Free Dragons of War by Christopher Rowley

years old.
    "Sister, it is good to see you in the flesh once more. You seem to be taking to it again," said she of humble appearance.
    "Thank you, Lessis, Since my adventures last summer, I have found it necessary to accept your suggestions and attend the council meetings. The threat here on Ryetelth is too great. We approach the great crisis foretold by the mystic long ago."
    "As always, Ribela, you are accurate in every detail. But I am afraid that the council is of a timid temperament at this moment. They will not listen to me, I'm afraid. Perhaps I have done a poor job of preparing them for it. I came late to the task; it took me many months to recover my strength."
    "You were gravely wounded, my dear."
    "And you saved me. I thank you, Sister." Both of them understood the grim irony in Lessis's voice. Both of them had contemplated the blissful escape that death would bring. Their lives had been overlong already.
    "The problem is that it comes too soon after the campaign in Ourdh. The losses are still being felt in all the cities."
    "And our loss of intelligence from beyond the White Bones continues?"
    Lessis shrugged wearily. Verily, the burdens of the world seemed to rest on this one set of narrow shoulders.
    "Semelia's disaster continues to wreak havoc for us in that theater. They have taken our network in Axoxo. None or our agents survived. We lost everything in the Tetralobe." She paused and became thoughtful.
    "However, we did learn that work had begun on an enormous enlargement of the breeding pens in Axoxo."
    "And from Ourdh?"
    "Estimates have not changed much in the past month. About twenty thousand women of childbearing age were taken. They have completely disappeared, along with all the cows from the west side of the river Oon. Not a cow to be found for a hundred miles in any direction."
    "An enormous breeding program."
    "They would have more than one hundred thousand imp by now, perhaps twice that. I cannot guess at the quantity of troll."
    "Exactly. The emperor must listen."
    "I pray that he will. I am sure that the sight of yourself, attending in person, will concentrate his attention."
    "Of course," said the lady in black, the very Queen of Mice, with utmost assurance. "You know, Sister Lessis, that were you to present a more imposing face to the world, you might not have this kind of difficulty so often. Men cannot see beyond the trappings of authority and power. You test them too forcefully."
    "Sister Ribela, I take your point. However, I'm just hopeless at such things and must continue as I am."
    Ribela nodded, sensing the resolve and strength that lay behind Lessis's outward humility. "I have been saying the same things to you for far too long, Sister. And always I come away knowing I have been bested."
    "Sister Ribela, I have nothing of your personal force, and I do not seek it. Perhaps my absence of ambition in those things disturbs you."
    Ribela allowed a tiny smile to crack the mask of her face. "Perhaps."
    They strolled the tower in silence, communing with the view, organizing their thoughts. Beneath them were arrayed the lesser towers, halls, and walls of Andiquant, a small city purposely built to administer the empire and perched above the waters of the great harbor of Cunfshon. Far across the harbor glittered the lights of the city of Cunfshon itself. The night breeze was cool and helped Lessis to calm her thoughts as she prepared for the council meeting.
    After a few minutes, they repaired to the door and began the descent to the council chamber.
    There were two capital cities in the Isles of Cunfshon, separated by no more than the tidal passage of the gentle river Susa. On the northern bank lay the ancient city of Cunfshon with its white stone walls and towers. In the harbor reach of the Susa lay a mass of shipping, local craft by the dozen, three-masted ocean ships, luggers, brigs, schooners, and dominating the rest a handful of the white ships of Cunfshon, great three- and four-masted