The cavalrymen reached the perfect place to be hit. Their leaders hammered onward. More beasts and their riders rushed into sight, hundreds of them, thousands. For all Estie knew, the Great God had brought every able man he possessed to fight this war.

The cavalry hurtled three abreast below her. At that pace, the riders would not need long to reach the porch of the keep. Behind them, more mounted beasts kept coming.

Crayn tugged her arm to get her attention. He echoed her thoughts.

—This is all madness, Majesty. Rile and Magister Rummage are insane, both of them. What can Rile gain? From the battlements, Magisters will rain down Decimates until every man and beast is dead. But the Magisters also gain nothing. While they exhaust their sorcery, they cannot strike elsewhere. Whatever happens, the way will be open for the rest of Rile’s army.

Apparently, Magister Rummage relied on General Klamath. If so, he was mistaken. The horde alone was enough to overwhelm Klamath’s men. The Shields of the priests stopped bullets—and the riflemen did not have endless ammunition.

Estie did not know what to do.

She should have argued with Magister Rummage. Demanded an explanation. Even now, she could shout at him. But she was too late. He did not have time to change his mind.

Her alternative was to countermand him. Tell Waysel to fire now with all his guns. Why else had she been placed where she could watch what was happening?

But she did not know enough. She did not even know what form of power Rummage wielded. If she overruled him, his plans might fail, plans that would have succeeded otherwise. He had spent decades getting ready. How likely was it that she saw the danger more clearly than he did?

Below her, the first priests neared the road. Through the glare of their globes, she saw their theurgy shimmering. It formed a vague smear across her vision, an insidious distortion that made her eyes hurt. Nevertheless it did not block sight.

Behind the priests, the starving mass of the horde rose like rabid animals.

She bit her lip until the pain became too sharp to endure. Then she steadied herself with her hands. Gripping Crayn’s forearm with one, bracing the other on a boulder, she set her face to the downhill gap and watched the swift torrent of the cavalry, the clambering haste of the priests and the fanged men.

The thunder of hooves made no sound that she could hear, but she felt it like the approach of an earthquake. Here and there among the beasts rode priests, but they were few. Apparently, the cavalrymen did not require coercion. They served Rile willingly.

When Crayn jerked her arm, she gave a startled gasp. He was pointing back up at the Repository.

—The gates, Majesty! They have opened the gates.

There was nothing to see. The shape of the upper slopes hid the whole Repository.