'BLOODY hell!'
Idalia threw her tankard into the spring and began to swear in low passionate tones. Some of the words Kellen had heard on the City docks; some of them he could only guess at the meaning of. She pounded her knee with a closed fist as she vilified every member of the Council, particularly Lycaelon.
Finally she turned from profanity to language that didn't make his ears burn quite so much.
'That pompous precious prancing ass, that demagogue, that warmonger, that coward—simpering around like a maiden whose feelings are hurt and getting everyone else to do his dirty work for him, that—that— Oh, if Mother were only there, she'd spank him!'
At last she ran out of words and simply sat there, head down, breathing hard, as Kellen watched her anxiously.
Extend the borders of Armethalieh … to here? But that's crazy. We're hundreds of miles from the City. Shalkan had to run at top speed for a night and a day to get here, and a unicorn is faster than… How can the City possibly control this much territory!
Of course, the Mages could claim it… all that involved was the casting of a Boundary Spell. The magickal cost would be high, but that was the City's problem.
And once they'd claimed it…
He looked up, and saw Shalkan watching him from the edge of the clearing.
'Is there trouble?' the unicorn asked.
'The City's going to expand its boundaries—to here,' Kellen said bleakly.
Shalkan snorted and started back, then stamped his forehoof angrily.
'There's nothing for it, then,' Idalia said angrily, fishing her tankard out of the spring, pouring the water out, and getting to her feet. 'We'll have to warn the villages and move farther west. Into the Elven lands, I guess—they won't dare try to intrude there.'
'You mean we're just going to run?' Kellen said indignantly, getting to his feet as well. 'Just because the City decides it wants somebody else's land? Why should we move? We should stay and fight!'
'Don't be an idiot,' Idalia said blightingly. Then she shook her head, and moderated her tone. 'I'm sorry, Kellen—I didn't mean that; I'm angry at them, not you. You heard our beloved and most merciful father, though, and you should know what that means. They're going to set the borders and then send a Scouring Hunt. They won't even send out a Lawspeaker with a decree this time to give the Otherfolk time to get away. A Scouring Hunt is just that. They'll send Hounds, hundreds of them. You and Shalkan fought two packs and barely survived. How can we —and half a dozen villages full of innocent, unarmed villagers without an ounce of magic among them, at least half of them mere children—fight against pack after pack after pack of Hounds?'
'Well, they can run, but we should fight!' Kellen exclaimed, feeling his face grow hot.
'And what if all my friends here decide to help us—they will, you know,' she replied tightly. 'And then, because the ones that can fight have stayed, their families stay—'
'It isn't fair,' Kellen muttered angrily, kicking at the ground. 'We shouldn't let them push us around!'
'If we stay and fight—if we don't warn them—they'll die, and is that fair?' Idalia demanded.
Kellen hung his head. 'No,' he whispered. 'But it isn't fair,' he repeated.
'I know,' Idalia said gently, 'but it's the right thing to do.' She sighed, and upended the tankard, shaking out the last of the water. 'The right thing to do is almost always the hardest.'
'How—how long do we have?' Kellen asked. His voice shook, just a little.
'Shalkan?' she asked.
'A moonturn at least,' the unicorn said, tilting his head to the side for a moment of thought. 'They'll have to gather the power to set the Bounds, then gather more to awaken the stone Hounds, even with every stonecutter in the City working day and night to craft as many as they'll need. They'll see no need for haste.'
'You don't think so?' Idalia looked skeptical.
'How could the Western Hills possibly know what a special treat lies in store for them?' the unicorn said sarcastically. He tossed his head. 'And we'll need every moment of time between then and now, so we'd better get
