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Jasnah blinks at what Taravangian has just said. That she will persuade Fen to join his cause? That she has been working for Odium all along? *Don't be ridiculous,* she tells Fen in the small round temple ringed with reliefs of Talenelat. *I've never worked for Taravangian, unless you count one time when I was hired to help his granddaughter. Stating that I have done so all along is an indication of his intent to lie.* He holds his palms up, golden cane against his thigh. *It's no lie — though perhaps melodramatic. You don't know that you have been serving me, Jasnah. But you have been, all your life, regardless.*

She makes him move to the political debate. *Tell me, Jasnah,* he asks, *what is your fundamental guiding principle?* *I follow the Philosophy of Aspiration,* she says. *I do good, whatever it takes.* *Ah — not merely good. The most good possible, for the most people.* *Correct.* *Then we are aligned,* he tells Fen. *It will be easy for the two of us to explain why Thaylenah should join with me.* *Don't let him steer,* Ivory warns from her earring. She refuses the framing and tells Fen he wants her to agree that one man's rule can enforce peace, but no assurance he will rule peacefully has been given. *And if I made such assurances? If I gave them such promises?* *There would still be no reason. Peace is already on the way per my uncle's actions. Why would Fen agree the day before that arrives?*

*Oh, but there you are wrong.* He turns to Fen. He is required by conscience to see this planet unified — millennia of wars between humans while the singers lived enslaved. The misery has been the currency of her kingdoms for generations. *I can make that go away.* *Dalinar's covenant will enforce peace,* Fen says. *Between my empire and the kingdoms of humankind,* he answers softly. *Not between humans themselves.* He warns that mortals break treaties — that her own war on the Shattered Plains began that way, that her father had treaties with Jah Keved and still let skirmishes and power struggles run. His contract locks his borders into place, but humans are fickle and may keep fighting one another.

*Is he right?* Fen asks. Jasnah explains: Odium is bound by the dictates of his divinity, so he must prevent acts of war between people in his regions and theirs for a thousand years; the rest of the human kingdoms are free to do as they please. *Fortunately you know my uncle, and you know me. We will not attack you.* *And your grandchildren?* Taravangian asks. *Their grandchildren?* He presses a hand to his chest. *I'm immortal. I will enforce peace among the nations that follow me. If you join me, Fen, I will see that your grandchildren do not die in useless wars. That Thaylenah remains a distinct nation — under my banner.*

*Safe, and without freedom.* Jasnah's preparations flood her mind. She points Fen to the writings of *Tslamfn the Just,* her own great-great-great-grandfather: *every kingdom needs to be able to exercise its right to conflict — as a last resort when its misery becomes unbearable.* Fen takes the line as her own. *Without the ability to rise up and take weapons, my people would lose a fundamental right. You might protect us from future generations of Alethi, but so can my grandchildren.* Taravangian settles back, his smile faltering, and inclines his head to Jasnah in respect. Then he asks the question she has not prepared for. *What about today, Fen? Can your grandchildren, your armies, protect you today?* *From what?* *From me. And the fact that I hold this city in the palm of my hand, ready to crush it. If you turn me away, I will be forced to do so. For your own good.*

Far across the world, riding a chasmfiend is more difficult than Venli had assumed. On a staging plateau above the cracked walls of Narak she and the other listeners geared up for the attack on the human position: ropes looped around the beast's neck and body, footholds braced on outcrops of carapace. *It's easy, once you get the hang of it,* Thude says to the rhythm of Confidence. Venli could list a mile of things easy once you get the hang of them. She decides to crouch instead of standing tall. The ropes are not reins. You don't control a chasmfiend — you merely suggest, with the rhythms you sing.

Red lightning rumbles above, the Everstorm light reminding her of the night they first unveiled it. The humans hold Narak from much the same position now, walls cracked, Stormlight almost out, anticipationspren waving around shadowed helms. The fight that night had been newborn stormforms against unprepared humans; this is a battle-hardened army led by immortals against soldiers who never really had a chance. Odium has thrown nearly his entire weight into this fight, extending himself as he never has before. If he wants to win one specific battle and pay the toll, he can.

Light mist falls; the rain will make the ropes slick. The other two chasmfiends step up to the edge of their plateau carrying twenty more of her people. The chosen song is the Song of Destruction — a war march whose words shadow the older Song of Renunciation, the one that recounts how the listeners long ago walked away from their gods. She sings Renunciation in her head while her voice gives Destruction. The assault forces gather: hundreds of Fused and Regals, the thunderclast dead and not yet returned, more than half of the Focused Ones killed. The arrival of her group matters, she has heard the Fused say, because their beasts can challenge Shardbearers and break down walls.

A Husked One steps beside them — a femalen with glowing red eyes, woven hair forming clothing. *You will be the second assault. Be ready to bring down those walls.* *The second?* Venli asks, surprised — she had anticipated leading. *Be grateful El leads this battle. I would gladly send you traitors to die.* She spits to the side, a Fused mannerism modern singers do not understand. *He wants to soften the enemy by personally trying to kill some of their spren first.* Timbre trembles inside her: this changes the plan slightly. Thunder hammers them as the call goes up and a wing of Heavenly Ones — not Leshwi's — goes streaking toward the human air forces.