"The Religious caste ... surrenders." The words were like acid on her tongue. The crowd above them began to murmur. Shakiri, with the thrill of victory shining from his eyes, began to pace the ground at the bottom of the temple.

"The religious caste surrenders! You have all heard it. The struggle between us is over. Now we can begin to rebuild our great cities until they are even greater than before." His voice echoed powerfully throughout the chamber, lending authority to his voice. He continued, and Delenn noted that his claims became more and more audacious as he went. "Now we step out into the light of a new day. Now we rebuild the Grey Council, into a warrior's council!"

Delenn had had enough. With that comment, he had stepped too far. It was the opportunity Delenn had been waiting for, for him to overstep his bounds. She had known he would, and now she had to press for the advantage. "Excuse me." Shakiri turned to her. He realized that his demeanor had started to become a little overzealous, and gracefully acknowledged her.

"Yes?"

Full of controlled outrage, Delenn said, "I said that we surrendered. I did not say that we gave up our sovereign rights to form a new government. Dukhat said that in every battle, one side or the other must surrender eventually. It is the natural order of things. There's no dishonor in that, no shame." She tried to stress those words. Her caste needed to believe that they were not shamed in any way, as she had seen many of them did. They were no lesser than the warriors. "We recognize the superior forces of the warrior caste. We have after all spent several centuries arming you, helping you learn the art of combat. What threat are we against that?"

"Then you acknowledge, we are stronger!" Delenn could see that Shakiri thought he had regained the upper hand with that comment. But Delenn had had much experience with manipulating words while she was a diplomat, ambassador, and leader for their people. She had been doing this for a long time, longer than the upstart warrior had.

"Stronger, yes. But wiser?" Delenn began to pace the floor of the chamber, directing her attention to talk to the people. Shakiri wasn't important right now. She had to awaken her people from the madness that had overcome them. "For a thousand years we have guided our people through wisdom, not arms. Will we set that aside so quickly? You who are watching here and across Minbar, you know this place. You know its history. This is where we chose our leaders before Valen. This is where many of us served, and many of us died. The ancients understood that in war it always the young and the powerless who are sent off to fight. Sent by leaders, and warriors, and generals, who are not themselves engaged in the battle. Who do not bleed on the front lines. Who do not die alone, in the cold and friendless night. But here in this place that changed."

As she spoke, a circle in the middle of the ceiling opened, and a beam of brilliant blue fire shot down towards the cavern's floor. Shakiri was shocked. "What are you playing at?" He demanded.

"If the warrior caste has set aside the wisdom of Valen, they wish to return to the old ways, then they must honor the laws set down by the ancients!" Delenn realized that her emotions had started to control the volume of her voice, and took a breath to slightly mitigate her anger. "The leaders of each warring caste would step into the circle. The Starfire wheel would open, and its fire would begin to consume them. Those who did not deserve to rule, who would not sacrifice themselves, as they asked others to do on their behalf, would escape the fire. The sacrifice of the one who remained, who believed so much in caste that he would lay down his life for them; that would determine which caste would be dominant among us."

Shakiri was outraged. Delenn knew he did not have the conviction in his caste, and would not lay down his life for them. He began to shout, "This is a violation of..."

Delenn cut him off. "It the tradition of our people! The Warrior caste began the war; the Religious caste has ended it. And now we say, we are willing to endure the Starfire wheel, for the good of our people! If the warrior caste will not do the same, then you are not fit to lead." Then, a grating sound came from above, and the iris of the Starfire wheel inched open another margin. Delenn realized that this was the time. She had to back up her words. She had to do this for her people. She stepped into the fire.

The fire poured down on her. It was excruciating. She knew it could be worse, and that it would be soon. But now every nerve in her body was screaming. She turned to Shakiri, and said to him; "Valen said, 'will you follow me into fire?'" Delenn held out her hand towards Shakiri. "Will you?"