Two other things worried him: the flickers of grief and resignation he was picking up from Andulvar, Prothvar, and Mephis—who had all fought, and died, in the last war between Terreille and Kaeleer—and the fact that Jaenelle had been sitting there for the past two hours with such blankness in her eyes he started to wonder if she hadn’t created a simple shadow to fill a space at the table.

“Just defending against these attacks isn’t going to save our lands or our people,” Aaron said. “There are Terreillean armies gathering against us. If the enemy who’s already in Kaeleer gains control of a Gate and opens it for those armies…We need to do something now.”

“Yes, you do need to do something,” Jaenelle said in a hollow voice. “You need to retreat.”

Protests from all sides rose up in a wave of sound.

“You need to retreat,” Jaenelle repeated. “And you will send all of the Queens and Warlord Princes in your Territories to the Keep.”

Stunned silence met that statement.

“But, Jaenelle,” Morghann said after a moment, “the Warlord Princes are needed to lead the fighting. And asking Queens to leave their lands while their people are under attack…”

“They won’t be needed if the people retreat.”

“Just how far are we supposed to retreat?” Gabrielle snapped.

“As far as necessary.”

Aaron shook his head. “We need to gather our warriors into armies to fight against the Terreilleans and—”

“Kaeleer will not go to war with Terreille,” Jaenelle said in her midnight voice.

Chaosti sprang up from his seat. “We’re already at war!”

“No, we are not.”

“So we’re at war with Little Terreille, since that’s where these attackers have been hiding,” Lucivar growled. “It’s the same thing.”

Jaenelle’s eyes turned to ice. “We’re not at war with anyone.”

“Cat, you’re not thinking—”

“Remember to whom you speak.”

Lucivar looked into her eyes and paled. Finally, reluctantly, he said, “My apologies, Lady.”

Jaenelle rose. “If there’s time to retreat before the attack, do it. If not, keep the fighting to a minimum. Defend for as long as it takes to retreat, but don’t attack. And get the Queens and Warlord Princes to the Keep. There will be no exceptions, and I’ll accept no excuses.”

A long silence filled the room after Jaenelle left.

“She’s not thinking clearly,” Kalush said reluctantly.

“She’s been acting strange since the first attack,” Gabrielle snapped, then looked apologetically at Karla.

“It’s all right,” Karla said slowly, with obvious effort. “She has been acting strange. I’ve wondered if healing me affected her somehow.”

“What’s affected her is her aversion to killing,” Lucivar snarled. “But she’s usually clear-sighted enough to be able to see the obvious. We’re at war. Dancing around the word isn’t going to change the fact.”

“You would defy your Queen?” Daemon asked mildly, almost lazily.