“Take care of yourself, Danjin,” he said quietly. “You may not be my favorite son, but you are my son, and I do not want to lose you.”

Danjin stared at his father in surprise as the old man rose and climbed down from the platten. He shook his head, then followed.

So this is what it takes. Well, I don’t intend to go to war every time I want him to show he values me in some small way.

“I must take my place,” Danjin said as the platten moved away. “Take care of yourself, Father. And my brothers.”

“I’ll probably have to spend the next year recouping losses from the trade deals we’ve lost in Sennon,” Fa-Spear grumbled quietly. “Go on, then. Go take your place in this unprofitable but necessary war.”

Danjin smiled. Back to his old gruff self. He nodded politely, then turned away to look for his fellow advisers.

The White’s advisers would travel in a tarn together, once the parade left the city. Danjin hadn’t been told where to meet them, but he had a good idea how to find them. After searching for several minutes he saw a small group of men and a few women wearing the same uniform as his own. They looked about as comfortable as he felt, he noted.

They stood in a rough circle beside the platform that had been built for the White to address the army from. Their attention was on something or someone in their midst. As Danjin reached them he saw that Rian was talking to them. He stepped into a gap in the circle.

“Adviser Danjin Spear.” Rian glanced at him, then around the circle. “Now that you are all here there is someone I must introduce.”

Rian glanced over his shoulder, then stepped back. To Danjin’s surprise, a Dreamweaver woman stood a little apart from the group. Rian beckoned and she stepped forward, her gaze wary.

“Dreamweaver Adviser Raeli. She replaces Dreamweaver Leiard, who has resigned in order to dedicate himself to training his student.”

The advisers nodded politely, but the woman did not smile or return the gesture. She met Danjin’s gaze and he realized he had been staring at her out of surprise.

“Then I wish him well,” Danjin said to her. “I found him a useful and reliable fellow adviser.”

The woman acknowledged this with a shallow nod, then looked away. Danjin glanced at Rian. Did Auraya know of this turn of events? She hadn’t mentioned it last night, when she had spoken to him through the ring. He considered asking Rian, but the White had turned abruptly to stare in the direction of the platform. A crowd of high priests and priestesses had gathered before it. Beyond them were the rest of the priesthood. Beyond that was the army. Danjin could just see the plumes on their helmets—blue for the Hanians and red and orange for Somreyans.