Chapter sixteen
Fracas under the MoonsThe pace of life changed in Ruathytu when the invasions began and yet the impression I gained was at variance with what I — or any Vallian — would have expected of a capital city during these parlous times. The contrast between Ruathytu and Vondium when we had been besieged was most marked. Yet this was a perfectly natural and proper occurrence, for nations on Kregen no less than races react in different ways. Vallians had reacted with the joyfulness of a man coming through a painful illness and facing imminent death; death held no terrors and the task was to beat back death in the shape of the enemy and regain health and strength. That the Vallians had done that gave warning that, as a nation, they might be wrong-headed over many issues, but they pos
