“You’re leaving us?” asked D’zan. “On the eve of this great invasion?”
Sharadza turned to the man she had married and left. I wondered if she still loved him.
“We have little time, but there is no other choice,” she said. “We will try to return before the invasion force makes land. Until then you must prepare your troops for what is to come.”
“Sit here and wait for death?” Undutu rose from his chair, a fist wrapped about the hilt of his cutlass. “No! This is not the way Men protect their homes. We must sail to meet this Zyung. In three days our ships can make the Jade Isles. There we can form a vanguard against these invaders.”
“Would you sail into a hopeless battle?” asked Vireon, speaking for the first time. All eyes turned to the man-sized Giant-King. “What hope have you of bringing down this aerial fleet? My sister speaks truly: We must stay and fortify. To meet Zyung’s armada at the Jade Isles would be folly.”
“Listen to the Giant-King,” I encouraged them. “Let the battle be fought here, at the edge of our continent, far from your great cities. Khyrei itself is already battle-scarred. Tong has only a fraction of its former fleet to offer, but here he has the aid of the fierce Sydathians. You must fight this battle on land, not on sea.”
Undutu’s eyes narrowed. He turned to Khama, who looked as though he might be the Mumbazan King’s grandfather. Perhaps he was. Khama has always kept his own secrets.
“There is only one wizard whose words I trust,” said Undutu. “Khama, what say you?”
Khama met my own gaze with a look of sorrow. He had avoided sending Mumbaza to war for centuries, yet that time of peace was at an end. I knew he loved the young King as a man loves his own son. He knew as well as I that Undutu sought the glory of battle to prove his manhood. I wondered, not for the first time, at the wisdom of letting warriors be made into Kings. Khama lifted a goblet and drank deep of the red vintage of Tong’s hospitality.
“I will follow the will of my King,” said Khama. “The time of long peace is done. This saddens me. Yet the quickest route through the maze of war is a straight line. If you wish to face your enemies, Majesty, then I will accompany and aid you as always. Even unto death.”
My patience had reached its end. I slammed my palm against the table, displacing several cups of wine. My throat ached for a drink of the heady stuff, but I had foresworn it. Now was not the time for drunken self-pity. Now was the time to speak sense to those who chose not to listen.
Undutu faced D’zan, his fellow southern King. Their fleets had circumnavigated the continent in anticipation of a great bloodshed at Khyrei, yet it was not to be. Despite a few isolated sea battles, their bloodlust had not been quenched.
“Do you remember the words of our treaty, D’zan?” asked Undutu.
D’zan nodded, refilling his own goblet. “If Mumbaza sails for the Jade Isles…”–he paused to quaff the wine–“then Yaskatha sails with her.” His green eyes turned toward me, then to Sharadza. “Honor demands it,” he explained. His voice was weary.
Tyro saw his moment. “So be it,” he declared. “The double fleet will meet the invaders at Ongthaia while the armies of Uurz, Udurum, and Khyrei fortify the coast. Do I speak for you in this matter, Vireon?”
The Giant-King nodded. Both monarchs of the north turned their faces to Tong, whose translator strove to keep up with the conversation. After a moment Tong’s pale face broke into a smile. He spoke in his native Khyrein, his message delivered by the translator: “My true friends, our nations will stand together against this Conqueror from the world’s far side. In the red fury to come, let our peoples forge a friendship that will outlast the terrors of war. Although our forces are in disarray and will take some time to assemble, Khyrei stands with Uurz and Udurum.”
“No!” The word burst out of me. I looked from kingly face to face. I felt like a raving old man in the midst of foolhardy youths. “If you do this, if you split your forces, your fleets will be crushed. Three kingdoms will be conquered before Zyung ever sets foot on your soil. Are you prepared for this?”
“Then give us a weapon, Shaper!” demanded Undutu. “Your power is great! Make us mighty. Is there nothing you can do to help us besides speak of doom and death? Give us an army of demons to fight for us. Give us tactical advice that we can use if nothing else. Will you help us resist this horde, or run off and leave us to our fate?”
I looked to Khama, whose face was apologetic.
“The Dreadnoughts of Zyung will not break easily,” I said. “They are creations of sorcery. Demons will only betray mortal Men, King Undutu. I will not unleash a plague of them on this land that is already beset with so many horrors. I will… attempt… to view the future again. To see something that might aid you in this foolish gambit.”