Valentine felt a tight band of tension encase his chest. The storm, the storm, the storm! Yes, Sleet was right: they must take some action. But he had so many questions—there was so much he must know—

To Tunigorn he said, "You must have come by way of the other camp. Lisamon, Deliamber, Tisana—are they safe?"

"They will try to protect themselves as best they can. And we must do the same. Head west, try to take cover in the depths of the jungle before the worst of it reaches here—"

"My counsel exactly," Sleet said.

"Very well," said Valentine. He looked to Sleet and said, "Have our floaters made ready for the crossing."

"I will, my lord." He rushed away.

To Elidath Valentine said, "If you are here, who rules at the Castle?"

"I chose three to serve as a Council of Regency: Stasilaine, Divvis, and Hissune."

"Hissune?"

Color came to Elidath's cheeks. "It was my belief you wished him to move rapidly forward in the government."

"So I do. You did well, Elidath. But I suspect that there were some who were less than totally pleased with the choice."

"Indeed. Prince Manganot of Banglecode, and the Duke of Halanx, and—"

"Never mind the names. I know who they are," Valentine said. "They'll change their minds in time, I think."

"As do I. The boy is astonishing, Valentine. Nothing escapes his notice. He learns amazingly swiftly. He moves surely. And when he makes a mistake, he knows how to gain from an understanding of his error. He reminds me somewhat of you, when you were his age."

Valentine shook his head. "No, Elidath. He's not at all like me. That's the thing I most value about him, I think. We see the same things, but we see them with very different eyes." He smiled and caught Elidath by the forearm, and held him a moment. Softly he said, "You understand what I intend for him?"

"I think I do."

"And are you troubled by it?"

Elidath's gaze was steady. "You know that I am not, Valentine."

"Yes. I do know that," the Coronal said.

He dug his fingers hard into Elidath's arm, and released him, and turned away before Elidath could see the sudden glistening in his eyes.

The wind, now thick with sand and howling eerily, came ripping through the grove of slender-stemmed trees that lay just to the east, cutting their broad leaves to tatters like a host of invisible knives. Valentine felt light showers of sand striking his face with stinging impact, and he turned from it, pulling his cloak up to protect himself. The others were doing the same. At the edge of the river, where Sleet was supervising the conversion of the floaters' ground-effect mechanisms for use on water, there was a great bustle of activity.

Tunigorn said, "There is much strange news, Valentine."

"Speak it, then!"

"The agricultural expert who has been traveling with us since Alaisor—"

"Y-Uulisaan? What of him? Has something happened to him?"