Idalia had said that Morusil had survived the plague, but Kellen had left Ysterialpoerin before the first cases had appeared there, and he had never seen what the plague left behind in its aftermath. The livid bars of purple that marred Morusil's face and neck came as a wrenching shock to him. He sprang to his feet as the aged Elven Counselor entered the room, leaning heavily on an ornate wooden staff.
"Morusil! I That is, I hope I find you well."
Morusil chuckled. "Extremely well, my brash young Knight-Mage. I shall tend my gardens for some years yet." He lowered himself into a chair.
Thus rebuked, Kellen sat again as well. Javondir replaced the empty pot with a fresh one, and withdrew, this time closing the doors to the room behind him.
"And so I hear things have gone well for you at Halacira as well, and we shall be welcoming guests within our borders soon."
"In spring, I think," Kellen answered. "Travel simply isn't possible in the winter."
"Yes, the winter has been unusually hard. But it promises an excellent if wet spring. The fruit trees should flourish, if the orchards receive proper drainage."
And they were back onto the topic of the weather.
After several more cups of tea at least Kellen was able to turn the topic of the weather to conditions south of Sentarshadeen, which actually interested him Morusil allowed Kellen to turn the conversation to more practical matters.
"But you will not have come to talk about the weather."
"Actually, it is a matter of interest to me, for the reason that the weather always affects the army, especially when it must travel. And I hope that the army will soon be traveling a very great distance."
"I am told that the army has already traveled a great distance. From Ysterialpoerin to Ondoladeshiron in one footstep is a great journey."
"The Enemy is not at Ondoladeshiron, Morusil. And it isn't Their goal. For moonturns we've known They mean to take Armethalieh. Now we know that Idalia has called up, well, Cilarnen isn't really sure what. Shalkan calls it a 'Great Power.' But whatever it is, They don't like it. And it seems to be interfering with Their plans to call up Their own Great Power: He Who Is. While They're figuring out just what to do about it, They're going to be about as disorganized as They're going to get."
He took a deep breath.
"But there's bad news to go with the good. Vestakia can see into her father's mind a little. What she's seeing seems to say that They are finally massing an army for an all-out battle. If They do that and have Armethalieh to draw on we don't stand a chance."
"You would not have come here solely to tell me that we are doomed, Kellen. That is not in your nature," Morusil observed.
"No. I have come here to tell you that we need to take the army to Armethalieh now. Get there before They do, and convince the Armethaliehans to fight on our side."
"It would please me to know how you intend to do this, as they will listen to none of us."
"They'll listen to Cilarnen," Kellen said grimly. "He's one of them. It's true he was Banished, but he was supposed to have been stripped of his Magegift before they turned him out, and he still has it. That will make them listen. He can tell them about Anigrel, and everything he's done to betray them to the Enemy. The High Mages are powerful. I don't think Anigrel can fight them openly and win and if he tries, he'll just be proving that Cilarnen's right. Morusil, it's the only chance I see for us. We can't let Them take Armethalieh."
"But to take the army out of the Elven Lands," Morusil said slowly. "Under whose command?"
"Redhelwar is the commander of the army," Kellen said, feeling his way. "If he is ordered to go west and prevent Them from taking Armethalieh, he will do that."
"Taking the advice of his Knight-Mage as to the best way to proceed," Morusil said.
"I hope Redhelwar will always listen to the counsel of the Wild Magic," Kellen said honestly. "Mine, and Idalia's, and Jermayan's, and that of all the other Wildmages who ride with the army."
"A good answer," Morusil said. "Yet I can still not give you the answer you hope for. That answer must come from the King, and Andoreniel is yet too weak to give counsel."
"Morusil, I must have an answer. Redhelwar will be at Halacira within a sennight," Kellen said desperately.
"And Halacira lies two days' ride from here. Yet I believe an army travels more slowly than a single rider, especially in winter. So it will be perhaps ten days before I see you again. Leaf and Star grant you can obtain an answer at that time."
And Gods of the Wild Magic grant that it's the one I need.
But there was nothing more he could do here, and Kellen knew it. If any of the surviving members of Andoreniel's Council was willing to grant Kellen's request, it was Morusil. Tyendimarquen would have refused out of hand, and Dargainon would simply have debated both sides of the matter until the Demons arrived in Sentarshadeen itself.
"I thank you for all your help both that you have already given me, and that you have yet to give. And may Leaf and Star watch over us both."
"That is a prayer I make daily, Kellen Knight-Mage."
* * * * *
WALKING back out to the Unicorn Meadow through the snow, Kellen did his best to believe that his visit to Sentarshadeen had not been useless.
He knew he'd needed to go, to put his request before Morusil.
At least he'd gotten orders to bring the army as far as Sentarshadeen. What they were going to do with it here if they didn't take it to Armethalieh, he didn't know.
"I take it you didn't get what you wanted?" Shalkan asked, apparently materializing out of a snowdrift.
Kellen produced a couple of iced cakes out of his tunic when confronted with a plate full of pastry, he'd automatically tucked several away for the unicorn. Lamarethiel and Javondir might have thought his behavior a little odd, but they'd never been confronted with a greedy unicorn with a sweet tooth demanding to know why they hadn't brought him back anything from an Elven tea.
"Yes and no. In other words, Morusil heard me out, and told me to come back with the whole army, when he'd let me know."
"A little ambiguous," Shalkan remarked, around a mouthful of cake.
"I suppose he can't say much else," Kellen said reluctantly. "He can't give me or Redhelwar, really the army without Andoreniel's permission, and Andoreniel is still too weak to be consulted. Morusil's hoping he'll be stronger ten days from now."
"Let's hope so," Shalkan said.
* * * * *
KELLEN did not spend the time waiting for Redhelwar to arrive in leisure, however. Even though he only had a few thousand horses, there were preparations to make to leave Halacira, especially since he must provide for a permanent force to be left behind. As he was doing that, he also sent a dispatch to Redhelwar, so the General would know he was now to proceed directly to Sentarshadeen.
Kellen did not think at all about what he would do, or need to do, if he did not receive the answer he needed when he returned to Sentarshadeen. None of this, as Kellen had realized long ago, was about him and what he needed. It was all about the Wild Magic and its balance, and whatever was best for that was what was going to happen.
He only hoped his nerves could stand it.
Meanwhile, there was the far more mundane (but still important) matter of telling Cilarnen it was time to pack and move again and this time, if Fortune favored them, Cilarnen would have no fixed workspace ever again.
But here Cilarnen had anticipated him.
"I shall need two oxen," he said, when Kellen came to tell him the news. "Six draft horses would be better faster but I suppose they can't be found. And at any rate, I shan't need to travel any faster than the army does."
"Would it be a great deal of trouble, o' Exalted High Mage, if you told me just what you're talking about?" Kellen asked.
In answer, Cilarnen pulled out one of his books and opened it. There was a drawing of a cart unlike anything Kellen had ever seen, though it looked a little like the wagons in which the Elven children had first been sent to the Fortress of the Crowned Horns: a little house on wheels, with a door, windows, and roof. Kellen even saw what looked like a hearth built into one side. The conveyance was drawn by four large horses.