“The reason King Stephan and the Legion are here, the reason they came to the plains in the first place: the death of his father and their King, Maarten.” He paused to let the words sink in, then added, “Stephan isn’t here to keep the Alvritshai and dwarren from forming an alliance. That’s a pretext. They have their own problems with the Andovans attacking their coastline. And yet, with no provocation, King Stephan came out here to the plains. He-and all of his men-are here for revenge. That is why they will be next to impossible to defeat. They came to fight because they have something to fight for.”
The lords sat back, exchanging troubled glances. Aeren closed his eyes and bowed his head, images of the previous battle at the Escarpment running through his mind. When he finally glanced back up, he saw similar pained expressions on most of the lords in the room, some tinged with guilt.
But that was the past. Nothing could change it.
Aeren turned to Lotaern, brow creased. “You said there were two factors I neglected to mention. What’s the second?”
Lotaern smiled… and yet Aeren felt himself shiver. “The second you could not have known about. You forgot to factor in the men I brought with me, the acolytes, the Order of the Flame.”
Peloroun snorted. “And what good will acolytes do us?”
“They’re more than mere acolytes,” Lotaern said, voice laden with a satisfaction. “They are warriors of Aielan.”
“You led us here, Cochen. We should fight! My Riders are willing, even if others are not.”
Sipa, clan chief of Silver Grass, sneered in Garius’ direction as the other clan chiefs grunted in agreement. Garius tried not to react, even though the yetope smoke in the meeting tent was thick and heady. Shea bristled beside him at the insult, made to stand, but Garius held him back. His son’s scathing look shifted to him.
“The Thousand Spring Riders are ready to fight,” Shea growled.
“We did not come here to fight,” Garius rumbled. He turned his attention to Harticur, the Cochen, who was the only clan chief standing, and repeated, more harshly, “We did not come here to fight the humans or the Alvritshai.”
“We did not intend to come here, to the Cut, at all!” Harticur retorted. His face was flushed from the heat of the tent and the fight to hold the dwarren line after the brutal death of the Alvritshai Tamaell. “But we are here now. We should seize the opportunity. The humans are not interested in us. It was clear on the battlefield. They lust for Alvritshai blood.”
“Let the Alvritshai wear them down,” Sipa said, and most of the other clan chiefs nodded and stroked their beards. “Then strike when they are weakened.”
“We came here to speak to the Tamaell,” Garius countered.
“And the Tamaell is dead! Murdered by the humans in front of our eyes! The humans cannot be trusted.”
A thread of doubt slid through Garius. Sipa was correct. The Tamaell had been killed by a human, although how it was done he had no idea. Even there, in the parley tent, the conflict had centered on the Alvritshai and the humans. Harticur, Garius, and the rest of the dwarren had been forgotten, were able to escape the tent and retreat to their Riders unmolested. Harticur had fought only to keep the human and Alvritshai conflict from overrunning the dwarren, nothing more.
But now, Sipa’s words were causing the Cochen to reconsider. He could see it in Harticur’s eyes as he stared down at the brazier taking up the center of the tent, mimicking the central fire pit of the keeva in each of their warrens. His hands were resting on his knees where he sat cross- legged before the burning coals.
No one spoke for a long moment, everyone inhaling the smoke and contemplating the humans’ treachery and the Tamaell’s death. And then:
“The death was not natural.”
All of the clan chiefs turned toward the gravelly, wizened voice of Harticur’s shaman, Corteq. Wreathed in tendrils of smoke, his hard eyes latched onto each of the clan chiefs for a moment as he scanned the room before returning to the Cochen.
“The gods are troubled. The death was not natural, the events cloudy and obscured. Much turmoil there, much that I do not understand.” He waved his hand through the smoke, appearing to be staring at the patterns it made before him.
“What do you see?” Harticur asked.
“The world is Turning, and the Four Winds have begun to blow. Nothing is clear.” Corteq stared at the tendrils a moment longer, his eyes slightly dilated, then grunted and leaned back. “Tread carefully, Cochen. Your choice will determine the fate of the People of the Lands.”
Harticur frowned, the rest of the clan chiefs stirring uneasily.
“We should attack the humans. It is a chance to avenge our unsettled ancenstors’ spirits,” Sipa said, and Garius saw at least three of the dwarren nodding in agreement, including Shea.
Harticur’s brow furrowed, and he looked up at Garius.
Garius thought for a long moment. This was his last chance to convince Harticur, the last chance to sway him toward peace. “We are at the Cut. If you attack and the humans rally, if the Alvritshai join them…”
Tension tightened the corners of Harticur’s mouth and he nodded.
“Do you think they will make a difference?” Eraeth asked, nodding toward the ranks of the Order of the Flame behind them.
Aeren shifted in his saddle, turning from his perusal of the churned plains to look back, squinting into the light of the rising sun. “I don’t know,” he said carefully. “Lotaern wasn’t forthcoming about what they could do. But he claims that they are more than simple warriors.”
The acolytes had formed up into lines, four deep. Dressed in armor similar to what most of the House Phalanx wore, they could have blended into any of the surrounding Houses and been indistinguishable from the rest of the Alvritshai… except for their white tabards. Those tabards blazed in the morning sunlight, the stylized flames on their front picked out in gold. He recalled seeing these acolytes emerging from the Sanctuary in Caercaern, felt the same sickening twist of dread in his stomach as he had then.
“The Order was never meant to have a Phalanx,” he murmured, even as Lotaern rode to the front of his acolytes on his white horse, a standard-bearer with the blue and white flame emblem on his banner a step behind.
“It appears he has one now,” Eraeth said.
Aeren glanced toward his Protector. “We’ll see for how long.”
Eraeth merely grunted.
During the meeting of the Evant the night before, Aeren had seen the deepening lines of concern on the Tamaell Presumptive’s face as they planned, as Lotaern revealed more and more about his warriors, his Order of the Flame.
But the Order and its army could wait. He turned his attention back to the ranks of the Alvritshai and the field.
The Houses of the Evant were set up the same as the day before, spread out in a wide v-shape, Thaedoren and House Resue at its point, where it would intersect both the dwarren and human forces. The Duvoraen Phalanx had been kept back as a reserve at Lord Barak’s and Vaersoom’s insistence; they were even more concerned over their loyalties after the allegations of Khalaek’s involvement in the Tamaell’s death, though they had fought well. In fact, they demanded that the caitan be relieved of command and the force given over to one of the Lords of the Evant instead. Peloroun opposed the action, supported by Aeren, much to the Lord of House Ionaen’s surprise. After much argument, Thaedoren settled the matter by pointing out that the Duvoraen had already proven themselves as reserve units and that Khalaek’s men had proved they would follow the caitan of House Duvoraen’s commands.
Everyone else had claimed the same positions along the line and now stood waiting as the sky lightened, the sun finally emerging completely above the horizon behind them. Aeren fidgeted in his saddle, unable to find a position that didn’t aggravate the aches and bruises from yesterday’s battle. The parley tent had collapsed and been ground into the earth, one stake with a fold of cloth still attached jutting upward toward the sky. He stared at it a long moment, a different ache building in his chest. To either side, he could see the dwarren and human lines, too distant to discern faces but close enough to see movement among the men. Banners flapped in a gusting wind. Horses stamped and huffed, jangling their bridles.
