They all howled with glee, and she let them do so. No point in making this into something it clearly wasn't. She laughed as if sharing the joke, and then casually asked, "Do you know where I can find Sian Aresh?"

They did better than that. One of them offered to find the Captain of the Home Guard and bring him to her. She almost agreed, but then decided it would be better if she found him herself. Sending word risked having Phaedon learn she was back in Arborlon, and she wasn't ready for that to happen just yet. So she excused herself amid a final barrage of insults and jokes and set off for the Home Guard barracks where she was told Aresh could be found.

She took the trouble to procure and don one of the green cloaks of the Home Guard, leaving her own distinctive black one behind. The less attention she drew to herself, the better. She was putting herself in enough danger as it was, even though it seemed no one was looking for her at this point. Perhaps it was enough that she had fled with Crace Coram, removing herself from the city and the Elven population. Even Phaedon couldn't seriously believe she had anything to do with the old King's death. Mostly, she imagined, he simply wanted the Druids out of the way while he went about the business of establishing himself as King.

She knew her way around the Home Guard barracks well enough by now to come into the building through the rear entry and make her way to Sian Aresh's office without being stopped. She stood just outside his door and listened to him speaking with another Elven Hunter, waited until the latter departed, and then stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

"Seersha," he said, looking up, clearly startled. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Probably," she answered. "Is the King still hunting for me?"

"The King has forgotten all about you. Is it your intention to remind him? What are you doing here?"

Quickly, she told him. The demon army had breached the walls of Arishaig, and the city was lost. The Federation army stationed there was broken and mostly destroyed, the population driven out, and the buildings in ruins. Now the attacking army-hundreds of thousands strong-was coming for Arborlon and the Elves, and seemingly without stopping for sleep. It marched north at a pace that would bring it to the mouth of the Valley of Rhenn in two more days.

"Do not rely on my word alone," she finished. "Send scouts to witness for themselves what I have just told you about the size of this threat. The Elves are in grave danger, Sian. The King must act."

He was on his feet. "The King will do what he wishes. That much has been made plain enough already. Even the presence of a demon army doesn't guarantee that he will do as he should. He lacks his father's good sense. He lacks ..." He shook his head, as if unwilling to spend the time making a list. "Wait here while I will dispatch the airships and men needed to confirm your report."

He went out the door and left her standing at his desk. She moved over to a high-backed wooden chair and sat while she waited for him to return. She was weary from all the travel and so little sleep, but there was nothing she could do about it just yet. Too much needed to be done first. She sat there thinking on it, going over again the plan she had hatched while flying back.

Aresh returned, closing the door once more and reseating himself. "We should have a report by tomorrow. Now, what of you?"

She shrugged. "I came back because there was nowhere else for me to go. I need to be where the fighting is if I'm to serve any useful purpose. I thought Aphen might have need of me, as well, when she returns. It's worth the risk."

"If you stay out of sight, the risk shouldn't be great."

"I can't do that. I want you to take me before the King and High Council. I want to speak to them about what's happening and what they need to do. What they must do. I've sent word to both the Border Legion and the Dwarves. I am hoping they will respond and send reinforcements to the Elves before the demon army reaches you."

"Not enough time for that," the other responded with a shrug. "Tomorrow morning? Even with airship transport, it will take them longer than that just to mobilize. But the bigger problem is the King. He doesn't want help from any quarter. I've already spoken to him about the danger of an attack. He ignores it. He believes the assault to be directed toward the Federation alone. He uses his time to consolidate his position; he worries that like his father he, too, might be assassinated. He sees enemies everywhere. He has rescinded Emperowen's order to mobilize and go to the aid of the Federation. He has decided to hunker down and wait this business out." The Elven captain shook his head.

"Why is he doing this?" Seersha asked in dismay. "How can he think the Elves are safe from what's happening? In any case, it points up the need for my report to the High Council. Perhaps they will find the backbone to act in spite of the King."

Aresh shook his head. "The King is not himself, and he was not working with much even before he ascended to the throne. He is distracted, and his decisions feel arbitrary. I have managed to mobilize the Home Guard and the Elven army under the pretext of securing Arborlon, but I have no orders to take any part of it out of the city. We sit on our hands, waiting on the King."

"Even knowing that the Ellcrys fails and the walls of the Forbidding are falling? Even knowing what Aphenglow and Arling have set out to do? Doesn't anyone see what lies ahead if they fail?"

The Captain of the Home Guard leaned back in his chair. "No one can quite believe the old King is dead. So they see Phaedon as an anchor, a fixed point with which they are familiar and to which they can turn-and not as a weight that will drag them down. They don't know him as you and I do. If Ellich were on the throne, it would be different. But Ellich is imprisoned."

Seersha gave it another moment's thought and then stood. "Then let's do this another way. Arrange a private audience with the King. Do it any way you can manage, but do it quickly. Let me deal with Phaedon. I think I can find a way."

"What you can most probably do is find a way to get yourself locked up with Ellich. The King is not inclined to listen to anyone. He rules, but he is paranoid and in fear for his life. This is a dangerous business you undertake, Seersha."

But she insisted, and he finally agreed to do as she asked, though not without once more warning against it.

He went out again, and this time he was gone for the better part of an hour. While he was absent, she mulled over what lay ahead. The Elves would need to defend the entrance to the Valley of Rhenn. It was their only viable choice if they hoped to make a stand against an army of this size. A narrow opening could be defended and held for at least a few days, long enough perhaps for the combined forces of the Dwarves and Callahorn to reach them and attack the demons from the rear.

But still the demons would outnumber their combined forces. And even then, would the Straken Lord consider withdrawing?

She was bothered by the trajectory of the events that had occurred since the demons had broken out of the Forbidding. Why had the Straken Lord attacked Arishaig? The Elves were the real enemy and the Ellcrys the real danger. Of course, the Demons would have had to come out of the Forbidding where the wall was weakest and gave them access into the Four Lands. That might have brought them first to Arishaig, and they had simply taken advantage of it. But there was no doubting their ultimate goal-an attack on the Elves and the destruction of the Ellcrys.

She thought back to the last demon breakout, in the time of Eventine Elessedil. The Druid Histories of those years, compiled by Allanon, were familiar to her. Eventine Elessedil, a strong and competent King, had led an Elven army aided by Trolls, Dwarves, and the Border Legion of Callahorn, and even that had not been enough. Only a rebirth of the Ellcrys had saved the Four Lands-a rebuilding of the wall of the Forbidding so that the demonkind could be banished once again.

But this was a different world. The alliances of old were gone, and the possibility of the Forbidding being restored was far from certain.

She wondered suddenly of Railing Ohmsford and his companions and their quest to discover the fate of Grianne Ohmsford. Was it at all possible that anything would come of that? She had sent him away more to save his life than with any expectation that he would find a woman who by now would be well over a hundred years old.

But even so, she wondered.

Sian Aresh reappeared abruptly. "The King has agreed to a private audience. I told him I had someone who witnessed the fall of Arishaig firsthand and who could report on the size and movements of the demon army. I told him that what you have to say is for his ears alone. He does not yet know it is you."

She smiled. "Well done. My thanks, Sian. Will you come with me?"

He laughed. "Will I come with you? I have been ordered to come! What happens to you likely happens to me, as well."

She clapped him on the back. "Then I must make certain that we both stay safe."

They went out of the building and down through the streets of Arborlon to the palace. Home Guards met them at every turn once they were inside the boundaries of the protected territory, but quickly gave way on seeing that it was Sian Aresh who escorted the green-cloaked lady Dwarf. If they recognized Seersha as a Druid, they gave no indication.

Once they were inside the palace, standing in a hallway that led to the reception chamber where Phaedon would receive them, Sian Aresh pulled her aside.

"Phaedon will attempt to have you locked up once he knows who you are," he whispered. "Try not to give him an excuse." He paused. "Whatever happens, I'll do my best to get you out if this goes wrong."

She fixed him with her good eye. "Phaedon will have troubles of his own before I'm done with him. Just be ready and don't interfere."

He gave her a doubtful look, but said nothing as he continued on, escorting her down the hall to the reception room doors.

Guards met them in force and closed about them as they entered the room. Phaedon sat in a chair at the far end of the room, smiling.

Seersha, mindful of protocol, bowed to the King in a clear show of deference. "High Lord," she greeted him.

He beckoned her forward, then put up his hand to stop her when she was still a safe distance away. "I knew it was you, you know. You were seen and word was brought. I find it curious that you would return after having gone to such lengths to flee in the first place. Does it occur to you that coming back might be a foolish decision?"

"High Lord," she answered, "I could do no less after seeing what has becoming of Arishaig and her people. I could do no less knowing that the enemy marches on Arborlon. All I ask is that you let me tell you what I have seen so that you can judge for yourself."

She paused. "But first, my condolences on the death of your father. I should have stayed long enough to say this in the first place, but time was of the essence when I left Arborlon for Arishaig, even though I was too late to be of any service to that city."

"Clever words, Seersha," he replied, brushing off her regrets as if they were meaningless. "Druids always know what to say in the moment it needs saying. You must practice such deceptions endlessly. My dear cousin Aphenglow is equally talented in her use of this skill. Too bad she isn't here now to lend you her support."

"And lend it to you, as well," she offered. "But we must make do with what we have at hand. May I speak? Do you wish me to do so in front of so many, or might it not be better if it were only one or two?"

He smiled knowingly. "I don't wish to be alone with you, no matter the import of the news you bring. I don't feel particularly safe with you, Lady Druid. Or with any of your kind. I will keep my guards close."

Nevertheless, save for two standing to either side of his chair, he sent the rest to the back of the room. "A wrong move on your part will see you dead before you can think to do anything about it," he warned. "Do you understand me?"

"Of course, High Lord," she said. "I know your feelings and am aware of your intent regarding the Druids. I don't come to please you. I come to help the Elven people. What you do about it is your own choice."

He studied her long moments as if debating whether to let matters proceed. "Sian Aresh," he said suddenly, his dark gaze shifting to the other. "Your own part in this charade will not be forgotten. Do not think I mistake what you have done here."