Rughoi said nothing, so Ardasa stepped in with her own answer before he could. "Of course, Wise Sister! Look at us, we have made many concessions in the name of peace, haven't we Rughoi?" A grunt, hopefully meaning yes, was her response. "See? I'm sure everything will go swimmingly! Now, enough worrying about armies and battles. Such talk is counter-productive. Instead, we have an opportunity to celebrate . . . uhh . . . "

"This book?" Kutur offered, raising up one of his many records. Kali had dragged him quickly out of his little hut, but this he kept with him at all times. 

"Yes, our very own Magister's book!" Ardasa said, leaping at the opportunity. "How lovely it is to see the general wisdom of our little empire furthered every passing day!" She went over and hugged Kutur, while whispering her thanks at a distance where nobody would be listening. "Isn't that right, Rughoi?"

" . . . Yes, I suppose," he muttered. "Who knows? Maybe this will turn out fine. Maybe Hekaga isn't a city full of sheep creatures plotting day and night to topple the beacon of kobold civilization. That's the spirit." His sarcastic quip was interrupted by a captain, dressed in legion plating, running in and bowing.

"Your Might, our outer scouts have sighted a detachment of Hekaga wagons flying the symbol of diplomacy!"

"Send out our own, and escort them to the palace," Rughoi ordered. The captain rushed to do so. "Now, let us see if Her Mercy's prediction, as it were, has any grounding in it."