magical gemstones, such as those of the Abelli-can heretics.
At least one of those heretics was a close personal friend of the God-Voice.
Finally, Merwan Ma tilted his head back, ignoring the stretching pu]j across his scarred tissue, too consumed by the awful possibilities that loomed all about him even to notice the discomfort.
It all made no sense, all seemed a preposterous trick of this Jhesta Tu mystic, attempting to bend the awful actions of one rogue Chezhou-Lei to some personal gain. And yet, though he denied it consciously and vocally it seemed undeniable to Merwan Ma's heart.
Chezru Chieftain Yakim Douan, his beloved God-Voice, the man to whom he had given the service of his entire adult life, had ordered him murdered.
Brynn surveyed the landscape, the flowing brown dunes sweeping like great breakers toward the one spot of varying colors, where date trees swayed in the hot wind and grasses grew thick about their trunks, border-ing a long and narrow lake. Rows of small houses lined that lake, leading up to a single brown castle, squat and thick, with weathered brown walls pierced with arrow slits and a roof that sloped in varying angles.
It had taken her three weeks to bring her army there, mostly across empty sand, for they wished to follow no course that their enemies could predict. A welcome sight indeed was this place, as any settlement would have been to the weary and battle-hungry To-gai-ru.
"Garou Oasis," Pagonel said to her, sitting astride a horse beside her and Runtly.
"A city with no walls," Brynn remarked.
"Typical for an oasis stop," the mystic explained. ?This is the waypoint for caravans, who pay a large tithe to water their animals and themselves."
"As we shall do, though we'll pay no tithe."
"The settlers of the houses will flee before us, no doubt, into their cas-tle," said Pagonel. ?From there, they will shower us with arrows."
"Then we will flatten their castle before we drink," Brynn said matter-of-factly, a coldness that was not lost on the mystic.
"Take care with this place," Pagonel warned. ?The castles of the Behren oases are the strongest fortresses in all the country. They need not house many - I would guess that fewer than five hundred live here - and yet they normally hold great storerooms of wealth, for the tithe of using an oasis is never cheap. They are built to withstand an army, and you'll not lure them out, as you did at both Dharyan and Pruda."
"We shall see," Brynn said, and she turned Runtly and walked him away.
They came in as a swarm of destruction, churning the soft and hot sands all about the oasis. Unlike her previous victories, Brynn held nothing back against Garou Oasis, charging her entire force, which now numbered closer five thousand than four, in a tightening ring. Those Behrenese in the out-I ing houses didn't even try to offer resistance against the To-gai-ru horde, 1 in" straightaway for the defensive castle.
Most got in ahead of the To-gai-ru surge, though some were trampled Hown Barely moments after the attack began, the oasis was quiet once ?nore, with Brynn's army surrounding the last bastion of Behrenese defense.
One group of Behrenese was not inside, though. A visiting caravan milled about the castle door, denied entrance, with nowhere to run or hide.
Brynn wouldn't bring her soldiers in close to the well-armed fortress, though, nor did she allow the To-gai-ru to cut down the trapped merchants with their great bows.
She walked Runtly around to that side of the castle, close enough to make eye contact with some of the frantic Behrenese - and many began pounding on the door once more at the sight of the woman given such def-erence by the other To-gai-ru as to mark her obviously as the fierce leader of this army.
Brynn lifted a hand to the Behrenese and motioned for them to approach.
They held back, some still pounding on the unyielding iron door.
"You have nowhere to turn," Brynn called out to them. ?Your surrender will be accepted, if offered. Else you will die where you stand."
Those simple words seemed to break the will of many of the merchants, and they exchanged despairing looks and threw up their hands, walking out toward Brynn and bowing repeatedly.
The first volley came forth from the castle then, a hail of arrows aimed primarily at Brynn. Most fell short, though, some even cutting into the poor merchants as they made their way out from the castle.
They all scrambled, as did Brynn, leaping Runtly aside, but not before one