“To do this, woman, you will need the entire army backing you. You may have fooled a few half-wits into believing this madness, but you will not beguile hardened soldiers. They may fight for you to keep peace, but they will not support you in folly.”

“Already Amasai knows the secrets of the warmth,” I said. “So do many of his soldiers. They learned it easily, because they were already used to disciplining their bodies beyond ordinary strength. This is not folly, Maelmor. It is a new power, greater even than the talent to divine. It is a power we all have, if we will use it. Believe me, this skill has been well proved. Already there are fifty priests proficient in the new warmth, and able to teach it to others. Altogether in Kasimarra there are two hundred people who can summon the warmth, and keep it for an hour or more. They will be more skilled in a month or two. I swear, Maelmor, this power is possible, proven, and a far better way to endure the cold.”

He turned away from me, and was busy with his thoughts. “Fifty priests?” he said.

“Yes Twelve of them are teachers in the temple school. Your students are at this moment learning the new skill.”

He looked at me for a long time, straight. I saw his soul suffering monumental change, though he battled hard against it. In the end, he asked, “Could the Firelord teach the High Priest this new warmth?”

“I see no reason why not,” I replied, smiling, “if you are willing to stand out in the cold with me.”

“Better to stand with you than against you, Firewoman,” he said, and led the way out to the frozen terraces.

Almost a year it was, before the new warmth became a part of all our lives. This could not have been achieved without Amasai and his forces. They travelled to all the places in our mountains, teaching the skill of warmth. And several times Amasai came to visit me in Kasimarra, to tell me from his own lips how it was being accomplished.

“This past month we have gone to the last, remotest places,” he said, on his final visit. “I have discovered hermits who have survived for years, practising what you call the new warmth. I wish we had known this skill a hundred years ago or more.”

“There is a right time for all things,” I said.

He smiled. “I am amazed that so many have learned so willingly. People taught one another. There has been panic and confusion at times, but your friend Lesharo has an extraordinary gift for appeasing people and reasoning with them. I admire him greatly.”

“From when I was a child,” I said, “I saw that gift in him. When there was trouble or panic at the mine, it was Lesharo who settled it It was for this reason that I chose him to work with you.”