“And castles are filled with soldiers. How many will die?”

“Men die in war,” said Sorian.

“But they die fighting, or standing guard,” said Loki. “They have some kind of chance to protect themselves, or defend, or counterattack. How can they stand against this?”

“That’s why we’re going to ask for ten of these dragons,” said Sorian. “So our victory will be swift, and our enemies will surrender rather than resist us.”

“And what will you do then, when you win?” asked Loki.

“Aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves?” asked Queen Genoesswess. “Though you are clearly a gatemage—a Gatefather, no doubt, or so you will claim—you must surely know that no mage can plan very far into the future. Least of all a gatemage, since the Gate Thief waits for you.”

“Only if I make a Great Gate,” said Loki, “which I do not intend to do. But I do intend to know what it will mean to the common people of Suy, Ny, Badmardden, Brac, and Fyrdhaven, to have you as overlords instead of the houses that rule them now.”

“To the common people, there should be no difference at all,” said Queen Genoesswess. “Why should they care to whom they pay their taxes? Their lives may even be better, since there will be no duties to pay at border crossings, once the borders cease to exist.”

“A free trade zone,” said Hermia. “It boosts every economy.”

Loki didn’t even look at her. “What about those who resist you?”

The queen looked at him as if he were insane. “Drowthers don’t resist mages.”

“But mages do,” said Loki. “And drowthers sometimes do as well.”

“We handle traitors and criminals as each case comes up. What business is it of yours?”

“I wanted to have some idea of who would be wielding this fabulous new weapon, if I allow it to stay,” said Loki.

“He thinks he’s the protector of the world,” said Hermia. “It’s a sad delusion.”

Hermia abruptly found herself on a lonely, windy mountaintop, as the gate that Loki had used to send her there disappeared. He had to know how useless the gesture was. She took a moment to get her bearings and leapt back to the terrace in Y.

“That,” she said to Queen Genoesswess, “is what he plans to do to your dragons if you don’t use them in a way he approves of.”

The queen looked a little queasy. “I knew what gatemages used to be, back before the Gate Thief. But to see it. Or … not see it.”

“Dear Queen of Y,” said Loki, “you and your husband don’t seem to be the most horrible of the powerful people that I’ve known. Far from it. You are definitely better than Gerd, here, who once tried to kill her own child because he was a gatemage.”

Gerd reddened. “You know that I protected him in every way I could.”