Minos, king of Crete, had made war upon Athens. He had come with a great fleet of ships and an army, and had burned the merchant vessels in the harbor, and had overrun all the country and the coast even to Megara, which lies to the west. He had laid waste the fields and gardens round about Athens, had pitched his camp close to the walls, and had sent word to the Athenian rulers that on the morrow he would march into their city with fire and sword and would slay all their young men and would pull down all their houses, even to the Temple of Athena, which stood on the great hill above the town. Then Aegeus, the king of Athens, with the twelve elders who were his helpers, went out to see King Minos and to treat with him. –“The Cruel Tribute,”
James Baldwin

Which detail from the passage creates the most suspense for the reader?

“Minos, king of Crete, had made war upon Athens.”
“He had laid waste the fields and gardens round about Athens.”
“Then Aegeus, the king of Athens . . . went out to see King Minos and to treat with him.”