“So it’s true,” Khulan said. “You do have a map, and you allow the races of Karakhorum to live freely amongst one another.”

Erhi, Batu, Khulan, and I had landed on the stairs leading up to Karakhorum’s court. The sun had risen here already, and the city had just woken up. Chair-Wax and the other giants stood up by the wall, yawned and scratched between their legs, and begun their watch. Men bent down to hear the words of their goblin employers while they shuffled past the small, simple homes of Karakhorum.

“We don’t let goblins associate with men as loosely as you do,” Khulan said.

“You didn’t.” I started walking up the steps. “Once the First Capital is mine, that’ll change.”

Khulan caught up. “You really can’t win.”

Erhi chuckled. “You’ll revise that opinion in a few days.”

“I see you certainly have.” Batu burped; he was still recovering from the trip.

“I don’t revise my opinions easily,” Khulan said.

“And I don’t make it easy for people to maintain a poor one of me,” I said.

I pushed open the doors to the court, and, for once, I was greeted by silence, no decrepit men were arguing about trivialities. This time, I was greeted by Captain Eeluk, who was sitting by the fire with a few men, roasting a pig and drinking beer in long horns balancing on my courtroom floors. Half-naked girls slept in the corner.

Their heads spun toward the door, and they fell silent as they followed my movements with a curious look in their eyes.

Captain Eeluk wiped his mouth and handed his drink to the man next to him. “Get up, you idiots, get up.” He straightened his uniform and corrected his hair. “My lord.”

“You do know what time it is,” I said blankly.

“My lord.” Eeluk bowed sharply. “I can explain. You see, you were gone and my sister has just been married and I just thought…”

“We have bigger things to worry about that you using a fire for its intended purpose,” I said. “I’m going to count on your discretion.”

“Of…of course, my lord!” He stood up straight. “What are your orders?”

“First, send those girls home,” I said. “Then, gather the men of the court. Tell them it’s a matter of minimal significance. No, tell them I’d really just like to see them. Once that’s done, I’ll need you to gather your men. And this is the secret I want kept: we’re going to be at war.”

“My lord? With whom?”

I glanced back at Lady Khulan. “Everyone else.”

“My lord.” Eeluk narrowed his eyes. “I’m not…What do you mean by ‘everyone?’”

I grinned in reply, and Eeluk ran off.

“Batu,” I said, turning from Eeluk. “Keep an eye on Lady Khulan. I don’t think that’ll be a duty you do begrudgingly.”

I looked Lady Khulan up and down.

“My pleasure. Where should I take her?”

“Nowhere. She should be here for all of this. Just keep an eye on her.”

“Aren’t you worried she’ll leak information to the Council?” Erhi said.

“Unless there’s a pigeon up that gown, I don’t think that’s even possible,” I said. “But even if it is, it won’t make a difference. An arrow flying at their heads is an arrow flying at their heads, even if they knew that it was going to be shot at them.”

Erhi shrugged. “I suppose.”

“And, Erhi—I need you to look into my future.”

“Why?”

“So I can see if there’s an arrow headed toward me.”

“I thought you just said—”

“They can’t do anything about the arrows I’ll fire—I’m much better at dodging theirs, if I can see them coming.”

Erhi nodded and jogged out the back exit. As she did, old men still in their sleepwear shuffled in, each one bowing as he entered. Eeluk came in after the last man and shut the door.

“I don’t want news of this leaving this room until I’ve made my decision,” I said. “But Karakhorum is going to be at war.”

“Why?” one man said. “For what possible provocation—”

“That doesn’t matter. It’s done. Their armies will be here within a week, but we can’t count on them moving across the continent with…natural means. We will assume they’ll be here in a matter of days.”

“My lord!” A man stepped forward. His long, grey beard trailed down to the red belt of his silk gown. “Their? Just how many cities are we at war with?”

“All of them. Except Ulaanbaatar, of course. We’re at war with the Council of Lords.”

The crowd laughed, but their laughter died when they noticed I didn’t join their mirth..

“Do you even know how many men we have?” the old man with the long beard said. “At best, six or seven thousand.”

Eeluk nodded when the man glanced at him. “Thereabout, my lord.”

“And you’re saying we have…a few days?” the old man said. “Assuming they can get here that quickly.”

“Assume they can.” I stepped up to the fire pit. Eeluk’s ham was blackening. Pity. It was a nice pig, almost big enough to eclipse the flame.

“Then you’ve gathered us to discuss terms of surrender.”

Batu chuckled. “See, brother? This is what happens when you spend all your time gallivanting around other cities. They don’t know you at all.”

“We will not surrender. We’ll face them in combat.” I turned to Lady Khulan. “Am I correct in assuming Oktai and Batbayar will not honor the right to challenge their champions? They don’t exactly seem to like me.”

“You’re correct,” she said. “You’re not a member of the Council, so they have no reason to. And they’ve got a far bigger, far better trained force.”

“Open combat,” the bearded man guffawed. “That woman’s right. We’re doomed.”

I put my foot on the rim of the pit. “Would you say that this fire is bound to win against the pig?”

“Excuse me?”

The rest of the room glanced at one another and looked at me with raised eyebrows.

“Given a long enough time,” I said, “which one is going to remain?”

“The fire, since the pig will eventually turn to ash if left on the fire,” the bearded man said. “But, my lord, I don’t see—”

I lifted the pig off its spit and sent it tumbling into the fire. The flame suffocated and smoke filled the room. Everyone started coughing. I stepped through the stream of smoke and tugged a little piece of not-too-burnt meat from the pig.

“How about now? Pig or fire?”

“Are we the pig or the fire?” the bearded man said, narrowing his eyes.

“Neither,” I said. “We’re the hunter who caught the pig in the first place.”

“Brother,” Batu said. “Even I’m lost, and I’ve been listening to your speeches for twenty years.”

“I understand,” Khulan said. “This war is the pig against the fire, but the real struggle was already won elsewhere. The only reason this war is happening at all is because he’s already won before.”

“They’re coming to do battle with our forces,” I said, “but the fact that they’re coming isn’t irrelevant. They don’t march from one city. They march from half a dozen, each. Even if their combined force is ten times ours, that puts them at sixty thousand. Sixty thousand split among twelve is only five hundred a city. I’ve already hunted the pig by provoking them. This isn’t the time to speak of terms, or of shoring up our defenses, or even of acquiring food and water in case of a siege. This is the time to ambush their smaller forces before they can come together to form a big, roaring fire.”

They stood there, exchanging glances in silence.

“But…” the bearded man said. “How are we meant to get a force of, say, a thousand to each city before they…My lord, this is ludicrous.”

“And that’s why I don’t care that Lady Khulan here knows. It’s so ridiculous that the Council of Lords wouldn’t even believe it to be the plan if they heard about it. As for how we’re meant to get them there, let me worry about that.”

Lady Khulan broke into laughter. “He’s right. This might actually work. The Council isn’t accustomed to being put on the defensive. Eternal Blue Sky, if it actually works…”

Batu glared at her. “If it’ll work, why are you laughing?”

“Because I’ve spent years on the Council with people who think strategy is just ‘do what Captain So-and-so says.’” She grinned at me. “It’s nice to see someone try something original, inspired.”

“If you want see something original,” I said, “you’ll want to stick around. That’s only part of what I’m planning.”

“What’s the other part?”

“I’ve got some theories I want to test out. That’s as much as I’ll say.”

“Don’t be a tease.”

“Wait until you see it. That’ll be a tease.”

“A tease for what?”

I flashed her a smile before turning to Captain Eeluk. “Sorry about your ham.”

“There’ll be plenty of time for that when this is all over,” Eeluk said.

“Absolutely right. We’ll have an era of peace the likes of which this world has never had the privilege to experience before I came along. Now. I need you to rally our forces. Gather the men most defined by…” I put a hand on my chin in thought.

“Martial skill?” Eeluk said. “Experience? Division?”

“Constitution,” I said. “Men who’ve seen the worst and were left unshaken. Men who can hold their stomachs especially.”

Eeluk narrowed his eyes. “I’ll do my best, my lord.” He bowed and jogged off.

I looked at Batu. “Can’t have my forces arrive and vomit all over the enemy.”

“That’d be an original way to win a battle,” Batu said.

“Think you can hold your stomach, brother?”

“It’s half and half,” he said. “But vomit is far from the least effective weapon.”

“Get some rest. We’ll leave at sunset.”

“Why sunset?” Batu asked.

“You’ll see,” I said, smirking. “Or rather the opposite—you won’t see.”