On the twenty-eighth day, Khao'khen sent the provisions back.
Not all of them. Half. The half that consisted of grain and dried goods that the valley's civilian population would need if the planting delay produced the reduced harvest that the agricultural calculations predicted. The provisions were loaded onto wagons and sent north under a white flag, accompanied by a message in Sakh'arran's precise Threian script.
"The Yohan First Horde does not starve civilians. The provisions enclosed are returned for the use of the eastern province's non-combatant population. The Horde retains the military supplies and the ammunition. This return is not a gesture of negotiation. It is a statement about what the Horde is and what it is not. The Horde is a military force pursuing the recognition of its people's right to exist. It is not an instrument of civilian suffering. The distinction defines us."
