Heshima led Keledu back to his tent. As they reached the entrance, a burst of cheers rang out. They turned to look. Heshima's tent stood on high ground, with a clear view of the fortress walls in the distance.
They could see felt banners of the Barbarian Tribes appearing atop the walls. Troops had climbed onto the battlements—a rare gain in the siege so far.
Keledu wanted to watch a little longer, but Heshima invited him inside. They still had important matters to discuss, so he had to set the battle aside for now.
Once inside, Heshima pulled Keledu into a seat. "I'm sorry. I called today's war council to get my battle plan approved, and I failed to honor our earlier agreement with the Faith Order. That was my fault.
"Keledu, thank you for not opposing me at the meeting and for supporting me instead."
With Heshima taking that attitude, Keledu could hardly rebuff him. "We're both working for the future of the Steppe Barbarians. That's the foundation of our cooperation.
"But Great Chieftain Heshima, I still need a clear answer from you. It wasn't easy for the Faith Order to gather a billion believers. I want to preserve as many of them as possible. What should I do?"
"I understand, Keledu. I've already thought about how to keep the Faith Order's forces from suffering losses.
"How about this? I told all the Barbarian chieftains that every tribe must take part in the assault.
"But the Faith Order is also responsible for making siege engines. Could you assign as many of your believers as possible to that work?
"As long as you produce more siege engines, I think you'll have an answer for the other tribes in the army, even if you send relatively few people into battle."
Keledu