The Pages of the Mind Read Online Free PDF

not that, though I appreciate the sentiment. No matter the state of affairs between us, I do not relish facing my own brother in battle. Though there’s no question I would, should it come to that. No—every one of those one hundred soldiers could fight off ten men. In a strategic position, they could defeat a force one hundred times their size.”
    I wrote the numbers out, careful to be exact with the zeros. The state of our military wasn’t one of my strengths, but the recent conflicts had severely depleted Ordnung’s guard. If we were to assemble an army of more than ten thousand, we’d need to draw on the forces of the subject kingdoms. Not a popular move, given recent events. Particularly as we’d regret stirring the pot with Duranor until those ruffled feathers had settled.
    â€œBut they’re not in a strategic position. They’re traveling in the open, in a land completely foreign to them, where they are unlikely to know the language. They could be cut off and surrounded on all sides. I can’t get sufficient forces in place in time to stop them, but they can’t know that. I would hope, anyway. As it is, they have no fortifications, no supply wagons. They’ll have to buy or kill for food. It seems risky, even foolhardy.” Ursula paced to the map, bending over to stare at it, as if by looking long enough, she could see General Kral for herself. “If he’s bent on conquest and you believe he has more forces on ships offshore, why not bring everyone on land? He could have taken over Ehas, had the benefit of the city’s food and shelter, probably secured all of Elcinea before we even knew they were there.”
    â€œI don’t know.” Harlan sounded grimly perplexed, seething with something darker than the need to fight. “I wouldn’t have predicted any of this from him. Unless things have changed dramatically since I left Dasnaria, he wouldn’t be here without permission from Emperor Hestar, who’s never had any interest in these lands before. It’s possible Kral came only with his battalion, though that would be a first for him. And why land all the way around at Ehas? Any one of a number of ports in Avonlidgh and Aerron would have been closer. Did they leave a ship at harbor in Ehas?”
    â€œThat would be good to know. It would also be useful to know their speed, but we can’t get eyes on any of this or messages back and forth any faster than you think they’re moving.” Ursula gave the map a black, frustrated glare.
    â€œI have an idea,” I put in.
    â€œWhat?” she asked without looking up.
    â€œZynda can take a winged form, right? Send her to look. You trust her.”
    â€œI should have thought of that.” She nodded at me. “Send for her.”
    I handed a hastily written note to a page outside the doors to take to Zynda. Ursula’s Tala cousin, Zynda had returned with us from Annfwn, expressing a desire to see the world beyond the fallen barrier. A shape-shifter who also possessed some undefined magical skills, Zynda reminded me a great deal of Andi—and also of Salena, their common ancestor.
    â€œWhere did you bring the Vervaldr ashore?” Ursula was asking Harlan as I returned.
    Harlan reached over and tapped a point on the Avonlidgh coast, a port town so small it wasn’t noted on the map. “Here. At Ryalin.”
    â€œOf course. That’s where Uorsin told you to land,” she mused. Uorsin’s secret importation of the mercenary Vervaldr still rankled her. “You came up the back roads and stayed away from the main trade routes near Windroven, Lianore, and the Danu River, so few would see you pass.”
    â€œAnd we traveled at night, also by instruction,” Harlan said.
    â€œYour brother wouldn’t have known the best place to land, without someone here telling him.”
    â€œNo, very little was known of the Twelve and Annfwn in Dasnaria.