She pursed her lips, then her eyes narrowed. “Since Auraya is absent and the other White are busy with war preparations, the matter will probably be put off until she returns—unless I can offer a few candidates. Hmm, this will take some consideration.” She rapped her finger on the table and paused to think. “My people will be leaving in advance of the army. We will always be more than a day’s ride from the Circlians. The White won’t know you’re with us, and even if they find out they’ll be too busy with their preparations to seek you out. I would like to remain close at hand while you sort this out. You may need my help.”

Leiard bowed his head. “Thank you. I hope I won’t need it.”

The eastern horizon brightened steadily, casting a thin, cool light over the sea. As Auraya walked along the beach with Tyrli she considered her first impressions of the Sand tribe’s home. She had come to associate the Siyee with high mountains and forests, but seeing their bowers among the treeless dunes of the coast yesterday had caused her to reassess her assumptions about them. They lived well here on the beaches of Si, which only highlighted what they had lost when Toren settlers had stolen the fertile valleys of their homeland.

“You have everything you need?” Tyrli asked.

“Everything except enough time,” she replied. Or Leiard’s recommendations, she added to herself. He hadn’t dream-linked with her in days, which had made it easier to rise before dawn this morning. She had been waking up early, worrying about the reason for his silence, for the previous two mornings.

“If you had more time I would introduce you to the Elai who trade with us, but they will not meet us for nearly a month.”

“I would like that, even if just to see more of your tribe,” she told Tyrli truthfully. She had only glimpsed how his people lived and would have liked to learn more about them. “Juran is pressing me to meet with the Elai as soon as possible.”

“There will be another opportunity,” he replied.

“I’ll make sure of it.” She turned to face him. “I will return to the Open in about ten days.”

He nodded. “We will be ready.”

She smiled at his grim confidence. He had sent messengers back to the Open with her news of the Pentadrian invasion and Juran’s request for help in the coming battle. She sighed and looked across the water.

“You should be there by midday,” he assured her.

“How do I find my way?” she asked.

He turned to face the mountains and pointed. “See the mountain with the double peak?”

“Yes.”