Dragons of War by Christopher Rowley Page B

soon start exchanging looks if this went on!
    "We have hurt the enemy, Your Majesty, but we have not seriously damaged his ability to make war. We have infuriated him, however. I can inform you that the barriers on the higher planes that surround Padmasa have been more intense than anything I have ever experienced before. They have outdone themselves in this. I sense that they direct their rage against us. This is my fifth concern. Taken altogether, they indicate to me that the Masters prepare a massive stroke against us. We must mobilize to meet it."
    "Mobilize?" muttered Sausann. "But that will cost a fortune."
    "A fortune, indeed," said Garsk of the Treasury.
    "If we disappoint our friends in Czardha, we will be set back for years. The loss of trust," said Pertruda.
    Lessis sighed to herself. Of all known governing systems on Ryetelth, the Empire of the Rose was the most effective. A benevolent autocracy, balanced by systems designed to protect the populace and keep them strong in the face of adversity. And yet there were times when even this fine imperial system could not be made to work properly.
    "If I may say something," she said. She was not heard.
    Ribela raised a hand. Voices fell silent.
    "My colleague wishes to speak."
    Lessis leveled her grey eyes upon the emperor.
    "We must at least convey an official warning to the Argonathi. In particular to Kadein."
    "They have been warned," said the emperor. "You asked me to do that six months ago, and it was done. They have taken little heed. They trust their own intelligence, they say. They see no unusual activity along the White Bones."
    "But they do not scout beyond the mountains, no one does. We cannot say what the enemy is preparing other than to guess that it will be a great army. We must get them to prepare themselves."
    Pascal Iturgio sighed and spread his hands. The complexity of nudging the powerful Kadeini merchant class into accepting the need for war preparations and restrictions on trade as a result was a task that could try the patience of ten good men, and he was just a single emperor, with little practical power over the merchants of Kadein. Kadein had grown so great and powerful that the Kadeini had begun to think of themselves as separate from the empire in some degree. There was talk of independence. Another reason to send the great fleet to Czardha as soon as possible was to ensure that the subsequent trade boom would be overseen from Andiquant and not from Kadein.
    "All right," he said with a quiet note of firmness. "I take note of Lessis's concern. It will be investigated. We will press the Kadeini to improve their preparedness. But I will not cancel the great fleet yet. It will not sail for another month anyway, and that gives us a little time to think all these matters through more carefully." He spread his hands over the table palms down.
    Lessis bowed her head, as did everyone else. The emperor had given them his decision. Inwardly, Lessis uttered a small prayer of thanks to the Mother.

CHAPTER NINE
    The plotters were a diverse group, three dragons and one dragonboy. They gathered in a remote corner of Fort Dalhousie near the southern wall, where firewood was stored and chopped. All was quiet now among the stacked wood. The chopping crew had just finished work and were busy hauling away two cords of split oak and ash, enough to cook the evening meal for the legion and its dragons and keep kettles boiling through the night.
    The Purple Green and Bazil had been joined by Vlok, another leatherback, who had been with them through the campaign in Ourdh in the previous year. Vlok had brought his dragonboy. Bazil and the Purple Green were certain that this dragonboy, Swane of Revenant, was the right choice for the task at hand.
    "He is bigger than the rest. Bigger than Relkin."
    "He is stupid, too," replied the Purple Green.
    "Hey," muttered Swane.
    "No, my wild friend," said Bazil, "not stupid. No stupid dragonboy lives this long." Swane grinned at