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"Countess," Aquitaine said politely "Today's schedule is soet worse," Ahness"

Aquitaine gave her a razor-thin smile "Elaborate"

She informed him, in short, terse sentences, of the horde of feral furies "And they're ot maybe half an hour before they reach your lines"

Aquitaine regarded her steadily, then dismounted, stepped a bit apart from the horses, and took to the air to see for himself He returned within a pair of minutes and remounted, his expression closed and hard

Silence spread around the little circle as the ?" Lady Placida said, finally "On that scale? Is it even possi - " She paused to glance at her husband, as giving her a wry look She shook her head and continued "Yes, as it is in fact happening at this very moment, of course it is possible"

"Bloody crows," Antillus finally spat He was a brawny h-hewn, and had a face that looked as if it had been beaten with clubs in his youth "Furies will go right through the lines Or under theht for Riva, too"

Aquitaine shook his head "Those are entirely uncontrolled furies Once they're set loose, there's no telling which direction they'll go"

"Naturally," Amara said in a dry tone "It would be iive thehed, and waved an irritated gesture of acceptance

"If there are that many wild furies, the vord don't need to aied Cereus said quietly "Even if they could only bring the furies close and let them spread out randomly, some of them are bound to hit the city It wouldn't take many to cause a panic And as crowded as the streets are"

"It would clog the streets and trap everyone inside," Aquitaine said calmly "Panic in those circumstances would be little different froions tothrough Force us to divide our strength, sending troops back to restore order Cause enough confusion to let the vord slip agents and takers inside" He frowned, behts yet, in this battle" He looked back over his shoulder "They're north and west of us, spread out in a line, like hunters Ready to snap up refugees as they flee the city in disorder"

Aht all the way through the chain of logic in the vord Queen's gah the vord were deadly enough in a purely physical sense, the weapon that ht truly unmake Alera this day was terror In herslaughtered by wild furies, could see the their children along with the a way out of the death trap the walls of Riva had becoe to escape the city - only to find themselves the prey of an airborne foe And while the rest of the city's residents were trapped and eions were effectively pinned in place They could not retreat without leaving the people of Riva to be butchered

The great city, its people, and its defending Legions would all die together within days

"I think we'd better stop those furies," Antillus ruia said in an acidic tone "What would you suggest?"

Antillus scowled and said nothing

Aquitaine actually see that surprised Aenuine warmth It faded rapidly, and his features shifted back into his cool ht"