Blank stone rose at her back, too high to allow her any glimpse of the Repository or its porch. In front of her, three boulders formed a crude wall. However, the stones had fallen naturally, or had been placed, to leave gaps between them, little windows. The one on the right faced the plateau where her cannon waited. Through gusts of rain mixed with spitting snow, she could make out the whole expanse of the plateau, but nothing beyond it.

A larger gap opened westward, allowing her to see the slopes of the foothills on this side. When the veils of rain and sleet parted, and the flurries of snow passed, she glimpsed the road. It seemed far away.

Firmly, Magister Rummage tapped:

—Here, Queen, you will see much that Magister Avail and I cannot. What you tell us will determine our choices.

He did not appear to feel the cold, the wet. Estie did. Shivers like shuddering ran through her in waves until he drew her back into the passage and shut the door. Until she tried to speak.

While she hugged herself for warmth, the hunchback and Crayn stood waiting, watching her. In Crayn’s gaze, she saw an alarmed resignation. He knew what she would say. Magister Rummage’s scowl betrayed nothing.

Finally, she managed to say, “I understand now, Magister. I will do it.”

If this weather held, she would need warmer apparel.

Just for an instant, Crayn’s features twisted. Then his expression became blank. “As you say, Majesty.”

The mute Magister bared his teeth at her. He may have been attempting a smile. If so, the effort failed.

On their way back to the Queen’s rooms, the Commander tried to reassure her.

—The enemy will need a battering-ram to get through that door, Majesty. And riflemen or Magisters on that balcony at the top of the stairs can hold the passage indefinitely.

—If I believe that you are threatened, I will drag you away. My oath of service requires it.

Estie acknowledged his gestures without attending to them. She kept shivering, and her mind was elsewhere. Somehow, looking out from the niche made the Great God’s arrival seem imminent. The fighting might begin soon. Too soon. She might be called to witness the final battle before she was ready.

She would never be ready.

But she was mistaken about Rile’s coming. The storms lingered. Days passed before the skies over the Wall Mountains and eastern Belleger opened, and the Farsighted could see again. Even then, however, they had nothing urgent to convey. They knew only that General Klamath had contrived to stay ahead of the enemy despite the pummeling weather. They could not explain how Klamath’s success had been achieved.