‘They’re moving up to the border, Vanion-Preceptor,’ Engessa replied quietly. ‘They aren’t being very subtle about it. We’ve been disrupting their supply lines and ambushing their scouting parties just to keep them off-balance, but it’s fairly obvious that they plan to come across the line in force.’

Vanion nodded. ‘It’s more or less what we expected, then. If it’s all right with you, your Majesty, I’d like to get my men settled in before we get too involved in discussions. I can always think better after I’ve seen to all the details.’

‘Of course,’ Betuana agreed. ‘Engessa-Atan and I have arranged quarters for them. When will you be leaving for Samar?’

‘Tomorrow or the next day, Betuana-Queen. Tikume’s Peloi are probably spread a little thin down there. He has a lot of ground to cover.’

‘He sent back to Pela for more men, Vanion-Lord,’ Engessa advised. ‘You’ll have a sizeable force in Samar in a week or so.’

‘Good. Let me go back and hurry the knights along. We have much to discuss.’

Night settled early at the bottom of the gorge of the River Sarna, and it was fully dark by the time Vanion joined the others in the headquarters of the city’s Atan garrison. Like all Atan structures, the building was severely utilitarian and devoid of any embellishment. The lone exception in the conference room in which they gathered was a very large map covering one entire wall. The map was brightly colored and dotted here and there with fanciful illustrations. Vanion had bathed hurriedly and now wore plain clothing. The years had taught him that armor was impressive and even useful at times, but that no one had yet devised a way to make it comfortable or to eliminate its characteristic smell.

‘Are the quarters satisfactory?’ Betuana enquired politely.

‘Most satisfactory, your Majesty,’ he replied, settling into a chair. ‘Have you been advised of the details of our meeting with the Child Goddess?’

She nodded. ‘Itagne-Ambassador gave me a report,’ she replied. She paused. ‘One is curious to know why one was excluded,’ she added.

‘Theological considerations, your Majesty,’ Vanion explained. ‘As I understand it, the Gods have an exquisitely complex etiquette in these situations. Aphrael didn’t want to offend your God by inviting his children to her island. There were some other rather conspicuous absences as well. Emperor Sarabian was there and Ambassador Itagne, but Foreign Minister Oscagne wasn’t.’

Itagne frowned slightly. ‘The Emperor and I are skeptics – agnostics, I suppose you could call us – but Oscagne’s an out-and-out atheist. Would that account for it?’

‘It might. I’ll ask Aphrael the next time I talk with her.’

Engessa looked around. ‘I didn’t see Kring-Domi when we met you, Vanion-Preceptor,’ he noted.

‘Kring took his men and veered off toward Samar not long after you and her Majesty left us to come on ahead. He thought he’d be more useful there than he would here in Sarna – and you know how the western Peloi feel about mountains and forests. Have the Cynesgans made any forays across the border as yet?’

‘No, Vanion-Preceptor,’ Engessa replied. ‘They’re massing in staging areas and bringing up supplies.’ He rose and went to the map. ‘A large force moved out of Cynestra a while back,’ he said, pointing at the Cynesgan capital. ‘They’re positioned near the border more or less opposite us here. Another force has taken up a similar position just across the line from Samar.’

Vanion nodded. ‘Cyrgon’s more like a general than a God in most ways. He’s not going to leave fortified positions to his rear. He’ll have to neutralize Samar and Sarna before he can strike any deeper into Tamul Proper. I’d say that the force you’re facing here has been ordered to take Sarna, seal the southern border of Atan and then swing northeast toward Tualas. I’m sure they’d rather not have the entire Atan nation come swarming down out of these mountains.’

‘There aren’t enough Cynesgans living to keep my people hemmed in,’ Betuana told him.

‘I’m sure of it, your Majesty, but there probably are enough to slow you down, and Cyrgon can recruit armies from the past to hinder you all the more.’ He studied the map, his lips pursed. ‘I think I see where he’s going,’ he said. ‘Matherion’s on a peninsula, and that narrow neck of land at Tosa is the key to that. If I had to wager anything on it, I’d say that the main battle’s going to take place there. Scarpa will move north out of Natayos. Probably the southern Cynesgans are planning to capture Samar and then swing around the north shore of the Sea of Arjun to join him somewhere in the vicinity of the Tamul Mountains. From there the combined army can march up the west shore of the Gulf of Micae to Tosa.’ He smiled faintly. ‘Of course, there’s a very nasty surprise waiting for them in the Tamul Mountains. I’d imagine that before this is over, Cyrgon will wish that he’d never heard of the Trolls.’

‘I will send an army out of northern Atan to Tosa, Vanion-Preceptor,’ Betuana said, ‘but I’ll leave enough of my people along the southern and eastern borders to tie up half of the Cynesgans.’

‘In the meantime I think we can disrupt their preparations,’ Engessa added. ‘Raids in force across that border will delay their main attack.’

‘And that’s all we really need,’ Vanion chuckled. ‘If we can delay them long enough, Cyrgon’s going to have a hundred thousand Church Knights swarming across his western frontier. I think he’ll forget about Tosa at that point.’

‘Don’t worry about him, Fron,’ Stragen told Sparhawk. ‘He can take care of himself.’

‘I think we sometimes forget that he’s only a boy, Vymer. He doesn’t even shave regularly yet.’

‘Reldin stopped being a boy before his voice started to change.’ Stragen leaned back on his bed reflectively. ‘Those of us in our particular line of work tend to lose our childhoods,’ he said. ‘It might have been nice to roll hoops and catch polliwogs, but …’ He shrugged.

‘What are you going to do when this is all over?’ Sparhawk asked him. ‘Assuming that we survive?’

‘There’s a certain lady of our acquaintance who proposed marriage to me a while back. It’s part of a business arrangement that’s very attractive. The notion of marriage never really appealed to me, but the business proposition’s just too good to pass up.’