The Fireseed Wars

Kalvan took a moment to clean out the ash from his pipe barrel. He had to choose his words carefully with Rylla, before she drew the wrong conclusion. Paranoia was a normal state of mind among the Zarthani leadership-Urgothi, too, if Theovacar and Varrack were prime examples-and he didn't want to trip any of her preset mental alarms.

"Dykar is a typical ambassador; just think of Duke Skranga with charm."

Rylla hooted. "You mean Skranga without food stains on his robe and wearing a wig?"

"Exactly. In the right clothes, Skranga could pass as an ambassador; Dralm knows he can speak circles around most of the breed."

Rylla shook her head. "That would be a sight to see. I wonder how the old fraud is doing in Hos-Bletha?"

"Quite well," said Kalvan, "according to the last dispatch we got from Colonel Ranthar. Their pretender king is causing no end of mischief and it's doubtful that the Grand Host will see any reinforcements from Hos-Bletha for several winters. I just wish all of our plans had been so successful."

"Do not blame yourself, my love." She came over and gave him a big hug. Only the interruption of Cleon arriving with more tea stopped it from turning into something far more fun and definitely more interesting than a discussion about upcoming negotiations with the Nythrosi ambassador.

Kalvan took a sip of his boiling hot (he liked his tea and coffee hot) Ginseng tea, which had the highest caffeine content of any of the local brews. He would have mounted an expedition to central Ethiopia (without the Ottoman Turks, it was doubtful that coffee would have been introduced into Europe), if he had an ocean-worthy craft and more than a few stolen moments, to bring back a sampling of coffee trees. He missed his morning and afternoon coffee pick-me-ups more than he missed listening to the Pirates' baseball games on radio, cold beer or a hot shower!

"Phrames told me that the word in Greffa is that the trade war between Grefftscharr and the Nythros City States is about to go from simmer to boil, if the Nythrosi don't back down. Nythros has been encroaching on several areas the Grefftscharri tend to think of as their own turf-Baltor and Morthron. I believe the Nythrosi may need us as much as we need them, with the enmity of Grefftscharr making us both 'friends.' So, there's no charity here, or reason for double-dealing. Not at the moment."

"I'm glad you clarified that," Rylla replied. "The Nythrosi have a reputation for duplicity and back stabbing. Enough so that we'd even heard about it in distant Hostigos."

"Your warning will be taken into consideration. They're also building up their navy so they need gold-and that we've got."

"Be careful with our Treasury, my husband. Once that's gone, it will be hard to replace."

"I know. Thirteen million ounces of gold seems like a lot, until you have half a million mouths to feed. I will wring the best deal from Dykar I can. We are in far more desperate straits than Nythros: we don't have a potential war, we're in the middle of one. Meanwhile, we have to mount a full-blown invasion while being chased by a buffalo herd called the Grand Host that's about to run us over. We can't expect this gift of time to go on for much longer. As soon as Grand Master Soton returns from Balph, the pursuit will begin. And I mean for all of us to be out of here before that happens. You, my love, will be in Rathon City pinning the ears of that traitorous dog Nestros."

"Not pinning, my husband, but cutting! How many temples of Styphon was he ordered to build after his meeting with former First Speaker Anaxthenes?"

"Sixteen rebuilt and fifty new ones, although some are too far away to pursue and others are still being built. You should be able to sack at least half a dozen of them at fifty thousand ounces of gold a temple. Wasn't that the estimate Harmakros came up with for the amount of gold leaf on a typical Styphon's House Temple dome?"

"Yes, and twice that for the Grand Temples, such as the one at Rathon City!"

"Well, a few of those will go a long way to paying the passage money for the Army of the Saltless Seas that I'll be taking to Thagnor."

"Agreed. My Army of the Trygath will pay for its own way and the storehouses of Rathon City will feed our multitudes. We will not be so fastidious in this war, my husband, about 'living off the land' as you so graciously put it. However, we will step more carefully once we enter Rathon."