to the back of the tent, and motioned for Yatol Bardoh to join her.
"I know you," she whispered.
The man looked at her curiously.
"I watched you murder my parents, a decade and more ago."
Bardoh glared at her wickedly.
"Know that if this battle ensues, the Behrenese will likely win," Brynn as-sured him. ?But my dragon has healed, and with his help, I will find my own victory among the ruins, for I will avenge my parents. Of that, do not doubt."
The man blanched, and Brynn patted him on the shoulder and returned to her seat at the table.
It amazed her how much more responsive Yatol Bardoh became after that little private conversation.
But still, when Brynn and Pagonel returned to Dharyan that night, noth-ing had been settled, and now the food was beginning to run thin.
"We will meet one more time," the woman said to Pagonel. ?And then we will fight."
"You could relent," the mystic replied. ?They have offered you a chance to run back into To-gai and be free of Behrenese rule. Is that not all that you wanted?"
Brynn took a deep breath, understanding that she was playing a very dangerous game. But she held firm to her resolve against the doubts. Her demands were the insurance against another invasion, one that she knew would come soon enough after Behren solidified itself once more, if Yatol Bardoh had his way.
The next day, Mado Wadon came alone to Dharyan, under the flag of truce, as Brynn insisted. In a quiet room, the Yatol, the Dragon of To-gai and the Jhesta Tu mystic sat and talked.
"Dharyan-Dharielle, then," Brynn improvised, as the Yatol again argued the one sticking point in the negotiations. ?We will call the city Dharyan-Dharielle, and leave it as an open city, to Behrenese and To-gai-ru alike."
"And what would possibly prompt the Behrenese to come here, other than to scorn the invading To-gai-ru?"
"Invading?" Brynn echoed. ?It is a word you should take care when speaking. Your people will come for the trade, open trade, between To-gai-ru and Behrenese. And your scholars will come for the library."
"Library? Do the To-gai-ru even write?"
"The library formerly of Pruda," Brynn said with a crooked smile, and Yatol Mado Wadon's eyes widened indeed!
"Yes, I have it, buried and hidden in the desert, never to be found un-less I so deem it," Brynn explained. ?I will retrieve the items, and build a new and grander library here, open to all the scholars of our respective kingdoms."
Mado Wadon waved his hands and shook his head. ?You speak foolish-ness! Why should I hear these words? Why should I allow for any conces-sions from the Behrenese? You are beaten, if we choose to attack! Meyer forget that!"
"But at a great cost."
"Greater costs have already been paid!"
Brynn nodded, conceding the point. ?But greater gains are hard to find," she said. ?Yatol Mado Wadon, I asked you to come out here alone this last day of our discussions because you above all others should understand the true prize I offer to you now."
"And that is?"
"Alliance," said Brynn.
"Between To-gai and Behren?"
"Between Dharyan-Dharielle and Jacintha," Brynn corrected. ?Between the Dragon of To-gai and Yatol Mado Wadon. If you force me from this city, then who will replace me? One loyal to Jacintha, or to Avrou Eesa? ?
The man did not reply.
"And if you send your hordes against me, or I charge mine out against you, then who will be blamed for the thousands of Behrenese dead on the sands, and the hundreds I will execute in my dungeons? Yatol Bardoh or Yatol Mado Wadon?"
Brynn leaned forward and grabbed the man's hands suddenly, moving very close to his face, locking his gaze with her own. ?And I offer to you a vision of a better way between our peoples, one of strength and not of ani-mosity. Can you not see the wisdom of that course?"
"Do you believe that you can eliminate centuries of mistrust and hatred in one action?" the Yatol asked sincerely.
"I believe that we two can take one large stride, that is all," Brynn replied. ?And will Jacintha not benefit from the alliance with Dharielle?"
"Dharyan-Dharielle," Mado Wadon corrected a moment later, and Brynn smiled wide and looked to the side, to a nodding Pagonel.
The great army encircling Dharyan-Dharielle stood down that same afternoon, even sending supplies in to the beleaguered To-gai-ru.
"It was not done without arguments among the Yatols," Pagonel assured Brynn.
"Let them fight, then," the woman replied.
"You risked much."
"Every step of my journey," said Brynn.
The city under Brynn's control actually had more Behrenese