger asked hesitantly, and he glanced to the side of the table, where his wife Dainsey was looking on silently. Like Roger, the woman appeared somewhat frail, with spindly limbs. She had nearly succumbed to the rosy plague, was on her last breaths when Jilseponie had brought her to the mummified arm of Avelyn Desbris. Dainsey had been the first to taste of the Miracle of Aida, but though she had beaten the plague, she had never fully recovered her previous robust health. Now her hair was gray and thin, and her eyes were sunken back in her skeletal head.
"To Dundalis first," Jilseponie explained. "I must find Bradwarden. And then to Andur'Blough Inninness - though that journey I expect to make alone."
"You will go and question the elves?" Roger asked skeptically.
"How can I not?"
"How can you?" Roger countered. "Do you believe them to be your friends?"
He shook his head and insisted, "They are not your friends. Surely this development proves that beyond all - "
"Dasslerond must answer for this!" Jilseponie demanded, and the flash of power and anger in her blue eyes set Roger back a bit. Again, though, the diminutive man looked over at Dainsey, who was nodding at him approvingly, and gathered his strength.
"Lady Dasslerond is not your friend, Pony," Roger said quietly.
Jilseponie started to answer, but was given pause by his suddenly somber tone, by the obvious implication that he knew something here that she did not.
"When you were in Ursal, sitting as queen, Dasslerond's people came to me," Roger quietly explained.
"You knew of Aydrian?" The flash of anger was there again, suddenly and explosively, and Jilseponie even leaped up from her seat.
"No, of course not," Roger replied, and he placed his hands on her shoulders in a calming motion. "Lady Dasslerond's people came to me in Ursal, asking that I watch you carefully. Dasslerond fears you, and always has, for you possess something that you should not - in her eyes, at least."
Jilseponie eased back into her chair. "Bi'nelle dasada," she reasoned, her voice calm once more. "Lady Dasslerond fears - has ever feared - that I will teach the elven sword dance to the soldiers of Honce-the-Bear."
"Her people are not numerous," Roger remarked. "They fear for their very existence."
"And that gives her the right to steal a child from the womb?" Jilseponie cried, her voice rising in indignation once more.
'"Course it doesn't, and no one's saying such a thing," Dainsey interjected.
"I know how you feel - " Roger started to say.
"No you do not," Jilseponie insisted.
Roger conceded the point with a slight nod. "We have an enemy rising right here in our midst," he said. "Why will you go to the elves to begin another war, when one has come to you?"
"There are questions - "
"For another day," Roger interrupted.
"For now!" Jilseponie shot back. "This battle within the kingdom is not my