"Go!" Gart waved him off with a laugh. "You have not the patience of a gnat. I will sit here and watch, until winter has passed into spring if need be."

As he left, Damond's spirits fell. `Until winter has passed into spring . . .

`There will be no spring for us. All is becoming winter, and that is how we shall depart this place; images frozen in our hearts of a winter that will never pass. And that is how the bards will one day remember the Four Kingdoms. They will say, "My homeland is not a homeland; it is winter."'

At loose ends, Damond found himself wandering amongst the few stone buildings at the center of Alin, when he came upon Brogan sitting on a stone bench, whetting his broadsword absently. Damond sat beside him, and was about to speak, when unexpectedly Brogan said, "What do you suppose will happen when Lund falls?"

Damond considered his question a moment before answering. "Many things will happen, none of it good on our account, if that is the import of your question."

"I mean the obvious," Brogan told him. "Soon after, the enemy will strike out at the Four Kingdoms. What will happen then?"

Damond frowned, considering. "We will be scattered like the four winds, and driven from our lands, obviously."




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