Arai soon found himself at a meeting with Grizz and the others, discussing this turn of events. Vaix was there, along with Feri, Bastion, Kel, and a few other veteran Steelmen; Lillandra, Shell, and Sir Estil were on hand to observe the proceedings as well. All were wearing grim expressions, for this news was very bad indeed: Dayan and the Holy Legion were headed directly for them.

  "We have three options, as I see it," Grizz said, steepling his fingers. "We can return to Velon, as planned, and do what we can to fortify Fort Drakness and Hammersvik. It's unlikely we'll be able to hold off the Holy Legion for more than an afternoon, should they cross the Tuv, but it is an option. We might also attempt to slow their progress, by harrying them with hit-and-run attacks as they make their way north. The Holy Legion is enormous, however, and I don't think it's possible for us to do any significant damage to them. We aren't even four hundred men."

  "And the third option?" Arai asked.

  He shrugged. "We get out of their way. We find ourselves a new employer somewhere, in the Marquisates perhaps, and forget about all this."

  Kel nodded gravely. "We don't stand a chance against the Holy Legion. It may be best to retreat."

  "We can't abandon Velon," Arai insisted.

  "I loved your father," Kel said. "I would've followed him all the way through the Scarred Lands if he'd asked me. And I followed his son into Velon for his sake, to strike a blow against the men who murdered him. But Velon's cause isn't my cause. We're mercenaries here, Arai. We have no cause."

  "If Dayan succeeds in unifying the Holy Empire under his rule, there won't be any more mercenary wars for you to fight down in the Duchies or the Marquisates," Arai argued. "You'll all be out of a job."

  "He has a point there," Bastion conceded, with a bit of a laugh.

  "Is running away really an option?" Feri wondered. "Dayan knows we helped steal the emperor away from him. I don't think he'll be inclined to let us go our own way."

  "We could try to make some kind of peace with him," Kel suggested.

  "I don't trust Dayan," Grizz said, "or his scheradatze. They're as likely to turn on us as make a deal with us. And I'm not going groveling to him, in any case. That would be beneath us, as Steelmen."

  "Hear, hear," Bastion said.

  "So what do you suggest we do?" Vaix asked.

  "What about the Cyrilles?" Feri suggested. "Dayan's going to have to march through Cyrille Major to get to Velon; they might be willing to put up some resistance."

  Grizz shook his head. "The Cyrilles have never been a major power in the Holy Empire," he said. "Their armies aren't large enough to hold off the Holy Legion, and Duke Cyrille has never been a brave man -- I suspect he'll capitulate as soon as Dayan threatens to enter his territory. As for Cyrille Minor...well, Greentown's Portmaster might have some fight in him, but he only has his city guard and a few hundred men under his command."

  "What about Baron Tot?" someone asked.

  Grizz considered that. "Tot could be an ally," he admitted. "He's a proud, stubborn man, and unlikely to bend his knee to Dayan. But Tot can only field a couple of thousand men, and he'd never commit them against an army the size of Dayan's. The northern strategy is to burn their fields and villages, to deny them to the enemy, and then to escape into the hinterlands beneath the Frozen Mountains."

  While the Steelmen continued to discuss their options, Lillandra pulled Arai aside. "I have an idea."

  "Yes?"

  "The Dragon's Bit."

  He frowned. "I don't understand."

  "I left it at the Nightfall. It should still be there. I can use it to summon an army of monsters out of the Frozen Mountains. I can use it to drive out the Al'mud and to defend Velon from the Holy Legion."

  "Are you sure?"

  "I defeated Reemus' armies with it," she said, shrugging. "It was the most powerful zemi in my collection. Its reach was much greater than that of an ordinary Dragon's Bit; I used it to call up monsters from hundreds of miles away, including Catalyus."

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  "Catalyus was one of a kind, though. Are there any other dragons of his size still lurking in the Frozen Mountains?"

  "I don't know," she admitted. "But do you have any other ideas?"

  He snorted. He had forgotten that Lillandra was the Night Queen, that she had conquered Velon all by herself; she was perhaps the most potent weapon in their arsenal. "No, I don't." He turned to the others, then, and told them of Lillandra's idea.

  Grizz was skeptical. "How can you be sure this Dragon's Bit is still there?"

  "You'll just have to trust me," Arai said.

  "The Nightfall is sealed," Feri pointed out. "It's impossible to get inside. I spent several days working on it; I couldn't begin to untangle the spell protecting it."

  "I can do it," Lillandra said confidently.

  Feri raised an eyebrow. "She's a very powerful sorceress," Arai explained. "As I'm sure you've noticed."

  "I have noticed," Feri said suspiciously, eyeing Lillandra.

  "If we could get our hands on the Night Queen's collection of magical artifacts," Grizz said thoughtfully, "we just might be able to turn the tables on Dayan and Bellarue, to say nothing of Rollaug and the Al'mud. I like this idea, but it is risky. If these artifacts can't be found...if we can't enter the Nightfall..." He scratched at his shaggy hair. "Tell me it can be done."

  "It can be done," he said firmly.

  Grizz nodded. "Very well. I trusted you once, I suppose; I can trust you again." He snorted. "Besides, I did promise to return with you to Velon, if you succeeded in rescuing the emperor for me."

  "I wasn't going to bring it up," Arai said.

  "All right, then. That's settled. We'll proceed to Velon, do what we can to shore up Fort Drakness' defenses, and hope to hell that Leila here can get herself into the Nightfall before we're pinned between the Holy Legion and Rollaug's barbarians. Vaix! Send a message to Baron Tot, asking if he'd be willing to send a few soldiers our way; even a token force would be helpful."

  "It will take time for Dayan's army to make its way across Cyrille Major," Kel pointed out. "And the Tuv will slow him down even further; there's no bridges over the western fork, which means he'll either have to build one himself or ferry his army across. He may decide to wait until the Tuv freezes over."

  "And how long will that be?" Vaix asked.

  "This is Velon we're talking about," he said. "It could happen tomorrow."

  "We don't have much time, then," Grizz said. "Prepare to move out."

  The assembled Steelmen nodded and left Grizz's tent, to carry out his orders. Arai and the others left as well, but as he was exiting the tent, he was stopped by Feri. "I'd like to talk to you," she said. She threw a glance at Lillandra. "Privately."

  Lillandra frowned. "It's all right," Arai told her. "Why don't you start packing our things?"

  She nodded and walked off with Shell and the others, leaving Arai alone with the sorceress. "What is this about?" he asked.

  "It's about Leila," she said. "Tell me again where you found her."

  "I met her in the east," he said, "in a country called Addis." This was the lie they had settled upon.

  "She's incredibly powerful. She's been trying to hide it, but I can see the magia swirling around her like a maelstrom; it's impossible to miss."

  "I know," he said. "I know she's powerful."

  "And yet I haven't seen her cast a single spell. She doesn't even light your campfires at night."

  "She's not very good at casting. She told me that."

  Arai couldn't see Feri's face very well -- it was hidden beneath her hood -- but her skepticism was obvious. "How well do you know her?"

  "We've been together for two years," he said. "She's saved my life half a dozen times."

  "Is she your lover?"

  Annoyed, Arai finally snapped: "Is that any of your business?"

  "It could be. This extremely powerful sorceress seems to have you wrapped around her little finger. She's not wearing a glamour, and I'm pretty sure she hasn't cast a spell on you, but sorceresses of her caliber don't go around roughing it with mercenaries like you and me if they can help it. She's after something."

  "I don't--"

  "And you lied to me just now. You didn't find her in the far east -- she's a Hardways girl, a Velonese. I know the look."

  Arai sighed. "What are you suggesting?"

  "Simply that you keep an eye on her," she said. "I certainly will be."

  * * *

  "You don't think she's figured it out?" Lillandra asked him a few minutes later, after he had told her of his conversation with Feri. "That I'm actually the Night Queen?"

  "No," he said. "But she's suspicious. And she has every right to be -- mages as powerful as you only come around once every couple of generations, and they almost always make some kind of mark on the world. And if she's managed to convince herself that you're actually Velonese...well, how many insanely powerful Velonese sorceresses are there in the world?"

  "Do you think she'll tell Grizz?" Shell asked.

  "I don't know. But we shouldn't give her any more reason to be suspicious. Watch what you say around her...around everyone, for that matter. And stick to our story. Lillandra is Leila, a sorceress from Addis, and the Night Queen is dead. I killed her myself at the Nightfall."

  "I don't like to lie," Sir Estil grumbled.

  "I understand," Arai said. "But if the truth gets out, Lillandra will be in terrible danger. The Night Queen terrorized Velon for a hundred years; no one's going to believe that she's reformed."

  They nodded reluctantly. "We're almost there," Arai said, in an attempt to boost their spirits. "In another week we'll have made it to Hammersvik, and as soon as we get our hands on the Dragon's Bit, we can end this war and get back to our lives. Right?"

  They nodded again, but rather glumly; they clearly didn't think it would be that easy. And truth be told, Arai didn't think it would be that easy, either -- when had it ever been easy? But they were almost to Velon, and he could feel in his bones that his long quest -- which had begun four years ago, with the murder of his father and his own search for Silus -- was finally nearing its end.