“The second sorcerer was not accompanied by vorns,” she continued. A memory of being pinned against a wall by the black sorcerer’s power brought an echo of fear. Auraya drew in a deep breath, pushing aside both the memory and the dread that came with it. “Or any other creature but an ordinary reyer. He did not harm anyone as far as we know. I was sent to help Dyara find him but he, too, escaped us.”

“What do these sorcerers want?” a Speaker asked.

Auraya grimaced. “I don’t know. One thing is sure, they hate Circlians. They call us heretics.”

“What do they worship?”

“Five gods, as we do, but theirs are not real gods.”

“Perhaps this is why they defend their beliefs so ferociously,” Dryss murmured.

“Why did this sorceress enter Si?” another Speaker asked.

“For the same reason Auraya has: to seek an alliance,” someone replied.

“By attacking us?”

“She said it was a mistake. She said she wanted to befriend us.”

“Until she saw Auraya.”

Several of the Speakers glanced at Auraya. She met their eyes, hoping she looked more confident than she felt.

“She threatened us,” Dryss reminded them. He grimaced. “I fear we are being forced to choose between two great powers. No matter what we do, we face changes we can’t avoid.”

“You don’t have to choose either,” Auraya pointed out. “You can choose to remain as you are.”

“And be slowly starved and hunted out of existence by these landwalker settlers?” another replied. “That is no choice.”

“We can fight the invaders now,” a younger Speaker declared. “Using this dart-thrower. We don’t need to ally with anyone!”

Voices joined in argument. Auraya raised her hands and the Speakers quietened again. “If you wish it, I will leave Si. Once I am gone you can invite this sorceress to return. Find out what she wants from you and what she offers in return. But please be cautious. Perhaps she did not mean to harm your hunters, but I do know that one of her fellow Pentadrians is a cruel man, who deals out death and pain for the sheer enjoyment of it. I would hate to see the Siyee suffer at his hands.”

“Maybe he was an outlaw. Maybe he came to Northern Ithania because he had been thrown out of Pentadrian lands,” the young Speaker argued.

“At least these Pentadrians have never taken our land from us,” someone else murmured.

“That may only be because they do not have a border with our lands,” Sirri pointed out.

Auraya winced. “They do now.”

The Speakers turned to frown at her.

“What do you mean?” Dryss asked.

“The Sennon emperor signed a treaty of alliance with the Pentadrians yesterday. Sennon shares a border with you, albeit a small one.”

“On their side there is only desert.”