“You aren’t thinking like a bloody bug,” Raucus said. “She can afford to throw away a million warriors if it means she breaks the back of our heaviest furycraft.”

Lady Placida nodded. “And if we deploy our troops to take advantage of the enemy attack, and she’s lying to us, the vord will be able to take advantage of us. They’ll know where we’ll have to put them to counter the attack. If Invidia is lying, they can use that to their advantage.”

“Hah,” Lord Placida said suddenly.

“Oh,” Lord Cereus said, at the same time. “Oh, Countess. I see now. Well played.”

“Thank you, Your Grace,” Amara said quietly, nodding to each of them.

Raucous scowled, looking back and forth between them. “What?”

“Don’t try to figure it out,” Phrygius muttered. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

“You don’t know any more than I do,” Raucus shot back.

Lady Placida pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger and let out a slow, patient exhale. “Countess, please. For my benefit, please explain.”

Amara gave Lord Placida a slight bow, and said, “Your Grace, if you would?”

Lord Placida returned her bow, and said, “The Countess has established a situation in which all roads but the last will end in our favor. We can’t be sure about the confrontation with the Queen, regardless of what happens. But we can test Invidia’s honesty by watching the next vord attack.”

“And if she’s lying?” Lady Placida asked.

“If she’s lying, she’s doing it for a reason,” Cereus said. “She’s doing it because the vord need to create a weakness that they can exploit. We trump her hand by not trying to take advantage of the enemy dispositions in the next attack. We maintain the strength of our defenses as they stand and withdraw to Garrison when the evacuation is complete, just as planned. We give them no chance to exploit us. The outcome of this war is going to hinge on killing the Queen in any case, not simply slaughtering warriors.”

Lady Placida nodded slowly, one hand toying idly with the single, long braid of her scarlet-auburn hair. “If the vord come at us the way Invidia says they will, we won’t be able to hurt them for it. We’ll miss the opportunity.”

“But we’ll know she’s telling the truth about something,” Amara said. “We’ve lost nothing. And no matter what happens, we’ve gained one piece of what I judge to be reasonably reliable information.”

“We know my sister and Araris are alive,” Bernard rumbled.

Lady Placida’s eyes widened. “You think Isana is behind this?”