didn't? Something which had convinced him to side openly with Tansen and the Guardians? Could that be what this marriage was about?
Yes, Kiloran needed to know what Baran was up to. He would write that letter to Baran today and make sure it left Cavasar for Belitar by tomorrow.
"Tansen's influence is growing every day," Dyshon warned him. "Whole villages are defying us now, refusing to pay tribute. Refusing to obey. He is..." The assassin hesitated. "He is not the Firebringer, siran , but he is a very dangerous man."
"I know," Kiloran said. "I know better than anyone how dangerous Tansen is."
"How will we stop him?"
"We won't," Kiloran replied. "In the end, we won't need to."
" Siran? "
"Tansen wants all-out war with us. Nothing less will satisfy him." Kiloran suspected it was what that murderous sriliah had always wanted.
"Will we oblige, siran? "
"Oh, yes," Kiloran said. "We will. And when Sileria bleeds hard enough, she will finally turn on him."
Kiloran looked forward to it with relish.
Elelar was relieved to abandon Shaljir as the city sank deep into the deprivations of the dry season. The city-dwellers were hoarding water and rationing their supplies, nervously watching the Idalar River fall lower and lower between its broad banks as the season progressed. If Kiloran meant to act, meant to cripple the city and bring it under the Society's influence, there would never be a better time.
It would happen soon. Everyone believed it.
Then we will find out just how strong or weak we really are.
Elelar, however, would not be in Shaljir for the coming struggle against life-stealing thirst and the fierce power of the Society. The Alliance believed that—due to Elelar's public betrayal of Kiloran the night that Advisor Kaynall declared Valdani surrender in Santorell Square, when she had announced the waterlord's murder of Josarian to the crowd—Shaljir would be too unsafe for her if the city fell to Kiloran.
Torena Elelar shah Hasnari was "only a woman," but she was the most important, most popular woman in Sileria after Mirabar—an irony which Elelar knew the fire-eyed Guardian would not appreciate. Elelar was deemed a great heroine of the rebellion who had risked and sacrificed so much for Sileria's freedom. She was also the legal and moral heir of her grandfather Gaborian's great legacy, since he had founded the Alliance and left his secrets and duties in her care when he died.
Chaos, bickering, war, and religious fervor threatened the newly-freed, war-torn nation, but it was predicted that Elelar, though "only a woman," would play an important (or at least highly visible) role in her country's future, though that role was currently undecided.
Elelar didn't care.
Unlike Toren Varian and the other leaders of the Alliance eagerly hoping—expecting—that their years of service and sacrifice would now reap them power and influence, Elelar expected to die soon. And she was ready.
The Olvar's prophecy had frightened her at first, but she had grown used to the idea. Even welcomed it now. Yes, welcomed it.
To surrender to Mirabar's vengeance for the sake of Sileria; to yield to fate and relinquish her transgressions in the hot flow of Dar's retribution; to be purified by this final sacrifice.
Yes.
If that was her destiny, then she was ready for it. If that was the way it must be, then she didn't want to wait any longer. Indeed, she now longed for it the way other women longed for love.
So she hadn't resisted the Alliance's exhortations that she flee to the safety of a comfortable lowland Sanctuary until Shaljir's ultimate fate was determined. The city was in chaos, the city-dwellers needed their leaders to set a strong example for them, and the problem of the Silerian-born Valdani was far from resolved. Normally, Elelar would have insisted on staying and doing her duty; and she knew that her closest associates were surprised when she didn't.
Her servants were even more surprised when she
Yes, Kiloran needed to know what Baran was up to. He would write that letter to Baran today and make sure it left Cavasar for Belitar by tomorrow.
"Tansen's influence is growing every day," Dyshon warned him. "Whole villages are defying us now, refusing to pay tribute. Refusing to obey. He is..." The assassin hesitated. "He is not the Firebringer, siran , but he is a very dangerous man."
"I know," Kiloran said. "I know better than anyone how dangerous Tansen is."
"How will we stop him?"
"We won't," Kiloran replied. "In the end, we won't need to."
" Siran? "
"Tansen wants all-out war with us. Nothing less will satisfy him." Kiloran suspected it was what that murderous sriliah had always wanted.
"Will we oblige, siran? "
"Oh, yes," Kiloran said. "We will. And when Sileria bleeds hard enough, she will finally turn on him."
Kiloran looked forward to it with relish.
Elelar was relieved to abandon Shaljir as the city sank deep into the deprivations of the dry season. The city-dwellers were hoarding water and rationing their supplies, nervously watching the Idalar River fall lower and lower between its broad banks as the season progressed. If Kiloran meant to act, meant to cripple the city and bring it under the Society's influence, there would never be a better time.
It would happen soon. Everyone believed it.
Then we will find out just how strong or weak we really are.
Elelar, however, would not be in Shaljir for the coming struggle against life-stealing thirst and the fierce power of the Society. The Alliance believed that—due to Elelar's public betrayal of Kiloran the night that Advisor Kaynall declared Valdani surrender in Santorell Square, when she had announced the waterlord's murder of Josarian to the crowd—Shaljir would be too unsafe for her if the city fell to Kiloran.
Torena Elelar shah Hasnari was "only a woman," but she was the most important, most popular woman in Sileria after Mirabar—an irony which Elelar knew the fire-eyed Guardian would not appreciate. Elelar was deemed a great heroine of the rebellion who had risked and sacrificed so much for Sileria's freedom. She was also the legal and moral heir of her grandfather Gaborian's great legacy, since he had founded the Alliance and left his secrets and duties in her care when he died.
Chaos, bickering, war, and religious fervor threatened the newly-freed, war-torn nation, but it was predicted that Elelar, though "only a woman," would play an important (or at least highly visible) role in her country's future, though that role was currently undecided.
Elelar didn't care.
Unlike Toren Varian and the other leaders of the Alliance eagerly hoping—expecting—that their years of service and sacrifice would now reap them power and influence, Elelar expected to die soon. And she was ready.
The Olvar's prophecy had frightened her at first, but she had grown used to the idea. Even welcomed it now. Yes, welcomed it.
To surrender to Mirabar's vengeance for the sake of Sileria; to yield to fate and relinquish her transgressions in the hot flow of Dar's retribution; to be purified by this final sacrifice.
Yes.
If that was her destiny, then she was ready for it. If that was the way it must be, then she didn't want to wait any longer. Indeed, she now longed for it the way other women longed for love.
So she hadn't resisted the Alliance's exhortations that she flee to the safety of a comfortable lowland Sanctuary until Shaljir's ultimate fate was determined. The city was in chaos, the city-dwellers needed their leaders to set a strong example for them, and the problem of the Silerian-born Valdani was far from resolved. Normally, Elelar would have insisted on staying and doing her duty; and she knew that her closest associates were surprised when she didn't.
Her servants were even more surprised when she
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