Well, if they wouldn't go, Dalinar wouldn't force them. He continued to ride, and soon close to a thousand of Dalinar's soldiers broke off and marched south, toward his warcamp. The rest of them continued, toward Sadeas's camp. As they drew closer, Dalinar noticed a small crowd gathering at the final chasm. Two figures in particular stood at their forefront. Renarin and Navani.

"What are they doing in Sadeas's warcamp?" Adolin asked, smiling through his fatigue, edging Sureblood up beside Dalinar.

"I don't know," Dalinar said. "But the Stormfather bless them for coming." Seeing their welcome faces, he began to feel it sink in-finally-that he had survived the day.

Gallant crossed the last bridge. Renarin was there waiting, and Dalinar rejoiced.

For once, the boy was displaying outright joy. Dalinar swung free from the saddle and embraced his son.

"Father," Renarin said, "you live!"

Adolin laughed, swinging out of his own saddle, armor clanking. Renarin pulled out of the embrace and grabbed Adolin on the shoulder, pounding the Shardplate lightly with his other hand, grinning widely. Dalinar smiled as well, turning from the brothers to look at Navani. She stood with hands clasped before her, one eyebrow raised. Her face, oddly, bore a few small smears of red paint.

"You weren't even worried, were you?" he said to her.

"Worried?" she asked. Her eyes met his, and for the first time, he noticed their redness. "I was terrified."

And then Dalinar found himself grabbing her in an embrace. He had to be careful as he was in Shardplate, but the gauntlets let him feel the silk of her dress, and his missing helm let him smell the sweet floral scent of her perfumed soap. He held her as tightly as he dared, bowing his head and pressing his nose into her hair.

"Hmm," she noted warmly, "it appears that I was missed. The others are watching. They'll talk."

"I don't care."

"Hmm… It appears I was very much missed."

"On the battlefield," he said gruffly, "I thought I would die. And I realized it was all right."

She pulled her head back, looking confused.

"I have spent too much of my time worrying about what people think, Navani. When I thought my time had arrived, I realized that all my worrying had been wasted. In the end, I was pleased with how I had lived my life." He looked down at her, then mentally unlatched his right gauntlet, letting it drop to the ground with a clank. He reached up with that callused hand, cupping her chin. "I had only two regrets. One for you, and one for Renarin."

"So, you're saying you can just die, and it would be all right?"

"No," he said. "What I'm saying is that I faced eternity, and I saw peace there. That will change how I live."

"Without all of the guilt?"

He hesitated. "Being me, I doubt I'll banish it entirely. The end was peace, but living… that is a tempest. Still, I see things differently now. It is time to stop letting myself be shoved around by lying men." He looked up, toward the ridge above, where more soldiers in green were gathering. "I keep thinking of one of the visions," he said softly, "the latest one, where I met Nohadon. He rejected my suggestion that he write down his wisdom. There's something there. Something I need to learn."

"What?" Navani asked.

"I don't know yet. But I'm close to figuring it out." He held her close again, hand on the back of her head, feeling her hair. He wished for the Plate to be gone, to not be separated from her by the metal.

But the time for that had not yet come. Reluctantly, he released her, turning to the side, where Renarin and Adolin were watching them uncomfortably. His soldiers were looking up at Sadeas's army, gathering on the ridge.

I can't let this come to bloodshed, Dalinar thought, reaching down and putting his hand into the fallen gauntlet. The straps tightened, connecting to the rest of the armor. But I'm also not going to slink back to my camp without confronting him. He at least had to know the purpose of the betrayal. All had been going so well.

Besides, there was the matter of his promise to the bridgemen. Dalinar walked up the slope, bloodstained blue cloak flapping behind him. Adolin clanked up next to him on one side, Navani keeping pace on the other. Renarin followed, Dalinar's remaining sixteen hundred troops marching up as well.

"Father…" Adolin said, looking at the hostile troops.

"Don't summon your Blade. This will not come to blows."

"Sadeas abandoned you, didn't he?" Navani asked quietly, eyes alight with anger.

"He didn't just abandon us," Adolin spat. "He set us up, then betrayed us."

"We survived," Dalinar said firmly. The way ahead was becoming clearer. He knew what he needed to do. "He won't attack us here, but he might try to provoke us. Keep your sword as mist, Adolin, and don't let our troops make any mistakes."

The soldiers in green parted reluctantly, holding spears. Hostile. To the side, Kaladin and his bridgemen walked near the front of Dalinar's force.

Adolin didn't summon his Blade, though he regarded Sadeas's troops around them with contempt. Dalinar's soldiers couldn't have felt easy about being surrounded by enemies once again, but they followed him onto the staging field. Sadeas stood ahead. The treacherous highprince waited with arms folded, still wearing his Shardplate, curly black hair blowing in the breeze. Someone had burned an enormous thath glyph on the stones here, and Sadeas stood at its center.

Justice. There was something magnificently appropriate about Sadeas standing there, treading upon justice.

"Dalinar," Sadeas exclaimed, "old friend! It appears that I overestimated the odds against you. I apologize for retreating when you were still in danger, but the safety of my men came first. I'm certain you understand."

Dalinar stopped a short distance from Sadeas. The two faced each other, collected armies tense. A cold breeze whipped at a canopy behind Sadeas.

"Of course," Dalinar said, his voice even. "You did what you had to do."

Sadeas relaxed visibly, though several of Dalinar's soldiers muttered at that. Adolin silenced them with pointed glances.

Dalinar turned, waving Adolin and his men backward. Navani gave him a raised eyebrow, but retreated with the others when he urged her. Dalinar looked back at Sadeas, and the man-looking curious-waved his own attendants back.

Dalinar walked up to the edge of the thath glyph, and Sadeas stepped forward until only inches separated them. They were matched in height. Standing this close, Dalinar thought he could see tension-and anger-in Sadeas's eyes. Dalinar's survival had ruined months of planning.

"I need to know why," Dalinar asked, too quietly for any but Sadeas to hear.

"Because of my oath, old friend."

"What?" Dalinar asked, hands forming fists.

"We swore something together, years ago." Sadeas sighed, losing his flippancy and speaking openly. "Protect Elhokar. Protect this kingdom."

"That's what I was doing! We had the same purpose. And we were fighting together, Sadeas. It was working."

"Yes," Sadeas said. "But I'm confident I can beat the Parshendi on my own now. Everything we've done together, I can manage by splitting my army into two-one to race on ahead, a larger force to follow. I had to take this chance to remove you. Dalinar, can't you see? Gavilar died because of his weakness. I wanted to attack the Parshendi from the start, conquer them. He insisted on a treaty, which led to his death. Now you're starting to act just like him. Those same ideas, the same ways of speaking. Through you they begin to infect Elhokar. He dresses like you. He talks of the Codes to me, and of how perhaps we should enforce them through all the warcamps. He's beginning to think of retreating."

"And so you'd have me think this an act of honor?" Dalinar growled.