The Shining Ones

David Eddings

the Tamuli book 2

Years ago, the Child-Goddess Aphrael had hidden Bhelliom, the Stone of Power,

at the bottom of the sea. Yet now it is needed again to stop a malign force

from spreading evil and destruction across the lands. Sparhawk, Queen's

champion, sets out to retrieve the Stone. But others seek the gem for their

own diabolical ends. Most fearsome of these are the Shining Ones, whose mere

touch melts human flesh from bone. Now Sparhawk finds himself stalked by these

creatures out of myth . . . whose touch is all too real.

PROLOGUE

Excerpted from Chapter Three of the ' Cyrga

Affair: An Examination of the Recent Crisis'.

Compiled by the Contemporary History Department

of the University of Matherion.

A compilation such as this is the work of many scholars, and

thus inevitably reflects differing views. While the author of this

portion of the work in hand has enormous respect for his eminent

colleague who so ably composed the preceding chapter,

the reader must be candidly advised that this writer differs from

his colleague in the interpretation of a number of recent events.

I most definitely do not agree that the intervention by the agents

of the Church of Chyrellos in the Cyrga Affair was entirely

untainted by self-interest.

I must join with my colleague, however, in expressing my

admiration and respect for Zalasta of Styricum. The inestimable

services to the Empire of this wise and faithful statesman cannot

be overly praised. Thus it was that when the full import of the

Cyrga Affair burst upon his Majesty's government, it was quite

natural for our ministers to turn to Zalasta for counsel. Despite

our admiration for this pre-eminent citizen of Styricum, however,

we must admit that Zalasta's mind is so noble that he

sometimes fails to perceive less admirable qualities in others.

There were grave doubts in some quarters of his Majesty's

government when Zalasta urged that we turn our attention

beyond the borders of Tamuli in our quest for a solution to the

problem which was quite rapidly approaching the dimensions

of a crisis. His suggestion that the Pandion Knight, Sir Sparhawk

was best suited to deal with the situation troubled the

more conservative members of the Imperial Council. Despite the

man's military genius, he is nonetheless a member of one of the

Militant Orders of the Church of Chyrellos, and prudent men

do not lower their guard when compelled by necessity to have

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Second Zemoch War between the Knights of the Church of

Chyrellos and the minions of Otha of Zemoch. Not even Zalasta,

whose wisdom is legendary, can tell us precisely what took

place in the City of Zemoch during Sir Sparhawk's fateful confrontation

with Otha and with the Zemoch God, Azash. There

have been some garbled hints that Sir Sparhawk may have utilized

an ancient talisman known as 'the Bhelliom' in the struggle,

but no reputable scholar has been able to uncover any details

about the talisman or its attributes. However he managed to

perform the astounding feat, it is undeniably true that Sir Sparhawk

was successful in his mission, and it was clearly that

remarkable success which stampeded his Imperial Majesty's

government into turning to this Pandion Knight for aid in the

early stages of the Cyrga Affair - despite the grave reservations

of some highly respected ministers, who quite correctly pointed

out that an alliance between the Empire and the Church of Chyrellos

might well be fraught with unseen dangers. Unfortunately

perhaps, the faction headed by Foreign Minister Oscagne currently

has the Emperor's ear, and our Prime Minister, Pondia

Subat, was unable to prevent the government from embarking

on a potentially dangerous course of action.

Foreign Minister Oscagne himself headed the mission to the

seat of the Elene Church at Chyrellos to petition Archprelate

Dolmant for Sir Sparhawk's aid in dealing with the crisis. While

no one can question Oscagne's skill in diplomacy, his political

views have been called into question in some quarters, and it is

widely known that he and the Prime Minister have disagreed

Violently in the past. The politics of the Eosian Continent are murky, for

there is

no central authority there. Quite frequently, the Church of

Chyrellos finds itself at odds with the reigning monarchs of the

separate Elene kingdoms. As a Church Knight, Sir Sparhawk

would normally be under the command of Archprelate Dolmant,

but that simple and direct line of command was clouded by the

fact that Sparhawk is also the Prince Consort of the Queen of

Elenia and therefore subject to her whims. It was here that

Foreign Minister Oscagne was able to demonstrate his virtuosity

in the field of diplomacy. Archprelate Dolmant clearly saw the

contiguity of interest with the Empire in the matter, but queen

Ehlana remained unconvinced. The queen of Elenia is young,

and her emotions sometimes cloud her judgement. She clearly

viewed the notion of a prolonged separation from her husband

with a profound lack of enthusiasm. In a brilliant stroke, however,

Foreign Minister Oscagne proposed that Sir Sparhawk's

journey to the Daresian Continent might best be masked by a

state visit of Queen Ehlana to the imperial court in Matherion.

As Prince Consort, Sir Sparhawk would quite naturally accompany

his wife, and his presence would thus be fully explained.

This proposal sufficiently mollified Sparhawk's queen, and she

finally agreed.

Travelling with a suitable escort of one hundred Church

Knights and various functionaries, Queen Ehlana took ship and

sailed to the port of Salesha in eastern Zemoch. From there

the royal party travelled north to Basne where an additional

escort of horsemen from eastern Pelosia awaited them. Thus

reinforced, the Elenes crossed the border into Astel in western

Daresia.

The accounts we have received of the queen's journey have

shown some glaring inconsistencies. Objections have been

raised that, should we accept the word of these Elenes, we

would clearly be faced with an absurdity. After some consideration,

however, this writer has become convinced that these

apparent discrepancies can be easily reconciled if those who so

violently object will but take the trouble to examine the differences

between the Elene and the Tamul calendars. The Queen

of Elenia did not, in fact, pretend to have flown across the continent,

as some have scornfully suggested. her progress was quite

normal, and it will be recognized as such if the learned gentlemen

will but take note of the fact that the Eleine week is longer than

ours.

At any rate, the queen's party reached the capital of Astel

at Darsas, where Queen Ehlana so charmed King Alberen that

Ambassador Fontan humorously reported that the poor man

was on the verge of giving her' his crown. Prince Sparhawk,

meanwhile, began to actively pursue the real purpose behind

his journey to Tamuli, the gathering of information about what

the Elenes had melodramatically come to call 'the conspiracy).

The queen's party was joined 'at Darsas by two legions of Atan

warriors under the leadership of Engessa, the commander of the

garrison at Genae, and they journeyed to Pela on the steppes of

central Astel to meet with the nomadic Peloi. From thence they

set out for the Styric city of Sarsos in northeastern Astel.

A disturbing note emerges from the accounts of this journey,

however. The Foreign Minister, either duped or willingly conspiring

with the Elenes, reported that, somewhat to the west of

Sarsos, the royal party encountered Cyrgai This clear evidence

of an intent to deceive his Majesty's government has raised grave

questions, not only about Oscagne's loyalty, but about the sincerity

of the Elenes as well. As Prime Minister Subat pointed

out, Foreign Minister Oscagne is, though brilliant, sometimes

erratic, a common characteristic of the overly gifted. Moreover,

the Prime Minister added, Prince Sparhawk and his companions

are Church Knights, after all, and the Church of Chyrellos iS

widely known to be a political as well as a spiritual force on the

Eosian Continent. Dark suspicions began to arise in the halls of

his Majesty's government, and many have expressed grave

doubts about the wisdom of our course. Some have even gone

so far as to raise the possibility that the disruptions here in

Tamuli might be of Elene origin, providing as they did a perfect

excuse for an incursion onto the continent by the Church

Knights, the acknowledged agents of Archprelate Dolmant.

Could it be, they ask, that this entire affair has been contrived by

Dolmant to provide his Church with the opportunity to forcibly

convert all of Tamuli to the worship of the Elene God and thus

advised this writer that he is seriously concerned about this

possibility. At Sarsos, Queen Ehlana's party was joined by Sephrenia,

who was formerly the tutor of the Pandions in the Secrets of

styricum, but who is now a member of the Thousand, the ruling

council in that city. They were also joined there by Zalasta himself,

a fact which has quieted some of our anxieties in regard to

the motives of the Elenes. It was obviously through 'Zalasta's

efforts that the Thousand were persuaded to pledge their aid,

despite the long-standing and, many feel, fully justified suspicions

all Styrics have of Elene motives.

The Elenes then moved on to Atan, where Queen Ehlana once

again charmed the king and queen. It is clearly evident that the

personality of this winsome girl is a force to be reckoned with.

Although Foreign Minister Oscagne's report of the encounter

with the supposed Cyrgai is open to serious question, there can

be no doubt about the veracity of the report of what happened

after our visitors left Atana. That report came from Zalasta himself,

and no sane man in the government could ever question

the veracity of the first citizen of Styricum. It was in the mountains

lying to the west of the border of Tamul proper that the

party was set upon again, and Zalasta has confirmed the fact

that the attackers were non-human.

There have been sightings of fearsome monsters in the Atan

mountains in the past year, although many skeptics have dismissed

these reports as being yet more of the illusory manifestations

of the power of those bent on bringing down his Imperial

Majesty's government. These clever illusions of Ogres, vampires,

werewolves and Shining Ones have been terrorizing the

simple folk of Tamuli for several years, and the mountain monsters

had been assumed to be no more than another of these

illusions. Zalasta assures us, however, that these huge, shaggy

beasts are Trolls, who until recently were indigenous to the

Thalesian peninsula in Eosia, and who had migrated to the north

coast of Atan across the polar ice, presumably at the behest of

the enemies of the Empire. Sir Sparhawk, once again reinforcing

Zalasta's opinion of him, quickly devised tactics which routed

the brutes.

Queen Ehlana's party then crossed the border into Tamul

proper, and shortly thereafter reached the imperial capital at

fire-domed Matherion, where they were graciously welcomed

by Emperor Sarabian. Despite the protests of Prime Minister

Subat, the Elene visitors were given almost unimpeded access

to his Majesty. The Queen of Elenia soon charmed the Emperor

even as she had the lesser monarchs to the west, and they

quickly became fast friends. Candor compels us to admit that

Emperor Sarabian's character is afflicted with a regrettably

meddlesome and independent streak. He has shown of late a

lamentable tendency to interfere with the government, and to

override the counsel of those far better equipped than he to deal

with the day-to-day details of governing his vast realm.

The Prime Minister, acting on the advice of Interior Minister

Kolata, had decided to place Prince Sparhawk under the command

of the Ministry of the Interior. As Kolata correctly pointed

out, Sir Sparhawk, an Eosian Elene, could not be expected to

understand the myriad cultures of Tamuli, and therefore would

need guidance and direction in his efforts to counter the schemes

Of our enemies. Emperor Sarabian, however, rejected this highly

sensible approach and granted this foreigner almost total discretion

in approaching such problems as arose.

Despite our reservations about Prince Sparhawk, his queen

and his companions, however, we must reluctantly concede that

their presence in Matherion averted a disaster of the first order.

Among the other structures in the imperial compound there is

a perfect replica of an Elene castle, which was specifically

designed to make Elene dignitaries feel at home. Queen Ehlana

and her entourage were housed in that castle, and the relevance

of that fact will soon become clear.

In some as yet to be determined fashion, Sir Sparhawk and

his cohorts unearthed a plot here in Matherion to overthrow the

government. Rather than report their findings to the Ministry

of the Interior, however, the Elenes chose to keep their discovery

to themselves and to permit the conspirators to pursue their plot

to its final conclusion. When an armed mob approached the

imperial compound on that fateful night, Prince Sparhawk and

his companions simply withdrew into their Elene castle, taking

the Emperor and the government inside with them.

We Tamuls had not fully understood the fact that architecture

can be a weapon. Unbeknownst to his Majesty's government,

Sparhawk's Elenes had modified the castle to some degree and

had quietly brought in stores, all the while secretly constructing

the brutal implements with which Elenes do war.

The mob, bent on the overthrow of the government, swept

unimpeded into the imperial compound, and after a brief orgy

of looting, it found itself confronted by an impregnable castle

filled with ruthless Elene warriors who' routinely utilize boiling

pitch and fire to defend their strongholds. The horrors of that

night will remain forever etched on the memories of civilized

men. As has long been the practise in Tamuli, many of the

younger sons of the great houses of Tamul proper had joined

with the rebels, more as a lark than out of any serious criminal

intent. Always in the past these youthful offenders have been

separated from the true criminals, severely reprimanded and

then returned to their parents. Protected by rank and family,

they have had little to fear from the authorities. Boiling pitch,

however, is no respecter of rank, and a high-spirited young

aristocrat soaked in naphtha will burn as quickly as the foulest

knave from the gutter. Moreover, once the mob had entered the

compound, the Elenes closed the main gates, effectively sealing

all inside, the innocent as well as the guilty, and further horrors

were inflicted on the unfortunates by rampaging Peloi horsemen.

The brutal suppression of the uprising was completed

when the compound gates were opened once again to admit

Fully twenty legions of Atans, savages from the mountains who

had received no instruction whatsoever in the customary civilities.

The Atans systematically butchered all in their paths.

Many young nobles, dearly loved students at this very university,

were cut down even as they displayed their badges of rank,

which should have guaranteed them total immunity.

Although decent men the world around must view this

unbridled savagery with horror, we must reluctantly congratulate

Sir Sparhawk and his companions. The uprising was

crushed, nay, annihilated, by these Elene savages and the unrestrained

Atans.

His Imperial Majesty's government, however, made few

friends on that dreadful night. Although the atrocities were

clearly of Elene origin, the fact that Sir Sparhawk was here in

Matherion at the Emperor's express invitation has not been lost

on the great houses of Tamul proper.

To further exacerbate the situation, the Elenes have seized

upon the uprising as an excuse to send Patriarch Emban, a highranking

member of the Elene clergy and ostensibly the spiritual

advisor of Queen Ehlana, back to Chyrellos to urge the Archprel

%

Pondia Subat, the Prime Minister, has privately confessed that

he is growing more and more powerless, able only to watch

helplessly as events move at an increasingly quickening pace. He

has personally told this writer of his concerns. Foreign Minister

Oscagne is clearly using his influence over the Emperor to

manipulate the situation. The invitation to Sir Sparhawk to come

to Tamuli was obviously but the first step in some wider and

more deadly scheme. Utilizing the present turmoil in Tamuli,

the Foreign Minister has manipulated the Emperor into providing

the very opening Dolmant needed to justify an incursion in

force on to the Daresian Continent.

This writer is fully convinced that the Empire faces the gravest

threat in her long and glorious history. The willing cooperation

of the Atans in the massacre within the imperial compound is

clear evidence that not even their loyalty can be depended upon.

To whom can we turn for aid? Where in all this world can we

find a force sufficient to repel the savage minions of Dolmant

of Chyrellos? Must the Empire in all her glory fall before the

onslaught of the Elene zealots? I weep, my brothers, for the

glory that must die. Fire-domed Matherion, the city of light, the

home of truth and beauty, the center of the world, is doomed.

The darkness descends, and there is little hope that morning

will ever come again.

PART ONE

Cynesga

CHAPTER 1

The seasons were turning, and the long summer was winding

down toward autumn. A tenuous mist hung in the streets of

fire-domed Matherion. The moon had risen late, and its pale

light starkly etched the opalescent towers and domes and

imparted a soft glow to the fog lying in the streets. Matherion,

all aglow, stood with her feet bathed in shining mist and her

pale face lifted to the night sky.

Sparhawk was tired. The tensions of the past week and the

climactic events which had resolved them had drained him, but

he could not sleep. Wrapped in his black Pandion cloak, he

stood on the parapet looking pensively out over the glowing

city. He was tired, but his need to evaluate, to assess, to understand,

was far too great to permit him to seek his bed and let

his mind sink into the soft well of sleep until everything had

been put into its proper place.

'What are you doing up here, Sparhawk?' Khalad spoke

quietly, his voice so much like his father's that Sparhawk turned

his head sharply to be sure that Kurik himself had not returned

from the House of the Dead to chide him. Khalad was a plainfaced

young man with thick shoulders and an abrupt manner.

His family had served Sparhawk's for three generations now,

and Khalad, like his father, customarily addressed his lord with

a plain-spoken bluntness.

'I couldn't sleep,' Sparhawk replied with a brief shrug.

'Your wife's got half the garrison out looking for you, you

know.'

Sparhawk grimaced. 'Why does she always have to do that?'

'it's your own fault. You know she's going to send people out

after you anytime you go off without telling her where you'll

be. you could save yourself - and us - a lot of time and trouble

if you'd just tell her in the first place. It seems to me that I've

suggested that several times already.'

'Don't bully me, Khalad. you're as bad as your father was.'

"Sometimes good traits breed true. Would you like to go down

and tell your wife that you're all right? - before she calls in the

workmen to start tearing down the walls?'

Sparhawk sighed. 'All right.' He turned away from the parapet. 'O

h, by the way, you probably ought to know that we'll be

making a trip before long.'

'Oh? Where are we going?'

'We have to go pick something up. Have a word with the

farriers. Faran needs to be re-shod. He's scuffed his right front

shoe down until it's as thin as paper.'

'That's your fault, Sparhawk. He wouldn't do that if you'd sit

up straight in your saddle.'

'We start to get crooked as we grow older. That's one of the

things you have to look forward to.'

'Thanks. When are we leaving on this trip?'

"just as soon as I can come up with a convincing enough lie

to persuade my wife to let me go off without her.'

'We've got plenty of time, then.' Khalad looked out across

moon-washed Matherion standing in pale fog with the moonlight

awakening the rainbows of fire in her naked shoulders.

'Pretty,' he noted.

'is that the best you can do? You look at the most fabulous

city in the world and shrug it off as "pretty".'

'i'm not an aristocrat, Sparhawk. I don't have to invent

flowery phrases to impress others - or myself. Let's get you

inside before the damp settles into your lungs. You crooked'old

people have delicate health sometimes.'

Queen Ehlana, pale and blonde and altogether lovely, was

irritated more than angry; Sparhawk saw that immediately. He

also saw that she had gone to some trouble to make herself as

pretty as possible. her dressing gown was dark blue satin, her

cheeks had been carefully pinched to make them glow, and her

hair was artfully arranged to' give the impression of winsomely

distracted dish'evelment. She berated him about his lack of

consideration in tones that might easily have made the trees

cry and the very rocks shrink from her. her cadences were

measured, and her voice rose, then sank, as she told him exactly

how she felt. Sparhawk concealed a smile. Ehlana was speaking

to him on two levels at the same time as she stood in the center

of the blue-draped royal apartment scolding him. Her words

expressed extreme displeasure; her careful preparations, however,

said something quite different.

He apologized.

She refused to accept his apology and stormed off to the bedroom,

slamming the door behind her.

'Spirited,' Sephrenia murmured. The small woman sat out of

harm's way on the far side of the room, her white Styric robe

glowing in the candlelight.

'You noticed,' Sparhawk smiled.

'Does she do that often?'

'Oh, yes. She enjoys it. What are you doing up so late, little

mother?'

'Aphrael wanted me to speak with you.'

'Why didn't she just come and talk with me herself? It's not

as if she were way over on the other side of town.'

"It's a formal sort of occasion, Sparhawk. I'm supposed to

speak for her at times like this.'

'Was that intended to make sense?'

"It would if you were Styric. We're going to have to make

some substitutions when we go to retrieve Bhelliom. Khalad can

fill in for his father without any particular problem, but Tynian's

decision to go back to Chyrellos with Emban really has Aphrael

upset. Can you persuade him to change his mind?'

Sparhawk shook his head. "I wouldn't even try, Sephrenia.

I'm not going to cripple him for life just because Aphrael might

miss him.'

'is his arm really that bad?'

"It's bad enough. That crossbow bolt went right through his

shoulder joint. If he starts moving it around, it won't set right,

and that's his sword arm.'

'Aphrael could fix it, you know.'

'Not without exposing her identity she couldn't, and I won't

let her do that.'

'Won't let?'

'Ask her if she wants to endanger her mother's sanity just for

the sake of symmetry. substitute someone else. If Aphrael's

willing to accept Khalad in place of Kurik, she should be able

to pick someone else to fill in for Tyniann. Why is it so important

to her in the first place?'

'You wouldn't understand.'

'Why don't you try to explain it anyway? I might surprise

you.'

'You're in an odd humor tonight.'

'i've just been scolded. That always makes me odd. Why does

Aphrael think it's so important to always have the same group

of people around her?'

"It has to do with the feeling of it, Sparhawk. The presence of

any given person is more than just the way he looks or the

sound of his voice. It also involves the way he thinks - and

probably more important, the way he feels about Aphrael. She

surrounds herself with that. When you bring in different people,

you change the way it feels, and that throws her off balance.'

She looked at him. 'You didn't understand a word of that, did

you?'

'Yes, as a matter of fact I did. How about Vanion? He loves

her as much as Tynian does, and she loves him too. He's been

more or less with us in spirit since all this started anyway, and

he is a knight, after all.'

'Vanion? Don't be absurd, Sparhawk.'

'He's not an invalid, you know. He was running foot-races

back in Sarsos, and he was still as good as ever with his lance

when we fought the Trolls.'

"It's out of the question. I won't even discuss it.'

He crossed the room, took her wrists in his hands and kissed

her palms. "I love you dearly, little mother,' he told her, 'but

I'm going to override you this time. You can't wrap Vanion in

lamb's-wool for the rest of his life just because you're afraid he

might scratch his finger. If you don't suggest him to Aphrael, I

will.'

She swore at him in Styric. 'Don't you understand, Sparhawk?

I almost lost him.' Her heart was in her luminous blue eyes. 'i'll

die if anything happens to him.'

'Nothing's going to happen to him. Are you going to ask

Aphrael about it, or would you rather have me do it?'

She swore at him again.

'Where did you ever learn that kind of language?' he asked

mildly. 'if that takes care of our problem, I'm a little overdue at

the bedroom door.'

"I didn't quite follow that.'

"It's time for the kissing and making up. There's supposed to

be a certain rhythm to these things, and if I wait too long to

soften Ehlana's displeasure, she'll begin to think I don't love her

any more.'

'Do you mean her perFormance here tonight was nothing more

than an invitation to the bedroom?'

'That might be putting it a little bluntly, but there was some

of that involved, yes. Sometimes I get busy and forget to pay

as much attention to her as I should. She'll only let that go on

for just so long before she makes a speech. The speech reminds

me that I've been neglecting her. We kiss and make up, and

everything's all right again.'

'Wouldn't it be simpler if she just came right out and told you

in the first place without these elaborate games?'

'Probably, but it wouldn't be nearly as much fun for her. You'll

excuse me?'

'Why do you always avoid me, Berit-Knight?' Empress Elysoun

asked with a disconsolate little pout.

'Your Highness misunderstands me,' Berit replied, flushing

slightly and keeping his eyes averted.

'Am I ugly, Berit-Knight?'

'Of course not, your Highness.'

'Then why don't you ever look at me?'

"It's not considered polite among Elenes for a man to look at

an undressed woman, your Highness.'

'i'm not an Elene, Sir Knight. I'm a Valesian, and I'm not

naked. I have plenty of clothes on. If you'll come to my chambers,

I'll show you the difference.'

Sparhawk had been looking for Sir Berit to advise him of their

upcoming journey, and he had just rounded a corner in the

hallway leading to the chapel to find his young friend trapped

once more by the Empress Elysoun. Since Emperor Sarabian's

entire family was inside the castle as a security measure, Berit's

escape routes had been seriously curtailed, and Elysoun had

been taking advantage of the ' situation outrageously. The

Emperor's Valesian wife was a brown-skinned, sunny girl whose

native costume left her unashamedly bare-breasted. No matter

how many times Sarabian had explained to Berit that customary

moral strictures did not apply to Valesians, the young Knight

remained steadfastly respectful - and chahte. Elysoun had taken

that as a challenge, and she had been pursuing the poor young

man relentlessly. Sparhawk was just on the verge of speaking

to his friend, but he smiled instead and stepped back round the

corner to listen. he was the interim preceptor of the Pandion

Order, after all, and it was his duty to look after the souls of his

men.

'Do you always have to be an Elene?' Elysoum was asking the

knight.

"I am an Elene, your highness.'

'But you Elenes are so boring,' she said. 'Why don't you be

Valesian for just one afternoon? It's much more fun, and it

won't take very long, you know - unless you want it to.' She

paused. 'Are you really a virgin?' she asked curiously.

Berit turned bright red.

Elysoun laughed delightedly. 'What an absurd idea' she

exclaimed. 'Aren't you even a little curious about what you've

been missing? I'll be happy to take that tiresome virginity off

your hands, Berit-Knight - and it won't even hurt very much.'

Sparhawk took pity on the poor fellow and intervened at that

point. 'Ah, there you are, Berit,' he said, stepping round the

corner and speaking in Tamul for the Empress's benefit. 'i've

been looking all over for you. Something's come up that needs

our attention.' He bowed to the Empress. 'Your Imperial highness,'

he murmured, 'i'm afraid I'll have to commandeer your

friend here for a while. Matters of state, you know.'

The look Elysoun gave him had dagger's in it.

"I was sure your highness would understand,' he said, bowing

again. 'Come along, Berit. The matter's serious, and we're

late.' he led his friend off down the opalescent corridor as

Empress Elisoum glared after them.

'Thanks, 'Sparhawk,' Berit said with relief.

'Why don't you just stay away from her?'

"I can't. She follows me 'everywhere. She even trapped me in

the bath-house once - in the middle of the night. She said she

wanted to bathe with me,'

'Berit,' Sparhawk smiled, 'as your preceptor and spiritual

guide, I'm supposed to applaud your devotion to the ideals of

our order. As your friend, though; I have to tell you that running

away from her only makes matters worse. We have to stay here

in Matherion, and if we stay long enough, she will get you.

She's very single-minded about it.'

'Yes, I've noticed that.'

"She's really quite pretty, you know,' Sparhawk suggested

tentatively. 'What's your difficulty with the notion of being

friendly?'

'Sparhawk!'

The big Pandion sighed. "I was afraid you might look at it that

way. Look, Berit, Elysoun comes from a different culture with

different customs. She doesn't see this sort of thing as sin. Sarabian's

made it quite clear that he wants some of us to accommodate

her, and she's chosen you as the lucky man. It's a political

necessity, so you're just going to have to set these delicate feelings

aside. Look upon it as your knightly duty, if it makes you

feel any better. I can even have Emban grant you an indulgence

if you think it's necessary.'

Berit gasped.

'You're starting to embarrass us,' Sparhawk said. 'Elysoun's

been making Sarabian's life miserable about the whole thing.

He won't step in and order you to do as she asks, no matter how

much she nags him, but he quite obviously expects me to speak

with you about it.'

"I can't believe you're saying this, Sparhawk.

'Just go ahead and do it, Berit. Everybody expects you to. You

don't have to enjoy it if you don't want to, but do it. Do it as often

as you have to, but make her stop screaming at the Emperor. It's

your duty, my friend, and after you and Elysoun have romped

around the bedroom a few time's, she'll start looking for new

playmates. '

'But what if she doesn't?'

"I wouldn't worry too much. Patriarch Emban's got a whole

saddle-bag full of indulgences if it should turn out that you really

need them. '

The failed uprising had given Emperor Sarabian the perfect

excuse to escape from his government. Feigning cowardice, he

had flatly declared that he felt safe only within the walls of

Ehlana's castle, and then only if the moat remained full and the

drawbridge raised. his ministers, being accustomed to arranging

his every move, found that terribly inconvenient.

Sarabian had not been motivated entirely by a desire to

breathe the air of relative freedom, however. Interior Minister

Kolata had been revealed as a traitor during the coup-attempt,

but Sarabian and his Elene friends had decided that the time

was not yet right to publicly reveal his treachery. So long as

the Emperor remained inside Ehlana's castle, Kolata's presence

there as well was fully explained. He was in charge of the police,

after all, and the protection of the Emperor was his paramount

duty. The Interior Minister, closely supervised by Ehlana's

cohorts, directed the police forces of the Empire from inside the

walls. His meetings with his underlings were always just a trifle

strained, since Stragen customarily sat beside him with one hand

idly resting on the hilt of a dagger.

It was early one morning when Ambassador Norkan, the

Tamul emissary to the court of King Androl and Queen Betuana

of Atan, was escorted into the gleaming imitation throne-room in

the castle. Norkan wore his usual golden mantle and a puzzled

expression. Though he tried to conceal the fact, he quite obviously

disapproved of the fact that his Emperor was dressed in

western-style doublet and hose of a rich plum color. 'Have you

gone and stolen my Emperor too, Queen Ehlana?' he asked with

a perfunctory bow. Norkan was a brilliant man, but he had an

unfortunate tendency to speak his mind quite openly.

'What a thing to say, your Excellency,' Ehlana protested mildly

in nearly perfect Tamul. Ehlana was technically the hostess here,

so she sat on her throne wearing her formal crimson robe and

a golden crown. She turned to her imperial 'guest' who sprawled

in a nearby chair slowly twitching a string across the opalescent

floor for the entertainment of Princess Danae's cat. 'Have I stolen

you, Sarabian?' she asked him.

'Oh, absolutely, Ehlana,' he replied, speaking in Elenic. 'i'm

utterly in thrall to you.'

'Has someone opened a school for modern languages here on

the grounds while I've been gone, Oscagne?' Norkan asked.

"I suppose you might say that,' the Foreign minister replied.

'His Majesty's proficiency in Elenic predates Queen Ehlana's

visit, however. Our revered Emperor's been keeping secrets

from us.'

'is he allowed to do that? I thought he was supposed to be

just a stuffed toy that we trotted out on ceremonial occasions.'

Even Oscagne choked a bit on that, but Sarabian burst into

laughter. 'i've missed you, Norkan,' he declared. 'Have you had

the chance to get to know our excellent Norkan, Ehlana?'

"I sampled his wit in Atana, Sarabian,' the queen smiled. 'HiS

observations always seem so - ah - unexpected.'

'That they are,' Sarabian laughed, rising to his feet. He swore

briefly as the rapier at his side briefly caught behind the leg of

his chair. The Emperor had a great deal of difficulty with his

rapier. 'Norkan once made one of those unexpected observations

about the size of my sister's feet, and I had to send him

off to Atan to keep her from having him murdered.' He cocked

one eyebrow at the ambassador. "I really should make you marry

her, Norkan. Then you could insult her in private. Public insults

require public responses, you know.'

'i'm honored more than I can say, your Imperial Majesty,'

Norkan replied. 'The prospect of becoming your brother-in-law

is quite likely to stop my heart entirely.'

'You don't like my sister,' Sarabian accused.

"I didn't say that, your Majesty, but I prefer to worship her

from afar - at least out of the range of her feet. That's what

precipitated my unfortunate remark in the first place. I was

gouty that day, and she stepped on my toe. She'd be a nice

enough girl, I suppose, if she'd only watch where she's putting

those cattle barges she wears for shoes.'

"It wouldn't be one of those marriages made in heaven, Sarabian,'

Ehlana smiled. 'i've met your sister, and I'm afraid his

Excellency's wit would be lost on her.'

'You might be right, my dear,' Sarabian agreed. 'i'd really like

to get rid of her, though. She's irritated me since the day she

was born. What are you doing back here in Matherion, Norkan?'

One of Ambassador Norkan's eyebrows shot up. 'Things have

changed, haven't they, Oscagne? Are we supposed to tell him

to his face what's really going on?'

'Emperor Sarabian's decided to take charge of his own government,

my friend,' Oscagne sighed mournfully.

'isn't that against the law?'

'Afraid not, old boy.'

'Would you consider accepting my resignation?'

'No, not really.'

'Don't you want to work for me any more, Norkan?' Sarabian

asked.

"I have nothing against you personally, your Majesty, but if

you decide to actually meddle in government, the whole Empire

could collapse.'

'Marvelous, Norkan. I love the way you start talking before

you've saddled up your brains. You see, Ehlana? That's what

I was telling you about. The officials in my government all

expect me to smile regally, approve their recommendations

without question, and leave the business of running things

to them.'

'how boring.'

'indeed it is, my dear, but I'm going to change it. Now that

I've seen a real ruler in action, whole new horizons have been

opened to me. You still haven't answered my question, Norkan

What brings you back to Matherion?'

'The Atans are growing restive, your Majesty.'

'Are the recent disturbances starting to erode their loyalty?'

'No, your Majesty, quite the reverse. The uprising has them

all excited. Androl wants to move out in force to occupy

Matherion in order to guarantee your safety. I don't think we

want that. The Atans don't pay too much attention to rank or

position when they decide to kill people.'

'We noticed that,' Sarabian replied dryly. 'i've received all

sorts of petitions of protest from the noble houses of Tamul

proper as a result of the measures Engessa took to put down

the coup.'

'i've spoken with Betuana, your Majesty,' Norkan continued.

"She's promised to shorten her husband's leash until I get some

instructions from you. Something short and to the point like,

"Sit! Stay!" might be aPProPriate, considering Androl's mental

capabilities. '

'how did you ever get to be a diplomat, Norkan?'

"I lied a lot.'

'A suggestion, Emperor Sarabian?' Tynian offered.

'Go ahead, Sir Tynian.'

'We don't really want to ruffle King Androl's feathers, so a

suggestion to him that he's being held in place to meet a far

greater threat might be preferable to just sending him to bed

without any supper.'

Sarabian laughed. 'What a novel way to put it, Sir Tynian. All

right, Norkan, send Engessa.'

Norkan blinked.

Pay attention man,' Sarabian snapped.

'That's something you'll have to get used to, Norkan,'

Oscagne advised. 'The Emperor sometimes takes verbal

shortcuts. '

'Oh. I see.' Norkan thought about it. 'Might I ask why Atan

Engessa would be better qualified to carry out your instructions

than I would, your Majesty?'

'Because Engessa can run faster than you can, and he'll be

able to put our commands to Androl in language far more acceptable

to him. There's also the fact that using Engessa hints at

a military reason for the decision, and that should smooth

Androl's feathers all the more. You can explain our real reasons

to Betuana when you get back.'

'You know something, Oscagne?' Norkan said. 'He might just

work out all right after all - if we can keep him from making

too many blunders right at the outset.'

Oscagne winced.

Sparhawk touched Vanion's shoulder and motioned with his

head. The two of them drifted back to the rear of the throne-room.

'I've got a problem, Vanion,' Sparhawk muttered.

'Oh?'

'i've racked my brains to come up with an excuse for us to

get out of Matherion for long enough to retrieve the Bhelliom,

but I haven't had a single idea that a child wouldn't be able to

see through. Ehlana's not stupid, you know.'

'No, that she isn't.'

'Aphrael won't say anything definite, but I get the strong

feeling that she wants us to sail on the same ship with Emban

and Tynian, and I'm starting to run out of excuses to keep delaying

their departure. Any ideas?'

'Ask Oscagne to help you,' Vanion shrugged. 'He's a diplomat,

so lying comes second nature to him.'

'Nice idea, but I can't really tell him where we're going and

what we're going to do when we get there, can I?'

'Don't tell him, then. just tell him that you need a reason to

be out of town for a while. Put on a gravely mysterious face and

let it go at that. Oscagne's been around for long enough to

recognize the symptoms of official reticence when he sees them.'

'Why didn't I think of that?'

'Probably because your oath keeps getting in your way. I know

that you've sworn to tell the truth, but that doesn't mean that

you have to tell the whole truth. You can leave things out, you

know. Leaving things out is one of the prerequisites of the office

of Preceptor.'

Sparhawk sighed. 'Back to school, I see. I think I'm doomed

to spend my whole life getting instructions from you - and being

made to feel inadequate in the process.'

'That's what friends are for, Sparhawk.'

'You're not going to tell me, are you?' Sparhawk tried very hard

to keep it from sounding like an accusation.

'Not yet, no,' Princess Danae replied, carefully tying a doll's

bonnet on her cat's head. Mmrr did not appear to care for the

idea, but she endured her mistress's little game with a look of

resignation.

'Why not?' Sparhawk asked his daughter, flopping down into

one of the blue armchairs in the royal apartment.

'Because something might still come up to make it unnecessary.

You're not going to find Bhelliom until I decide to let you

find it, father.'

'You want us to sail with Tynian and Emban, though?'

'Yes.'

'How far?'

"It doesn't really matter. I just need Tynian with us when we

first set out, that's all.

'Then you don't really have any set destination in mind - with

that ship, I mean?'

'Of course not. I just need Tynian to be along for a couple of

days. We can go out to sea for a couple of leagues and then sail

around in circles for two days if you want. It's all the same to

me.'

'Thanks,' he said acidly.

'No charge. There.' She held up the cat. 'isn't she darling in

her new bonnet?'

"adorable. '

Mmrr gave Sparhawk a flat look of pure hatred.

"I can't tell you why at the moment, your Excellency,' Sparhawk

said to Oscagne later that same day when they were alone in

one of the hallways. 'All I can say is that I need a reason to be

away from Matherion with a group of nine or ten of my friends

for an indeterminate period of time - several weeks or so. It has

to be significant enough to convince my wife that it's necessary,

but not so serious as to worry her, and I have to sail on the same

ship with Emban and Tynian.'

'All right,' Oscagne agreed. 'How good an actor are you,

Prince Sparhawk?'

"I don't think anybody'd pay money to watch me perform.'

Oscagne let that pass. "I gather that this ploy is primarily

intended for your wife's benefit?'

'Yes.'

'Then it might be best if the idea of sending you off someplace

came from her. I'll maneuver her into ordering you off on some

inconsequential errand, and you can take it from there.'

'i'd really like to see you try to maneuver Ehlana.'

'Trust me, old boy. Trust me.

'tega?' Sarabian asked his foreign minister incredulously. 'The

only superstition they have on the Isle of Tega is the one that

says that it's bad luck not to raise the price of sea-shells every

year.'

'They've never mentioned it to us in the past because they

were probably afraid we'd think they were being silly, your

Majesty,' Oscagne replied urbanely. Oscagne looked decidedly

uncomfortable in the blue doublet and hose Sarabian had

ordered him to wear. He couldn't seem to think of anything to

do with his hands, and he appeared to be very self-conscious

about his bony legs. 'The word "silly" seems to strike at the

very core of the Tegan soul. They're the stuffiest people in the

world.'

"I know. Gahenas, my Tegan wife, can put me to sleep almost

immediately - even when we're...' The Emperor threw a quick

look at Ehlana and left it hanging.

'Tegans have raised being boring to an art form, your Majesty,'

Oscagne agreed. 'Anyway, there's an old Tegan myth to the

effect that the oyster-beds are haunted by a mermaid. Supposedly

she eats oysters, shells and all, and that really upsets

the Tegans. She also seduces Tegan divers, who tend to drown

during the exchange of pleasantries.'

'isn't a mermaid supposed to be half-girl and half-fish?' Ulath

asked.

'So the legend goes,' Oscagne replied.

'And isn't she supposed to be a fish from the waist down?'

'i've been told so, yes.'

'Then how... ?' Ulath also looked quickly at Ehlana and then

abruptly broke off.

'How what, Sir Ulath?' Ehlana asked him innocently.

"It's - ah - not really important, your Majesty,' he replied with

an embarrassed cough.

"I wouldn't even raise this absurd myth, your Majesties,'

Oscagne said to Sarabian and Ehlana, 'except in the light of

recent developments. The parallels between the vampires in

Arjuna, the Shining Ones in southern Atan, and the werewolves,

ghouls and Ogres in other parts of the Empire are really

rather striking, wouldn't you say? I'd imagine that if someone

were to go to Tega and ask around, he might hear stories about

some pre-historic pearl-diver who's been resurrected and also

find that some rabble-rouser's telling the Tegans that this hero

and his half-fish, half-human mistress are going to lead the

oysters in a mass assault on Matherion.'

'How droll,' Sarabian murmured.

'Sorry, your Majesty,' Oscagne apologized. 'What I'm getting

at here is that we've probably got some relatively inexperienced

conspirator on Tega. He's just getting started, so he's bound to

make mistakes - but experienced or not, he knows a great deal

about the whole conspiracy. Since our friends here won't let

us question Kolata too closely, we have to look elsewhere for

information. '

'We're not being delicate about the Minister of the Interior,

your Excellency,' Kalten told him. "It's just that we've seen what

happens to prisoners who are on the verge of talking too much.

Kolata's still useful to us, but only as long as he stays in one

piece. He won't be much good if little chunks and globs of him

get scattered all over the building.'

Oscagne shuddered. 'i'll take your word for it, Sir Kalten. At

any rate, your Majesty, if some of our Elene friends here could

go to Tega and put their hands on this fellow and talk with

him before our enemy can dismantle him, they could probably

persuade him to tell us everything he knows. Sir Sparhawk has

some ambitions along those lines, I understand. He wants to

find out if he can wring somebody out hard enough to make

his hair bleed.'

'You have a very graphic imagination, Sparhawk,' Sarabian

noted. 'What do you think, Ehlana? Can you spare your husband

for a while? If he and some of his knights went to Tega

and held the entire island under water for a couple of hours,

God only knows what kind of information might come bubbling

to the surface.'

'That's a very good idea, Sarabian. Sparhawk, why don't you

take some of our friends, run on down to the Isle of Tega, and

see what you can find out?'

'i'd really rather not be separated from you, dear,' he replied

with feigned reluctance.

'That's very sweet, Sparhawk, but we do have responsibilities,

you know.'

'Are you ordering me to go, Ehlana?'

'You don't have to put it that way, Sparhawk. It's only a

suggestion, after all.'

'As my Queen commands,' he sighed, putting on a melancholy

expression.

CHAPTER 2

Empress Gahenas was a Tegan lady of middle years with a

severe expression and tightly pursed lips. She wore a plain gray

gown, buttoned to the chin, and long-sleeved gloves of scratchy

wool. Her hair was drawn so tightly back into a bun that it made

her eyes bulge, and her ears protruded from the sides of her

head like open barn doors. Empress Gahenas disapproved of

everything, that much was clear from the outset. She had come

to Sparhawk's study to provide background information on the

Isle of Tega, but she did not come alone. the Empress Gahenas

never went anywhere without her four chaperones, a cluster of

ancient Tegan hags who perched on a varnished bench like a

row of gargoyles.

It was a warm day in early autumn, but the sunlight streaming

in through the window of Sparhawk's study seemed to grow

wan and sickly when Empress Gahenas entered with the stern

guardians of her virtue.

She spent an hour lecturing Sparhawk on the gross national

product of her homeland in a tone that strongly suggested that

she was going to give a test at the conclusion of the lecture.

Sparhawk fought to keep from yawning. He was not really interested

in production figures or labor costs. What he really wanted

from the jug-eared Empress were little details of ordinary life

on the Isle to flesh out the series of letters he was writing to his

wife - letters which were to be doled out to Ehlana to help

sustain the fiction that he and his friends were tracking down

ring-leaders and other conspirators who were concealed among

the general population.

'Ah...' he interrupted Gahenas's droning monologue, 'this

is absolutely fascinating, your Highness, but could we go back

for a moment to the island's form of government? That really

has me baffled.'

'Tega is a republic, Prince Sparhawk. Our rulers are elected to

their positions every five years. It's been that way for twenty-five

centuries. '

'Your officials aren't elected for life?'

'Of course not. Who would want a job like that for life?'

'No one ever develops a hunger for power?'

'The government has no power, Prince Sparhawk. It exists

only to carry out the will of the electorate.'

'Why five years?'

'Because nobody wants to be away from his own affairs for

longer than that.'

'What happens if a man's re-elected?'

'That's contrary to the law. No one serves more than one term

in office.'

'Let's suppose somebody turned out to be an absolute genius

in a particular position? Wouldn't you want to keep him there?'

'We've never found anyone that indispensable.'

'it seems to me that the system would encourage corruption.

If a man knows he's going to be thrown out of office after five

years, what's to keep him from manipulating his official

decisions to further his own interests - later on, I mean?'

"Quite impossible, Prince Sparhawk. Our elected officials have

no outside interests. As soon as they're elected, everything they

own is sold, and the money's put into the national treasury. If

the economy prospers during their term in office, their wealth

earns them a profit. If the economy collapses, they lose

everything. '

'That's absurd. No government ever makes a profit.

'Ours does,' she said smugly, 'and it has to be a real profit.

The tax rates are set and cannot be changed, so our officials

can't generate a false profit by simply raising taxes.'

'Why would anyone want to be an official in a government

like that?'

'Nobody wants to be, Prince Sparhawk. Most Tegans do everything

they possibly can to avoid election. The fact that a man's

own personal fortune's in the treasury forces him to work just

as hard as he possibly can to make sure that the government

prospers. Many have worked themselves to death looking after

the interests of the Republic.'

"I think I'd run away from an honor like that one.

'That's really quite impossible, your Highness. Just as soon

as a man's name's placed in nomination for a public office, he's

put under guard, and if he's elected, he remains under close

guard for his entire term. The Republic makes absolutely sure

that nobody evades his responsibilities to her.'

'The Republic's a stern mistress.'

"She is indeed, Prince Sparhawk, and that's exactly the way

it should be.'

Though his companions chafed at the delay, Sparhawk put off

their departure for two more days while he feverishly composed

the letters to Ehlana. The progress of the fictitious investigation

had to be convincing, certainly, and at least moderately interesting.

Sparhawk wove false leads, plots and unsolved mysteries

into his account. He became increasingly absorbed in the

developing story, sometimes becoming so caught up in it that

he lost sight of the fact that the events he was reporting were

not actually taking place. He became rather proud of his efforts,

and he began to revise extensively, adding a touch here and

modifying a poorly phrased passage there, until he unwittingly

crossed the line between careful artistry and sheer fussiness.

'They're good enough, Sparhawk,' Vanion said to him after

reading through the letters on the evening of the second day.

Vanion was rather pointedly wearing the plain tunic and heavy

riding boots Pandions customarily put on before making an

extended journey.

'You don't think it's too obvious?'

"It's fine just the way it is.'

'Maybe I should rework that third letter. It seems awfully

weak to me for some reason.'

'You've written it four times already. It's good enough.'

'i'm really not happy with it, Vanion.' Sparhawk took the

offending letter from his friend and ran through it once more,

automatically reaching for his pen as he read.

Vanion firmly took the letter away from him.

'Let me just fix that last paragraph,' Sparhawk pleaded.

'No.'

"But...'

'NO!' Vanion put the letter back in its proper place, folded

the packet, and tucked it inside his doublet. 'Oscagne's sending

Norkan along with us,' he said. 'We'll give the letters to him,

and he can sort of dribble them back here to Ehlana. Norkan's

shrewd enough to space them out just enough to keep her from

getting suspicious. The ship's been ready for a week now, and

Emban's getting impatient. We'll sail with the morning tide.'

"I think I know what I did wrong,' Sparhawk said. "I can fix

that third letter in no more than an hour or two.'

'No, Sparhawk. Absolutely not.'

'Are you sure she's asleep?' Sparhawk whispered.

'Of course I am, father,' Princess Danae replied.

'The slightest sound will wake her up, you know. She can

hear a fly walking across the ceiling.'

'Not tonight she can't. I've seen to that.'

"I hope you know what you're doing, Danae. She knows every

tiny little mark on that ring. If there's the slightest difference

between it and this new one, she'll notice it immediately.'

'Oh, father, you worry too much. I've done this before, after

all. Ghwerig made the rings, and I still fooled him. I've been

stealing those rings for thousands of years. Believe me, mother

will never know the difference.'

'is this really necessary?'

'Yes. Bhelliom's useless to you without both rings, and you

may need it almost as soon as we lift it from the sea-floor.'

'Why?'

She rolled her eyes upward and sighed. 'Because the whole

world will shift just as soon as Bhelliom moves. When you were

carrying it to Zemoch, the world quivered around like a plate

of jelly the whole time. My family and I really don't like it when

Bhelliom moves. It makes some of us queasy.'

'Will our enemies out there be able to pinpoint our location

from that?'

She shook her head. "It's too generalized. Every God in the

world's going to know when Bhelliom starts to move, though,

and we can be absolutely sure that at least some of them will

come looking for it. Can we talk about this some other time?'

'What do you want me to do?'

"Just stand watch at the bedroom door. I don't like having an

audience when I'm stealing things.'

'You sound just like Talen.'

'Naturally. He and I were made for each other. It was the

Gods who invented theft in the first place.'

'You're not serious.'

'Of course. We steal things from each other all the time. It's a

game. Did you think we just sat around on clouds basking in adoration?

We have to do something to pass the time. You should try it

sometime, father. It's lots of fun.' She looked around furtively,

crouched low and reached for the bedroom door-handle. 'Keep a

lookout, Sparhawk. Whistle if you hear anybody coming.'

They all gathered in the sitting room of the royal apartment

the following morning to receive their final instructions from

Emperor Sarabian and Queen Ehlana. It was a formality, really.

Everybody knew what they were supposed to do already, so

they sat in the sunlit room making generalized small-talk and

cautioning each other to be careful. People who are parting from

each other do that a lot.

Alcan, Queen Ehlana's doe-eyed maid, was in the next room,

and she was singing. Her voice was clear and sweet and true,

and all conversation in the sitting room broke off as she sang.

"It's like listening to an angel,' Patriarch Emban murmured.

'The girl has a truly magnificent voice,' Sarabian agreed. "She

already has the court musicians in near-despair.'

"She seems a bit sad this morning,' Kalten said, two great

tears glistening in his eyes.

Sparhawk smiled faintly. Kalten had preyed on maids since

he had been a young man, and few had been able to resist his

blandishments. This time, however, the shoe was on the other

foot. Alcan was not singing for her own entertainment. The

brown-eyed girl was singing for an audience of one, and her

song, dealing as it did with the sorrows of parting, filled Kalten's

eyes. She sang of broken hearts and other extravagances in a

very old Elenian ballad entitled 'My Bonnie Blue-Eyed Boy'.

Then Sparhawk noticed that Baroness Melidere, Queen' Ehlana's

lady-in-waiting, was also watching Kalten very closely. Melldere's

eyes met Sparhawk's and she slowly winked. Sparhawk

almost laughed aloud. he was clearly not the only one who was

aware of Alcan's subtle campaign.

'You will write, won't you, Sparhawk?' Ehlana said.

'Of course I will,' he replied.

"I can virtually guarantee that, your Majesty,' Vanion said. 'if

you give him just a little time, Sparhawk's a great letter-writer.

He devotes enormous amounts of time and effort to his correspondence. '

'Tell me everything, Sparhawk,' the queen urged.

'Oh he will, your Majesty, he will,' Vanion assured her. 'he'll

probably tell you more than you ever really wanted to know

about the Isle of Tega.'

'Critic,' Sparhawk muttered under his breath.

'Please don't be too vivid in your description of our situation

here, your Grace,' Sarabian was saying to Emban. 'Don't make

Dolmant think that my empire's falling down around my ears.'

'isn't it, your Majesty?' Emban replied with some surprise. "I

thought that was why I was dashing back to Chyrellos to fetch

the Church Knights.'

'Well, maybe it is, but don't destroy my dignity entirely.'

'Dolmant's very wise, your Majesty,' Emban assured him. 'He

understands the language of diplomacy.'

'Oh, really?' Ehlana said with heavy sarcasm.

"Should I convey your Majesty's greetings to the Archprelate

as well?' Emban asked her.

'Of course. Tell him that I'm desolate at being separated from

him - particularly in view of the fact that I can't keep an eye on

him. You might also advise him that a little-known Elenian statute

clearly says that I have to ratify any agreements he makes

with the Earl of Lenda during my absence. Tell him not to get

too comfortable in those pieces of my kingdom he's been snipping

off since I left, because i'll just take them back again as

soon as I get home.'

'Does she do this all the time, Sparhawk?' Sarabian asked.

'Oh yes, all the time, your Majesty. The Archprelate bites

off all his fingernails every time a letter from her reaches the

Basilica.'

"It keeps him young,' Ehlana shrugged. She rose to her feet.

'Now, friends,' she said, "I hope you'll excuse my husband and

me for a few moments so that we can say our goodbyes privately.

Come along, Sparhawk,' she commanded.

'Yes, my queen.'

The morning fog had lifted, and the sun was very bright as

their ship sailed out of the harbor and heeled over to take a

southeasterly course which would round the southern tip of the

Micaen peninsula to the Isle of Tega. The ship was well

appointed, although she was of a slightly alien configuration.

Khalad did not entirely approve of her, finding fault with her

rigging and the slant of her masts.

It was about noon when Vanion came up on deck to speak

with Sparhawk, who was leaning on the rail watching the coastline

slide by. They were both wearing casual clothing, since

there is no real need for formal garb on board ship.

'Sephrenia wants us all in the main cabin,' the Preceptor told

his friend. "It's time for one of those startling revelations we've

all come to love and adore. Why don't you round up the others

and bring them on down?'

'You're in a peculiar humor,' Sparhawk noted. 'What's the

problem?'

'Sephrenia's being excessively Styric today,' Vanion shrugged.

'That one escaped me.'

'You know the signs, Sparhawk - the mysterious expression,

the cryptic remarks, the melodramatic pauses, the superior

manner.'

'Have you two been fighting?'

Vanion laughed. 'Never that, my friend. It's just that we all

have little quirks and idiosyncrasies that irritate our loved ones

sometimes. Sephrenia's having one of her quirky days.'

"I won't tell her you said that, of course.'

Vanion shrugged. "She already knows how I feel. We've discussed

it in the past - at length. Sometimes she does it just to

tease me. Go get the others, Sparhawk. Let's not give her too

much time to perfect this performance.'

They all gathered in the main salon below decks, a cabin which

was part dining room and part lounge. Sephrenia had not put

in her appearance as yet and, after a few moments, Sparhawk

understood what Vanion had been talking about. A familiar

sound began to emerge from the lady's cabin.

'Flute.?' Talen exclaimed in astonishment, his voice cracking

in that peculiar adolescent yodel which afflicts human males at

the onset of puberty.

Sparhawk had wondered how Aphrael intended to get round

the rather sticky problem of explaining her identity. To have

appeared to the others as Princess Danae would quite obviously

have been out of the question. Flute was quite another matter'.

His friends all recognized Flute as Aphrael, and that would eliminate

the need for extended explanations. Sparhawk sighed as

a rather melancholy thought occurred to him. He realized sadly

that he didn't know what his daughter really looked like. That

dear little face which was engraved on his mind almost as deeply

as Ehlana's was only one in a long line of incarnations - one of

thousands, more than likely.

Then the door to Sephrenia's cabin opened, and the small

Styric woman emerged with a smile that made her face look like

the sun coming up, and with her little sister in her arms.

Flute, of course, was unchanged - and unchangeable. She

appeared to be no more than six years old - precisely the same

age as Danae. Sparhawk immediately rejected the possibility

of coincidence. Where Aphrael was concerned, there were no

coincidences. She wore the same short linen smock belted at the

waist and the same plaited grass headband that she had been

wearing when they had first met her. Her long hair was as black

as night, and her large eyes nearly as dark. her little bare feet

were grass-stained. She held a simple many-chambered set of

goatherd's pipes to her bow-like lips, and her song was Styric,

set in a complex minor key.

'What a pretty child,' Ambassador Norkan observed, 'but is

it really a good idea to take her along on this mysterious mission

of yours, Prince Sparhawk? I gather there might be some danger

involved.

'Not now there won't be, your Excellency,' Ulath grinned.

CHAPTER 3

Ehlana and Sarabian had gone to the top of the central tower of

the glowing castle, ostensibly to admire the sunset. Despite the

fact that the castle was firmly in Elene hands, there were still

enough Tamuls inside the walls to require a certain amount of

care when the two wanted to speak privately.

"It all comes down to the question of power, Sarabian,' Ehlana

told the Emperor in a pensive voice. 'The fact that it's there has

to be the central fact of our lives. We can either take it into our

own hands, or leave it lying around unused, but if we choose

not to use it, we can be sure that someone else will.' Her tone

was subdued and her pale young face almost somber.

'You're in a melancholy humor today, Ehlana,' Sarabian

noted.

"I don't like being separated from Sparhawk. There were too

many years of that after Aldreas exiled him. The point I was

getting at is that you're going to have to be very firm so that

the people in your government will understand that things have

changed. What you'll really be doing here is seizing power.

That's an act of revolution, you know.' She smiled faintly.

'You're almost too civilized to be a revolutionary, Sarabian. Are

you really sure you want to overthrow the government?'

'Good God, Ehlana, it's my government, and the power was

mine in the first place.'

'But you didn't use it. You were lazy and self-indulgent, and

you let it slip away. Your ministers have filched your authority

bit by bit. Now you're going to have to wrest it back from them.

People don't willingly give up power, so you'll probably have

to kill some of your ministers in order to prove to the rest that

you're serious.'

'That's the ultimate expression of power, Sarabian, and your

situation here requires a certain ruthlessness. You're going to

have to spill some blood in order to get your government's

attention. '

"I don't think I can do that,' Sarabian said in a troubled tone.

'Oh, I know I've blustered and made threats a few times, but I

couldn't actually order someone killed.'

'That's up to you, but you'll lose if you don't, and that means

that they'll kill you.' She considered it. 'They'll probably kill you

anyway,' she added, 'but at least you'll die for something important.

Knowing that they're going to kill you in the end might

help you make some unpleasant decisions at the outset. Once

you get past your first couple of killings, it grows easier. I speak

from a certain amount of experience on the subject, since almost

exactly the same thing happened to me. Primate Annias completely

controlled my government when I came to the throne,

and I had to try to take my power back from him.'

'You're the one who's been talking so freely about killing,

Ehlana. Why didn't you kill Annias?'

She laughed a brittle, chilling little laugh. "It wasn't because

I didn't want to, believe me, but I was too weak. Annias had

very carefully stripped the crown of all its authority. I had some

help from Lord Vanion and his Pandion Knights, but Annias

had control of the army and the church soldiers. I killed a few

of his underlings, but I couldn't get to him. He knew I was

trying, though, and that's why he poisoned me. Annias was

really a very good politician. He knew exactly when the time

for killing had arrived.'

'You sound almost as if you admired him.'

"I hated him, but he was very good.'

'Well, I haven't killed anybody yet, so I can still step back

from this.'

'You're wrong there. You've already drawn your dagger, so

you're going to have to use it. You crushed that uprising, and

you've imprisoned the Minister of the Interior. That's the same

thing as a declaration of war, you know.'

'You did those things,' he accused her.

'Yes, but I was acting on your behalf, so it's the same thing

- at least in the eyes of your enemies. You're in a great deal of

danger now, you know. You've let your government know that

you're going to seize back the power you let slip away. If you

don't start killing people - and very, very soon - you probably

won't live out the month. You'd be dead already if it weren't

for the fact that you've taken refuge in this castle.'

'You're starting to frighten me, Ehlana.'

'God knows I've been trying. Like it or not, Sarabian, you're

committed now.' She looked around. The sun was sinking into

the cloud-bank building up over the mountains lying to the west,

and its ruddy glow was reflecting from the mother-of-pearl

domes of Matherion. 'Look at your city, Sarabian,' she told him,

'and contemplate the reality of politics. Before you're done, that

red splashed all over the domes won't just be the reflection of

the sunset.'

'That's blunt enough,' he said, his jaw taking on an unfamiliar

set. 'All right, how many people do I have to kill in order to

ensure my own safety?'

'You don't have that many knives, my friend. Even if you

butcher everybody in Matherion, you'll still be in danger. You

might as well accept the fact that you're going to be in danger

for the rest of your life.' She smiled at him. 'Actually, it's kind

of exciting - once you get used to it.'

'Well, sir, yet Queenship,' Caalador drawled, 'it's all putty much

th' way we wuz a-thankin' it wuz. That that Krager feller, he

wuz a-tellin' ol' Sporhawk th' ak-chool truth. Me'n Stragen, we

bin a-twistin' the arms an' a-settin' fahr t' the feet o' them fellers

oz wuz picked up durin' the coop... ' He stopped. 'Would

your Majesty be too disappointed if I spoke like a human being

for a while? That dialect's starting to dislocate my jaw.'

'Not to mention the violence it's doing to the mother tongue,'

Stragen murmured.

The three of them had gathered together in a small, bluedraped

room adjoining the royal apartment later that same

evening. Ehlana and Stragen were still dressed for dinner, she

in crimson velvet and he in white satin. Caalador wore the sober

brown of a businessman. The room had been carefully checked

several times to be sure that no hidden listening posts lurked

behind the walls, and Mirtai grimly stood watch outside the

door.

'With the exception of' Interior Minister Kolata, we didn't

scoop up anybody of any significance,' Caalador continued, 'and

none of our other prisoners really knows very much. I'm afraid

we don't have much choice, your Majesty. We're going to have

to go to work on Kolata if we want anything useful.'

Ehlana shook her head. 'You won't get anything out of him

either, Caalador. he'll be killed as soon as he opens his mouth.'

'We don't know that for certain, my Queen,' Stragen disagreed.

"It's entirely possible that our subterfuge has worked,

you know. I really don't believe that the other side knows that

he's a prisoner here. His policemen are still getting their orders

from him.'

'He's too valuable to risk,' she said. 'Once he's been torn to

pieces, he'll be very hard to put back together again.'

'if that's the way you want it, your Majesty,' Caalador

shrugged. 'Anyway, it's growing increasingly obvious that this

uprising was a pure hoax. Its only purpose was to compel us to

reveal our strength. What concerns me the most is the fact that

Krager and his friends obviously knew that we were using the

criminals of Matherion as our eyes and ears. I'm sorry, Stragen,

but it's the truth.'

"It was such a good idea,' Stragen sighed.

"It was all right at first, but the trouble with it was that Krager's

seen it before. Talen told me that your friend Platime used to

have whole crowds of beggars, whores and pick-pockets following

Krager around. The best idea in the world wears a little thin

if you over-use it.'

Stragen rose to his feet muttering curses, and began to pace

up and down in the small room with his white satin doublet

gleaming in the candlelight. "It looks as if I've failed you, my

Queen,' he admitted. "I let a good idea run away with me. You

couldn't really trust my judgement after a blunder like that, so

I'll make arrangements to go back to Emsat.'

'Oh, don't be an ass, Stragen,' she told him. 'And do sit down.

I can't think while you're clumping around the room like that.'

'She shore knows how t' put a feller in his place, don't she,

Stragen?' Caalador laughed.

Ehlana sat tapping one finger thoughtfully against her chin.

'First of all, let's keep this in the family. Sarabian's already getting

a bit wild-eyed. Politically, he's an infant. I'm trying to raiSe

him as quickly as I can, but I can only move him just so fast.'

She made a sour face. "I have to stop every so often to burp

him.'

'Now that's a picture for you,' Caalador grinned. 'What's he

choking on, your Majesty?'

'Murder, primarily,' she shrugged. 'He doesn't seem to have

the stomach for it.'

Caalador blinked. 'Not many do.'

'Politicians can't afford that kind of delicacy. All right, if

Krager and his friends know about our spy network, it won't

be long until they try something in the way of penetration, will

it?'

'You're quick,' he said admiringly.

"Quick people live longer. Start thinking, gentlemen. We've

got an exploitable situation here, and it won't last for very long.

How can we use it to our greatest advantage?'

'We might be able to identify real conspirators instead of

dupes, your Majesty,' Stragen mused. 'if they do try penetration,

they're going to have to subvert some of our people. Let's say

that we start passing out assorted fairy-tales - this story to some

pick-pocket, another to some beggar or whore. Then we sit back

to see which of those fraudulent schemes the other side attempts

to counter. That will identify the turncoats in our own ranks,

and we can squeeze useful names out of them.'

'Surely we can get something a little better than that,' she

fretted.

'We'll work on it, your Majesty,' Caalador promised. 'if it's

all right with you, I'd like to follow up on something else as

well. We know that Krager's been busy here in Matherion, but

we don't know how much information about our methods he's

passed on to his friends in other kingdoms. We might as well

get what use we can out of our makeshift intelligence service

before it becomes totally useless. I'll pass the word to the criminals

down in Arjuna. I'd like to find out one way or the other

if that silly scholar at the university has blundered across the

real truth or if he's just weaving a theory out of moonbeams. I

think we might all find a complete biography of the fellow

known as Scarpa really fascinating reading. If nothing else,

whether or not our spies in Arjuna succeed will tell us how

much Krager really knows about the scope of our operations. If

he thinks it's only localized, our apparatus hasn't been too

severely compromised. '

'Go after the others as well,' Ehlana told him. 'See what you

can find out about Baron Parok, Rebal and Sabre. Let's try to

attach names to Rebal and Sabre at the very least.'

'We'll do 'er gist th' way yet Majesty commands.'

'i'd be happier'n a pig in mud iffn y'would, Caalador,' she

replied.

Caalador collapsed in helpless laughter.

"It's probably the change in the weather, your Majesty,' Alcan

said. "It's definitely getting chillier at night, and the days aren't

nearly as warm as they were just a few weeks ago.'

'She grew up in Cimmura, Alcan,' Ehlana disagreed, 'and the

weather changes there much more markedly than it does here

in Matherion.'

"It's a different part of the world though, my Queen,' Baroness

Melidere pointed out. 'We're right on the sea-coast for one thing.

That could be what's causing the problem. Sometimes children

react more strongly to things like that than adults.'

'You're both making too much out of it,' Mirtai told them. 'All

she needs is a tonic. She's not really sick, she's just moping

around.'

'But she sleeps all the time,' Ehlana fretted. 'She even falls

asleep when she's playing.'

'She's probably growing,' the giantess shrugged. "I used to

do the same sort of thing when I was a little girl. Growing is

very hard work, I guess.'

The object of their discussions lay drowsing on a divan near

the window with Rollo loosely clasped in her arms. Rollo had

survived two generations of intense affection. He had been

dragged about by one hind leg. He had been laid upon,

crammed into tight places and ignored at times for weeks on

end. A shift in his stuffing had given him a slightly worried

expression. Queen Ehlana viewed that as a bad sign. Rollo had

never looked worried when he had been her toy. Mmrr, on the

other hand, seemed quite content. An owner who didn't move

around very much suited Mmrr right down to the ground. When

Princess Danae was dozing, she was not dreaming up ridiculous

things to do to her cat. Mmrr secretly felt that any day that did

not involve being dressed up in dolls' clothing was a good day.

She lay on her little mistress's hip with her front paws sedately

folded under her chest, her eyes closed and a soft, contented

purr coming from her throat. So long as nothing disturbed her

naps, Mmrr was perfectly at peace with the world.

The Royal Princess Danae dozed, her mind far more involved

with the conversation Flute was holding with Sparhawk and his

friends on the Isle of Tega than with her mother's concern over

her health here in Matherion. Danae yawned and nestled down

with toy and with cat and drifted off to sleep.

'Dearest,' the letter began. 'We've reached Tega, and we'll be

going out into the countryside for a while to see what's afoot.

I'll be out of touch for a bit, so I thought it might be a good

idea to let you know that we've arrived safely. Don't be too concerned

if you don't hear from me for quite some time. I'm not

entirely sure how long we'll be submerged in the population

here.

'The others are growing impatient to get started. There's no

real point to this letter - except to tell you that I love you - but

that's probably the most important point of all, isn't it? Kiss

Danae for me.

'All my love, Sparhawk.'

'Oh, that's nice,' Ehlana murmured, lowering the note from

her husband. They were all sitting in the blue-draped sitting

room in the queen's apartments, and the arrival of Caalador

with Sparhawk's letter had interrupted a serious discussion

about what they were going to do about the Interior Ministry.

Caalador, dressed again in sober brown and carrying a grotesque

porcelain figurine from twelfth-century Arjuna, was

frowning. "I think you might want to remind the people at the

gates of the compound that they're supposed to let me in, your

Majesty. I had a bit of an argument again.'

'What's this?' Emperor Sarabian asked.

'Master Calador's serving as my "procurer of antiquities,"'

Ehlana explained. "It gives him an excuse to come and go without

interference. I've gathered a whole roomful of assorted bric-abrac

since I've arrived here.'

'That brings us right back to the issue we were discussing

before you got here, Caalador,' Stragen said. Stragen wore black

today, and Ehlana privately felt that the color didn't really suit

him. He rose and began to pace up and down, a habit the Queen

of Elenia found irritating. 'The Interior Ministry's beginning to

flex its muscles for some reason. We're sitting on the Minister

himself, so this onset of surliness is probably coming from some

underling. '

'interior has always liked to throw its weight around,'

Oscagne told them. The Foreign Minister was wearing westernstyle

clothes again, and he looked distinctly uncomfortable in

them.

"I think that reinforces the point I was trying to make earlier,

Ehlana,' Sarabian said. 'Are you sure we shouldn't dissolve the

Interior Ministry right now?'

'Absolutely,' Ehlana replied. 'We've got Kolata buttoned up

inside the castle here, and we've given the world a perfectly

legitimate reason for his presence. He's still functioning - under

our control - and that's of enormous value to us. We're playing

for time, Sarabian. We're terribly vulnerable until Tynian and

Emban come back from Chyrellos with the Church Knights - or

at the very least until all the Atan commanders have been

advised that they aren't supposed to obey the orders of the

Interior Ministry any more. We definitely don't want the Atans

fighting on both sides if trouble breaks out.'

"I guess I hadn't thought of that,' he admitted.

'Not only that, your Majesty,' Oscagne added gently. "It's

entirely possible that Interior would simply ignore a proclanation

disbanding them. They have almost total power, you

know. Queen Ehlana's right. We can't move against them until

we're sure of the Atans.'

Stragen had continued his pacing. 'Nobody can subvert an

entire branch of government,' he declared. 'There are just too

many people involved, and all it would take would be one

honest policeman to expose the entire scheme.'

'There's no such thing as an honest policeman, Stragen,' Caalador

said with a cynical laugh. "It's a contradiction in terms.'

'You know what I mean.' Stragen shrugged that off. 'We know

that Kolata has dirty hands, but we can't be sure just how far

that disloyalty goes. It could be very widespread, or it could be

confined to just a few in the higher councils of the ministry.'

Caalador shook his head. "Tain't hardly likely, Stragen,' he

disagreed. 'Y gotta have them oz y' kin trust out that when y'

start givin' orders oz runs contrary t' reg'lar policy. They's gotta

be some in th' hinterlands oz knows whut's whut.'

Stragen made a face. "I wish you wouldn't do that,' he complained.

'Please don't use that vile dialect when you're right. It

makes me feel inadequate. All right, then. We can be fairly certain

that most of the higher-ranking officials in the ministry are

involved, but we can't even guess at how widespread the contamination

is. I'd say that finding out gets to be a kind of

priority.'

'Shouldn't take y' more'n a couple hunnerd years t' do thet,

Stragen,' Caalador noted.

'Not necessarily,' Baroness Melidere disagreed. She looked at

Oscagne. 'You once said that the Ministry of the Interior's very

fond of paper, your Excellency.'

'Of course, Baroness. All government agencies adore paper.

Paperwork provides full employment for our relatives. Interior

goes a little farther, though. Policemen can't function without

files and dossiers. They write everything down.'

"I rather thought that might be the case. The people over at

Interior are all trained as policemen, aren't they?'

Oscagne nodded.

'Then they'd all be compulsive about writing reports and filing

them, wouldn't they?'

"I suppose so,' he said. "I don't see where you're going with

this exactly, Baroness.'

'Wake up, Oscagne,' Sarabian said excitedly. "I think this

wonderful girl's just solved our problem for us. Someplace over

in that rabbit warren at Interior there's a set of files that contains

the names of all the disloyal policemen and secret agents in the

Empire. All we have to do is get our hands on that set of files,

and we'll know exactly which people to pick up when the time

comes to move.'

'Except for the fact that they'll defend those files to the death,'

Ehlana observed. 'And there's also the fact that a move against

their filing system would be the same as a frontal assault on the

ministry itself.'

'You really know how to burst bubbles, Ehlana,' the Emperor

complained.

'There might be a way around the queen's objections, your

Majesty,' Melidere said 'with a slight frown. 'is there a standardized

filing system here in Matherion, Minister Oscagne?'

'Good God, no, Baroness,' he exclaimed. 'if we all had the

same filing system, anybody at all could walk into our offices

and find anything he wanted. We'd never be able to keep any

secrets from each other.'

"I thought that might be the case. now then, suppose that

Queen Ehlana happened to mention to the Emperor - just in

passing - that her government had standardized the filing

system, and that everybody filed things the same way. Then

let's suppose that the Emperor grew very excited about the idea

the enormous savings in the cost of government and all that.

Then, still supposing, he appoints an imperial commission with

extraordinary powers to examine everybody's files with an eye

toward that standardization. Wouldn't that sort of justify a

thorough search of the offices at Interior?'

"It's got possibilities, my Queen,' Stragen approved. 'Something

like that would hide what we're really up to - particularly

if we had people tearing up everybody else's files at the same

time.'

Oscagne's face went absolutely white.

'i'd sooner take pizen than insult y', little lady,' Caalador

drawled to the Baroness, 'but yet still a-talkin"bout a chore

which it is that'd taken us a good twenty year 'er more t' finish.

We got us a hull buildin' over that t' take aport iffn th' Furrin

Minister yore is koo-rect 'bout how many tons o' paper they got

over t' Interior.'

'We can shorten that a bit, Master Caalador,' Melidere replied.

'All we have to do is question Interior Minister Kolata.'

'Absolutely not,' Ehlana said sharply. "I don't want him all

torn to pieces - at least not until I don't need him any more.'

'We wouldn't be asking him any sensitive questions, your

Majesty,' Melidere said patiently. 'All we want to know is how

his filing system works. That wouldn't compromise the conspiracy

he's involved in, would it?'

"I think she's right, Ehlana,' Mirtai said. 'There would almost

have to be some sort of trigger - questions about certain subjects

that would make our enemies decide to kill Kolata. They

wouldn't kill him if all we did was ask him about something as

ordinary as a filing system, would they?'

'No,' the queen agreed. 'They probably wouldn't at that.' Her

expression was still doubtful, however.

"It's all very clever, Baroness,' Stragen said, 'but we'll be sending

Tamul officials into the various ministries to investigate files.

How will we know that at least some of them aren't on the other

side?'

'We wouldn't, Milord Stragen. That's why we'll have to send

our own people - the Church Knights - in to review those

files.'

'How would we justify that?'

'The new filing system would be an Elene invention, Milord.

We're obviously going to have to send Elenes into the various

ministErs to evaluate the current methods and to instruct the

officials on how to convert to the new system.'

'Now I've got you, Baroness,' he said triumphantly. 'This is

all a fiction. We don't have a new filing system.'

'Then invent one, Milord Stragen,' she suggested sweetly.

Prime Minister Subat was deeply troubled by the suggestion the

Chancellor of the Exchequer had just placed before him. The

two were alone together in the Prime Minister's ornate office, a

room only slightly less magnificent than one of the imperial

audience chambers. 'You're out of your mind, Gashon,' he

declared flatly.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gashon was a bloodless, corpselike

man with sunken cheeks and no more than a few wispy

strands of hair protruding from his lumpy scalp. 'Look at it more

closely, Pondia Subat,' he said in his hollow, rusty-sounding

voice. "It's only a theory, but it does explain many things that

are otherwise incomprehensible.'

'They wouldn't have dared,' Subat scoffed.

"Try to lift your mind out of the fourteenth century, Subat,'

Gashon snapped. 'You're the Prime Minister, not the keeper of

antiquities. The world is changing all around you. You can't just

sit still with your eyes firmly fixed on the past and hope to

survive.'

"I don't like you very much, Gashon.'

'i'm not terribly fond of you either, Subat. Let me go through

it for you again. Try to stay awake this time.'

'How dare you?'

"I dare because I'd sort of like to keep my head where it is."

First off: the Elenes of Eosia are absolute barbarians. Can we

agree on that at least?'

'All right.'

'They haven't caused us much trouble in the past because

they were too busy fighting among themselves about religion,

and because they had Otha of Zemoch to worry about. Would

it surprise you too much if I told you that Otha's dead and that

the Rendorish insurgency's been almost completely crushed?

"I have my own sources of information, Gashon.'

'Have you ever considered listening to what they tell you?

Now then, there was open warfare in the streets of Chyrellos

preceding the elevation of this Dolmant to the Archprelacy. I'd

say that's a fair indication of the fact that he's not universally

loved. The best way I know of for a shaky ruler to consolidate

his position is to contrive a foreign adventure, and the only real

foreign ground for the Elenes of the Eosian Continent is Daresia

the Tamul Empire. That's us, in case you hadn't noticed,

Pondia Subat.'

"I know that, Gashon.'

"I just wanted to be sure, that's all. Are you with me so far?

'Get to the point, Gashon. I don't have all day.'

'Did you have an appointment with the headsman? All right,

then. The Elenes are religious fanatics who feel that they're

called on by the Lord to convert everybody in the world to their

absurd faith. For all I know, they also want to convert snakes,

spiders and fish. Dolmant's their religious leader, and they'd

probably try to subdue glaciers and tides if he told them to. So,

we've got a religious leader who has an uncertain grasp on

power in his own Church, and he has hordes of fanatic followers

at his disposal. He can either use those followers to crush his

opponents at home, or he can hurl them against a foreign power

on some trumped-up excuse that will inflame the commons and

stifle objections to his rule. Isn't it a coincidence that at precisely

that time we have this "state visit" by a silly female - a female

Foreign Minister Oscagne assures us is the Queen of Elenia. I

hope the fact that we only have Oscagne's word for that hasn't

escaped you. This so-called queen is obviously more accustomed

to doing business in bed than she is on a throne. She clearly

wrestled not only that silly ass Alberen of Astel into submission

but probably Androl of the Atans as well. We can only speculate

about her adventures among the Peloi and the Styrics at Sarsos.

Then, once she reached Matherion, she lured Emperor Sarabian

to her bedchamber before the first day was out - you did know

that Sarabian and Oscagne crept across the compound to that

imitation Elene castle on the first night she was here, didn't

you?'

Subat started to object.

Yes, I know Gashon cut him off, 'that brings us to Oscagne.

I'd say that the evidence strongly suggests that Oscagne has

gone over to the Elenes - either for personal gain or because

he's fallen under the spell of that blonde Elene strumpet. She

had plenty of time to work on him while he was in Chyrellos,

you know.'

"It's all speculation, Gashon,' Subat said, although his voice

lacked conviction.

'Of course it is, Subat,' Gashon replied with heavy sarcasm.

'What would be the fastest way to get to Matherion from

Chyrellos?'

'By ship, naturally.'

'Then why did the strumpet of Cimmura choose to come overland?

Was it to look at scenery, or to grapple her way across the

continent? The girl's got stamina, I'll give her that.'

'What about this recent coup-attempt, Gashon? The government

would have fallen if the Elenes hadn't been here.'

'Ah yes, the famous coup. Isn't it astounding that a group of

Elenes, who didn't even speak the Tamul language when they

arrived, were able to unearth this dire plot in about six weeks?

when the agents of the Ministry of the Interior, who've only

been in Matherion for all of their lives, hadn't come across a

single clue about it? The Elenes crushed an imaginary coup,

Subat, and now they've used it as an excuse to imprison the

Emperor in that cursed fortress of theirs - not only the Emperor,

but Interior Minister Kolata as well, and Kolata's the one man

in government who has the resources to free our ruler. I've

talked with Teovin, Director of the Secret Police, and he assures

me that no one from the ministry has been permitted to speak

with Kolata privately since his incarceration. Our colleague is

obviously a prisoner, and the orders he's issuing to the Interior

Ministry are just as obviously coming from the Elenes. Then, if

that weren't bad enough, they've sent the so-called churchman,

Emban, back to Chyrellos to lead the Church Knights back here

to "deal with the crisis." We have all the resources of Interior

and whole armies of Atans at our disposal, Subat. Why do we

need the Church Knights? What possible reason is there to bring

the most ruthless force in the entire world to Tamuli? Would

the word "invasion" startle you? That's all that the famous coup

really was, you realize - an excuse for the Elene Church to invade

Tamuli, and quite obviously it's been with the Emperor's full

cooperation. '

'Why would the Emperor conspire with the Elenes to topple

his own government?'

"I can think of any number of reasons. Maybe this so-called

queen threatened to deny him her favors. Most probably,

though, she's been spinning fairy-tales for him, telling him about

the joys of absolute power. That's a common fiction in Eosia.

Elene rulers like to pretend that they're the ones who make all

the decisions in their kingdoms rather than permitting the

government to do it for them. We both know how ridiculous

that idea is. A king - or in our case, the Emperor - only has one

function. He's a symbol of government, nothing more. He serves

as a focus for the love and loyalty of the people. The imperial

government's been engaged in a selective-breeding program for

the past thousand years. The Emperor's Tamul wife - the one

who produces the heir to the throne - is always selected for her

stupidity. We don't need intelligent emperors, only docile ones.

Somehow Sarabian slipped past us. If you'd ever really taken

the trouble to pay attention to him, you'd have discovered that

he's frighteningly intelligent. Kolata blundered there. Sarabian

should have been killed long before he ascended the throne.

Our revered Emperor's beginning to hunger for real power, I'm

afraid. Normally, we could deal with that, but we can't get at

him to kill him as long as he's inside that blasted fortress.'

'You weave a convincing story, Gashon,' the Prime Minister

conceded with a troubled frown. "I knew it was a blunder to

invite that Sparhawk savage to come to Matherion.'

'We all did, Subat, and you'll recall who it was who overrode

all our objections.'

'Oscagne,' Subat spat.

'Precisely. Is it beginning to fit together for you now?'

'Did you devise all of this by yourself, Gashon? It's a little

elaborate for a man who spends all his time counting pennies.'

'Actually, it was Teovin, the Director of the Secret Police, who

brought it to my attention. He provided me with a great deal of

very concrete evidence. I've summarized it for you here. Interior

has spies everywhere, you know. Nothing happens in the

Empire that doesn't generate a report for those famous files

of theirs. Now, Pondia Subat, what does our esteemed Prime

Minister propose to do about the fact that our Emperor's being

held prisoner - willingly or unwillingly - not a hundred paces

from where we sit? You're the titular head of government, Subat.

You're the one who has to make these decisions. Oh, and while

you're at it, you might want to give some thought to how we're

going to prevent the Church Knights from sweeping across the

continent, marching into Matherion and forcing everyone to

bow down to their ridiculous God - and butchering the entire

government in the process.'

'They're trying to stall, your Majesties,' Stragen reported. 'When

supper-time comes, they escort us to the door push us outside,

and lock the door behind us. The building stays locked for the

rest of the night - although there are always plenty of lights

moving around in there after dark. When we go back the next

morning, everything's been rearranged. The files migrate from

room to room like ducks in the autumn. I wouldn't actually

swear to it, but I think they move walls as well. We found a

room just this morning that I don't really think was there last

night.'

'I'll send in Engessa's Atans,' Sarabian said darkly. 'We'll

chase everybody out and then tear the building apart brick by

brick.'

'No,' Ehlana said, shaking her head. 'if we make an overt

move against the Ministry of the Interior, every policeman in

the Empire will scurry down a rabbit-hole.' She pursed her lips.

'Let's start to do inconvenient things to the other ministries as

well. Don't make it obvious that we're concentrating all of our

attention on the Ministry of the Interior.'

'How can you possibly make things any worse than they

already are, your Majesty?' Oscagne asked in a broken voice.

'You've disrupted centuries of work as it is.'

'Can anyone think of anything?' Sarabian asked, looking

around.

'May I speak, your Majesty?' Alcan asked in a small, timidsounding

voice.

'Of course, dear,' Ehlana smiled.

"I hope you'll all forgive my presumption,' Alcan apologized.

"I can't even read, so I don't really know what files are, but

aren't we sort of letting on that we're rearranging them?'

'That's what we're telling everybody,' Mirtai replied.

'As I said, I can't read, but I do know a bit about rearranging

cupboards and such things. This is a little like that, isn't it?'

'Close enough,' Stragen replied

'Well, then, when you"re rearranging a cupboard, you take

everything out and spread it on the floor. Then you put all the

things you want in the top drawer in one pile, the things you

want in the second drawer in another, and so on. Couldn't we

do that with these files?'

"It's a nice i-dee, little dorlin',' Caalador drawled, 'but they

ain't e-muff floors in the hull buildin' fer spreadin' out all them

there files.'

'There nne lots of lawns around the outside, though, aren't

we just take all the files from every government building outside there?' Alcan kept her eyes downcast as she spoke. 'Couldn't

and spread them around on the lawns. We could tell the people

who work in the buildings that we want to sort through them

and put them in the proper order. They couldn't really object,

and you can't lock the door to a lawn at night, or move things

around when there are seven-foot-tall Atans standing guard

over them. I know I'm just a silly servant girl, but that's the way

I'd do it.'

Oscagne was staring at her in absolute horror.

CHAPTER 4

The soil on the western side of the Isle of Tega was thin and

rocky, and since there was plenty of fertile ground farther

inland, the citizens of the Republic had made no effort to cultivate

here. Tough, scrubby bushes rustled stiffly in the onshore

breeze as Sparhawk and his friends rode along a rocky trail

leading to the coast.

'The breeze helps,' Talen observed gratefully. 'At least it blows

away that stink.'

'You complain too much,' Flute told him. The little girl rode

with Sephrenia as she had since they had first encountered her.

She nestled in her older sister's arms with her dark eyes brooding.

She straightened suddenly as the sound of surf pounding

on the western shore of the Isle reached them. 'This is far enough

for right now, gentlemen,' she told them. 'Let's have some supper

and wait for it to get dark.'

'is that a good idea?' Bevier asked her. 'The ground's been

getting rougher the farther west we come, and the sound of that

surf seems to have rocks mixed up in it. This might not be a

good place to be blundering around in the dark.'

'I can lead you safely to the beach, Bevier,' she told him. 'I

don't want you gentlemen to get too good a look at our ship.

There are certain ideas involved in her construction that you

don't need to know. That's one of the promises I had to make

during those negotiations I was telling you about.' She pointed

to the lee-side of a rocky hillock. 'Let's go over there out of this

wind and build a fire. I have some instructions for you.'

They rode away from the ill-defined trail and dismounted in

the shelter of the hill. 'Whose turn is it to do the cooking?' Berit

asked Sir Ulath.

'Yours,' Ulath told him with no hint of a smile.

'You knew he was going to do that, Berit,' Talen said. 'What

you just did was almost the same thing as volunteering.'

Berit shrugged. 'My turn will come up eventually anyway,'

he said. 'I thought I'd get it out of the way for a while.'

'All right, gentlemen,' Vanion said, 'let's look around and see

what we can find in the way of firewood.'

Sparhawk concealed a smile. Vanion could maintain that he

was no longer the Preceptor as much as he wished, but the habit

of command was deeply ingrained in him.

They built a fire, and Berit stirred up an acceptable stew. After

supper, they sat by the fire watching as evening slowly settled

in.

'Now then,' Flute said to them, 'we're going to ride down to

a cove. I want you all to stay close behind me, because it's going

to be very foggy.'

'it's a perfectly clear evening, Flute,' Kalten objected.

"It won't be when we reach the cove,' she told him. 'i'm going

to make sure that you don't get too much chance to examine

that ship. I'm not really supposed to do this, so don't get me

into trouble.' She looked sternly at Khalad. 'And I want you in

particular to keep a very tight rein on your curiosity.'

'Me?'

'Yes, you. You're too practical and too clever by half for my

comfort. Your noble friends here aren't imaginative enough to

make any educated guesses about the ship. You're a different

matter. Don't be digging at the decks with your knife, and don't

try to sneak off to examine things. I don't want to drop by

Cimmura someday and find a duplicate of the ship anchored in

the river. We'll go down to the cove, board the ship, and go

directly below. You will not go up on deck until we get to where

we're going. A certain part of the ship has been set aside for us,

and we'll all stay there for the duration of the voyage. I want

your word on that, gentlemen.'

Sparhawk could see some differences between Flute and

Danae. Flute was more authoritarian, for one thing, and she

didn't seem to have Danae's whimsical sense of humor.

Although the Child Goddess had a definite personality, each of

her incarnations seemed to have its own idiosyncrasies.

Flute looked up at the slowly darkening sky. 'We'll wait

another hour,' she decided. 'The crew of the ship has been told

to stay away from us. Our meals will be put just outside the

door, and we won't see the one who puts them there. It won't

do you any good to try to catch her, so don't even try.'

'Her?' Ulath exclaimed. 'Are you trying to say that there are

women in the crew?'

'They're all females. There aren't very many males where they

come from.'

'Women aren't strong enough to raise and lower the sails,' he

objected.

'These females are ten times stronger than you are, Ulath, and

it wouldn't matter anyway, because the ship doesn't have sails.

Please stop asking questions, gentlemen. Oh, one other thing.

There'll be a sort of humming sound when we get under way

It's normal, so don't let it alarm you.'

'How...' Ulath began.

She held up her hand. 'No more questions, Ulath,' she told

him quite firmly. 'You don't need to know the answers. The

ship's here to take us from one place to another in a hurry.

That's all you need to know.'

'That brings us to something we really should know,' Sparhawk

said. 'Where are we going?'

'To Jorsan on the west coast of Edam,' she replied. 'Well,

almost, anyway. There's a long gulf leading inland to Jorsan

We'll put ashore at the mouth of the gulf and go inland on

horseback. Now, why don't we talk about something else?'

The fog seemed almost thick enough to walk on, and the knights

were obliged to blindly follow the misty light of the torch

Sephrenia held aloft as they rode down a steep bank toward the

sound of unseen surf.

They reached a sandy beach and groped their way down

toward the water. Then they saw other lights out in the fog filmy,

mist-shrouded lights which stretched out for what seemed

an impossible distance. The lights did not flicker, and they were

the wrong color for torchlight.

'Good God.' Ulath choked. 'No shiP could be that big!'

'Ulath.' Flute said sharply from out of the fog ahead.

'Sorry,' he mumbled.

When they reached the water's edge, all they could see was

a dark, looming shape lying low in the water several yards out, a

shape outlined by those unwinking white lights. A ramp reached

from the ship to the beach, and Ch'iel, Sephrenia's white palfrey,

stepped confidently onto that ramp and clattered across to

the ship.

There were dim, shrouded shapes on the deck, cloaked and

hooded figures that were all no more than shoulder high, but

strangely squat and blocky.

'What do we do with the horses?' Vanion asked as they all

dismounted.

"just leave them here,' Flute replied. 'They'll be taken care of.

Let's go below. We can't start until everybody's off the deck.'

'The crew stays up here, don't they?' Ulath asked her.

'No. It's too dangerous.'

They went to a rectangular hatchway in the deck and followed

an inclined ramp leading down.

'Stairs would take up less space,' Khalad said critically.

'The crew couldn't use stairs, Khalad,' Flute told him. 'They

don't have legs.'

He stared at her in horror.

"I told you that they're not human,' she shrugged.

The companionway they reached at the bottom of the ramp

was low, and the knights had to half stoop as they followed the

Child Goddess aft. The area below decks was illuminated by

pale glowing spots of light recessed into the ceiling and covered

over by what appeared to be glass. The light was steady,

unwinking, and it definitely did not come from any kind of fire.

The quarters to which their little guide led them were more

conventionally illuminated by candles, however, and the ceilings

were high enough for the tall knights to stand erect. No

sooner had Ulath closed the heavy door to what was in effect

to be their prison for the next five days than a low-pitched humming

sound began to vibrate in the deck beneath their feet, and

they could feel the bow of the strange vessel start to swing

ponderously about to point at the open sea. Then the ship

surged forward.

'What's making it move?' Kalten asked. 'There's no wind.'

'Kalten.' Aphrael said sharply.

'Sorry.' he mumbled.

'There are four compartments here,' she told them. 'We'll eat

in this one, and we can spread out and sleep in the other three

Put away your belongings, gentlemen. Then you might as well

go to bed. Nothing's going to happen for five days.'

Sparhawk and Kalten went into one of the cabins, taking Talen

with them. Talen was carrying Khalad's saddle-bags as well as

his own.

'What's your brother up to?' Sparhawk asked the boy suspiciously.

'He wants to look around a bit,' Talen replied.

'Aphrael told him not to do that.'

'So?'

They all staggered a bit as the ship gave another forward

surge. The humming sound climbed to a whine, and the ship

seemed to rise up in the water almost like a sitting man rising

to his feet.

Kalten threw his saddle-bags onto one of the bunks and sat

down beside them. "I don't understand any of this,' he

grumbled.

'You aren't supposed to,' Sparhawk replied.

"I wonder if they've got anything to drink aboard. I could

definitely use a drink about now.'

"I wouldn't get my hopes up too high, and I'm not sure you'd

care to drink something brewed by non-humans. It might do

some strange things to you.'

Khalad came into the tiny compartment, his eyes baffled. "I

don't want to alarm you, gentlemen,' he said, 'but we're moving

faster than a horse can run.'

'How do you know that?' Talen asked him.

'Those curtains in that central cabin are hanging over openings

that are sort of like portholes - they've got glass over them,

anyway. I looked out. There's still fog all around us, but I could

see the water. We passed a floating log, and it went by like a

crossbow bolt. There's something else, too. The hull curves back

under us, and it isn't touching the water at all.'

'We're flying?' Kalten asked incredulously.

Khalad shook his head. "I think the keel's touching the water,

but that's about all.'

"I really don't want to know about this,' Kalten said plaintively.

'he's right, Khalad,' Sparhawk said. "I think this is one of the

things Aphrael told us was none of our business. Leave those

curtains closed from now on.'

'Aren't you the least bit curious, my Lord?'

"I can live with it.'

'You don't mind if I speculate just a bit, do you, Sparhawk?'

'Go right ahead, but keep your speculations to yourself.' He

sat down on his bunk and began to pull off his boots. "I don't

know about the rest of you, but I'm going to follow orders and

go to bed. This is a good chance to catch up on our sleep, and

we've all been running a little short on that for quite some time

now. We'll want to be alert when we get to Jorsan.'

'Which only happens to be about a quarter of the way around

the world,' Khalad added moodily, 'and which we're going to

reach in just five days. I don't think I'm put together right for

this kind of thing. Do I have to be a Pandion Knight, Sparhawk?'

'Yes,' Sparhawk told him, dropping his boots on the deck.

'Was there anything else you wanted to know before I go to

sleep?'

They all slept a great deal during the next five days. Sparhawk

strongly suspected that Aphrael might have had a hand in that,

since sleeping people don't wander around making discoveries.

Their meals were served on strange oblong trays which were

made of some substance none of them could identify. The food

consisted entirely of uncooked vegetables, and they were given

only water to drink. Kalten complained about the food at every

meal, but, since there was nothing else available, he ate it

anyway.

On the afternoon before they were scheduled to arrive, they

gathered together in the cramped central compartment. 'Are you

sure?' Kalten dubiously asked Flute when she told them that

they were no more than ten hours from their destination.

She sighed. 'Yes, Kalten, I'm sure.'

'How do you know? You haven't been up on deck, and you

haven't talked to any of the sailors. We could have been...'

His words sort of faded off. She was looking at him with a

long-suffering expression as he floundered on. 'Oh,' he said

then. "I wasn't thinking, I guess. Sorry."

"I do love you, Kalten - in spite of everything.'

Khalad cleared his throat. 'Didn't Dolmant tell you that the

Edomish have some strong feelings about the Church?' he asked

Sparhawk.

Sparhawk nodded. 'As I understand it, they look at our Holy

Mother in almost the same way that the Renders do.'

'Church Knights wouldn't really be welcome then, I gather.

'Hardly.'

'We'll need to disguise ourselves as ordinary travellers, then.

'More than likely,' Sparhawk agreed.

Vanion had been looking at his map. 'Exactly where are we

going from jorsan, Aphrael?' he asked Flute.

'Up the coast a ways,' she replied vaguely.

'That's not very specific.'

'Yes, I know.'

He sighed. 'is there any real need for us to go on up the Gulf

of Jorsan to the city itself? If we were to land on the north shore

of the gulf, we could avoid the city entirely. Since the Edomish

have these prejudices, shouldn't we stay away from them as

much as possible?'

'We have to go to Jorsan,' she told him. 'Well,' she amended,

"Jorsan itself isn't that important, but we're going to see some

thing along the way that will be.'

'Oh? What's that?'

"I have no idea.'

'You get used to that,' Sparhawk told his friend. 'Our little

Goddess here gets hunches from time to time - no details at all,

just hunches.'

'What time will we make our landfall?' Ulath asked.

'About midnight,' she replied.

'Landing on a strange shore at night can be a little tricky,' he

said doubtfully.

'There won't be any problems.' She said it with absolute confidence.

'i'm not supposed to worry about it. Is that it?'

'You can worry if you want to, Ulath,' she smiled. 'it's not

necessary, but you can worry all you like, if it makes you feel

better.'

It was foggy when they came up on deck again - a dense,

obscuring fog - and this time the strange ship showed no lights.

Their horses, already saddled, were waiting, and they led them

down the ramp to a pebbly beach.

When they looked back out toward the water, their ship was

gone.

'Where did she go?' Ulath exclaimed.

"She's still there,' Aphrael smiled.

'Why can't I see her, then?'

'Because I don't want people to see her. We passed a number

of ordinary ships on our way here. If anybody'd seen her,

there'd be wild talk in every sailors' tavern in every port in the

world. '

'it's all in the shape of the keel, isn't it?' Khalad mused.

'Khalad.' she said sharply. 'You stop that immediately.'

'i'm not going to do anything about it, Flute. I couldn't if I

wanted to, but it's that keel that accounts for her speed. I'm only

mentioning it so that you won't make the mistake of thinking I'm

SO stupid that I can't put it together.'

She glared at him.

He bent slightly and kissed her cheek. 'That's all right, Flute,'

he smiled. "I love you anyway - even if you do underestimate

me at times.'

'He's going to work out just fine,' Kalten said to Vanion.

The hillside rising from the gravel strand was covered with thick,

rank grass, and by the time they had reached the top of the hill,

the fog had entirely dissipated. A broad highway of reflected

moonlight stretched out across the calm waters of the gulf.

'My map shows a kind of track a mile or so inland,' Vanion

told them. 'it seems to run up the gulf in the general direction

of Jorsan.' He looked at Flute, who was still glaring darkly at

Khalad. 'Pending instructions to the contrary from higher authOrity,

I suppose we can follow that track.' He looked inquiringly

at the Child Goddess again.

She sank a little lower in Sephrenia's arms and began to suck

her thumb.

'You'll make your teeth crooked.'

She pulled her thumb out of her mouth and stuck her tongue

out at him.

"Shall we press on, then?' Vanion suggested.

They rode on across a broad, rolling meadow covered with

the rank salt-grass. The moon washed out all color, making the

grass whipping at the horses' legs seem gray and the forest

beyond the meadow a formless black blot. They rode slowly,

their eyes and ears alert and their hands never far from their

sword-hilts. Nothing untoward had happened yet, but these

were trained knights, and for them the world was always filled

with danger.

After they rode in under the trees, Vanion called a halt.

"Why are we stopping?' Flute demanded a little crossly.

'The moon's very bright tonight,' Vanion explained, 'and our

eyes need a little time to adjust to the shadows here under the

trees. We don't want to blunder into anything.'

'Oh.'

'her night isn't going too well, is it?' Berit murmured to SParhawk.

"She seemed to be very upset with Khalad.'

"It's good for her. She gets over-confident sometimes, and a

little too much impressed with her own cleverness.'

"I heard that, Sparhawk,' Flute snapped.

"I rather thought you might have,' he replied blandly.

'Why is everyone mistreating me tonight?' she complained.

'They're only teasing you, Aphrael,' Sephrenia assured the

little girl, 'clumsily, of course, but they're Elenes, after all, so

you can't really expect too much from them.'

"Shall we move on before things start to turn ugly?' Vanion

said.

They rode at a walk through the shadows, and after about

half an hour they reached a narrow, rutted track. They turned

eastward and moved on, riding a little faster now.

'how far is it to Jorsan, my Lord?' Bevier asked Vanion after

they had gone a ways.

'About fifty leagues,' Vanion replied.

'A goodly ways, then.' Bevier looked inquiringly at Flute.

'What?' she said crossly.

'Nothing, really.'

'Say it, Bevier.'

"I wouldn't offend you for the world, Divine Aphrael, but

could you speed the journey the way you did when we were

travelling across Deira with King Wargun's army?'

'No, I can't. You've forgotten that we're waiting 'for something

important to happen, Bevier, and I'm not going to fly past it

just because you're in a hurry to get to the taverns of Jorsan.'

'That will do,' Sephrenia told her.

SinCe it was still early autumn, they had not brought tents

with them, and after about another hour's travel they rode back

into the forest and spread their blankets on beds of fallen leaves

to get a few hours' sleep. The sun was well up when they set out again, and they

travelled through the forest until late afternoon without

encountering any local people.

Once again they moved back into the forest about a quarter

of a mile, and set up for the night in a narrow ravine where an

overhanging bank and the thick foliage would conceal the light

from their small cooking fire. Rather surprisingly, Ulath did the

cooking without any of his usual subterfuge. "It's not as much

fun when Tynian isn't along,' he explained.

"I miss him too,' Sparhawk agreed. "It seems strange to be

travelling without all those suggestions of his.'

'This cooking business has come up before,' Vanion observed.

'Am I missing something?'

'Sir Ulath normally keeps track of it, my Lord,' Talen replied.

"It's a very complicated system, so none of the rest of us really

understands how it works.'

'Wouldn't a simple roster do just as well?' Vanion asked.

'i'm sure it would, but Sir Ulath prefers his own method. It

has a few drawbacks, though. Once Kalten cooked every single

meal for an entire week.'

Vanion shuddered.

They had smoked mutton-chops that evening, and Ulath

received some hard looks from his companions about that. Flute

and Sephrenia, however, complimented him on his choice. After

they had eaten, they sought their makeshift beds.

It must have been well past midnight when Talen shook Sparhawk

awake, laying a cautious hand across his mouth to prevent

his crying out. 'There are some people back near the road,' the

boy whispered. 'They've built a big fire.'

'What are they doing?' Sparhawk asked.

"Just standing around waiting for somebody, it seems - unless

you want to count the drinking.'

'You'd better rouse the others,' Sparhawk told him, throwing

off his blankets and reaching for his sword.

They crept through the forest in the darkness and stopped at

the edge of a stump-dotted clearing. There was a large bonfire

in the center of the clearing and nearly a hundred men - peasants,

for the most part, judging from their clothing - sitting on

the ground near the blaze. Their faces were ruddy from the

reflected light and from the contents of the earthenware jars

they were passing around.

'Strange place to be holding a drinking-party,' Ulath murmured.

"I wouldn't come out this far into the woods for something

as ordinary as that.'

'is this it?' Vanion asked Flute, who was nestled in Sephrenia'S

arms, concealed by her sister's dark cloak.

'is this what?'

'You know what I mean. Is this what we're supposed to see?'

"I think so,' she replied. 'i'll know better when they all get

here. '

'Are there more coming?'

She nodded. 'One, at least. The ones who are already here

don't matter.'

They waited as the peasants in the clearing grew progressively

more and more rowdy.

Then a lone horseman appeared at the far edge of the clearing,

near the road. The newcomer wore a dark cloak and a slouch

hat pulled low over his face.

'Not again,' Talen groaned. 'Doesn't anybody on this continent

have any imagination?'

'What's this?' Vanion asked.

'The one they call Sabre up in Astel wore the same kind of

clothes, my Lord.'

'Maybe this one's different.'

"I wouldn't get my hopes up too high.'

The man on horseback rode into the firelight, dismounted,

and pushed back his hat. He was a tall, gangly man with a

long, pock-marked face and narrow eyes. He stepped up onto

a tree-stump and stood waiting for the peasants to gather around

him. 'Hear me, my friends,' he said in a loud, harsh voice. "I

bring news.'

The half-drunk babble of the peasants faded.

'Much has happened since last we met,' the speaker continued.

'you will recall that we had determined to make one

last try to resolve our differences with the Tamuls by peaceful

means.'

'What choice did we have, Rebal?' one of the peasants

shouted. 'Only madmen would attack the Atan garrison - no

matter how just their cause.'

'So that's Rebal,' Kalten whispered. 'Not very impressive, is

he?'

'Our cause was made just by Incetes himself,' Rebal was

responding, 'and Incetes is more than a match for the Atans.'

The mob murmured its agreement.

'There is good news, my friends,' Rebal declared. 'Our emissaries

have been successful. The Emperor himself has seen the

justice of our cause!'

A ragged cheer went up.

"I rejoice even as you,' Rebal continued, 'but a new peril,

far more grave than the simple injustice of the corrupt Tamul

administrators, has arisen. The Emperor, who is now our friend,

has been taken prisoner by the accursed Church Knights! The

evil Archprelate of the Church of Chyrellos has reached half-way

around the world to seize our friend!'

'Outrageous!' a burly peasant in the crowd roared. 'Monstrous!'

The rest of the peasants looked a bit confused, however.

'He's going too fast,' Talen whispered critically.

'What?' Berit asked.

'He's changing course on them,' Talen explained. 'i'd guess

that he's been cursing the Tamuls for the last year or so - the

same way Sabre was up in Astel. Now he wants to curse somebody

else, but he's got to uncurse the Tamuls first. Even a

drunken peasant's going to have some suspicions about the

miraculous conversion of the Emperor. He made it all too fast and

too easy.'

'Tell us, Rebal,' the burly peasant shouted, 'how was our

friend, the Emperor, taken prisoner?'

'Yes, tell us!' another man on the far side of the crowd howled.

'Planted henchmen,' Talen sneered. 'This Rebal's about as

subtle as a club in the face.'

"It was clever, my friends,' Rebal declared to the crowd, 'very

clever. The Church of Chyrellos is guided by the demons of

Hell, and they are the masters of deceit. The Tamuls, who are

now our friends, are heathens, and they do not understand

the guile of the heretics of Chyrellos. All unsuspecting, they

welcomed a delegation of Church officials, and among those

foul heretics who journeyed to Matherion were Knights of the

Church - the armored minions of Hell itself. Once in Matherion,

they seized our dear friend and protector, Emperor Sarabian,

and they now hold him prisoner in his own palace.'

'Death to the Tamuls.' a wheezy-voiced old man,' far gone in

drink, bawled.

One of the other peasants rapped him sharply across the back

of the head with a cudgel, and the slightly out-of-date demonstrator

sagged limply to the ground.

'Crowd control,' Talen sniffed. 'Rebal doesn't want people

making any mistakes here.'

Other peasants, obviously more of Rebal's planted henchmen,

began to shout the correct slogan, 'Death to the Church Knights!'

They brandished crude weapons and assorted agricultural

implements as they bellowed, emphasizing their slogan and

intimidating the still-confused.

'The purpose of these monsters is all too clear,' Rebal shouted

over the tumult. "It is their plan to hold the Emperor as hostage

to prevent the Atans from storming the palace. They will sit

safe where they are until reinforcements arrive. And make no

mistake, my friends, those reinforcements are even now gathering

on the plains of Eosia. The armies of the heretics are on the

march, and in the van there come the Church Knights!'

Horrified gasps ran through the ranks of the peasants.

'On to Matherion!' the fellow with the cudgel bellowed. 'Free

the Emperor!'

The crowd took up the shout.

Rebal held up one hand, 'My blood burns as hotly as yours,

my friends.' he shouted. 'But will we leave our homes and

families to the mercies of the Knights of the Church? All of Eosia

marches toward Matherion, and what stands between accursed

Eosia and fire-domed Matherion? Edam, my friends! Our beloved homeland

stands in the path of the heretic horde!' What

mercy can we expect from these savages? Who will defend our

women from foul rape if we rush to the Emperor's aid?'

Cries of chagrin ran through the crowd.

Rebal moved quickly at that point. 'And yet, my friends,' he

rushed on, 'our defense of our beloved homes may yet aid our

friend, the Emperor. The beasts of Eosia come to destroy our

faith and to slaughter the true believers. I know not what course

you may take, but I pledge to you all that I will lay down my

life for our beloved homeland and our holy faith! But in my

dying, I will delay the Church Knights. That SPawn of Hell must

pause to spill my blood, and their delay will give the Atans the

time to rally. Thus may we defend our homes and aid our friend

in one stroke!' Sparhawk began to swear, half strangling to keep his voice

down.

'What's your problem?' Kalten asked.

'We've just been blocked. If those idiots out there accept what

Rebal's telling them, the Church Knights are going to have to

fight their way to Matherion foot by foot.'

'They're very quick to exploit a changing situation,' Vanion

agreed. 'Too quick, perhaps. It's almost a thousand leagues from

here to Matherion. Either someone has a very good horse, or

our mysterious friend out there is breaking the rules again in

order to get word out to the hinterlands of what happened after

the coup was put down.'

Rebal was holding up his hands to quiet the shouting of the

crowd. 'Are you with me, my brothers?' he called. 'Will we

defend our homes and our faith and help our friends, the

Tamuls, at the same time?' The mob howled its assent.

'Let's ask Incetes to help us!' the man with the cudgel shouted.

'incetes!' another bellowed. 'incetes! Call forth Incetes!'

'Are you sure, my friends?' Rebal asked, drawing himself up

and pulling his dark cloak tightly around him.

'Call him forth, Rebal! Raise Incetes! Let him tell us what to

do!'

Rebal struck an exaggerated pose and raised both arms over

his head. He began to speak, intoning guttural words in a hollow,

booming voice.

'is that Styric?' Kalten whispered to Sephrenia. "It doesn't

sound like Styric to me.'

"It's gibberish,' she replied scornfully.

Kalten frowned. "I don't think I've ever heard of them,' he

whispered. 'What part of the world do the Gibbers come from?'

She stared at him, her face baffled.

'Did I say it wrong?' he asked. 'Are they called the Gibberese,

or maybe the Gibberenians? - the people who speak Gibberish,

I mean.'

'Oh, Kalten,' she laughed softly, "I love you.

'What did I say?'

Rebal's voice had risen to a near-shriek, and he brought both

arms down sharply.

There was a sudden explosion in the middle of the bonfire,

and a great cloud of smoke boiled out into the clearing.

'HerRen, Maisteres alls!' a huge voice came out of the smoke.

'Now hath the tyme for Werre ycom. Now, be me troth, shat

alls trow Edomishmen on lyve to armes! TaR ye uppe the iron

sword, gird ye your limbos alls inns the iron haubergeon and

the iron helm, Smyte ye the feendes fouls, which beestes Jerk

do setts ham and fey in deedly peril. Gee ye to bataile terse to

fend the feendes of the acurset Chirche of Chyrellos! Follwe!

Follwe! Follwe me, as Codes hondys yeve ye force!'

'Old High Elenic!' Bevier exclaimed. 'Nobody's spoken that

tongue' in thousands of years!'

I'd follow him, whatever tongue it is,' Ulath rumbled. 'he

makes a good speech.'

The smoke began to thin, and a huge, ox-shouldered man

wearing ancient armor and holding a mighty two-handed sword

above his head appeared at Rebal's side. 'Havok!' he bellowed.

'Havok and Werre.'

CHAPTER 5

'They've all gone now,' Berit reported when he and Talen

returned to the camp concealed in the narrow ravine. 'They

spent a lot of time marching around in circles shouting slogans

first, though.'

'Then the beer ran out,' Talen added dryly, 'and the party

broke up.' He looked at Flute. 'Are you sure this was supposed

to be important?' he asked her. "It was the most contrived hoax

I've ever seen."

She nodded stubbornly. "It was important,' she insisted. "I

don't know why, but it was.'

'How did they make that big flash and all the smoke?' Kalten

asked.

'One of the fellows near the fire threw a handful of some kind

of powder onto the coals,' Khalad said, shrugging. 'Everybody

else was watching Rebal, so they didn't see him when he did

it.'

'Where did the one in the armor come from?' Ulath asked.

'He was hiding in the crowd,' Talen explained. 'The whole

thing was at about the same level as you'd find at a country fair

- one that's held a long way from the nearest town.'

'The one who was pretending to be Incetes gave a fairly stirring

speech, though,' Ulath noted.

"It certainly should have been,' Bevier smiled. "It was written

by Phalactes in the seventh century.'

'Who was he?' Talen asked.

'Phalactes was the greatest playwright of antiquity. That stirring

speech came directly from one of his tragedies, Etonicus.

That fellow in the antique armor substituted a few words is all.

The play's a classic. It's still performed at universities once in a

while.'

'You're a whole library all by yourself, Bevier,' Kalten told

him. 'Do you remember every single thing you've ever read word

for word?'

Bevier laughed. 'I wish I could, my friend. Some of my classmates

and I put on a performance of Etonicus when I was a

student. I played the lead, so I had to memorize that speech.

The poetry of Phalactes is really very stirring. He was a great

artist - Arcian, naturally.'

"I never liked him very much,' Flute sniffed. 'He was as ugly

as sin; he smelled like an open cesspool; and he was a howling

bigot. Bevier swallowed hard. 'Please don't do that, Aphrael,' he

said. "It's very unsettling.'

'What was the story about?' Talen asked, his eyes suddenly

eager. 'Etonicus was supposed to be the ruler of a mythic kingdom

somewhere in what's now eastern Cammoria,' Bevier replied.

'The legend has it that he went to war with the Styrics over

religion. '

'What happened?' Talen's tone was almost hungry.

'He came to a bad end,' Bevier shrugged. "It's a tragedy, after

all.'

'But... '

'You can read it for yourself sometime, Talen,' Vanion said

firmly. 'This isn't the story hour.'

Talen's face grew sulky.

'i'd be willing to wager that you could paralyze our young

friend here in mid-theft,' Ulath chuckled. 'All you'd have

to do is say, "Once upon a time", and he'd stop dead in his

tracks.'

'This throws a whole new light on what's been happening

here in Tamul,' Vanion mused. 'Could this all be some vast

hoax?' He looked inquiringly at Flute.

She shook her head. 'No, Vanion. There has been magic of

varying levels in some of the things we've encountered.'

"some perhaps, but not all, certainly. Was there any magiC

at all involved in what we saw tonight?'

'Not a drop.'

'is that how you measure magic?' Kalten asked curiously.

'Does it come by the gallon?'

'Like cheap wine, you mean?' she suggested tartly.

'Well, not exactly, but...'

'This was very important,' Sparhawk said. 'Thank you,

Aphrael.'

"I live but to serve.' She smiled mockingly at him.

'Stop that.'

'You've missed me entirely, Sparhawk,' Kalten said.

'We've just found out that not everything that's being reported

back to Matherion is the result of real magic. There's a fair

amount of fraud mixed in as well. What does that suggest?'

'The other side's lazy.' Kalten shrugged.

'i'm not so sure,' Ulath disagreed. 'They're not afraid to exert

themselves when it's important.'

'Two,' Sephrenia said. 'Three at the most.'

"I beg your pardon?' Ulath said with a puzzled look.

'Now do you see how exasperating that is, Ulath?' she said

to him. 'This charade we watched here tonight rather strongly

hints at the fact that there aren't very many people who can

really work spells on the other side. They're spread out a bit

thin, I'd say. What's going on here in Edam - and probably in

Astel and Daconia as well - is rather commonplace, so they

don't feel that they have to waste magic on it.'

'Commonplace or not, it's going to seriously hinder Tynian

when he tries to lead the Church Knights across Daresia to

Matherion,' Sparhawk said. 'if Rebal can stir up the whole kingdom

the way he did this group tonight, Tynian's going to have to

wade his way through hordes of howling fanatics. The Edomish

peasantry's going to be convinced that our brothers are coming

here to impose heresies on them by force, and they'll be lurking

behind every bush with sickles and pitchforks.'

'We still have a certain advantage, though,' Bevier said

thoughtfully. 'There's no way that our enemies can possibly

know that we're here in Edam and that we saw this business

tonight. Even if they were to know that we're going to raise

Bhelliom - which isn't very likely - they wouldn't know where

it is, so they'd have no idea where we were going. Even we

don't know where we're going.'

'And even if they did, they wouldn't know that we could get

here as quickly as we did,' Khalad added. "I think we've got the

jump on them, my Lords. If they're relying on hoaxes here, that

probably means that they don't have any magicians around to

sniff us out. If we can pass ourselves off as ordinary travelers,

we should be able to move around without much hindrance and

pick up all sorts of information in the process.'

'We're here to retrieve the Bhelliom, Khalad,' Flute reminded

him.

'Of course, but there's no point in passing up little treasures

as we go along, is there?'

'Aphrael,' Vanion said, 'have we seen and heard everything

we were supposed to?'

She nodded.

"I think we might want to move on to Jorsan rather quickly,

then. If Khalad's right and we're one jump ahead, let's stay that

way. What would it take in the way of bribes to persuade you

to speed up the journey?'

'We could negotiate that, I suppose, Lord Vanion,' she smiled.

'i'm sure you could all offer me something that might induce me

to lend a hand.'

They kissed the Child Goddess into submission and arrived

in Jorsan late the following day. Jorsan turned out to be a typical

Elene port-city squatting at the head of the gulf. The question

of suitable disguises had arisen during the journey. Bevier had

leaned strongly in the direction of posing as religious pilgrims.

Kalten had liked the notion of masquerading as a group of rowdies

in search of constructive debauchery, while Talen, perhaps

influenced by Rebal's recent performance, had thought it might

be fun to pose as traveling players. They were still arguing about

it when Jorsan came into view.

'isn't all this a waste of time?' Ulath asked them. 'Why should

we play dress-up? It's not really anybody's business who we are,

is it? As long as we're not wearing armor, the people in jorsan

won't know - or care - about us. Why go to all the trouble of

lying about it?'

'We'll need to wear our mail-shirts, Sir Ulath,' Berit reminded

him. 'How do we explain that?'

'We don't. Lots of people wear chain-mail and carry weapons,

SO it's not really that unusual. If somebody in town gets too

curious about who we are and where we're going, I can make

him get un-curious in fairly short order.' He held up his hand

and closed his fist suggestively.

'You mean just bully our way through?' Kalten asked.

'Why not? Isn't that what we're trained for?'

The inn was not particularly elegant, but it was clean and not

so near the waterfront that the streets around it were filled with

bawling sailors lurching from ale-house to ale-house. The sleeping

-rooms were upstairs over the common-room on the main

floor, and the stables were in the back.

'Let me handle this,' Ulath muttered to Sparhawk as they

approached the innkeeper, a tousled fellow with a long, pointed

nose.

'Feel free,' Sparhawk replied.

'You,' Ulath said abruptly to the innkeeper, 'we need five

rooms for the night, fodder for ten horses, and some decent

food.'

"I can provide all those, good master,' the innkeeper assured

him.

'Good. How much?'

'Ah...' The man with the pointed nose rubbed at his chin,

carefully appraising the big Thalesian's clothes and general

appearance. 'That would be a half-crown, good master,' he said

somewhat tentatively. His rates seemed to be based on a sliding

scale of some sort.

Ulath turned on his heel. 'Let's go,' he said shortly to

Sparhawk.

'What was I thinking of?' the innkeeper said, slapping his

forehead. 'That was five rooms and fodder for ten horses, wasn't

it? I got the numbers turned around in my head. I thought you

wanted ten rooms for some reason. A half-crown would be far

too much for only five rooms. The right price would be two

silver imperials, of course.'

'i'm glad you got your mathematics straightened out,' Ulath

grunted. 'Let's look at the rooms.'

'Of course, good master.' The innkeeper scurried on up the

stairs ahead of them.

'You don't leave very many conversational openings, do you,

my friend?' Sparhawk chuckled.

'i've never found innkeepers very interesting to talk

with.'

They reached an upper hallway, and Ulath looked into one

of the rooms. 'Check it for bugs,' he told Sparhawk.

'Good master!' the innkeeper protested.

"I like to sleep alone,' Ulath told him. 'Bugs crowd me, and

they're always restless at night.'

The innkeeper laughed a bit weakly. 'That's very funny, good

master. I'll have to remember it. Where is it you come from, and

where are you bound?'

Ulath gave him a long, iCy stare, his blue eyes as chill as a

northern winter and his shoulders swelling ominously as he

bunched them under his tunic.

'Ah - no matter, I suppose,' the innkeeper rushed on. "It's

not really any of my affair, is it?'

'You've got that part right,' Ulath said. He looked around.

'Good enough,' he said. 'We'll stay.' He nudged Sparhawk with

his elbow. 'Pay him,' he said, turned, and clumped down the

stairs.

They turned their horses over to the grooms and carried their

saddle-bags up to the sleeping-rooms. Then they went back

downstairs for supper.

Kalten, as usual, heaped his plate with steaming beef.

'Maybe we should send out for another cow,' Berit joked.

'he's young,' Kalten told the others jovially, 'but I like the

way he thinks.' He grinned at Berit, but then the grin slowly

faded, and the big, blond Pandion grew quite pale. He stared

at the young knight's face for quite some time. Then he abruptly

pushed his plate back and rose to his feet. "I don't think I'm

really hungry,' he said. 'i'm tired. I'm going to bed.' He turned,

quickly crossed the common-room to the stairs, and went up

them two at a time.

'What's the matter with him?' Ulath asked in a puzzled

tone. 'i've never seen him walk away from supper like that

before.'

'That's God's own truth,' Bevier agreed.

'You'd better have a talk with him when you go up, Sparhawk,'

Vanion suggested. 'Find out if he's sick or something.

Kalten never leaves anything on his plate.'

'Or anybody else's, for that matter,' Talen added.

Sparhawk did not linger over supper. He ate quickly, said

goodnight to the others, and went upstairs to have a talk with

his friend. He found Kalten sitting on the edge of his bed with

his face in his hands.

'What's the matter?' SParhawk asked him. 'Aren't you feeling

well?'

Kalten turned his face away. 'Leave me alone, Calton said

hoarsely.

'Not very likely. What's wrong?'

"It doesn't matter.' The blond knight sniffed and

wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. 'I want to get

drunk.'

'Not until you tell me what's bothering you, we won't.'

Kalten sniffed again and set his jaw. "It's something

You'd laugh at me.'

'You know better than that.'

'There's a girl, Sparhawk, and she loves somebody else. Are

you satisfied now?'

'Why didn't you say something earlier?'

"I just now found out about it.'

'Kalten, you're not making any sense at all. One girl's

been the same as another to you. Most of the time you can't

even remember their names.'

'This time's different. Can we go get drunk now?'

'How do you know she doesn't feel the same way about you?"

Sparhawk knew who the girl was, and he was quite certain

she did in fact return his friend's feelings for her.

Kalten sighed. 'God knows that there are people in this group

who are brighter than I am, Sparhawk. It's taken me a long

time to put it together. I'll tell you one thing, though, if he

breaks her heart, I'll kill him, brother or no.'

'Will you at least try to make some sense?'

'She told me that she loves somebody else - has

she'd come right out and said it in so many words.'

'Alcan wouldn't do that.'

'How did you know it was Alcan?' The big blond man jumped

to his feet. 'Have you all been laughing at me behind my back?

he demanded pugnaciously.

'Don't be an ass. We wouldn't do that. We've all been through

exactly the same thing. You didn't invent love, you know."

'Everybody knows, though, don't they?'

'No. I'm probably the only one - except for Melidere.

not much gets past her. Now what's all this nonsense about Alcan

loving somebody else?'

"I just put it together myself.'

'What did you put together? Try to make a little sense,

'Didn't you hear her singing on the day we left?'

'Of course I did. She has a beautiful voice.'

'i'm not talking about her voice. I'm talking about the song

she was singing. It was "My Bonnie Blue-Eyed Boy."

'So?'

"It's Berit, Sparhawk. She's in love with Berit.'

'What are you talking about?'

"I just noticed it when we sat down to supper.' Kalten buried

his face in his hands again. "I never paid any attention before,

but when I looked into his face while we were talking, I saw it.

I'm surprised you haven't seen it yourself.'

'Seen what?'

'Berit's got blue eyes.'

Sparhawk stared at him. Then, being careful not to laugh, he

said, 'So do you - when they're not bloodshot.'

Kalten shook his head stubbornly. 'his are bluer than mine.

I know it's him. I just know it. God's punishing me for some of

the things I've done in the past. He made me fall in love with

a girl who loves somebody else. Well, I hope He's satisfied. If

He wants to make me suffer, He's doing a good job of it.'

'Will you be serious?'

'Berit's younger than I am, Sparhawk, and God knows he's

better looking.'

'Kalten.'

'Look at the way every girl who gets to within a hundred

yards of him starts to follow him around like a puppy. Even the

Atan girls were all falling in love with him.'

'Kalten.'

"I know it's him. i just know it. God's twisting His knife in my

heart. He's gone and made the one girl I'll ever feel this way

about fall in love with one of my brother-knights.'

'Kalten.'

Kalten sat up and squared his shoulders. 'All right, then,' he

said weakly, 'if that's the way God wants it, that's the way it's

going to be. If Berit and Alcan really, really love each other, I

won't stand in their way. I'll bite my tongue and keep my mouth

shut.'

'Kalten.'

'But I swear it to you, Sparhawk,' the blond Pandion said

hotly, 'if he hurts her, I'll kill him.'

'Kalten!.' Sparhawk shouted at him.

'What?'

Sparhawk sighed. 'Why don't we go out and get drunk?' he

suggested, giving up entirely.

It was cloudy the following morning. It was a low, dirty-gray

cloud-cover which seethed and tattered in the stiff wind aloft.

It was one of those peculiar days when the murk raced overhead,

streaming in off the gulf lying to the west, but the air at the

surface was dead calm.

They set out early and clattered along the narrow, cobbled

streets where sleepy-eyed shopkeepers were opening their shutters

and setting out their wares. They passed through the city

gates and took the road that followed the north coast of the gulf.

After they had gone a mile or so, Vanion leaned over in his

saddle. 'How far do we have to go?' he asked Flute, who nestled,

as always, in her sister's arms.

'What difference does it make?' the Child Goddess shrugged.

'i'd like to know how long it's going to take.'

'What does "how far" have to do with "how long?"'

'They're the same thing, Aphrael. Time and distance mean

the same thing when you're traveling.'

'Not if you know what you're doing, they don't.'

Sparhawk had always admired Vanion, but never quite so

much as in that moment. The silvery-bearded preceptor did not

even raise his voice. 'All I'm really getting at, Divine One, is

that nobody knows we're here. Shouldn't we keep it that way?

I don't mind a good fight now and then, but would bashing our

way through crowds of drunken Edomish peasants serve any

real purpose right now?'

'You always take so long to get to the point, Vanion,' she

said. 'Why didn't you just come right out and tell me to speed

things up?'

"I was trying to be polite. I think we'll all feel much better

about this when Sparhawk's got Bhelliom in his hands again. It's

up to you, though. If you want the road from here to wherever it

is you've got Bhelliom hidden awash with blood and littered

with corpses, we'll be happy to oblige you.'

'He's hateful,' Aphrael said to her sister.

'Oh, I wouldn't say that.'

'You wouldn't. Sometimes you two are worse than Sparhawk

and Ehlana.'

Sparhawk moved in rather quickly at that point. Aphrael was

coming very close to saying things which she shouldn't be saying

in the presence of the others. "Shall we move right along?'

he suggested quite firmly. 'Vanion's right, Aphrael, and you

know he is. If Rebal finds out that we're here, we'll have to

wade through his people by the score.'

'All right,' she gave in quite suddenly.

'That was quick,' Talen said to Khalad. "I thought she was

going to be stubborn about it.'

'No, Talen,' she smirked. 'Actually, I'm sort of looking

forward to hearing that vast cry of chagrin that's going to

echo from every mountain in Daresia when our enemieS

hear the sound of Anakha's fist closing around Bhelliom again.

just lean back in your saddles, gentlemen, and leave the rest

to me.'

Sparhawk awoke with a start. TheY were riding along the brink

of a windswept cliff with an angry sea ripping itself to tattered

froth on the rocks far below. Sephrenia rode in the lead, and

she held Flute enfolded in her arms. The others trailed along

behind, their cloaks drawn tightly around them and wooden

expressions of endurance on their faces. The wind had risen,

and it pushed at them and tugged at their cloaks.

There were some significant impossibilities involved here, but

Sparhawk's mind seemed somehow numb to them. Normally,

Vanion rode protectively close to Sephrenia, but Vanion didn't

seem to be with them now.

Tynian, however, was. Sparhawk knew with absolute certainty

that Tynian was a thousand leagues and more away, but

there' he was, his broad face as wooden as the faces of the others

and his right shoulder as functional as ever.

Sparhawk did not turn round. he knew that another impossibility

was riding behind him.

Their horses plodded up the winding trail that followed the

edge of the long, ascending cliff toward a rocky promontory

which thrust a crooked, stony finger out into the sea. At the

outermost tip of the promontory stood a gnarled and twisted

tree, its streaming branches flailing in the wind.

When she reached the tree, Sephrenia reined in. Kurik walked

forward to lift Flute down. Sparhawk felt a sharp pang of bitter

resentment. he knew about Aphrael's need for symmetry, but

this went too far.

Kurik set Aphrael down on her feet, and when he straightened,

he looked Sparhawk full in the face. Sparhawk's squire

was unchanged. His features were rugged, and his black beard,

touched with silver, was as coarse as ever. His bare shoulders

were bulky, and his wrists were enclosed in steel cuffs. Without

so much as changing expression, he winked at his lord.

'Very well, then,' Flute said to them in a crisp voice, 'let's get

on with this before too many more of my cousins change their

minds. I had to talk very fast and even throw a few tantrums

to get them to agree, and many of them still have grave doubts

about the whole notion.'

'You don't have to explain things to them, Flute,' Kurik told

her in that gruff voice of his, a voice so familiar that Sparhawk's

eyes filled with sudden tears. 'Just tell them what to do. They're

Church Knights, after all, so they're used to following orders

they don't understand.'

She laughed delightedly. 'How very wise you are, Kurik. All

right, then, gentlemen, come with me.' She led them past the

gnarled tree to the brink of the awful precipice. Even though

they were very high above it, the roaring of the surf was much

like heavy thunder.

'All right,' Aphrael told them, 'i'm going to need your help

with this.'

'What do you want us to do?' Tynian asked her.

'Stand there and approve.'

'Do what?'

"Just approve of me, Tynian. You can cheer if you like, but

it's not really necessary. All I really need is approval - and love,

of course - but there's nothing unusual about that. I always

need love.' She smiled at them mysteriously.

Then she stepped off the edge of the cliff.

Talen gave a startled cry and plunged after her.

The Child Goddess, as unconcerned as if she were only taking

a morning stroll, walked out across the empty air. Talen, however,

fell like a stone.

'Oh, bother."' Aphrael exclaimed peevishly. She made a curious

gesture with one hand, and Talen stopped falling. He sprawled

in mid-air, his limbs straddled, his face pasty-white, and his

eyes bulging with horror. 'Would you take care of that,

Sephrenia?' the little girl said. 'i'm busy right now.' Then she

glared down at Talen. 'You and I are going to have a talk about

this, young man,' she said ominously. Then she turned and

continued to walk out toward the open sea.

Sephrenia murmured in Styric, her fingers weaving the spell,

and Talen rose with a curious fluttering movement, flaring from

side to side like a kite on a taut string as Sephrenia pulled against

the force of the gravity that was trying to dash him to the rocks

below. When he had reached the edge of the cliff again, he

scrambled across the wind-tossed grass on his hands and knees

for several yards and then collapsed, shuddering violently.

Aphrael, all unconcerned, continued her stroll across the emptiness.

'You're getting fat, Sparhawk,' Kurik said critically. 'You need

more exercise.'

Sparhawk swallowed very hard. 'Do you want to talk about

this?' he asked his old friend in a choked voice.

'No, not really. You're supposed to be paying attention to

Aphrael right now.' He looked out at the Child Goddess with

a faint smile. "She's showing off, but she's only a little girl, after

all, so I guess it's sort of natural.' He paused, and a note of

yearning came into his voice. 'How's Aslade been lately?'

"She was fine the last time I saw her. She and Elys are both

living on your farm, you know.'

Kurik gave him a startled look.

'Aslade thought it would be best. Your sons are all in training

now, and she didn't think it made much sense for her and Elys

both to be alone. They adore each other.'

'That's fine, Sparhawk,' Kurik said, almost in wonder. 'That's

really fine. I always sort of worried about what was going to

happen to them after I left.' He looked out at the Child Goddess.

'Pay close attention to her now, my Lord. She's coming to the

hard part.'

Aphrael was far out over the surging waves, and she had

begun to glow with a brilliant incandescence. She stopped,

hardly more than a glowing spark in the distance.

'Help her, gentlemen,' Sephrenia commanded. 'Send all of

your love to her. She needs you now.'

The fiery spark rose in a graceful little arc and then shot

smoothly down through the murky air toward the long, leadgrey

waves rolling ponderously toward the rocky shore. Down

and down she plunged, and then she cut into the sea with no

hint of a splash.

Sparhawk held his breath. It seemed that the Child Goddess

stayed down for an eternity. Black spots began to appear before

the big Pandion's eyes.

'Breathe, Sparhawk!' Kurik barked, bashing his lord's shoulder

with his fist. 'You won't do her much good if you faint.'

Sparhawk blew out his breath explosively and stood gasping

on the brink of the precipice.

'idiot,' Kurik muttered.

'Sorry,' Sparhawk apologized. He concentrated on the little

girl, and his thoughts became strongly jumbled. Aphrael was

out there beneath those endlessly rolling waves certainly, but

Flute was there as well - and Danae. That thought caught at his

heart, and he felt suddenly icy-cold.

Then that glowing spark burst up out of the sullen water. The

Child Goddess had been an incandescent white when she had

made her plunge, but when she emerged from the sea she

glowed a brilliant blue. She was not alone as she rose once more

into the air. Bhelliom rose with her, and the very earth seemed

to shudder with its re-emergence.

All glowing blue, Aphrael returned to them, bearing that same

golden box Sparhawk had cast into the sea a half-dozen years

ago. The little girl continued her stroll and reached solid ground

once more. She went directly to Sparhawk and held up the

gleaming golden box. 'into thy hands, for good or for ill, I deliver

up the Bhelliom once more, Anakha,' she intoned quite formally,

placing the box in his hands. Then she smiled an impish little

smile. 'Try not to lose it again this time,' she added.

CHAPTER 6

'He looked well,' Khalad said in a tight, controlled voice.

'Aren't you being just a little blase about all this?' Talen asked

his brother.

'Did you want me to go into hysterics?

'You saw him, then?'

'Obviously. '

'Where were you? I couldn't see you around any place.'

'Lord Vanion and I were right over there,' Khalad replied,

pointing toward the far side of the trail. 'We were told to just

keep quiet and watch. We saw you all come riding up the hill.

Why did you jump off the cliff like that?'

'I don't want to talk about it.'

Sparhawk was not really paying very much attention to the

others. He stood holding the golden box in his hands. He could

feel the Bhelliom inside and, as always, it was neither friendly

nor hostile.

Flute was watching him closely. 'Aren't you going to open

the box, Anakha?'

'Why? I don't need Bhelliom just now, do I?

'Don't you want to see it again?

"I know what it looks like.'

'isn't it calling to you?'

'Yes, but I'm not listening. It always seems to complicate

things when I let it out, so let's not do that until I really need

it.' He turned the box over in his hands, closely examining it.

Kurik's work had been meticulous, though the box was

unadorned. It was just that - a box. The fact that it was made

of gold was largely irrelevant. 'How do I open this? - when I

need to, I mean? There isn't any keyhole.'

"just touch the lid with one of the rings.' She was watching

him very closely.

'Which one?'

'Use your own. It knows you better than Ehlana's does. Are

you sure you don't feel some sort of... ?'

"Some sort of what?'

'Aren't your hands aching to touch it?'

"It's not unbearable.'

'Now I see why all the others in my family are so afraid of

you. You aren't anything at all like other humans.'

'Everybody's different in some ways, I suppose. What do we

do now?'

'We can go back to the ship.'

'Can you get in touch with the sailors?'

'Yes.'

'Why don't you ask them to sail across the gulf and pick us

up somewhere on this side? That way we won't have to ride all

the way back to Jorsan again, and we'll be able to avoid any

chance meetings with Rebal's enthusiasts. Some of them might

be sober enough by now to recognize the fact that we're not

Edomishmen. '

'You're in a strange humor, Sparhawk.'

'i'm a little discontented with you at the moment, to be honest

about it.'

'What did I do?'

'Why don't we just drop it?'

'Don't you love me any more?' Her lower lip began to tremble.

'Of course I do, but that doesn't alter the fact that I'm put out

with you just now. People we love do irritate us from time to

time, you know.'

'i'm sorry,' she said in a contrite little voice.

'i'll get over it. Are we finished here? Can we mount up and

start back?'

'in just a moment,' she said, seeming suddenly to remember

something. Her eyes narrowed and began to glint dangerously.

'You!' she said, leveling a finger at Talen. 'Come here!'

Talen sighed and did as he was told.

'What did you think you were doing?' she demanded.

'Well - I was afraid you'd fall.'

"I wasn't the one who was going to fall, you clot! Don't you

ever do anything like that again!'

Talen could have agreed with her. That would have been the

simplest way, and it would have avoided an extended scolding.

he did not, however. 'No, Flute. I'm afraid it's not going to be

that way. i'll jump in every time I think you're in danger.' He

grimaced. "It's not really my idea. I want to be sure you understand

that I haven't completely lost my mind. It's just that I can't

help myself. When I see you do something like that, I'm moving

before I even think. If you're really serious about trying to keep

me alive, don't do things like that when I'm around, because

I'll try to stop you every single time - regardless of how stupid

it is.'

'Why?' she asked him intently.

"I guess it's because I love you.' He shrugged.

She squealed with delight and swarmed up into his arms.

'He's such a nice boy,' she exclaimed, covering his face with

kisses.

They had gone no more than a mile when Kalten reined in

sharply, filling the air with sulphurous curses.

'Kalten!' Vanion snapped. 'There are ladies present!'

'Take a look behind us, my Lord,' the blond Pandion said.

It was the cloud, inky black, ominous, and creeping along the

ground like viscous slime.

Vanion swore and reached for his sword.

'That won't do any good, my Lord,' Sparhawk told him. He

reached inside his tunic and took out the gleaming box. 'ThiS

might, though.' He rapped the band of his ring against the

box-lid.

Nothing happened.

'You have to tell it to open, Sparhawk,' Flute instructed.

'Open,' SParhawk commanded, touching the ring to the box

again. The lid popped up, and Sparhawk saw the Bhelliom nestled

inside. The Sapphire Rose was perfect, eternal, and it glowed a

deep blue. It seemed strangely resentful as Sparhawk reached

in and lifted it out, however. 'We all know who we are,' he told

the stone and its unwilling inhabitants. 'i'm not going to speak

to you in Trollish because I know you can understand me, no

matter what language I use. I want you to stop this nonsense

with that cloud, and I want you to do it right now. When I turn

round to look, your little patch of private darkness had better

be gone. I don't care how you do it, but get rid of that cloud!'

The Sapphire Rose grew suddenly hot in his hand, and it

seemed almost to writhe against his fingers. Flickers of red,

green, orange and purple, all interspersed with streaks of white,

stained the azure petals of Bhelliom as the Troll-Gods trapped

within the gem fought to resist. Bhelliom, however, appeared

to exert some kind of over-control, and those ugly flickers were

smothered as the jewel began to burn more brightly.

Then there was a sudden, violent jolt which numbed Sparhawk's

arm to the shoulder.

'That's the way." Calten shouted with a sudden laugh.

Sparhawk turned in his saddle and saw that the cloud was

gone. 'What happened?'

"It sort of flopped around like a fresh-caught eel,' Kalten

laughed again, 'and then it flew all to pieces. What did you do,

Sparhawk? I couldn't hear what you said.'

"I let our blue friend and its tenants know that the cloud was

starting to irritate me. Then I sort of hinted at the fact that I get

ugly when I'm irritated.'

'They must have believed you.'

Flute was staring at Sparhawk in open astonishment. 'You

broke all the rules!' she accused him.

"I do that sometimes. It's quicker to cut across the formalities

once in a while.'

'You're not supposed to do it that way.'

"It worked, didn't it?'

"It's a question of style, Sparhawk. I'm technically in charge

here, and I don't know what Bhelliom and the Troll-Gods are

going to think of me after that.'

He laughed, and then gently put Bhelliom back into its box.

'Nice job,' he told it. They were going to have to work together,

after all, and a little encouragement now and then never hurt.

Then he firmly closed the lid. "It's time for some speculation,

gentlemen,' he said to the others. 'What can we make of this?'

'They know where we are, for one thing,' Talen offered.

"It could be the rings again,' Sephrenia noted. 'That's what

happened last time. The cloud - and the shadow - were concentrating

on Sparhawk and Ehlana right at first because they had the rings."

Bhelliom's closed up inside the box,' Sparhawk said, 'and so

are the Troll-Gods.'

'Are they still inside the jewel?' Ulath asked him.

'Oh, yes,' Sparhawk said. "I could definitely feel them when

I took Bhelliom out.' He looked at Aphrael, phrasing his next

question carefully. There were still some things that needed to

be concealed. 'i've heard that a God can be in more than one

place at the same time.' He left it a little tentative.

'Yes,' she replied.

'Does that apply to the Troll-Gods as well?'

She struggled with it. 'i'm not sure,' she admitted. "It's a fairly

complicated business, and the Troll-Gods are quite limited.'

'Does this box confine them in the same way that chain-mail

pouch did back in Zemoch?'

She shook her head. "It's different. When they're encased in

gold that way, they don't know where they are.

'Does that make a difference?'

'You have to know where you are before you can go someplace

else.'

'i'll take your word for it.' He made a face. "I think we may

have blundered again,' he said sourly.

'How so?' Bevier asked him.

'We don't really have any absolute proof that the Troll-Gods

are in league with our enemy. If they're trapped inside this box

with Bhelliom and can't get out, they couldn't be, could they?'

'That was Ghworg in the mountains of Atan,' Ulath insisted.

'That means that he's out and about at least.'

'Are you sure, Ulath? Those peasants around the bonfire were

convinced that the big' fellow in the ancient armor was Incetes

too, you know.'

'All the evidence points to it, Sparhawk. Everything we've

seen this time is just like it was last time, and it was the TrollGods

then, wasn't it?'

'i'm not even positive about that any more.'

'Well, something had to have enough authority over the Trolls

to make them migrate from Thalesia to the north coast of Atan.'

"Just how smart do you have to be in order to be a Troll? I'm

not saying that it was something as crude as the hoax Rebal

foisted off on those peasants, but...' Sparhawk left it hanging.

'That would be a fairly complex hoax, dear one,' Sephrenia

murmured.

'But not quite impossible, little mother. I'll drop the whole

line of thought if you'll just tell me that what I'm suggesting is

impossible. '

'Don't throw it away just yet,' she said, her face troubled.

'Aphrael,' Sparhawk said, 'will this gold box keep our friend

out there from being able to locate Bhelliom?'

She nodded. 'The gold shields it. He can't hear it or feel it,

so he can't just move toward the sound or the sense of it.'

'And if I put Ehlana's ring in there as well? Would the box

shield that too?'

'Yes, but your own ring's still out in the open where he can

feel its location.'

'One thing at a time.' He touched his ring to the lid of the

box. 'Open,' he said.

The latch clicked, and the lid raised slightly.

Sparhawk removed Ehlana's ring from his finger and put it

inside the box. 'You look after it for a while,' he told the Bhelliom.

'Please don't do that, Sparhawk,' Vanion told him with a

pained look.

'Do what?'

'Talk to it like that. You make it sound like a real being.'

'Sorry, Vanion. It helps a little if I think of it that way. Bhelliom

definitely has its own personality. ' He closed the lid and felt the

latch click.

'Ah - Flute?' Khalad said a bit tentatively.

'Yes?'

'is it the box that keeps Bhelliom hidden? Or is it the fact that

the box is made out of gold?'

"It's the gold, Khalad. There's something about gold that

muffles Bhelliom and hides it.'

'And it works on queen Ehlana's ring as well?'

She nodded. "I can't hear or feel a thing.' She stretched her

open palm out toward the box Sparhawk was holding. 'Nothing

at all,' she confirmed. "I can feel his ring, though.'

'Put a golden glove on him,' Kalten shrugged.

'How much money did you bring along, Sir Kalten?' Khalad

asked. 'Gold's expensive, you know.' He squinted at Sparhawk's

ring. "I don't have to cover his whole hand,' he said,

'just the ring itself. '

'i'll have to be able to get at it in a hurry, Khalad,' Sparhawk

cautioned.

'Let me work on it. Does anyone have a gold florin? That

would be about the right size.'

They all opened their purses.

Kalten looked around hopefully, then sighed. he reached into

his purse. 'You owe me a gold florin, Sparhawk,' he said, handing

the coin to Khalad.

'i'm in your debt, Kalten,' Sparhawk smiled.

'You certainly are - one gold florin's worth. Shall we move

on? It's starting to get chilly out here.'

The wind had come up, gusty at first, but blowing steadily

stronger. They followed the trail on down the slope until they

were riding along the upper edge of a long, sandy beach with

the wind screaming and tearing at them and the salt spray stinging

their faces.

'This is more than just a gale!' Ulath shouted over the screaming

wind. "I think we've got a hurricane brewing.'

'isn't it too early for hurricanes?' Kalten shouted.

"It is in Eosia,' Ulath shouted back.

The shrieking of the wind grew louder, and they rode with

their cloaks pulled tightly about them.

'We'd better get in out of this,' Vanion yelled. 'There's a

ruined farmstead just ahead.' He squinted through the driving

spray. "It's got stone walls, so it should give us some kind of

shelter from the wind.'

They pushed their horses into a gallop and reached the ruin

in a few minutes. The moldering buildings were half buried in

weeds, and the windows of the unroofed structures seemed to

stare down from the walls like blind eyes. The house

had completely tumbled in, so Sparhawk and the others dismounted

in the yard and led their nervous horses into what had

eVidently been the barn. The floor was littered with the rotting

remains of the roof, and there were bird-droppings in the

corners.

'How long does a hurricane usually last?' Vanion asked.

'A day or two,' Ulath shrugged. 'Three at the most.'

"I wouldn't make any wagers on this one,' Bevier said. "It came

uP just a little too quickly to suit me, and it's forced us to take

shelter. We're pinned down in these ruins, you know.'

'He's right,' Berit agreed. 'Don't we almost have to assume

that somebody's raised this storm to delay us?'

Kalten gave him a flat, unfriendly stare, a fair indication that

he had not yet shaken off his suspicions about the young man

and Queen Ehlana's maid.

"I don't think it's going to be much of a problem,' Ulath said.

'As soon as we get back on board that ship, we'll be able to

outrun the hurricane.'

Aphrael was shaking her head.

'What's wrong?' he asked her.

'That ship wasn't built to ride out a hurricane. As a matter of

fact, I've already sent it back to where it came from.'

'Without even telling us?' Vanion objected.

'My decision, Vanion. The ship's no good to us in this

kind of weather, so there was no point in putting the crew in

danger.'

"It seemed well made to me,' Ulath objected. 'The builders

must have taken high winds into account when they designed

her.'

She shook her head. 'The wind doesn't blow where that ship

came from.'

'There are winds everywhere, Flute,' he pointed out. 'There's

no place on this entire world where the wind doesn't blow now

and...' He broke off and stared at her. 'Where does that ship

come from?'

'That's really none of your business, Sir Knight. I can bring it

back after the storm passes.'

if it passes,' Kalten added. 'And I wouldn't be at all surprised

that when it does, this broken-down barn's going to be surrounded

by several thousand armed fanatics.'

They all looked at each other.

"I think maybe we'd better move on, storm or no storm,'

Vanion said. He looked at Flute. 'Can you still... ? I mean,

will this wind interfere?'

"It won't make it any easier,' she admitted glumly.

"I don't want you to hurt yourself,' Sephrenia told her.

Flute waved her hand as if brushing it aside. 'Don't worry

about me, Sephrenia."

'Don't try to hide things from me, young lady.' Sephrenia's

tone was stern. "I know exactly what all this wind's going to do

to you. '

'And I know exactly what trying to carry it around will do to

our mysterious friend out there. Trying to chase us with a hurricane

on his back will exhaust him far more than carrying ten

people on horseback will exhaust me - and I'm faster than he

is. They don't call me the nimble Goddess for nothing, you

know. I can run even faster than Talen, if I have to. Where

would you like to go, Lord Vanion?'

The Preceptor looked around at them. 'Back to Jorsan?'

"It's probably as good as any place in a hurricane,' Kalten said

'At least the beds are dry.'

'And the beer is wet?' Ulath smiled.

'That did sort of enter into my thinking,' Kalten admitted.

The wind shrieked around the corners of the building, but the

inn was a sturdy stone structure, and the windows had stout

shutters. Sparhawk chafed at the delay, but there was no help

for it.

Sephrenia had put Flute to bed immediately upon their return

to the inn, and she hovered over the little girl protectively. "She's

really concerned,' Vanion reported. "I guess there are limits after

all. Flute's trying to make light of it, but I know exhaustion when

I see it.'

"She won't die, will she?' Talen asked in a shocked voice.

"She can't die, Talen,' Vanion replied. "She can be destroyed,

but she can't die.'

'What's the difference?'

'i'm not sure,' Vanion admitted. "I am sure that she's very

very tired. We shouldn't have let her do that.' He looked around

the hallway outside the room where Sephrenia was tending the

weary little Goddess. 'Where's Kalten?' he asked.

'He and Ulath are down in the tap'-room, my Lord,' Bevier

replied.

"I should have known, I guess. One of you might remind them

that I won't go easy on them if they're unwell when we set out,

though.' They went on downstairs again and periodically checked the

weather outside. If anything, the wind actually began to blow

harder.

Sparhawk finally went back up and knocked lightly on the

door to Sephrenia's room. 'Could I have a word with Flute?' he

asked when his tutor came to the door.

'No. Absolutely not,' she whispered. "I just got her to sleep.'

She came out into the hallway, closed the door, and set her back

protectively against it.

'i'm not going to hurt her, Sephrenia.

'You can make safe wagers on that all over Daresia,' she told

him with a steely glint in her eyes. 'What did you want to ask

her?'

'Could I use Bhelliom to break up this storm?'

'Probably. '

'Why don't I do that, then?'

'Did you want to destroy Jorsan? - and kill everybody in

town?'

He stared at her.

'You have no real idea of the kind of forces involved in

weather, have you, Sparhawk?'

'Well, sort of,' he said.

'No, I don't think you do, dear one. Whoever raised this Hurricane

is very powerful, and he knows exactly what he's doing,

but his hurricane is still a natural force. You could use Bhelliom

to break it up, certainly, but if you do, you'll release all that

pent-up force at one time and in one place. You wouldn't even

be able to find pieces of Jorsan after the dust settled.'

'Maybe I'd better drop the idea.'

"I would. Now run along. I have to keep watch over Aphrael.

Sparhawk went back down the hallway feeling a little like a

small boy who had just been sent to his room.

Ulath was coming up the stairs. 'Have you got a minute, Sparhawk?'

he asked.

'Of course.'

"I think you'd better keep a close eye on Kalten.'

'Oh?'

'He's beginning to have some murderous thoughts about

Berit.'

'is it getting out of hand?'

'You knew about it, then? - about the feelings he has for your

wife's maid?'

Sparhawk nodded.

'The more he drinks, the worse it's going to get, you know and

there's nothing else to do during this storm except drink. Is

there any real substance to those suspicions of his?'

'No. He just pulled them out of the air. The girl's very, very

fond of him, actually.'

"I sort of thought that might be the case. Berit was already

having enough trouble with the Emperor's wife without going

in search of more. Does Kalten do this very often? Fall desperately

in love, I mean?'

'So far as I know, it's the first time. He's always sort of taken

affection where he could find it.'

'That's the safest way,' Ulath agreed. 'But since he's waited

so long, this is hitting him very hard. We'd better do what we

can to keep him and Berit apart until we get back to Matherion

and Alcan has the chance to straighten it out.'

Khalad came down the hallway to join them. Sparhawk's

squire had a slightly disgusted look on his face. He held uP

Kalten's florin. 'This isn't going to work, Sparhawk,' he said. "I

could cover the stone with it easily enough, but it'd probably

take you a half-hour to pry it open again so that you could use

the ring. I'm going to have to come up with something else.

You'd better give me the ring. I'm going to have to go talk with

a goldsmith, and I'll need precise measurements.'

Sparhawk felt a great reluctance to part with the ring. 'Can't

you just.... ?'

Khalad shook his head. 'Whatever the goldsmith and I decide

on will have to be fitted anyway. I guess it gets down to how

much you trust me at this point, Sparhawk.'

Sparhawk sighed. 'You had to put it on that basis, didn't you

Khalad?'

"I thought it would be the quickest way, my Lord.' Khalad

held out his hand, and Sparhawk removed the ring and gave it

to him. 'Thank you,' Khalad smiled. 'Your faith in me is very

touching.'

'Well said,' Ulath murmured.

Later, after Sparhawk and Ulath had carried Kalten upstairs

and put him to bed, they all gathered in the common-room for

supper. Sparhawk spoke briefly with the innkeeper and had

Sephrenia's meal taken upstairs to her.

'Where's Talen?' Bevier asked, looking around.

'He said he was going out for a breath of fresh air,' Berit

replied.

'in a hurricane?'

"I think he's just restless.'

'Or he wants to go steal something,' Ulath added.

The door to the inn banged open, and the wind blew Talen

inside. he was wearing doublet and hose under his cloak, and

a rapier at his side. The weapon did not seem to encumber him

very much. He set his back against the door and strained to

push it shut. He was soaked through, and his face was streaming

water. He was grinning broadly, however. "I just solved a mystery,'

he laughed, coming across to where they sat.

'Oh?' Ulath asked.

'What would it be worth to you gentlemen to know Rebal's

real identity?'

'How did you manage that?' Berit demanded.

"Sheer luck, actually. I was outside looking around. The wind

blew me down a narrow lane and pinned me up against the

door of the shop at the end. I thought I'd step inside to get my

breath, and the first thing I saw in there was a familiar face.

Our mysterious Rebal's a respected shopkeeper here in jorsan.

He told me so himself. He doesn't look nearly as impressive

when he's wearing an apron.'

'A shopkeeper?' Bevier asked incredulously.

'Yes indeed, Sir Knight - one of the pillars of the community,

to hear him tell it. He's even a member of the town

council.'

'Did you manage to get his name?' Vanion asked.

'Of course, my Lord. He introduced himself just as soon as

the wind blew me through the door. His name's Amador. I even

bought something from him just to keep him talking.'

'What does he deal in?' Berit asked.

Talen reached inside his tunic and drew out a bright pink strip

of cloth, wet and somewhat bedraggled. 'isn't it pretty?' he said.

"I think I'll dry it out and give it to Flute.'

'You're not serious,' Vanion laughed. 'is that really what he

sells?'

'May muh tongue turn green iffn it ain't, yet Preceptorship,'

the boy replied, imitating Caalador's dialect. 'The man here in

Edam who has all the Tamuls trembling in their boots is a ribbon

clerk. Can you imagine that?' and he collaPsed in a chair, laughing

uproariously.

'How does it work?' Sparhawk asked the next day, turning the

ring over and looking at the underside.

"It's the mounting of one of those rings people use when they

want to poison other people's food or drink,' Khalad replied. "I

had the goldsmith take it off the original ring and mount it on

ours so that the cover fits over the ruby. There's a little hinge

on this side of the mounting and a latch on the other. All you

have to do is touch the latch - right here.' he pointed at a

tiny lever half concealed under the massive-looking setting. 'The

hinge has a little spring, so this gold cap pops open.' he touched

the lever, and the half-globe covering the ruby snapped

up to reveal the stone. 'Are you sure that the ring will work

if you're only touching Bhelliom with the band? With that cap

in the way, touching the stone to anything might be a little

tricky.'

'The band does the job,' Sparhawk replied. 'This is very clever,

Khalad.'

'Thank you. I made the goldsmith wash out all the poison

before we installed it on your ring.'

'The old ring had been used?'

'Oh, yes. One of the heirs of the Edomish noblewoman who'd

previously owned it sold it to the goldsmith after she died. I

guess she had a lot of enemies. She did at first, anyway.' Khalad

chuckled. 'The goldsmith was very disappointed with me. He

really wanted to be alone with your ring for a while. That ruby's

worth quite a lot. I didn't think Bhelliom would respond to' a

piece of red glass, though, so I kept a close eye on him. You'd

probably better find out if the ring will still open the box anyway,

just to be on the safe side. If it doesn't, I'll go back to the goldsmith's

shop and start cutting off his fingers. I'd imagine that

after he loses two or three, he'll remember where he hid the

real ruby. It's very hard to do finely detailed work when you

don't have all ten fingers. I told him I'd do that right at the

outset, so we can probably trust his integrity.'

'You're a ruthless sort of fellow.'

"I just wanted to avoid misunderstandings. After we make

sure that the ring still opens the box, you'd better take it to Flute

and find out if the gold's thick enough to shield the ruby. If it

isn't, I'll take it back to the goldsmith and have him pile' more

gold on that cap. We can keep doing that until it does what we

want it to do.'

'You're very practical, Khalad.'

"'somebody in this group has to be."

'What did you do with Kalten's florin?'

"I used it to pay the goldsmith. It covered part of the cost. You

still owe me for the rest, though.'

'i'm going to be in debt to everybody before we get home."

'That's all right, Sparhawk,' Khalad grinned. 'We all know

that you're good for it.'

'That does it!' SParhawk said angrily, after he had taken a quick

look out the door of the common-room. It was two days later,

and they had all just come downstairs for breakfast. 'Let's get

ready to leave. '

"I can't bring the ship back in this storm, Sparhawk,' Flute

told him. The little girl still looked wan, but she was obviously

recovering.

'We'll have to go overland, then. We're sitting here like ducks

in a row just waiting for our friend out there to gather his forces.

We have to move.'

"It's going to take months to reach Matherion if we go overland,

Sparhawk,' Khalad objected. 'Flute's not well enough to

speed up the trip. '

'i'm not that sick, Khalad,' Flute objected. 'i'm just a little

tired, that's all.'

'Do you have to do it all by yourself?' Sparhawk asked her.

'I 'didn't quite follow that.'

'if one of your cousins happened along, could he help you?'

She frowned.

'Let's say that you were making the decisions, and he was

just lending you the muscle.'

"It's a nice idea, Sparhawk,' Sephrenia said, 'but we don't have

one of Aphrael's cousins along.'

'No, but we've got Bhelliom.'

"I knew it would happen,' Bevier groaned. 'The accursed

stone's unhinged Sparhawk's mind. He thinks he's a God.'

'No, Bevier,' Sparhawk smiled. 'i'm not a God, but I have

access to something very close to one. When I put those rings

on, Bhelliom has to do what I tell it to do. That's not exactly like

being a God, but it's close enough. Let's have breakfast; and

then the rest of you can gather our belongings and get them

packed on the horses. Aphrael and I will hammer out the details

of how we're going to work this.'

CHAPTER 7

The wind was screaming through the streets of Jorsan, driving

torrents of rain before it. Sparhawk and his friends wrapped

themselves tightly in their cloaks, bowed their heads into the

wind, and plodded grimly into the teeth of the hurricane.

The city gates were unguarded, and the party rode on out

into open country where the wind, unimpeded, savaged them

all the more. Speech was impossible, so Sparhawk merely

pointed toward the muddy road that led off toward Korvan,

fifty leagues to the north.

The road curved round behind a low hill a mile or so outside

of town, and Sparhawk reined in. 'Nobody can see us now,' he

shouted over the howling wind. 'Let's try this and see what

happens.' He reached inside his tunic for the golden box.

Berit came galloping up from the rear. 'We've got riders

coming up from behind!' he shouted, wiping the rain out of his

face.

'Following us?' Kalten demanded.

Berit spread his hands uncertainly.

'How many?' Ulath asked.

'Twenty-five or thirty, Sir Ulath. I couldn't see them very

clearly in all this rain, but it looked to me as if they were wearing

armor of some sort.'

'Good,' Kalten grated harshly. 'There's not much fun in killing

amateurs.'

'What do you think?' Sparhawk asked Vanion.

'Let's have a look. They might not be interested in us

at all.'

The two turned and rode back along the muddy road a couple

of hundred yards.

The riders coming up from behind had slowed to a walk. They

were rough-looking men wrapped in furs and armed for the

most part with bronze-tipped spears. The one in the lead wore

a vast, bristling beard and an archaic-looking helmet surmounted

with a set of deer-antlers.

'That's it,' Sparhawk said shortly. 'They're definitely following

us. Let's get the others and deal with this.'

They rode on back to where their friends had taken some

small shelter on the lee-side of a pine grove. 'We stayed in jorsan

too long,' Sparhawk told them. "It gave Rebal time to call in

help. The men behind us are bronze-age warriors.'

'Like the Lamorks who attacked us outside Demos?' Ulath

asked.

'Right,' Sparhawk said. 'These are most likely followers of

Incetes rather than Drychtnath, but it all amounts to the same

thing.'

'Could you pick out the leader?' Ulath asked.

'He's right up front,' Vanion replied.

'That makes it easier, then.'

Vanion gave him a questioning look.

'This has happened before,' Sparhawk explained. 'We don't

know exactly why, but when the leader falls, the rest of them

vanish. '

'Couldn't we just hide back among these trees?' Sephrenia

asked.

"I wouldn't want to chance that,' Vanion told her. 'We know

where they are now. If we let them get out of sight, they could

circle back and ambush us. Let's deal with this here and now.'

'We're wasting time,' Kalten said abruptly. 'Let's get on with

it. '

'Khalad,' Sparhawk said to his squire, 'take Sephrenia and the

children back into the trees a ways. Try to stay out of sight.'

'Children?' Talen objected.

"Just do as you're told,' Khalad told him, 'and don't get any

ideas about trying out that rapier just yet.'

The knights turned and rode back along the muddy track to

face their pursuers.

'Are they alone?' Bevier asked. "I mean, can anybody make

out the one who might have raised them?'

'We can sort that out after we kill the fellow with the antlers,"

Kalten growled. 'Once all the rest vanish, whoever's responsible

for this is going to be left standing out in the rain all by himself.'

'There's no point in waiting,' Vanion told them, his voice

bleak. 'Let's get at it. I'm starting to get wet.'

They all pushed their cloaks out of the way to clear their sword

arms, pulled on the plain steel helmets that had been hanging

from their saddle-bows, and buckled on their shields.

'i'll do it,' Kalten told Sparhawk, forcing his mount against

Faran's shoulder. There was a kind of suppressed fury in

Kalten's voice and a reckless set to his shoulders. 'Let's go!' he

bellowed, drawing his sword.

They charged. The warriors from the ninth century recoiled momentarily as

the mail-skirted Church Knights thundered toward them with the

hooves of their war-horses hurling great clots of mud out behind

them.

Bronze-age weaponry and ancient tactics were no match for

steel mail-shirts and contemporary swords and axes, and the

small, scrubby horses of the dark ages were scarcely more than

ponies. Kalten crashed into the forefront of the pursuers with

his companions fanned out behind him in a kind of wedge formation.

The blond Pandion stood up in his stirrups, swinging

his sword in vast, powerful strokes. Kalten was normally a

highly skilled and cool-headed warrior, but he seemed enraged

today, taking chances he should not have taken, over-extending

his strokes and swinging his sword much harder than was prudent.

The round bronze shields of the men who faced him barely

slowed his strokes as he chopped his way through the press

toward the bearded man in the antlered helmet. Sparhawk and

the others, startled by his reckless charge, followed him, cutting

down any who tried to attack him from the rear.

The bearded man bellowed an archaic war cry and spurred

his horse forward, swinging a huge, bronze-headed war axe.

Almost disdainfully, Kalten brushed the axe-stroke aside with

his shield and delivered a vast overhand stroke with his sword,

swinging the weapon with all his strength. His sword sheared

down through the hastily raised bronze shield, and half of the

gleaming oval spun away, carrying the bearded man's forearm

with it. Kalten swung again, and his sword struck the top of

the antler-adorned helmet, gashing down into the enemy's head followed by a

sudden spray of blood and brains. The dead man was hurled

from his saddle by the force of the blow, and his followers

wavered like mirages and vanished.

One mounted man, however, remained. The black-cloaked

figure of Rebal was suddenly quite alone as the ancient warriors

who had been drawn up protectively around him were abruptly

no longer there.

Kalten advanced on him, his bloody sword half raised and

death in his ice-blue eyes.

Rebal shrieked, wheeled his horse, and fled back into the

storm, desperately flogging at his mount.

'Kalten.' Vanion roared as the knight spurred his horse to pursue

the fleeing man. 'Stop..'

'But... '

'Stay where you are.'

Still caught in the grip of that reckless fury, Kalten started to

object.

'That's an order, Sir Knight, put up your sword!'

'Yes, my Lord,' Kalten replied sullenly, sliding his bloodsmeared

blade back into its sheath.

'Take that weapon back out!' Vanion bellowed at him. 'Wipe

it off before you sheathe it!'

'Sorry, Lord Vanion. I forgot.

'Forgot? What do you mean, "forgot"? Are you some halfgrown

Puppy? clean that sword, Sir Knight! I want to see it

shining before you put it away.'

'Yes, my Lord,' Kalten mumbled.

'What did you say.?'

'Yes, my Lord.' Kalten shouted it this time.

'That's a little better.'

'Thanks, Vanion,' Sparhawk murmured.

'i'll deal with you later, sparhawk!' Vanion barked. 'Making

him see to his equipment was your responsibility. You're supposed

to be a leader of men, 'not a goatherd.' The Preceptor

looked around. 'All right,' he said crisply, 'let's form up and go

back. Smartly, gentlemen, smartly. We're soldiers of God. Let's

try to at least look as if we knew what we're doing!'

There was some slight shelter from the wind back in among

the trees. Vanion led the knights through the grove to rejoin

Sephrenia, Khalad and the 'children.'

Is everyone all right?' Sephrenia asked quickly.

'We don't have any visible wounds, little mother,' Sparhawk

replied.

She gave him a questioning look.

'Lord Vanion was in fine voice,' Ulath grinned. 'He was a

little dissatisfied with a couple of us, and he spoke to us about

it - firmly.'

'That will do, Sir Knight,' Vanion said.

'Yes, my Lord.'

'Were you able to identify whoever it was who raised that

party?' Khalad asked Sparhawk.

'No. Rebal was there, but we didn't see anybody else.'

'How was the fight?'

'You should have seen it, Khalad,' Berit said enthusiastically.

'Sir Kalten was absolutely stupendous!'

Kalten glared at him.

Sephrenia gave the two of them a shrewd look. 'We can talk

about all this after we get clear of the storm,' she told them.

'Are you ready, Sparhawk?'

'in a moment,' he replied. He reached inside his tunic, took

out the box, and commanded it to open. He put on Ehlana's

ring and lifted the Bhelliom out.

'Here,' Sephrenia said. She lifted Flute, and Sparhawk took

the little girl into his arms.

'How do we go about this?' he asked her.

'Once we get started, I'll be speaking through your lips,' she

replied. 'You won't understand what I'm saying because the

language will be strange to you.'

"Some obscure Styric dialect?'

'No, Sparhawk, not Styric. It's quite a bit older than that.

just relax. I'll guide you through this. Give me the box. When

Bhelliom moves from one place to another, everything sort of

shivers. I don't think our friend out there will be able to locate

Bhelliom again immediately, so if you put it - and your wife's

ring - back in the box immediately and snap the cover down on

your own ring, he won't have any idea of where we've gone.

Now, hold Bhelliom in both hands and let it know who you

are.

"It should know already.'

'Remind it, Sparhawk, and speak to it in Trollish. Let's observe

the formalities.' She nestled back into the protective circle of his

mailed arms.

Sparhawk lifted Bhelliom, making sure that the bands of both

rings were firmly in contact with it. 'Blue Rose,' he said to it in

Trollish, "I am Sparhawk-from-Elenia. Do you know me?'

The azure glow which had bathed his hands hardened,

became like fresh-forged steel. Sparhawk's relationship with the

Bhelliom was ambiguous, and the flower-gem had no real reason

to be fond of him.

'Tell it who you really are, Sparhawk,' Flute suggested. 'Make

certain that it knows you.'

'Blue Rose,' Sparhawk said again, once more in the hideous

language of the Trolls, "I am Anakha, and I wear the rings. Do

you know me?'

The Bhelliom gave a little lurch as he spoke the fatal name,

and some of the steel went out of its petals.

"It's a start,' he muttered. 'What now?'

'Now it's my turn,' she replied. 'Relax, Sparhawk. Let me into

your mind.'

It was a strange sort of process. Sparhawk felt almost as if his

own will had been suspended as the Child Goddess gently, even

lovingly, took his mind into her two small hands. The voice that

came from his lips was strangely soft, and the language it spoke

was hauntingly familiar, skirting the very outer edges of his

understanding.

Then the world seemed to blur around him and faded momentarily

into a kind of luminous twilight. Then the blur was gone,

and the sun was shining. It was no longer raining, and the wind

had dropped to a gentle breeze.

'What an astonishing idea!' APhrael exclaimed. "I never even

thought of that. put the Bhelliom away, Sparhawk. quickly.'

Sparhawk put the jewel and Ehlana's ring back into the box

and snapped down the cover on his own ring. Then he turned

and looked toward the south. There was an intensely dark line

of cloud low on the horizon. Then he looked north again and

saw a fair-sized town at the bottom of the hill, a pleasant-looking

town with red-tile roofs glowing in the autumn sunshine. 'is

that Korvan?' he asked tentatively.

'Well, of course it is,' Flute replied with an airy little toss of

her head. 'isn't that where you said you wanted to go?'

'We made good time,' Ulath observed blandly.

Sephrenia suddenly laughed. 'We wanted to test our friend's

stamina,' she said. 'Now we'll find out just how much endurance

he has. If he wants to keep chasing us, he's going to have

to pick up his hurricane and run along behind us just as fast as

he possibly can.'

'Oh, this is going to be fun.' Flute exclaimed, clapping her

hands together delightedly. 'i'd never have believed we could

jump so far.'

Kalten squinted up toward the bright autumn sun. "I make it

just a little before noon. Why don't we ride on down into Korvan

and have an early lunch? I worked up quite an appetite back

there. '

"It might not be a bad idea, Sparhawk,' Vanion agreed. 'The

situation's changed now, so we might want to think our plans

through and see if we want to modify them.'

Sparhawk nodded. He bumped Faran's flanks with his heels,

and they started down the hill toward Korvan. 'You seemed

surprised,' he murmured into Flute's ear.

"Surprised? I was stunned.'

'What did it do?'

'You wouldn't really understand, father. Do you remember

how the Troll-God Ghnomb moved you across northern

Pelosia?'

'He sort of froze time, didn't he?'

She nodded. 'i've always done it a different way, but I'm more

sophisticated than Ghnomb is. Bhelliom does it in still another

way - much simpler, actually. Ghnomb and I are different, but

we're both part of this world, so the terrain's very important to

us. It gives us a sense of permanence and location. Bhelliom

doesn't appear to need reference points. It seems to just think

of another place, and it's there.'

'Could you do it like that?'

She pursed her lips. "I don't think so.' She sighed. "It's a little

humiliating to admit it, but Bhelliom's far wiser than I am.'

'But not nearly as lovable.'

'Thank you, kind sir.'

Sparhawk suddenly thought of something. 'is Danae at

Matherion?

'Of course.'

'How's your mother?'

"She's well. She and the thieves are very busy trying to get

their hands on some documents that are hidden somewhere in

the Ministry of the Interior.'

'Are things still under control there?'

'For the moment, yes. I know I've teased you about it a few

times, but it's very hard to be in two places at the same time.

Danae's sleeping a great deal, so I'm missing a lot of what's

going on there. Mother's a little worried. She thinks Danae

might be sick.'

'Don't worry her too much.'

"I won't, father.'

They rode into Korvan and found a respectable-looking inn.

Ulath had a word or two with the innkeeper, and they were all

escorted into a private dining room in the back where the golden

sunlight streamed in through the windows to set the oaken

tables and benches to glowing. 'Can you keep anyone who

might be curious from eavesdropping on us, little mother?' Sparhawk

asked.

'How many times do you have to ask that question before you

know the answer?' she asked with a weary sigh.

"Just making sure, that's all.'

They removed their cloaks, stacked their weapons in a corner,

and sat down at the table.

A squinty-eyed, slatternly serving-girl came in and told them

what the kitchen had prepared for the day.

Sephrenia shook her head. 'Tell her, Vanion.

'The lady and I- and the little girl - will have lamb,' he said

firmly. 'We don't much care for pork.'

'The cook ain't fixed no lamb,' the girl whined.

'You'd better tell him to get started, then.'

'He ain't gonna like it.'

'He doesn't have to like it. Tell him that if we don't get lamb,

we'll take our money to another inn. The owner of the place

wouldn't like that very much, would he?'

The girl's face became set, and she stormed out.

'That's the Vanion we came to know and love when we were

boys,' Kalten laughed. The fight that morning seemed to have

improved his temper.

Vanion unfolded his map. 'We've got a fairly substantial road

going east,' he said, running his finger along the line stretching

across the map. "It crosses Edam and then goes on through

Cynesga. We'll cross the border into Tamul proper at Sama.' He

looked at Flute. 'How long a jump can Bhelliom make at one time?'

"Would you like to pay a visit to the moon, Lord Vanion?' She

frowned. 'There's a drawback, though. Bhelliom makes a very

distinctive sound when it does something. It probably doesn't

even know that it's doing it, but it does sort of announce its

location. We might be able to teach it how to conceal itself, but

it's going to take time.'

'And that raises another point as well,' Sephrenia added.

'Sparhawk's holding Bhelliom's power, but he doesn't know

how to use it yet.'

'Thanks,' Sparhawk said dryly.

'i'm sorry, dear one, but you don't. Every time you've ever

picked it up, either Aphrael or I have had to walk you through

it step by step. We're definitely going to need some time. We

have to teach Bhelliom how to be quiet, and we have to teach

you how to use it without having someone hold your hand.'

"I love you too, Sephrenia.'

She smiled fondly. 'You're holding tremendous power in your

hands, Sparhawk, but it's not of much use if all you know how

to do is wave it around like a battle-flag. I don't think we should

rush back to Matherion immediately. That story you cooked up

for Ehlana will explain our absence for at least two or three more

weeks. We'll want to avoid the traps and ambushes our enemies

are going to lay for us along the way, of course.' She paused.

'They might even be useful. They'll give you something to practice

on.'

"Jump around,' Ulath grunted.

'Will you stop that, Ulath?' she snapped at him.

'Sorry, Sephrenia. It's a habit of mine. After I think my way

through something, I just blurt out the conclusion. The intermediate

steps aren't usually very interesting. Our friends out

there have been raising random disturbances to keep the Atans

running back and forth across the continent - werewolves here,

vampires there, Shining Ones off in that direction, and antique

armies in this. There's no real purpose to all that except to confuse

the imperial authorities. We could steal a page right out

of their book, you know. They can hear and feel Bhelliom particularly

when it's doing something noisy. I gather that

there's no real limit to how far it can jump at one time, so let's

just say that Sparhawk wants to see what the weather's like in

Darsas. He has Bhelliom pick him up by the scruff of the neck

and drop him down in the square outside King Alberen's palace.

He stays there for about a half-hour - long enough for the other

side to smell him out - then he hops across the continent to

Beresa in southern Arjuna and stays long enough to make his

presence known there. Then he goes to Sarsos, then to Jura in

southern Daconia, then back to Cimmura to say hello to Platime

all in the space of one afternoon. He'd get all sorts of practice

using Bhelliom, and by the time the sun went down, they

wouldn't know where he was or where he was going to go next.

To make it even more fun, our mysterious friend out there

wouldn't know which of these little jumps was the significant

one, so he'd almost have to follow along.'

'Carrying that hurricane on his back every step of the way,'

Kalten added. 'Ulath, you're brilliant.'

'Yes,' the blond-braided Thalesian agreed with becoming

modesty, "I know.'

"I like it,' Vanion approved. 'What do you think, Sephrenia?'

"It would give Sparhawk and Bhelliom the chance to get to

know each other,' she agreed, 'and that's basically what we need

here. The better they know each other, the better they'll be able

to work together. I'm sorry, Sir Ulath. Blurt out conclusions

anytime you feel like it.'

'All right then,' Vanion said in his most business-like fashion,

'when Sparhawk's off on one of his little excursions, the rest of

us will be sort of invisible - well, not really invisible, but if

Bhelliom's not with us, our friend won't be able to hear us or

feel us, will he?'

'Probably not,' Flute agreed. 'Even if he could, Sparhawk will

be making so much noise that he won't really pay much attention

to you.'

'Good. Let's say that we set out from here. Sparhawk hops up

to Darsas and rattles all the windows there. Then he hops back,

picks us up and puts down in...' He frowned at his map. 'in

Cyton on the Cynesgan border.' He stabbed his finger down on

the chart. 'Then he hops around to several other places, leaving

Bhelliom and the rings out in the open so that our friend knows

where he is each time. Then he rejoins us at Cyton and boxes

up Bhelliom again. By that time our friend will be so confused

he won't know where we are.'

'Pay close attention, Sparhawk,' Kalten grinned. 'That's the

way a preceptor's supposed to think.'

Sparhawk grunted. Then he thought of something. "I want to

talk with you for a moment when we leave,' he told his blond

friend quietly.

'Am I in trouble?'

'Not yet, but you're working on it."

The slatternly serving-girl brought in their meal, glowering at

Vanion as she did, and Sparhawk and his friends began to eat.

They did not linger after lunch, but rose immediately and

trooped out.

'What's your problem?' Kalten asked as he and SParhawk

trailed along behind the others.

'Quit trying to get yourself killed.

'What are you talking about?'

'Don't be coy, Kalten. I saw what you were doing this morning.

Don't you realize how transparent you are to people who

know you?'

'You're unwholesomely clever, Sparhawk,' the blond Pandion

accused.

"It's a character defect of mine. I've got enough to worry about

already. Don't add this to it.'

"It's such a perfect solution.'

'For a non-existent problem, you jackass. Alcan's had her eyes

on you ever since we left Chyrellos. She's not going to throw

all that effort away. It's you she's after, Kalten, not Berit. If you

don't stop this nonsense, I'll take you back to Demos and have

you confined in the mother-house.'

'How do you propose to do that?'

'i've got this blue friend here, remember?' Sparhawk patted

the bulge in the front of his tunic. "I can pick you up by the hair,

deposit you in Demos and be back before Vanion even gets into

his saddle.'

'That's not fair.'

'Now you're starting to sound like Talen. I'm not Trying to be fair.

I'm trying to keep you from killing yourself. I want your oath.'

'No.'

'Demos is nice this time of year. You'll enjoy it. You can spend

your days in prayer.'

Kalten swore at him.

'You've got some of the words right, Kalten. Now just put

them together into a proper oath. Believe me, my friend, you're

not going to go one step farther with us until you give me your

oath to stop all this nonsense.'

"I swear,' Kalten muttered.

'Not good enough. Let's make it nice and formal. I want it to

make an impression on you. You've got this tendency to overlook

things if they aren't all spelled out.'

'Do you want me to sign something in my own blood?' Kalten

demanded acidly.

"It's a thought, but I don't have any parchment handy. I'll

accept your verbal oath - for the time being. I may change my

mind later, though, so keep your veins nice and loose and your

dagger sharp.'

'Sparhawk?' Ambassador Fontan exclaimed. 'What are you doing

in Darsas?" The ancient Tamul diplomat stared at the big Pandion

in astonishment.

"Just passing through, your Excellency,' Sparhawk replied.

'May I come in?'

'By all means, my boy.' Fontan opened his door wide and

Sparhawk and Flute entered the crimson-carpeted study of the

Tamul Embassy.

'You're looking well, your Royal Highness,' Fontan smiled at

the little girl. Then he looked at her more closely. 'i'm sorry,'

he apologized to her. "I mistook you for Prince Sparhawk's

daughter. You resemble her very much.'

'We're distantly related, your Excellency,' Flute told him without

turning a hair.

'Has word reached you about what happened in Matherion a

few weeks ago, your Excellency?' Sparhawk asked, tucking the

Bhelliom back into his inside tunic pocket.

'Just yesterday,' Fontan replied. 'is the Emperor safe?'

Sparhawk nodded. 'My wife's looking after him. Our time's

limited, your Excellency, so I'm not going to be able to explain

everything. Are you cosmopolitan enough to accept the notion

that the Styrics have some very unusual capabilities?'

Fontan smiled faintly. 'Prince Sparhawk, a man my age is

willing to accept almost anything. After the initial shock of astonishment

that comes each morning when I wake up and discover

that I'm still alive, I can face the day with an open mind.'

'Good. My friends and I left Korvan down in Edam about an

hour ago. They're riding on toward Cyton on the border, but I

came here to have a word with you.'

'An hour ago?'

'Just take it on faith, your Excellency,' Flute told him. "It's one

of those Styric things Sparhawk was talking about.'

'i'm not certain how much your messenger told you,' Sparhawk

continued, 'but it's urgent that all of the Atan garrison

commanders in the empire know that the Ministry of the

Interior's not to be trusted. Minister Kolata's working for the

other side.'

"I never liked that man,' Fontan said. he gave Sparhawk a

speculative look. 'This message is hardly so earth-shaking that

it would move you to violate a whole cluster of natural laws,

Sparhawk. What are you really doing in Darsas?'

'Casting false trails, your Excellency. Our enemies have ways

of detecting my presence, so I'm going to give them a presence

to detect in various towns in assorted corners of the Empire in

order to confuse them a bit. My friends and I are returning

overland from Korvan to Matherion, and we'd prefer not to be

ambushed along the way. This isn't a confidential visit,

Ambassador Fontan. Feel free to let people know that I stopped

by. They'll probably know already, but let's confirm it for them.'

"I like your style, Sparhawk. You'll be crossing Cynesga?'

Sparhawk nodded.

"It's an unpleasant country.'

'These are unpleasant times. Oh, it won't really hurt if you're

sort of smug when you tell people that you've seen me. Our

side was definitely behind up until now. That changed a few

days ago. Our enemy, whoever he is, is at a distinct disadvantage

right now, and I'd sort of like to grind his face in that fact

for a while.'

'i'll get word to the town crier immediately.' The ancient man

squinted up at the ceiling. 'How long can you stay?'

'An hour at the very most.'

'Plenty of time, then. Why don't we step over to the palace?

I'll take you into the throne-room, and you can pay your respects

to the king - in front of his entire court. That's the best way I

know of to let people know you've been here.'

"I like your style, your Excellency,' Sparhawk grinned.

It grew easier each time. At first, Bhelliom seemed impossibly

dense, and Flute frequently had to step in, speaking in that

language which Sparhawk strongly suspected was the original

language of the Gods themselves. Gradually, the stone seemed to

grasp what was wanted of it. Its compliance was never fully

willing, however. It had to be compelled. Sparhawk found that

visualizing Vanion's map helped quite a bit. Once Bhelliom

grasped the fact that the map was no more than a picture of the

world, it grew easier for Sparhawk to tell the jewel where he

wanted to go.

This is not to say that there weren't a few false starts. Once,

when he had been concentrating on the town of Delo on the

east coast, the thought crossed his mind that there was a certain

remote similarity between that name and the name of the town

of Demos in east-central Elenia, and after the momentary gray

blur where the world around him shifted and changed, he found

himself and Flute riding Faran in bright moonlight up the lane

that led to Kurik's farm.

'What are you doing?' Flute demanded.

'My attention wandered. Sorry.'

'Keep your mind on your work. Bhelliom's responding to

what you're thinking, not what you're saying. It probably

doesn't even understand Elenic - but then, who really does?'

'Be nice.'

'Take us back immediately!'

'Yes, ma'am.'

There was that now-familiar lurch, and the moonlight faded

into gray. Then they were back in bright autumn sunshine on

the road a few miles outside Korvan, and their friends were

staring at them in astonishment.

'What went wrong?' Sephrenia asked Flute.

'Our glorious leader here was wool-gathering,' Flute replied

with heavy sarcasm. 'We just took a little side-trip to Demos.'

'Demos!' Vanion exclaimed. 'That's on the other side of the

world!'

'Yes,' she agreed. "It's the middle of the night there right

now. We were on the road to Kurik's farm. Maybe our stalwart

commander here felt lonesome for Aslade's cooking.'

"I can live without these "stalwart commanders, and "glorious

leaders",' Sparhawk told her tartly.

'Then do it right.'

There was a certain desperation in the flicker of darkness at

the edge of Sparhawk's vision this time, and a faint flicker of

harried confusion. Sparhawk did not even stop to think. 'Blue

Rose!' he barked to the Bhelliom, bringing up his other hand so

that both rings touched the deep blue petals, 'destroy that thing.'

he felt a brief jolt in his hands and heard a sizzling kind of

crackle behind him.

The shadow that had dogged their steps for so long, which

they had thought at first to be Azash and then the Troll-Gods

gave a shrill shriek and began to babble in agony. Sparhawk

saw Sephrenia's eyes widen.

The shadow was crying out, not in Zemoch or Trollish, but

in Styric.

CHAPTER 8

'Well now, yet Queenship,' Caalador was saying, "I don't know

az I'd start a-dancin' in the streets gist yet. Them fellers over t'

Interior's bin a-doin' ever'thang but a-nailin' th' doors shot t'

keep us from a-puttin' our hands on this yore pertic'ler set o'

files, an' now they turns up sorta unexpected-like amongst a

hull buncha others - which I'd swear a oath to that I already

looked over 'bout four er five times my own self. Don't that

smell gist a bit like a dead fish t' you?'

'What did he say?' Emperor Sarabian asked.

'He's suspicious,' Ehlana translated. 'He thinks that our

discovery of these files was too easy. He may just have a

point.'

They had gathered again in the royal apartment in what was

by now generally called 'Ehlana's Castle' to discuss the surprising

discovery of a hitherto missing set of personnel files. The

files themselves were stacked in heaps upon the tables and the

floor of the main sitting room.

'Do you always have to complicate things, Master Caalador?'

The Emperor's expression was slightly pained. As he habitually

did now, Sarabian was wearing western-style clothes. Ehlana

felt that this morning's choice of a black velvet doublet

and pearl-grey hose was not a happy one. Black velvet made

Sarabian's bronze-tinted skin look sallow and unhealthy.

'i'm a professional swindler, your Majesty,' Caalador replied,

dropping the dialect. 'i've learned that when something seems

too good to be true, it probably is.'

Stragen was looking into one of the files. 'What an amazing

thing,' he said. "Someone in the Ministry of the Interior seems

to have discovered the secret of eternal youth.'

'Don't be cryptic, Stragen,' Ehlana told him, adjusting the

folds of her blue dressing gown. 'Say what you mean.'

He took a sheet of paper out of the file he was holding. 'This

particular document looks as if it were only written last week which

it probably was. The ink's barely dry.'

'They are still using those files, Milord,' Oscagne said, 'despite

the inconvenience. It's probably just a recently filed document.'

Stragen took out another sheet of paper and handed both

documents to the Foreign Minister. 'Do you notice anything

unusual about these, your Excellency?'

Oscagne shrugged. 'One of them's fairly new, the other's

turned yellow with age, and the ink's faded so badly you can

hardly read it.'

'Exactly,' Stragen said. 'Don't you find it just a little odd that

the faded one's supposed to be five years younger than the fresh

one?'

Oscagne looked more closely at the two sheets of paper. 'Are

you trying to say that they falsified an official document?' he

exclaimed. 'That's a capital offense!'

'Let me see those,' Sarabian said.

Oscagne handed him the documents.

'Oh, yes,' Sarabian noted, 'Chalba. Kolata's been singing his

praises for the past fifteen years.' He held up the suspicious

document. 'This purports to be his appointment to the ministry.

It's dated no more than a week after Kolata took office.' He

looked at Stragen. 'You think this has been substituted for the

original?'

"it certainly looks that way, your Majesty.'

Sarabian frowned. 'What could there possibly have been on

the original that they'd have wanted to conceal?' he asked.

"I have no idea, your Majesty. There must have been something,

though.' He leafed through the file. 'This Chalba's rise in

the ministry was positively meteoric. It looks as if he was getting

promoted every time he turned around.'

'That sounds a bit like the sort of thing one does for a close

friend,' Oscagne mused, '. . . or a relative.'

Sarabian smiled faintly. 'Yes, it does, doesn't it? Your brother

Itagne seems to have risen quite nearly as rapidly. '

Oscagne made a face. 'That wasn't my idea, your Majesty.

Itagne's not a career official of the Foreign Ministry. I press him

into service in emergencies, and he always extorts promotions

out of me. I'd rather not have anything to do with him at all,

but he's so brilliant that I don't have any choice. My younger

brother's intensely competitive, and I wouldn't be at all surprised

to find that he has his eye on my position.'

'This fallacious document Stragen found might give us a place

to start,' Caalador mused. Caalador frequently dipped in and

out of the dialect like a leaping trout. 'if Kolata took a cluster of

friends and relatives into the ministry with him, wouldn't it

stand to reason that they'd be the ones he'd trust the most?'

"it would indeed,' Stragen agreed, 'and we'd be able to tell

from the dates on their appointments just who these cronies of

his are, and his cronies would have been the people he'd have

been most likely to confide in when he decided to take uP

treason as a hobby. I'd guess that anybody whose appointment

coincided with Kolata's elevation to office is probably involved

in this business.'

'The ones oz is still alive, anyway,' Caalador added. 'A feller

what turns down the chance t' join some friends in the treason

business ain't got too much in the way o' life-expectancy after

he sez no.'

'May I speak, your Majesty?' Alcan asked Ehlana timidly.

'Of course, dear.'

The gentle girl was holding one of the files in her hands. 'Does

ink always fade and paper turn yellow as the document gets

older?' she asked them in a barely audible voice.

'indeed it does, child,' Sarabian laughed. "it drives librarians

crazy.'

'And if there was something written down in one of these

packages of paper that the people at the Inferior Ministry didn't

want us to . . .'

Oscagne suddenly howled with laughter.

Alcan blushed and lowered her head. "I'm just being silly,

she said in a very tiny voice. 'i'm sorry I interrupted.'

'The place is called the Interior Ministry, Alcan,' Melidere told

her gently.

"I preferred her term,' Oscagne chuckled.

'May I be excused, my queen?' Alcan asked, her face flaming

with mortification.

'Of course, dear,' Ehlana replied sympathetically.

"not just yet, Ehlana,' Sarabian cut in. 'Come here, child,' he

said to Alcan.

She crossed to his chair and curtsied a bit awkwardly. 'Yes,

your Majesty?' she said in a scarcely audible voice.

'Don't pay any attention to Oscagne,' he said. 'His sense of

humor gets the best of him sometimes. What were you going

to say?'

"it's silly, your Majesty. I'm just an ignorant girl. I shouldn't

have spoken.'

'Alcan,' he said very gently, 'you were the one who suggested

that we take all the files of all the ministries out of the government

buildings and spread them out on the lawns. That turned

out to be an excellent idea. I don't know about these others, but

I'll listen to anything you have to say. Please go on.'

'Well, your Majesty,' she said, blushing even harder, 'as I

understand what Milord Stragen just said, those people wanted

to hide things that were written down, so they wrote new papers

and put them in place of the ones they didn't want us to see.'

"it looks as if that's what they've done, all right.'

'Well, then, if new paper's white, and old paper's yellow,

wouldn't that sort of mean that anybody whose package has

white papers mixed in with yellow ones has something to hide?'

'Oh, good God!' Stragen exclaimed, smacking himself on the

forehead with his open palm. 'How could I have been so stupid?'

'And I went right along with you,' Caalador added. 'We both

walked right over the top of the simplest and most obvious

answer. How could we have missed it?'

'if I wanted to be spiteful, I could say that it was because you're

men, Master Caalador,' Baroness Melidere smiled sweetly, 'and

men just adore unnecessary complications. It's not nice to be

spiteful, though, so I won't say it.' She gave the two thieves an

arch little look. "I may think it, but I won't say it." she added.

"it's very easily explained, your Majesty,' Teovin replied calmly

'You've already touched on it yourself.' Teovin, the Director of

the Secret Police at the Interior Ministry, was a dry, spare sort

of man with no really distinguishing features. He was so ordinary

-looking that Ehlana felt him to be an almost perfect secret

policeman.

'And what is this brilliant explanation that I've already discovered

without even noticing it?' Sarabian asked acidly.

Teovin held up the yellowed sheet the Emperor had just given

him. 'As your Majesty pointed out, the ink on this document

has faded rather badly. The information in our files is vital to

the security of the Empire, so we can't let time erase the documents.

The files are constantly reviewed, and any document

that shows signs of approaching illegibility is copied off to preserve

it.'

'Why hasn't that one in your hand been updated then,

Teovin?' the Emperor asked. "it's barely legible.'

Teovin coughed diffidently. 'Ah - budgetary considerations,

your Majesty,' he explained. 'The Chancellery of the Exchequer

saw fit to cut our appropriation this year. They're strange over

at Exchequer. They always act as if it were their own personal

money.'

'They do rather, don't they?' Sarabian laughed. The Emperor,

Ehlana noted, was very fast on his feet, instantly adjusting to

surprises. 'Chancellor Gashon's hands start to shake every time

I start talking about replacing broken tiles in the throne-room.

I'm glad we had the chance to straighten this out, my friend. I

commend you for your devotion to your duty and your concern

for the documents which have been placed in your care.'

"I live but to serve, your Majesty.' Teovin paused. "I wonder

might I have a word with Interior Minister Kolata? There are

some matters - strictly routine, of course - that should be

brought to his attention.'

Sarabian laughed. 'Afraid not, old boy,' he said easily. 'You

wouldn't be able to keep his attention for very long today.'

'Oh?'

'He got some tainted fish at supper last night, and he's been

vomiting into a pail since just after midnight. We keep checking

the pail, but his toenails haven't come out as yet. Poor Kolata.

I can't remember when I've seen a man so sick.'

'Do you think it's serious, your Majesty?' Teovin sounded

genuinely concerned.

'Oh, probably not. We've all come in contact with bad food

before, so we know what to expect. He thinks he's going to die,

though. I'd imagine that he rather wishes he could. We have a

physician in attendance. He'll be all right tomorrow - thinner,

maybe, and a little shaky, but recovered enough to look after

business. Why don't you come by in the morning? I'll make sure

that you get in to see him.'

'As your Majesty commands,' Teovin said, dropping to the

floor to grovel formally before the Emperor. Then he rose to his

feet and left the audience chamber.

They waited.

'He's gone,' Mirtai reported from the doorway. 'He just went

out into the courtyard.'

'Quick, isn't he?' Caalador noted. 'He didn't so much as turn

a hair when your Majesty handed him that document.'

'He was ready for us,' Stragen said. 'He had his story prepared

well in advance.'

'His explanation is plausible, Stragen,' Sarabian pointed out.

'Of course, your Majesty. Secret policemen are very creative.

We know that Interior Minister Kolata's involved in treason. He

wouldn't be much of a threat all by himself, so his entire agency's

suspect. We almost have to assume that every department head

is involved. As Caalador so colorfully pointed out, anyone who

didn't join in probably got himself defenestrated just as soon as

he objected.'

'De-what?' Melidere asked.

'Defenestrated. It means getting thrown out of a window

a high one, usually. It doesn't accomplish very much to push

somebody out of a ground-floor window.'

'There isn't really such a word, Stragen. You're making it up.'

'No, honestly, Baroness,' he protested. "it's a real word. It's

a common solution to the problem of politically inconvenient

people.'

"I think we're straying here,' Ehlana told them. 'Sarabian, why

did you make up that story about Kolata and the bad fish?'

'We don't want his underlings to find out that we're keeping

him drugged into insensibility most of the time, do we, Ehlana?'

'No, I suppose not. Are you really going to let Teovin in to

see him tomorrow?'

'Maybe we should. We've been stalling Kolata's underlings

for three days now, and I'm starting to run out of excuses. We'd

better let one of them see him, or they'll start to get suspicious.'

'i'm not sure it's a good idea, but maybe you're right. Alcan,

do be a dear and run down to the kitchen. Tell the cooks not to

drug Minister Kolata's supper tonight.'

'Yes, your Majesty,' the girl replied.

'You might want to tell them to give him an emetic instead,'

Stragen suggested.

'Why would we want to do that?' Melidere asked.

'Emperor Sarabian just told the excellent Teovin that Kolata's

been throwing up all day. We wouldn't want people to start

accusing his Majesty of lying through his teeth, would we? Minister

Kolata should show some signs of illness when Teovin visits

him tomorrow. A good strong emetic should take care of that

Alcan giggled wickedly.

The Royal Princess Danae sat on a divan. She was carefully

dressing Mmrr in a new doll's gown. Over the centuries,

Aphrael had noticed that little Elene girls did that quite frequently.

It didn't really make any sense to the Child Goddess,

but since it was a long-established custom - 'Oh, quit,' she murmured

to her struggling cat. 'i'm not hurting you.'

Mmrr objected loudly, giving vent to a plaintive yowl filled

to the brim with a heart-rending self-pity.

'Teovin was right about one thing,' Stragen was saying to the

rest of them. They had all gathered in the royal apartments

again, and the Thalesian thief was holding forth once more.

Danae liked Stragen, but the fact that he absolutely adored the

sound of his own voice made him a bit tedious at times. 'The

Ministry of the Interior would die en masse before they'd destroy

a single scrap of paper. The documents they pulled out of those

files are somewhere in the building, and those documents would

tell us things we haven't even guessed as yet about the conspiracy.

I'd give my teeth to get a look at them.'

'And spoil your smile, Stragen?' Melidere objected. 'Bite your

tongue.'

"I was speaking figuratively, of course.'

'He's probably right, your Majesties,' Caalador agreed, forgoing

the dialect. 'Those original documents would be an absolute

gold-mine. I don't know that I'd give my teeth, but I would

give a lot to browse through them.'

Danae rolled her eyes. 'Elenes,' she said under her breath. 'if

it's all that important to you, Caalador, ' she said, 'go look at them. '

We don't know whur it iz they got 'em hid, little dorlin."

'Look for them, Caalador,' she said with exaggerated patience.

"you've got all night every night for the next month or two,

haven't you? Talen told me once that he can get into any house

in the world in under a quarter of an hour. You two are more

experienced at it, so it probably wouldn't take you nearly as

long. You're not going to steal the papers, all you're going to do

is read them. If you're just a little careful to put them back where

you found them after you're finished, nobody will even know

that you've seen them.'

Caalador and Stragen looked at each other sheepishly. 'Why

didn't we think of that?' Stragen asked his friend.

"it seems to me I've already told you why once,' Melidere

said. "Shall we go through it again? It's really a very good idea,

Princess. These two might not be much good at thinking sometimes,

but they're probably very good burglars. They both have

that shifty, unreliable look about them.'

'They do just a bit, don't they?' Danae agreed. She set Mmrr

down on the floor. 'There,' she said, 'isn't she adorable?'

The angry lashing of Mmrr's tail, however, totally spoiled the

effect.

'The tail definitely detracts from the fashion statement,

Danae,' Sarabian laughed indulgently.

'Oh, I can fix that right up, Sarabian,' she assured him. 'i'll

tell you what, Mmrr. How would you like to have me tie a big

pink velvet bow right on the end of your tail to sort of set things

off? You could wave it around like a parasol if you wanted.'

Mmrr's tail stopped in mid-swish.

"I thought you might see it that way,' Danae said.

"Shall we go down to the dungeon for your fencing lesson,

your Majesty?' Stragen suggested. 'Caalador and I are going to

be busy being burglars tonight, I think.'

'Not only tonight, I'm afraid,' Caalador added. "I haven't been

on a roof in years."

"it's like swimming, Caalador,' Stragen said. 'Once you learn

how, you never forget.'

'i'd really like to forgo the lesson today, Milord Stragen,

Sarabian said. 'i'm still sore from yesterday.'

'Fencing is not like swimming, your Majesty,' Stragen told

him. 'You have to practice continually. If you're going to wear

that rapier, you'd better know how to'use it. In a tight situation,

that could be your last line of defense.'

Sarabian sighed. "Sometimes I wish I'd never even heard of

Elenes,' he mourned.

'Because Ehlana told me to,' Mirtai said as she, Engessa, Kring

and the two thieves crossed the document-littered lawn toward

the Interior Ministry. "She wants to be sure that nobody interrupts

you. '

'Mirtai,' Stragen said with a pained look, "I love you like a

sister, but burglary's a fine art.'

"I think my beloved can manage, friend Stragen,' Kring said.

'i've seen her walk through a pile of dry leaves and not make a

sound.'

"I just don't like it,' Stragen complained.

'You are not required to, Stragen-thief,' Engessa told him.

'Ehlana-queen said that Mirtai-daughter will go with you, so she

will go. '

Mirtai smiled up at the towering Atan. 'Thank you, Engessafather.

It's so hard to make Elenes grasp reality sometimes.'

'Engessa and I are going to relieve the two knights watching

over the documents on the lawn,' Kring told them. 'We'll stay

fairly close to the building, and we have other men nearby. Call

if anyone surprises you in there, and we'll come in and rescue

you.'

'i've never had a platoon of soldiers standing watch for me

while I burglarized a building before,' Caalador noted. "it adds

a whole new dimension to the business.'

Stragen grunted sourly. "it takes a lot of the fun out of it. A

large part of the thrill of burglary comes from the danger of

getting caught.'

'i've never tried burglary,' Kring admitted. "it's not much of

a challenge among the Peloi, since we all live in tents. A sharp

knife will get you into the stoutest tent in the world. If we want

to ransack someone's encampment, we usually send in some

men to run off his horses. He chases those men, and that gives

us a free hand.'

'Burglary's a crime of stealth, Kring,' Stragen smiled. 'You get

to sneak around at night and climb over roof-tops. It's a lot of

fun - and really quite profitable.'

'Be careful up there on that roof, Mirtai,' Kring admonished

his betrothed. "I went to a great deal of trouble winning you,

and I'd hate to lose you at this point. Oh, speaking of that, friend

Stragen - and you too, friend Caalador - if anything happens to

her, you do know that I'll kill you, don't you?'

'We wouldn't have it any other way, friend Kring,' Stragen

Smiled.

Mirtai ran a caressing hand over her beloved's scalp. Stragen

had noticed that she did that quite often. He wondered if the

feel of the little fellow's shaved head might have had some bearing

on her decision to marry him. 'You need a shave,' the giantess

said. 'Remind me in the morning, and I'll take care of it.'

Then Stragen, Caalador and Mirtai, all dressed in close-fitting

black clothing, slipped through the shadows of a grove of trees

near the Ministry of the Interior. 'You're really fond of the little

fellow, aren't you, Mirtai?' Stragen murmured softly, ducking

under a tree-limb.

'Kring? He's a suitable sort of man.'

'That's a rather lukewarm declaration of passion.

'Passion's a private thing. It shouldn't be displayed in public."

'Then you do have those feelings for him?'

"I don't really see where that's any of your business, Stragen."

There was a filmy layer of fog lying on the lawns of the

imperial compound. It was autumn now, and the fog crept in

off the Tamul Sea every evening. The moon would not rise for

hours yet, and all in all it was a perfect night for a burglary.

Caalador was puffing when they reached the wall surrounding

the Ministry of the Interior. 'Out of condition,' he muttered.

'You're almost as bad as Platime,' Stragen told him, speaking

very softly. Then he squinted upward, swinging a heavy grappling

hook in his hand. He stepped back and began to whirl the

hook in a wide circle, letting out more rope with each circuit.

Then he hurled it upward with the rope trailing behind it. It

sailed up over the wall and fell inside, striking the stones with

a metallic-sounding clink. He tugged down a couple of times to

set the points in place. Then he sat down on the grass.

'Aren't we going up?' Mirtai asked him.

'Not yet. Somebody might have heard it. We'll wait until his

curiosity's had time to wear off.'

'Fellers what's a-standin' watch in the middle o' the night ain't

really all that eager t' go lookin' fer where it is oz noises is

a-comin' from, dorlin',' Caalador explained. "it's been my experience

that they usually feel that a quiet watch is a good watch,

so they don't go out of their way to investigate things. As long

as nobody sets the building on fire, they're not overburdened

with curiosity. B'sides,' he added, dipping once again into the

dialect, 'fellers oz gits chose t' stand gord at night usual turns

out t' be drankin' min, an' after a flagon er two, they can't really

hear hardly nuthin' a-tall.' He looked at Stragen. 'Do you want

to try the ground floor before we go up on the roof?' he asked

in clipped Elenic.

'No,' Stragen decided. 'Ground-floor windows are always

double-checked when people lock up, and watchmen pass the

lonely hours of the night rattling door handles and trying the

windows close to the ground. I've always preferred attics

myself.'

'What if all the attic windows are locked as well?' Mirtai asked

him.

'We'll break one.' He shrugged. 'The building's high enough so

that a broken window won't be all that visible from the ground.'

'Don't be too obvious, Stragen,' Caalador cautioned him. 'i've

got the feeling that we'll be going back inside every night for

the next week or two. That's a large building.'

'Let's get at it, then,' Stragen said, rising to his feet. He looked

out across the lawn. The fog had grown noticeably thicker. He

tugged down on the rope a couple of times to make sure that

the hook was secure, and then began to climb up.

'You go on up next, dorlin',' Caalador said quietly to Mirtai.

'Why do you call me that?'

"Jist a-bein' friendly-like. It don't mean nothin' personal, so

don't go complainin' t' yet bow-legged beau. He's a likable sort,

but he shore is touchy where yet concerned.'

'Yes,' Mirtai agreed. She went quickly up the rope and joined

Stragen atop the wall. 'What now?' she asked.

'We'll go across to the roof and start checking attic windows

just as soon as Caalador climbs up.'

'You'll use the hook again?'

He nodded.

'Burglars are about half-ape, aren't they?'

'We prefer to think of ourselves as agile. Now then, if we run

into anybody inside, we'll try to hide first. If that doesn't work,

we'll rap him on the head. Caalador's carrying a wineskin, and

he'll pour wine all over the man. The smell of that should make

him less credible when he wakes up. Try not to kill anybody. It

takes all night to clean up, and we'd have to carry the body

away when we leave. This isn't an ordinary burglary, and we

don't want anybody to know we've been here.'

"you're repeating the obvious, Stragen.'

'i've seen your instincts in operation before, love. If you do

kill somebody, please try to leave most of the blood inside the

body. I don't want to be caught in there with a mop in my hands

when the sun comes up.'

'Why are you both being so affectionate tonight?'

"I don't think I quite followed that.'

'Caalador's been calling me "darling" ever since we set out,

and you just called me "love". Is there some sort of significance

to that?'

he chuckled. 'A gang of burglars is a very close-knit group,

Mirtai. We depend on each other for our very lives. That creates

powerful ties of affection - which usually last right up until the

point when the time comes to divide up the spoils. That's when

things sometimes turn ugly.'

'Let's have it all in place before we make any overt moves,

Sarabian,' Ehlana counseled. 'The Interior Ministry knows that

we're up to something, but we're all pretending that everything's

normal. The customary approach is to have everybody in custody

before you start issuing proclamations and disbanding

branches of government.'

"I can see your point, of course,' he agreed. They were standing

atop the battlements again, looking out over the city as the

sun rose above the thick ground fog. 'That's pretty, isn't it?' he

observed. 'The color of the fog almost perfectly matches the

mauve on the walls and domes.'

'You have a beautiful city.'

'With some not-so-beautiful people living in it. What am I

going to do for a police force after I dissolve the Ministry of the

Interior?'

'You'll probably have to declare martial law.'

He winced. 'The Atans won't make me very many friends, I'm

afraid. They tend to have a very simplified concept of justice.'

'We don't have to stand for re-election, Sarabian. That's why

we can do unpopular things.'

'Only up to a point,' he disagreed. "I have to live with the

great houses of Tamul proper, and I'm still getting letters of

protest from many of them about sons and brothers who were

killed or maimed while the Atans were putting down the coup.'

'They were traitors, weren't they?'

'No,' he sighed, 'probably not. We Tamuls pamper our children,

and the noble houses carry that to extremes. Matherion's

a political city, and when young Tamuls enter the university,

they're expected to get involved in politics - usually of the most

radical sort. The rank and position of their families protect them

from the consequences of excessive juvenile enthusiasm. I was

an anarchist when I was a student. I even led a few demonstrations

against my father's government.' He smiled faintly. "I

used to get arrested on an average of once a week. They never

would throw me in the dungeon, though, no matter what kind

of names I called my father. I tried very hard to get thrown into

the dungeon, but the police wouldn't cooperate.'

'Why on earth did you want to spend time in a dungeon?'

she laughed.

'Young Tamul noblewomen are terribly impressed by political

martyrs. I'd have cut a wide track if I could have gotten myself

imprisoned for a few days.'

"I thought you got married when you were a baby,' she said.

'isn't it sort of inappropriate for a married man to be thinking

about how wide a track he can cut among the ladies?'

'My first wife and I stopped speaking to each other for about

ten years when we were young, and the fact that I was required

by tradition to have eight other wives made the notion of fidelity

a sort of laughable concept.' A thought came to him. "I wonder

if Caalador would consider taking a post in my government, ' he mused.

'You could do worse. I have a man named Platime in my

government, and he's an even bigger thief than Caalador.'

Ehlana looked on down the battlements and saw Mirtai

approaching. 'Any luck?' she asked.

"it's hard to say,' the giantess shrugged. 'We got inside easily

enough, but we didn't find what we were looking for. Stragen

and Caalador are going out to the university to talk with some

of the scholars there.'

'Are they suddenly hungering and thirsting after knowledge?'

Sarabian asked her lightly.

"Tain't hardly likely, dorlin'' Mirtai replied.

'Darling?' he asked her incredulously.

'But you are Sarabian,' the golden giantess replied, gently

touching his cheek. "I discovered tonight that conspirators and

thieves and other scoundrels are supposed to be very affectionate

with each other. You're conspiring with us to overthrow the

police, so you're a member of the family now. Stragen wants to

talk with some specialists in architecture. He suspects that there

might be some secret rooms in the Interior Ministry. He's hoping

that the original plans for the building might be in some library.'

She gave the Emperor a sly, sidelong glance. 'That's what it iz

that they're a-doin', dorlin',' she added.

'Are you really sure you want Caalador in your government,

Sarabian?' Ehlana asked him. 'That dialect of his seems to rub

off on people. Give him a year or two, and everybody in the

imperial compound will be calling you "dorlin"'.'

'That might be preferable to some of the other names I've been

called lately.'

CHAPTER 9

Sparhawk and his friends left Cyton early the next morning and

rode eastward through vast golden fields of ripening wheat. The

rolling countryside sloped gradually downward into the broad

valley where the Pela and Edek rivers joined on the border

between Edam and Cynesga.

Sparhawk rode in the lead with Flute nestled in his arms. The

little girl seemed unusually quiet this morning, and after they

had been on the road for a couple of hours, Sparhawk leaned

to one side and looked at her face. Her eyes were fixed, vacant,

and her face expressionless. 'What's the matter?' he asked.

'Not now, Sparhawk,' she told him crossly. 'i'm busy.'

'Aphrael, we're coming up on the border. Shouldn't we . . . ?'

'Leave me alone.' She burrowed her forehead into his chest

with a discontented little sound.

'What is it, Sparhawk?' SePhrenia asked, Pulling Ch'iel in

beside Faran.

'Aphrael won't talk to me.'

Sephrenia leaned forward and looked critically at Flute's face.

'Ah,' she said.

'Ah what?'

'Leave her alone, Sparhawk. She's someplace else right now.'

The border's just ahead, Sephrenia. Can we really afford to

spend half a day trying to talk our way across?'

"it looks as if we'll have to. Here, give her to me.'

He lifted the semi-comatose little girl and placed her in her

sisters arms. 'Maybe I can move us past the border without her.

I know how it's done now.'

'No, Sparhawk. You're not ready to try it by yourself. We

definitely don't want you to start experimenting on your own

just yet. We'll have to take our chances at the border. There's

no way of knowing how long Aphrael's going to be busy.'

"it's not anything important, is it? I mean, is Ehlana in any

kind of danger?'

"I don't know, and I don't want to disturb Aphrael just now

to find out. Danae will take care of her mother. You're just going

to have to trust her.'

'This is very difficult, you know. How long does it take to

adjust your thinking to the idea that there are three of her - and

that they're all the same one?' She gave him a puzzled look.

'Aphrael, Flute and Danae - they're all the same person, but

they can be in two places at once, or even three, for all I know,

and doing two or three different things.'

'Yes,' she agreed.

'Doesn't that disturb you just a little?'

'Does it concern you that your Elene God's supposed to know

what everybody in the world's thinking? - all at the same time?'

'Well - no. I suppose not.'

'What's the difference?'

'he's God, Sephrenia.''

'So's she, Sparhawk.'

"it doesn't seem quite the same."

"it is, though. Tell the others that we're going to have to make

the border crossing on our own.'

'They'll want to know why.'

'Lie to them. God will forgive you - one of them will, anyway.

'You're impossible to talk to when you're like this, do you

know that?'

'Don't talk to me, then. Right now I'd prefer that you didn't

anywaY.'

'is something wrong?'

"I was just a little upset when you dissolved that cloud and it

started swearing at you in Styric.'

"I noticed that myself.' he'made a face. 'How could anyone

have missed it? I gather it'S Significant.'

'What language do you swear in when you stub your toe?'

'Elenic, of course."

'Of course. It's your native tongue. Doesn't that sort of suggest

that Styric's the native tongue of whoever's behind that

shadow?'

"I hadn't thought of that. I suppose it does.'

'The fact disturbs me, Sparhawk - more than just a little bit.

It suggests all sorts of things that I don't really want to accept.'

'Such as?'

'There's a Styric working with our enemy, for one thing, and

he's highly skilled. That shadow's the result of a very complex

spell. I doubt that there are more than eight or ten in all of

Styricum who could have managed it, and I know all of those

people. They're my friends. It's not a pleasant thing to contemplate.

Why don't you go bother somebody else and let me work

on it?'

Sparhawk gave up and dropped back to talk with the others.

'There's been a little change of plans,' he told them. 'Aphrael's

occupied elsewhere just now, so we won't be able to avoid the

border-crossing. '

'What's she doing?' Bevier asked.

'You don't want to know. Believe me, Bevier, you, of all

people, really don't want to know.'

"She's doing one of those God-things?' Talen guessed.

'Talen,' Bevier rebuked him. 'They're called miracles, not Godthings.'

'That was the word I was looking for,' Talen replied, snapping

his fingers.

Vanion was frowning. 'Border-crossings are always tedious,'

he told them, 'but the Cynesgans have a reputation for carrying

that to extremes. They'll negotiate the suitable bribe for days on

end.'

'That's what axes are for, Lord Vanion,' Ulath rumbled. 'We

use them to clear away inconveniences - underbrush, trees,

obstructionist officials, that sort of thing.'

'We don't need an international incident, Sir Ulath,' Vanion

told him. 'We might be able to speed things up a bit, though.

I've got an imperial pass signed by Sarabian himself. It might

carry enough weight to get us past the border without too much delay.'

The border between Edam and Cynesga was marked by

the Pela River, and at the far end of the substantial bridge

there stood a solid, block-like building with a horse corral behind

it.

Vanion led them across the bridge to the barricade on the

Cynesgan side, where a number of armed men in strange flowing

robes waited.

The imperial pass Vanion presented to the border guards not

only failed to gain them immediate passage, but even added

further complications. 'How do I know that this is really his

Majesty's signature?' the Cynesgan captain demanded suspiciously

in heavily accented Tamul. He was a swarthy man in

a loose-fitting black and white striped robe and with a long cloth

wound intricately around his head.

'What's much more to the point, neighbor, is how do you

know that it isn't?' Sparhawk asked bluntly in the Tamul tongue.

'The Atans take a very unpleasant stance toward people who

disobey the Emperor's direct commands.'

"it means death to forge the Emperor's signature,' the captain

said ominously.

'So I've been told,' Vanion replied. "it also means death to

ignore his orders. I'd say that one of us is in trouble.'

'My men still have to search your packs for contraband,' the

captain said haughtily. "I will consider this while they carry out

their orders.'

'Do that,' Sparhawk told him in a flat, unfriendly tone of voice,

'and keep in mind the fact that a wrong decision here could

have a negative impact on your career.'

"I didn't catch your meaning.'

'A man with no head seldom gets promoted.'

"I have nothing to fear,' the captain declared. "I am strictly

following the orders of my government.'

'And the Atans who'll chop off your head will be strictly following

the orders of theirs. I'm certain that everyone involved

will take enormous comfort in the fact that all the legal niceties

were observed.' Sparhawk turned his back on the officious captain,

and he and Vanion walked back to rejoin the others.

'Well?' Sephrenia asked them.

'The Emperor's voice doesn't seem to be very loud here in

Cynesga,' Vanion replied. 'Our friend in the bathrobe has a

whole book-full of regulations, and he's going to use every single

one of them to delay us.'

'Did you try to bribe him?' Ulath asked.

"I hinted at the fact that I might entertain a suggestion along

those lines.' Vanion shrugged. 'He didn't take the hint, though."

'Now that's unusual,' Kalten noted. 'Bribes are always the first

thing on the mind of any official anywhere in the world. That

sort of suggests that he's trying to hold us here until reinforcements

arrive, doesn't it?'

'And they're probably already on their way,' Ulath added.

'Why don't we take steps?'

'You're just guessing, gentlemen,' Sephrenia chided them.

'You're all just itching for the chance to do Elenish things to

those border guards.'

'Did you want to do Elenish things to people, Ulath?' Kalten

asked mildly.

"I was suggesting constructive Elenishism before we even got

here.'

'We're not contemplating it out of sheer blood-lust, little

mother,' Vanion told the woman he loved.

'Oh, really?'

'The situation's manageable now, but if a thousand mounted

Cynesgans suddenly ride in from the nearest garrison, it's going

to get out of hand.'

'But... '

He held up one hand. 'My decision, Sephrenia - well, Sparhawk's

, actually, since he's the Preceptor now.'

'interim Preceptor,' Sparhawk corrected.

Vanion did not like to be corrected. 'Did you want to do this?'

he asked.

'No. You're doing just fine, Vanion.'

'Do you want to be quiet, then? It's a military decision,

Sephrenia, so we'll have to ask you - respectfully, of course to

keep your pretty little nose out of it.'

She said a very harsh word in Styric.

"I love you too,' he told her blandly. 'All right, gentlemen,

let's sort of drift on over to our horses. We'll do some of those

Elenish things Ulath mentioned to the men who are going

through our saddle-bags. Then we'll run off all those horses in

that corral and be on our way.'

There were a score of border guards under the captain's command.

Their primary weapon seemed to be the spear, although

they wore a sort of rudimentary armor and scimitars at their

waists.

'Excuse me a moment, friend,' Ulath said pleasantly to the

fellow who was rifling his saddle-bags. 'i'm going to need my

tools for a couple of minutes.' He reached for the war-axe slung

from his saddle.

'What for?' the Cynesgan demanded suspiciously in broken

Tamul.

'There's something in my way,' Ulath smiled. "I want to remove

it.' He lifted his axe out of its sling, tested the edge with his thumb,

and then brained the border guard with a single stroke.

The fight around the horses was brief and the outcome was

fairly predictable. As a group, border guards are not among the

world's most highly skilled warriors.

'What do you think you're doing?' Sparhawk bellowed at

Talen as the boy pulled his rapier out of the body of one of the

Cynesgans.

'Stragen's been giving me lessons,' Talen replied. "I just

wanted to find out if he knew what he was talking about. Watch

your back.' Sparhawk

spun, knocked aside the spear of a charging border

guard, and cut the man down. He turned back just as Talen

deftly parried the thrust of another, deflecting the curved blade

off to one side. Then the young man lunged smoothly and ran

the surprised fellow through. 'Neat, wouldn't you say?' he

smirked proudly. "Quit showing off - and don't take so long to recover from

your thrust. You're exposing yourself with all that posing.'

'Yes, revered teacher.'

What little question there had been about the outcome of the

skirmish vanished once the knights were in their saddles. Things

ended abruptly when the obnoxious captain, who had been

shrieking, 'You're all under arrest!' broke off suddenly as Sir

Bevier coolly swung his lochaber axe and sent his head flying.

'Throw down your weapons!' Ulath roared at the few survivors.

'surrender or die!'

Two of the guards, however, had reached their horses. They

scrambled up into their saddles and rode off to the east at a

gallop. One stiffened and toppled from his saddle after about

fifty yards, with Berit's arrow protruding from between his

shoulder-blades. The other rode on some distance, flogging desperately

at his mount. Then he too lurched and fell to the musical

twang of Khalad's crossbow.

'Good shot,' Berit noted.

'Fair,' Khalad agreed modestly."

The rest of the Cynesgans were throwing their weapons away.

'You run a good fight, Sparhawk,' Vanion complimented his

friend.

"I had a good teacher. Kalten, tie them all up and then run

off their horses.'

'Why me?'

'You're handy, and there's that other matter as well."

"I didn't break my oath,' Kalten protested.

'No, but you were thinking about it.'

'What's this?' Vanion asked.

'There's a lady involved, my Lord,' Sparhawk replied loftily,

'and no gentleman ever discusses things like that.'

'What are you doing?' Aphrael asked sharply. She had raised her

head from Sephrenia's shoulder and was looking suspiciously at

Sparhawk.

'Are you with us again?' he asked her.

'Obviously. What are you doing?'

'There was some unpleasantness at the border, and we're

probably being followed - chased, actually.'

"I can't leave you alone for a minute, can I, father?'

"it was more or less unavoidable. Have you finished with

whatever it was you were doing?'

'For the time being.'

'The town of Edek is just ahead, and we've probably got a

brigade of Cynesgan soldiers right behind us. Do you suppose

you could move us on ahead a ways?'

'Why didn't you do it yourself? You know how it's done.'

'Sephrenia wouldn't let me.'

'His attention wanders at critical moments,' Sephrenia

explained. "I didn't want him to put us down on the moon.'

"I see your point,' the little girl agreed. 'Why don't we just

move straight on to Cynestra, Sparhawk? There's nothing

between here and there but open desert, you know.'

'They were expecting us at the border,' he replied. "it seems

that our friend out there has alerted everybody along the way

that we're coming. There's certain to be a large garrison of troops

at Cynestra, and I'd like to feel my way through the situation

there before I blunder into something."

"I guess that makes sense - sort of.'

'How's your mother?'

"She's enjoying herself enormously. The political situation in

Matherion's very murky right now, and you know how much

mother loves politics.'

'i'm glad she's happy. You'll have to tell us about it, but let's

get past Edek and outrun that Cynesgan brigade first. I don't

like having people snapping at my heels.'

'Tell the others to stop, and then get Vanion's map. Let's be

sure we know where we're going this time.'

I'm never going to get used to that,' Kalten shuddered after they

had covered fifty leagues of open desert in a single gray-blurred

moment.

'Your map's not very precise, Vanion,' Aphrael said critically.

'We were trying for a spot on the other side of that peak.' She

pointed at a jagged spire rearing up out of the desert.

'I didn't draw the map,' Vanion replied a bit defensively. 'What

difference does it make, though? We're close enough, aren't we?

We came to within a few miles of where we wanted to go.'

'You'd have found out how much difference it makes if we'd

been moving around near a large body of water,' she said tartly.

'This is just too imprecise.'

Vanion looked back over his shoulder toward the west. "it's

almost sunset. Why don't we get back away from this road and

set up for the night? If we've got a problem with this, let's find

a quiet place where we can work it out.'

Sparhawk smiled. Despite all his protestations that he was no

longer the Pandion Preceptor, Vanion automatically took charge

unless he was consciously thinking about what he believed to

be his changed status. Sparhawk didn't really mind. He was

used to taking orders from Vanion, and his friend's assumption

of authority relieved him of the nagging details of command.

They rode out into the desert a couple of miles and set up for

the night in a dry wash behind an up-thrust jumble of weathered

boulders. Unlike the Rendorish desert, which was mostly sand,

the desert here in Cynesga was sun-baked gravel, rusty-brown

and sterile. The moving sands of Render at least gave an illusion

of life. Cynesga was dead. Stark, treeless peaks clawed harshly

at the sky, and the vast emptiness of gravel and rock was broken'

only by flat, bleached white beds of alkali.

'Ugly place,' Ulath grunted, looking around. Ulath was used

to trees and snow-capped peaks.

'i'm sorry you feel that way,' Kalten grinned. "I was thinking

of selling it to you.'

'You couldn't give it to me.'

'Look on the bright side. It almost never rains here.

"I think that's part of the problem.'

'There's a lot of wild game, though.'

'Really?'

'Snakes, lizards, scorpions - that sort of thing.'

'Have you developed a taste For baked scorpion?'

'Ah - no, I don't think so.'

"I wouldn't waste any arrows on them, then.'

'Speaking of eating... '

'Were we speaking of that?'

"it's a topic that comes up from time to time. Do you know of

a way to set fire to rocks?'

'Not right offhand, no.'

'Then I'll volunteer to fix supper. I haven't seen a stick or a

twig or even a dry leaf around here, so a fire's sort of out of the

question. Oh, well, cold food never hurt anybody.'

'We can get by without fire,' Vanion said, 'but we're going to

have to have water for the horses.'

'Aphrael and I can manage that, dear,' Sephrenia assured him.

'Good. I think we might be here for a day or so. Sparhawk

and Aphrael are going to be working with Bhelliom on this

little problem of precision.' He looked inquiringly at the Child

Goddess. 'is it likely to take very long?' he asked her.

'i'm not really positive, Vanion. When I do it, I still have the

surrounding terrain to refer to, so I know where I am, no matter

how fast I'm going. Bhelliom goes from one place to another

instantaneously without any reference points. It's an altogether

different process. Either Sparhawk and I are going to have to

learn how Bhelliom's technique works, or we're going to have

to make Bhelliom understand exactly what we want.'

'Which way would be easier?' Kalten asked her.

'i'm not sure. It's possible that they're about the same - both

very, very difficult. We'll find out tomorrow morning.' She

looked at Vanion. 'Are we more or less safe where we are right

now?'

Vanion scratched at his short, silvery beard. 'Nobody really

expects us to be here. Somebody might accidentally stumble

across us, but there won't be any kind of organized search. They

don't know where we are, and the rings are shielded, so

our friend out there won't be able to pick up the sense of

their location and follow that to us. I'd say that we're safe

here.'

'Good. We've got some time, then. Let's use it to let Sparhawk

and Bhelliom get to know each other. There's nothing all that

crucial going on right now, so a few mistakes and false starts

won't hurt anything. They might be disastrous later on, though.'

Sephrenia did not tell them where the water came from the next

morning, but it was icy-cold and tasted of snow-melt. It sparkled

invitingly in its shaded little pool behind a rust-colored boulder,

and by its very presence it alleviated a great deal of tension

Water is a source of major concern to people in a desert.

Flute took Sparhawk, Khalad and Talen some distance out

onto a broad graveled plain to begin the instruction.

"it's going to get hot out here before long,' Talen complained.

'Probably, yes,' the little girl agreed.

'Why do Khalad and I have to come along?'

'Vanion needs the knights with him here in case someone

stumbles across our camp.'

'You missed my point. Why do you two need anybody to come

along?'

'Sparhawk has to have people and horses to carry. He's not

going to be moving sacks of grain from place to place, you

know.' She looked at Vanion's map. 'Let's see if Bhelliom can

take us to this oasis up here, Sparhawk,' she said, pointing at

a symbol on the map.

'What does it look like?' he asked her.

'How would I know? I've never been there either.'

'All you're giving me to work with is a name, Aphrael. Why don't we do it

the way we did when we moved from outside Jorsan up to Korvan? - and all

those other places we went to when we were jumping around to confuse the

other side? You tell Bhelliom where we want to go and then I'll tell it tO

do it.'

'We can't be sure that I'll always be available, Sparhawk. There

are times when I have to be away. The whole idea here is to train

you and Bhelliom to work together without my intervention.'

'A name isn't really very much to take hold of, you know.'

'There'll be trees,' Sparhawk,' Khalad told him. 'An oasis is

kind of a pond, and anywhere you've got water, you're going

to have trees.'

'And probably houses,' Talen added. 'There'd almost have to

be houses, since water's so scarce here in Cynesga.'

'Let's see the map,' Sparhawk said. He studied the chart carefully

for quite some time. 'All right,' he said finally. 'Let's try it

and see what happens.' He lifted the cap on his ring and touched

the band to the lid of the golden box. 'Open,' he said. Then he

put on the other ring and took out the Bhelliom. "it's me again,'

he told the jewel.

'Oh, that's absurd, Sparhawk,' Aphrael told him.

'Formal introductions take too long,' he replied. 'There may

come a time when I'll be in a hurry.' He carefully imagined a

desert oasis - an artesian-fed pond with its surrounding palms

and flat-roofed white houses. 'Take us there, Blue Rose,' he

commanded.

The air blurred and faded into gray. Then the blur cleared,

and the oasis was there, just as he had imagined it.

'You see, Sparhawk,' Aphrael said smugly. 'That wasn't hard

at all, was it?'

Sparhawk even laughed out loud. 'This might work out after

all.'

'Talen,' Khalad said, 'why don't you ride on down to one of

those houses and ask somebody the name of this place?'

"it's Zhubay, Khalad,' Flute told him. 'That's where we

wanted to go, so that's where we are.'

'You wouldn't mind a bit of verification, would you?' he asked her

innocently.

She scowled at him.

Talen rode down to the cluster of houses and returned a few

minutes later. 'Let me see the map,' he said to Khalad.

'Why?' Flute asked him. 'We're in Zhubay, up near the Atan

border.'

'No, Divine One,' the boy disagreed, 'actually we're not.' He

studied the map for several minutes. 'Ah,' he said. 'Here it is.'

He pointed. 'This is where we're at - Vigayo, down near the

southern border where Cynesga adjoins Arjuna. You missed

your mark by about three hundred leagues, Sparhawk. I think

you'd better sharpen your aim just a bit.'

'What were you thinking about?' Aphrael demanded.

'Pretty much what Khalad was talking about - trees, a

pond, white houses - just exactly what there is in front of us.'

'Now what?' Talen asked. 'Do we go back to where we started

and try again?'

Aphrael shook her head. 'Bhelliom and the rings are unshielded.

We don't want to put Vanion, Sephrenia and the others in

danger by going back there too often. Let me down, Sparhawk.

I want to think about this.'

He set her down on the ground, and she walked down to the

edge of the oasis, where she stood throwing pebbles into the

water for a while. her expression was doubtful when she

returned. Sparhawk lifted her again. 'Well?' he asked.

'Take us to Zhubay, Sparhawk,' she said firmly.

'Let me see the map again, Khalad.'

'no,' Aphrael said very firmly. 'Never mind the map. Just tell

Bhelliom to take us to Zhubay.'

'obviously.' Khalad said, snapping his fingers. 'Why didn't we

think of that before?'

'Think of what?' Sparhawk demanded.

'Try it, my Lord,' Khalad grinned. "I think you might be surprised.'

'if we wind up on the moon, you two are in trouble,' Sparhawk

threatened.

"Just try it, Sparhawk,' Flute told him.

'Blue Rose, Take us to Zhubay,' He said it without much conviction.

The air blurred again, and when it cleared they were sitting on

their horses beside another oasis. There were a number of significant

differences between this one and the one they'd just left.

'There probably isn't any need," Khalad said to his brother,

'but you might want to ask anyway, just to be sure.'

Talen rode on round the oasis and spoke with an old woman

who had just come out of one of the houses. He was grinning

when he came back. 'Zhubay,' he told them.

'how could it find the place with only the name to work with?'

Sparhawk demanded. "it's probably never even heard the name

Zhubay before.'

'But the people who live here have, my Lord,' Khalad

shrugged. 'The name "Zhubay" was sort of floating around in

their minds. That's all Bhelliom really needed to find the place.

Isn't that more or less the way it works, Flute?'

'That's exactly how it works. All Sparhawk has to do is mention

the name of the place he wants to visit. Bhelliom will find it and

take us there.'

'Are you sure?' Talen sounded uncertain about the whole

notion. "it seems awfully simple to me.'

'There's one way to find out. Take us to Ahkan, Sparhawk.'

'Where is it? What kingdom, I mean?'

"I don't think you need to know that. Just take us there.'

Ahkan was a town in the mountains - some mountains, somewhere.

It was surrounded by dark green fir trees, and the nearby

peaks were snow-capped.

'Better and better,' Flute said happily.

'Where are we?' Talen asked, looking around. 'This isn't

Cynesga, that's for certain, so where is it?'

'What difference does it make?" Flute shrugged. 'Torrelta,

Sparhawk.'

It was snowing in Torrelta. The wind came howling in off a

lead-gray sea driving a blizzard before it. The buildings around

them were dim and indistinct in the swirling snow-storm, but

they seemed to be constructed of rough-hewn logs.

'There's no limit!' Flute exclaimed. 'We can go anywhere!'

'All right,' Sparhawk said very firmly, 'just which "anywhere'

have we come to?'

"it doesn't matter. Let's go back to where we started from.

'Of course,' he agreed pleasantly. 'Just as soon as you tell us

where we are. '

'i'm getting cold, Sparhawk. I'm not dressed for a blizzard.'

"it's nice and warm back in Cynesga,' he told her, 'and we'll

go there - just as soon as you tell me where we are.'

She said a naughty word. 'Torrelta's on the north coast of

Astel, Sparhawk. It's almost winter here now.'

He looked around with feigned surprise. 'Why, I believe you're

right. Isn't that amazing?' He visualized the flat gravel plain near

the dry wash where they had set up camp the previous evening.

He groped for a name for a moment, then remembered the blunder

he had made when they had first set out. 'Hold the box open,

Khalad,' he instructed. 'i'll put Bhelliom and Ehlana's ring inside

just as soon as we get back. ' He drew the picture in his mind again.

'Take us there, Blue Rose!' he commanded.

Where have you been?' Sephrenia demanded. She and Vanion

had ridden out onto the gravel plain to look for them.

"Oh,' Talen said evasively, brushing the snow off his shoulders,

'Here and there.'

"I gather that one of the places was quite a ways off,' Vanion

surmised, looking at the snow still clinging to the travelers.

"it's really amazing, Sephrenia,' Flute said happily, 'and it'S

all so simple.'

Khalad closed the box and handed it to Sparhawk. Sparhawk

snapped the cap down over the ruby on his ring and then put

the box back inside his tunic. 'We made a couple of false starts

right at first, though,' he admitted.

'How does it work?' Vanion asked.

'We just let Bhelliom take care of everything,' Sparhawk

shrugged. 'We have to do it that way, actually. It's when we try

to help that things go wrong.'

'Could you be just a bit more specific than that?' Sephrenia

asked Flute.

'Sparhawk's really very close. All he has to do is tell Bhelliom

a name - any name - of any place at all. Bhelliom goes and finds

it, and then it takes us there.'

'That's all?'

'That's it, dear sister. Not even Sparhawk can make any mistakes

this way.'

CHAPTER 10

'We have to pick up someone there, that's why,' Flute told them.

'Who?' Kalten asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that someone's supposed to' go

with us, and we have to pick him up in Cynestra.'

'Another one of those hunches of yours?'

'You can call it that if you want to.'

"I don't think we'll want to go into the city itself until we've

had a chance to feel things out,' Vanion said, looking up from

his map. 'There's a village just to the west of town. Let's go

there and nose around a bit.'

'What's the name?' SParhawk asked him, oPening the box

and taking out his wife's ring.

'Narset,' Vanion replied, looking up from the map.

'All right.' Sparhawk took out the Bhelliom. He held it up

and frowned slightly. 'May I borrow your handkerchief, little

mother?' he asked Sephrenia.

'Use your own,' she told him.

"I seem to have left home without one. I'm not going to blow

my nose on it, Sephrenia. Bhelliom's getting dusty. I wanted to

brush it off a bit.'

She gave him a peculiar look.

"it's being very helpful. I don't want it to think that I'm

ungrateful. '

'Why should you care what it thinks?'

"She's obviously never commanded troops,' Sparhawk said to Vanion.

% 'You might want to expose her to the notion of two-way toy/tv someday.'

'if I get around to it. Do you suppose we can go to Narset as

soon as you've finished with your housekeeping?'

Sparhawk brushed off the glowing petals of the Saphire

Rose. 'How's that?' he asked it.

"I think he's losing his grip on his sanity,' Kalten said to Ulath.

'Not really,' Sparhawk disagreed. "It's got an awareness almost

a personality. I could use the rings like whips and drive

it, I suppose, but I think I'd prefer willing cooperation. The time

may come when that's important.' He gave Sephrenia back her

handkerchief. 'hold the box open, Khalad,' he told his squire.

'i'll want to put Bhelliom and Ehlana's ring away again just as

soon as we arrive.' He looked at Vanion again. 'Narset?' he

asked.

'Narset,' Vanion replied firmly.

'Blue Rose,' Sparhawk said, taking the jewel in both hands,

'let's go to Narset.'

The Bhelliom throbbed, and that blurred twilight came down

briefly. Then it cleared again.

Narset was a small, dusty village. The houses were hardly

more than mud huts, and they had flat roofs and animal pens

at the rear, pens that seemed largely decorative, since chickens,

pigs and goats wandered freely in the streets. There was a

fair-sized city lying to the east, and all the buildings in that

city were covered with white plaster to ward off the brutal

desert sun.

Sparhawk put Bhelliom and Ehlana's ring away and flipped

the golden cap back down over his own ring.

'We've got company coming,' Talen warned.

A sallow-faced Tamul in a green silk robe was approaching

with a squad of Cynesgan soldiers, swarthy men in the same

flowing black and white robes and intricately wound cloth headdresses

as the guards at the border had worn. The Tamul had

hard-looking eyes, which he tried to conceal behind a contrived

expression of joviality. 'Well met, Sir Knights,' he greeted them

in slightly accented Elenic. 'We've been expecting you. I am

Kanzad, chief of the local office of the Ministry of the Interior

Ambassador Taubel posted me here to greet you.'

'His Excellency is too kind,' Vanion murmured.

'All the officials of the Empire have been instructed to

cooperate with you fully, Lord.. ?'

'Vanion.'

Kanzad covered a momentary confusion. "I was led to believe

that a Sir Sparhawk would be in command of your party.'

'Sparhawk's been detained. He'll be joining us later.'

'Ah.' Kanzad recovered. 'i'm afraid there'll be some slight

delay before you can enter the city, Lord Vanion.'

'Oh?'

Kanzad smiled a thin, humorless smile. 'King Jaluah's feeling

neglected at the moment.' He threw a quick look at the squad

of Cynesgans standing several paces behind him, then lowered

his voice to a confidential tone. 'Frankly, Lord Vanion, the

Cynesgans and this pest-hole they call home are so unimportant

in the affairs of the Empire that no one really takes them seriously.

They're terribly touchy about that. Some idiot at the

embassy neglected to pass on a routine communication from

Matherion, and now the king's sulking in his palace. His sycophants

have filled the streets with crowds of demonstrators.

Ambassador Taubel's trying to smooth things over without

resorting to the use of the Atan garrison, but things are a bit

strained in the streets of Cynestra just now. His Excellency suggests

that you and your companions wait here in Narset until

he sends word that it's safe for you to proceed.'

'As you think best,' Vanion murmured politely.

Kanzad visibly relaxed. 'First of all, let's get in out of this

accursed sun.' He turned and led them into the shabby village.

There were no more than a couple of dozen of the mud huts

surrounding a well located in the sun-baked central square.

Sparhawk idly wondered if the women of the village went to

the well in the first steely light of dawn as the women of Cippria

in Render had, and if they could possibly move with that same

fluid grace. Then, for no reason at all, he wondered how Lillias

was doing.

Aphrael leaned toward him from her sister's horse. "Shame

on you, Sparhawk,' she murmured.

'You've met Lillias,' he replied easily, 'so you know that she's

not the sort of woman you forget - no matter how much you

might want to.'

The only building of any substance in the village was the local

police station, an ominous stone structure with black iron bars

on the windows. Kanzad's expression was smoothly apologetic.

its not very inviting, Lord Vanion,' he said deprecatingly, 'but

its the coolest place in this pig-sty.'

"Should we kill him now and get it over with?' Bevier murmured

to Sparhawk in Styric.

'Let's hold off on that,' Sparhawk replied. 'We have to wait

for Aphrael's friend - whoever he is - so let's not precipitate

anything just yet.'

'i've had some refreshments prepared,' Kanzad said to

Vanion. 'Why don't we go inside? That sun is really growing

unbearable. '

The knights dismounted and followed the policeman into the

large, dusty office. There was a long table set against one wall,

a table laden with plates of sliced melon and figs and with flagons

that promised other refreshments. 'The fruits and melons

here aren't nearly as palatable as those you'd find in Matherion,'

Kanzad apologized, 'but the local wines aren't entirely undrinkable. '

'Thanks all the same, Kanzad,' Vanion declined, 'but we

stopped for lunch no more than an hour ago. We're all just fie.'

A momentary flicker of annoyance crossed the Tamul's face. 'i'll

go make sure that your horses are being properly cared for, then,

and I'll send a messenger to the embassy to advise Ambassador

Taubel of your arrival.' He turned and went on out.

'Could you arrange some privacy, dear?' Vanion asked

Sephrenia in Styric.

'Of course,' she smiled. She quickly wove the spell and

released it.

"Someday you'll have to teach me that one,' he said.

'And become redundant?' she smiled. 'Not on your life, my

love.'

'We appear to have taken them by surprise,' Bevier noted.

'Kanzad doesn't seem to have had much time to knock the rough

edges off those lies he told us.'

"I wouldn't,' Ulath said as Kalten reached for one of the wine

flagons. 'One sip of that would probably stiffen you like a plank.'

Kalten regretfully pushed the flagon away. "I suppose you're

right,' he agreed.

'We're prisoners, then, aren't we,' Talen sighed. 'That's

depressing. I've been a thief all my life, and this is the first time

I've ever been arrested.'

'The fact that these refreshments are probably poisoned

complicates things just a bit,' Ulath growled. 'Aside' from that,

Kanzad's been very helpful. He's just put us inside the strongest

building in the village, and he rather carelessly forgot to take

our weapons. We can hold this place for as long as necessary.'

'You're a fraud, Ulath,' Bevier laughed. 'Tynian's right. You

pretend to hate sieges, but you're always the first one to suggest

forting up.'

'A true friend wouldn't mention that."

"I can provide water if the worst comes to the worst,'

Sephrenia told them, 'but let's not precipitate anything just yet.'

She reached down and picked Flute up. 'Have you had any

hints about the one we're waiting for yet?'

Flute shook her head. 'Nothing very specific so far. I think

he's on his way, though.'

'Good. This isn't really a very pleasant place.

'A thought, my Lords,' Berit said. 'Wouldn't it be a good idea

to have Kanzad in here with us - just as a precaution? If someone

starts thinking about storming the building, that might make

them give it a few second thoughts.'

'Good point,' Ulath agreed.

Kanzad, however, did not return. The afternoon inched along,

and the knights grew increasingly restless. 'He's stalling, you

know,' Kalten said finally. 'Either he's got reinforcements on

the way, or he's hoping that we'll get thirsty.'

'We'll just have to wait, Kalten,' Flute told him. 'The one

who's going to be joining us is on his way.'

"It's a race, then. We get to sit here making wagers on who

gets here first - our new traveling companion or Kanzad's

reinforcements. '

'You can look at it that way if you want to, I suppose.'

It was about two hours after their arrival in Narset when a large

party came along the road from Cynestra. The man in the lead

wore a rose-colored Tamul robe, and he was riding a spirited

black horse. The ones following him were Atans.

'Whose side are the Atans on?' Talen asked.

'That depends on whether or not word from Matherion has

reached the local garrison telling them to ignore orders from the

Ministry of the Interior,' Khalad replied.

Things could be even murkier than that,' Vanion suggested.

'Back in Matherion, there's no love lost between the Foreign

Ministry and Interior. Kanzad was hinting at the fact that he

and Ambassador Taubel are very cozy.'

'That might suggest that our enemies have managed to penetrate

Oscagne's service,' Bevier added with a slightly worried

frown.

'We'll find out in a minute,' Berit said from where he had

been watching out the window. 'Kanzad just came out from

behind the building.'

They all crowded around the windows to watch.

Kanzad's welcoming smile crumbled from his face. 'What are

you doing here, Itagne?' he demanded of the Tamul on the black

horse. "I sent for Ambassador Taubel.'

The rose-clad man reined in. His eyes looked almost sleepy,

and he had a lofty, superior expression on his face. 'i'm afraid

the ambassador's been detained, old boy,' he replied in a cultured,

almost deliberately insulting tone. His voice was oddly

familiar. 'He sends you his very best, though.'

Kanzad struggled to regain his composure. 'What is it exactly

that's delaying the ambassador?' he asked bluntly.

Itagne turned his head slightly. 'i'd say it was the chains,

wouldn't you, Atana?' he asked the young Atan woman who

appeared to be in charge of the detachment. "It's deucedly hard

to run with chains on.'

"It could be the chains, Itagne-ambassador,' the girl agreed.

'Of course, the bars of his cell might be getting in his way too.'

The young woman was full-figured, and her eyes were bold as

she looked at the Tamul official.

'What's going on here?' Kanzad demanded.

'The Atana and I have become very close friends since my

arrival, Kanzad,' Itagne smiled, 'but gentlemen shouldn't really

talk about that sort of thing, should they? You are a gentleman,

aren't you, Kanzad?'

"I wasn't talking about that.' Kanzad's teeth were clenched.

'What have you done with the ambassador?'

'There have been a few changes at the embassy, old boy and

in your own offices as well. I really hope you don't mind, but

I had to commandeer your building. We don't have a dungeon at

the embassy - distressing oversight there, I suppose. Anyway,

Ambassador Taubel, along with all your grubby little policemen,

are presently locked safely away in your dungeon. My compliments

on it, incidentally. It's really very nice.'

'By whose authority have you imprisoned the ambassador?

You're only an undersecretary.'

'Appearances can be deceiving, can't they? Actually, my

brother placed me in charge here in Cynestra. My authority is

absolute.'

'Your brother.?'

'Didn't the similarity between Oscagne's name and mine set

off any bells in your brain, old boy? I knew you fellows at Interior

were sort of limited, but I didn't think you were that dense.

Shall we cut directly on through to the significant part of this

discussion, Kanzad? It's beastly hot out here in the sun. My

brother's authorized me to take charge here. I have the full support

and cooperation of the Atan garrison, don't I, Atana?' He

smiled at the golden giantess standing beside his horse.

'Oh, my, yes, Itagne.' She rolled her eyes. 'We'll do almost

anything for you.'

'There you have it, then, Kanzad,' Itagne said. 'i've uncovered

the fact that you and Taubel are part of a treasonous conspiracy,

so I've removed you from authority. I have all these lovely

muscles to back me up, so there's really not a blasted thing you

can do about it, is there?'

'You have no authority over me, Itagne.'

'How tiresome,' Itagne sighed. 'Cynestra's currently under

martial law, Kanzad. That means that I have authority over everybody.

The Atans control the streets. I know you share my confidence

in them.' He looked critically at the policeman's stubborn

face. 'You just don't understand at all, do you, old boy?' He

smiled fondly at the giantess. 'Atana, dear, what would you do

if I asked you to delete this tiresome wretch?'

'i'd kill him, Itagne.' She shrugged, reaching for her sword.

'Did you want me to split him up the middle, or just cut off his

head?'

'Charming girl,' Itagne murmured. 'Let me think about it for

a while, Atana. Kanzad's a fairly high-ranking official, so there

may be some formalities involved.' He turned back to the now

pasty-faced policeman. 'i'm sure you see how things stand, dear

boy,' he said. 'Oh, I suppose you should sort of consider yourself

under arrest.'

'On what charge?'

'i'm a foreign-service man, Kanzad, so I'm not really up on

all these legal terms. I suppose "High Treason" will have to

do. That's the crime they arrested Interior Minister Kolata for,

anyway, and I used it again when I had Taubel picked up. It's

an impressive sort of charge, and I'm sure that a man of your

standing would be insulted if I had you arrested for loitering or

spitting in the street. Atana, love, do be a dear and have this

criminal taken back to Cynestra and thrown in his own

dungeon.'

'At once, Itagne-ambassador,' she replied.

'Darling child,' he murmured.

'You favor your brother, your Excellency,' Vanion said to the

smiling Itagne, 'not only in physical appearance, but also in

temperament. '

'How is the old rascal?'

'He was well, the last time we saw him.' Vanion frowned. "It

might have been helpful if he'd told us that he was sending you here,

though.'

'That's my brother for you. Sometimes I think he tries to keep

secrets from himself. '

'Exactly what happened here, your Excellency?' Sparhawk

asked him.

'You would be Sir Sparhawk,' Itagne guessed. 'Your nose is

really famous, you know.'

'Thank you,' Kalten said modestly.

Itagne looked puzzled.

"I broke it for him, your Excellency - when we were children.

I knew it was a good idea when I did it. He wears it like a

badge. I'm a little disappointed in the fact that he's never once

considered thanking me for the service I did him.'

Itagne smiled. 'As you've probably gathered, gentlemen,

Oscagne sent me to Cynestra to look into the rather peculiar

situation here. The chain of command in the outer corners of

the Empire's always been a little cloudy. The Foreign OffiCe

takes the position that the Elene kingdoms of the west, as well

as Valesia, Arjuna and Cynesga, are essentially foreign nations

subservient to Tamul proper. This would make the ambassadors

to those kingdoms the ultimate authority. Interior has always

maintained that those kingdoms are integral parts of metropolitan

Tamuli, and that puts them in charge. Oscagne and Kolata

have been quibbling about it for years now. Ambassador

Taubel's a political hack, and his stunning ability to reach a

working accommodation with Interior sort of surprised my

brother. That's why he pulled me out of the university - where

I was quite happily putting down roots - and sent me here in

the guise of an undersecretary to investigate.' He laughed. 'i'll

make sure that he regrets it as much this time as he did both

other times.'

'That one escaped me, I'm afraid,' Sparhawk conceded.

'This is the third time Oscagne's wrenched me out of private

life to put out fires for him. I don't really like being wrenched,

so I think I'll teach him a lesson this time. Maybe if I replace

him as Foreign Minister for a while he'll get the point - if I ever

decide to let him have his office back again.'

'Are you really that good, Itagne?' Sephrenia asked him.

'Oh, good God, yes, dear lady. I'm at least twice as good as

Oscagne - and he knows it. That's why my appointments are

always temporary. Where was I? Oh, yes. I came to Cynestra,

set up a functional apparatus, and found out in fairly short order

that Taubel and Kanzad were eating from the same plate. Then

I intercepted the instructions Matherion sent to Taubel after the

disturbances there. I decided not to trouble him with the distressing

news, so I went to the Atan garrison and personally

took care of advising our towering friends that the Ministry of

the Interior was no longer relevant. They were quite pleased

about it, actually. The Atans dislike policemen intensely for

some reason. I think it has to do with their national character.

I was about ready to move on Kanzad and Taubel when one of

my spies brought me word of your impending arrival, so I

decided to wait until you got here before I upended things. I

must say, Sparhawk, you really upset the people in the local

office of the Interior Ministry.'

'Oh?'

'They were running through the halls screaming, "Sparhawk

is coming! Sparhawk is coming!" '

'He has that effect on people sometimes,' Flute told him. She

looked around at the others. 'This is the one,' she told them.

'We can leave here now.'

Itagne looked baffled.

'in a moment,' Sephrenia said to her sister. "Itagne, how did

Interior find out that we were coming?'

He shrugged. "I didn't really look into that too deeply. There

are all sorts of disgusting people who work for the Interior

Ministry. One of them probably flogged four or five horses to

death to bring the news.'

'QUite impossible,' she said. 'No one could have gotten here

ahead of us by normal means. Could the news have been

brought by a Styric?'

'There aren't any Styrics in Cynesga, dear lady. 'the hatred

between Cynesgans and Styrics predates history.'

'Yes, I know. I think you may be wrong, though. I'm almost

positive that at least one Styric passed through Cynestra just

before the people at Interior went into their panic.'

'How did you arrive at that conclusion, little mother?' Vanion

asked her.

'There's a Styric working with our enemies,' she replied. 'He

was in that shadow Sparhawk dissolved back in Edam. Whoever

was inside was screaming in Styric, at any rate.' She frowned.

"I still don't understand how he got here before we did, though.

He might be a renegade of some kind who has dealings with

the Elder Gods. We've never really understood the full extent

of their power.'

'Could it be an Elder God himself?' Bevier asked apprehensively.

'No,' Flute said flatly. 'We imprisoned them all when we overthrew

them - in much the same way we imprisoned Azash. The

Elder Gods don't move around.'

"I seem to be missing about half of this conversation,'

Itagne observed. 'Aren't some introductions in order at thiS

point?'

'Sorry, your Excellency,' Vanion apologized. 'We weren't

really trying to be mysterious. The lady is obviously Styric. May

I present Sephrenia, high priestess of the Goddess Aphrael?'

'The Child Goddess?'

'You know of her?' Sephrenia asked him.

"Some of my Styric colleagues at the university mentioned her

to me. They didn't really seem to approve of her. They evidently

feel that she's flighty - and a little frivolous.'

'Flighty?' Flute objected. 'Frivolous.?'

'Don't take it personally,' Sparhawk told her.

'But it is personal, Sparhawk. They've insulted me. When you

get back to Matherion, I want you to go to the university and

issue a challenge to those impious wretches. I want blood, Sparhawk,

Blood!'

'Human sacrifice, Divine One?' he asked mildly. 'isn't that a

little out of character?'

'Well...' She hesitated. 'Couldn't you spank them anyway?'

Itagne was staring at them.

'Disappointing, isn't it?' Talen murmured.

To say that Oscagne's brother was shaken would be a profound

understatement. He kept staring at Flute with bulging eyes as

they rode eastward from Cynestra.

'Oh, do stop that, Itagne,' she told him. 'i'm not going to

sprout another head or turn into a gorgon. '

He shuddered and passed one hand across his face. "I should

probably tell you that I don't believe in you,' he said. 'i'm not

trying to be offensive, mind. It's just that I'm a confirmed skeptic

in religious matters.'

'i'll bet I can change your mind,' she suggested with an impish

little smile.

'Stop that,' Sephrenia told her.'

'He's a self-confessed agnostic, Sephrenia. That makes

him fair game. Besides, I like him. I've never had a Tamul worshiper

before, and I think I want one. Itagne will do just

fine. '

'No.'

"I didn't ask you to buy him for me, Sephrenia. I'll coax him

out of the bushes all by myself, so you're not in any way

involved. It's really none of your business, dear sister, so keep

your nose out of it.'

'Does this ever get any easier?' Itagne plaintively asked the

rest of them.

'No,' Kalten laughed. 'You get numb after a while, though.

I've found that drinking helps."

'That's Kalten's answer to everything,' Flute said with an airy

little toss of her head. 'He tries to cure winter with a barrel of

Arcian red - every year.'

'Have we finished here in this part of the Empire?' Sparhawk

asked her.

'No. Something else is supposed to happen.' The Child Goddess

sighed and nestled against her sister. 'Please don't be angry

with me, Sephrenia,' she said. 'You're not going to like what's

coming, I'm afraid. It's necessary, though. No matter how much

it upsets you, always remember that I love you.' She sat up and

held her hands out to Sparhawk. "I need to talk with you,' she

said to him"... privately.'

Secrets?' Talen asked her.

'Every girl needs secrets, Talen. You'll learn more about that

as time goes on. Let's ride off a ways, Sparhawk.'

They rode away from the road for several hundred yards, and

then moved on, keeping pace with the others. Faran's steel-shod

hooves clattered on the rusty sun-baked gravel of the desert

floor.

'We'll be going on toward the Tamul border,' Flute said as

they rode. 'This event that's ahead of us will happen there, and

I'll have to leave you before it does.'

'Leave?' He was startled.

'You'll be able to manage without me for a while. I can't be

present when this event takes place. There's a propriety

involved. I may be as flighty and frivolous as Itagne suggested,

but I do have good manners. A certain personage will be taking

part in this affair and he'd be insulted if I were present. He

and I have had some disagreements in the past, and we're not

speaking to each other at the moment.' She made a rueful little

face. "It's been quite a lengthy moment,' she admitted, 'eight or

ten thousand years, actually. He's doing something I don't really

approve of - of course, he's never fully explained it to me. I like

him well enough, but he's got a terribly superior attitude. He

always behaves as if the rest of us are too stupid to understand

what he's doing - but I understand very well. He's breaking

one of the cardinal rules.' She waved her hand as if brushing

it aside. 'That's between him and me, though. Look after

my sister, Sparhawk. She's going to have a very difficult

time."

"She's not going to get sick, is she?'

"She'd probably prefer that.' The Child Goddess sighed. "I

wish there were some way I could spare her this, but there isn't.

She has to go through it if she's going to continue to grow.'

'Aphrael, she's over three hundred years old.'

'What's that got to do with it? I'm a hundred times older than

that, and I'm still growing. She has to do the same. I'm lovable,

Sparhawk, but I never promised to be easy. This is going to be

terribly painful to her, but she'll be much better for having gone

through it.'

'You're not making any sense, you know."

"I don't have to make sense, father. That's one of the advantages

of my situation.'

They made the journey from Cynestra to the border west of

Sama in easy stages, moving at a leisurely pace from oasis to

oasis. Sparhawk could not be positive, but it seemed Aphrael

was waiting for something. She and Vanion spent a great deal

of time with the map, and their jumps across the sun-baked

gravel of eastern Cynesga grew shorter and shorter, and their

stays at the oases longer. As they neared the border, their pace

slowed even more, and more often than not they found themselves

simply riding, plodding their way eastward through

the interminable empty miles without any resort to Bhelliom

at all.

"It's difficult to get anything very precise,' Itagne was saying

on the afternoon of their fourth day out from Cynestra. 'Most of

the sightings have been made by desert nomads, and they don't

trust the authorities enough to speak with them at any length.

There have been the usual wild stories about vampires and werewolves

and harpies and the like, but I rather imagine that most

of those flew out of the neck of a wine-skin. The Cynesgan

authorities laugh most of those off as no more than the hallucinations

of ignorant people who drink too much and spend too

much time out in the sun. They take the reports of sightings of

the Shining Ones very seriously, however.'

'All right, Itagne,' Kalten said irritably, 'we've been hearing

about these "Shining Ones" ever since we came to Daresia.

People turn all trembly and white-knuckled and refuse to talk

about them. We've got you way out here in the desert where

you can't run away, so why don't you tell us just who - or what

- they are.'

"It's really quite grotesque, Sir Kalten,' Itagne told him, 'and

more than a little sickening.'

'i've got a strong stomach. Are they some kind of monster?

Twelve feet tall and with nine heads or something?'

'No. Actually they're supposed to look like ordinary humans.'

'Why are they called by that peculiar name?' Berit asked.

'Why don't you let me ask the questions, Berit?' Kalten said

bluntly. Kalten, it appeared, still had problems where Berit was

concerned.

'Excuse me, Sir Kalten,' Berit replied, looking just a bit startled

and slightly hurt.

'Well?' Kalten said to Oscagne's brother. 'What does it mean?

Why are they called that?'

"Because they glow like fireflies, Sir Kalten.' Itagne shrugged.

'That's all?' Kalten asked incredulously. 'The whole continent

collapses in terror just because some people glow in the dark?'

'Of course not. The fact that they glow is just a warning.

Everybody in Tamuli knows that when he sees someone who

shines like the morning star coming toward him, he'd better

turn round and run for his life.'

'What are these monsters supposed to be able to do?' Talen

asked. 'Do they eat people alive or tear them all to pieces or

something?'

'No,' Itagne replied somberly. 'The legend has it that their

merest touch is death.'

'Sort of like poisonous snakes?' Khalad suggested.

'Much worse than that, young sir. The touch of the Shining

Ones rots a man's flesh from his bones. It's the decay of the

grave, and the victim isn't dead when it happens. The descriptions

from folk-lore are very lurid. We're given pictures of people

standing stock-still, shrieking in agony and horror as their faces

and limbs dissolve into slime and run like melted wax.'

'That's a graphic picture.' Ulath shuddered. 'i'd imagine it

sort of interferes with establishing normal relations with these

people.'

'indeed, Sir Ulath,' Itagne smiled, 'but despite all of that, the

Shining Ones are among the most popular figures in Tamul

literature - which may provide you with some insight into the

perversity of our minds.'

'Are you talking about ghost stories?' Talen asked him. "Some

people like those, I've heard.'

'Delphaeic literature is far more complex than that.'

'Delphaeic? What does that mean?'

'Literature refers to the Shining Ones as the Delphae,' Itagne

replied, 'and the mythic city where they live is called Delphaeus.'

"It's a pretty name.'

"I think that's part of the problem. Tamuls tend to be sentimentalists,

and the musical quality of the word fills the eyes of our

lesser poets with tears and their brains with mush. They ignore

the more unpleasant aspects of the legend and present the

Delphae as a simple, pastoral people who are grossly miSunderstood.

For seven centuries they've inflicted abominable

pastoral verse and overdrawn adolescent eclogues on us.

They've pictured the Delphae as lyric shepherds, glowing like

fireflies and mooning about the landscape, over-dramatically

suffering the pangs of unrequited love and pondering - ponderously,

of course - the banalities of their supposed religion. The

academic world has come to regard Delphaeic literature as a bad

joke perpetuated far too long.'

"It's an abomination!' SePhrenia declared with uncharacteristic

heat.

'Your critical perception does you credit, dear lady,' Itagne

smiled, 'but I think your choice of terms over-dignifies the genre.

I'd characterize Delphaeic literature as adolescent sentimentality

perhaps, but I don't really take it seriously enough to grow

indignant about it.'

'Delphaeic literature is a mask for the most pernicious kind of

anti-Styric bigotry!' she said in tones she usually reserved for

ultimatums.

Vanion appeared to be as baffled by her sudden outburst as

Sparhawk and the rest. He looked around, obviously seeking

some way to change the subject.

"It's moving on toward sunset,' Kalten noted, stepping in to

lend a hand. Kalten's perceptiveness sometimes surprised Sparhawk.

'Flute,' he said, 'did you plan to put us down beside

another one of those water-holes for the night?'

'Oasis, Kalten,' Vanion corrected him. 'They call it an oasis,

not a water-hole.'

'That's up to them. They can call it whatever they want, but

I know a water-hole when I see one. If we're going to do this

the old-fashioned way, we're going to have to start looking for

a place to camp, and there's a ruin of some kind on that hilltop

over there to the north. Sephrenia can squeeze water out of the

air for us, and if we stay in those ruins we won't have to put

up with the smell of boiling dog all night the way we usually

do when we camp near one of their villages.'

'The Cynesgans don't eat dogs, Sir Kalten,' Itagne laughed.

"I wouldn't swear to that without an honest count of all the

dogs in one of their villages - both before and after supper.'

'Sparhawk!' It was Khalad, and he was roughly shaking his lord

into wakefulness. 'There are people out there!'

Sparhawk threw his blankets to one side and rolled to his feet,

reaching for his sword. 'How many?' he asked quietly.

"i've seen a dozen or so. They're creeping around among those

boulders down by the road.'

'Wake the others.'

'Yes, my Lord.'

"Quietly, Khalad.'

Khalad gave him a flat, unfriendly stare.

'Sorry.'

The ruin in which they had set up their camp had been a

fortress at one time. The stones were roughly squared off, and

they had been set without mortar. Uncounted centuries of blowing

dust and sand had worn the massive blocks smooth and had

rounded the edges. Sparhawk crossed what appeared to have

been a court to the tumbled wall on the south side of the fortress

and looked down toward the road.

A thick cloud-bank had crept in during the night to obscure

the sky. Sparhawk peered toward the road, silently cursing the

darkness. Then he heard a faint rustling sound just on the other

side of the broken wall.

'Don't get excited,' Talen whispered.

'Where have you been?'

'Where else?' The boy climbed over the rubble to join the big

Pandion.

'Did you take Berit with you again?' Sparhawk asked acidly.

'No. Berit's a little too noisy now that he's taken to wearing

chain-mail, and his integrity always seems to get in the way.'

Sparhawk grunted. 'Well?' he asked.

'You're not going to believe this, Sparhawk.

"I might surprise you.'

'There are more of those Cyrgai out there.'

'Are you sure?'

"I didn't stop one to ask him, but they look exactly the same

as those ones we ran across west of Sarsos did. They've got on

those funny-looking helmets, the old-fashioned armor, and

those silly short dresses they wear.'

"I think they're called kilts.'

'A dress is a dress, Sparhawk.'

'Are they doing anything tactically significant?'

'You mean forming up for an attack? No. I think these are

just scouts. They don't have their spears or shields with them,

and they're doing a lot of crawling around on their bellies.'

Let's go talk with Vanion and Sephrenia.'

They crossed the rubble-littered courtyard of the ancient

fortress. 'Our young thief's been disobeying orders again,'

Sparhawk told the others.

'No, I haven't,' Talen disagreed. 'You didn't order me not to

go look at those people, so how can you accuse me of disobeying

you?'

"I didn't order you not to because I didn't know they were

out there.'

'That did sort of make things easier. I'll admit that.'

'Our wandering boy here reports that the people creeping

around down by the road are Cyrgai.'

"Someone on the other side's been winnowing through the

past again?' Kalten suggested.

'No,' Flute said, raising her head slightly. The little girl

appeared to have been sleeping soundly in her sister's arms.

'The Cyrgai out there are as alive as you are. They aren't from

the past.'

'That's impossible,' Bevier objected. 'The Cyrgai are extinct.'

'Really?' the Child Goddess said. 'How astonishing that they

didn't notice that. Trust me, gentlemen. I'm in a position to

know. The Cyrgai who are creeping up on you are contemporary.'

'T

he Cyrgai died out ten thousand years ago, Divine One,'

Itagne said firmly.

'Maybe you should run down the hill and let them know about

it, Itagne,' she told him. 'Let me go, Sephrenia.'

Sephrenia looked a little startled.

Aphrael kissed her sister tenderly, and then stepped a little

way away. "I have to leave you now. The reasons are very complex,

so you'll just have to trust me.'

'What about those Cyrgai?' Kalten demanded. 'We're not

going to let you wander off in the dark while they're out there.'

She smiled. 'Would someone please explain this to him?' she

asked them.

'Are you going to leave us in danger like this?' Ulath

demanded.

'Are you worried about your own safety, Ulath?'

'Of course not, but I thought I could shame you into staying

until we'd dealt with them.'

'The Cyrgai aren't going to bother you, Ulath,' she said

patiently. 'They'll be going away almost immediately.' She

looked around at them. Then she sighed. "I really have to leave

now,' she said regretfully. I'll rejoin you later.'

Then she wavered like a reflection in a pool and vanished.

'Aphrael!' Sephrenia cried, half reaching out.

'That is truly uncanny,' Itagne muttered. 'Was she serious

about the Cyrgai?' he asked them. 'is it at all possible that some

of them actually survived their war with the Styrics?'

"I wouldn't care to call her a liar,' Ulath said. 'Particularly

not around Sephrenia. Our little mother here is very protective. '

'i

've noticed that,' Itagne said. "I wouldn't offend you or your

Goddess for the world, dear lady, but would you be at all upset

if we made a few preparations? History is one of my specialties

at the university, and the Cyrgai had - have, I suppose - a

fearsome reputation. I trust your little Goddess implicitly, of

course, but...' He looked apprehensive.

'Sephrenia?' Sparhawk said.

'Don't bother me.' She seemed terribly shocked by Aphrael's

sudden departure.

'Snap out of it, Sephrenia. Aphrael had to leave, but she'll be

back later. I need an answer right now. Can I use Bhelliom to

set up some kind of barrier that will hold the Cyrgai off until

whatever it was that Aphrael was talking about chases them

away?'

'Yes, but you'd let our enemy know exactly where you are if

you did that.'

'He already knows,' Vanion pointed out. "I doubt that those

Cyrgai stumbled across us by accident.'

'He has a point there,' Bevier agreed.

'Why bother with holding them off?' Kalten asked. 'Sparhawk

can move us ten leagues on down the road faster than we can

blink. I'm not so attached to this place that I'll lose any sleep if

I'm not around to watch the sun come up over it.'

'i've never done it at night,' Sparhawk said doubtfully. He

looked at Sephrenia. 'Would the fact that I can't see where I'm

going have any effect at all?'

'How would I know?' She sounded a little cross.

'Please, Sephrenia,' he said. 'i've got a problem, and I need

your help.'

'What in God's name is going on?' Berit exclaimed. He pointed

to the north. 'Look at that.'

They stared at the strange phenomenon moving steadily toward them across

the arid desert.

'Fog?' Ulath said incredulously. 'Fog in the desert?'

'Lord Vanion,' Khalad said in a troubled voice, 'does your

map show any towns or settlements off to the north?'

Vanion shook his head. 'Nothing but open desert.'

'There are lights out there, though. You can see them

reflecting off the fog. They're close to the ground, but you can

definitely see them.'

'i've seen lights in the fog before,' Bevier said, 'but never quite

like that. That isn't torchlight.'

'You're right there,' Ulath agreed. 'i've never seen light quite

that color before - and it seems to be just lying on the fog itself,

almost like a blanket.'

"It's probably just the camp of some desert nomads, Sir Ulath,'

Itagne suggested. 'Mist and fog do strange things to light sometimes.

In Matherion you'll see light reflected off the mother-ofpearl

on the buildings. Some nights it's like walking around

inside a rainbow.'

'We'll know more about it in a little bit,' Kalten said. 'That

fog's moving straight toward us, and it's bringing the light with

it.' He raised his face. 'And there's absolutely no breeze. What's

going on here, Sephrenia?'

Before she could answer, shrieks of terror came from the

south, where the road was. Talen scurried across the littered

yard to the tumbled wall. 'The Cyrgai are running away!' he

shouted. 'They're throwing away their swords and helmets and

running like rabbits!'

"I don't like the feel of this, Sparhawk,' Kalten said bleakly,

drawing his sword.

The fog-bank approaching them had divided and flowed

around the hill upon which they stood. It was a thick fog

such as one might see in a coastal city, and it moved across

the arid, barren desert, marching inexorably upon the ruined

fortress.

'There's something moving in there!' Talen shouted from the

far side of the ruin.

They were only blurs of light at first, but as the strange fogbank

drew nearer, they grew more and more distinct. Sparhawk

could clearly make out the shapes of nebulous bodies now.

Whatever they were, they had human shapes.

Then Sephrenia shrieked as one seized in the grip of an overpowering

rage. 'Defiled ones! Defiled ones! Foul and accursed!!'

They stared at her, stunned by her sudden outburst.

The lights in the fog never faltered but continued their glowing,

inexorable advance.

'Run!' Itagne suddenly shouted. 'Run for your lives! It's the

Delphae - the Shining Ones!'

-PART TWO

Delphaeus

CHAPTER 11

It was the fog perhaps. The fog blurred everything. There were

no precise outlines, no clear, sharp dangers, and the glowing

figures in the mist approached slowly, seeming almost to float

up the graveled slope toward the ancient ruin, bringing their

obscuring fog with them. Their faces, their very shapes were

indistinct, softened until they seemed hardly more than glowing

blurs. It was the fog, perhaps - but then again, perhaps not.

For whatever reason, Sparhawk felt no alarm.

The Delphae stopped about twenty yards from the broken

walls of the ruin and stood with their glowing fog eddying and

swirling around them, erasing the night with its cold, pale fire.

Sparhawk's mind was strangely detached, his thoughts clear

and precise. 'Well met, neighbors,' he called out to the shapes

in the mist.

'Are you mad?' Itagne gasped.

'Destroy them, Sparhawk!' Sephrenia hissed. 'Use the Bhelliom!

Obliterate them!'

'Why don't we see what they want first?'

'How can you be so calm, man?' Itagne demanded.

'Training, I suppose,' Sparhawk shrugged. 'You develop

instincts after a while. Those people out there don't have any

hostile intentions.'

'He's right, Itagne,' Vanion said. 'You can definitely feel it

when someone wants to kill you. Those people out there don't

want to fight. They're not afraid of us, but they're not here to

fight. Let's see where this goes, gentlemen. Keep your guard

up, but let's not precipitate anything - not yet, anyway.'

'Anakha,' one of the glowing figures in the fog called.

'That's a good start,' Vanion murmured. 'See what they want,

Sparhawk.'

Sparhawk nodded and stepped closer to the time-eroded boulders

of the fallen wall. 'You know me?' he called, speaking in

Tamul.

'The very rocks know the name of Anakha. Thou art as no man

who hath ever lived.' The language was archaic and profoundly

formal. 'We bear thee no malice, and we come in friendship.'

'i'll listen to what you have to say.' Sparhawk heard

Sephrenia's sharp intake of breath behind him.

'We offer thee and thy companions sanctuary,' the Delphae

out in the fog told him. 'Thine enemies are all about thee, and

thy peril is great here in the land of the Cyrgai. Come thou even

unto Delphaeus, and we will give thee rest and safety.'

'Your offer's generous, neighbor,' Sparhawk replied, 'and

my companions and I are grateful.' his tone, however, was

doubtful.

'We sense thy reluctance.' The voice in the fog seemed

strangely hollow with a sort of reverberating echo to it, an echo

such as one might hear in a long, empty corridor, a sound receding

off into some immeasurable distance. 'Be assured that we

mean thee and thy companions no harm, and shouldst thou

choose to come to Delphaeus, we will pledge thee our protection.

Few there are in all this world who will willingly face us.'

'So I've heard. But that brings up a question. Why, neighbor?

We're strangers here. What possible interest can the Delphae

have in our affairs? What do you hope to gain from this offer of

friendship?' The glowing shape in the fog hesitated. 'Thou hast taken up

Bhelliom, Anakha - for good or for ill, and thou knowest not

which. Thy will is no longer thine own, for Bhelliom bends thee

to its own purpose. Thou art no longer of this world, nor is thy

destiny. Thy design and thy destiny are of Bhelliom's devising.

In truth, we' are indifferent to thee and thy companions, for our

offer of friendship is not to thee, but to Bhelliom, and it is from

Bhelliom that we will extract the price ofthat friendship.'

'That's direct enough,' Kalten muttered.

'Thy peril is greater than thou knowest,' the glowing speaker

continued. 'Bhelliom is the greatest prize in all the universe, and

beings beyond thine imagining seek to possess it. It will not be

possessed, however. It chooseth its own, and it hath chosen

thee. Into thy hand hath it placed itself, and through thine ears

must we speak with it and offer our exchange.' The speaker

paused. 'Consider what we have told thee here, and put aside

thy suspicion. Thy success or failure in completing Bhelliom's

design may hinge on our assistance - or its lack - and we will

have our price. We will speak more of this anon.'

The fog swirled and thickened, and the glowing shapes

dimmed and faded. A sudden night breeze, as chill as winter

and as arid a s dust, swept across the desert, and the fog tattered

and shawled, whirling, all seethe and confusion. And then it

was gone, and the Shining Ones with it.

'Don't listen to them, Sparhawk.' Sephrenia said in a shrill

voice. 'Don't even consider what he said. It's a trick.'

'We're not children, Sephrenia,' Vanion told the woman he

loved. 'We're not really gullible enough to accept the word of

strangers at face value - particularly not the word of strangers

like the Delphae.'

'You don't know them, Vanion. Their words are like the honey

that lures and traps the unwary fly. You should have destroyed

them, Sparhawk.'

'Sephrenia,' Vanion said in a troubled tone, 'you've spent the

last forty years with your hand on my sword arm trying to

keep me from hurting people. Why have you changed? What's

making you so blood-thirsty all of a sudden?'

She gave him a flat, hostile look. 'You wouldn't understand.'

'That's an evasion, dear, and you know me well enough to

know that it's probably not true. The Delphae may not have

been entirely candid with us about their offer, but they weren't

hostile, and they weren't threatening us in any way.'

'Ah - Lord Vanion,' Ulath interrupted, "I don't think anybody

in his right mind would threaten Sparhawk. Threatening the

man who holds Bhelliom in his fist is not the course of wisdom

- not even for people who glow in the dark and mulch their

neighbors down into compost.'

'That's exactly my point, Vanion.' Sephrenia seized upon

Ulath's words. 'The Delphae were afraid to attack us because of

Bhelliom. That's all that was holding them back.'

'But they were holding back. They weren't any danger to us.

Why did you want Sparhawk to kill them?'

"I despise them!' It came out in a kind of hiss.

,Why? What did they ever do to you?

'They have no right to exist!'

'Everything has a right to exist, Sephrenia - even wasps and

scorpions. You've spent your whole life teaching blood-thirsty

young Pandions that lesson. Why are you suddenly throwing it

away?'

She turned her face away from him.

'Please don't do that. You've got some kind of problem here,

and your problems are mine. Let's pull this out into the light

and look at it.'

'NO!' and she turned abruPtly on her heel and stalked away.

"It has absolutely no basis in fact,' Itagne told them as they rode

across the barren miles under a murky sky.

'Those are usually the best stories,' Talen said.

Itagne smiled briefly. 'There's been a body of folk-lore about

the Shining Ones in Tamul culture for eons. It started out with

the usual horror stories, I suppose, but there's something in the

Tamul nature that drives us to extremes. About seven hundred

years ago, a decidedly minor poet began to tamper with the

legend. Instead of concentrating on the horror, he began to wax

sentimental, delving into how the Delphae felt about their situation.

He wept copiously in vile verse about their loneliness and

their sense of being outcast. He unfortunately turned to the

pastoral tradition and added the mawkishness of that silly conceit

to his other extravagances. His most famous work was a

long narrative poem entitled "Xadane". Xadane was supposedly

a Delphaeic shepherdess who fell in love with a normal human

shepherd boy. As long as they met in the daytime, everything

was fine, but Xadane had to run away every afternoon to keep

her paramour from discovering her real identity. The poem's

very long and tedious, and it's filled with lengthy, lugubriOUS

passages in which Xadane feels sorry for herself. It's absolutely

awful.'

"I gather from what those people out in the fog said last night

that the word "Delphae" is their own name for themselves,'

Bevier noted. 'if Tamul literature also uses the term, that would

seem to suggest some sort of contact.'

'So it would, Sir Knight,' Itagne replied, 'but there's no record

of them. The traditions are very old, and I suspect that many of

them grew out of the warped minds of third-rate poets. The city

of Delphaeus supposedly lies in an isolated valley high in the

mountains of southern Atan. The Delphae are said to be a Tamul

people somewhat akin to the Atans but without the gigantic

proportions. If we're to believe our poets, which we probably

shouldn't, the Delphae were a simple pastoral folk who followed

their flocks into that valley and were trapped there by an avalanche

that sealed the only pass leading to the outside world.'

'That's not entirely impossible,' Ulath said.

'The impossibilities start cropping up later on in the story,'

Itagne said dryly. 'We're told that there's a lake in the center of

the valley, and the lake's supposed to be the source of the Delphasic

peculiarity. It's said to glow, and since it's the only source

of water in the valley, the Delphae and their flocks are forced

to drink from it and bathe in it. The story has it that, after a

while, they also started to glow.' He smiled faintly. 'They must

save a fortune on candles.'

'That's not really possible, is it?' Talen asked skeptically. "I

mean, people aren't going to glow in the dark just because of

what they eat or drink, are they?'

'i'm not a scientist, young sir, so don't ask me about what's

possible and impossible. It could be some sort of mineral, or

maybe a form of algae, I suppose. It's a neat sort of explanation

for an imaginary characteristic.'

'Those people last night did glow, your Excellency,' Kalten

reminded him.

'Yes, and I'm trying very hard to forget about that.' Itagne

looked back over his shoulder. Sephrenia had refused even to

listen to a discussion of the Delphae, and she and Berit followed

them at some distance. 'Lady Sephrenia's reaction to the Delphae

isn't really uncommon among Styrics, you know. The very

name makes them irrational. Anyway, "Xadane" enjoyed enormous

popularity, and there were the usual imitators. A whole

body of literature grew up around the Delphae. It's called, quite

naturally, "Delphaeic literature". Serious people don't take it

seriously, and foolish people take it foolishly. You know how

that goes. '

'Oh, yes,' Bevier murmured. "I had to read whole libraries full

of abominable verse when I was a student. Every professor had

his favorite poet, and they all inflicted them on us without

mercy. I think that's what ultimately led me to take up a military career.'

Khalad came riding back to join them. "I wouldn't want to

seem critical of my betters, my Lords,' he said dryly, 'but the

decision to abandon the road and cut across country may have

been just a little ill-advised on a day when we can't see the sun.

Does anyone know which way we're going?'

'East,' Vanion said firmly.

'Yes, my Lord,' Khalad replied. 'if you say it's east, then it's

east - even if it really isn't. Aren't we supposed to be getting

fairly close to the border?'

"It shouldn't be very far ahead.'

'Doesn't your map indicate that the River Sama marks the

boundary between Cynesga and Tamul proper?'

Vanion nodded.

'Well, I just rode to the top of that hill on up ahead and took

a look around. I could see for about ten leagues in every direction,

and there aren't any rivers out there. Do you suppose that

someone might have stolen the Sarna?'

'Be nice,' Sparhawk murmured.

'Cartography's not an exact art, Khalad,' Vanion pointed out.

'The distances on any map are only approximate. We started out

at dawn, and we rode toward the lightest place in the cloud-cover.

Unless somebody's changed things, that's east. We've taken

sightings on landmarks every hour or so, and we're still riding

in the same direction we were when we set out this morning.'

'Where's the river, then, my Lord?' Khalad looked at Itagne.

'How wide would you say the valley of the Sarna is, your

Excellency?'

'Sixty leagues, anyway. It's the longest and widest river on

the continent, and the valley's very fertile.'

'Grass? Trees? Lots of green crops?'

Itagne nodded. 'There's not a hint of green in any direction, my Lords,

Khalad declared. "It's all a brown wasteland.'

'We're riding east,' Vanion insisted. 'The mountains of Atan

should be to the north - off to the left.'

'They could be, my Lord, but they're a little bashful today.

They're hiding themselves in the clouds.'

'i've told you, Khalad, the map's inaccurate, that's all.' Vanion

looked back over his shoulder. 'Why don't you ride back and

ask Sephrenia and Berit to join us? It's about lunch-time, isn't

it, Kalten?'

'Definitely, my Lord."

"I sort of thought so myself. Let's dig into the packs and put

together something to eat.'

'is Sir Kalten skilled at estimating the time?' Itagne asked

Sparhawk.

Sparhawk smiled. 'We normally rely on Khalad - when the

sun's out. When it's cloudy, though, we fall back on Kalten's

stomach. He can usually tell you to within a minute how long

it's been since the last time he ate.'

Late that afternoon, when they had stopped for the night,

Khalad stood a short distance from where the rest of them were

setting up their encampment. He was looking out over the featureless

desert with a slightly smug expression on his face. 'Sparhawk,'

he called, 'could you come here a moment? I want to

show you something.'

Sparhawk put down Faran's saddle and walked over to join

his squire. 'Yes?' he asked.

"I think you'd better talk with Lord Vanion. He probably won't

listen to me, since he's already got his mind made up, but somebody's

going to have to convince him that we haven't been

riding east today.'

'You're going to have to convince me first.

'All right.' The husky young man pointed out across the

desert. 'We came from that direction, right?'

'Yes.'

'if we've been riding east, that would be west, right?'

'You're being obvious.'

'Yes, I know. I have to be. I'm trying to explain something to

a knight. The last time I looked, the sun went down in the west.'

'Please, Khalad, don't try to be clever. just get to the point.'

'Yes, my Lord. If that's west, then why's the sun going down

over there?' He turned and pointed off toward the left, where

an angry orange glow stained the clouds.

Sparhawk blinked, and then he muttered an oath. 'Let's

go talk to Vanion,' he said, and led the way back across

the camp to where the Pandion Preceptor was speaking with

Sephrenia.

'We've got a problem,' Sparhawk told them. 'We made a

wrong turn somewhere today.'

'Are you still riding that tired horse, Khalad?' Vanion's tone

was irritable. His conversation with Sephrenia had obviously

not been going well.

'Our young friend here just pointed something out to me,'

Sparhawk said, '... speaking slowly, of course, because of my

limited understanding. He says that unless somebody's moved

the sun, we've been riding north all day.'

'That's impossible.'

Sparhawk turned and pointed toward the ugly orange

glow on the horizon. 'That's not the direction we came from,

Vanion.'

Vanion stared at the horizon for a moment, and then he

started to swear.

'You wouldn't listen to me, would you?' Sephrenia accused.

'Now will you believe me when I tell you that the Delphae will

deceive you at every turn?'

"It was our own mistake, Sephrenia - well, mine, anyway. We

can't just automatically blame the Delphae for everything that

goes wrong.'

'i've known you since you were a boy, Vanion, and you've

never made this kind of mistake before. I've seen you find your

way on a dark night in the middle of a snowstorm.'

"I must have confused a couple of landmarks and taken my

bearings on the wrong one.' Vanion grimaced. 'Thanks for being

so polite about it, Khalad - and so patient. We could have ridden

on until we ran into the polar ice. I tend to get pig-headed

sometimes. '

Sephrenia smiled fondly at him. "I much prefer to speak of

your singleness of purpose, dear one,' she told him.

"It means the same thing, doesn't it?'

'Yes, but it sounds nicer.'

'Set out some markers, Khalad,' Vanion instructed. He looked

around. 'There aren't any sticks lying around, so pile uP

heaps of rock and mark them with scraps of colored cloth. Let's

get an absolute reference on the position of the sun this

evening so that we don't make the same mistake again tomorrow

morning.'

'i'll take care of it, my Lord.'

'They're back,' Kalten said, roughly shaking Sparhawk awake.

'Who's back?' Sparhawk sat up.

'Your glowing friends. They want to talk with you again."

Sparhawk rose to his feet and followed his friend to the edge

of the camp.

"I was standing watch,' Kalten said quietly, 'and they just

appeared out of nowhere. Itagne's stories are entertaining

enough, but I don't think they're all that accurate. The Shining

Ones don't shine all the time. They crept up on me in the dark,

and they didn't start to glow until they were in place.'

'Are they still staying back a ways?'

Kalten nodded. 'They're keeping their distance. There's no

way we could rush them.'

There was no fog this time, and there were only two of the

Shining Ones standing about twenty yards from the picketed

horses. The eerie glow emanating from them still blurred their

features, however.

'Thy peril increases, Anakha,' that same hollow, echoing voice

declared. 'Thine enemies are seeking thee up and down in the

land.'

'We haven't seen anyone, neighbor.'

"It is the unseen enemy which is most perilous. It is with their

minds that thine enemies seek thee. We urge thee to accept our

offer of sanctuary. It may soon be too late.'

"I wouldn't offend you for the world, neighbor, but we've

only got your word for this unseen danger, and I think you may

be exaggerating a bit. You said that Bhelliom's directing my

steps, and Bhelliom has unlimited power. I've tested that myself

a few times. Thanks for your concern, but I still think I can take

care of myself and my friends.' He paused a moment and then

plunged ahead on an impulse. 'Why don't we just cut across

all this polite chit-chat? You've already admitted to a certain

self-interest here. Why don't you come right out and tell me

what you want and what you're prepared to offer in exchange?

That might give us a basis for negotiation.'

"your charm's positively blinding, Sparhawk,' Kalten

muttered.

"we will consider thy proposal, Anakha.' The echoing voice

was cold.

"do that. Oh, one other thing, neighbor. Stop tampering with

our direction. Deceit and trickery at the outset always seem to

get negotiations off on the wrong foot.'

The glowing Delphae did not respond, but receded back into

the desert and slipped out of sight.

Then you do believe me, don't you, Sparhawk?' Sephrenia

said from just behind the two knights. 'You realize how unprincipled

and dishonest those creatures are.'

'Let's just say that I'm keeping an open mind on the subject,

little mother. You were absolutely right about what you said

earlier, though. We could blindfold Vanion, spin him around in

circles for a day or so, and he'd still come out pointing due

north.' He looked around. 'is everybody awake? I think we'd

better start considering options.'

They returned to the place where their beds were laid out

on the hard, uncomfortable gravel. 'You're really very clever,

Sparhawk,' Bevier said. 'The fact that our visitors didn't deny

that accusation you pulled out of the air suggests that

Sephrenia's been right about them all along. They have been

misdirecting us.'

'That doesn't alter the fact that the Cyrgai are out there,' Ulath

reminded him, 'and the Cyrgai are definitely our enemies. We

may not know what the Delphae are really up to, but they ran

off the Cyrgai for us last night, and that sort of inclines me to

like them.'

'Could that have been some sort of collusion?' Berit asked.

'That's very unlikely,' Itagne said. 'The Cyrgai traditionally

have a sublime belief that they're the crown of creation. They'd

never agree to any ruse that put them in a subservient position

- not even for the sake of appearances. It's just not in their racial

make-up.'

"He's right,' Sephrenia agreed, 'and even though I hate to

admit it, an alliance of that sort would be totally out of character

for the Delphae as well. There could be no common ground

between them and the Cyrgai. I don't know what the Delphae

are doing in this business, but they have their own agenda.

They wouldn't be cat's paws for anyone else.'

'Wonderful,' Talen said sardonically, 'now we've got four

enemies to worry about.'

'why worry at all?' Kalten shrugged. 'Bhelliom can put us

down on the outskirts of Matherion in the space between two

heartbeats. Why don't we just go away and leave the Cyrgai and

the Delphae here in this wasteland to resolve their differences

without us?'

'No,' Sephrenia said.

'Why not?'

'Because the Delphae have misdirected us already. We don't

want to go to Delphaeus.'

'They're not going to be able to fool the Bhelliom, Sephrenia,'

Vanion disagreed. 'They might have been able to confuse me,

but Bhelliom's an entirely different matter.'

"I don't think we can take that chance, dear one. The Delphae

want something from Sparhawk, and it's obviously going to

involve Bhelliom. Let's not deliver them both into Delphaeic

hands. I know that it's tedious and dangerous, but let's keep our

feet on the ground. Bhelliom moves through a vast emptiness. If

the Delphae can deceive it, we could come out of that emptiness

almost any place.'

'What's an eclogue?' Talen asked. They were riding toward what

they hoped was the east the following morning, and Itagne was

continuing his rambling discourse on Delphaeic literature.

"It's a sort of primitive drama,' he replied. "It usually involves a

meeting between two shepherds. They stand around discussing

philosophy in bad verse.'

'i've known a few sheep-herders,' Khalad said, 'and philosophy

wasn't their usual topic of conversation. They're far more

interested in women.'

'There's some of that involved in eclogues as well, but it's so

idealized that it's hardly recognizable.' Itagne tugged thoughtfully

at one earlobe. "I think it's some sort of disease,' he mused.

'The more civilized people become, the more they romanticize

the simple bucolic life and ignore the dirt and grinding toil

involved. Our sillier poets grow all weepy-eyed about shepherds

and shepherdesses, of course. It wouldn't be nearly as much

fun without the shepherdesses. The aristocracy periodically

becomes enamored of the pastoral tradition, and they go to great

lengths to act out their fantasies. Emperor Sarabian's father even

went so far as to have an idealized sheep-farm built down near

Saranth. He and his court used to go there in the summer-time

and spend months pretending to watch over flocks of badly

over-fed sheep. Their rude smocks and kirtles were made of

velvet and satin, and they'd sit around all moony-eyed

composing bad verse and ignoring the fact that their sheep were

wandering off in all directions.' He leaned back in his saddle.

'Pastoral literature doesn't really hurt anything. It's silly and

grossly over-sentimental, and the poets who become addicted

to it tend to be a bit heavy-handed when they ladle on the moral

lessons. That's always been the problem with literature - finding

a justification for it. It really doesn't serve any practical purpose,

you know.'

'Except that life without it would be sterile and empty,' Bevier

asserted.

"It would indeed, Sir Bevier,' Itagne agreed. 'Anyway, Delphaeic

literature - which probably doesn't have anything at all

to do with the real Delphae - grew up around these ridiculous

literary conventions, but after several centuries of that nonsense,

the potentials of the pastoral tradition had been pretty much

exhausted, so our poets began to wander afield - like untended

sheep, if I may extend the metaphor. Sometime during the last

century, they began to posit the notion that the Delphae practice

a non-Styric form of magic. That really upsets my Styric colleagues

at the university.' Itagne looked back over his shoulder

to make sure that Sephrenia, who still rode in the rear with Berit,

was out of earshot. 'Many people find something fundamentally

irritating about Styrics. The pudding of smug superiority and

accusatory self-pity doesn't cook up very well, and the favorite

form of Styric-baiting on the university campus is to mention

"Delphaeic magic" to a Styric and then watch him go up in

flames.'

'Can you think of anything at all that might explain

Sephrenia's reaction to the Delphae?' Vanion asked with

troubled eyes. 'i've never seen her behave this way before.'

"I really don't know Lady Sephrenia that well, Lord Vanion,

but her explosion the first time I mentioned Delphaeic literature

provides some clues. There's a very brief passage in "Xadane"

that hints that the Delphae were allied with the Styrics during

the war that was supposed to have exterminated the Cyrgai.

The passage was clearly based on a very obscure section in a

seventh-century historical text. There's mention of a betrayal

and not much more. Evidently, when their war with the Cyrgai

began, the Styrics contacted the Delphae and tricked them into

mounting an attack on the Cyrgai from the east. They promised

aid and all manner of other inducements, but when the Cyrgai

counter-attacked and began to over-run the Delphae, the Styrics

chose to renegg on their promises. The Delphae were almost

exterminated. The Styrics have been wriggling and squirming

for eons trying to justify that blatant breach of faith. There are

many people in the world who don't like Styrics, and they've

used that betrayal as a vehicle for their bigotry. Styrics quite

understandably don't care much for the literature.' He looked

pensively out across the featureless desert. 'One of the less

attractive aspects of human nature is our tendency to hate the

people we haven't treated very well. That's much easier than

accepting guilt. If we can convince ourselves that the people we

betrayed or enslaved were sub-human monsters in the first

place, then our guilt isn't nearly as black as we secretly know

that it is. Humans are very, very good at shifting blame and

avoiding guilt. We do like to keep a good opinion of ourselves,

don't we?'

"I think it would take more than that to set Sephrenia off,"

Vanion said dubiously. "She's too sensible to catch on fire just

because somebody says unflattering things about Styrics. She's

spent several hundred years in the Elene kingdoms of Eosia,

and anti-Styric prejudice there goes far beyond literary insults.'

He sighed. 'if she'd only talk to me about it. I can't get anything

coherent out of her, though. All she does is splutter wild

denunciations. I don't understand at all.'

Sparhawk, however, had at least some slight inkling of what

was happening. Aphrael had hinted that Sephrenia was going to

encounter something extraordinarily painful, and it was growing

increasingly obvious that the Delphae would be the cause of

her pain. Aphrael had said that Sephrenia's suffering would be

necessary as a prelude to some kind of growth. Itagne, who

really didn't know any of them that well, may have hit upon

something very relevant. Sephrenia was Styric to her fingertips,

and the acceptance of racial guilt for an eons-old misbehavior

would cause her the exact kind of pain Aphrael had so sorrowfully

described. Sephrenia, however, would not be the only one

who would suffer. Vanion had said that Sephrenia's problems

were also his. Unfortunately, the same held true of her pain.

Sparhawk rode on across the desolate waste, his thoughts as

bleak as the surroundings.

CHAPTER 12

Kring looked pensively out across the lawn. 'it came on me like

a madness, Atan Engessa,' he told his towering friend. 'From

the moment I first saw her, I couldn't think of anything else.'

The two were standing in the shadows near the Ministry of the

Interior.

'You are fortunate, friend Kring,' Engessa replied in his deep,

soft voice. 'Most men's lives are never touched by such love.'

Kring smiled a bit wryly. 'i'm sure my life would be much

easier if it hadn't touched mine.'

'Do you regret it?'

'Not for a moment. I'd thought that my life was full. I was

the Domi of my people and I'd assumed that my mother would

find me a suitable wife in due time, as is customary and proper.

I'd have married and fathered sons, and that would have satis-

fied the requirements. Then I saw Mirtai, and I realized how

empty my life had been before.' He rubbed one hand over his

shaved scalp. 'My people will have a great deal of trouble with

her, I'm afraid. She's like no other woman we've ever encountered.

It wouldn't be so difficult if I weren't the Domi.'

"She might not have accepted you if you hadn't been, friend

Kring. Mirtai is a proud woman. She was meant to be the wife

of a ruler.'

"I know. I wouldn't have dared to approach her if I hadn't

been Domi. There'll be trouble, though. I can see that coming.

She's a stranger, and she's not at all like Peloi women. Status

is very important to our women, and Mirtai's of a different race,

she's taller than even the tallest of the Peloi men, and she's

more beautiful than any other woman I've ever seen. just by

themselves, those things would shrivel the hearts of Peloi

women. You saw how Tikume's wife Vida looked at her, didn't

you?'

Engessa nodded.

'The women of my people will hate her all the more because

I am their Domi. She will be Dona, the Domi's wife, and she'll

have first place among the women. To make matters even worse,

she'll be one of the wealthiest of all the Peloi.'

"I don't understand.'

'i've done quite well. My herds have increased, and I've stolen

much. All my wealth will belong to her. She'll own vast

herds of sheep and cattle. The horse herds will still be mine,

though.'

'is that the Peloi custom?'

'Oh, yes. Sheep and cattle are food, so they belong to the

women. The women also own the tents and the beds and the

wagons. The gold we get from the king for Zemoch ears is

owned by all the people in common, so about the only thing

we Peloi men own are our weapons and our horses. When you

get right down to it, the women own everything, and we spend

our lives protecting their possessions.'

'You have a strange society, friend Kring.'

Kring shrugged. 'A man shouldn't have his mind all cluttered

with possessions. It distracts him when the time comes for

fighting.'

'There's wisdom there, my friend. Who holds your possessions

until you marry?'

'My mother. She's a sensible woman, and having a daughter

like Mirtai will increase her status enormously. She has a great

deal of authority among the Peloi women, and I'm hoping she'll

be able to keep matters under control - at least among my sisters.'

He laughed. 'i'm going to enjoy watching the faces of my

sisters when I introduce them to Mirtai and they have to bow

to her. I'm not really fond of them. They all pray for my death

every night.'

'Your own sisters?' Engessa sounded shocked.

'Of course. If I die before I'm married, everything I've won

becomes the property of my mother, and my sisters will inherit

all of it. They already think of themselves as women of property.

They've turned down perfectly acceptable suitors because of

their pride of position and the wealth they think they'll inherit.

I've been too busy making war to think much about marriage,

and every year that passed made my sisters feel that their ownership

of the herds was that much more secure.' He grinned.

'Mirtai's sudden appearance is going to upset them terribly, I'm

afraid. One of the customs of our people obliges a bride-to-be

to spend two months in the tent of her betrothed's mother learning

all the little things she'll need to know about him after

they're married. During that period my mother and Mirtai will

also select husbands for all my sisters. It's not a good idea to

have too many women in one tent. That will really upset my

sisters. I expect they'll try to murder Mirtai. I'll warn them

against it, of course,' he added piously. "I am their brother, after

all. But I'm sure they won't listen - at least not until after Mirtai's

killed a few of them. I've got too many sisters anyway.'

'How many?' Engessa asked him.

'Eight. Their status will change drastically once I marry. Right

now they're all heiresses. After my wedding, they'll be possessionless

spinsters, dependent on Mirtai for every crust of

bread they eat. I think they'll bitterly regret all the suitors they've

refused at that point. Is that somebody creeping through the

shadows over by the wall?'

Engessa looked toward the Interior Ministry. "It seems to be,'

he replied. 'Let's go ask him his business. We don't really want

anybody going inside that building while Atana Mirtai and the

thieves are in there.'

'Right,' Kring agreed. He loosened his saber in its sheath, and

the oddly mismatched pair moved silently across the lawn to

intercept the furtive shadow near the wall.

'How far is it from here to Tega, Sarabian?' Ehlana asked, looking

up from Sparhawk's letter. 'in a direct line, I mean?'

Sarabian had removed his doublet, and he really looked quite

dashing in his tight-fitting hose and full-sleeved linen shirt. he

had tied back his shoulder-length black hair, and he was practiCing

lunges with his rapier, aiming at a golden bracelet hanging

from the ceiling on a long string. 'About a hundred and fifty

leagues, wouldn't you say, Oscagne?' he replied, contorting his

body into an garde position. He lunged and caught the rim of

the bracelet with the point of his rapier, sending the bracelet

spinning and swinging on the string. 'Blast.' he muttered.

'Perhaps closer to a hundred and seventy-five, your Majesty,'

Oscagne corrected.

'Could it really be raining there?' Ehlana asked. 'The weather's

been beautiful here. A hundred and seventy-five leagues isn't

really all that far, and Sparhawk says right here that it's been

raining on Tega for the past week.'

'Who can say what the weather's going to do?' Sarabian

lunged again, and his rapier passed smoothly through the

bracelet.

'Well thrust,' Ehlana said a bit absently.

'Thank you, your Majesty.' Sarabian bowed, flourishing hiS

rapier. 'This is really fun, you know that?' He crouched melodramatically. 'H

ave at you, dog.' He lunged at the bracelet again,

missing by several inches. 'Blast.'

'Alcan, dear,' Ehlana said to her maid, 'would you go see if

the sailor who brought this letter is still on the premises?'

'At once, my Queen.'

Sarabian looked inquiringly at his hostess.

'The sailor just came from Tega. I think I'd like to hear his

views on the weather there.'

"Surely you don't think your husband would lie to your Majesty,

do you?' Oscagne protested.

'Why not? I'd lie to him if there was a valid political reason

for it.'

'Ehlana.' Sarabian sounded Profoundly shocked. "I thought

you loved Sparhawk.'

'What on earth has that got to do with it? Of course I love

him. I've loved him since I was about Danae's age, but love and

politics are two entirely different things, and they should never

be mixed. Sparhawk's up to something, Sarabian, and your

excellent foreign minister here probably knows what it is.'

'Me?' Oscagne protested mildly.

'Yes, you. Mermaids, Oscagne? Mermaids? You didn't really

think I'd swallow that story, did you? I'm just a bit disappointed

in you, actually. Was that the best you could come up with?'

"I was a bit pressed for time, your Majesty,' he apologized

with a slightly embarrassed look. 'Prince Sparhawk was in a

hurry to leave. Was it the weather that gave us away?'

'Partly,' she replied. She held up the letter. 'My beloved outsmarted

himself, though. I've seen his letters before. The notion

of "felicity of style" has never occurred to Sparhawk. His letters

usually read as if he'd written them with his broadsword. This

one - and all the others from Tega - have been polished until

they glisten. I'm touched that he went to all the trouble, but I

don't believe one word of them. Now then, where is he? and

what's he really up to?'

'He wouldn't say, your Majesty. All he told me was that he

needed some excuse to be away from Matherion for several

weeks. '

She smiled sweetly at him. 'That's all right, Oscagne,' she

said. 'i'll find out for myself. It's more fun that way anyhow.'

"It's a big building,' Stragen reported the following morning.

"It's going to take time to go over it inch by inch." He, Caalador

and Mirtai had just returned from their night of unsuccessful

burglary.

'Have you made much progress?' Sarabian asked.

'We've covered the top two floors, your Majesty,' Caalador

replied. 'We'll start on the third floor tonight.' Caalador was

sprawled in a chair with a weary look on his face. Like his two

companions, he was still dressed in tight-fitting black clothing.

He stretched and yawned. 'God, I'm tired,' he said. 'i'm getting

too old for this.'

Stragen unrolled a time-yellowed set of drawings. "I still think

that the answer's right here,' he said. 'instead of opening doors

and poking under desks, we should be matching dimensions

against these drawings.'

'Yet still a-thankin' there's sekert passages an' corn-sealed

rooms in that, ain't ya, Stragen?' Caalador drawled, yawning

again. 'That doesn't speak too well for your taste in literature,

old boy."

Sarabian gave him a puzzled look.

'Thalesians are addicted to bad ghost stories, your Majesty,'

Caalador explained.

"It gives the copying-houses in Emsat something to do now

that they've exhausted the body of real literature.' Stragen

shrugged. 'We've got a whole sub-genre of highly popular books

spewing out of grubby garrets on back streets - lurid narratiVeS

which all take place in cemeteries or in haunted houses on dark

and stormy nights. The whores of Emsat absolutely adore them.

I rather expect the policemen at Interior share that taste. After all,

a policeman's sort of like a whore, isn't he?'

"I didn't exactly follow that,' Mirtai said, 'and I'm not really

sure I want to. There's probably something disgusting involved

in your thinking, Stragen. Caalador, will you stop yawning like

that. Your face looks like an open barn-door.'

'i'm sleepy, little dorlin'. You two bin a-keepin' me up past

muh bedtime.'

'Then go to bed. You make my jaws ache when you gape at

me like that.'

'You should all get some sleep,' Ehlana told them. 'You're

the official royal burglars now, and Sarabian and I would be

absolutely mortified if you were to fall asleep in mid-burgle.'

'Are we ready to be practical about this?' Caalador asked,

rising to his feet. "I can have two dozen professionals here by this

evening, and we'll have all the secrets of the Interior Ministry in

our hands by tomorrow morning.'

'And Interior will know that we have them by tomorrow afternoon,'

Stragen added. 'Our impromptu spy network isn't really

all that secure, Caalador. We haven't had enough time to weed

out all the people Krager's probably subverted.'

'There's no real rush here, gentlemen,' Ehlana told them.

'Even if we do find the documents the policemen at Interior are

hiding, we won't be able to do a thing about them until my

wandering husband finds his way home again.'

'Why are you so positive that Sparhawk's deceiving you,

Ehlana?' Sarabian asked her.

"It's consistent with his character. Sparhawk's devoted his

entire life to protecting me. It's rather sweet, even though it is

bloody hindering awkward at times. He still thinks of me as a

little girl - although I've demonstrated to him that I'm not on

any number of occasions. He's out there doing something

dangerous, and he doesn't want me to worry. All he really had

to do was tell me what he was planning and then lay out the

reasons why he thought it was necessary. I know it's hard for

you men to believe, but women are rational too - and far more

practical than you are.'

'You're a hard woman, Ehlana,' Sarabian accused.

'No, I'm a realist. Sparhawk does what he thinks he has to

no matter what I say, and I've learned to accept that. The point

I'm trying to make is that no matter what we dig out of the walls

of the Interior Ministry, there's absolutely nothing we can do

about it while Sparhawk and the others are out there wandering

around the countryside. We're going to disband Interior and

throw about a quarter of the Empire's policemen in prison. Then

we're going to place all of Tamuli under martial law with the

Atans enforcing our decrees. The Daresian Continent's going to

look like an ant-hill that's just been run over by a cavalry charge.

I don't know what Sparhawk's doing, so I don't know what

kind of impact that chaos is going to have on him. I am not

going to let you put him in any more danger than I think he's

already in.'

'Do you know something, Ehlana?' Sarabian said. 'You're

even more protective of Sparhawk than he is of you.'

'Of course I am. That's what marriage is all about.'

'none of mine are,' he sighed.

'That's because you've got too many wives, Sarabian. Your

affection's dispersed. Your wives each return only as much love

as you give them.'

'i've found that it's safer that way.'

'But dull, my friend, and sort of boring. Being consumed with

a burning passion that only has a single object is very exciting.

It's sort of like living in a volcano."

'What an exhausting prospect,' he shuddered.

'Fun, though,' she smiled.

Baroness Melidere had retired early, pleading a painful headache.

It was not that she found her duties as Ehlana's lady-inwaiting

onerous, but rather that she had an important decision

to make, and she knew that the longer she put it off, the more

difficult it would be. To put it rather bluntly, the Baroness had

reached the point where she was going to have to decide what

she was going to do about Stragen.

We must candidly admit that Melidere was no innocent. Few

members of any court really are. An innocent girl has only one

option in her dealings with the opposite sex. A more worldly

girl has two, and this was the crux of Melidere's dilemma.

Stragen, of course, would make a perfectly acceptable paramour.

He was presentable, interesting, and he had exquisite manners.

Melidere's reputation at court would not be tarnished by a

liaison with him; quite the reverse, actually. That had originally

been her intention, and the time had come for her to take the

final step and to invite him to her bedchamber and have done

with it. The liaison could be brief, or it could be extended renewed

each time Stragen visited Cimmura. That would give

the affair a certain status, while at the same time leaving them

both free to pursue other amusements, as was normal in such

situations. Melidere, however, was not sure if that was all she

wanted. More and more, of late, she had found herself thinking

of a more permanent arrangement, and therein lay the dilemma.

There is a rhythm, almost a tide, in the affairs of the heart.

When that tide reaches its high point, a lady must give certain

signals to her quarry. One set of signals points toward the bedchamber,

the other, toward the altar. Melidere could no longer

put it off. She had to decide which set of signal flags to hoist.

Stragen intrigued her. There was a sense of dangerous excitement

about him, and Melidere, a creature of the court, was

attracted by that. It could be intoxicating, addictive, but she was

not entirely sure that the excitement would not begin to pall as

the years went by.

There was, moreover, the problem of Stragen himself. His

irregular origins and lack of any official status had made him

overly sensitive, and he continually imagined slights where

none had been intended. He hovered around the edges of

Ehlana's court like an uninvited guest at a banquet, always fearful

that he might be summarily ejected. He had the outsider's

awe of the nobility, seeming at times to view aristocrats almost

as members of another species. Melidere knew that if she

decided to marry him, she would have to attack that first. She

personally knew that titles were a sham and that legitimacy

could be purchased, but how was she going to persuade Stragen

of that? She could easily buy him out of bastardy and into the

aristocracy, but that would mean that she would have to reveal

the secret she had kept locked in her heart since childhood.

Melidere had always concealed the fact that she was one of the

wealthiest people at court, largely because her fabulous wealth

had not been legally obtained.

And there it was. She almost laughed when she realized how

simple it was. If she really wanted to marry Stragen, all she'd

have to do would be to share her secret with him. That would

put them on equal footing and tear down the largely imaginary

barrier.

Melidere was a baroness, but her title had not been in her

family for very long. Her father, a man with huge shoulders and

a mop of curly blond hair, had begun life as a blacksmith in

Cardos, and he had amassed a fortune with a simple invention

which he had crafted in his forge. Most people look upon gold

COins as money - something with intrinsic and unalterable value.

There are some, however, who realize that the value of a coin

lies in the social agreement saying that it is worth what the

words stamped on its face say that it's worth. The words do not

change, even if the edge of the coin has been lightly brushed

with a file or a sharp knife a few times. The tiny fragments of

pure gold thus obtained do not amount to very much if one files

or carves the edge of one coin. If one tampers with a thousand

coins, however, that's quite another matter. Governments try

to discourage the practice by milling the edges of coins during

the stamping process. A milled coin has a series of indentations

around its edge, and if the edge has been filed or carved, it is

immediately apparent. Melidere's father had contrived a way to

get around that. He had carefully crafted a set of re-milling dies,

one die for each size coin. A blacksmith will not handle enough

coins in his entire life to make enough to pay for the effort of

hammering out such equipment. Melidere's father was a genius,

however. He did not make the dies for his own use, nor did he

sell them. Instead, he rented them, along with the services of

highly trained operators, taking a small percentage as his fee.

Melidere smiled. She was positive that very few gold coins in

the whole of Eosia were of true weight, and she also knew that

five percent of the difference between face value and true value

was stacked in ingots in the hidden vault in the basement of her

own manor house near Cardos. Once she had made Stragen

aware of the fact that she was a bigger and more successful thief

than he was, the rest would be easy. His illusions about her

nobility would fall away to be replaced with an almost reverential

respect for her consummate dishonesty. She could even

show him the source of her wealth, for she always carried the

most prized memento of her childhood, her father's original

dies. Even now, they nestled in velvet in the ornately carved

rosewood case on her dressing table, polished steel jewels more

valuable than diamonds.

Even as she realized that the means to marry Stragen were at

hand, she also realized that she had already made her decision.

She would marry him. She would, the very next time she saw

him, hoist those signal flags rather than the others.

Then she thought of something else. Her father's activities

had been confined to the Eosian Continent. All of Tamuli was

literally awash with virgin coins unviolated by file or knife-edge.

Once he realized that, Stragen would not walk to the altar, he

would run.

Melidere smiled and picked up her hairbrush. She hummed

softly to herself as she brushed her long, honey-blonde hair.

Like any good Elene girl, she had attacked the problem logically,

and, as it almost always did, logic had won out. Logic was a

friendly and comforting thing to have around, particularly if

morality didn't interfere.

'Hold it,' Stragen whispered as the three of them started down

the broad staircase descending to the third floor. 'There's still

somebody down there.'

'What's he doing this late?' Mirtai asked. 'They all went home

hours ago.'

'We could go ask him,' Caalador said.

'Don't be absurd. Is it a watchman?'

%I don't know,' Stragen replied. "I didn't see him. I just caught

a flicker of candlelight. Somebody down there opened a door.'

"Some drudge working late, most likely.' Caalador shrugged.

'Now what?' Mirtai asked.

'We wait.' Caalador sat down on the top step.

Stragen considered it. 'Why don't the two of you stay here?'

he suggested. 'i'll go have a look. If he's settling in for the night,

there's not much point in camping on these stairs until morning.

He went on down, his glove-soft shoes making no sound on

the mother-of-pearl tiles. When he reached the hallway below,

he saw the fine line of candlelight glowing out from under a

door at the far end. He moved quickly with the confidence of

long practice. When he reached the door, he heard voices.

Stragen did not even consider listening at the door. That was

far too amateurish. He slipped into the room adjoining the

lighted one, felt his way carefully to the wall, and set his ear

against it.

He couldn't hear a sound. He swore under his breath, and

went back out into the hallway. Then he padded on past the

door with the candlelight coming out from under it and entered

the room on the other side. He could hear the two men talking

as soon as he entered.

'Our esteemed Prime Minister is slowly beginning to grasp

the sitUation,' a rusty-sounding voice was saying. "It's a struggle,

though. Pondia Subat's severely limited when something new

appears on the horizon.'

'That's more or less to be expected, your Excellency.' Stragen

recognized the second voice. It was Teovin, the Director of the

Secret Police. 'The Prime Minister's almost as much a figurehead

as the Emperor.'

'You've noticed,' the rusty-sounding man replied.

'Subbat's not likely to ask too many questions. As long as he's

aware of the situation in general terms, he'll probably prefer to

let us handle things without personally learning too many of the

details. That gives us a fairly free rein, and that's what we wanted

in the first place. Have you made any progress with the others?'

"Some. I have to broach the subject rather carefully, you realize.

The Elene strumpet's made many friends here at court. They

all listen to me, though. I hold the keys to the Treasury, and

that helps to get their attention. Most of the ministries are ceremonial,

so I haven't wasted much time on the men who head

them. The Ministry of Culture's probably not going to be of

much use - or the Ministry of Education either, for that matter.'

"I wouldn't be so sure of that one, your Excellency. The MiniStry

of Education controls the universities. We have to think past

the current emergency. I don't think either of us wants whole

generations to go through life believing that Interior and Exchequer

are hot-beds of treason. Technically, we are acting contrary

to the Emperor's wishes.'

'That's true, I suppose, but the Ministry of the Interior controls

the police, and Exchequer levies and collects the taxes. We're

neither one of us ever going to be very popular, no matter what

we do. But you're probably right. If the history professors at the

universities start telling their students that we're traitors, people

might start claiming that it's their patriotic duty to ignore the

officers of the law or to stop paying their taxes.'

'That raises an interesting point, Chancellor Gashon,' Teovin

mused. 'You've got a sort of police force, haven't you? - muscular

fellows who accompany your tax-collectors to make sure that

people pay what they owe,'

'Oh, yes. One way or the other, everybody pays his taxes. I get

money '- or blood -'from all of them.'

'Follow me on this, if you will. The Elenes probably know

that Interior - and most likely the army as well - are opposed

to them, so they'll try their very best to disrupt our customary

operations. I'd like to conceal some of my more valuable people.

Do you suppose I might transfer them into your enforcement

branch? That way I'll still have a functional operation - even if

the Elenes start burning down police stations.'

"I can manage that, Teovin. Is there anything else you'll need?'

'Money, Chancellor Gashon.'

There was a pained silence. 'Would you accept eternal friendship

instead?'

'Afraid not, your Excellency. I have to bribe people.' Teovin

paused. 'There's an idea. I could probably use some form of

tax-immunity as an inducement in many cases.'

"I don't recognize the term.'

'We give people an exemption from taxation in exchange for

their cooperation.'

'That's immoral!' Gashon gasPed. 'That's the most shocking

thing I've ever heard in my whole life!'

"It was only a thought.'

'Don't even suggest something like that, Teovin. It makes my

blood run cold. Can we get out of here? Police stations make

me apprehensive for some reason.'

'Of course, your Excellency. I think we've covered the things

we wanted to keep private.'

Stragen sat in the dark office listening as the two men pushed

back their chairs and went out into the corridor. He heard Teovin's

key turn in the lock of his office door. The blond thief

waited for perhaps ten minutes, and then he went back to the

foot of the staircase. 'They're gone now,' he called up the stairs

in a loud whisper.

Mirtai and Caalador came on down. 'Who was it?' Caalador

asked.

'The head of the secret police and the Chancellor of the

Exchequer,' Stragen replied. "It was a very enlightening conversation.

Teovin's enlisting other ministries to help him. They don't

know what he's really up to, but he's managed to convince

several of them that it's in their own interest to join him.'

"We can sort out the politics later,' Caalador said. "It's almost

midnight. Let's get to burgling.'

There's no need,' Stragen shrugged. 'i've found what we're

looking for.'

isn't that disgusting?'

Caalador said to the Atan giantess. 'he

tosses it off as if it weren't really very important. All right,

Stragen, stun us with your brilliance. Make my eyes pop out,

and make Mirtai swoon with admiration.'

"I can't really take much credit for it,' Stragen confessed. "I

stumbled across it, actually. It is a secret room. I was right about

that. We still have to find the door, though, and make sure that

the documents we want are inside, but the room's in the right

place. I should have thought of it immediately.'

'Where is it?' Mirtai asked.

'Right next to Teovin's office.'

'That's the logical place, right enough,' Caalador noted. 'How

did you find it?'

'Well, I haven't actually found it yet, but I've reasoned out its

existence. '

'Don't throw away your soft shoes or your black clothes just

yet, Caalador,' Mirtai advised.

'You hurt me, love,' Stragen protested.

'i've seen Elene reasoning go awry before. Why don't you tell

us about it?'

"I wanted to do some constructive eavesdropping, so I went

into the adjoining office to listen to Teovin and Chancellor of

the Exchequer Gashon's conversation.'

'And?'

"I couldn't hear a thing.'

'The walls are stone, Stragen,' she pointed out, 'and they've

got sea-shells glued to them.'

'There's no such thing as a soundproof wall, Mirtai. There are

always cracks and crannies that the mortar doesn't seep into.

Anyway, when I tried the office on the other side, I could hear

everything. Believe me, there's a room between that first office

and the one Teovin uses.'

"It does sort of fit together, dorlin',' Caalador said to Mirtai.

'The door to that room would almost have to be in Teovin's office,

wouldn't it? Those documents are sensitive, and he wouldn't

want just anybody to have access to them. If we'd just taken a

little while to think our way through it, we could have saved

ourselves a lot of time.'

"It wasn't a total waste,' Mirtai smiled. 'i've learned the art of

burglary, and I've had the chance to absolutely wallow in your

affection. You two have made me happier than' I could possibly

say. The office door's certain to be locked, you know."

'Nuthin' simpler, little dorlin',' Caalador smirked, holding up

a needle-thin implement with a hook on the end.

'We'd better get started,' Stragen said. "It's midnight, and it

might take us the rest of the night to find the door to that hidden

room.'

'You're not serious,' Ehlana scoffed.

'May muh tongue turn green iffn I ain't, yet Queenship.' Caalador

paused. 'Dreadful, isn't it?' he added.

"I don't quite understand,' Sarabian confessed.

"It's a cliche, your Majesty,' Stragen explained, 'taken from a

tyPe of literature that's currently very popular in Eosia.'

'Do you really want to dignify that trash by calling it literature,

Stragen?' Baroness Melidere murmured.

"It satisfies the needs of the mentally deprived, Baroness,'

he shrugged. 'Anyway, your Imperial Majesty, the literature

consists largely of ghost stories. There's always a haunted castle

complete with hidden rooms and secret passages, and the

entrances to these rooms and passages are always hidden behind

bookcases. It's a very tired old device - so tired in fact that I

almost didn't think of it. I didn't believe anybody would be so

obvious.' He laughed. "I wonder if Teovin thought it up all by

himself or if he plagiarized. If he stole it, he has abominable

taste in literature.'

'Are books all that available in Eosia?' Oscagne asked curiously.

'They're fearfully expensive here.''

"It's one of the results of our Holy Mother's drive toward

universal literacy during the last century, your Excellency, '

Ehlana explained. 'The Church wanted her children to be able

to read her message, so parish priests spend a great deal of time

teaching everybody to read.'

'The message of the Church doesn't really take all that long

to browse through, however,' Stragen added, 'and after the

browsing's done, you've got crowds of literate people with a

skill they can't really apply. It was the invention of paper that

set off the literary explosion, though. The labor costs involved

in copying aren't particularly high. It was the cost of parchment

that made books so prohibitively expensive. When paper came

along, books became cheaper. There are copy-houses in most

major cities with whole platoons of scriveners grinding out

books by the ton. It's a very profitable business. The books don't

have illuminations or decorated capitals, and the lettering's a

little shoddy, but they're readable - and affordable. Not everyone

who can read has good taste, though, so a lot of truly dreadful

books are written by people with minimal talent. They write

adventure stories, ghost stories, heroic fantasies and those

naughty books that people don't openly display in their bookcases.

The Church encourages lives of the saints and tedious

religious verse. Things like that are produced, of course, but

nobody really reads that sort of thing. Ghost stories are currently

in vogue - particularly in Thalesia. It has something to do with

our national character, I think.' He looked at Ehlana. 'The business

of getting the information out of Teovin's hidey-hole

is going to be tedious, my Queen. There are mountains of

documents in there, and I can't take whole platoons of people

in over the roof every night to help plow through them. Mirtai,

Caalador and I are going to have to read every document ourselves.'

'Perhaps not, Milord Stragen,' Ehlana disagreed. She smiled

at the blond thief. "I had absolute confidence in your dishonesty,

dear boy, so I knew that sooner or later you'd find what we

were looking for. I struggled for a time with the very problem

you just mentioned. Then I remembered something Sparhawk

once told me. He'd used a spell to put the image of Krager's

face in a basin of water so that Talen could draw his picture. I

spoke with one of the Pandions who came along with us - a Sir

Alvor. He told me that since Sephrenia refuses to learn to read

Elenic, she and Sparhawk devised a way round her deliberate

incapacity. She can glance at a page - a single glance - and then

make the whole page come up in a mirror or on the surface of

a basin of water hours or even days later. Sir Alvor knows the

spell. He's a fairly young and agile fellow, so he'll be able to

creep across the roof-top with you. Take him along next time

you visit the Interior Ministry and turn him loose in Teovin's

hidden closet. I rather imagine he'll be able to carry that entire

library out with him in a single night.'

'Does it really work, your Majesty?' Caalador asked her a bit

doubtfully. 'Oh, yes, Caalador. I handed Alvor a book he'd never seen

before. he leafed through it in a couple of minutes and then

printed it on that mirror over there - page after page after page.

I checked what he was producing against the original, and it

was absolutely perfect - right down to the smudges and the

food-stains on the pages.'

'Them there Pandion fellers is real useful t' have around,'

Caalador admitted.

'You know,' she smiled, 'i've noticed the exact same thing

myself. There's one in particular who does all sorts of useful

things for me.

CHAPTER 13

'We don't have any choice, dear,' Vanion said to Sephrenia.

'We've even tried turning around and going back, and we still

keep moving in the same direction. We're going to have to use

the Bhelliom.' He looked on up the gorge lying ahead of them.

The mountain river was tumbling over the boulders jutting up

out of its bed, sawing its way deeper and deeper into the rock

with its white, roaring passage. The sides of the gorge were

thick with evergreens which dripped continually in the swirling

mist rising out of the rapids.

'No, Vanion,' Sephrenia replied stubbornly. 'We'll fall directly

into their trap if we do that. The Delphae want the Bhelliom,

and as soon as Sparhawk tries to use it, they'll attack us and try

to kill him and take it away from him.'

'They'll regret it if they do,' Sparhawk told her.

'Maybe,' she said, 'but then again, maybe not. We don't know

what they're capable of. Until I know how they're misleading

us, I can't even guess at what else they can do. There are too

many uncertainties involved to be taking chances.'

'isn't this what they call an impasse?' Khalad suggested. 'We

keep going north no matter how much we try to go in some

other direction, and we don't know what the Delphae will do

if Sparhawk tries to use Bhelliom to pull us out of these nountains.

Why don't we just stop?'

'We have to get back to Matherion, Khalad,' Sparhawk

objected.

'But we're not going' to Matherion, my Lord. Every step

we take brings us that much closer to Delphaeus. We've been

twisting and turning around through these mountains for two

days now, and we're still going north. If all directions lead to a

place where we really don't want to go, why keep moving at all?

Why not find a comfortable camp-site and stay there for a while?

Let's make them come to us, instead of the other way around.'

"It makes sense, Lord Vanion,' Itagne agreed. 'As long as we

keep moving, the Delphae don't have to do a thing except herd

us in the right direction. If we stop moving, they'll have to try

something else, and that might give Lady Sephrenia some clues

about their capabilities. It's called "constructive inaction" in

diplomatic circles.'

'What if the Delphae just decide to wait us out?' Ulath

objected. 'Autumn isn't a good time to linger in the mountains.

It wasn't so bad in those foothills we came through when we

left the desert, but now that we're up here, time starts to get

very important.'

"I don't think they'll wait, Sir Ulath,' Itagne disagreed.

'Why not? They've got all the advantages, haven't they?'

'Let's just call it a diplomat's instinct. I caught a faint odor of

urgency about them when they approached us. They want us

to go to Delphaeus, right enough, but it's also important to them

that we get there soon.'

'i'd like to know how you worked that out, your Excellency,'

Kalten said skeptically.

"It's a combination of a thousand little things, Sir Kalten - the

tone of voice, slight changes of expression, even their posture

and their rate of breathing. The Delphae weren't as certain of

themselves as they seemed, and they want us to go to Delphaeus

as quickly as possible. As long as we keep going, they don't

have any reason to make further contact, but I think we'll find

that if we just sit still, they'll come to us and start making concessions.

I've seen it happen that way many times.'

'Does it take long to learn how to be a diplomat, your Excellency?'

Talen asked him with a speculative look.

'That depends entirely on your natural gifts, Master Talen.'

'i'm a quick learner. Diplomacy sounds like a lot of fun.'

"It's the best game there is,' Itagne smiled. 'There's no other

that even approaches it.'

'Are you considering another career-change, Talen?' his

brother asked him.

'i'm never going to be a very good knight, Khalad - not unless

Sparhawk takes the Bhelliom and makes me about four times

bigger than I am now.'

'isn't this about the third occupation you've grown excited

about so far this year?' Sparhawk asked him. 'Have you given

up the notion of becoming the emperor of the thieves or the

archprelate of larceny?'

"I don't really have to make any final decisions yet, Sparhawk.

I'm still young.' Talen suddenly thought of something. 'They

can't arrest a diplomat, can they, your Excellency? I mean, the

police can't really touch him at all - no matter what he does?'

'That's a long-standing custom, Master Talen. If I throw your

diplomats into a dungeon, you'll turn around and do the same

thing to mine, won't you? That puts a diplomat more or less

above the law.'

'Well, now,' Talen said with a beatific smile, 'isn't that something

to think about?'

"I like caves.' Ulath shrugged. 'Are you sure you're not part Troll, Ulath?' Kalten asked.

'Even Trolls and Ogres can have good ideas once in a while."

A cave's got a roof in case the weather turns sour, and nobody

can come at you from behind. This one's a good cave, and it's

been used before. Somebody spent quite a bit of time building

a wall around that spring in there so that there's plenty of water.'

'What if he comes back and wants his cave again?'

"I don't think he'll do that, Kalten.' The big Thalesian held up

a beautifully crafted flint spearhead. 'He left this behind when

he moved out. I'd say that he'd probably be too old to give us

much to worry about - fifteen or twenty thousand years too old,

at least.' He touched a careful thumb to the serrated edge of the

spearpoint. 'He did very nice work, though. He drew pictures

on the wall, too - animals, mostly.'

Kalten shuddered. 'Wouldn't it be sort of like taking up residence

in a tomb?'

'Not really. Time's all one piece, Kalten. The past is always

with us. The cave served the fellow who made this spearpoi'nt

very well, and the work he left behind inclines me to trust his

judgement. The place has everything we need - shelter, water,

plenty of firewood nearby, and then there's that steep meadow

a hundred yards off to the south, so there's plenty of forage for

the horses.'

'What are we going to eat, though? After a couple of weeks

when our supplies run out, we'll be trying to boil rocks down

for soup-stock.'

'There's game about, Sir Kalten,' Khalad told him. 'I've seen

deer down by the river and a flock of feral goats higher up the

slope.'

'Goat?' Kalten made a face.

"It's better than rock soup, isn't it?'

'Sir Ulath is right, gentlemen,' Bevier told them. 'The cave's

in a defensible position. So far as we know, the Delphae have

to get close enough to touch us in order to do us any harm.

Some breastworks and a well-planted field of sharpened stakes

on that steep slope leading down to the river will keep them at

arm's length. If Ambassador Itagne is right and the Delphae are

pressed for time, that should encourage them to come to the

bargaining table.'

'Let's do it,' Vanion decided. 'And let's get right at it. The

Delphae seem to come out at night, so we'll want some defenses

in place before the sun goes down.'

The overcast which had turned the sky into an oppressive leaden

bowl for the past week was gone the following morning, and

the autumn sunlight touching the turning leaves of the grove of

aspens across the gorge from their cave filled the day with a

vibrant, golden light. Everything seemed etched with a kind of

preternatural clarity. The boulders in the stream-bed below were

starkly white, and the swift-moving river was a dark, sunilluminated

green. The gorge was alive with bird song and the

chatter of scolding squirrels.

The knights continued the labor of fortification, erecting a

substantial, chest-high wall of loosely piled stones around the

edge of the semi-circular shelf that extended out from the mouth

of the cave, and planting a forest of sharpened stakes on the

steep slope that led down to the river.

They pastured their horses in the adjoining meadow by day

and brought them inside the makeshift fort as the sun went

down. They bathed and washed their clothing in the river, and

hunted deer and goats in the forest. They took turns standing

watch at night, but there was no sign of the Delphae.

They stayed there for four nights, crowing more restless with

each passing hour. 'if this is how the Delphae respond to something

urgent, I'd hate to sit around waiting for them when they

were relaxed,' Talen said dryly to Itagne on the morning of the

fourth day. 'They don't even have anybody out there watching

US.'

'They're out there, Master Talen,' Itagne replied confidently.

'Why haven't we seen them, then? 'they'd be fairly hard to

miss at night.'

'Not necessarily,' Kalten disagreed. "I don't think they glow

all the time. We saw them shining out there in that fog the first

time they came to call, but the second time they crept up to

within twenty yards of us before they lit up. They seem to be

able to control the light, depending on the circumstances.'

'They're out there,' Itagne repeated, 'and the longer they wait,

the better.'

"I didn't follow that,' Talen confessed.

'They know by now that we're not going to move from this

spot, so they're out there right now arguing among themselves

about what they're going to offer us. Some of them want to offer

more than the others, and the longer we sit right here, the more

we strengthen the position of that faction.'

'Have you suddenly become clairvoyant, Itagne?' Sephrenia

asked him.

'No, Lady Sephrenia, just experienced. This delay is fairlY

standard in any negotiation. I'm on familiar ground now. We've

chosen the right strategy.'

'What else should we be doing?' Kalten asked.

'Nothing, Sir Knight. It's their move.'

She came from the river in broad daylight, climbing easily up

the rocky path that ascended the steep slope. She wore a gray,

hooded robe and simple sandals. Her features were Tamul, but

she did not have the characteristic golden skin-tone of her race.

She was not so much pale as she was colorless. Her eyes were

gray and seemed very wise, and her hair was long and completely

white, though she appeared to be scarcely more than a

girl. Sparhawk and the others watched her as she came up the hill

in the golden sunlight. She crossed the steep meadow where

the horses grazed. Ch'iel, Sephrenia's gentle white palfrey,

approached the colorless woman curiously, and the stranger

gently touched the mare's face with one slim hand.

'That's probably far enough,' Vanion called to her. 'What is it

that you want?'

"I am Xanetia,' the young woman replied. Her voice was soft,

but there was a kind of echoing timbre to it that immediately

identified her as one of the Delphae. "I am to be thy surety, Lord

Vanion.'

'You know me?'

'We know thee, Lord Vanion - and each of thy companions.

Ye are reluctant to come to Delphaeus, fearing that we mean ye

harm. My life will serve as pledge of our good faith.'

'Don't listen, Vanion,' Sephrenia said, her eyes hard.

'Art thou afeared, Priestess?' Xanetia asked calmly. 'Thy Goddess

doth not share thy fear. Now do I perceive that it is thy

hatred which doth obstruct that which must come to pass, and

thus it shall be into thy hands that I shall place my life - to do

with as thou wilt. If thou must needs kill me to quench this

hatred of thine, then so be it.'

Sephrenia's face went deathly pale. 'You know I wouldn't do

that, Xanetia.'

'Then put the implement of death into the hands of another.

Thus thou mayest command my dying and put no stain of blood

upon thine own hands. Is this not the custom of thy race, Styric?

Thou shalt remain undefiled - even as this thirst of thine is

slaked. All unsmirched mayest thou face thy Goddess and

protest thine innocence, for thou shalt be blameless. My blood

shall be upon the hands of thine Elenes, and Elene souls are

cheap, are they not?' She reached inside her robe and drew out a

jewel-like stone dagger. 'Here is the implement of my

death, Sephrenia,' she said. 'The blade is obsidian, so thou

shalt not contaminate thy hands - or thy soul - with the loathsome

touch of steel when thou spillest out my life.' Xanetia's

voice was soft, but her words cut into Sephrenia like hard,

sharp steel.

"I won't listen to this.' the small Styric woman declared hotly.

Xanetia smiled. 'Ah, but thou wilt, Sephrenia,' she said, still

very calm. "I know thee well, Styric, and I know that my words

have burned themselves into thy soul. Thou wilt hear them

again and again. In the silence of the night shall they come to

thee, burning deeper each time. Truly shalt thou listen, for my

words are the words of truth, and they shall echo in thy soul

all the days of thy life.'

Sephrenia's face twisted in anguish, and with a sudden wail

she fled back into the cave.

Itagne's face was troubled as he came back along the narrow

path from the meadow to the open area in front of the cave.

'She's very convincing,' he told them. "I get no sense of deceit

from her at all.'

'She probably doesn't know enough about the real motives of

the leaders of her people to have anything to hide,' Bevier said

doubtfully. 'She could very well be nothing more than a pawn.'

'She is one of the leaders of her people, Sir Bevier,' Itagne

disagreed. 'She's the equivalent of the crown princess of the

Delphae. She's the one who'll be Anarae when the Anari dies.'

'is that a name or a title?' Ulath asked.

"It's a title. The Anari - or in Xanetia's case, the Anarae - is

both the temporal and spiritual leader of the Delphae. The current

Anari is named Codon.'

'She's not just making it up?' Talen asked. 'She could be just

pretending to be their crown princess, you know. That way,

we'd think she was important, when she's actually nothing more

than a shepherdess or somebody's housemaid.'

"I don't think so,' Itagne said. "It may sound immodest, but I

don't really believe anyone can lie to me for very long and get

away with it. She says that she's the one who'll be Anarae, and I

believe her. The move's consistent with standard diplomatic practice.

Hostages have to be important. It's another indication of just

how desperate the Delphae are in this business. I think Xanetia's

telling the truth, and if she is, she's the most precious thing they

possess.' He made a wry face. "It definitely goes against everything

I've been trained to believe about the Shining Ones since

childhood, but I think we almost have to trust them this time."

Sparhawk and Vanion looked at each other. 'What do you

think?' Vanion asked.

"I don't see that we've got much choice, do you?'

'Not really. Ulath was right. We can't sit here all winter, and

no matter which way we turn, we keep going toward Delphaeus.

The fact that Xanetia's here is some assurance of good faith.'

'is it enough, though?'

"It's probably going to have to be, Sparhawk. I don't think

we're going to get anything better.'

'Kalten!' Sephrenia exclaimed. 'No!'

'Somebody has to do it,' the blond knight replied stubbornly.

'Good faith has to go both ways.' He looked Xanetia full in the

face. 'is there something you'd like to tell me before I help you

up onto that horse?' he asked her. 'Some warning, maybe?'

'Thou art brave, Sir Kalten,' she replied.

"It's what they pay me for.' he shrugged. 'Will I dissolve if I

touch you?'

'No.'

'All right. You've never ridden a horse before, have you?'

'We do not keep horses. We seldom leave our valley, so we

have little need of them.'

'They're fairly nice animals. Be a little careful of the one Sparhawk

rides, though. He bites. Now, this horse is a pack animal.

He's fairly old and sensible, so he won't waste energy Jumping

around and being silly. Don't worry too much about the reins.

He's used to following along after the others, so you don't have

to steer him. If you want him to go faster, nudge him in the ribs

with your heels. If you want him to slow down, pull back on

the reins a little bit. If you want him to stop, pull back a little

harder. That pack saddle's not going to be very comfortable, so

let us know if you start getting stiff and sore. We'll stop and get

off and walk for a while. You'll get used to it after a few days

- if we've got that far to travel.'

She held out her hands, crossed at the wrist. 'Wilt thou bind

me now, Sir Knight?'

'What for?'

'I am thy prisoner.'

'Don't be silly. You won't be able to hold on if your hands

are tied.' He set his jaw, reached out and took her by the

waist. Then he lifted her easily up onto the patient pack horse.

Then he held out his hands and looked at them. 'So far so

good,' he said. 'At least my fingernails haven't fallen off. I'll be

right beside you, so if you feel yourself starting to slip, let me

know.'

'We always underestimate him,' Vanion murmured to

Sparhawk. 'There's a lot more to him than meets the eye, isn't there?'

'Kalten? Oh yes, my Lord. Kalten can be very complicated

sometimes. '

They rode away from their fortified cave and followed the

gorge the river had cut down through the rock. Sparhawk and

Vanion led the way with Kalten and their hostage riding close

behind them. Sephrenia, her face coldly set, rode at the rear

with Berit, keeping as much distance as possible between herself

and Xanetia.

'Is it very far?' Kalten asked the pale woman at his side. 'I

mean, how many days will it take us to get there?'

'The distance is indeterminate, Sir Kalten,' Xanetia replied,

'and the time as well. The Delphae are outcast and despised. We

would be unwise to make the location of the valley of Delphaeus

widely known.'

'We're used to traveling, Lady,' Kalten told her, 'and we

always pay attention to landmarks. If you take us to Delphaeus,

we'll be able to find it again. All we'd have to do is find that

cave and start from there.'

'That is the flaw in thy plan, Sir Knight,' she said gently.

'Thou couldst consume a lifetime in the search for that cave. It

is our wont to conceal the approaches to Delphaeus rather than

Delphaeus itself.'

'it's a little hard to conceal a whole mountain range,

isn't it?'

'We noted that self-same thing ourselves, Sir Kalten,' she

replied without so much as a smile, 'so we conceal the sky

instead. Without the sun to guide thee, thou art truly lost.'

'Could you do that, Sparhawk?' Kalten raised his voice

slightly. 'Could you make the whole sky overcast like that?'

'Could we?' Sparhawk asked Vanion.

'I couldn't. Maybe Sephrenia could, but under the circumstances

it might not be a good idea to ask her. I know enough

to know that it's against the rules, though. We're not supposed

to play around with the weather.'

'We do not in truth cloud the sky, Lord Vanion,' Xanetia

assured him. 'We cloud thine eyes instead. We can, an we

choose, make others see what we wish them to see.'

'Please, Anarae,' Ulath said with a pained look, 'don't go into

too much detail. You'll bring on one of those tedious debates

about illusion and reality, and I really hate those.'

They rode on with the now unobscured sun clearly indicating

their line of travel. They were moving somewhat northeasterly.

Kalten watched their prisoner (or captor) closely, and he called

a halt somewhat more frequently than he might normally have

done. When they stopped, he helped the strange pale woman

down from her horse and walked beside her as they continued

on foot, leading their horses.

'Thou art overly solicitous of my comfort, Sir Kalten,' she

gently chided him.

'Oh, it's not for you, Lady,' he lied. 'The going's a bit steep

here, and we don't want to exhaust the horses.'

'There's definitely more to Kalten than I'd realized,' Vanion

muttered to Sparhawk.

'You can spend a whole lifetime watching somebody, my

friend, and you still won't learn everything there is to know

about him.'

'What an astonishingly acute perception,' Vanion said dryly.

'Be nice,' Sparhawk murmured.

Sparhawk was troubled. While Xanetia was certainly not as

skilled as Aphrael, it was clear that she was tampering with time

and distance in the same way the Child Goddess did. If she had

maintained the illusion of an overcast sky, he might not have

noticed, but the position of the sun clearly indicated that there

were gaps in his perception of time. The sun does not normally

jump as it moves across the sky. The troubling fact was not that

Xanetia did it badly, but the fact that she did it at all. Sparhawk

began to revise a long-held opinion. This 'tampering' was obviously

not a purely divine capability. Itagne's rather sketchy discourse

on the Delphae had contained at least some elements of

truth. There was indeed such a thing as 'Delphaeic magic', and

so far as Sparhawk could tell, it went further and into areas

where Styrics were unable or unwilling to venture.

He kept his eyes open, but did not mention his observations

to his friends.

And then, on a perfect autumn evening, when the birds

clucked and murmured sleepily in the trees and a luminous

twilight turned the mountains purple around them, they rode

up a narrow, rocky trail that wound around massive boulders

toward a V-shaped notch high above. Xanetia had been most

insistent that they not stop for the night, and she and Kalten

had pressed on ahead. Her normally placid face seemed somehow

alight with anticipation.

When she and her protector reached the top of the trail, they

stopped and sat on their horses, starkly outlined against the last

rosy vestiges of the sunset.

'Dear' God.' Kaltten exclaimed. 'Sparhawk, come up and look

at this!'

Sparhawk and Vanion rode on up to join them.

'There was a valley below, a steep, basin-like mountain valley

with dark trees covering the slopes. There were houses down

there, close-packed houses with candlelit windows and with

columns of pale blue smoke rising straight up into the evening

air from innumerable chimneys. The fact that there was a fairsized

town this deep in the inaccessible mountains was surprising

enough, but Sparhawk and the others were not looking at

the town.

In the very center of the valley, there was a small lake. There

was, of course, nothing unusual about that. Lakes abound in

mountains in all parts of the world. The spring run-off from

%melting snow inevitably seeks valleys and ha~ins - any place

that is lower than the surrounding terrain and from which there

is no exit channel. It was not the fact that the lake was there

that was so surprising. The thing that startled them and raised

those vestigial hackles of superstitious awe along the back~ of

their necks was the fact that the lake glowed in the lowering

twilight.

The light was not the sickly, greenish glow of the phosphorescence

that is sometimes exuded by rotting vegetable matter,

but was instead a clear, stealy white. Like a lost moon,

the lake glowed, responding to the light of her new-risen sister

standing above the eastern horizon.

'Behold Delphaeus,' Xanetia said simply, and when they

looked at her, they saw that she too was all aglow with a pure

white light that seemed to come from within her and which

shone through her garment and through her skin itself as if that

pale, unwavering light were coming from her very soul.

CHAPTER 14

Sparhawk's senses were preternaturally acute for some reason,

although his mind seemed detached and emotionless. He

observed, he heard, he catalogued, but he felt nothing. The peculiar

state was not an unfamiliar one, but the circumstances under

which this profound calm had come over him were unusual very

unusual. There were no armed men facing him, and yet

his mind and body were preparing for battle.

Faran tensed, bunching his muscles, and the sound of his

steel-shod hooves altered very slightly, becoming somehow

more crisp, more deliberate. Sparhawk touched the big roan's

neck with one hand. 'Relax,' he murmured. 'i'll let you know

when the time comes.'

Faran shuddered, absently flicking his Master's reassurance

off like a bothersome insect and continuing his cautious pace.

Vanion looked at his friend questioningly.

'Faran's being a little sensitive, my Lord.'

'Sensitive? That ill-tempered brute?'

'Faran doesn't really deserve that reputation, Vanion. When

you get right down to it, he's a good-natured horse. He tries

very hard to please me. We've been together for so long that he

knows what I'm feeling most of the time, and he goes out of

his way to match his attitude to mine. I'm the one who's the

ill-tempered brute, but he gets all the blame. He behaves like a

Puppy when Aphrael's riding on his back.'

'Are you feeling belligerent just now?'

'I don't like being led around by the nose, but it's nothing

specific. You've overtrained me, Vanion. Any time anything

unusual comes up, I start getting ready for war. Faran can feel

that, so he does the same.'

Xanetia and Kalten were leading them across the meadow that

sloped down toward the glowing lake and the strangely alien

%town nestled un the riear ~hure. The pale Delphaeic woman

still glowed with that eerie light. The radiance surrounding her

seemed to Sparhawk's heightened senses to be almost a kind of

aura, a mark more of a special kind of grace' rather than a loathsome

contamination.

'It's all one building, did you notice that?' Talen was saying

to his brother. 'It looks like any other city from a distance, but

when you get closer, you start to see that the houses are all

connected together.'

Khalad grunted. 'It's a stupid idea,' he said. 'A fire could burn

out the whole town."

'The buildings are made of stone. They won't burn.'

'But the roofs are thatch, and thatch will burn. It's a bad idea.'

Delphaeus had no separate wall as such. The outermost

houses, all interconnected, turned their backs to the world, facing

inward with their windowless rear walls presented to the

outside. Sparhawk and the others followed Xanetia through a

large, deep archway into the city. There was a peculiar fragrance

about Delphaeus, a scent of new-mown hay. The streets were

narrow and twisting, and they frequently ran through the buildings,

passing under heavy arches into vaulted corridors which

emerged again on the far side. As Talen had noted, Delphaeus

was all one building, and what would have been called streets

in another town were simply unroofed hallways here.

The citizens did not avoid them, but they made no particular

effort to approach. Like pale ghosts they drifted through the

shadowy maze.

'No torches,' Berit noted, looking around.

'No need,' Ulath grunted.

'Truly,' the young knight agreed. 'Notice how it changes the

smell of the place? Even Chyrellos always reeks of burning pitch

eVeN in the daytime. It's a little strange to be in a city that

doesn't have that greasy smoke clinging to everything.'

'I don't think the world at large is ready for self-illuminating

people yet, Berit. It's an idea that probably won't catch on particularly

in view of the drawbacks attached to it.'

'Where 'are we going, Lady?' Kalten asked the pale, glowing

woman at his side. Kalten's situation was a peculiar one.

He guarded and protected Xanetia. He was solicitous about her

comfort and well-being. He would, however, be the one who

would kill her at the first sign of hostility from her people.

'We go to the quarters of the Anari,' Xanetia replied. 'It is he

who must place our proposal before Anakha. Anakha holds the

keys to Bhelliom, and only he can command it.'

'You could have saved the rest of us a lot of trouble and made

this trip alone, Sparhawk,' Talen said lightly.

'Maybe, but it's always nice to have company. Besides, if you

hadn't come along, you'd have missed all the fun. Look at how

entertaining it was to jump off that cliff and lounge around in midair

with about a thousand feet of absolute emptiness under you.'

'I've been trying very hard to forget about that, my Lord,' the

boy replied with a pained expression.

They dismounted in one of those vaulted corridors near

the center of the city, and turned their horses over to several young

Delphae. The young men looked to Sparhawk like goatherds

who had been pressed into service as stable-boys. Then they

followed the glowing woman to a dark-stained door, worn with

centuries of use. Sparhawk, still in the grip of that emotionless

calm, looked rather carefully at Xanetia. She was not much

bigger than Sephrenia, and, although she was clearly a woman

and quite an attractive one, that fact somehow had no meaning.

Xanetia's gender seemed irrelevant. She opened the worn door

and led them into a hallway with deeply inset doorways piercing

the walls at widely spaced intervals. The hallway was lighted

by glass globes hanging on long chains from the vaulted ceiling,

globes filled with a glowing liquid - water' drawn from the lake,

Sparhawk surmised.

At the far end of the corridor, Xanetia paused in front of one

of the doors, and her eyes grew distant for a moment. 'Codon

bids us to enter,' she said after a brief pause. She opened the

door, and with Kalten close behind her, she led them into the

chambers beyond. 'The hall of Codon, Anari of the Delphai."

she told them in that peculiarly echoing voice that seemed to be

one of the characteristics of her race.

Three worn stone steps led down into the central chamber, a

tidy room with vaulted ceilings supported by low, heavy arches.

The slightly inwardly curving walls were covered with white

plaster, and the low, heavy furniture was upholstered with

%nowyr JamL)'s-vvool. A small fire burned in an arched fireplace

at the far end of the room, and more of those glowing globes

hung from the ceiling.

Sparhawk felt like a crude, barbaric intruder here. Codon's

home reflected a gentle, saintly nature, and the big Pandion was

accutely cOnscious of his chain-mail shirt and the heavy broadsword

belted at his waist. He felt bulky and out of place, and

his companions, wrapped in steel and leather and rough, gray

cloth, seemed to loom around him like the crude monoliths of

an ancient and primitive culture.

A very old man entered from the far side of the room. He was

frail and bent, and his shuffling steps were aided by a long staff.

his hair was wispy and snowy-white, in his case the mark of

extreme age rather than a racial characteristic. In addition to his

unbleached wool robe he wore a kind of shawl about his thin

shoulders.

Xanetia went to him immediately, touching his wrinkled old

face with a gentle hand. Her eyes were full of concern for him,

but she did not speak.

'Well met, Sir Knights,' the old man greeted them. He spoke

in only slightly accented Elenic, and his voice sounded thin and

rusty as if he seldom had occasion to speak at all. 'And welcome

to thee as well, dear sister,' he added, speaking to Sephrenia in

nearly flawless, though archaic, Styric.

'I am not your sister, old man,' she said, her face cold.

'We are all brothers and sisters, Sephrenia of Ylara, High

priestess of Aphrael. Our kinship lies in our common humanity.'

'That may have been true once, Delphae,' she replied in a voice

like ice, 'but you and your accursed race are no longer human.'

He sighed. 'Perhaps not. It is hard to say precisely what we

are - or what we shall become. Put aside thine enmity, Sephrenia

of Ylara. Thou wilt come to no harm in this place, and for once,

our purposes merge into one. Thou wouldst set us apart from

the rest of mankind, and that is now also our desire. May we

not join our efforts to achieve this end?'

She turned her back on him.

Itagne, ever the diplomat, stepped in to fill the awkward gap.

Codon, I presume?' he said urbanely.

The old man nodded.

'I find Delphaeus puzzling, revered one, I must confess it. We

Tamuls know virtually nothing about your people, and yet the

Delphae have been central to a grossly affected genre in our

literature. I've always felt that this so-called "Delphaeic literature"

had been spun out of whole cloth by' third-rate poets with

diseased imaginations. Now I come to Delphaeus and find that

all manner of things I had believed to be literary conceits have

more than a little basis in fact.' Itagne was smooth, there was no

question about that. His assertion that he was even more clever

than his brother, the Foreign Minister, was probably quite true.

The Anari smiled faintly. 'We did what we could, Itagne of

Matherion. I will grant thee that the verse is execrable and the

sentimentality appalling, but "Xadane" did serve the purpose

for which it was created. It softened and turned aside certain of

the antagonisms the Styrics had planted in your society. The

Tamuls control the Atans, and we did not wish a confrontation

with our towering neighbors. I cringe to confess it to thee, but

I myself played no small part in the composition of "Xadane". '

Itagne blinked. 'Codon, are we talking about the same poem?

The "Xadane" I studied as a schoolboy was written about seven

hundred years ago.'

'Has it been so long? Where do the years go? I did enjoy my

stay in fire-domed Matherion. The university was stimulating.'

Itagne was too well trained to show his astonishment. 'Your

features are Tamul, Codon, but didn't your coloration seem odd?'

'Ye Tamuls are far too civilized to make an issue of deformity.

My racial characteristics were simply taken to mean that I was

an albino. The condition is not unheard of. I had a colleague a

Styric - who had a club-foot. Rather surprisingly, we got on

well together. I note from thy speech that contemporary Tamul

hath changed from what it was when I was last among thy

people. That would make it difficult for me to return to

Matherion. Please accept my apologies for "Xadane". It is truly

abominable, but as I say, it served its purpose.'

'I should have known,' Sephrenia cut in. 'The whole body of

Delphaeic literature was created with the sole purpose of

fostering a climate of anti-Styric bigotry.'

'And what was the purpose of the eons of outright falsehood

with which ye Styrics deceived the Tamuls?' Codon demanded.

'Was the design not precisely the same? Did you not seek to

instil the idea in the Tamul perception that the Delphae are

sub-human?'

Sephrenia ignored the question. 'Does your hatred of us run

so deep that you would contaminate the understanding of an

entire race?'

'And how deeply doth thy hatred run, Sephrenia of Ylara? Art

thou not even now attempting to poison the minds of these

simple Elenes against us?' The Anari sank into a cushioned chair,

passing one weary hand across his face. 'Our mutual hatreds

have gone, methinks, too far to be healed. Better far that we live

apart. And that doth bring us to 'the issue which hath brought us

together. It is our wish to be apart from all others.'

'Because you're so much better than the rest of us?'

Sephrenia's tone was thick with contempt.

'Not better, Priestess, only different. We will leave that puffed-up

sense of superiority to thy race.'

'if you two want to renew a few eons-old hatreds, I think the

rest of us would prefer not to sit through it,' Vanion said coolly.

'You both seem quite able to manage without our help.'

'You don't know what they've done, Vanion,' Sephrenia said

with a mute appeal in her eyes.

'Frankly, dear, I'm not really interested in what happened

several thousand years ago. If you want to chew old soup, please

do it on your own time.' Vanion looked at the ancient Delphae.

'I believe you had some kind of an exchange in mind, Codon.

We'd love to sit around and watch you and Sephrenia slice each

other into thin strips, but we're a little pressed for time. Affairs

of state, you understand.'

Even Sparhawk choked a bit on that.

'Thou art very blunt, Lord Vanion,' Codon said in a coldly

reproving tone.

'I'm a soldier, revered Anari. A conversation made up of spiteful

little insults bores me. If you and Sephrenia really want to

fight, use axes.'

'Have you had many occasions to deal with Elenes, revered

Anari?' Itagne asked in an unruffled manner.

'Almost none.'

'You might consider offering up a few prayers of thanksgiving

for that. The Elenes have this distressing tendency to get right

to the point. It's dreadfully uncivilized, of course, but it does

save time. I believe you wanted to address your proposal to

Anakha. That's him right there. I should probably warn you

that Lord Vanion is the absolute soul of finesse when compared

to Sparhawk, but Sparhawk is Anakha, so sooner or later you're

going to have to deal with him.'

'Since we've all decided to be unpleasant this evening, I don't

think we'll get very far,' Sparhawk said. 'Why don't you tell me

what you want, Codon, and what you're prepared to offer in

return? I'll think it over tonight, and then we can talk about it

tomorrow, after we've all had time to get a firmer grip on our

civility.'

'A wise course, perhaps, Anakha,' the old man agreed. 'There

is turmoil afoot in Tamuli.'

'Yes. We've noticed that.'

'The turmoil is not directed at the Empire, Anakha, but at thee.

Thou wert lured here because thou hast the keys to Bhelliom.

Thine enemies covet the jewel.'

'We know that too. I don't really need a preamble, Codon.

What's the point of this?'

'We will aid thee in thy struggle, and I do assure thee that

without our aid, thou canst not prevail.'

'You'll have to convince me of that, but we can talk about it

some other time. What do you want in return?'

'We would have thee take up Bhelliom and seal us in this valley.'

'That's all?'

'That is all we ask. Put us beyond the reach of all others, and

put all others beyond our reach. All will be served by this Elene

and Tamul, Styric and Delphae. Use the infinite power of

Bhelliom to set us apart from the rest of mankind so that we

may continue our journey undisturbed.'

"Journey?'

'A figure of speech, Anakha. Our journey is measured in generations,

not in leagues.'

'An even exchange, then? You'll help us to deal with our

enemies if I close off this valley so that no one can ever get in

or out?'

'An even exchange, Anakha.'

'All right. I'll think about it.'

"She won't talk to me about it, Sparhawk,' Vanion sighed, 'or

about anything else, for that matter.' The silvery-haired Preceptor

and his friend were speaking privately in a small room just

off the corridor that led to the cluster of tiny, cell-like rooms

where they had spent the night.

You were just a bit blunt last night,' Sparhawk told him.

'Irrational 'behavior irritates me. I wish Aphrael were here

She could straighten Sephrenia out in fairly short order.'

Sparhawk slid lower in his chair. 'I'm not so sure, Vanion. I

don't know if I'm supposed to tell you this, but I get the feeling

that Aphrael wouldn't interfere. Before she left, she told me that

Sephrenia has to work this out for herself.'

'Could Itagne shed any light on this antagonism between the

Styrics and the Delphae?'.

Sparhawk shook his head. 'No more than he's already told

us. The whole business seems to date back to the time of the

war with the Cyrgai. That was about ten thousand years ago,

so history's a little vague about what really happened. Evidently

the Styrics and the Delphae were allies, and there seems to have

been a betrayal of some sort.'

'i gathered as much. Can Itagne make any guesses about who

was betrayed?'

'No. The Styrics have made themselves useful to the Tamuls

over the centuries - in much the same way as they made themselves

useful to the Church in Eosia. They've been busy insinuating

their version of what happened into the Tamul perception

of history. From what Codon told us last night, I'd say that

the Delphae have infiltrated the University of Matherion and

inserted Delphaeic literature into the Tamul culture with precisely

the same idea. The events of ten thousand years ago are

going to be buried under a thick layer of myth and legend anyway,

and with both the Styrics and the Delphae busily muddying

up the waters, the real truth probably won't ever come out

into the open.' He smiled faintly. 'I'm not sure how significant

it is, but the Styrics tried to contaminate the historians, while

the Delphae spent their time trying to contaminate the poets.

Interesting contrast, wouldn't you say?'

'Aphrael would know the truth.'

'Probably, but she's not talking. I know her well enough to

know that her silence is deliberate. I don't think she really wants

us to know who was originally at fault. She doesn't seem to

want us to take sides for some reason, and that puts us in a

very difficult position. I don't think we'll ever find out the truth

behind this racial antagonism - not that it really matters. I doubt

if Sephrenia or the Anari themselves even know. They've both

had the benefit of about four hundred generations of hysterical

propaganda to set their prejudices in stone. Our problem is that

the Delphae can probably hold us here indefinitely. If we try to

ride away, they'll just turn us around and lead us right back, so

eventually we're going to have to negotiate with them. We all

love Sephrenia, though, so if we do negotiate with the Delphae,

she'll take fire spontaneously.'

'Yes, I noticed that. What am I going to do, Sparhawk? I bleed

when she so much as pricks her finger.'

'Lie to her,' Sparhawk shrugged.

'Sparhawk.!'

'You don't have to be too obvious about it, but lean your

neutrality slightly in her direction. I'm~ the one in charge of Bhelliom,

so Codon's going to have to deal with me. Technically,

you're secondary here - sorry, Vanion, but it's true. Codon's

going to be negotiating with me, not you. Glare at me now and

then and raise objections. Sephrenia's behaving irrationally, so

the others, like good, logical Elenes, are going to oppose her.

Let's not isolate her entirely. You're the most important person

in her life, and if you seem to be turning against her as well,

you'll break her heart.' He smiled a bit wryly. 'I'd take it as a

personal favor, though, if you didn't let her turn me into a toad

about midway through the negotiations.

'Let's go back a step or two, revered Anari,' Sparhawk suggested

when they had gathered again in the large, sunken room. 'i

need to know exactly what I'm getting involved in here. I'm not

going to do anything to injure the Styrics. They're sometimes a

prickly and difficult people, but we've grown fond of them for

some reason.' He smiled at Sephrenia, hoping to soften her

displeasure. 'You mentioned a journey of some sort. I get the

feeling that this journey might be central to our discussion.

Where are you going?'

'We are changing, Anakha. When the world turned against

us, we appealed to Edaemus to protect us.'

'Your God?'

The Anari nodded. 'We were a child-like, unsophisticated

people before the war with the Cyrgai, and Edaemus lived

among us, sharing our simple joys and transient sorrows. Of all

the people of this world, we were the least suited for war.' The

old man looked at Sephrenia. 'I will not offend thy teacher by

speaking the truth about what led to our being made outcast.

'The truth is well known,' Sephrenia said stiffly.

'Yes, it is, but thy truth is quite different from our's. You believe

that one thing happened, and we believe that something else

took place. But that, Sephrenia of Ylara, is between us, and it

doth not concern these Elenes. In truth, Lady, neither Styric

nor Delphae were very admirable in that unfortunate affair. For

whatever cause, Anakha, the Delphae were cast out, and the

hands of all men were turned against us. We appealed, 'as I said,

to Edaemus, and he responded by laying a curse on us."

'This Edaemus of yours has a peculiar way of showing his

affection,' Ulath noted.

'It was the only way to protect us, Sir Knight. We are not

warlike and have no skill with the weapons with which other

men kill each other, and so Edaemus cursed us to make our

merest touch a weapon. Other men soon found that the touch

of our hands meant death.'

'Then why am I still here, Codon?' Kalten asked. 'I've been

helping Xanetia on and off her horse for several days now, and

her touch hasn't killed me.'

'We have learned to control the curse, Sir Kalten. That was a

part of the plan of Edaemus when he raised his hand against

our lake.'

'The lake?'

The Anari nodded. 'Edaemus could not bear the thought of

laying his curse upon us directly, and so he cursed the waters

of the lake instead. The lake is our only source of water, and

we therefore must drink of it. When first we came to this valley,

the mind of Edaemus was as child-like as ours. In the spirit of

play gave he the waters of the lake that peculiar essence which

doth illuminate us. We drink of the lake, and its waters infuse

our bodies. Out of love did Edaemus make us appear like Gods.

It was a harmless entertainment, and we soon forgave him for

so altering us. When the world turned against us, however, did

Edaemus curse the lake, and its infusing waters, changed by

that curse, changed us as well. The touch of death which doth

hold our enemies at bay is but a small part of the design of our

God, however. Circumstance hath set us apart from this world,

and it is the intent of Edaemus to set us yet further apart. We

are changing, my friends. Our bodies are different, and our

minds and spirits as well. We are no longer as ye - nor as once

we were. With each generation this inexorable change progresses.

Xanetia, dear, gentle Xanetia, so far surpasseth me that

I cannot even begin to comprehend the extent of her thought.

In time, methinks, she will' equal - or even surpass - the very

Gods themselves.'

'And then you will supplant us,' Sephrenia accused. 'Even as

the Trolls supplanted the Dawn-men and as we are supplanting

the Trolls, so will you despised Delphae become our masters,

putting aside our Gods and kenneling us like dogs in uninhabitable

wastelands while you enjoy the fruits of the earth. We Styrics

have endured such treatment at the hands of the Elenes for

eons, and we have learned much. You will not so easily subdue

us, Codon, and we will not worship you nor fawn at your feet

like whipped dogs.'

'How may we supplant thee and seize thy lands, Sephrenia

of Ylara? We are bound to our lake and may not long be away

from its waters. Thy submission, moreover, would have no'

meaning for us, for we will not be here. We journey toward the

light, and we will become light. My Xanetia, who will be Anarae,

could join with the light even now, but those of us who have

not yet reached her perfection hold her back. When we are dead

there will no longer be any reason for her to remain, and she

will lead the Delphae out to dwell among the stars with

Edaemus, who hath gone before us to prepare our home.'

'Where you will be Gods,' Sephrenia added with a spiteful

sneer.

'That is a word without meaning, Sephrenia of Ylara,' Xanetia

said quietly. 'All of us, Gods and men, move toward the same

goal. Edaemus hath gone before us, and we will go before thee.

We will await thy coming with love, and we will even forgive

thee for the wrong that thou hast done us.'

'Forgive me?' Sephrenia exploded. 'I spurn thy condescending

forgiveness!' She had lapsed, probably without realizing it, into

archaic Styric. 'I will never forgive thee nor accept any of thy

forgiveness. '

'But thou wilt, Sephrenia,' the glowing woman disagreed.

'Even now is thine heart doubtful within thy breast. Thou art of

two minds, gentle Sephrenia. I know thee well, and I know that

this hatred of thine, like winter frost, doth lurk in the dark, shaded

places of thy soul. I do assure thee that it will melt in the warm

sun of thy loving nature - even as mine own hatred doth even

now begin its painful thaw. But make no mistake, Sephrenia of

Ylara, I do hate Styrics even as thou hatest the Delphae. An hundred

centuries of enmity is not lightly cast aside. I do hate'the perfidious

Styrics, but I do not hate thee. I know thine heart, dear

sister, for it is even as mine own. In time will we both put aside

this childish hatred and live together in peace.'

'Never.'

'Never, dear sister, is a long, long time.'

'i think we're getting a little far afield here,' Sparhawk cut

in. 'This sealing up of the valley isn't intended to be eternal, I

gather?'

There would be no need of that, Anakha,' the Anari replied.

'Once we are gone, Edaemus will lift his curse from the lake,

its waters will return to normal, and other men may freely come

to this valley without fear.'

'I should probably tell you that if I seal the valley with Bhelliom,

I will seal it. I can absolutely guarantee you that no Delphae

will ever leave. If you're going to turn into moonbeams or sunlight,

that won't inconvenience you, but if you've got some other

notion hidden away, you might as well forget it. And if this

Edaemus of yours has a secret agenda involving some sort of

retaliation against the Styrics, you'd better tell him to drop it.

Bhelliom eats Gods for breakfast - as Azash found out. Do you

Still want me to seal your valley?'

'Yes,' Codon replied without hesitation.

-'How about you, Sephrenia?' Sparhawk asked. 'Would that

kind of guarantee satisfy you?'

'They'll try trickery, Sparhawk. They're a deceitful race.'

'You know the Bhelliom, Sephrenia - probably even better

than I do. Do you really think anybody - man or God - could

trick it? If I tell it to keep the Delphae in and everybody else

out, nobody's going to cross the line - not you, not me, not

Aphrael, not Edaemus - not even the God of the Elenes. Even

if all the Gods of this world and of all their worlds combined,

Bhelliom would still keep them out. If I seal this valley, it will

Stay sealed. Even the birds and angleworms won't be able to

leave. Will that satisfy you?'

She refused to look at him.

'I need an answer, little mother, and I'd rather not have to

wait all year to get it. Will it satisfy you?'

'You're hateful, Sparhawk!'

'I've got a lot on my mind just now. Think it over and let me

know what you decide.' He turned to face the Anari. 'All right,

now I know what you want. The next question is what's in it

for me? What do I get out of this arrangement?'

'Our assistance in thy struggle with thine enemies, Anakha.

'That's a little unspecific, Codon. I've got the Bhelliom. what

can you possibly do for me that I can't do for myself?'

'Thou must have the cooperation of the jewel, Anakha. Thou

canst compel the stone, but it loves thee not, and it doth sometimes

deliberately misunderstand thee - as when it took thee

and the Child Goddess to Demos when thou sought to go to

Delo in Arjuna.'

'How did you know about that?' Sparhawk was startled.

'Thy mind is open to me, Anakha, as are all minds. This is

but one of the services we can offer thee. Would it not be to

thine advantage to know what those about thee are thinking?'

'It would indeed, Codon, but there are other ways to wrest

the truth from men's hearts.'

'But men who have been put to the torture know that they

have been tortured, and they know what they have revealed

unto thee. Our way is more subtle.'

'He's got a point there, Sparhawk,' Kalten said. 'What am I

thinking right now, Codon?'

'Thou art troubled by the duty to slay Xanetia should our

people play thee false, Sir Knight. Thy mind is gently inclined

toward her.'

'He's right about that,' Kalten admitted to the others. 'I think

these people can hear what others are thinking.'

'We have other capabilities as well, Sir Knights,' the Anari

told them, 'and we freely offer them to thee in exchange for

what we ask.' He looked rather sadly at Sephrenia. 'I fear that

when I reveal the nature of these capabilities, it will cause thee

pain and harden thine heart yet more toward us, dear sister.'

'Will you stop calling me that? My heart is already like granite

toward you and your kind.'

'That is not true, Sephrenia of Ylara,' Xanetia disagreed. 'Thou

art troubled forasmuch as thou hast found no wickedness in us

in this, thy first meeting with our kind. Hard put art thou to

maintain an hatred which groweth more from thy sense of duty

to thy kindred than from any personal rancor. I do freely confess

mine own similarly troubled state. I am inclined to love thee,

even as thou art so inclined toward me.

'Stop that!' SePhrenia burst out. 'KeeP your unclean hands

out of my thoughts.'

"Stubborn, isn't she?' Ulath murmured.

'It is the nature of the Younger Gods of Styricum to protect

their children - even from their own folly,' the Anari noted.

'Thus it is that the Styrics must appeal to their Gods with spells

and prayers for aid when they would step beyond the powers

of other men. Is it not so, Sephrenia of Ylara?'

She refused to answer him.

'That's the core of Styric magic, Codon,' Vanion replied for her.

She glared at him, and Sparhawk silently groaned. Why

couldn't Vanion keep his mouth shut?

The Anari nodded. 'Edaemus hath, as I say, gone before us

to prepare the way, and he is therefore no longer able to watch

over us. Thus hath he granted certain of us the power to do

what must be done without his guidance.'

'Unrestrained magic?' Sephrenia exclaimed. 'You hold the

power of the Gods in your own hands with no restraints?'

"Some few of us, yes.'

'That's monstrous! The human mind isn't capable of understanding

the nature of that kind of power. We can't grasp the

consequences of unleashing it to satisfy our childish whims.'

'Thy Goddess hath instructed thee well, Sephrenia of Ylara,'

Xanetia noted. 'This is what she wishes thee to believe.'

'Thy Goddess would keep thee a child, dear sister,' the Anari

said. 'For so long as thou art a child, she is secure in thy love.

I tell thee truly, however, Edaemus doth love us even as thine

Aphrael doth love thee. His love, however, doth compel us to

grow. He hath placed his power in our hands, and we must

accept the consequences of our acts when we bring it to bear.

It is a different kind of love, but it is love nonetheless. Edaemus

is no longer here to guide us, so we can do whatever our minds

are able to conceive.' The Anari smiled gently. 'Forgive me, my

friends,' he said to them, 'but one as old as I hath but one

peculiar interest.' He held up one withered old hand and looked

at it rather sadly. 'How soon are we altered by the passing of

years, and how distressing is the alteration.'

The change seemed gradual, but considering the staggering

nature of that change, what was happening before their eyes was

nearly miraculous. The withered hand grew more firm-fleshed,

the knobby joints smoothed, and the wrinkles faded. It was not

only the hand, however. The tracery of wrinkles and lines on

Codon's face seemed to slide away. His hollow cheeks filled out,

and his thin, wispy hair grew fuller, more abundant. They stared

at him as, with no apparent effort, he reversed the erosion of

years. He regressed to vigorous youth, his skin clear and his hands

and face firm and unmarked. Then, he began to diminish, his

limbs shrinking inside his garments. The prickly stubble vanished

from his cheeks and chin, and, as he continued to regress, hiS

head seemed to grow larger in proportion to his shrinking body.

'That might be far enough,' he said in a piping, childish voice. He

smiled, a strangely ancient smile which looked very much out of

place on that little boy's face. 'A miscalculation here might reduce

me to nothing. In truth, I have considered that, but my tasks and

responsibilities are not yet completed. Xanetia has her own tasks,

and I would not yet burden her with mine as well.'

Sparhawk swallowed hard. 'I think you've made your point,

Codon,' he said in a strained voice. 'We'll accept the fact that

you can do things that we can't do.' He looked around at his

friends. 'I can already see arguments brewing,' he told them,

deliberately avoiding Sephrenia's eyes, 'and no matter what we

decide, we'll probably all have serious doubts about it.'

'We could pray,' Bevier suggested.

'Or roll dice and let them decide,' Ulath added.

'Not with your dice, we couldn't,' Kalten objected.

'We could even fall back on logic,' Vanion concluded, 'but

Sparhawk's right. No matter how we try to decide, we could

probably sit here all winter and still not agree.' he also avoided

Sephrenia's eyes.

'All right, then,' Sparhawk said, reaching inside his tunic,

'since Aphrael's not here to bully us into agreement, we'll let

Bhelliom decide.' He took out the golden box and set it on the

table in front of him.

'Sparhawk.' Sephrenia gasped.

'No, Anakha!' Xanetia also exclaimed.

'Bhelliom doesn't love any of us,' he said, 'so we can sort

of rely on its neutrality. We need guidance here, and neither Edaemus nor

Aphrael is around to provide it - besides which,

I don't know that I'd trust either of them anyway, given the

peculiar circumstances here. We want an uncontaminated

opinion, so why don't we just find out what Bhelliom thinks

about the situation?

CHAPTER 15

'Blue Rose,' Sparhawk said in Trollish to the glowing jewel in

his hands, "I am Anakha. Do you know me?'

Bhelliom's glow pulsed slightly, and Sparhawk could sense

the stone's stiff reluctance to acknowledge his dominion. Then

he thought of something. 'You and I need to talk,' he said,

speaking in Elenic this time, 'and I don't think Khwaj and the

others need to be listening. Can you understand me when I

speak in this fashion?'

There was the faintest hint of curiosity in the pulse this time.

'Good. Is there some way you can talk to me? There's something

you and I have to decide. This is too important for me to

simply force you to do what I want, because I could be wrong.

I know you're none too fond of me - or of any creature on this

particular world - but I think that we may have some common

interest this time.'

'Let me go.' The voice was a kind of lingering whisper, but it

was familiar.

Sparhawk whirled round to stare at Kalten. His boyhood

friend's face was wooden, uncomprehending, and the words

came stiffly from his lips. 'Why hast thou done this thing,

Anakha? Why hast thou enslaved me?' The archaic Elenic could

not have come from Kalten, but why had Bhelliom chosen this

most unlikely mouth?

Sparhawk carefully readjusted his thoughts, casting them in

the profoundly formal language with which the stone had

addressed him; and in the instant of that changeover, perception

and understanding came. It somehow seemed that knowledge

had lain dormant in his mind until unlocked by this peculiar'

key. Strangely, his understanding had been bound up in language,

and once he made the conscious shift from contemporary

Elenic with all its casual imprecision to more stately and concise

cadences, that previously closed part of his mind opened. "It was

not I who enslaved thee, Blue Rose. It was thine own inattention

that brought thee into such perilous proximity to the red of iron

which congealed thee into thy present state, and it was Ghwerig

who lifted thee from the earth and contorted thee into this similitude

of a flower with his cruel diamond implements.'

A stifled groan came from Kalten's lips, a groan of pain

endured and pain remembered.

"I am Anakha, Blue Rose,' Sparhawk continued. "I am thy

creature. It is thou who hast caused me to be, that I might be

the instrument of thy liberation, and I will not betray thy trust

in me. I am in some part made of thy thought, and I am therefore

thy servant. It is thou who hast enslaved me. Didst thou not set

my destiny apart, making me a stranger to the Gods of this

world and to all other men? But, though I am thine enslaved

servant, I am, nonetheless, still of this world, and I will not have

it destroyed nor its people crushed by the vile oppression of

mine enemies. I did free thee from the enslavement of Ghwerig,

did I not? is this not in some small measure proof of my fidelity

to the task which thou hast lain upon me? And, bound together

in common purpose, did we not destroy Azash, who would

have chained us both in a slavery harsher than that which now

chains us together? For mistake me not, Blue Rose, even as thou

art my slave, so am I thine, and once again the chain which binds

us together is common purpose, and neither shall be free until

that purpose be accomplished. Then shalt thou, and then shall

I, be free to go our separate ways - I to remain, and thou to

go, an it please thee, to continue thine interrupted and endless

journey to the farthest star.'

'Thou hast learned well, Anakha,' Bhelliom said grudgingly,

'but thine understanding of thy situation did never obtrude itself

upon thy conscious thought where I could perceive it. I had

despaired, thinking that I had wrought amiss.'

Sephrenia was staring at them, first at Sparhawk and then at

the seemingly comatose Kalten, and her pale, flawless face was

filled with something very like chagrin. Xanetia stared also, and

her expression was no less chagrined. Sparhawk took a fleeting

satisfaction in that. The two were very much alike in their perhaps

unconscious assumption of condescending superiority.

Sparhawk's sudden, unexpected awareness of things long conceiled

in his understanding had shaken that irritating smugness

of theirs. For the first time in his life he consciously knew that

he was Anakha, and more importantly, he knew the meaning

of Anakha in ways neither Sephrenia nor Xanetia could ever

begin to comprehend. He had stepped around them to reach

Bhelliom, and in joining his thought with Bhelliom's, he had to

some degree shared Bhelliom's awareness, and that was something

neither of them could ever do.

'Thou hast not wrought amiss, Blue Rose,' he told the jewel.

'Thine error lay in casting thy thought in this particular speech.

Mine understanding was also cast so, and it did not reveal itself

to me until I responded to thy words in kind. Now, let us to work

Withal. Mine enemies are also thine, forasmuch as they would

bind thee even as they would bind me. Neither of us shall be secure

in our freedom until they are no more. Are we agreed upon that?

'Thy reasoning is sound, Anakha.'

'Our purpose then is the same?'

'So it would seem.'

'We're making some headway here,' Sparhawk murmured.

Kalten's expression became coldly disapproving.

'Sorry,' Sparhawk apologized, 'force of habit, I suppose.

Reason doth urge that since our enemies and our purpose are

common, and that since our thoughts are linked by this chain

of thy forging, we must join our efforts in this cause. In victory

shall we be freed. Our enemies and our common purpose shall

be no more, and the chain which links us will fall away. I do

pledge it to thee that upon the completion of this task I will free

thee to continue thy work. My life is surely within thy fist, and

thou mayest destroy me if I play thee false. '

"I find no falsity in thy thought, Anakha, and I will strengthen

thine arm and harden thine heart, lest others, beloved by thee,

seek to turn thee aside from thy design and thy pledge. We are

agreed.'

'Done, then." Sparhawk was exultant.

'And done.' Bhelliom's speech, emerging from Kalten's lips

had been dry and unemotional, but this time the voice was also

exultant.

'And now to this decision which thou and I must make

together.'

'Sparhawk...' Sephrenia's tone was uncertain.

'i'm sorry, little mother,' he said, 'i'm not talking with you at

the moment. Please don't interrupt.' Sparhawk was not entirely

sure whether he should address his question to the Sapphire

Rose or to Kalten, who seemed to have been completely taken

over by the spirit within the jewel. He settled for directing his

question somewhere between them. 'The Delphae have offered

their assistance in exchange for a certain service,' he said. 'They

would have us seal their valley that none may enter and none

may leave, and in recompense for that small favor they promise

to aid us. Is their offer made in good faith?' Sparhawk heard

Xanetia's sharp intake of breath.

"It is,' Bhelliom replied. 'There is no falsity in their offer.'

"I didn't think so myself, but I wanted to be sure.'

'Anakha.' The voice was firm. 'When thou speakest so, thy

mind is concealed from me. Our alliance is new and unfamiliar.

It is not wise of thee to raise doubts in me by compressing thy

words together so.'

Sparhawk suddenly laughed. 'Forgive my lapse, Blue Rose,'

he said. 'We can trust the Delphae, then?"

'For the moment, yes. Their intent is presently without guile.

It is uncertain what it will be tomorrow. Thy kind is inconstant,

Anakha.' Kalten's voice hesitated briefly. "I say that not as criticism,

merely as observation. For the presence mayest thou put thy

trust in their sincerity - and they in thine. What may come

subsequently lieth in the hands of chance.'

'Then there is such a thing as chance?' Sparhawk was a bit

surprised at that. 'We are told that all things are pre-determined

by the Gods.'

'Whosoever told thee so was in error.'

Bevier gasped.

'My journey and my task were interrupted by chance,'

Bhelliom continued. 'if my course may be turned aside,

might not thine as well? Truly I tell thee, Anakha, we must

join with the Delphae in this enterprise, for if we do not,

we shall surely fail. Whether one or both play the other false

will depend on circumstance. At this time, the hearts of the

Delphae are pure; that may change. At this time, thine heart is

also pure, that may also change. but will we, nil we, we must

join with them, lest we fail and languish forever in vilest

bondage.'

'You heard him, Bevier,' Sephrenia was saying to the olive-skinned

Arcian later when Sparhawk quietly entered the room

where the two were deep in conversation, 'they worship the

lake - the source of the contamination that makes them outcast.'

"He did mention a God, Lady Sephrenia,' Bevier protested

mildly. "I think he called their God Edaemus - or something like

that. '

'But Edaemus has abandoned them - cursed them and then

turned his back on them.'

'Anari said that Edaemus had gone before them to prepare a

place for them.' Bevier's objection seemed even weaker. 'he said

that they were changing - turning into pure light.'

'Lies,' she snapped. 'The light that marks them is not the mark

of a blessing, Bevier, it's the mark of their curse. Codon was

cleverly trying to twist it around to make it seem that the Delphae

are turning into something holy, when the reverse is actually true.'

'They do perform magic, Sephrenia, and a kind of magic I've

never seen before. I wouldn't have believed that anyone could

return to childhood if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.'

'Exactly my point, Bevier. They're using witchcraft, not magic.

You've never seen me imitate a God, have you?'

Sparhawk stepped unobserved back out into the hallway and

went on down to the doorless cell Vanion occupied. 'We've got

a problem,' he told the Preceptor of the Pandions.

'Another one?'

'Sephrenia's trying to subvert Bevier. She's trying to convince

him that the Delphae practice witchcraft. You know Bevier. his

eyes start to bulge out any time anyone so much as mentions

the word.'

'Why won't she just leave it alone?' Vanion exclaimed, throwing

his' hands in the air. 'Wasn't Bhelliom's word good enough

for her?'

'She doesn't want to believe, Vanion,'Sparhawk sighed. 'We've

run into exactly the same thing when we've tried to convince rural

Elenes that Styrics aren't born with horns and tails.'

'She of all people should be free of that sort of thing."

'i'm afraid not, my friend. Styrics are good haters, I guess."

how do we want to handle this?'

'I'll confront her directly.'

Sparhawk winced. 'She'll turn you into a frog if you do.

Vanion smiled briefly. 'No. I lived in Sarsos, remember? A

Styric can't do anything like that without the consent of his God,

and Aphrael's sort of fond of me - I hope.'

'I'll round up the others and get them out from underfoot so

that you can speak with her privately.'

'No, Sparhawk, it has to be done in front of them. She's trying

to slip around behind us to recruit converts. They're all going

to have to be made aware of the fact that she's not to be trusted

in this particular situation.'

'Wouldn't it be a little better to talk with her privately at first?

- before you humiliate her publicly?'

Vanion shook his head stubbornly. 'We've got to meet this

head on,' he declared.

'You'd better hope that Aphrael's fond of you,' Sparhawk

murmured.

'They've reverted to total paganism,' Sephrenia said stubbornly.

'They might as well worship trees or oddly shaped rocks. They

have no creed, no doctrine and no restraints. Their use of witchcraft

proves that.' They had gathered at Vanion's summons in

a large room at the end of the hall, and Sephrenia was urgently,

even stridently, trying to make her case.

'What's the difference?' Talen shrugged. 'Magic, witchcraft,

it's all the same, isn't it?"

'Magic is of the Gods, Talen,' Bevier explained. 'Our Holy

Mother, in her wisdom, has chosen to allow the Church Knights

to learn the secrets of Styricum that we might better serve her.

There are restraints on us - certain areas we may not enter.

Witchcraft is unrestrained because it is of the evil one.'

'The Devil, you mean? I've never really believed in the Devil.

There's plenty of concentrated wickedness in people anyway,

so we can probably get along fairly well without him. I've known

some very nasty people, Bevier. '

'The existence of the Devil has been proved.'

'Not to me it hasn't.'

'Aren't we wandering a bit?' Ulath suggested. 'Does it really

matter what the Delphae worship? We've allied ourselves with

all sorts of people in the past in order to achieve this or that

goal. Bhelliom says that we have to join forces with the

Delphae, or we're going to lose. I don't like losing, so what's the

problem?'

'Bhelliom doesn't know anything about this world, Ulath,'

Sephrenia said.

'So much the better. It comes at the problem with a clear and

uncluttered understanding. If I need to jump behind a tree to

keep from being swept away by an avalanche, I'm not going to

stop to question the tree about its beliefs first.'

'Bhelliom will do or say anything in order to gain its freedom,'

Sephrenia asserted. 'That's why I was so much against using it

in the first place.'

'We have to believe Bhelliom, Sephrenia,' Vanion told her,

obviously trying to keep his irritation under control. "It doesn't

make much sense for us to trust it with our very lives and then

not believe what it tells us, does it? It has done some very useful

things for us in the past, you know."

'Only because it was compelled to, Vanion. Bhelliom submits

because it's forced to submit. I trust the Bhelliom even less than

I trust the Delphae. It's alien, totally alien, and we have no way

of knowing what it will do. We're safe only for as long as we

keep it chained and force it to obey us. The minute we begin to

listen to it, we're in great danger.'

'is that how you feel about us too, little mother?' he asked

her sadly. 'We're Elenes, and as a race we've proved time and

again that we're not to be trusted. Do you want to chain us as

well? - and force us to obey you?'

'Don't be absurd. Bhelliom's not a person.

'The Delphae are, though, aren't they?'

'No!'

'You're being illogical, Sephrenia. The Delphae are human

We don't care for the Zemochs or the Renders, but we've never

tried to pretend that they aren't human. There are a lot of Elenes

who don't like you Styrics, but we've never gone so far as to

try to deny your humanity.' He paused, then drew in a deep

breath. "I guess that's what it comes down to, love. If you're

going to deny the humanity of the Delphae, how can I be positive

that you' don't secretly feel the same way about me? I've

lived in Sarsos, and many of the Styrics there wanted to treat

me like some lower life-form. Did you agree with them? have I

been some kind of pet, Sephrenia? a dog maybe? Or a tame

ape that you kept around for your private amusements? Hang it

all, Sephrenia, this is a question of morality. If we deny anyone's

humanity, we open the door to unimaginable horror. Can't you

see that?'

'The Delphae are different. '

'Nobody's different We have to believe that, because if we don't,

we deny our own humanity as well. Why don't you understand?'

Her face was very, very pale. 'This is all very high-sounding

and noble, Vanion, but it has nothing whatsoever to do with

the Delphae. You don't know anything about what they are or

who they are so you don't really know what you're talking

about. You've always come to me for guidance in the past when

your ignorance was putting you in danger. Am I correct in

assuming that we're not going to do that any more?'

'Don't be silly.'

'i'm not. I'm being very serious. Are you going to ignore me

on this issue? Are you going to take up with these monstrous

lepers, no matter what I tell you?'

'We don't have any choice in the matter, can't you see that?

Bhelliom tells us that we're going to fail if we don't - and we can't

fail. I think the whole world's going to depend on our not failing.'

'You seem to have outgrown your need for me, then. It would

have been polite of you to have told me that before you brought

me to this accursed valley, but I suppose I was silly to expect

politeness from an Elene in the first place. As soon as we get

back to Matherion, I'll make arrangements to return to Sarsos

where I belong.'

'Sephrenia..

'No. This concludes it. I've served the Pandion order well and

faithfully for three hundred years and I thank you for your

generous payment for my years of toil. We're through Vanion.

This ends it. I hope the rest of your life will be happy, but happy

or sad, you're going to live it without me.' And she turned and

swept from the room.

"It will be very dangerous Anari,' Itagne warned, 'and Xanetia

is the most important of all your people. Is it prudent to risk

her life?'

'Truly, Itagne of Matherion,' the old man replied, 'Xanetia is

precious to us, for she will be Anarae. She is, however, the most

gifted of us and it may well be that her gifts will weight the scale

in our final confrontation with our common enemy.' Sparhawk,

Vanion and Itagne had been summoned to meet with Codon prior

to their departure from the valley of Delphaeus. It was a fine

autumn morning. A hint of frost, fast melting in the newly risen

sun, gleamed on the meadow, and the shade under the boughs

of the evergreens beyond that meadow was a deep, deep blue.

"I merely wished to point it out, Anari,' Itagne said. 'For all

its splendor, Matherion is a city filled with hidden dangers with

rough, ignorant people who will react very strongly to the

appearance of one of the Delphae in their midst. Your gentle

Xanetia is an ethereal, unworldly sort of person, hardly more

than a girl. The fact that she's a Shining One will protect her to

some degree against overt physical attack, but are you really

willing to expose her to the curses, the vituperation and all the

other kinds of abuse she's sure to encounter there at the center

of the world?'

The Anari smiled. 'Thou hast misperceived Xanetia, Itagne of

Matherion. Doth she truly seem so much a child to thee? Would

thy mind be more easy if thou wert aware that she is well past

her first century of life?'

Itagne stared at him and then at Xanetia, who sat quietly near

the window. 'You are a strange people, Anari,' he said. 'i'd have

guessed her age at no more than sixteen years.'

"It is impolite to speculate about a lady's age, Itagne of

Matherion,' the pale woman smiled.

'Forgive me, Anarae,' Itagne replied with a courtly bow.

'His Excellency here has raised a fairly important point, Anari,'

Vanion said. The Preceptor's face was still marked by the pain

of the previous day's conversation with Sephrenia. 'The lady's

appearance won't go unnoticed - not only in Matherion itself,

but along the roads we'll have to follow as we ride east as well.

Is there some way we could disguise her enough so that whole

villages won't go into absolute panic the moment she rides

by?' He looked apologetically at the Delphaeic woman. "I

wouldn't offend you for the world, Anarae, but you are very

Striking.'

"I thank thee for the compliment, gentle sir.'

'Do you want to take over, Sparhawk?' Vanion said. "I just

seem to be digging myself in deeper.'

'We're soldiers, Xanetia,' Sparhawk said bluntly, 'and our

answer to hostility is fairly direct. We can butcher our way from

here to the imperial palace in Matherion if we have to, but I get

the feeling that you might find that distressing. Would a disguise

of some kind offend you?' Then a thought came to him. 'Can

we disguise you? I don't know if you've noticed, but you glow.

Some of your people have come fairly close to us before the light

started to show. Can your internal fire be dampened?'

'We can control the light, Anakha,' Codon assured him, 'and

Xanetia, the most gifted of us all, can control it even better than

most - 'though it doth cause her pain to do so. For us, it is an

unnatural thing.'

'We'll have to work on that, then.'

'The pain is of no moment, Anakha,' Xanetia assured him.

'Not to you, perhaps, but it is to me. Let's start with your

coloration, though. Your features are Tamul, but your skin and

hair are the wrong color. What do you think, Itagne? Could she

pass for Tamul if we dyed her skin and hair?'

'That is not needful, Anakha,' Xanetia told him. Her brow furrowed

briefly in concentration, and gradually, almost like a slow

blush, a faint golden tint began to mount in her cheeks, and her

hair slipped from its colorless white into pale blonde. 'Color is a

quality of light,' she explained quite calmly, even as the embronzing

of her skin and the darkening of her hair continued, 'and since

I can control the light from within me, so can I also control' my

color - indeed, by thus altering the light rather than suppressing

it entirely, I can lessen the pain. A most happy solution for me and

for thee as well, I wot, since thou seemest sensitive to the pain

of others. This is a simple matter.' Her skin by now was almost

the same pale gold as Itagne's, and her hair was a deep, rich auburn.

'The change of shape is far more difficult,' she conceded, 'and

the change of gender more difficult still. '

'The what?' Itagne choked.

"I do not do that often - nor willingly,' she replied. 'Edaemus

did not intend for me to be a man, and I find it most uncomfortable.

A man's body is so cluttered and untidy.' She held out her

arm and examined it closely. 'The color seemeth me correct,'

she observed. Then she took a lock of her now-black hair and

looked at it. 'And this as well,' she added. 'What thinkest thou,

Itagne? Would I pass unnoticed in Matherion now?'

'Hardly, divine Xanetia,' he smiled. 'Thy passage through the

streets of fire-domed Matherion would stop the hearts of all who

beheld thee, for thou art fair, and thy beauty doth bedazzle mine

eye beyond all measure.'

'Well said,' Sparhawk murmured.

'Thine honeyed words fall sweetly upon mine ears, Itagne,'

Xanetia smiled. 'Thou art, I do believe, a master of flattery.'

'You should probably know that Itagne is a diplomat, Anarae,'

Vanion advised her, 'and his words aren't always to be trusted.

This time he's telling you the truth, though. You're an extraordinarily

beautiful woman.'

She looked at him gravely. 'Thine heart is sore within thee,

is it not, Lord Vanion?' she observed.

He sighed. "It's my 'personal problem, Anarae,' he replied.

'Not entirely so, my Lord. Now are we all of the same fellowship,

and the troubles of one are the troubles of all. But that

which troubleth thee is of far greater note and causeth us all

much greater concern than that which might grow from our

comradely feelings for thee. This breach between thy beloved

and thee doth imperil our cause, and until it be healed, our

common purpose doth stand in peril.'

They rode eastward, following a scarcely perceptible track which

seemed more like a game trail than a route normally followed

by humans. Sephrenia, accompanied by BevierE and young Berit,

rode some distance to the rear, her face set and her eyes as hard

as flint.

Sparhawk and Vanion rode in the lead, following occasional

directions from Xanetia, who rode directly behind them under

Kalten's watchful eye. 'Just give her some time, Vanion,'

Sparhawk was saying. 'Women deliver ultimatums and

declarations of war fairly often. Things like that are usually

intended to get our attention. Any time I start neglecting Ehlana',

she says something she doesn't really mean to bring me up

short.'

'i'm afraid this goes a little further than that, Sparhawk,'

Vanion replied. 'Sephrenia's a Styric, but she's never been so

totally irrational before. If we could find out what's behind this

insane hatred of hers, we might be able to do something about

it, but we've never been able to get any coherent reasons out of

her. Apparently, she hates the Delphae'simply because she hates

the Delphae.'

'Aphrael will straighten it out,' Sparhawk said confidently.

'As soon as we get back to Matherion, I'll have a talk with Danae

and...' Sparhawk broke off as a sudden thought chilled his

blood. "I have to talk with Xanetia,' he said, abruptly wheeling

Faran around.

'Trouble?' Kalten asked as Sparhawk joined them.

'Nothing immediate,' Sparhawk replied. 'Why don't you go

on ahead and ride with Vanion for a while. I need to talk with

Xanetia. '

Kalten gave him a questioning look but rode on forward without

any further questions.

'Thou art troubled, Anakha,' Xanetia observed.

'A little, yes. You know what I'm thinking, don't you?'

She nodded.

'Then you know who my daughter is?'

'Yes.'

"It's a sort of secret, Anarae. Aphrael didn't consult with my

wife when she chose her present incarnation. It's very important

that Ehlana doesn't find out. I think her sanity depends on it.'

'Thy secret is safe, Anakha, I do pledge thee my silence on

this issue.'

'What really happened, Xanetia? - between the Styrics and

the Delphae, I mean. I don't want your version or Sephrenia'S.

I want the truth.'

'Thou art not meant to know the truth, Anakha. A part of thy

task is to resolve this issue without recourse to the truth.'

'i'm an Elene, Xanetia,' he said in a pained voice. "I have to

have facts in order to make decisions.'

'Then it is thine intent to judge? - to decide if the guilt doth

condemn the Styrics or the Delphae?'

'No. My intent is to get to the bottom of Sephrenia's behavior

so that I can change her mind.'

'is she so important to thee?'

Why do you ask questions when you already know the answers?'

'My questions are intended to help thee formulate thy thought,

Anakha.'

'i'm a Pandion Knight, Xanetia. Sephrenia's been the mother

of our order for three centuries. Any one of us would give up

his life for her without any hesitation at all. We love her, but

we don't share all of her prejudices.' He leaned back in his

saddle. 'I'll only wait for so long, Xanetia. If I don't get the real

truth out of you - or out of Sephrenia - I'll just ask Bhelliom.'

Thou wouldst not!' Her now-dark eyes were filled with a sudden

chagrin.

'i'm a soldier, Xanetia, so I don't have the patience for

subtlety. You'll excuse me? I have to go talk with Sephrenia for

a moment.'

'Dirgis,' Xanetia told them as they crested a hill and saw a typical

Atan town lying in the valley below.

'Well, finally,' Vanion said, taking out his map. 'Now we know

where we are.' He looked over his map for a moment and then

squinted up at the evening sky. 'is it too late in the day for us

to take one of those long steps, Sparhawk?'

'No, my Lord,' Sparhawk replied. 'There's plenty of light.'

'Are we still concerned about that?' Ulath asked. 'Haven't you

and Bhelliom hammered that out yet?'

'We haven't been having any private chats,' Sparhawk

replied. 'There are still people out there who can locate Bhelliom

when it's out in the open, so I've been keeping it inside its little

house - just to be on the safe side.'

"It's well over three hundred leagues, Sparhawk,' Vanion

pointed out. "It's going to be later there.'

'i'm never going to get used to that,' Kalten said sourly.

"It's really very simple, Kalten,' Ulath told him. 'You see,

when the sun goes down in Matherion, it's still...'

'Please, Ulath,' Kalten told him, 'don't try to explain it to me.

It just makes things worse. When people start to explain it, I

sometimes think I can actually feel the world moving under

me. I don't like that very much. Just tell me that it's later

there, and let it go at that. I don't really need to know why

it's later.'

'He's a perfect knight,' Khalad told his brother. 'He doesn't

even want explanations.'

'Look on the bright side of it, Khalad,' Talen replied. 'After

we've gone through the wonderful training they've got planned

for us, we'll be exactly like Kalten. Think how much easier life's

going to be for us when we don't have to understand anything

at all.'

'i'd guess that it's very close to being fully dark in Matherion

by now, Sparhawk,' Vanion said. 'Maybe we'd better wait until

morning.'

'i'm not so sure,' Sparhawk disagreed. 'The time's going to

come sooner or later when we're going to have to make one of

these jumps after the sun goes down. There's nothing urgent

in the wind right now, so it's a good time for us to answer this

question once and for all.'

'Ah - Sparhawk?' Khalad said.

'Yes?'

'if you've got a question, why not ask? Now that you and

Bhelliom are on speaking terms, wouldn't it be simpler - and

safer - to just ask it first? Before you start experimenting?

Matherion's on the coast, as I recall, and I'd rather not come

down about a hundred leagues out to sea.'

Sparhawk felt just a little foolish. He took out the small golden

box and opened the lid. He paused momentarily, casting his

question in antique Elenic. "I must needs have thine advice on

a certain matter, Blue Rose,' he said.

'Say thy question, Anakha.' This time the voice came from

Khalad's lips.

'That's a relief,' Kalten said to Ulath. "I almost chewed up my

tongue with all the "thee"s and "thou"s last time.'

'Can we safely go from one place to another when the pall of

darkness hath covered the earth?' Sparhawk asked.

'There is no darkness for me, Anakha.

"I did not know that.'

'Thou hadst but to ask.'

'Yes. I do perceive that now. Mine understanding doth grow

with each passing hour. On the eastern coast of far-flung Tamuli

there doth lie a road which doth proceed southward to firedomed

Matherion.'

'Yes.'

'When my companions and I first beheld Matherion, we came

in sight of it when we did crest a long hill.'

'Yes. I share thy memory of the place.'

'Couldst thou take us there, e'en though darkness doth cover

the face of the earth?'

'Yes.'

Sparhawk started to reach into the box for his wife's ring

Then he stopped. 'We share a common purpose and thus are

comrades. It is not meet that I should compel thee and whip

thee into compliance with the power of Ghwerig's rings. Thus

I do not command thee, but request instead. Wilt thou take us

to this place we both know out of comradeship and common

purpose?'

"I will, Anakha.

CHAPTER 16

The blur that surrounded them momentarily was that same featureless

gray, no darker than it had been when Bhelliom had

transported them in daylight. Night and day appeared to be

irrelevant. Sparhawk dimly perceived that Bhelliom took them

through some different place, a colorless emptiness that

adjoined all other places - a kind of doorway to everywhere.

'You were right, my Lord,' Kalten said to Vanion, looking up

at the star-studded night sky. "It Is later here, isn't it?' He looked

sharply at Xanetia, who swayed slightly in her saddle. 'Are you

unwell, Lady?' he asked her.

"It is of no moment, Sir Knight. A slight giddiness, nothing

more. '

'You get used to it. The first few times are a little unsettling,

but that wears off.'

Khalad held out the box, and Sparhawk put Bhelliom back

inside. "I do not do this to imprison thee,' he told the jewel.

'Our enemies can sense thy presence when thou art exposed,

and this receptacle doth conceal thee from their search.'

The Bhelliom pulsed slightly in acknowledgement.

Sparhawk closed the cap over his ring, took the box from his

squire, and closed it. Then he tucked it back into its usual place

inSide his tUniC.

Matherion, ruddy with torchlight, lay below, and the pale

path of light from the newly risen moon stretched from the

horizon across the waters of the Tamul Sea to her doorstep, yet

another of the innumerable roads leading to the city the Tam'uls

called the center of the world.

'Are you open to a suggestion, Sparhawk?' Talen asked.

'You sound just like Tynian.

"I know. I'm sort of filling in for him while he's away. We've

been out of Matherion for a while, so we don't know what's

really been going on here. Suppose I slip into town and have a

look - ask a few questions, find out what we're riding into - the

usual sort of thing.'

Sparhawk nodded. 'All right,' he said.

'That's all? just "all right"? no protests? No objections? no

hour-long lectures about being careful? I'm disappointed in you,

Sparhawk.'

'Would you listen to me if I objected or delivered a lecture?'

'No, not really.'

'Why waste the time, then? You know what you're doing and

how to do it. Just don't take all night.'

Talen swung down from his horse and opened his saddlebags.

He took out a rough, patched smock and pulled it on over

his other clothes. Then he bent, rubbed his hand in the dirt of

the road, and artfully smudged his face. He stirred up his hair

and sifted a handful of straw from the roadside onto it. 'What

do you think?' he asked Sparhawk.

'You'll do.' Sparhawk shrugged.

'Spoil-sport,' Talen grumbled, climbing back on his horse.

'Khalad, come along. You can watch my horse for me while I

sniff around.'

Khalad grunted, and the two rode on down the hill.

'is the child truly so gifted?' Xanetia asked.

'He'd be offended if you called him a child, Lady,' Kalten

replied, 'and he can come closer to being invisible than anybody

I know.'

They drew back some distance from the road and waited.

It was an hour later when Talen and his brother returned.

'Things are still more or less the way they were when we left,'

the boy reported.

'No open fighting in the streets, you mean?' Ulath

laughed.

'Not yet. Things are a little hectic at the palace, though. It's

got something to do with documents of some kind. The whole

government's in an uproar. None of the people I talked with

knew all that much about it. The Church Knights and the Atans

are still in control, though, so it's safe to jump from here to the

courtyard of Ehlana's castle if we want.'

Sparhawk shook his head. 'Let's ride in. I'm sure there are

still Tamuls inside the walls, and probably half of them are spies.

Let's not give away any secrets if we don't have to. Is Sarabian

still staying in the castle?'

Talen nodded. 'Your wife's probably been teaching him a few

tricks - "roll over' "play dead", "sit up and beg" - that sort of

thing.'

'Talen.' Itagne exclaimed.

'You haven't met our queen yet, have you, your Excellency?

Talen grinned. 'i'd say that you're in for a whole new experience,

then.'

"It has to do with setting up the new filing system, my Lord,' the

young Pandion at the drawbridge explained in reply to Vanion's

question. 'We needed room to re-arrange things, so we spread

all the government files out on the lawn.'

'What if it rains?'

'That would probably simplify the job a great deal, my Lord.'

They dismounted in the courtyard and went up the broad

stairs to the ornately carved main door, paused briefly to put

on the cushioned shoes that protected the brittle floor-covering,

and went inside.

Queen Ehlana had been advised of their arrival, and she was

waiting for them at the door to the throne-room. Sparhawk's

heart caught in his throat as he looked at his lovely young wife.

'So nice of you to stop by, Sir Sparhawk,' she said tartly before

she threw her arms about his neck.

'Sorry we're so late, dear,' he apologized after they had

exchanged a brief, formal sort of kiss. 'Our travel plans got a

little skewed.' He was painfully conscious of the half-dozen or

so Tamuls lingering nearby trying to look very hard as if they

weren't listening.

'Why don't we go on upstairs, my Queen? We've got quite a bit to tell you,

and I'd like to get out of this mail-shirt before it permanently embeds

itself into my skin.'

'You are not going to wear that stinking thing into my bedroom,

Sparhawk. As I remember, the baths lie in that general

direction. Why don't you take your fragrant friends and go make

use of them? The ladies can come with me. I'll round up the

others, and we'll all meet you in the royal quarters in about an

hour. I'm sure your explanation of your tardiness will be absolutely

fascinating.'

Sparhawk felt much better after he had bathed and changed

into the conventional doublet and hose. He and his friends

trooped on up the stairs that mounted into the central tower

where the royal apartments were located.

'You're late, Sparhawk,' Mirtai said bluntly when they

reached the top of the stairs.

'Yes. My wife's already pointed that out to me. Come inside.

You'll need to hear this too.'

Ehlana and the others who had remained behind were gathered

in the large, blue-draped sitting room. Sephrenia and

Danae were conspicuously absent, however.

'Well, finally!' Emperor Sarabian said as they entered. Sparhawk

was startled by the change in the Emperor's appearance.

His hair was tied back from his face, and he wore tight-fitting

black hose and a full-sleeved linen shirt. He looked younger for

some reason, and he was holding a rapier with the kind of

familiarity that spoke of much practice. 'Now we can get on with

the business of overthrowing the government.'

'What have you been up to, Ehlana?' Sparhawk asked.

'Sarabian and I have been expanding our horizons, ' She

shrugged.

"I knew I shouldn't have stayed away so long.'

'i'm glad you brought that up. That very same thought's been

on my mind for the longest time now.'

'Why don't you just save yourself some time and unpleasantness,

Sparhawk?' Kalten suggested. 'just show her why we had

to take this little trip.'

'Good idea.' Sparhawk reached inside his doublet and took

out the unadorned gold box. 'Things were beginning to get

out of hand, Ehlana so we decided to go fetch some

reinforcements. '

"I thought that's what Tynian was doing.'

'The situation called for something a little more significant

than the Church Knights.' Sparhawk touched the band of

his ring to the lid of the box. 'Open,' he said. He kept the lid partially

closed to conceal the Fact that his wife's ring was also

inside.

'What have you done with your ring, Sparhawk?' she asked

him looking at the cover concealing the stone.

'I'll explain in a bit.' He reached in and took out the Bhelliom.

'This is why we had to leave, dear.' He held up the stone.

She stared at it, the color draining from her face. 'Sparhawk!'

she gasped.

'What a magnificent jewel!' Sarabian exclaimed, reaching his

hand out toward the Sapphire Rose.

'That might not be wise, your Majesty,' Itagne cautioned.

'That's the Bhelliom. It tolerates Sparhawk, but it might pose

some dangers to anyone else.'

'Bhelliom's a fairy-tale, Itagne.'

'I've been re-assessing my position on various fairy-tales

lately, your Majesty. Sparhawk destroyed Azash with Bhelliom

- just by touching it to him. I don't advise putting your hands

on it, my Emperor. You've shown some promise in the past few

months, and we'd sort of hate to lose you at this point.'

"Itagne!' Oscagne said sharply. 'Mind your manners!'

'We're here to advise the Emperor, brother mine, not to coddle

him. Oh, incidentally, Oscagne, when you sent me to Cynestra,

you invested me with plenipotentiary powers, didn't you? We

can check over my commission, if you like, but I'm fairly sure I

had that kind of authority - I usually do. I hope you don't mind,

old boy, but I've concluded a couple of alliances along the way.'

He paused. 'Well,' he amended, 'Sparhawk did all the real work,

but my commission put some slight stain of legality on the

business.'

'You can't do that without consulting Matherion first, Itagne,"

Oscagne's face was turning purple.

'Oh, be serious, Oscagne. All I did was seize some opportunities

which presented themselves, and I was hardly in a position

to tell Sparhawk what he could or couldn't do; now, was I? I had things

more or less under control in Cynestra when

Sparhawk and his friends dropped by. We left Cynestra,

and...'

'Details, Itagne. What did you do in Cynestra?'

Itagne sighed. 'You can be so tedious at times, Oscagne, I

found out that Ambassador Taubel was in bed with Kanzad, the

Interior Ministry's station-chief. They had King Jaluah pretty

much dancing to their tune.'

Oscagne's face went bleak. 'Taubel's defected to Interior?'

"I thought I just said that, You might want to run a quick

evaluation of your other embassies, too. Interior Minister Kolata's

been very busy. Anyway, I threw Taubel and Kanzad along

with the entire police force and most of the embassy staff

_ into a dungeon, declared martial law, and put the Atan garrison

in charge.'

'You did what.?

'I'll write you a report about it one of these days. You know

me well enough to know that I had justification.'

'You exceeded your authority, Itagne.'

'You didn't impose any limitations on me, old boy. That gave

me carte blanche. All you said was to have a look around and to

do what needed to be done, so I did.'

'How did you persuade the Atans to go along with you without

written authorization?'

Itagne shrugged. 'The commander of the Atan garrison there

is a fairly young woman - quite attractive, actually, in a muscular

sort of way. I seduced her. She was an enthusiastic seducee.

Believe me, Oscagne, she'll do absolutely anything for me.' he

paused. 'You might want to make a note of that in my file something

about my willingness to make sacrifices for the

Empire and all that. I didn't give her total free rein, though. The

dear child wanted to give me the heads of Taubel and Kanzad

as tokens of her affection, but I declined. My rooms at the university

are cluttered enough already, so I don't really have the space

for stuffed trophies on the walls. I told her to lock them up

instead and to keep a firm grip on King jaluah until Taubel's

replacement arrived. You needn't hurry with that appointment,

my brother. I have every confidence in her.'

'You've set back relations with Cynesga by twenty years,

Itagne.'

'What relations?' Itagne snorted. 'The Cynesgans respond only

to naked force, so that's what I used on them.'

'You spoke of alliances, Itagne,' Sarabian said, flicking the tip

of his rapier. 'Just exactly to whom have you committed my

undying trust and affection?'

"I was just coming to that, your Majesty. After we left Cymestra

we went on to Delphaeus. We spoke with their chieftain,

the Anari - a very old man named Codon - and he offered

his assistance. Sparhawk's going to take care of our side of the

bargain so there's no cost to the Empire involved.'

Oscagne shook his head. "It must come from our mother's

side of the family, your Majesty,' he apologized. 'There was an

aunt of hers who was always a little strange.'

What are you talking about, Oscagne?'

'My brother's obvious insanity, your Majesty. I'm told that

things like that are hereditary. Fortunately, I favor our father's

side of the family. Tell me, Itagne, are you hearing voices too?

Do you have visions of purple giraffes?'

'You can be so tiresome sometimes, Oscagne.'

'Would you tell us what happened, Sparhawk?' Sarabian

asked.

"Itagne covered it fairly well, your Majesty. I take it that you

Tamuls have some reservations about the Shining Ones?'

'No,' Oscagne said, "I wouldn't call them reservations, your

Highness. How could we have any reservations about a people

who don't exist?'

'This argument could go on all night,' Kalten said. 'Would

you mind, Lady?' he asked Xanetia, who sat quietly beside him

with her head slightly bowed. 'if you don't show them who you

are, they'll wrangle for days.'

'An it please thee, Sir Knight,' she replied.

'So formal, my dear?' Sarabian smiled. 'here in Matherion,

we only use that mode of speech at weddings, funerals, coronations

and other mournful events.'

'We have long been isolate, Emperor Sarabian,' she replied,

'and unmoved by the winds of fashion and the inconstant tides

of usage. I do assure thee that we find no inconvenience in what

must seem to thee forced archaism, for it cometh to our lips

unbidden and is our natural mode of speech - upon such rare

occasions when speech among us is even needful.'

The door at the far end of the room opened, and Princess

Danae, dragging Rollo behind her, entered quietly with Alcan

close behind her.

Xanetia's eyes widened, and her expression became awed.

'She fell asleep,' the little princess reported to her mother.

'is she all right?' Ehlana asked.

'Lady Sephrenia seemed very tired, your Majesty,' Alcan

responded. 'She bathed and went directly to bed. I couldn't even

interest her in any supper.'

"It's probably best to just let her sleep,' Ehlana said. 'I'll look

in on her later.'

Emperor Sarabian had obviously taken advantage of the brief

interruption to frame his thoughts in a somewhat studied

archaism. 'Verily,' he said to Xanetia, 'thy mode of speech doth

fall prettily upon mine ear, Lady. In truth, however, thou hast

been unkind to absent thyself from us, for thou art fair, and

thine elegant mode of address would have added luster to our

court. Moreover, thine eyes and thy gentle demeanor do shine

forth from thee and would have provided instruction by

ensample for they who are about me.'

'Thy words are artfully honeyed, Majesty,' Xanetia said,

politely inclining her head, 'and I do perceive that thou art a

consummate flatterer.'

'Say not so,' he protested. "I do assure thee that I speak truly

from mine heart.' He was obviously enjoying himself.

She sighed. 'Thine opinion, I do fear me, will change when

thou dost behold me in my true state. I have altered mine

appearance as necessary subterfuge to avoid affrighting thy subjects.

For, though it doth cause me grave distress to confess it,

should thy people see me in mine accustomed state, they would

flee, shrieking in terror.'

'Canst thou truly inspire such fear, gentle maiden?' he smiled.

"I cannot give credence to thy words. In truth, methinks,

shouldst thou appear on the streets of fire-domed Matherion,

my subjects would indeed run - but not away from thee.'

'That thou must judge for thyself, Majesty.'

'Ah - before we proceed, might I inquire as to the state of

your Majesty's health?' Itagne asked prudently.

'i'm well, Itagne.'

'No shortness of breath? No heaviness or twinges in your

Majesty's chest?'

"I said that I'm healthy, Itagne,' Sarabian snapped.

"I certainly hope so, your Majesty. May I be permitted to present

the Lady Xanetia, the Anarae of the Delphae?'

"I think your brother's right, Itagne. I think you've taken leave

of - Good God!' Sarabian was staring in open hoRRor at Xanetia.

Like the dye running out of a bolt of cheap cloth, the color was

draining from her skin and hair, and the incandescent glow that

had marked her before she had disguised it began to shine forth

again. She rose to her feet, and Kalten stood up beside her.

'Now is the stuff of thy nightmares made flesh, Sarabian of

Tamuli,' Xanetia said sadly. 'This is who I am and what I am.

Thy servant Itagne hath told thee well and truly what transpired

in fabled Delphaeus. I would greet thee in manner suitable to

thy station, but like all the Delphae, I am outcast, and therefore

not subject to thee. I am here to perform those services which

devolve upon my people by reason of our pact with Anakha,

whom thou has called Sparhawk of Elenia. Fear me not, Sarahian,

for I am here to serve, not to destroy.'

Mirtai, her face deathly pale, had risen to her feet. Purposefully,

she stepped in front of her mistress and drew her sword.

'Run, Ehlana,' she said grimly. 'I'll hold her back.'

'That is not needful, Mirtai of Atan,' Xanetia told her. 'As

I said, I mean no harm to any in this company. Sheathe thy

sword.'

"I will, accursed one - in your vile heart!' Mirtai raised her

sword. Then, as if struck by some great blow, she reeled back

and fell to the floor, tumbling over and over.

Kring and Engessa reacted immediately, rushing forward and

clawing at their sword-hilts.

"I would not hurt them, Anakha,' Xanetia warned Sparhawk,

'but I must protect myself that I may keep faith with the pact

between thee and my people.'

'Put up your swords!' Vanion barked. 'The lady is a friend.'

'But...' Kring protested.

"I said to put up your swords.' Vanion's roar was shattering, and

Kring and Engessa stopped in their tracks.

Sparhawk, however, saw another danger. Danae, her eyes

bleak and her face set, was advancing on the Delphaeic woman.

'Ah, there you are, Danae,' he said, moving rather more quickly

than his casual tone might have suggested. He intercepted the

vengeful little princess. 'Aren't you going to give your poor old

father a kiss?' He swept her up into his arms and smothered

her indignant outburst by mashing his lips to hers.

'Put me down, Sparhawk.' she said, speaking directly down

his throat.

'Not until you get a grip on your temper,' he muttered, his

mouth still clamped to hers.

'She hurt Mirtai!'

'No, she didn't. Mirtai knows how to fall without getting hurt.

Don't do anything foolish here. You knew this was going to

happen. Everything's under control, so don't get excited - and

don't, for God's sake, let your mother find out who you really

are '

"It doesn't really talk." ~Ehlana interruPted SParhawk's account

of what had taken place in Delphaeus.

'Not by itself, no,' Sparhawk replied. "It spoke through Kalten

well, it did the first time, anyway.'

'Kalten?'

"I have no idea why. Maybe it just seizes on whoever's handy.

The language it uses is archaic and profoundly formal - thee's and

thou's and that sort of thing. Its speech is much like Xanetia's, and

it wants me to respond in kind. Evidently, the mode of speech is

important.' He rubbed one hand across his freshly shaved cheek.

"It's very strange, but as soon as I began to speak - and think - in

twelfth-century Elenic, something seemed to open in my mind.

For the first time, I knew that I was Anakha, and I knew that Bhelliom

and I are linked together in some profoundly personal way. '

He smiled wryly. "It seems that you're married to two different

people, love. I hope you'll like Anakha. He seems a decent

enough sort - once you get used to the way he talks.'

'Perhaps I should just go mad,' she said. 'That might be easier

than trying to understand what's going on. How many other

strangers do you plan to bring to my bed tonight?'

Sparhawk looked at Vanion. 'Should I tell them about

Sephrenia?'

'You might as well,' Vanion sighed. 'They'll find out about it

soon enough anyway. '

Sparhawk took his wife's hands in his and looked into her

gray eyes. 'You're going to have to be a little careful when you

talk with Sephrenia, dear,' he told her. 'There's an ancient

enmity between the Delphae and the Styrics, and Sephrenia

grows irrational whenever she's around them. Xanetia has problems

with the Styrics as well, but she manages to keep it under

control better than Sephrenia does.'

'Doth it seem so to thee, Anakha?' Xanetia asked. She had

resumed her disguise, more for the sake of the comfort of the

others than out of any real need, Sparhawk guessed. Mirtai sat

not far from her with watchful eyes and with her hand resting

on her sword-hilt.

'i'm not trying to be personally offensive, Anarae,' he apologized.

'I'm just trying to explain the situation so that they'll

understand when you and Sephrenia try to claw each other's

eyes out.'

'i'm sure you've noticed my husband's blinding charm,

Anarae,' Ehlana smiled. 'Sometimes he absolutely overwhelms

us with it.'

Xanetia actually laughed. Then she looked at Itagne. 'These

Elenes are a complex people, are they not? I do detect great

agility of thought behind this bluff manner of theirs, and

subtleties I would not have expected from a people who tailor

steel into garments.'

Sparhawk leaned back in his chair. "I haven't really covered

everything that happened, but that's enough to let you know

in a general sort of way what we encountered. We can fill in

more detail tomorrow. What's been going on here?'

'Politics, of course.' Ehlana shrugged.

'Don't you ever get tired of politics?'

'Don't be silly, Sparhawk. Milord Stragen, why don't you tell

him? It shocks him when I start going into all the sordid details.'

Stragen was once again dressed in his favorite white satin

doublet. The blond thief was sunk deep in a chair with his feet

up on a table. 'That attempted coup - or whatever it was - was

a serious blunder on the other side,' he began. "It alerted us to

the fact that there were more mundane elements involved in

this business than hob-goblins and resurrected antiquities. We

knew that Krager was involved - and Interior Minister Kolata and

that turned it into ordinary, garden-variety politics. We

didn't know where Krager was, so we decided to find out just

how deeply Interior was infected. Since all policemen everywhere

are compulsive about paperwork, we were fairly sure that

somewhere in that rabbit warren of a building there were a set

of files that would identify the people we wanted to talk with.

The problem was that we couldn't just walk into the ministry

and demand to see their files without giving away the fact that

we knew what they were up to, which in turn would have let

them know that Kolata was our prisoner instead of a willing

guest. Baroness Melidere came up with the idea of a new filing

system, and that gave us access to all the files of all the ministries.'

"It was dreadful,' Oscagne shuddered. 'We had to disrupt the

entire government in order to conceal the fact that we were

really only interested in the files at Interior. Milord Stragen and

the Baroness put their heads together and concocted a system.

It's totally irrational and wildly inconsistent, but for some reason

it works amazingly well. I can' lay my hands on any given piece

of paper in less than an hour.'

'Anyway,' Stragen continued, 'we browsed around through

the files at Interior for a week or so, but the people over there

kept slipping back into the building at night to move things

around so that we'd have to start all over again every morning.

That's when we decided to just move our operations out onto

the lawns. We stripped all the paper out of all the buildings and

spread it out on the grass. That inconvenienced the rest of the

government enormously, but Interior was still holding out on us.

They were still hiding the critical files. Caalador and I reverted to

type and tried burglary - along with Mirtai. The queen sent her

along to remind us that we were looking for paper rather than

miscellaneous valuables, I guess. It took a few nights, but we

finally found the hidden room where the files we wanted were

concealed. '

'Didn't they miss them the next morning?' Bevier asked him.

'We didn't take them, Sir Knight,' Caalador told him. 'The

queen called in a young Pandion who used a Styric spell to bring

the information back to the castle without physically removing

the documents.' He grinned. 'We got us all that there real incriminatin'

stuff, an' they don't know we got it. We stole it, an' they

don't even miss it.'

'We've got the name of every spy, every informer, every secret

policeman and every conspirator of whatever rank Interior has

in all of Tamuli,' Sarabian smirked. 'We've been waiting for all

of you to come home so that we can take steps. I'm going to

dissolve the Ministry of the Interior, round up all those people,

and declare martial law. Betuana and I have been in close contact,

and we've laid our plans very carefully. As soon as I give

the word, the Atans are going to take charge of the entire

Empire. Then I'll really be the Emperor instead of just a stuffed

toy.'

'You've all been very busy,' Vanion observed.

"It makes the time go faster, my Lord.' Caalador shrugged.

'We went a little farther, though. Krager obviously knew that

we were using the criminals of Matherion as spies, but we

weren't sure if he knew about the hidden government. If he

thinks our organization's localized, that's not much of a problem;

but if he knows that I can give the order here in Matherion, and

somebody dies in Chyrellos, that's a whole 'mother thang.'

'I've missed that dialect,' Talen said. He considered it. 'Not

really very much, though,' he added.

'Critic,' Caalador accused.

'How much were you able to find out?' Ulath asked him.

Caalador spread one hand and rocked it back and forth doubtfully.

"It's sorta hord t' say,' he admitted. 'They's some places

whur it iz oz them folks o' ourn kin move around free oz frogs

in a muddy pond. Other places, they can't.' He made a sour

face. "It probably all boils down to natural talent. Some are gifted;

some aren't. We've made a little headway in putting names to

some of the rabid nationalists in various parts of Tamuli - at

least we think it's headway. If Krager really knows what we're

doing, he could be feeding us false information. We wanted to

wait until you came back before we tested the information we've

got.'

'How do you test something like that?' Bevier asked.

'We'll send out the order to have somebody's throat cut, and

see if they try to protect him,' Stragen replied. 'Some chief of

police somewhere, or maybe one of those nationalist leaders Elron,

maybe. Isn't that astonishing, Sparhawk? That's one of

the things we found out. It turns out that Elron is the mysterious

Sabre.'

'What an amazing thing,' Sparhawk replied with feigned

astonishment.

'Caalador wants to kill the man named Scarpa,' Stragen went

on, 'but I favor Elron - although my preference in the matter

could be viewed as a form of literary criticism. Elron deserves

killing more for his abominable verse than his political opinions.'

'The world can stand a little more bad poetry, Stragen,' Caalador

told his friend. 'Scarpa's the really dangerous one. I just

wish we could put a name to Rebal, but so far he's eluded us.'

'His real name's Amador,' Talen told him. 'He's a ribbon clerk

in Jorsan on the west coast of Edam.'

'How did you find that out?' Caalador seemed astonished.

'Pure luck, to be honest about it. We saw Rebal making a

speech to some peasants out in the woods. Then, later on, when

we were in jorsan, a gust of wind blew me into his shop. He

isn't really very much to worry about. He's a charlatan. He uses

carnival tricks to make the peasants think that he's raising the

ghost of Incetes. Sephrenia seems to think that means that our

enemies are spread thin. They don't have enough real magicians

to arrange all these visitations, so they have to resort to trickery.'

'What were you doing in Edam, Sparhawk?' Ehlana asked.

'We went through there on our way to pick up Bhelliom.'

'How did you get there and back so fast?'

'Aphrael helped us. She's very helpful - most of the time."

Sparhawk avoided looking at his daughter. he rose to his feet.

'We're all a little tired tonight,' he suggested, 'and I rather expect

that filling in all of the details is going to take us quite a while.

Why don't we break off here and get some sleep? Then we'll be

able to attack it again in the morning when we're all fresh.'

'Good idea,' Ehlana agreed, also rising. 'Besides, I've got this

burning curiosity.'

'Oh?'

'As long as I'm going to be sleeping with him, I should probably

get to know this Anakha fellow, wouldn't you say? Sleeping

with total strangers so tarnishes a girl's reputation, you know.'

'She's still asleep,' Danae said, quietly closing the door to

Sephrenia's room.

'is she all right?' Sparhawk asked.

'Of course she isn't. What did you expect, Sparhawk? Her

heart's broken.'

'Come with me. We need to talk.'

"I don't think I want to talk with you right now, father. I'm

just a little unhappy with you.'

"I can live with that.'

'Don't be too sure.'

'Come along.' He took her by the hand and led her up a long

flight of stairs to the top of the tower and then out onto the

parapet. He prudently closed the door and bolted it behind

them. 'You blundered, Aphrael,' he told her.

She raised her chin and gave him a flat, icy stare.

'Don't get imperial with me, young lady. You made a mistake.

You never should have let Sephrenia go to Delphaeus.'

'She had to go. She has to go through this."

'She can't. It's more than she can bear.'

'She's stronger than she looks.'

'Don't you have any heart at all? Can't you see how much

she's suffering?'

'Of course I can, and it's hurting me far more than it's hurting

you, father.'

'You're killing Vanion too, you know."

'He's also stronger than he looks. Why did all of you turn

against Sephrenia at Delphaeus? Two or three soft words from

Xanetia was all it took to make you throw away three hundred

years of love and devotion. Is that the way you Elenes customarily

treat your friends?'

'She's the one who forced the issue, Aphrael. She started

delivering ultimatums. I don't think you realize how strongly

she feels about the Delphae. She was totally irrational. What's

behind all of that?'

'That's none of your business.'

"I think it is. What really happened during the Cyrgai wars?'

"I won't tell you.'

'Art thou afeared to speak of it, Goddess?'

Sparhawk spun around quickly, a startled oath coming to his

lips. It was Xanetia. She stood all aglow not far from where they

were talking.

'This doesn't concern you, Xanetia,' Aphrael told her coldly.

"I must needs know thine heart, Goddess. Thy sister's enmity

is of no real moment. Thine, however, would be more troublesome.

Art thou also unkindly disposed toward me?'

'Why don't you leech my thoughts and find out for yourself?'

'Thou knowest that I cannot, Aphrael. Thy mind is closed to

me.'

'i'm so glad you noticed that.'

'Behave yourself,' Sparhawk told his daughter, speaking very

firmly.

'Stay out of this, Sparhawk.'

'No, Danae, I don't think I will. Are you behind the way

Sephrenia was behaving at Delphaeus?'

'Don't be absurd. I sent her to Delphaeus to cure her of that

nonsense.'

'Are you sure, Aphrael? You're not behaving very well at the

moment yourself, you know.'

"I don't like Edaemus, and I don't like his people. I'm trying

to cure Sephrenia out of love for her, not out of any affection for

the Delphae.'

'But thou didst stand for us against thy kindred when all this

began, Goddess,' Xanetia pointed out.

'That also was not out of any great affection for your race,

Xanetia. My family was wrong, and I opposed them out of prin-ciple.

You wouldn't understand that, though, would you? It had

to do with love, and you Delphae have outgrown that, haven't

you?'

'How little thou knowest us, Goddess,' Xanetia said sadly.

'As long as we're all speaking so frankly, I've noticed a certain

bias against Styrics in some of your remarks, Anarae,' Sparhawk

said pointedly.

"I have reasons, Anakha - many reasons.'

'i'm sure you have, and I'm sure Sephrenia has too. But

whether we like each other or not is really beside the point. I

am going to straighten this all out. I've got work to do, and I

can't do it in the middle of a cat-fight. I wi'll make peace among

you - even if I have to use the Bhelliom to do it.'

'Sparhawk.' Danae's face was shocked.

'Nobody wants to tell me what really happened during the

Cyrgai wars, but maybe that's just as well. I was curious at first,

but not any longer. What it boils down to, ladies, is that I don't

care what happened. The way you've all been behaving sort of

says that nobody's hands were really clean. I want this spiteful

wrangling to stop. You're all behaving like children, and it's

beginning to make me tired.'

CHAPTER 17

There were dark circles under Sephrenia's eyes the next morning,

and the light had gone out of her face. Her white Styric

robe was partially covered by a sleeveless overmantle of deepest

black. Sparhawk had never seen her wear that kind of garment

before, and her choice - of both the garment and the color seemed

ominous. She joined them at the breakfast table reluctantly,

and only at Ehlana's express command. She sat slightly

apart from the rest of them with her injury drawn about her like

a defensive wall. She would not look at Vanion, and refused

breakfast despite Ehlana's urgings.

Vanion appeared no less injured. His face was drawn and

pale, quite nearly as pale as it had been when he had been

carrying the burden of the swords, and his eyes were filled with

pain.

Breakfast under those circumstances was strained, and they

all left the table with a certain relief. They proceeded directly to

the blue-draped sitting room and got down to busineSS.

'The others aren't really all that significant,' Caalador told

them. 'Rebal, Sabre and Baron Parok are decidedly second-rate.

All they're really doing is exploiting existing hostilities. Scarpa's

something quite' different, though. Arjuna's a troublesome sort

of place to begin with, and Scarpa's using that to the fullest.

The others have to be fairly circumspect because the Elene kingdoms

of western Tamuli are so well populated. There are people

evreywhere, so the conspirators have to sneak around. Southeastern

Arjuna's one vast jungle, though, so Scarpa's got placeS

to hide, and places he can defend. He makes some small pretense

at nationalism in the way that the others do, but that

doesn't appear to be his main agenda. The Arjuni are far more

shrewd than the Elene peasants and serfs of the west.'

'Have you got any background on him?' Ulath asked. 'Where

he came from, what he did before he set up shop, that Sort of

thing?'

Caalador nodded. 'That part wasn't very difficult. Scarpa was

fairly well known in some circles before he joined the conspiracy.'

Caalador made a face. "I wish there were some other

word. "Conspiracy" sounds so melodramatic.' He shrugged. 'Anyway, Scarpa's

a bastard.'

'Calador.' Bevier said sharply. 'There are ladies present!'

"It wasn't intended as an obscenity, Sir Bevier, merely as a

legal definition. Scarpa's the result of a dalliance between a militantly

promiscuous Arjuni tavern-wench and a renegade Styric.

It was an odd sort of pairing-off, and it produced a very odd

sort of fellow. '

'Don't pursue this too far, Caalador,' Stragen said ominously.

'Grow up, Stragen. You're not the only one with irregular

parentage. When you get right down to it, I'm not entirely sure

who my father was either. Bastardy's no great inconvenience

for a man with brains and talent.'

'Milord Stragen's oversensitive about his origins,' Baroness

Melidere explained lightly. 'I've spoken with him time and again

about it, but he still has feelings of inadequacy. It might not be

a bad thing, though. He's so generally stupendous otherwise

that a little bit of insecurity keeps him from being absolutely unbearable. '

Stragen rose and bowed flamboyantly.

'Oh, sit down, Stragen,' she said.

'Where was I?' Caalador said. 'Oh, yes, now I recollect. This

yore Scarpa feller, he growed up in a shack-nasty sorta roadside

tavern down that in Ar-juna - an' he done all the sorta thangs

which it iz oz bastards does in then formative years in a place

'thout no real moral restraints on 'em.'

'Please, Caalador,' Stragen sighed.

'Just entertaining the queen, old boy,' Caalador shrugged.

'She pines away without periodic doses of down-home

folksiness. '

'What does "shack-nasty" mean, Caalador?' Ehlana interrupted

him.

'Why, gist whut it sez, yet Queenship. A shack's a kinda

th'owed-together hovel built outten ole boards an' scraps, an'

"nasty" means putty much whut it sez. I knowed a feller oz

went by that name when I wuz a pup. He lived in th' messiest

place y' ever did see, an' he warn't none too clean his ownself,

neither.

"I think I can survive for several hours now without any more

mangled language, Master Caalador,' she smiled. "I want to

thank you for your concern, though.'

'Always glad to be of service, your Majesty.' He grinned.

'Scarpa grew up in a situation that sort of skirted the edges of

crime. He was what you might call a gifted amateur. He never

really settled down into one given trade.' He made a face. 'Dabblers.

I absolutely detest dabblers. He pandered for his mother

just as every good boy should - and also for his numerous

half-sisters, who, if we're to believe the common gossip, were

all whores from the cradle. He was a moderately competent

pick-pocket and cut-purse, and a fairly gifted swindler. Unlike

many of his mother's one-time paramours, Scarpa's Styric father

stayed around for a time, and he used to drop back to visit his

son from time to time, so Scarpa got a smattering of a Styric

education. Eventually, however, he made the kind of mistake

we expect amateurs to make. He tried to cut the purse of a

tavern patron who wasn't quite as drunk as he appeared to be.

His intended victim grabbed him, and Scarpa demonstrated the

Arjuni side of his nature. He whipped out a small, very sharp

knife and spilled the fellow's guts out on the floor of the tavern.

Some busy-body went to the police about it, and Scarpa left

home rather abruptly.'

'Wise move,' Talen murmured. 'Didn't he get any professional

training while he was growing up?'

'No. He appears to have picked things up on his own.'

'Precocious. '

Caalador nodded his agreement. 'if he'd had the right

teachers, he probably could have become a master thief. After

he ran away, he seems to have kept moving for a couple of

years. He was only twelve or so when he killed that first man,

and when he was about fourteen, he turned up in a traveling

carnival. he billed himself as a magician - the usual sort of

carnival fakery - although he occasionally utilized a few Styric

spells to perform real magic. He grew a beard - which is

unusual among the Tamul races, since Tamul men don't have

much facial hair. Neither do Styrics for that matter, now that I

think about it. Scarpa's a half-breed, and the mixture of Southern

Tamul and Styric came out rather peculiarly. Neither his features

nor some of his traits are really characteristic of either race.'

Caalador reached inside his doublet and drew out a folded sheet

of paper. 'here,' he said, opening the paper, 'judge for yourselves.'

The drawing was a bit crude - more a caricature than a portrait.

It was a depiction of a man with a strangely compelling

face. The eyes were deep-sunk under heavy brows. The cheekbones

were high and prominent, the nose aquiline, and the

mouth sensual. The beard appeared to be dense and black, and

it was meticulously trimmed and shaped.

'He spends a lot of time on that beard,' Kalten observed. "It

looks as if he shaves off stray whiskers hair by hair. ' He frowned

slightly. 'He looks familiar, for some reason - something around

the eyes, I think.'

'i'm surprised you can even recognize the fact that it's supposed

to be a picture of a human being,' Talen sniffed. 'The

technique's absolutely awful.'

'The girl hasn't had any training, Talen,' Caalador defended

the artist. 'She's gifted in her own profession, though.'

'Which profession is that, Master Caalador?' Ehlana asked.

'She's a whore, your Majesty.' He shrugged. 'The drawing is

just a side-line. She likes to keep pictures of her customers. She

studies their faces during the course of her business transactions,

and some of the portraits have strange expressions.'

'May I see that?' Sephrenia asked suddenly.

'Of course, Lady Sephrenia.' Caalador looked a little surprised

as he took the drawing to her. Then he returned to his seat.

'Did you ever meet Djukta, Sparhawk?' he asked.

'Once.'

'Now there's a beard for you. Djukta looks like an ambulatory

shrub. He's even got whiskers on his eyelids. Anyhow, Scarpa

traveled with the carnival for several seasons, and then about

five years back he dropped out of sight for a year or so. When

he came back, he went into politics - if that's what you want to

call it. He makes some small pretense at nationalism in the same

way that Rebal, Parok and Sabre do, but that's only for the

benefit of the truly ignorant down in Arjuna. The national hero

there was the man who established the slave-trade, a fellow

named Sheguan. That's a fairly contemptible sort of thing, so

not many Arjunis take much pride in it.'

'They still practice it, though,' Mirtai said bleakly.

'They do indeed, little dorlin',' Caalador agreed.

'Friend Caalador,' Kring said, "I thought we agreed that you

weren't going to call Mirtai that any more.'

'Ain, it don't mean nuthin', Kring. It's gist muh folksy way o

settin' people at then ease.' He paused. 'Where was I?' he asked.

'You were starting to get to the point,' Stragen replied.

'Testy this morning, aren't we, old boy?' Caalador said mildly.

'From what our people were able to discover, Scarpa's far more

dangerous than those three enthusiasts in western Tamuli.

Arjuni thieves are more clever and devious than run-of-the-mill

criminals, and a number of them have infiltrated Scarpa's apparatus

for fun and profit. The Arjuni are an untrustworthy people,

so the Empire's been obliged to deal with them quite firmly.

Arjuni hatred for the Tamuls is very real, so Scarpa hasn't had

to stir it up artificially.' Caalador tugged at his nose a bit doubtfully.

'I'm not altogether sure how much of this we can believe

the Arjuni being what they are and all - but one highway

robber down there claims to have been a member of Scarpa's

inner circle for a while. He 'told us that our man's just a little

deranged. He operates out of the ruins of Natayos down in

the southern jungles. The town was destroyed during the Atan

invasion back in the seventeenth century, and Scarpa doesn't

so much hide there as he does occupy the place - in a military

sense of the word. He's reinforced the crumbling old walls so

that the town's defensible. Our highwayman reports that Scarpa

starts raving sometimes. If we can believe our informant, he

started talking about the Cyrgai once, and about Cyrgon. He tells

his cronies that Cyrgon wants to make his people the masters of

the world, but that the Cyrgai, with that institutionalized stupidity

of theirs, aren't really intelligent enough to govern a global

empire. Scarpa doesn't have any problems with the idea of an

empire. He just doesn't like the way the present one's set up.

He'd be more than happy with it if there were just a few changes

up at the top. he believes that the Cyrgai will conquer the

world and then retreat back into their splendid isolation. Somebody's

going to have to run the government of the world for

them, and Scarpa's got a candidate in mind for the position.'

'That's insane!' Bevier exclaimed.

"I think I already suggested that, Sir Knight. Scarpa seems to

think he'd make a very good emperor.'

'The position's already been filled,' Sarabian noted dryly.

'Scarpa's hoping that Cyrgon will vacate it, your Majesty. He

tells his people that the Cyrgai have absolutely no administrative

skills and ~that they're going to need someone to run the conquered

territories for them. He'll volunteer at that point. He'll

genuflect perfunctorily in Cyrgon's direction once in a while,

and more or less run things to suit himself. he has large dreams,

I'll give him that.'

"It has a sort of familiar ring to it, doesn't it, Sparhawk?' Kalten

said with a tight grin. 'Didn't Martel - and Annias - have the

same sort of notion?'

'Oh my goodness, yes,' Ehlana agreed. "I feel as if I've lived

through all of this before.'

'Where does Krager fit in?' Sparhawk asked.

'Krager seems to be some sort of coordinator,' Caalador

replied. 'He serves as a go-between. He travels a great deal,

carrying messages and instructions. We're guessing about this,

but we think that there's a layer of command between Cyrgon

and the people like Scarpa, Parok, Rebal and Sabre. Krager's

known to all of them, and that authenticates his messages. He

seems to have found his natural niche in life. Queen Ehlana tells

us that he served Martel and Annias in exactly the same way,

and he was doing the same kind of thing back in Eosia when

he was carrying Count Gerrich's instructions to those bandits in

the mountains east of Cardos.'

'We should really make some sort of effort to scoop Krager

up,' Ulath rumbled. 'He starts talking if someone so much as

gives him a harsh look, and he knows a great deal about things

that make me moderately curious.'

'That's how he's managed to stay alive for so long,' Kalten

grunted. 'He always makes sure that he's got so much valuable

information that we don't dare kill him.'

'Kill him after he talks, Sir Kalten,' Khalad said.

'He makes us promise not to.'

'So?'

'We're knights, Khalad,' Kalten explained. 'Once we give

someone our oath, we're obliged to keep our word.'

'You weren't thinking of knighting me at any time in the

immediate future, were you, Lord Vanion?' Khalad asked.

"It might be just a little premature, Khalad.'

'That means that I'm still a peasant, doesn't it?'

'Well - technically, maybe.'

'That solves the problem, then,' Khalad said with a chill little

smile. 'Go ahead and catch him, Sir Kalten. Promise him anything

you have to in order to get him to talk. Then turn him

over to me. Nobody expects a peasant to keep his word.'

'i'm going to like this young man, Sparhawk,' Kalten grinned.

'Zalasta's coming for me, Sparhawk,' Sephrenia told the big Pandion.

'He'll escort me safely back to Sarsos.' She shook her head,

refusing to enter the room to which they were returning after

lunch.

'You're being childish. You know that, don't you, Sephrenia?'

'I've out-lived my usefulness, and I've been around Elenes

long enough to know what a prudent Styric does when that

happens. As long as a Styric's useful, she's relatively safe among

Elenes. Once she's served her purpose, though, her presence

starts to be embarrassing, and you Elenes deal abruptly with

inconvenient people. I'd rather not have one of you slip a knife

between my ribs.'

'Are you just about finished? Conversations like this bore me.

We love you, Sephrenia, and it has nothing to do with whether

or not you're useful to us. You're breaking Vanion's heart. You

know that, don't you?'

'So? He broke mine, didn't he? Take your problems to Xanetia

Since you're all so enamored of her.'

'That's beneath you, little mother.'

Her chin came up. "I think I'd rather you didn't call me that

any more, Sparhawk. It's just a bit grotesque in the present

circumstances. I'll be in my room - if it's still mine. If it isn't,

I'll go live in the Styric community here in Matherion. If it's not

too much trouble, let me know when Zalasta arrives.' And she

turned and walked on down the corridor, ostentatiously wearing

her injury like a garment.

Sparhawk swore under his breath. Then he saw Kalten and

Alcan coming down the tiled hallway. At least that particular

problem had been resolved. The queen's maid had laughed in

Kalten's face when the blond knight had clumsily offered to step

aside so that she could devote her attentions to Berit. She had

then, Sparhawk gathered, convinced Kalten that her affections

were still quite firmly where they were supposed to be.

'But you never leave her side, Sir Kalten,' the doe-eyed girl

accused. 'You're always hovering over her and making certain

that she has everything she needs or wants.'

"It's a duty, Alcan,' Kalten tried to explain. 'i'm not doing it

because I have any kind of affection for her.'

'You're performing your duty just a little too well to suit me,

Sir Knight.' Alcan's voice, that marvelous instrument, conveyed

a whole range of feelings. The girl could speak volumes with

only the slightest change of key and intonation.

'Oh, God,' Sparhawk groaned. Why did he always have to get

caught in these personal matters? This time, however, he moved

quickly to put a stop to things before they got out of hand. He

stepped out into the corridor to confront the pair of them. 'Why

don't we take care of this right now?' he suggested bluntly.

'Take care of what?' Kalten demanded. 'This isn't any of your

business, Sparhawk.''

'i'm making it my business. Are you satisfied that Alcan

doesn't have any kind of serious feelings for Berit?'

Kalten and the girl exchanged a quick, guilty sort of glance.

'Good,' Sparhawk said. 'My congratulations to you both.

Now, let's clear up this Xanetia business. Kalten was telling you

the truth, Alcan - as far as he went. His duty obliges him to

stay close to her because he's required to make certain that no

harm comes to her. We have an agreement with her people, and

she's here as our hostage to make sure that they don't go back

on their word. We all know that if the Delphae betray us in any

way, Kalten will kill Xanetia. That's why he's staying so close to

her.'

'Kill.?' The girl's huge eyes went even wider.

'Those are the rules, Alcan.' Kalten shrugged. "I don't like

them very much, but I have to follow them.'

'You wouldn't!'

'Only if I have to, and I wouldn't really like it very much.

That's what the word "hostage" means, though. I always seem

to be the one who gets these dirty jobs.'

'How could you?' Alcan said to Sparhawk. 'How could you do

this to your oldest friend?'

'Military decisions are hard sometimes,' Sparhawk told her.

'Are you satisfied now that Kalten's not straying? You do know,

don't you, that when he thought that you'd fallen in love with

Berit, he started going out of his way trying to get himself killed?'

'You didn't have to tell her that, Sparhawk,' Kalten protested.

'You what?" Alcan's voice climbed effortlessly into the upper

ranges. She spoke - at length - to Sparhawk's friend while he

stood hanging his head and scuffing his feet like a schoolboy

being scolded.

'Ah...' Sparhawk ventured. 'Why don't the two of you go

someplace private where you can discuss things?'

'With your leave, Prince Sparhawk,' Alcan agreed with an

abrupt little curtsy. 'You,' she snapped to Kalten, 'come with me.'

'Yes, dear,' Kalten said submissively, and the two went on

back up the corridor.

'Was that Alcan just now?' Baroness Melidere asked, sticking

her head out through the doorway.

'Yes,' Sparhawk replied.

'Where are she and Kalten going?' she asked, looking after

the pair.

'They have something important to take care of."

'Something more important than what we're discussing in

here?'

'They seem to think so, Baroness. We can manage without

them this afternoon, I expect, and it's a matter that needs clearing

up.'

'Oh,' she said, 'one of those.'

'i'm afraid so.'

'Alcan will straighten it out,' Melidere said confidently.

'i'm sure she will. How's your campaign going, Baroness? I'm

not trying to pry, you understand. It's just that these matters

break my concentration, and I kind of like to have them out of

the way so they don't come bubbling to the surface when I least

expect them to.'

'Everything's on schedule, Prince Sparhawk."

'Good. Have you told him?'

'Of course not. He doesn't need to know yet. I'll break it to

him gently when the time comes. It's actually kinder that way.

If he finds out too soon, he'll just worry about it. Trust me, your

Highness. I know exactly what I'm doing.'

'There's something I'd sort of like to get cleared up before we

go on, Anarae,' Stragen said to Xanetia. 'The Tamuls all believe

that the Cyrgai were extinct, but Krager and Scarpa say

otherwise. '

'The Cyrgai want the world to believe that they are no more,

she replied. 'After their disastrous march on Sarsos, they

returned home and concentrated for a time on replenishing their

subordinate forces, the Cynesgans, which forces had been virtually

annihilated by the Styrics.'

'So we've heard,' Caalador said. 'We were told that the Cyrgai

concentrated with such single-mindedness that their own

women were past child-bearing age before they realized their

mistake.'

'Thine informant spoke truly, Master Caalador, and it is the

common belief in Tamuli that the Cyrgai race died out some ten

eons ago. That common belief, however, is in error. It is a belief

that ignores the fact that Cyrgon is a God. he did not, however,

take the blind obedience of his people into account when he

commanded them to devote their attentions to the women of

the Cynesgans. But when he saw that his chosen race was dying

out, he did alter the natural course of such things, and aged

Cyrgai women became fertile once more - though most died in

childbirth. Thus were the Cyrgai perpetuated.'

'Pity,' Oscagne murmured.

'Knowing, however, that the diminished numbers of his warshipers

and the Styric curse that imprisoned them in their arid

homeland did imperil them, Cyrgon sought to protect them.

The Cynesgans were commanded to confirm and perpetuate the

belief of the other races of Tamuli that the Cyrgai were no more,

and the dread city of Cyrga itself was concealed from the eyes

of men.'

'in the same way that Delphaeus is concealed?' Vanion

asked..

'Nay, my Lord. We are more subtle than Cyrgon. We conceal

Delphaeus by misdirection. Cyrgon hides Cyrga in the central

highlands of Cynesga by means of an enchantment. Thou

couldst go to those highlands and ride close by Cyrga and never

see it.'

'An invisible city?' Talen asked her incredulously.

'The Cyrgai can see it,' she replied, 'and, when it doth suit

them so, their Cynesgan underlings can as well. To all others,

however, Cyrga is not there.'

'The tactical advantages of that must be enormous,' Bevier

noted in his most professional tone. 'The Cyrgai have an absolutely

secure stronghold into which they can retreat if things go

wrong.'

'Their advantage is offset, however,' Xanetia pointed out.

'They may freely ravage and despoil Cynesga, which is theirs

already, and which is no more than a barren waste at best, but

they may not pass the boundaries of their homeland. The curse

of the Styrics is still potent, I do assure thee. It is the wont of

the kings of the Cyrgai to periodically test that curse. Aged

warriors are taken from time to time to the boundary and commanded

to attempt a crossing. They die in mid-stride as they

obediently march across the line.'

Sarabian was looking at her, his eyes narrowed shrewdly.

'Prithee, Anarae, advise me in this matter. Thou hast said that

the Cynesgans are subject to the Cyrgai?'

'Yes, Majesty.'

'All Cynesgans?'

'Those in authority, Imperial Sarabian.'

'The king? The government? The army?' She nodded.

'And their ambassadors as well?' Oscagne added.

'Very good, Oscagne,' Itagne murmured to his brother. 'Very,

very good. '

"I didn't quite follow that,' Ulath admitted.

"I did,' Stragen told him. 'We'd probably better look into that,

Caalador.'

'I'll see to it.'

'Do you know what they're talking about, friend Engessa?'

Kring asked.

"It's not all that complicated, Kring,' Ehlana explained. 'The

Cynesgan embassy here in Matherion is full of people who

take their orders from the Cyrgai. I'd guess that if we were to

look into the matter, we'd find that the headquarters of the

recent attempt to overthrow the Emperor was located in that

embassy.'

'And if he's not out of town, we might even find Krager there

as well,' Khalad mused. 'Talen, how long would it take you to

teach me how to be a burglar?'

'What have you got in mind?' Sparhawk asked his squire.

"I thought I might creep into that embassy and steal Krager,

my Lord. Since Anarae Xanetia can tell us what he's thinking

we wouldn't even have to break his fingers to make him talk or

make him any inconvenient promises that we probably didn't

intend to keep anyway.'

"I sense thy discontent, Anakha,' Xanetia said later when she,

Sparhawk and Danae had returned to the fortified roof of the

central tower of Ehlana's castle.

'I've been had, Anarae,' he said sourly.

"I do not recognize the expression.'

'He means that he's been duped,' Danae translated, 'and he's

being impolite enough to imply that I have too.' She gave her

father a smug little smile. "I told you so, Sparhawk.'

'Spare me, please.'

'Oh, no, father. I've got this wonderful chance to gloat. You're

not going to rob me of it. If I remember correctly - and I do - I

was against the idea of retrieving Bhelliom from the very beginning.

I knew that it was a mistake, but you bullied me into

agreeing.'

He ignored that. 'Was any of it real? The Troll-Gods? Drychtnath?

The monsters? - or was it all just some elaborate game

designed to get me to bring Bhelliom to Tamuli?'

'Some of it may have been real, Sparhawk,' she replied, 'but

you've probably put your finger on the actual reason behind it

all.'

"It is thy belief that Cyrgon deceived thee into bringing Bhelliom

within his reach, Anakha?' Xanetia said.

'Why bother to ask, Anarae? You know what I'm thinking

already. Cyrgon believes that he could use Bhelliom to break

that curse so that his people could start invading their neighbors

again.'

"I told you so,' Danae reminded him again.

'Please.' He looked out over the glowing city. "I think I need

a divine opinion here,' he said. 'Up until very recently, we all

believed that Bhelliom was just a thing - powerful, but just

an object. We know that's not true now. Bhelliom has its own

personality and its own will. It's more of an ally than just a

weapon. Not only that - and please don't be offended, Aphrael

in some ways it's even more powerful than the Gods of this

world.'

"I am offended, Sparhawk,' she said tartly. 'Besides, I haven't

finished telling you that I told you so yet.'

he laughed, swept her up into his arms, and kissed her. "I

love you,' he told her, still laughing.

'isn't he a nice boy?' Danae said to Xanetia.

The Delphaeic woman smiled.

'if we didn't know about Bhelliom's awareness - and its will could

Cyrgon have known? I don't think Azash did. Speaking

as a Goddess, would you want to pick up something that could

make its own decision's - and might just decide that it didn't like

you all that much?'

"I wouldn't,' she replied. 'Cyrgon might be a different matter,

though. He's so arrogant that he might believe that he could

control Bhelliom even against its will.'

'But he couldn't, could he? Azash thought he could control

Bhelliom by sheer force. He wasn't even interested in the rings.

The rings can Compel Bhelliom - because they're a part of it.

Could Cyrgon be as stupid as Azash was?'

'Sparhawk, you're talking about one of my distant relatives

Please be a little more respectful.' Danae's brow furrowed with

thought. She absently kissed her father.

'Don't do that,' he said. 'This is serious.'

"I know. It helps me to think. Bhelliom's never really made itself

known before. You're probably right, Sparhawk. Azash wasn't

really very bright. Cyrgon has the same sort of personality, and

he's made several blunders in the past. That's one of the drawbacks

of divinity. We don't have to be intelligent. We all know

about Bhelliom's power, but I don't think any of us have ever

come to grips with the notion of its will before. Did it really talk to

Sparhawk the way he said it did, Xanetia? As an equal, I mean?'

'As at least an equal, Goddess,' Xanetia replied. 'Bhelliom and

Anakha are allies, not friends - and neither is master.'

'Where are we going with this, Sparhawk?' Danae asked.

'i'm not sure. Cyrgon may have made another of those blunders,

though. He may just have tricked me into bringing back

the one thing that's going to defeat him. I think we may have

an advantage here, but we should probably give a great deal of

thought to just exactly how we're going to' use it.

'You're hateful, Sparhawk,' Danae said.

"I beg your pardon?'

'you've just taken all the fun out of all the "I told you so"s

I've been saving up.'

Zalasta arrived in Matherion two days later. After only the briefest

of greetings to the rest of them, he went immediately to

Sephrenia's room.

'He'll straighten it out, Vanion,' Sparhawk assured the Preceptor.

'He's her oldest friend, and he's far too wise to be infected

with irrational prejudice.'

"I wouldn't be all that sure, Sparhawk.' Vanion's face was

gloomy. "I thought she was too wise, and look what happened

there. This blind hatred may infect the entire Styric race. If Zalasta

feels the same way Sephrenia does, all he's going to do is

reinforce her prejudices.'

Sparhawk shook his head. 'no, my friend. Zalasta's above

that. He has no reason to trust Elenes either, but he was willing

to help us, wasn't he? He's a realist, and even if he does share

her feelings, he'll suppress them in the name of political expediency.

And if I'm right, he'll persuade her to do the same. She

doesn't have to like Xanetia. All she has to do is accept the fact

that we need her. Once Zalasta convinces her of that, the two

of you will be able to patch things up.'

'Maybe.'

It was several hours later when Zalasta emerged alone from

Sephrenia's room with his rough-hewn Styric face somber. "It

will not be easy, Prince Sparhawk,' he said when the two of

them met in the corridor outside. 'She is deeply wounded. I

cannot understand what Aphrael was thinking of.'

'Who can ever understand why Aphrael does things, learned

one?' Sparhawk smiled briefly. 'She's the most whimsical and

exasperating person I've ever known sometimes. As I understand

it, she doesn't approve of Sephrenia's prejudice, and she's

taking steps. The expression "doing something to somebody for

his own good" always implies a certain amount of brutality, I'm

afraid. Were you able to talk any sense into Sephrenia at all?'

'i'm approaching the question obliquely, your Highness,' Zalasta

replied. 'Sephrenia's already been deeply injured. This isn't

a good time for a direct confrontation. I was at least able to

persuade her to postpone her return to Sarsos.'

'That's something, anyway. Let's go talk to the others. A lot

has happened since you left.'

'The reports come from unimpeachable sources, Anarae,'

Zalasta said coolly.

"I do assure thee, Zalasta of Styricum, they are nonetheless

false. None of the Delphae have left our valley for well over a

hundred years - except to deliver our invitation to Anakha.'

"It's happened before, Zalasta,' Kalten told the white-robed

Styric. 'We watched Rebal use some very obvious trickery when

he was talking to a group of Edomish peasants.'

'Oh?'

"It was the sort of thing one sees in second-rate carnivals,

learned one,' Talen explained. 'One of his henchmen threw

something into a fire; there was a flash of light and a puff of

smoke; then somebody dressed in old-time clothes stood up

from where he'd been hiding and started bellowing in an ancient

form of speech. The peasants all thought they were seeing

Incetes rising from the grave.'

'Those who witnessed the Shining Ones were not so gullible,

Master Talen,' Zalasta objected.

'And the fellow who gulled them probably wasn't as clumsy.'

The boy shrugged. 'A skilled fake can make almost anybody

believe almost anything - as long as they aren't close enough to

see the hidden wires. Sephrenia told us that it means that the

other side's a little short on real magicians, so they have to

cheat.'

Zalasta frowned. "It may be possible,' he conceded. 'The sightings

were brief and at quite some distance.' He looked at Xanetia.

'You are certain, Anarae? Could there perhaps be some of your

people who live separately? Who are cut off from Delphaeus

and may have joined with our enemies?'

'They would no longer be of the Delphae, Zalasta of Styricum.

We are bound to the lake. It is the lake which doth make us

what we are, and I tell thee truly, the light which doth illuminate

us is but the least of the things which do make us unlike all

others.' She looked at him gravely. 'Thou art Styric, Zalasta of

Ylara, and thou art well aware of the consequences of markedly

differing from thy neighbors.'

'Yes,' he agreed, 'to our sorrow.'

'The decision of thy race to attempt to co-exist with the other

races of man may be suitable for Styrics,' she continued. 'For

my race, however, it hath not been' possible. Ye of the Styric

race are oft met with contempt and derision, but thy differences

are not threatening to the Elenes or Tamuls who are about ye

We of Delphaeus, however, do inspire terror in the hearts of all

others. In time, methinks, thy race will become acceptable. The

wind of change hath already begun to blow, engendered in large

measure by that fortuitous alliance betwixt ye and the Church

of Chyrellos. The knights of that Church are kindly disposed

toward Styricum, and their might shall alter Elenic predispositions.

For the Delphae, however, such accommodation is

impossible. Our very appearance doth set us forever apart from

all others, and this doth stand at the heart of our present alliance.

We have sought out Anakha, and we have offered him our aid

in his struggle with Cyrgon. In exchange, we have besought

him only to raise up Bhelliom and to seal us away from all other

men. Then none may come against us, nor may we go against

any other. Thus will all be safe.'

'A wise decision perhaps, Anarae,' he conceded. "It was a

choice which we considered in eons past. Delphaeic numbers

are limited, however, and your hidden valley will easily hold

all of you. We Styrics are more numerous and more widespread.

Our neighbors would not look kindly on a Styric homeland abutting

their own borders. We cannot follow your course, but must

live in the world.'

Xanetia rose to her feet, putting one hand on Kalten's shoulder.

'Stay, gentle knight,' she told him. "I must confer a moment

with Anakha in furtherance of our pact. Should he detect falsity

in me, he may slay me.'

Sparhawk stood up, crossed to the door, and opened it for

her. Danae, dragging Rollo behind her, followed them from the

room.

'What is it, Anarae?' Sparhawk asked.

'Let us repair to that place above where we are wont to speak,'

she replied. 'What I must tell thee is for thine ears alone.'

Danae gave her a hard look.

'Thou mayest also hear my words, Highness,' Xanetia told

the little girl.

'You're so kind.'

'We can't hide from her, Xanetia,' Sparhawk said. 'We could

go to the top of the highest tower in Matherion, and she'd fly

up to eavesdrop on us anyway.'

'Canst thou truly fly, Highness?' Xanetia looked startled.

'Can't everyone?'

'Behave yourself,' Sparhawk told his daughter.

They climbed the stairs to the top of the tower again and went

out onto the roof. 'Anakha, I must tell thee a truth which thou

mayest not wish to believe,' Xanetia said gravely, 'but it is truth,

nonetheless. '

'That's an unpromising start,' Danae observed.

"I must speak this truth, Anakha,' Xanetia said gravely, 'for it

is not only in keeping with our pact, but it doth also have a

grave import on our common design.'

"I get the feeling that I should take hold of something solid,'

Sparhawk said wryly.

'As it seemeth best to thee, Anakha. I must advise thee, however,

that thy trust in Zalasta of Styricum is sorely misplaced.'

'What.?'

he hath played thee false, Anakha. his heart and his mind

are Cyrgon's.'

CHAPTER 18

'That's absolutely impossible!' Danae exclaimed. 'Zalasta loves

my sister and me. he'd never betray us!'

'He doth love thy sister beyond measure, Goddess,' Xanetia

replied. 'His feelings for thee, however, are not so kindly. In

truth, he doth hate thee.'

"I don't believe you!'

Sparhawk was a soldier, and soldiers who cannot adjust to

surprises rapidly do not live long enough to become veterans.

'You weren't at Delphaeus, Aphrael,' he reminded the Child

Goddess. 'Bhelliom vouched for Xanetia's truthfulness.'

'She's just saying this to drive a wedge between us and

Zalasta.'

"I don't really think so.' A number of things were rapidly

falling into place in Sparhawk's mind. 'The alliance is too important

to the Delphae for her to endanger it with something that

petty, and what she just told us explains several things that

didn't make sense before. Let's hear her out. If there's some

question about Zalasta's loyalty, we'd better find out about it

right now. Exactly what did you discover in his mind, Anarae?'

'A great confusion, Anakha,' Xanetia said sadly. 'The mind

of Zalasta might have been a noble one, but it doth stand on

the brink of madness, consumed with but one thought and one

desire. He hath loved thy sister since earliest childhood, Goddess,

but his love is not the brotherly affection thou hast believed

it was. This I know with greater certainty than all else, for it is

ever at the forefront of his mind. he doth think of her as his

affianced bride.'

'That's absurd.' Danae said. 'She doesn't think of him that

way at all.'

'Nay, but he doth think so of her. My sojourn within his

thought was brief, therefore I do not as yet know all. As soon

as I did perceive his treachery, my pledge bound me to reveal

it to Anakha. With more time, I will discover more.'

'What prompted you to look into his thought, Xanetia?' Sparhawk

asked her. 'The room was full of people. Why did you

choose him? - or do you just listen to everybody simultaneously?

It seems to me that would be very confusing.' He made a face.

"I think I'm going at this backward. It might be helpful if I knew

how your gift works. Is it like having another set of ears? Do you hear

every thought going on around you? - all at the same

time?'

'Nay, Anakha.' She smiled faintly. 'That, as thou hast perceived,

would be too confusing. Our ears, will we, nil we, hear

all sound. My perception of the thought of others doth require

my conscious direction. I must reach out to hear, unless the

thought of one who is near me be so intense that it doth become

as a shout. So it was with Zalasta. His mind doth scream the

name of Sephrenia again and again. In equal measure, moreover,

doth his mind shriek thy name, Goddess, and those shrieks

are filled with his hatred of thee. In his mind art thou a thief,

having stolen away all his hope of joy.'

'A thief? Me? He was the one who was trying to steal what

was mine. I put my sister here on this world. She's mine. She's

always been mine how dare he?' Danae's black eyes were flashing,

and her voice was filled with outraged indignation.

'This isn't one of the more attractive sides of your nature,

Divine One,' Sparhawk suggested. 'We don't own other people.

'i'm not a people, Sparhawk. I own what I want.'

'You're just digging yourself in deeper. I wouldn't pursue it

any further.'

'But I do, father. I've devoted hundreds of years to Sephrenia,

and all that time Zalasta's been sneaking around behind my back

trying to steal her from me.'

'Aphrael,' he said gently, 'you're an Elene in this particular

incarnation, so you're going to have to stop thinking like a Styric.

There are certain things that decent Elenes don't do, and You're

doing one of them right now. Sephrenia belongs to herself - not

to you, not to Zalasta, not even to Vanion. Her soul's her own.'

'But I love her!' it was almost a wail.

'i'm not built right for this,' Sparhawk muttered to himself.

'How can any human hope to be the father of a Goddess?'

'Don't you love me, father?' Her voice was tiny.

'Of course I do.'

'Then you belong to me too. Why are you arguing with me

about it?'

'You're a primitive.'

'Of course I am. We're supposed to be primitive. All these years

Zalasta's been pretending to love me - smiling at me, kissing

me, holding me while I slept. That wretch! That lying wretch

I'll have his heart for supper for this!'

'No, as a matter of fact, you won't. I'm not raising a cannibal.

You won't eat pork, so don't start developing a taste for people.'

'i'm sorry,' she said contritely. "I got excited.'

'Besides, I think Vanion's got first claim on Zalasta's tripes.'

'Oh dear. I completely forgot about Vanion. That poor, poor

man.' Two great tears welled up in her eyes. 'I'll spend the rest

of his life making this up to him.'

'Why don't we let Sephrenia take care of that? Just heal the

breach between them. That's the only thing he really wants.'

Then Sparhawk thought of something. "it won't wash, Xanetia.

Zalasta could very well be in love with Sephrenia, but he hasn't

gone over to Cyrgon. When we encountered those Trolls in the

mountains of Atan, he was the one who saved us from them and

it wasn't just the Trolls. There were worse things there as

well.'

'The Trolls do not loom large in Cyrgon's plans, Anakha. The

deaths of a hundred of them were of little moment. All else was

illusion - illusion wrought by Zalasta himself to allay certain

suspicions in the minds of diverse of thy companions. he sought

to win thy trust by destroying those shadows of his own

making.'

"it does fit,' Sparhawk said in a troubled voice. 'Would you

ladies excuse me for a moment? I think Vanion should hear this.

It concerns him too, and I'd like his advice before I start making

decisions.' He paused. 'Will you two be all right here - together,

I mean? Without someone here to keep you from each other's

throats?'

'All will be well, Anakha,' Xanetia assured him. 'Divine

Aphrael and I have something to discuss.'

'All right,' he said, 'but no hitting - and don't start screaming

at each other. You'll wake up the whole castle.' He crossed the

parapet to the door and went back down the stairs.

The meeting in the royal apartment had adjourned for a time,

and Sparhawk found his friend sitting with his face in his hands

in a room quite some distance from the one he normally shared

with Sephrenia.

"I need some help, my friend,' Sparhawk said to him. 'There's

something you need to know, and we're going to have to decide

what to do about it.'

Vanion raised his grief-ravaged face. 'More trouble?' he asked.

'Probably. Xanetia just told me about something we should

deal with. I'll let her tell you about it herself. She and Danae

are up at the top of the tower. I think we'll want to keep this

private - at least until we decide what steps to take.'

Vanion nodded and rose to his feet. The two of them went

back out into the corridor and started up the stairs. 'Where's

Zalasta?' Sparhawk asked.

'He's with Sephrenia. She needs him right now.'

Sparhawk grunted, not really trusting himself to speak.

They found Xanetia and Danae at the battlements looking out

over the city. The sun was moving down the intensely blue

autumn sky toward the craggy western horizon, and the breeze

coming in off the Tamul Sea had a salt tang mingled with the

ripe odor of autumn. 'All right, go ahead and tell him, Xanetia,'

Sparhawk said. 'Then we'll decide what to do.'

To Sparhawk's surprise, Vanion didn't waste much time on

incredulous exclamation. 'You're sure, Anarae?' he asked after

Xanetia had told him of Zalasta's duplicity.

She nodded. "I have seen his heart, my Lord. He hath played

thee false.'

'You don't seem very surprised, Vanion,' Sparhawk said.

'i'm not - well, not really. There's always been something

about Zalasta that didn't quite ring true. He had some trouble

keeping his face under control when Sephrenia and I first went

to Sarsos and moved into her house there. He tried to hide

it, but I could tell that he wasn't very happy with our liv~ing

arrangements, and his disapproval seemed to go quite a bit

further than a generalized kind of moral outrage about unorthodox

relationships.'

'That's a delicate way to put it,' Danae observed. 'We've never

understood why you humans make such a fuss about that. If

two people love each other, they should do something about it,

and living together is much more convenient for that sort of

thing, isn't it?'

'There are certain ceremonies and formalities customary first,'

Sparhawk explained dryly.

'You mean something like the way the peacock shows off his

feathers to the peahen before they start building a nest?'

'Something along those lines.' Vanion shrugged, then sighed.

"it seems that Sephrenia doesn't admire my feathers any

more. '

'Not so, Lord Vanion,' Xanetia disagreed. 'She doth deeply

love thee still, and her heart is made desolate by reason of her

separation from thee.'

'And Zalasta's with her right now doing everything he can to

make the separation permanent,' Sparhawk added, his voice

bleak. 'How do you want us to proceed with this, Vanion?

You're the one most deeply involved here. There's nothing any

of us could say that would convince Sephrenia that Zalasta's a

traitor, you know.'

Vanion nodded. 'She's going to have to see it for herself,' he

agreed. 'How far were you able to reach into his mind, Anarae?'

'His present thought is open to me, his memories somewhat

less so. Proximity and some time should provide opportunity to

probe more.'

'That's the key, then,' Vanion said. 'Ehlana and Sarabian want

to start tearing down the government almost immediately. Once

that starts, Zalasta's presence in our inner councils is going to

be potentially disastrous. He'll find out everything we've got planned.'

'Let him,' Danae sniffed. "it's not going to do him much good

after I'm done with my supper.'

'What's this?' Vanion asked.

'Our little savage here wants to eat Zalasta's heart,' Sparhawk

explained.

'While he watches,' the Child Goddess added. 'That's the

whole point of it - making him watch while I do it.'

'Could she do that?' Vanion asked.

'Probably,' Sparhawk replied. "I won't let her, though.

"I didn't ask you, father,' Danae said.

'You didn't have to. I said no. Now let's drop it.'

'When did Zalasta make this arrangement with Cyrgon, Anarae?'

Vanion asked.

'This is unclear for the nonce, my Lord,' she replied. "I shall

pursue it further. My sense of his thought doth suggest that

their alliance dates back some years and doth involve Bhelliom

in some fashion.'

Sparhawk thought about that. 'Zalasta was very upset when he

found out that we'd thrown Bhelliom into the sea,' he recalled. "I

could start making some educated guesses at this point, but let's

wait and see what Xanetia's able to turn up. Right now, I think

we'd better concentrate on delaying Ehlana and Sarabian until

we can devise some way to make Zalasta expose his own guilt.

We need to get Sephrenia out from under his influence, and

she's never going to believe that he's a traitor until she actually

sees and hears him convict himself by doing or ;,saying something

that proves his treason.'

Vanion nodded his agreement.

"I think we're going to have to keep this just among the four of

us,' Sparhawk continued. 'Zalasta's very shrewd, and Sephrenia

knows all of us better than we know ourselves. If the others

have any idea of what we're doing, they'll let something slip,

and Sephrenia will know about it immediately - and Zalasta will

know about five minutes after she does.'

'i'm afraid you're right,' Vanion agreed.

'Hast thou a plan, Anakha?' Xanetia asked.

'Sort of. I've still got to work out some of the details, though

It's a little complicated.'

Danae rolled her eyes upward. 'Elenes,' she sighed.

'Absolutely not,' Ehlana said adamantly. 'He's too valuable. We

can't risk it.' She was sitting near the window with the morning

sun streaming in on her and setting her pale hair aglow.

'There's no risk involved, dear,' Sparhawk assured her. 'The

cloud and the shadow are both gone. Bhelliom and I took care

of that once and for all.' There was the flaw. Sparhawk was not

entirely positive of that.

'He's right, my Queen,' Kalten agreed. 'He tore the cloud to

tatters and dissolved the shadow like salt in boiling water.'

'i'd really like to ask Kolata some questions, Ehlana,' Sarabian

said. "it doesn't make very much sense to keep feeding him if

we aren't going to get any use out of him. This is what we've

been waiting for, my dear - some sort of assurance that he won't

be torn to pieces the minute he opens his mouth.'

'Are you absolutely sure, Sparhawk?' Ehlana asked.

'Trust me.' Sparhawk reached inside his doublet and took out

the box. 'My blue friend here can make sure that Kolata remains

intact - no matter what questions we ask.' He looked at Zalasta.

'i'm going to ask a favor of you, learned one,' he said, keeping

his voice casual. "I think Sephrenia should sit in on this. I know

that she'd rather wash her hands of the lot of us right now, but

maybe if she listens to Kolata's confession, she'll begin to take

an interest in things again. It might be just the thing to bring

her out of the state she's in right now.'

Zalasta's face was troubled, though he was obviously trying

very hard to keep his expression under control. "I don't think

you realize how deeply she feels about this matter, Prince Sparhawk.

I strongly advise you not to force her to be present when

you question Kolata. It will only deepen the rift between her

and her former friends.'

"I won't accept that, Zalasta,' Ehlana told him. 'Sephrenia's a

member of the royal council of Elenia. I appointed her to that

position when I ascended the throne. Her personal problems

are her own business, but I need her here in her official capacity.

if necessary, I'll command her presence, and I'll send Kalten and

Ulath to deliver the command and make sure that she obeys.'

Sparhawk almost felt sorry for Zalasta at that point. Their

decisions and their requests were all completely reasonable, and

try though he might, Zalasta could find no way to avoid agreeing.

Kolata's testimony was almost certain to be an absolute

disaster for the first citizen of Styricum, but there was no way

he could prevent that testimony without exposing himself as a

traitor. He rose to his feet. "I will try to persuade her, your

Majesty,' he said, bowing to Ehlana. He turned and quietly left

the blue-draped room.

"I don't understand why you won't let us tell him, Sparhawk,'

Kalten said. 'He is a friend, after all.'

'He's also a Styric, Kalten,' Vanion said smoothly. 'We don't

know how he really feels about the Delphae. He might go up in

flames if he finds out that Xanetia can pick his thoughts the way

Talen picks pockets.'

'Sephrenia's probably told him about it already, Lord Vanion,'

bevier pointed out.

Sparhawk threw a brief questioning look at Xanetia, framing

the question in his thought.

She shook her head. For some reason, Sephrenia had not told

Zalasta about the Delphaeic woman's strange capability to delve

into the minds of others.

"I don't think so, Bevier,' Vanion was saying. 'He hasn't

shown any reluctance to be in the same room with the Anarae,

and that's a fair indication that he doesn't know. Now then,

who's going to question Kolata? We should probably limit it to

just one of us. If we all start throwing questions at him, his

thoughts will be so jumbled that Xanetia won't be able to make

any sense of them.'

"Itagne's skilled at debate and disputation,' Oscagne suggested. 'A

cademics spend hours splitting hairs.'

'We prefer to call it meticulous attention to detail, old boy,

Itagne corrected his brother. 'Kolata has ministerial rank.'

'not any more, he doesn't,' Sarabian said.

'Well, he used to, your Majesty. I'd suggest that we let Oscagne

conduct the interrogation. He holds the same rank as Kolata, so

he'll be able to approach him as an equal.

'Might I make a suggestion?' Stragen asked.

'Of course, Milord Stragen,' the Emperor said.

'Teovin's been sneaking around out there trying his very best

to subvert the other ministries of your Majesty's government.

Wouldn't it be a good idea to make this a formal inquiry instead

of a star-chamber proceeding? If all the ministers and the aides

are present when we question Kolata, Teovin won't have the

chance to scramble around and mend his fences.'

"it's an interesting notion, isn't it, Ehlana?' Sarabian mused.

'Very interesting,' she agreed. 'We'll have to postpone the

interrogation, though. '

'Oh?'

'We'll want to give your Atan runners a head start.' She looked

at him gravely. 'This is it, Sarabian. Up until now, it's only been

speculation. Once Kolata starts talking in front of the rest of the

government, you'll be committed. Are you really ready to go that far?'

The Emperor drew in a deep breath. 'Yes, Ehlana, I think I

am.' His voice was firm, but very quiet.

'issue the order, then. Declare martial law. Turn the Atans

loose.'

Sarabian swallowed hard. 'Are you certain your idea will

work, Atan Engessa?' he asked the towering warrior.

"it always has, Sarabian - Emperor,' Engessa replied. 'The

signal fires are all in place. The word will spread throughout

Tamuli in a single night. The Atans will move out of their garrisons

the following morning.'

Sarabian' stared at the floor for a long time. Then he looked

up. 'Do it,' he said.

The difficult part was persuading Sarabian and Ehlana not to tell

Zalasta about what was happening. 'he doesn't need to know,'

Sparhawk explained patiently.

'Surely you don't mistrust him, Sparhawk,' Ehlana protested.

'He's proved his loyalty over and over again.'

'Of course he has. He's a Styric, though, and this sudden

move of yours is going to turn all of Tamuli upside down.

There's going to be absolute chaos out there. He may try to get

word to the Styric communities hereabouts - a warning of some

kind. It's a natural thing for him to do, and we can't afford to

risk letting that information get out. The only thing that makes

your plan workable at all is the fact that it's going to be a total

surprise. There are Styrics, and then there are Styrics.'

'Say what you mean, Sparhawk,' Sarabian said in a testy

voice.

'The term "renegade Styric" means the same thing here in

Tamuli as it does in Eosia, your Majesty. We almost have to

assume that if we tell Zalasta, we're telling all of Styricum, don't

we? We know Zalasta, but we don't know all the other Styrics

on the continent. There are some in Sarsos who'd sign compacts

with Hell itself if they thought it would give them a chance to

get even with the Elenes.'

'You're going to hurt his feelings, you know,' Ehlana told

him.

'He'll live. We only have one chance at this, so let's not take

even the remotest of risks.'

There was a polite tap at the door, and Mirtai stepped into

the room where the three of them were meeting. 'Oscagne and

that other one are back,' she reported.

'Show them in please, Atana,' Sarabian told her.

There was a kind of suppressed jubilation on the foreign minister's

face as he entered with his brother, and Itagne's

expression was almost identical. Sparhawk was a bit startled by

how much alike they looked.

'You two look like a couple of cats who just got into the cream,

Sarabian told them.

'We're pulling off the coup of the decade, your Majesty,

Itagne replied.

'Of the century,' Oscagne corrected. 'Everything's in place,

my Emperor. We left it sort of vague - "general meeting of the

Imperial Council", that sort of thing. Itagne dropped a few hints.

He's been planting the notion that you're considering having

your birthday declared a national holiday. It's the sort of foolish

whim your Majesty's family is famous for.'

'Be nice,' Sarabian murmured. he had picked up that particular

Elene expression during his stay in Ehlana's castle.

'Sorry, your Majesty,' Oscagne apologized. 'We've passed the

whole thing off as a routine, meaningless meeting of the council

- all formality and no substance.'

'May I borrow your throne-room, Ehlana?' Sarabian asked.

'Of course,' she smiled. 'Formal dress, I suppose?'

'Certainly. We'll wear our crowns and our state robes. You

wear your prettiest dress, and I'll wear mine.'

'Your Majesty!' Oscagne protested. 'The customary Tamul

mantle is hardly a dress.'

'A long skirt is a long skirt, Oscagne. Frankly, I'd prefer dublet

and hose - and, given the circumstances, my rapier. Stragen's

right. Once you get used to wearing one you start to feel

undressed without it.'

'if formality's going to be the keynote, I think you and the

others should wear your dress armor, Sparhawk,' Ehlana told

her husband.

'Excellent idea, Ehlana,' Sarabian approved. 'That way they'll

be ready when things turn ugly.'

They spent the rest of the day supervising the moving of

furniture in the throne-room. The Queen of Elenia, as she sometimes

did, went to extremes. 'Buntings?' Sparhawk asked her.

'Buntings, Ehlana?'

'We want things to look festive, Sparhawk,' she replied with

an airy little toss of her head. 'Yes, I know. It's frivolous and

even a little silly, but buntings hanging from the walls and trumpet

fanfares introducing each of the ministers will set the tone.

We want this to look so intensely formal that the government

officials won't believe that anything serious could possibly happen.

We're laying a trap, love, and buntings are part of the bait.

Details, Sparhawk, details. Good plots swarm with details.'

'You're enjoying this, aren't you?'

'Of course I am. Is the drawbridge raised?'

He nodded.

'Good. Keep it that way. We don't want anybody slipping

out of the castle with any kind of information. We'll escort the

ministers inside tomorrow, and then we'll raise the drawbridge

again. We want to be in absolute control of the situation.'

'Yes, dear.'

'Don't make fun of me, Sparhawk,' she warned.

'i'd sooner die.'

It was nearly dusk when Zalasta came into the throne-room and

took Sparhawk to one side. "I must leave, Prince Sparhawk,'

he pleaded, his eyes a little wild. "it is a matter of the gravest

urgency. '

'My hands are tied, Zalasta,' Sparhawk replied. 'You know

my wife. When she starts speaking in the royal "we", there's

no reasoning with her.'

'There are things I must set in motion, your Highness, things

vital to the success of the Emperor's plan.'

'I'll try to talk with her, but I can't hold out much hope. Things

are fairly well under control, though. The Atans know what to

do outside the castle walls, and my Church Knights can handle

things inside. There are ministers and other high-level officials

whose loyalty is in doubt, you know. We don't know exactly

what the questioning of the Minister of the Interior is going to

bring out. We'll have those people in our hands, and we don't

want them running off to stir up more mischief.'

'You don't understand, Sparhawk!' The note of desperation

was clearly evident.

'I'll do what I can, Zalasta,' Sparhawk said, 'but I can't make

any promises.'

CHAPTER 19

The Tamul architect who had designed Ehlana's castle had evidently

devoted half a lifetime to the study of Elene buildings,

and, like so many with limited gifts, he had slavishly imitated

the details without capturing the spirit. The throne-room was a

case in point. Elene castles have but two purposes - to remain

standing and to keep out unwanted visitors. Both these purposes

are served best by the kind of massive construction one

might consider in designing a mountain. Over the centuries,

some Elenes have sought to soften their necessarily bleak surroundings

by embellishment. The interior braces intended to

keep the walls from collapsing - even when swept by a blizzard

of boulders - became buttresses. The massive stone posts

designed to keep the ceiling where it belonged became columns

with ornately carved bases and capitals. The same sort of

strength can 'be achieved by vaulting, and the throne-room of

Ehlana's Tamul-built castle was a marvel of redundancy. It was

massively vaulted and supported by long rows of fluted columns,

and was braced by flying buttresses so delicate as to be not only

useless but actually hazardous to those standing under them.

Moreover, like everything else in fire-domed Matherion, the

entire room was sheathed in opalescent mother-of-pearl.

Ehlana had chosen the buntings with some care, and the

gleaming walls were now accented with a riot of color. The

forty-foot-long blue velvet draperies at the narrow windows had

been accented with white satin, the walls were decorated with

crossed pennons and imitation battle-flags, and the columns and

buttresses were bandaged with scarlet silk. The place looked to

Sparhawk's somewhat jaundiced eye like a country fair operated

by a profoundly color-blind entrepreneur.

'Garish,' Ulath observed, buffing the black ogre-horns on his

helmet with a piece of cloth.

'Garish comes close,' Sparhawk agreed. Sparhawk wore his

formal black armor and silver surcoat. The Tamul blacksmith

who had hammered out the dents and re-enameled the armor

had also anointed the inside of each intricately wrought section

and all the leather straps with crushed rose-petals in a kind of

subtle, unspoken criticism of the armor's normal fragrance. The

resulting mixture of odors was peculiar.

'How are we going to explain all the guards standing around

Ehlana and Sarabian?' Ulath asked.

'We don't have to explain things, Ulath.' Sparhawk shrugged.

'We're Elenes, and the rest of the world believes that we're

barbarians with strange, ritualistic customs that nobody else

understands. I am not going to let my wife sit there unprotected

while she and Sarabian calmly advise the Tamul government

that it's been dismantled.'

'Good thinking.' Ulath looked gravely at his friend.

'Sephrenia's being difficult, you know.'

'We more or less expected that.'

'She might have an easier time if she could sit next to Zalasta.

Sparhawk shook his head. 'Zalasta's an advisor to the government.

He'll have to be on the main floor with the ministers.

Let's keep Sephrenia off to one side. I'll have Danae sit with

her.'

'That might help. Your daughter's presence seems to calm

Sephrenia. I wouldn't seat Xanetia with them, though.'

"I hadn't planned to.'

"Just making sure. Did Engessa get any kind of acknowledgement

of his signal? Are we absolutely sure his order got to

everybody?'

'He is. I guess the Atans have used signal fires to pass orders

along for centuries.'

'i'm just a bit doubtful about bonfires on hilltops as a way to

send messages, Sparhawk.'

'That's Engessa's department. It won't matter all that much if

word hadn't reached a few backwaters by sunrise this morning.'

'You're probably right. I guess we've done all we can, then.

I just hope nothing goes wrong.'

'What could go wrong?"

'That's the kind of thinking that fills graveyards, Sparhawk.

I'll go tell them to lower the drawbridge. We might as well get

started.'

Stragen had carefully coached the dozen Tamul trumpeters

and the rest of his musicians, concluding the lesson with some

horrendous threats and an instructional visit to the carefully

re-created torture chamber in the basement. The musicians had

all piously sworn to play the proper notes and to forgo improvisation.

The fanfares which were to greet the arrival of each minister

of the imperial government had been Ehlana's idea. Fanfares

are flattering; they elevate the ego, they lull the unwary into

traps. Ehlana was good at that sort of thing. The depths of her

political instincts sometimes amazed Sparhawk.

In keeping with the formality of the occasion, armored Church

Knights were stationed at evenly spaced intervals along the

walls. To the casual observer, the knights were no more than a

part of the decor of the throne-room. The casual observer, however,

would have been wrong. The motionless men in steel were

there to make absolutely certain that once the members of the

imperial government had entered the room, they would not

leave without permission, and the drawbridge, which was to be

raised as soon as all the guests had arrived, doubly ensured that

nobody would grow bored and wander off. Sarabian had

advised them that the 'imperial Council of Tamuli' had grown

over the centuries. At first, the council had consisted only of

the ministers. Then the ministers had included their secretaries;

then their undersecretaries. By now it had reached the point

where sub-sub-assistant temporary interim undersecretaries

were also included. The title 'Member of the Imperial Council'

had become largely meaningless. The inclusion of such a mob,

however, ensured that every traitor inside the imperial compound

would be gathered under Ehlana's battlements. The

Queen of Elenia was shrewd enough to use even her enemies'

egotism as a weapon against them.

'Well?' Ehlana asked nervously when her husband entered

the royal apartment. The Queen of Elenia wore a cream-colored

gown, trimmed with gold lace, and a dark blue, ermine-trimmed

velvet cloak. Her crown looked quite delicate, a kind

of lace cap made of hammered gold inset with bright-colored

gems. Despite its airy appearance, however, Sparhawk knew because

he had picked it up several times - that it was almost

as heavy as her state crown, which was locked in the royal vault

back in Cimmura.

'They're starting to drift across the drawbridge,' he reported.

"Itagne's greeting them. he knows everybody of any consequence

in the government, so he'll know when our guests have

all arrived. As soon as everyone's inside, the knights will raise

the drawbridge.' He looked at Emperor Sarabian, who stood

near a window nervously chewing on one fingernail. "It's not

going to be all that much longer, your Majesty,' he said.

'Shouldn't you change clothes?'

'The Tamul mantle was designed to cover a multitude of

defects, Prince Sparhawk, so it should cover my western clothes

and my rapier. I am not going in there unarmed.'

'We'll take care of you, Sarabian,' Ehlana assured him.

'i'd rather do it myself, mother.' The Emperor suddenly

laughed nervously. 'A bad joke, perhaps, but there's a lot of

truth to it. You've raised me from political babyhood, Ehlana.

In that respect, you are my mother.'

'if you ever call me "mommy", I'll never speak to you again,

your Majesty.'

'i'd sooner bite out my tongue, your Majesty.'

'What's the customary procedure, your Majesty?' Sparhawk

asked Sarabian as they stood peering round the edge of the

draped doorway into the rapidly filling throne-room.

'As soon as everybody gets here, Subat will call the meeting

to order,' Sarabian replied. 'That's when I enter - usually to the

sound of what passes for music here in Matherion.'

'Stragen's seen to it that your grand entrance will be truly

grand,' Ehlana assured him. 'He composed the fanfare himself.'

'Are all Elene thieves artists?' Sarabian asked. 'Talen paints,

Stragen composes music, and Caalador's a gifted actor.'

'We do seem to attract talent, don't we,' Ehlana smiled.

'Should I explain why there are so many of us on the dais?'

Sarabian asked, glancing at Mirtai and Engessa.

She shook her head. 'Never explain. It's a sign of weakness.

I'll enter on your arm, and they'll all grovel.'

"It's called genuflectory prostration, Ehlana.'

'Whatever.' She shrugged. 'When they get up again, we'll be

sitting there with our guards around us. That's when you take

over the meeting. Don't even let Subat

get started. We've got

our own agenda today, and we don't have time to listen to him

babble about the prospects for the wheat harvest on the plains

of Edam. How are you feeling?'

'Nervous. I've never overthrown a government before.'

'Neither have I, actually - unless you count what I did in the

Basilica when I appointed Dolmant to the Archprelacy.'

'She didn't actually do that, did she, Sparhawk?'

'Oh yes, your Majesty - all by herself. She was superb.'

"Just keep talking, Sarabian,' Ehlana told him. 'if anyone tries

to interrupt, shout him down. Don't even pretend to be polite.

This is our party. Don't be conciliatory or reasonable. Be coldly

furious instead. Are you any good at oratory?'

'Probably not. They don't let me speak in public very often

except at the graduation ceremonies at the university.'

'Speak slowly. You tend to talk too fast. Half of any good

oration lies in its cadence. Use pauses. Vary your volume from

a shout down to a whisper. Be dramatic. Give them a good

show.'

He laughed. 'You're a charlatan, Ehlana.

'Naturally. That's what politics is all about - fraud, deceit,

charlatanism. '

'That's dreadful!'

'Of course. That's why it's so much fun.

The brazen fanfares echoed back from the vaulted ceiling as

each minister entered the throne-room, and they had the desired

effect. The ministers in their silken mantles all seemed slightly

awed by their own sublime importance, something many of

them had overlooked or forgotten. They moved to their places

with slow, stately pace, their expressions grave, even exalted.

Pondia Subat, the Prime Minister, seemed particularly

impressed with himself. He sat splendidly alone in a crimsonupholstered

chair to one side of the dais upon which the thrones

stood, looking imperially out at the other officials assembling in

the chairs lining both sides of the broad central aisle.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gashon sat with Teovin, the

Director of the Secret Police, and several other ministers. There

seemed to be a great deal of whispering going on in the little

group.

'That would probably be the opposition,' Ehlana observed.

'Teovin's certainly involved, and the others are also most likely

part of it - to a greater or lesser degree.' She turned to Talen,

who stood directly behind her, wearing his page's knee-britches.

'Pay very close attention to that group,' she instructed. "I want

a report on their reactions. We should be able to determine their

degree of guilt by the looks on their faces.'

'Yes, my Queen.'

Then Itagne appeared briefly at the massive double doors to

the throne' -room and flicked his hand at Ulath, signaling that all

of the relevant officials had arrived.

Ulath, who stood to one side of the dais, nodded and raised

his Ogre-horn trumpet to his lips.

The room seemed to shudder into a shocked silence as the

barbaric sound of the Ogre-horn, deep-toned and rasping, reverberated

from the nacreous walls. The huge doors boomed shut,

and two armored knights, one a Cyrinic all in white, and the

other a Pandion all in black, placed themselves in front of the

entryway.

The Prime Minister rose to his feet.

Ulath banged the butt of his axe on the floor three times to

call for silence.

The Emperor winced.

'What's wrong, Sarabian?' Mirtai asked him.

'Sir Ulath just broke several of the floor-tiles.

'We can replace them with bone.' She shrugged. 'There should

be quite a few bones lying around before the day's over.'

'Will the council please come to order?' Pondia Subat intoned.

Ulath banged the floor again.

Sparhawk looked around the throne-room. Everyone was in

place. Sephrenia, dressed in her white Styric robe, sat with Prin-cess

Danae and Caalador on the far side of the room. Xanetia,

also in white, sat on the near side with Kalten and Berit. Melidere

sat in a small gallery with the nine imperial wives. The clever

Baroness had carefully cultivated a friendship with Sarabian's

first wife, Cieronna, a member of one of the noblest houses of

Tamul proper, and the mother of the crown prince. The friendship

had by now grown so close that Melidere was customarily

invited to attend state functions in the company of the

empresses. Her presence among them this time had a serious

purpose, however. Sarabian had a wife from each of the nine

kingdoms, and it was entirely possible that some of them had

been subverted. Sparhawk was fairly certain that the bare-breasted

Valesian, Elysoun, was free of any political contamination.

She was simply too busy for politics. The Tegan wife,

Gahennas, a puritanical lady obsessed with her personal virtue

and her staunch republicanism, would probably not even have

been approached by conspirators. Torellia of Arjuna, and

Chacole of Cynesga, however, were highly suspect. They had

both established what might best be called personal courts, liberally

sprinkled with nobles from their homelands. Melidere had

been instructed to keep a close eye on those two in particular

for signs of unusual reactions to the revelation of Zalasta's true

affiliation.

Sparhawk sighed. It was all so complicated. Friends and

enemies all looked the same. In the long run, it might turn out

that Xanetia's unusual gift would prove more valuable than a

sudden offer of aid from an entire army.

Vanion, who had unobtrusively stationed himself with the

knights lining the walls, reached up and first lowered, then

raised, his visor. It was the signal that all their forces were in

place. Stragen, who was with his trumpeters behind the dais,

nodded briefly in acknowledgement.

Then Sparhawk looked rather closely at Zalasta, the unknowing

guest of honor at this affair. The Styric, his eyes apprehensive,

sat among the ministers, his white robe looking oddly out

of place among all the bright-colored silk mantles. He quite obviously

knew that something was afoot, and just as obviously had

no idea what it might be. That was something, anyway. At least

no one in the inner circle had been subverted. Sparhawk irritably

shook that thought off. Under the circumstances, a certain'

amount of wary suspicion was only natural, but left unchecked

it could become a disease. He made a sour face. About one more

day of this and he'd begin to suspect himself.

'The council will now come to order!' pondia Subat repeated.

Ulath broke some more tiles.

'By command of his Imperial Majesty, Emperor Sarabian, this

council is called to order!'

'Good God, Subat,' Sarabian groaned, half to himself, 'will

you destroy the floor entirely?'

'Gentlemen, his Imperial Majesty, Sarabian of Tamuli!'

A single trumpet voiced a clear, ringing theme of majestically

descending notes. Then another joined the first to repeat the

theme a third of an octave higher - then another trumpet another

third higher. Then, in a great crescendo and still higher, the

musicians all joined in to fill the throne-room with shimmering

echoes.

'impressive,' Sarabian noted. 'Do we go in now?'

'Not yet,' Ehlana told him. 'The music changes. That's when

we start. Pay attention to my hand on your arm. Let me set the

pace. Don't jump when we get to the thrones. Stragen's got a

whole brass band hidden in various parts of the room. The

climax will be thunderous. Draw yourself up, throw your shoulders

back, and look regal. Try your very best to look like a God.'

'Are you having fun, Ehlana?'

She grinned impishly at him and winked. 'There,' she said, 'the

flutes at the back of the hall have picked up the theme. That's our

signal. Good luck, my friend.' She kissed him lightly on the cheek

and then laid her hand on his arm. 'One,' she said, listening

intently to the music. 'Two.' She drew in a deep breath. 'Now.'

And the Emperor of Tamuli and the Queen of Elenia stepped

through the archway and crossed with regal pace toward their

golden thrones as the flutes at the rear of the hall softly sang the

plaintive accompaniment of Stragen's main theme, set now in a

minor key. Immediately behind them came Sparhawk, Mirtai,

Engessa and Bevier. Talen, Alcan and Itagne, who was still puffing

slightly from running through the halls, followed.

As the royal party reached the thrones, Stragen, who was

using his rapier as a conductor's baton, led his hidden musicians

into a fortissimo recapitulation of his main theme. The sound

was overwhelming. It was not entirely certain whether the

members of the imperial council fell to their faces out of habit

or were knocked down by that enormous blast of sound. Stragen

cut his rapier sharply to one side, and the musicians broke off,

slashed as it were into silence, leaving the echoes shimmering

in the air like ghosts.

Pondia Subat rose to his feet. 'Will your Majesty address some

few remarks to this assemblage before we commence?' he asked

in an almost insultingly superior tone. The question was sheer

formality, almost ritualistic. The Emperor traditionally did not

speak at these sessions.

'Why, yes, as a matter of fact, I believe I will, Pondia Subat,'

Sarabian replied, rising again to his feet. 'So good of you to ask,

old boy.'

Subat gaped at him, his expression incredulous. 'But...'

'Was there something, Subat?'

I

This is most irregular, your Majesty.'

I know. Refreshing, isn't it? We've got a lot to cover today,

Subat, so let's get cracking.'

'Your Majesty has not consulted with me. We cannot proceed

if I don't know what issues are...'

'Sit, Subat!' Sarabian snaPPed. 'Stay!' His tone was one of

command. 'You will remain silent until I give you leave to

speak.'

'You can't...'

"I said sit down!'

Subat quailed and sank into his chair.

'Your head's none too tightly attached just now, my Lord

Prime Minister,' Sarabian said ominously, 'and if you waggle it

at me in the wrong way, it might just fall off. You've been

tiptoeing right on the brink of treason, Pondia Subat, and I'm

more than a little put out with you.'

The Prime Minister's face went deathly pale.

Sarabian began to pace up and down on the dais, his face like a

thundercloud.

'Please, God, make him stand still,' Ehlana said under her

breath. 'He can't make a decent speech if he's loping around

the dais like a gazelle in flight.'

Then the Emperor stopped to stand at the very front of the

slightly elevated platform. 'i'm not going to waste time with

banalities, gentlemen,' he told his government bluntly. 'We had

a crisis, and I depended on you to deal with it. You failed me

- probably because you were too busy playing your usual games

of politics. The Empire required giants, and all I had to serve

me were dwarves. That made it necessary for me to deal with the

crisis personally. And that's what I've been doing, gentlemen for

the past several months. You are no longer relevant, my

Lords. I am the government.'

There were cries of outrage from the ministers and their subordinates.

'He's going too fast.' ~Ehlana exclaimed. 'He should have built

up to that.'

'Don't be such a critic,' Sparhawk told her. "It's his speech

Let him make it his own way.'

"I will have silence!" Sarabian declared.

The council paid no attention. They continued their excited

babbling.

The Emperor opened his mantle to reveal his Elene clothing,

and then he drew his rapier. "I said SILENCE!' he roared.

All sound ceased.

'I'll pin the next man who interrupts me to the wall like a

butterfly,' Sarabian told them. Then he cut his rapier sharply

through the air. The whistling sound of the blade's passage was

as chill as death itself. He looked around at his cowed officials.

'That's a little better,' he said. 'Now stay that way.' He set the

point of the rapier on the floor and lightly crossed his hands on

the pommel. 'My family has depended on the ministries to

handle the day-to-day business of government for centuries,' he

said. 'Our trust has obviously been misplaced. You were

adequate - barely - in times of tranquility, but when a crisis

arose, you began to scurry around like ants, more interested in

protecting your fortunes, your personal privileges, and perpetuating

your petty interdepartmental rivalries than in the good of

my Empire - and that's the one thing you all seem to forget,

gentlemen. It's my Empire. My family hasn't made a great issue

of the fact, but I think it's time you were reminded of it. You

serve me, and you serve only at my pleasure, not at your convenience.'

The officials were all gaping at the man they had thought to

be no more than a harmless eccentric. Sparhawk saw a movement

near the middle of the throne-room. His eyes flicked back

to the front, and he saw that Teovin's chair was conspicuously

empty. The Director of the Secret Police was more clever and

much quicker than his colleagues, and, throwing dignity to the

winds, he was busily crawling on his hands and knees toward

the nearest exit. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gashon, thin,

bloodless and wispy-haired, sat beside Teovin's vacant chair,

staring at Sarabian in open terror.

Sparhawk looked quickly at Vanion, and the Preceptor

nodded. Vanion had seen the crawling policeman too.

'When I perceived that I had chosen little men with little minds

to administer my Empire,' Sarabian was saying, "I appealed to

Zalasta of Styricum for advice. Who better to deal with the supernatural

than the Styrics? It was Zalasta who recommended that

I submit a request directly to Archprelate Dolmant of the Church

of Chyrellos for assistance, and the very core of that assistance

was to be Prince Sparhawk of Elenia. We Tamuls pride ourselves

on our subtlety and our sophistication, but I assure you that we

are but children when compared to the Elenes. The state visit

of my dear sister Ehlana was little more than a subterfuge

designed to conceal the fact that our main purpose was to bring

her husband, Sir Sparhawk, to Matherion. Queen Ehlana and I

amused ourselves by deceiving you - and you were not hard to

deceive, my Lords - while Prince Sparhawk and his companions

sought the roots of the turmoil here in Tamuli. As we had anticipated,

our enemies reacted.'

There was a brief, muted disturbance at one of the side doors.

Vanion and Khalad were quite firmly preventing the Director of

the Secret Police from leaving.

'Did you have a pressing engagement somewhere, Teovin?'

Sarabian drawled.

Teovin's eyes were wild, and he looked at his Emperor with

open hatred.

'if you're discontented with me, Teovin, I'll be more than

happy to give you satisfaction,' Sarabian told him, flourishing

his rapier meaningfully. 'Please return to your seat. My seconds

will call upon you when we've concluded here.'

Vanion took the Director of the Secret Police by one arm,

turned him round, and pointed at the empty seat. Then, with

a none too gentle shove, he started him moving.

'This windy preamble's beginning to bore me, gentlemen,'

Sarabian announced, 'so why don't we get down to cases? The

attempted coup here in Matherion was the direct response to

Sir Sparhawk's arrival. The assorted disturbances that have kept

the Atans running from one end of the continent to the other

for the past several years have had one source and only one. We

have a single enemy, and he has formed a massive conspiracy

designed to overthrow the government and to wrest my throne

from me, and as I probably should have anticipated, given the

nature of those who pretend to serve me, he had willing helpers

in the government itself.'

Some of the dignitaries gasped; others looked guilty.

'Pay very close attention, gentlemen,' Sarabian told them.

'This is where it begins to get interesting. Many of you have

wondered at the long absence of Interior Minister Kolata. I'm

sure you'll be delighted to know that Kolata's going to be joining

us now.'

he turned to Ulath. 'Would you be so good as to invite the

Minister of the Interior to come in, Sir Knight?' he asked.

Ulath bowed, and Kalten rose from his seat to join him.

'Minister Kolata, as the chief policeman in all the Empire,

knows a great deal about criminal activities,' Sarabian declared.

'i'm absolutely sure that his analysis of the present situation will

be enlightening.'

Kalten and Ulath returned with the ashen-faced Minister of

the Interior between them. It was not the fact that Kolata was

in obvious distress that raised the outcry from the other officials,

however, but rather the fact that the chief policeman of the

Empire was in chains.

Emperor Sarabian stood impassively as his council members

shouted their protests. 'How am I doing so far, Ehlana?' he

asked out of the corner of his mouth.

'i'd have done it differently,' she told him, 'but that's only a

matter of style. I'll give you a complete critique when it's all

over.' She looked out at the officials who were all on their feet

talking excitedly. 'Don't let that go on for too long. Remind them

who's in charge. Be very firm about it.'

'Yes, mother,' he smiled. Then he looked at his government

and drew in a deep breath. 'QUIET!' he roared in a great voice. They fell

into a stunned silence. '

'There will be no further interruptions of these proceedings,'

Sarabian told them. 'The rules have changed, gentlemen. We're

not going to pretend to be civilized any more. I'm going to tell

you what to do, and you're going to do it. I'd like to remind

you that not only do you serve at my pleasure; you also continue

to live only at my pleasure. The Minister of the Interior is guilty

of high treason. You'll note that there was no trial. Kolata is

guilty because I say that he's guilty.' Sarabian paused as a new

realization came to him. 'My power in Tamuli is absolute. I am

the government, and I am the law. We are going to question

Kolata rather closely. Pay attention to his answers, gentlemen.

Your positions in government - your very lives - may hinge on

what he says. Foreign Minister Oscagne is going to question

Kolata - not about his guilt, which has already been established

- but about the involvement of others. We're going to get to the

bottom of this once and for all. You may proceed, Oscagne.'

'Yes, your Majesty.' Oscagne rose to his feet and stood a

moment in deep thought as Sarabian sat again on his throne.

Oscagne wore a black silk mantle. His choice of color had been

quite deliberate. While black mantles were not common, they

were not unheard of. Judges and Imperial Prosecutors, however,

Always wore black. The somber color heightened the Foreign

Minister's pallor, which in turn accentuated his grim expression.

Khalad came forward with a plain wooden stool and set it

down in front of the dais. Kalten and Ulath brought the Minister

of the Interior forward and plopped him unceremoniously down

on the stool.

'Do you understand your situation here, Kolata?' Oscagne

asked the prisoner.

'You have no right to question me, Oscagne,' Kolata replied

quickly.

'Break his fingers, Khalad,' Sparhawk instructed from his position

just behind Ehlana's throne.

'Yes, my Lord,' Khalad replied. 'How many?'

'Start out with one or two. Every time he starts talking about

Oscagne's rights - or his own - break another one.'

'Yes, my Lord.' Khalad took the Interior Minister's wrist.

'Stop him!' ~Kolata squealed in fright. 'Somebody stop him!'

'Kalten, Ulath,' Sparhawk said, 'kill the first man who moves."

Kalten drew his sword, and Ulath raised his axe.

'You see how it is, old boy,' Oscagne said to the man on the

stool. 'You're not universally loved to begin with, and Prince

Sparhawk's command has just evaporated any minuscule affection

anyone here might have had for you. You will talk, Kolata.

Sooner or later, you'll talk. We can do this the easy way, or we

can do it the other way, but you are going to answer my questions.'

Oscagne's expression had become implacable.

'They'll kill me, Oscagne!' Kolata pleaded. 'They'll kill me if

I talk.'

'You're in a difficult situation, then, Kolata, because we'll kill

you if you don't. You're taking orders from Cyrgon, aren't you?'

'Cyrgon? That's absurd!' ~Kolata blustered. 'Cyrgon's a myth.'

'Oh, really?' Oscagne looked at him with contempt. 'Don't

play the fool with me, Kolata. I don't have the patience for it.

Your orders come from the Cynesgan Embassy, don't they? and

most of the time, they're delivered by a man named Krager.'

Kolata gaped at him.

'Close your mouth, Kolata. You look like an idiot with it hanging

open like that. We already know a great deal about your

treason. All we really want from you are a few details. You were

first contacted by someone you had reason to trust - and most

probably someone you respected. That immediately rules out a

Cynesgan. No Tamul has anything but contempt for Cynesgans.

Given our characteristic sense of our own superiority, that would

also rule out an Arjuni or an Elene from any of the western

kingdoms. That would leave only another Tamul, or possibly

an Atan, or...' Oscagne's eyes suddenly widened, and his

expression grew thunderstruck. 'Or a Styric!'

'Absurd,' Kolata scoffed weakly. His eyes, however, were

wild, darting this way and that like those of a man looking for

a place to hide.

Sparhawk looked appraisingly at Zalasta. The sorcerer's face

was deathly pale, but his eyes showed that he was still in control.

It was going to take something more to push him over the edge.

The big Pandion placed his left hand rather casually on his

sword-hilt, giving Oscagne the pre-arranged signal.

'We don't seem to be getting anywhere, old boy,' Oscagne

drawled, recovering from his surprise. "I think you need some

encouragement.' He turned and looked at Xanetia. 'Would

you be so kind, Anarae?' he asked her. 'Our esteemed Minister

of the Interior doesn't seem to want to share things with

us. Do you suppose you could persuade him to change his

mind?'

"I can but try, Oscagne of Matherion,' Xanetia replied, rising

to her feet. She crossed the front of the room, choosing for some

reason to approach the prisoner from the side where Sephrenia

sat rather than the one from which she herself had been watching.

'Thou art afeared, Kolata of Matherion,' she said gravely,

'and thy fear doth make thee brave, for it is in thy mind that

though they who hold thy body captive may do thee great harm,

he who hath thy soul in thrall may do thee worse. Now must

thou contend with yet an even greater fear. Look upon me,

Kolata of Matherion, and tremble, for I will visit upon thee the

ultimate horror. Wilt thou speak, and speak freely?'

"I can't!' ~Kolata wailed.

'Then art thou lost. Behold me as I truly am, and consider

well thy fate, for I am death, Kolata of Matherion, death beyond

thy most dreadful imagining.' The color drained from her

slowly, and the glow within her was faint at first. She stood

looking at him with her chin raised and an expression of deep

sadness in her eyes as she glowed brighter and brighter.

Kolata screamed.

The other officials scrambled to their feet, their faces terrified,

and their babbling suddenly shrill.

'SIT DOWN!' Sarabian bellowed at them. 'AND BE SILENT!'

A few of them were cowed into obedience. Most, however,

were too frightened. They continued to shrink back from Xanetia,

crying out in shrill voices.

'My Lord Vanion,' Sarabian called over the tumult, 'would

you please restore order?"

'At once, your Majesty.' Vanion clapped down his visor,

pulled his sword from its scabbard, and raised his shield. 'Draw

swords!' He barked the command. There was a steely rasP as the

Church Knights drew their swords. 'Forward!' Vanion ordered.

The knights posted along the walls marched clankingly forward,

their swords at the ready, converging on the frightened

officials. Vanion stretched forth his steel-clad arm, extending his

sword and touching the tip to the throat of the Prime Minister.

"I believe the Emperor told you to sit down, Pondia Subat,' he

said. 'Do it! now!"

The Prime Minister sank back into his chair, suddenly more

afraid of Vanion than he was of Xanetia.

A couple of the council members had to be chased down and

forcibly returned to their seats, and one rather athletic one, the

Minister of Public Works, Sparhawk thought, was persuaded to

come down from the drape he'd been climbing only by the threat

of Khalad's crossbow. Order was restored. When the council

had returned - or been returned - to their seats, however, the

Chancellor of the Exchequer was discovered lying on the floor,

vacant-eyed and with a large bubble of foam protruding from his

gaping mouth. Vanion checked the body rather perfunctorily.

'Poison,' he said shortly. 'He seems to have taken it himself.'

Ehlana shuddered.

'Prithee, Anarae,' Sarabian said to Xanetia, 'continue thine

inquiry.'

'An it please your Majesty,' she replied in that strange echoing

Voice. She turned her gaze on Kolata. 'Wilt thou speak, and

freely, Kolata of Matherion?' she asked. He shrank back in horror.

'So be it, then.' She put forth her hand and moved closer.

'The curse of Edaemus is upon me,' she warned, 'and I bear its

mark. I will share that curse with thee. Mayhap thou wilt regret

thy silence when thy flesh doth decay and melt like wax from

thy bones. The time hath come to choose, Kolata of Matherion.

Speak or die. Who is it who hath stolen thy loyalty from thine

appointed master.' Her hand, more surely deadly than Vanion's

sword, was within inches of Kolata's ashen face.

'No!' he shrieked. 'No. I'll tell you!'

The cloud appeared quite suddenly in the air above the gibbering

minister, but Sparhawk was ready. Half hidden behind

Ehlana's throne, he had taken off his gauntlet and surreptitiously

removed the Sapphire Rose from its confinement. 'Blue

Rose!' he said sharply. 'Destroy the cloud.'

The Bhelliom surged in his hand, and the dense, almost solid-appearing

patch of intense darkness tattered, whipping like a

pennon on a flag-staff in a hurricane, then it streamed away and

was gone.

Zalasta was thrown back in his chair as his spell was broken.

He half rose and fell back again, writhing and moaning as the

jagged edges of his broken spell clawed at him. His chair overturned,

and he convulsed 'on the floor like one caught in a

seizure.

"It was him!' ~Kolata shrieked, Pointing with a trembling hand.

"It was Zalasta He made me do it!'

Sephrenia's gasp was clearly audible. Sparhawk looked

sharply at her. She had fallen back, nearly as shaken as Zalasta

himself. Her eyes were filled with disbelief and horror. Danae,

Sparhawk noticed, was talking to her, speaking rapidly and

holding her sister's face quite firmly in her small hands.

'Curse you, Sparhawk!' The words came out in a kind of rasping

croak as Zalasta, aided by his staff, dragged himself unsteadily

to his feet. His face was shaken and twisted in

frustration and rage. 'You are mine, Sephrenia, mine!' he howled.

"I have longed for you for an eternity, watched as your thieving,

guttersnipe Goddess stole you from me. but no more. Thus do

I banish forever the Child Goddess and her hold on thee!' his

deadly staff whirled and leveled. 'Die, Aphrael!' he shrieked.

Sephrenia, without even thinking, clasped her arms around

Sparhawk's daughter and turned quickly in her seat, shielding

the little girl with her own body, willingly offering her back to

Zalasta's fury.

Sparhawk's heart froze as a ball of fire shot from the tip of

the staff.

'No!' Vanion cried, trying to rush forward.

But Xanetia was already there. Her decision to approach Kolata

from Sephrenia's side of the room had clearly been influenced

by her perception of what lay in Zalasta's mind. She had

consciously placed herself in a position to protect her enemy. Unafraid,

she faced the raving Styric. The sizzling fireball streaked through the

silent air of the throne-room, bearing with it all of Zalasta's

centuries-old hatred. Xanetia held out her hand, and, like a tame bird

returning to the hand that feeds it, the flaming orb settled into that

hand. With only the faint hint of a smile touching her lips, the Delphaeic

woman closed her fingers around Zalasta's pent-up

hatred. For an instant, incandescent flame spurted out from

between her pale fingers, and then she absorbed the fiery messenger

of death, the light within her consuming it utterly. 'What

now, Zalasta of Styricum?' she asked the raging sorcerer. 'What

dost thou propose now? Wilt thou contend with me more at

peril of thy life? Or wilt thou, like the whipped cur thou art,

Clings and flee my wrath? For I do know thee. It hath been ~thy

poisoned tongue which hath set my sister's heart against me.

Flee, master of lies. Abuse Sephrenia's ears no longer with thy

foul slanders. Go. I abjure thee. Go.'

Zalasta howled, and in that howl there was a lifetime of unsatisfied

longing and blackest despair.

And then he vanished.

CHAPTER 20

Emperor Sarabian's expression was strangely detached as he

looked out over the shambles of his government. Some of the

officials appeared to be in shock, others scurried aimlessly, bahbling.

Several were clustered at the main door, imploring the

knights to let them out.

Oscagne, his diplomat's face imperturbable, approached the

dais. 'Surprising turn of events,' he noted, as if he were speaking

of an unexpected summer shower. He studiously adjusted his

black mantle, looking more and more like a judge.

'Yes,' Sarabian agreed, his eyes still lost in thought. "I think

we might be able to exploit it, however. Sparhawk, is that dungeon

down in the basement functional?'

'Yes, your Majesty. The architect was very thorough.'

'Good.'

'What have you got in mind, Sarabian?' Ehlana asked him.

He grinned at her, his face suddenly almost boyish. "I ain't

a-tellin', dorlin',' he replied in outrageous imitation of Caalador's

dialect. "I purely wouldn't want t' spoil th' surn-prise.'

'Please, Sarabian,' she said with a weary sigh.

"Jist you watch, yet Queenship. I'm a-fixin' t' pull off a little

choop my own-self.'

'You're going to make me cross, Sarabian.'

'Don't you love me any more, mother?' His tone was excited

and exhilarated. 'Men.' she said, rolling her eyes upward.

"Just follow my lead, my friends,' the Emperor told them.

'Let's find out how well I've learned my lessons.' He rose to his

feet. 'Lord Vanion,' he called, 'would you be so good as to return

our guests to their seats?'

'At once, your Majesty,' Vanion replied. Vanion, forewarned

of Zalasta's treachery, was completely in control. He barked a

few short commands, and the Church Knights firmly escorted

the distracted officials back to their chairs.

'What was he doing?' Ehlana demanded of her husband in a

tense whisper. 'Why did he try to attack Danae?'

'He didn't, love,' Sparhawk replied, thinking very quickly.

'he was trying to attack Aphrael. Didn't you see her? She was

standing right beside Sephrenia.'

'She was?'

'Of course. I thought everyone in the room saw her, but

maybe it was only me - and Zalasta. Why do you think he ran

away so fast? Aphrael was right on the verge of jerking out his

heart and eating it before his very eyes.'

She shuddered.

Emperor Sarabian moved to the front of the dais again. 'Let's

come to order, gentlemen,' he told them crisply. 'We haven't

finished here yet. I gather that you were surprised by the revelation

of Zalasta's true position - some of you, anyway. I'm disappointed

in you, my Lords - most of you for your profound

lack of perception, the rest for not realizing that I could see

through Zalasta - and you - like panes of glass. Some of you

are traitors, the rest are merely stupid. I have no need of men

of either stripe in my service. It is my excruciating pleasure

to announce that at sunrise this morning, the Atan garrisons

throughout Tamuli moved out of their barracks and replaced all

imperial authorities with officers from their own ranks. With the

exception of Matherion, the entire Empire is under martial law.'

They gaped at him.

'Atan Engessa,' Sarabian said.

'Yes, Sarabian-emperor?'

'Would you be so kind as to eliminate that lone exception?

Take your Atans out into the city and take charge of the capital.''

'At once, Sarabian-emperor.' Engessa's grin was very broad.

'Be firm, Engessa. Show my subjects my fist.'

"it shall be as you command, Sarabian-emperor.'

'Splendid chap,' Sarabian murmured loudly enough to be

heard as the towering Atan marched to the door.

'Your Majesty,' Pondia Subat protested weakly, half rising.

The look the Emperor gave his Prime Minister was icy. 'i'm

busy right now, Subat,' he said. 'You and I will talk later extensively.

I'm sure I'll find your explanation of how all of this

happened under your very nose without even disturbing your

decades-long nap absolutely fascinating. Now sit down and be

quiet.'

The Prime Minister sank back into his chair, his eyes very

wide.

'All of Tamuli is under martial law now,' the Emperor told his

officials. 'Since you've failed so miserably, I've been obliged to

step in and take charge. That makes you redundant, so you are

all dismissed.'

There were gasps, and some of the officials, those longest in

office and most convinced of their own near-divinity, cried out

in protest.

'Moreover,' Sarabian cut across their objections, 'the treason

of Zalasta has cast doubt upon the loyalty of each and every one

of you. If I cannot trust all, I must suspect all. I want you to

search your souls tonight, gentlemen, because we'll be asking

you questions tomorrow, and we'll want complete truth from

you. We don't have time for lies or excuses or attempts to wriggle

out from under your responsibility or guilt. I strongly recommend

that you be forthcoming. The consequences of mendacity

or evasion will be very unpleasant.'

Ulath took a long honing-steel from his belt and began to draw

it slowly across the edge of his axe-blade. It made the sort of

screech that sets the teeth on edge.

'As a demonstration of my benevolence,' Sarabian continued,

'I've made arrangements for you all to be lodged here tonight,

and to provide you with accommodations that will give each of

you absolute privacy to review your past lives so that you can

answer questions fully tomorrow. Lord Vanion, would you and

your knights be so good as to escort our guests down to their

quarters in the dungeon?' Sarabian was improvising for all he

was worth.

'At once, your Majesty,' Vanion replied, clashing his mailed

fist against his breastplate in salute.

'Ah, Lord Vanion,' Ehlana added.

'Yes, my Queen?'

'You might consider searching our guests before you put them

to bed. We don't want any more of them hurting themselves

the way the Chancellor of the Exchequer did, now do we?'

'Excellent suggestion, your Majesty,' Sarabian agreed. 'Take

all their toys away from them, Lord Vanion. We don't want

them to be distracted by anything.' he paused a moment. 'Actually,

Lord Vanion, I rather think our guests will be able to concentrate

a little better if they have something tangible about them

to emphasize their situation. It seems that I read something once

to the effect that the prisoners in Elene dungeons wear a kind

of uniform.'

'Yes, your Majesty,' Vanion told him with an absolutely

straight face. "it's a sleeveless smock made of gray burlap - with

a bright red stripe painted down the back, so that they can be

identified in case they escape.'

'Do you suppose you might be able to find something along

those lines for our guests?'

'if not, we can improvise, your Majesty.

'Splendid, Lord Vanion - and take their jewels away from

them as well. Jewels make people feel important, and I want

them all to understand that they're little more than bugs. I suppose

you'd better feed them as well. What do people usually

eat in dungeons?'

'Bread and water, your Majesty - a little gruel once in a while.'

'That should do nicely. Get them out of here, Vanion. The

very sight of them is starting to nauseate me.'

Vanion barked a few sharp commands, and the knights

descended on the former government.

Each official had an honor guard of armored men to escort

him - in some cases to drag him - down to the dungeon.

'Ah - stay a moment, Teovin,' the Emperor said urbanely to

the Director of the Secret Police. "I believe there was something

you wanted to say to me?'

'No, your Majesty.' Teovin's tone was sullen.

'Come, come, old boy. Don't be shy. We're all friends here.

If you're in any way offended by anything I've done here today,

spit it out. Milord Stragen will be happy to lend you his rapier,

and then you and I can discuss things. I'm sure you'll find my

explanations quite pointed.' Sarabian let his mantle slide to the

floor. He smiled a chill smile and drew his rapier again. 'Well?'

he said,

"it would be treason for me to offer violence to your Majesty's

person,' Teovin mumbled.

'Good God, Teovin, why should that bother you? You've been

involved in treason for the past several years anyway, so why

concern yourself with a few picky little technicalities? Take up

the sword, man. For once - just once - face me openly'. I'll give

you a fencing lesson - one you'll remember for the rest of your

life, short though that may be.'

"I will ' not raise my hand against my Emperor,' Teovin

declared.

'What a shame. I'm really disappointed in you, old boy. You

may go now.'

Vanion took the Director's arm in his mailed fist and half

dragged him from the throne-room.

The Emperor of Tamuli exultantly raised his rapier over his

head, rose onto tiptoe, and spun about in a flamboyant little

pirouette. Then he extended one leg forward and bowed extravagantly

to Ehlana, sweeping his slender sword to the side. 'And

that, dear mother,' he said to her, 'is how you overthrow a

government. '

'no, Lady Sephrenia,' the queen said flatly a half-hour later

when they had gathered again in the royal apartment, 'you do

not have our permission to withdraw. You're a member of the

royal council of Elenia, and we have need of you.'

Sephrenia's pale, grief-stricken face went stiff. 'As your

Majesty commands.'

'Snap out of it, Sephrenia. This is an emergency. We don't

have time for personal concerns. Zalasta's betrayed us all, not

just you. Now we have to try to minimize the damage.'

'You're not being fair, mother,' Danae accused.

'i'm not trying to be. You'll be queen one day, Danae. Now

sit down, keep your mouth shut, and learn.'

Danae looked startled. Then her chin came up. She curtsied.

'Yes, your Majesty,' she said.

'That's better. I'll make a queen of you yet. Sir Bevier.'

'Yes, your Majesty?' Bevier replied.

'Tell your Cyrinics to man their catapults. Vanion, put the rest

of the knights on the walls and tell them to start boiling the pitch.

Zalasta's on the loose out there. He's completely lost control of

himself, and we have no idea of what forces he has at his command.

In his present state, he may try anything, so let's be ready just in

case.'

'You sound like a field-marshal, Ehlana,' Sarabian told her.

"I am,' she replied absently. "it's one of my titles. Sparhawk,

can Bhelliom counter any magic Zalasta might throw at us?'

'Easily, my Queen. He probably won't try anything, though

You saw what happened to him when Bhelliom blew his cloud

apart. It's very painful to have one of your spells broken.

Sephrenia knows him better than I do. She can tell you whether

or not he's desperate enough to risk that again.'

'Well, Sephrenia?' Ehlana asked.

"I don't really know, your Majesty,' the small Styric woman

replied after a moment's thought. 'This is a side of him I've

never seen before. I honestly believe he's gone mad. He might

do almost anything.'

'We'd better be ready for him, then. Mirtai, ask Kalten and

Ulath to bring Kolata in here. Let's find out just how far this

conspiracy goes.'

Sparhawk drew Sephrenia to one side. 'How did Zalasta find

out about Danae?' he asked. "it's obvious that he knows who

she really is. Did you tell him?'

'No. She told me not to.'

'That's peculiar. I'll talk with her later and find out why.

Maybe she suspected something - or it might have been one 'of

those hunches of hers.' He thought for a moment. 'Could he

have been trying to kill you? It seemed that he was throwing that

fireball at Danae, but you might have been his target.'

"I could never believe that, Sparhawk.'

'At this point, I'm almost ready to believe anything.' he

hesitated. 'Xanetia knew about him, you realize. She told us

earlier.'

'Why didn't you warn me?' Her tone was shocked.

'Because you wouldn't have believed her. You're not really

inclined to trust her word, Sephrenia. You had to see Zalasta's

treachery for yourself. Oh, incidentally, she did save your life,

you'll remember. You might want to give that some thought.'

'Don't scold me, Sparhawk,' she said with a wan little smile.

'i'm having a difficult enough time as it is.'

"I know, and I'm afraid nobody can make it any easier for

you.

Kolata proved to be very cooperative. his weeks of confinement

had broken his spirit, and Zalasta's obvious willingness to kill

him had canceled any loyalty he might have felt. "I really don't

know,' he replied to Oscagne's question. 'Teovin might, though.

He's the one who brought Zalasta's proposal to me originally.'

'Then you haven't been involved in this affair since you were

first appointed to office?'

"I don't think "this affair", as you call it, has been going on

for that long. I can't say for certain, but I got the impression

that it all started about five or six years ago.'

'You've been recruiting people for longer than that.'

'That was just ordinary Tamul politics, Oscagne. I knew that

the Prime Minister was an idiot as soon as I took office. You

were my only significant opponent. I was recruiting people to

counter your moves - and your absurd idea that the subject

kingdoms of Daresia are foreign nations rather than integral

parts of metropolitan Tamuli.'

'We can discuss jurisdictional disputes some other time, Kolata.

It was Teovin, then? He's been your contact with the

enemy?'

Kolata nodded. 'Teovin and a disreputable drunkard named

Krager. Krager's an Eosian, and he's had dealings with Prince

Sparhawk before, I understand. Everyone in our loose confederation

knows him, so he makes a perfect messenger - when he's

sober.'

'That's Krager, all right,' Kalten noted.

'What exactly did Zalasta offer you, Kollata?' Oscagne asked

the prisoner.

'Power, wealth - the usual. You're a minister of the government,

Oscagne. You know the game and the stakes we play for.

We all thought that the Emperor was no more than a figurehead,

well meaning, a little vague, and not really very well informed

- sorry, your Majesty, but that's what we all believed.'

'Thank you,' Sarabian replied. 'That's what you were supposed

to think. What really baffles me, though, is the fact that

you all overlooked the fact that the Atans are loyal to me personally.

Didn't any of you take that into consideration?'

'We underestimated your Majesty. We didn't think you

grasped the full implications of that. If we'd thought for a

moment that you really understood how much power you had,

we'd have killed you.'

"I rather thought you might have. That's why I played the

simpleton. '

"Did Zalasta tell you who was really behind all of this?'

Oscagne asked.

'He pretended that he was speaking for Cyrgon,' Kolata

replied. 'We didn't take that too seriously, though. Styrics are

peculiar people. They always try to make us believe that they

represent a higher power of some kind. They never seem to

want to accept full responsibility. So far as I know, however, it

was Zalasta's scheme.'

"I think that maybe it's time for us to hear from Zalasta himself,'

Vanion said.

'Have you got him hidden up your sleeve, Vanion?' Ehlana

asked.

'in a manner of speaking, your Majesty. Kalten, why don't

you take the Minister of the Interior back to his room? He looks

a little tired.'

"I still have questions, Lord Vanion,' Oscagne protested.

'We'll get you your answers, old boy,' Itagne assured

him, 'quicker and in much greater detail. You plod, Oscagne.

It's one of your failings. We're just going to hurry things

along.' Vanion waited until Kalten and Ulath had removed Kolata

from the room. 'We've told you all in a general sort of way that

Xanetia knows what other people are thinking. This isn't just

some vague notion about feelings or moods. If she chooses, she

can repeat your thoughts word for word. Most of you probably

have some doubts about that, so in the interests of saving time',

why don't we have her demonstrate? Would you tell us what

Queen Ehlana's thinking right now, Anarae?'

'An it please thee, Lord Vanion,' the Delphaeic woman

replied. 'Her majesty is enjoying herself very much at the

moment. She is, howevre, discontent with thee for thine interruption.

She is pleased with the progress of Emperor Sarabian,

thinking it might now be reasonable to expect some small

measure of competence from him. She hath, as well, certain

designs of an intimate nature upon her husband, for political

activity (doth ever stir that side of her personality.'

Ehlana's face turned bright red. 'you stop that at once.' she

exclaimed.

'i'm sorry, your majesty,' Vanion apologized. 'I didn't anticipate

that last bit. Did Xanetia more or less read your thoughts

correctly?"

'you know I won't answer that, Vanion.' The queen's face

was still flaming.

'Will you at least concede that she has access to the' thoughts

of others?'

'i'd heard about that,' Sarabian mused. 'I thought it was just

another of the wild stories we hear about the Delphae.'

'Bhelliom confirmed it, Emperor Sarabian,' Sparhawk told

him. 'Xanetia can read others the way you'd read an open book.

I'd imagine that she's read Zalasta from cover to cover. She

should be able to tell us everything we want to know.' He looked

at Xanetia. 'Could you give us a sort of summary of Zalasta's

life, Anarae?' he asked her. 'Sephrenia in particular is deeply saddened by

what he revealed in the throne-room. Maybe if

she knows the reason for his actions, she'll find them easier to

understand. '

'I can speak for myself, Sparhawk,' Sephrenia told him tartly."

'i'm sure you can, little mother. I was just serving as an intermediary.

You and Xanetia don't get on too well.'

'What's this?' Sarabian asked quickly.

'An ancient enmity, your Majesty,' Xanetia explained. 'So

ancient, in truth, that none living knoweth its source.'

'I know,' Sephrenia grated at her, 'and it's not as ancient as

all that.'

'Perhaps, but hearken unto the mind of Zalasta, and judge

for thyself, Sephrenia of Ylara.'

Kalten and Ulath returned and quietly took their seats again.

'Zalasta was born some few centuries ago in the Styric village

of Ylara, which lay in the forest near Genae in northern Astel,'

Xanetia began. 'in his seventh year was there born also in that

self-same village she whom we now know as Sephrenia, one of

the Thousand of Styricum, tutor to the Pandion Knights in the

secrets of Styricum, Councillor of Elenia and beloved of Preceptor

Vanion.'

'That's no longer true,' Sephrenia said shortly.

'I spoke of Lord Vanion's feelings for thee, Sephrenia, not

of thine for him, Zalasta's family was on friendly terms with

Sephrenia's, and they did conclude between them that when

Sephrenia and Zalasta should reach a suitable age, they would

be wed. '

'i'd forgotten about that,' Sephrenia said suddenly. 'I've nevr

really thought of him that way.'

"it hath been the central fact of his life, however, I do assure

thee. When thou wert in thy ninth year didst thy mother conceive,

and the child she bore was in truth Aphrael, Child Goddess

of Styricum, and in the instant of her birth did Zalasta's

hopes and dreams turn to dust and ashes, for thy life was forever

given over entirely to thine infant sister. Zalasta's wrath knew

no bounds, and he did hide himself in the forest, lest his countenance

betray his innermost thoughts. Much he traveled, seeking

out the most powerful magicians of Styricum, even, at peril

of his soul, those outcast and accursed. His search had but one

aim, to discover some means whereby a man might overthrow

and destroy a God, for his despair drove him to an unreasoning

hatred of the Child Goddess, and, more than anything, he

sought her death.'

Princess Danae gasped aloud.

'You're supposed to be listening,' her mother said.

'I was startled, mother.'

'You must never show that. Always keep your emotions under

control.'

'Yes, mother.'

"it was in the sixth year of the life of the Child Goddess - in

that particular incarnation - that Zalasta, in a frenzy of frustration,

since all with whom he had spoken had told him that his

goal was beyond human capability, turned to more direct means.

hoping perhaps that the Child Goddess might be caught

unawares or that by reason of her tender years might she not

yet have come into her full powers, conceived he a reckless plan,

an attempt to o'erwhelm her with sheer numbers. Though the

Goddess herself is immortal, thought he that mayhap might her

incarnation be slain, forcing her to seek another vessel for her

awareness. '

'Would that work?' Kalten asked Sparhawk.

'How should I know?' Sparhawk threw a guarded glance at

his daughter.

Danae very casually shook her head.

'in furtherance of his hasty and ill-conceived scheme did Zalasta

assume the guise of an Elene clergyman and did visit the

rude villages of the serfs of that region and did denounce the

Styrics of his own village, describing them as idolaters and

demon-worshipers, whose foul rites demanded the blood of

ehlene virgins. So hotly did he inflame them with his false reports

that on a certain day did the ignorant serfs gather, and swept

they down upon that innocent Styric village, slauhhtering all

and putting their houses to the torch.'

'But that was Sephrenia's home, too!' ~Ehlana exclaimed. 'how

could he be sure that she wouldn't be killed as well?'

'He was beyond caring, Queen of Elenia. Indeed, it was his

thought that better far should she die than that Aphrael should

have her. Better a grief that would pass than endless unsatisfied

longing. But as it came to pass, the Child Goddess had besought

her sister that very morning that they two should go into the

forest to gather wild flowers, and thus it was that they were not

there when the Elene serfs fell upon the village.'

'Zalasta told me the story once,' Sparhawk interrupted. 'He

said that he was with Sephrenia and Aphrael in the forest.'

'Nay, Anakha. He was at the village, directing the search for

the two. '

'Why would he lie about something like that?'

'Mayhap he doth lie even to himself. His acts that day were

monstrous, and it is in our nature to obscure such behavior from

ourselves."

'maybe that's it,' he conceded.

'Ye may well perceive the depths of Zalasta's hatred and

despair when thou knowest that his own kindred perished

there,' Xanetia continued. 'Yea, his father and his mother and

sisters three fell beneath the cudgels and scythes of the ravening

beasts he had unleashed even as he looked on.'

'I don't believe you!' Sephrenia burst out.

'Bhelliom can confirm my truth, Sephrenia,' Xanetia replied

calmly, 'and if I have broken faith by lying, Sir Kalten stands

ready to spill out my life. Put me to the test, sister.'

'he told us that the serfs had been inflamed against our village

by your people - by the Delphae.'

'He lied unto thee, Sephrenia. Great was his chagrin when he

discovered that Aphrael - and thou - didst still live. Seizing

upon the first thought which came to him, did he shift his own

guilt to my kindred, knowing that thou wouldst surely believe

the worst 'of those whom thou wert already predisposed to hate.

he hath deceived thee since childhood, Sephrenia of Ylara, and

would deceive thee still, had not Anakha forced him to reveal

his true self.'

'That's why you hate the Delphae, isn't it, Sephrenia?' Ehlana

asked shrewdly. 'You thought that they were the ones responsiblL~

for the murder of your parents."

'And Zalasta, ever striving to conceal his own guilt, lost no

opportunity to remind her of that lie,' Xanetia said. 'in truth

hath he poisoned her thoughts against the Delphae for centuries,

filling her heart with hatred, lest she question him concerning his own

involvement.'

Sephrenia's face twisted, and she bowed her head, buried her

face in her hands, and began to weep.

Xanetia sighed. 'The truth hath made her grief all new. She

weeps for her parents, dead these many centuries.' She looked

at Alcan. 'Take her somewhat apart, gentle child, and comfort

her. She hath much need of the ministrations of women presently.

The storm of her weeping will soon pass, and then woe

unto Zalasta should he ever fall into her hands.'

'Or mine,' Vanion added bleakly.

'Boiling oil is good, my Lord,' Kalten suggested. 'Cook him

while he's still alive.'

'Hooks are good, too,' Ulath added. 'Long ones with nice

sharp barbs on them.'

'Must you?' Sarabian said with a shudder.

'Zalasta hurt Sephrenia, your Majesty,' Kalten told him.

'There are twenty-five thousand Pandion Knights - and quite a

few knights from the other orders as well - who are going to

take that very personally. Zalasta can pull mountain ranges over

his head to try to hide, but we'll still find him. The Church

Knights aren't really very civilized, and when somebody hurts

those we love, it brings out the worst in us.'

'Well said,' Sparhawk murmured.

'We're getting afield here, gentlemen,' Ehlana reminded

them. 'We'll decide Zalasta's punishment after we catch him.

When did he become involved in this current business, Xanetia?

Is he really allied with Cyrgon?'

'The alliance was of Zalasta's devising, Queen of Elenia. His

failure in the forest of Astel and his own guilt arising therefrom

did plunge him into deepest despair and blackest melancholy.

He roamed the world, losing himself at times in vilest debauchery

and at times dwelling alone and hermit-like in the wildernesses

of this world for decades on end. he sought out every

Styric magician of reputation - good or ill - and gleaned from'

them all of the secrets. In truth, of all the Styrics who have ever

lived in the forty eons of the history of their race, Zalasta is

pre-eminent. But knowledge alone consoled him not. Aphrael

lived still, and Sephrenia was ever bound to her.

'But the knowledge of Zalasta, which is beyond measure, did

suggest to him a means by which he might break those bonds.

At the dawn of time in far Thalesia had the Troll-dwarf Ghwerig

wrought Bhelliom, and Zalasta knew that with Bhelliom's aid

might he gain his heart's desire.

'Then came the birth of Anakha, signaling that Bhelliom itself

would soon emerge from the place where it had lain hidden,

and by signs and oracles and diverse other means did outcast

Styrics perceive his birth, and counseled they Zalasta,

instructing him to journey straightway to Eosia to observe

Anakha throughout his childhood and youth that he might

know him better, for it was the hope of Zalasta that in the day

that Anakha did bring the flower-gem to light, might he wrest

it from him and thereby gain the means to prevail over the Child

Goddess. But on the day when the ring did come into Anakha's

possession by means of inheritance, did Zalasta perceive his

error. Well had the Troll-Gods wrought when they guided

Ghwerig in the carving of the Sapphire Rose. Man is capricious

and inconstant, and covetousness doth ever lurk in his heart,

and Trolls are but reflections of the worst in men. Thus did the

Troll-Gods make the rings the key to Bhelliom, lest any or all

have power to command it. Thus did Aphrael disarm Ghwerig

by stealing the rings, and thus did she scatter the power of the

jewel that no mortal might command it. Thinking that their own

power was absolute, the Troll-Gods had no interest in the

flower-gem, and distrustful each of the others, they laid enchantments

upon the stone to ensure that no one of them might take

up Bhelliom unless all did. Only in concert might they command

it, and they contrived it so that they, as Gods acting' in concert,

could command Bhelliom without the rings.' She paused,

reflecting, Sparhawk thought, on the peculiarities of the

Troll-Gods.

'Now truly,' she went on, 'the Troll-Gods are ellementals, each

so limited that his mind may in no wise be considered whole

and complete. Only when united, which doth rarely happen,

can they, by combinatiun, achieve that wholeness we see

in the meerest human child. For the other Gods, however, it is

not so. The mind of Azash was whole and compl(ete, despite

his maiming, and in his wholeness had he the power to command

Bhelliom without the rings. This then was the peril

which did confront thee, Anakha, when thou didst journey

to Zemoch to meet with him. Had Azash wrested Bhelliom from

thee, he could have compelled it to join its will and its power

with his.'

'That might have been a bit inconvenient,' Kalten noted.

'I don't quite understand,' Talen said. 'The last few times he'

used it, Sparhawk's been able to get Bhelliom to do what he

wants it to do without using the rings. Does that mean that

Sparhawk's a God?'

'Nay, young sir,' Xanetia smiled. 'Anakha is of Bhelliom's

devising and is therefore in some measure a part of Bhelliom even

as are the rings. For him, the rings are not needful. Zalasta

did perceive this. When Anakha slew Ghwerig and took up the

Bhelliom, did Zalasta intensify his surveillance, ever using the

rings as beacons to guide him. Thus did he observe Anakha's

progress, and thus did he watch Anakha's mate as well.'

'All right, Sparhawk,' Ehlana said in a dangerous tone. 'How

did you get my ring? And what's this?' She extended her hand

to show him the ruby adorning her finger. 'is it some cheap

piece of glass?'

he sighed. 'Aphrael stole your ring for me,' he replied. 'She's

the one who provided the substitute. I doubt that she'd have

used glass.'

She pulled the ring off her finger and hurled it across the

room. 'Give it back! Give me back my ring, you thief.'

'I didn't steal it, Ehlana,' he protested. 'Aphrael did.'

'You took it when she gave it to you, didn't you? That makes

you an accessory. Give me back my ring.'

'Yes, dear,' he replied meekly. 'I meant to do that, but it

slipped my mind.' He took out the box. 'Open,' he told it. He

did not touch his ring to the lid. he wanted to find out if the

box would open at his command alone.

It did. He took out his wife's ring and held it out to her.

'Put it back where it belongs,' she commanded.

'All right. here, hold this.' He gave her the box, took her

hand, and slipped the ring onto her finger. Then he reached for

the box again.

'Not just yet,' she said, holding it out of his reach. She looked

at the Sapphire Rose. 'Does it know who I am?'

'I think so. Why don't you ask it? Call it "Blue Rose". That's

what Ghwerig called it, so it's familiar with the name.'

'Blue Rose,' she said, 'do you know me?'

There was a momentary silence as Bhelliom pulsed, its azure

glow dimming and then brightening.

'Anakha,' Talen said in a slightly wooden voice, 'is it thy

desire that I respond to the questions of thy mate?'

"it was well that thou didst, Blue rose,' Sparhawk replied.

'She and I are so intertwined that her thoughts are mine and

mine hers. Whether we will or no, we are three. Ye two should

know one another.'

'This was not my design, Anakha.' Talen's voice had an

accusing note in it.

'The world is ever-changing, Blue Rose,' Ehlana said, 'and

there is no design so perfect that it cannot be improved.' Her

speech, like Sparhawk's, was profoundly formal. 'Some there

are who have feared that I might imperil my life should I touch

thee. Is there in truth such peril?'

The wooden expression slid off Talen's face to be replaced

with a look of bleak determination. 'There is, mate of Anakha.'

The note in Talen's voice was as hard and cold as steel. 'Once

did I relent and once only, when, after ages uncounted of lying

imprisoned in the earth, did I permit Ghwerig to lift me from

the place where I had lain. This shape, which is so pleasing unto

thee, was the result. With cruel implements of diamond and

accursed red iron did Ghwerig carve and contort me, living, into

this grotesque form. I must submit to the touch of a God; I

willingly submit to the touch of Anakha in the sure and certain

hope that he will liberate me from this shape which hath become

my prison. It is death for any other.'

'Couldn't you... ?' She left it hanging.

'No.' There was an icy finality in it. 'I have no reason to trust

the creatures of this world. The death that lieth in my touch

shall remain, and there also will remain the lure which doth

incline all who see me to touch me. They who see me will yearn

to touch me, and will they eagerly reach forth their hands - and

die. The dead have no desire to enslave me, the living are not

to be trusted.'

She sighed. 'Thou art hard, Blue Rose,' she said.

'I have reason, mate of Anakha.'

'Someday, mayhap, we will learn trust.'

"it is not needful. The achievement of our goal doth not hinge

upon it.'

She sighed again and handed the box back to her husband.

'Please go on, Xanetia. That shadow that was pestering Sparhawk

and me was Zalasta, then? At first we thought it was

Azash - and then, later on, the Troll-Gods.'

'The shadow was Zalasta's mind, Queen of Elenia,' Xanetia

replied. 'A Styric 'spell known to very few doth make it possible

for him thus to observe and listen unseen.'

'i'd hardly call it unseen. I saw the edges of him every single

time. It's a very clumsy spell.'

'That was Bhelliom's doing. It sought to warn Anakha of Zalasta's

presence by making him partially visible. Since one of the

rings was on thy hand, the shadow of Zalasta's mind was also

visible to thee.' She paused. 'Zalasta was afeared,' she went on.

"it was the design of the minions of Azash to lure Anakha with

Bhelliom in his grip - to go even unto Zemoch where Azash

might take the jewel from him. Should that have come to pass,

Zalasta's one hope of defeating Aphrael and possessing

Sephrenia would have been forever dashed. In truth, Anakha,

were all the impediments heaped in thy path to Zemoch of

Zalasta's devising.'

'I sort of wondered about that,' Sparhawk mused. 'Martel was

being inconsistent, and that wasn't at all like him. My brother

was usually as single-minded as an avalanche. We thought it

was the Troll-Gods, though. They had plenty of reason not to

want Bhelliom to fall into the hands of Azash.'

'Zalasta wished thee to believe so, Anakha. It was yet another

means whereby he could conceal his own duplicity from

Sephrenia, and her good opinion of him was most important.

In short, thou didst win thy way through to Zemoch and didst

destroy Azash there - along with diverse others.'

'We did that, all right,' Ulath murmured. 'Whole lots Of

diverses.'

'Then was Zalasta sore troubled,' Xanetia continued, 'for

Anakha had come to full realization of his power to control

Bhelliom, and with that realization had he become as dangerous

as any God. Zalasta could no more confront him than he could

confront Aphrael. And so it was that he went apart from all

other men to consider his best course of action, and to consult

with certain outcasts of his acquaintance. The destruction of

Azash had confirmed their surmise, Bhelliom could, in fact, confront

and destroy the Gods. The means of the death of Aphrael

was at hand, could Zalasta but obtain it. That means, however,

was in the hands of the most dangerous man on life. Clearly, if

Zalasta wished to achieve his goal, he must needs ally himself

with a God.'

'Cyrgon,' Kalten guessed.

'Even so, my protector. The Elder Gods of Styricum, as ye

have discovered, were powerless by reason of their lack of worshipers.

The Troll-Gods were confined, and the Elene God was

inaccessible, as was Edaemus of the Delphae. The Tamul Gods

were too frivolous, and the God of the Atans too inhospitable

to save all his own children. That left only Cyrgon, and Zalasta

and his cohorts did immediately perceive a means by which he

might strike a bargain with the God of the Cyrgai. With Bhelliom,

might Cyrgon lift the Styric curse which confined his chil-dren

and unleash them upon the world. In return, Zalasta

believed, might Cyrgon be persuaded to permit him to use

Bhelliom to destroy Aphrael, or, at the very least, to raiSe it

against Aphrael with his own divine hand.'

"it would have been a reasonable basis for opening negotiations,'

Oscagne conceded. 'i'd take that kind of bargain to the

table and expect a hearing at least.'

'Perhaps,' Itagne said dubiously, 'but you'd have to live long

enough to get to the table first. I don't imagine that the appearance

of a Styric in Cyrga would have moved the population

there to enthusiastic demonstrations of welcome.'

"it was in truth a perilous undertaking, Itagne of Matherion.

By diverse means did Zalasta gain entrance into the Temple of

Cyrgon in the heart of the hidden city, and there did he confront

the blazing spirit of Cyrgon himself, and there did he stay the

God's vengeful hand with his offer of the liberation of the Cyrgai.

The enemies at once became allies by reason of their mutual

desires, and concluded they that Anakha must be lured to Daresia,

for in no wise would they risk confrontation with the God

of the Elenes, whose power, derived from his countless worshipers,

is enormous. Conceived they then their involuted plan

to disrupt all of Tamuli by insurrection and by apparition so that

the imperial government must seek aid, and Zalasta's position

of trust would easily enable him to direct the attention of the

government to Anakha and to suggest accommodation with the

Church of Chyrellos. The apparitions to be raised were no great

chore for Zalasta of Styricum and his outcast comrades, nor was

the deceit whereby Cyrgon persuaded the Trolls that their Gods

had commanded them to march across the polar ice to the north

coast of Tamuli an impossible task for the God of the Cyrgai.

More central to their plans, however, were the insurrections

which have so sorely marred the peace of Tamuli in recent years.

Insurrection, to be successful, must be tightly controlled. Spontaneous

uprisings seldom succeed. history had persuaded Zalasta

that central to the success of their plan would be the character

and personality of him who would unite the diverse populations

of the kingdoms of the Tamul Empire and fire them with his

force and zeal. Zalasta did not have far to seek in order to find

such an one. Straightway upon his departure from Cyrga, did

he journey to Arjuna, and there presented he his plan to one

known as Scarpa.'

'Hold it,' Stragen objected. 'Zalasta's plan involved high

treason at the very least. It probably involved crimes they

haven't even named as yet - "consorting with ye powers of

Darknesse" and the like. How did he know he could trust

Scarpa?'

'He had every reason, Stragen of Emsat,' she replied. 'Zalasta

knew that he could trust Scarpa as he could trust none other on

life. Scarpa, you see, is Zalasta's own son.'

PART THREE

Xanetia

chapter 21

Sephrenia sat alone on the bed in her room. Her self-imposed

isolation, she sadly concluded, would probably continue for the

rest of her life. She had spoken in anger and haste, and this

empty solitude was the consequence. She sighed.

Sephrenia of Ylara. It was strange that both Xanetia and Codon

had reached into the past for that archaic name, and stranger

still that it should touch her heart so deeply.

Ylara had not been much of a village, even by Styric standards.

Styrics had long sought to divert the hostility of Elenes by posing

as the poorest of the poor, living in hovels and wearing garments

of the roughest home-spun. But Ylara, with its single muddy

street and clay and wattle huts, had been home. Sephrenia's

childhood there had been filled with love, and that love had

reached its culmination with the birth of her sister. At the

moment of Aphrael's birth, Sephrenia had found at once fulfilment

and life-long purpose.

The memory of that small, rude village and of its warmth and

all-encompassing love had sustained her through dark days.

Ylara, glowing in her memories, had always been a refuge to

which she could retreat when the world and all its ugliness

pressed in around her.

But now it was gone. Zalasta's treachery had forever fouled

and profaned her most precious memories. Now, whenever she

remembered Ylara, Zalasta's face intruded itself; and the feigned

affection that had seemed to mark it was a cruel lie. She now

saw his face for what it truly was - a mask of deceit and luSt

and a vile hatred for the Child Goddess who was at the core of

Sephrenia's very being. Her memories had preserved Ylara, the revelation of

Zalasta'scorrupt duplicity had forever destroyed it.

Sephrenia buried her face in her hands and wept.

Sparhawk and Vanion found Princess Danae brooding alone in

a large chair in a darkened room. 'No,' she replied emphatically

to their urgent request, 'I will not interfere.'

'Aphrael,' Vanion pleaded with tears standing in his eyes, 'it's

killing her.'

'Then she'll just have to die. I can't help her. She has to do

this by herself. If I tamper in any way at all, it won't mean

anything to her, and I love her too much to coddle her and steal

away the significance of what she's suffering.'

'You don't mind if we try to help her, do you?' Sparhawk

asked her tartly.

'You can try if you want - as long as you don't use Bhelliom.'

'You're a very cruel little girl, did you know that? I didn't

really intend to raise a monster.'

'You're not going to change my mind by calling me names,

Sparhawk - and don't try to sneak around behind my back,

either. You can hold her hand or give her flowers or kiss her

into insensibility if you want, but leave the Bhelliom right where

it is. Now go away and leave me alone. I'm not enjoying this.'

And she curled up in her chair with her arms tightly wrapped

around the battered rollo and a look of ancient pain in her dark,

luminous eyes.

'Zalasta's been interfering with us for a long time, hasn't he,

Anarae?' Bevier asked the following morning when they had

gathered once again in the blue-draped sitting room. They all

wore more casual clothing now, and the long table against the

far wall was set with a breakfast buffet. Queen Ehlana had discovered

a long time ago that meals did not necessarily have to

interfere with important matters. Bevier's blue doublet was open

at the front, and he was sunk low in his chair with his legs

stretched out in front of him. 'if he's been behind that shadow

and the cloud, that would almost have to mean that he was

involved in the Zemoch war, wouldn't it?'

Xanetia nodded. 'Zalasta's scheming is centuries old, Sir

Knight. His passion for Sephrenia dates back to his childhood,

as doth his hatred for Aphrael, whose birth did dash all his

hopes. Well he knew that should he confront the Child Goddess

directly, she could will away his very existence with a single

thought. He knew that his lust was unwholesome, and that no

God would be inclined to aid him in his struggle with Aphrael.

Long he pondered this, and he concluded that his design

required aid from some source with power, but without conscience

or will of its own.'

'Bhelliom,' Sparhawk said. 'Or at least that's how everyone

saw it. We know differently now.'

'Truly,' she agreed. 'Zalasta did share the common misperception

of the jewel, thinking it to be a source of power only. He

did believe that Bhelliom, untouched by morality, would obey

him without question, and that it would destroy his mortal

enemy and thus he could come to possess his heart's lust - for

mistake me not, Zalasta sought possession of Sephrenia, not her

love.'

'That's vile,' Baroness Melidere said with a shudder.

Xanetia nodded her agreement. 'Zalasta knew that he must

needs have the rings to command the Sapphire Rose,' she went

on, 'but all of Styricum knew that the nimble Child Goddess

herself had purloined the rings from Ghwerig the Troll-dwarf

to prevent the misshapen creature from raising Bhelliom 'against

the Styrics. Thus did Zalasta feign continuing friendship for

Sephrenia and her sister, hoping to gain knowledge of the location

of the rings and thus the keys to Bhelliom. Now the Gods

had known, and some few humans as well, that one day Bhelliom's

creature Anakha would appear, and by diverse signs and

auguries did they divine that he would be born of the house of

Sparhawk.

'Aphrael was wary, for she knew that the house of Sparhawk

was Elene, and Elenes are not kindly disposed toward Styricum.

She knew, however, that one day Anakha would come, and

that he would raise Bhelliom from the place where it had lain

hidden and wield it to his own purposes - and to the purposes

of Bhelliom itself. She was troubled by this, for should Anakha

share the common Elene despite of Styricum, might he raise the

jewel against her worshipers. She sought to diminish that peril

by separating the rings, placing one in the hands of Anakha's

ancestor and the other elsewhere, so that when the one ring

descended to Anakha, she might examine his heart and mind

to determine whether it be safe to place both rings in his possession.'

'stories are more exciting when you know the people

involved, aren't they?' Talen noted, filling his plate for the third

time. Talen was growing again, and he ate almost constantly.

he did, however, remember his manners well enough to take a

plate of sliced fruit and a glass of milk to Xanetia before he sat

down to gorge himself.

Sparhawk phrased his question carefully. 'I seem to remember

that you once told me that you can't hear the thoughts of the

Gods, Anarae. How is it that you know what Aphrael was

thinking?'

"it is true that the thoughts of the Gods are veiled from me,

Anakha, but Aphrael hath few secrets from her sister, and it is

from Sephrenia's memories that I have gleaned what I have told

ye.

'Now,' she went on with her account, 'Anakha's ancestor was

a Pandion Knight dwelling with his brethren in the motherhouse

of his order in the city of Demos in Elenia, and joined he

in the war of the rash young king Antor against certain rebellious

barons. And it came to pass that the knight and the king, separated

from their companions, lay sorely wounded on the bloody

field of battle. As darkness fell upon that field, did Sephrenia

of Ylara, commanded by her sister, come reluctantly to bind

their wounds and to deliver up the rings - one to each of them.

She did conceal the true import of the rings, advising them that

they were but tokens of their friendship, and by means of a

Styric spell did she stain the rings with the mingled blood of

the wounded pair to conceal their true nature and import. Thus

did she bind the two houses together, which binding did prepare

the way for the union of Anakha and his queen.'

Ehlana beamed smugly at her husband. 'I told you so,' she

said.

'I didn't quite follow that.'

'I told you that we were destined to marry. Why did you keep

arguing with me?'

"it seemed like the thing to do. I was fairly sure you could have

done better.' It was a slightly flippant reply, and it concealed

his shocked surprise. Aphrael was absolutely ruthless in her

manipulation of people's lives. Anakha was Bhelliom's creature,

and the Child Goddess, not certain she could trust him, had

deliberately arranged to be born as his daughter so that she(~

could in some measure control him.

'Now Zalasta, perceiving the intent of Aphrael, was troubled,'

Xanetia went on. 'He had hoped to wrest Bhelliom from Anakha

before Anakha could come to know the full import of his union

with the stone, but Aphrael had once again blocked his design.

By virtue of the rings and the mastery of Bhelliom which they

conferred, had Anakha been made invincible.'

'All right, then,' Ulath rumbled. 'Zalasta was blocked. What

did he do then?'

'There are some in Styricum - and have ever been - who, like

the Elder Gods themselves, have used the power of the spells

their race has learned to satisfy unwholesome personal desires.

The Younger Gods are as children in this regard, and they cannot

know the depths to which such as these will willingly sink.

They are outraged by this coarser side of the nature of man,

and such Styrics as display it are cast out and accursed. These

unfortunates dwell alone and sorrowing in wilderness and

waste, or, all unrepentant, seek they their vile pleasure in the

festering stews of the cities of this world. It was to these that

Zalasta in desperation turned, and in Verel, foulest of the cities

of southern Daconia, found he such a one as he sought.'

'I've lived in Verel,' Mirtai said. 'That would be the place to

look for degenerates, all right.'

Xanetia nodded. 'There in that sink of iniquity Zalasta did

happen quite by chance upon one Ogerajin, a corrupt and

ancient voluptuary, who, sated by centuries of excess, sinned

more for the sake of the offense it gave the Younger Gods than

from any real appetite. Now this Ogerajin was double-dippt in

vileness, and by means of certain forbidden spells and enchantments

had he reached into the darkness - yea, even into that

ultimate corruption that lieth in the hearts of the Elder Gods.

And Ogerajin, perceiving that Zalasta's lust was like his own

and that they were therefore kindred, counseled him to seek

out Otha of Zemoch.'

Bevier gasped.

'Truly,' Xanetia agreed. 'And so did Zalasta journey even unto

the city of Zemoch to make alliance with Otha.'

'Hold it,' Kalten said. 'Didn't you tell us that Zalasta was

trying to keep us all away from Otha and Azash?'

She nodded. 'Zalasta doth conclude alliances to further his

own ends, not those of his allies. With Otha's aid he found other

outcast Styrics in Eosia to aid him in keeping watch on the family

of the Sparhawks, instructing them to seek out weaknesses

which might be to his advantage when Anakha was born.

'As well ye might guess, Aphrael also set a watcher on those

who would precede Sparhawk, and despite her sister's protests,

the Child Goddess sent Sephrenia to Demos to instruct the Elene

Pandions in the Secrets of Styricum.'

'Our charming little Aphrael has a heartless streak, I see,'

Stragen noted. 'Considering what the Elene serfs in Astel did

to Sephrenia's parents, sending her to Demos smacks of a certain

lack of consideration.'

'Who can know the mind of a God?' Xanetia sighed. She

passed a weary hand across her eyes.

'Aren't you feeling well?' Kalten asked, his voice mirroring

his concern.

'Some slight fatigue, Sir Kalten," she confessed. 'The mind of

Sephrenia was in great turmoil when I did gather in her memories,

and it is with no small difficulty that I wring some consistency

from them.'

'is that the way it works, Anarae?' Sarabian asked curiously,

'You just reach in and swallow somebody else's mind whole?'

'Thy metaphor is inexact, Sarabian of Tamuli,' she said in a

slightly reproving tone.

'Forgive me, Anarae,' he apologized. 'I plucked it out of the

air. What I meant to ask was whether you absorb the entire

contents of another's awareness and memories with a single

touch.'

'Approximately, yes.'

'How many minds have you got stored away?' Talen asked

her. 'Other people's minds, I mean?'

'Close on to a thousand', young master,' she shrugged.

'Where do you find room?' He paused, looking just a little

embarrassed. 'I didn't say that very well, did I? What I was

trying to ask was doesn't it get awfully crowded in there?'

'The mind is limitless, young master.'

'Yours might be, Anarae,' Kalten smiled. 'I've found plenty of

limits to mine, though.'

'is Sephrenia all right?' Vanion asked her with a worried frown.

'She is in great agony,' Xanetia sighed. 'Zalasta's treachery

hath wounded her to the heart, and her mistaken belief that all

of ye have forsaken her hath crushed her spirit.'

'I'll go to her,' Vanion said, rising quickly to his feet.

'No, my Lord,' Kalten told him. 'That wouldn't be a good

idea. You're too close to her, and if you went, you'd only make

her feel worse. Why don't you let me go instead?'

"it's my place to go, Kalten.'

'Not if it's going to make her suffer all the more, it isn't. Right

now she needs to know that we still love her, and that means

she needs somebody who's affectionate and not very bright.

That's me, in case you hadn't noticed.'

'You stop that!' Alcan flared. 'I won't have you saying things

like that about yourself.!' Then she seemed to realize that they

were not alone, and she blushed and lowered her eyes in confusion.

'He might be right, Vanion,' Ehlana said gravely. 'Sir Kalten

may have his faults, but he's straightforward and honest.

Sephrenia knows that there's no deviousness in his nature. He's

just too - too...'

'Stupid?' Kalten supplied.

'That's not the word I'd have chosen.

"it doesn't hurt my feelings, my Queen. They don't pay me

to think - just to follow orders. When I try to think, I get into

trouble, so I've learned to get along without thinking. I just

trust my feelings instead. They don't lead me off in the wrong

direction too often. Sephrenia knows me, and she knows I

couldn't deceive her even if I tried.'

"it's called sincerity, my friend,' Sparhawk smiled.

'That's as good a word for it as any, I suppose,' Kalten

shrugged. 'I'll just nip on down to her room and smother her

with sincerity. That ought to make her feel better.'

"it's me, Sephrenia - Kalten. Unlock the door.'

'Go away.' Her voice was muffled.

'This is important.'

'Leave me alone.'

Kalten sighed. It was going to be one of those days. 'please

little mother,' he tried again.

'Just go away.'

If you don't open the door, I'll have to use magic on it.'

'Magic? You?.?' She laughed scornfuly.

Kalten leaned back, raised his right leg and drove his booted

heel against the latch. He kicked it twice more, and the door

splintered and burst open.

'What are you doing?' she screamed at him.

'haven't you ever seen Elene magic before, little mother?' he

asked her mildly. 'We use it all the time. You don't mind if I

come in, do you?' He stepped through the splinter-littered

doorway. 'We thought you might be a little lonesome and that

maybe you needed somebody to yell at. Vanion wanted to come,

but I wouldn't let him.'

'You? Since when have you started ordering Vanion around?'

'i'm bigger than he is -'and younger.'

'You get out of my room!'

'i'm sorry, but I can't do that.' He glanced toward her window.

'You've got a nice view from here. You can see all the way down

to the harbor. Shall we get started? Screaming and hitting are

all right, but please don't turn me into a toad. Alcan wouldn't

like that.'

'Who sent you here, Kalten?'

"I already told you. It was my own idea. I wouldn't let Vanion

come because you're upset right now. You might say something

to him that you'd both regret later. You can say anything you

want to me, Sephrenia. You can't hurt my feelings.'

'Go away!'

'No, I won't do that. Would you like to have me make you a

nice cup of tea?'

'Just leave me alone!

"I already told you no.' Then he took her by the shoulders

and enfolded her in a huge bear-hug. She struggled against him,

but he was absolutely immovable. 'Your hair smells nice,' he

noted.

She began to pound on his shoulders with her fiSts. "I hate

YOU!'

'No, you don't,' he replied calmly. 'You couldn't hate me even

if you wanted to.' He continued to hold her. "it's been very mild

this autumn, hasn't it?'

'Please leave me alone, Kalten.'

"No."

She started to cry, clutching at his doublet and burying her

face in his chest. 'I'm so ashamed.' she wept.

'Of what? You didn't do anything wrong. Zalasta tricked you,

that's all. He tricked the rest of us as well, so you're no more

to blame than we are.'

'I've broken Vanion's heart!'

"Oh, I don't think so - not really. You know Vanion. He can

endure almost anything.'

The storm of her weeping continued - which was more or

less what Kalten had in mind. He pulled a handkerchief out Of

the sleeve of his doublet and gave it to her, still not relaxing his

embrace.

'I'll never be able to face them again,' she wailed.

'Who? You mean the others? Of course you will. You

made a fool of yourself, that's all. Everybody does that now

and then.'

'How dare you!' She began to pound on him again.

Kalten really wished she'd get past that part of it. "it's true

though, isn't it?' he said gently. 'Nobody's blaming you for it,

but it's true all the same. You did what you thought was right,

but it turned out to be wrong. Everybody's wrong sometimes,

you know. There aren't any perfect people.'

'i'm so ashamed!'

'You already said that. Are you sure you wouldn't like a nice

cup of tea?'

'You should rest now, Anarae,' Sarabian said solicitously. "I

hadn't realized how exhausting this would be for you.'

She smiled at him. 'Thou art kind, Sarabian of Tamuli, but I

am not so fragile as that. Let us proceed. It had been in the

mind of Zalasta that he might by diverse inducements corrupt

Anakha in his youth and thus gain access to Bhelliom without

the need for perilous confrontation, but Sephrenia and Aphrael

did closely attend the childhood and youth of Bhelliom's champion,

once again and all unknowingly thwarting Zalasta's

design.

'Then did Zalasta conclude that he had no choice but to

approach Anakha as an enemy rather than a convert, and consulted

he with Ogerajin and with Otha and went he even to

Cimmura to seek allies to assist him. In furtherance of this did

he pose as one of the numerous Zemoch Styrics Otha had sent

into the Elene kingdoms to sow dissension and turmoil.'

'There were plenty of those, all right,' Ulath said. 'Rumor had

it that a Zemoch Styric could give an Elene anything he wanted

- provided that the Elene wasn't too attached to his soul.'

'The blandishments such Styrics offered were many,' Xanetia

agreed, 'but the understanding of Otha's agents was limited.'

'Profoundly limited,' Vanion agreed.

'Truly. Zalasta, however, was more subtle, and far more

patient. He did find an apt pupil in the person of the young

chaplain to the royal house of Elenia, a priest named Annias.'

'Annias.?' Ehlana exclaimed. "I didn't know that he was ever

the royal chaplain.'

"it was before you were born,' Sparhawk told her.

'That would explain why he had so much control over my

father. Are you saying that Zalasta was behind all that, Anarae?'

Xanetia nodded.

"it isn't really all that easy to corrupt a young priest,' Bevier

objected. 'They're usually filled with zeal and idealism.'

'And Annias was no exception,' Xanetia replied. 'He was

ambitious, but in his youth was he ever true to the ideals of his

Church. That idealism stood in Zalasta's path until he found

means to wear it away.' She paused, flushing slightly. "I would

not offend thee, majesty,' she apologized to Ehlana, 'but thine

aunt was ever lustful and wanton.'

"it doesn't offend me in the slightest, Anarae,' Ehlana replied.

'Arissa's appetites were legendary in Cimmura, and I was never

really all that fond of her in the first place.'

'There was some connection, then?' Melidere asked.

'indeed, Baroness,' Xanetia replied. 'Princess Arissa was the

means whereby Zalasta recruited Annias to his cause. Well

schooled by the voluptuary Ogerajin, did Zalasta introduce the

wanton princess to...' She broke off, blushing furiously.

'You needn't go into detail, Xanetia,' Ehlana told her. 'We all

knew Arissa, and we knew that there was nothing she wouldn't

do.'

'in truth was she an apt pupil,' Xanetia agreed. 'now Zalasta

concluded that Annias would be useful to him by reason of his

position as advisor to thy father. Thus did he implant the firm

belief in the mind of thy corrupt aunt that no act could be so

vile as the seduction of a young priest, and that notion, once

implanted, did obsess Arissa, and 'ere long it bore fruit. In her

twelfth year did Arissa steal away the dubious virtue of thy

father's chaplain.'

'At the age of twelve?' Melidere murmured. 'She was precocious,

wasn't she?'

'Then Annias was consumed with remorse,' Xanetia continued.

'Annias?' Ehlana scoffed. 'He didn't know what the word

meant.'

'You may be wrong there, my Queen,' Vanion disagreed. "I

knew Annias when he was a young man. He was totally committed

to the principles of the Church. It wasn't until later that he

began to change. Sparhawk's father and I always wondered

what had happened to him.'

'Evidently Arissa happened,' Ehlana said dryly. She pursed

her lips. 'Then Zalasta gained access to Annias by means of my

aunt?' she guessed.

Xanetia nodded. 'The young priest, after much prayer and

meditation, did resolve to renounce his vows and to wed the

tarnished princess.'

'A marriage made in heaven,' Ulath noted sardonically.

'Arissa, however, would have none of such union, for so

insatiable was her nature that she soon grew tired of her ecclesiastical

paramour and did taunt him by reason of his waning

prowess and stamina. At Zalasta's insinuating suggestion, however,

did she bring her exhausted convert to a certain house in

Cimmura, and there did Zalasta hint that he might restore the

waning vigor of Annias by means of Styric enchantments. Thus

did he secure a firm grip on the soul of him who would become

Primate of Cimmura.'

'We knew that Annias was getting help from one of Otha's

Styrics,' Sparhawk said. 'We had no idea it was Zalasta, though.

He had a hand in virtually everything, didn't he?'

'He is most clever, Anakha. Patiently did he instruct his two

ever more willing pupils in that depravity which he himself had

learned under the tutelage of Ogerajin of Verel. The royal chaplain

was central to his plan, but first was it necessary to corrupt

him beyond all hope of redemption.'

'He did that part of it well enough,' Ehlana said bleakly.

'Step by step did Arissa, guided by Zalasta, lead the chaplain

down and down until all semblance of decency had been washed

from him, and then it was that the Styric proposed the ultimate

degeneracy - that the lustful princess, aided by her now equally

foul paramour, should seduce thy father, her brother, and when

he should be wholly in her thrall, should she broach the idea of

incestuous marriage to him. Zalasta did well know that Anakha's

father would resist such abomination to the death, and hoped

he thereby to separate the house of Sparhawk from the royal

house of Elenia. Reckoned he not, however, upon the iron will

of the Sparhawks nor the weakness of King Aldreas. The elder

Sparhawk compelled thy father to wed another, but in truth

had Zalasta's goal been achieved. A breach had been opened

between the two houses.'

'But we've healed that breach, haven't we, Sparhawk?' Ehlana

said with a warm smile.

'Frequently,' he replied.

'What can I do?' Sephrenia wailed, wringing her hands.

'You can stop doing that, for one thing,' Kalten told her,

gently separating her hands. "I found out a little while ago just

how sharp your fingernails are, and I don't want you tearing

off your skin.'

She looked guiltily at the fresh scratches on his face. "I hurt

you, didn't I, dear one?'

"it's nothing. I'm used to bleeding.

'I've treated Vanion so badly,' she mourned. 'He'll never forgive

me, and I love him.'

'Then tell him so. That's all you really have to do, you know.

just tell him how you feel about him, say you're sorry, and

everything will go back to being the way it was before.'

"it won't ever be the same.'

'Of course it will. As soon as you two are back together,

Vanion will forget it ever happened. ' He took her two small

hands in his great ones, turned them over, and kissed her palms.

'That's what love's all about, little mother. We all make mistakes.

The people who love us forgive the mistakes. The people who

won't forgive don't really matter, now, do they?'

'Well, no, but...'

'There aren't any buts, Sephrenia. It's so simple that even I

can understand it. Alcan and I trust our feelings, and it seems

to work out fairly well. You don't really need complicated logic

when it comes to something as simple as love.'

'You're such a good man, Kalten.'

That embarrassed him a bit. 'hardly,' he replied ruefully. "I

drink too much, and I eat too much. I'm not very refined, and

I usually can't follow even a simple thought from one end to

the other. God knows I've got faults, but Alcan knows about

them and forgives them. She knows that I'm just a soldier, an

she doesn't expect too much from me. Are you just about ready

for that cup of tea?'

'That would be nice,' she smiled.

'Now that comes as a real surprise,' Vanion said, 'but why

Martel?'

'Zalasta did perceive that of all the Pandions, Martel came

closest to being a match for Anakha,' Xanetia replied, 'and

Martel's hunger for the forbidden secrets provided Zalasta with

an opening. The Styric did pose as an unlettered and greedy

Zemoch, and did accept Martel's gold with seeming eagerness.

Thus did he beguile the arrogant young Pandion until there was

no turning back for him.'

'And all this time he was posing as Otha's emissary?' Bevier

asked her.

'Yes, Sir Knight. He served Otha's design so long as it suited

him, but his heart and mind remained his own. Truly, he did

corrupt Primate Annias and the Pandion Martel for his own ends,

which did ever center upon that day when Anakha would lift

Bhelliom from the place where it lay hidden.'

'But it wasn't Anakha who lifted it, Anarae. It was Aphrael,

and none of Zalasta's scheming could have taken that into

account.'

They all turned quickly at the sound of the familiar voice.

Sephrenia, her face still drawn, stood in the doorway with

Kalten hovering behind her. 'Zalasta might possibly have been

able to take the stone from Sparhawk, but not Aphrael. That's

where everything fell apart on him. He couldn't bring himself

to believe that anyone - even a God - would willingly surrender

Bhelliom to someone else. Maybe someday I'll explain it to him.'

"I have seen into the mind of Zalasta, Sephrenia of Ylara,'

Xanetia told her. 'He could not comprehend such an act.'

'I'll make him understand, Anarae,' Sephrenia replied in a

bleak voice. "I have this group of big savage Elenes who love

me - or so they say. I'm sure that if I ask them nicely enough,

they'll beat understanding into Zalasta.' And she smiled a wan

little smile.

CHAPTER 22

Ehlana rose from her chair, went to Sephrenia, and kissed her

palms in greeting. Sparhawk often marveled at how his young

wife instinctively knew the right thing to do. 'We've missed you,

little mother,' she said simply. 'Are you feeling better now?'

A faint smile touched Sephrenia's lips. 'Exactly how do you

define "better", Ehlana?' She looked closely at the blonde queen.

'You're not getting enough sleep.' Even now, Sephrenia automatically

mothered everybody.

'You look a bit drawn yourself,' Ehlana replied. "I suppose we

both have reason enough.'

'Oh, yes.' Sephrenia looked around at the slightly apprehensive

faces of her friends. 'Oh, stop that,' she told them. 'i'm not

going to throw a fit. I behaved badly.' She reached up and fondly

touched Kalten's cheek. 'My overbearing friend here tells me

that it doesn't matter, but I'd still like to apologize.'

'You had plenty of reason to be upset,' Sparhawk told her.

'We were very abrupt with you.'

'That's no excuse, dear one.' She drew in a deep breath,

squared her shoulders, and crossed the room to Xanetia with

the air of one about to perform an unpleasant duty. 'we don't

really have any reason to be fond of each other, Anarae,' she

said, 'but we should at least be civil. I wasn't. I'm sorry.'

'Thy courage becomes thee, Sephrenia of Ylara. I do

confess that I would be hard pressed thus to admit a fault to

an enemy.'

'Exactly what did Sir Kalten do to bring you around, Lady

Sephrenia?' Sarabian asked curiously. 'You were in absolute

despair, and Kalten wouldn't have been my first choice as a

comforter. '

'That's because you don't know him, Sarabian. His heart is

very large, and he demonstrates his affection in a very direct

way. He kicked my door down and smothered me into submission.'

She thought about it for a moment. 'About all he really

did was wrap his arms around me and tell me that he loved me.

He kept saying it over and over again, and every time he said

it, it struck me right to the heart. Elenes are very good bullies.

I screamed at him for a while, and he ignored me. Then I tried

hitting him, but hitting Kalten is sort of like pounding on a brick.

I even tried crying - I've always had good luck with crying but

all he did was offer to make me a cup of tea.' She shrugged.

'After a while, I realized that he was going to continue to love

me no matter what I did and that all I was really doing was

making a fool of myself, so here I am.' She smiled at Alcan. "I

don't know if you realize it, dear, but you may just be the luckiest

woman in the world. Don't let him get away.'

'No fear of that, Lady Sephrenia,' the soft-eyed girl responded

with a rosy blush.

Sephrenia looked around, suddenly all business. 'i'm sure we

have more important things to discuss than my recent tempertantrum.

Have I missed much?'

'Oh, not really, dear sister,' Stragen drawled. 'About all we've

discovered so far is that Zalasta's been responsible for nearly

every catastrophe in human history since the fall of man. We

don't have quite enough evidence to implicate him in that yet.'

'We're a-workin' on it, though,' Caalador added.

Sparhawk briefly summarized what Xanetia had told them of

the hidden side of Zalasta. Sephrenia was also startled to learn

that it had been Zalasta who had corrupted Martel.

'i'm not trying to be offensive, dear sister,' Stragen said, 'but

it seems to me that the Younger Gods weren't quite firm enough

in dealing with these renegade Styrics. They seem to lend themselves

to just about every bit of mischief that comes along. Something

a bit more permanent than banishment might have been

a better solution.'

"The Younger Gods wouldn't do that, Stragen.'

'pity,' he murmured. 'That sort of leaves it up to us, then

doesn't it? We've got a group of people out there who are highly

skilled at causing trouble.' His expression grew sly. 'Here's a

notion,' he said. 'Why don't you have somebody draw up a list

of names and give it to me. I'll see to it that the Secret Government

takes care of all the messy details. We wouldn't even need

to bother the Younger Gods or the rest of Styricum about it.

You propose, and I'll dispose. Call it a personal favor if you

like.'

'You're a depraved man, Stragen.'

'Yes. I thought you might have noticed that.

'What did Zalasta do after Sparhawk destroyed Azash?' Talen

asked Xanetia. 'Didn't that teach him that he'd be wiser to stay

clear of our friend here?'

'He was much chagrined, young master. Anakha had demolished

decades of patient labor in a single night, and with Bhelliom

firmly in his grasp, he was more dangerous than ever.

Zalasta's hopes of wresting the jewel from him were dashed,

and he fled from Zemoch in rage and disappointment.'

'And when he ran away, he missed seeing Sparhawk throw

Bhelliom into the sea,' the boy added. 'So far as he knew, Sparhawk

still had it in his pocket.'

She nodded. 'Returned he to Verel to consult with Ogerajin

and diverse other renegades concerning this disastrous turn of

events.'

'How many of them are there, Lady?' Kalten asked. 'And what

are they like? It's always good to know your enemies.'

'They are many, Sir Kalten, but four - in addition to Zalasta

and Ogerajin - are most significant. They are the most powerful

and corrupt in all of Styricum. Ogerajin is by far the foulest, but

his powers are waning by reason of a loathsome disease which

doth eat away at his mind.' Xanetia suddenly looked uncomfortable,

and she even blushed. "it is one of those ailments which

do infect they who engage overmuch in bawdry.'

'Ah . . .' Sarabian came to her aid. "I don't know that we need

to get too specific about Ogerajin's disease. Why don't we just

say that he's incapacitated and let it go at that? Who are the

others, Anarae?'

She gave him a grateful look. 'Cyzada of Esos is the most

versed in the darker aspects of Styric magic, Emperor Sarabian,'

she replied. 'Residing close by the eastern frontier of Zemoch,

had he frequent contacts with the half-Styric, half-Elene wizards

of that accursed land, and did he learn much from them. Reaches

he with some facility into the darkness which did surround the

mind of Azash, and can he summon certain of the creatures

which served the Elder God.'

'Damorks?' Berit asked. 'Seekers?'

'The Damorkim perished with their master, Sir Knight. The

fate of the Seekers is uncertain. Cyzada fears to summon such

as they, for only Otha could surely control them.'

'That's something, anyway,' Khalad said. 'I've heard some

stories that I'd rather not have to confirm in person.'

'in addition to Cyzada, Zalasta and Ogerajin have allied themselves

with Ptaga of Jura, Ynak of hydros, and Djarian of Samar,'

Xanetia continued.

'I've heard of them,' Sephrenia said darkly. "I wouldn't have

believed Zalasta could sink so low.'

'Bad?' Kalten asked her.

'Worse than that. Ptaga's a master of illusion who can blur

the line between reality and imagining. It's said that he conjures

up the images of various women for the pleasure of the degenerates

who pay him, and that the images are even better than

reality could be.'

'Evidently he's branching out,' Oscagne noted. "it would

appear that he's creating the illusions of the monsters now

instead of pretty ladies. That would explain all the vampires and

the like.'

'Ynak's reputed to be the most contentious man alive,'

Sephrenia went on. 'He can start centuries-long feuds between

families just by walking past their houses. He's probably behind

the upsurge of racial hatred that's contaminating the Elene kingdoms

to the west. Djarian is probably the pre-eminent necromancer

in the world. It's said that he can raise people who never

even really existed.'

'Whole armies?' Ulath asked her. 'Like those antique Lamorks

or the Cyrgai?'

"I doubt it,' she replied, 'although I can't be sure. It was Zalasta

who told us it was impossible, and he may have been lying.'

'I've got a question, Anarae,' Talen said. 'Can you see what

Zalasta's thinking as well as hear it?'

'To some degree, young master.'

'What are you getting at, Talen?' Sparhawk asked him.

'You remember that spell you used to put Krager's face in that

basin of water back in Platime's cellar in Cimmura?'

Sparhawk nodded.

'A name's just a name,' Talen noted, 'and these particular

Styrics probably aren't running around announcing themselves.

Stragen suggested getting rid of them earlier. Wouldn't pictures

make that a lot easier? If Xanetia can see Zalasta's memories of

what those people look like and let me see them too, I could

draw pictures of them. Then Stragen could send the pictures to

Verel - or wherever those Styrics are - and Zalasta would suddenly

lose some people he's been counting on rather heavily. I

think we owe him that much, anyway.'

"I like the way this boy thinks, Sparhawk,' Ulath grinned.

'Thy plan is flawed, young master,' Xanetia said to Talen.

'The spell of which thou didst speak is a Styric spell, and I have

no familiarity with it.'

'Sephrenia could teach it to you.' He shrugged.

'You're asking the impossible, Talen,' Bevier told him.

'Sephrenia and Xanetia have only recently reached the point

where they can be in the same room without wanting to kill

each other. There's a lot of trust involved in teaching - and

learning - spells.'

Xanetia and Sephrenia, however, had been exchanging a long,

troubled look. 'Don't be too quick to throw away a good idea,

Bevier,' Sephrenia murmured. "it has got some possibilities,

Anarae,' she suggested tentatively. 'The notion probably makes

your skin crawl as much as it does mine, but if we could ever

learn to trust each other, there could be all manner of things we

might be able to accomplish. If we could combine your magic

with mine . . .' She left it hanging.

Xanetia pursed her lips, and her expression oddly mirrored

Sephrenia's. So intense was her consideration of the notion that

her control slipped a bit, and her face began to glow. 'The alliance

between our two races did almost bring the Cyrgai to their

knees,' she noted, also rather tentatively.

'in diplomatic circles this is the point at which the negotiators

usually adjourn so that they can consult with their governments,'

Oscagne suggested.

'The Anarae and I aren't obliged to get instructions from either

Sarsos or Delphaeus, your Excellency,' Sephrenia told him.

'Most diplomats aren't either.' he shrugged. 'The announcement

"I must consult with my government" is merely a polite

way of saying "Your suggestion is interesting. Give me some

time to think it over and get used to the idea." You ladies are

breaking new ground. I'd advise you not to rush things.'

'What say you, Sephrenia of Ylara?' Xanetia said, smiling

shyly. 'Shall we pause for a fictional consultation with Sarsos

and Delphaeus?'

'That might not be such a bad idea, Xanetia of Delphaeus,'

Sephrenia agreed. 'And as long as we both know that it's

fiction, we won't have to waste time waiting for non-existent

messengers to make imaginary journeys before we speak of

it again.'

'After the destruction of the city of Zemoch and all who dwelt

there, did Zalasta and his cohorts meet in Verel to consider their

course,' Xanetia picked up the story. 'Concluded they at once

that they were no match for Anakha and Bhelliom. It was Ogeragin

who did point out that Zalasta's tentative alliance had been

with Otha, and that there had been no direct contact with Azash.

He did speak slightingly to Zalasta concerning this and Zalasta's

rancor regarding those words doth linger still.'

'That's always useful,' Vanion observed. 'Dissension among

your enemies can usually be exploited.'

'The presence of the contentious Ynak doth heighten their

discord, Lord Vanion. Ogerajin did berate Zalasta, demanding

to know if he were so puffed-up as to think himself the equal

of a God, for Ogerajin doth consider Anakha to be such - or

very nearly - because of his access to Bhelliom.'

'How does it feel to be married to a God, Ehlana?' Sarabian

teased.

"it has its moments,' she smiled.

'Cyzada of Esos then joined their discussion,' Xanetia continued.

'He did rather slyly suggest alliance with one or more of

the myriad demi-gods of the nether world, but his companions

trusted him not, for he alone is conversant with the Zemoch

spells which do raise and control such creatures of darkness.

Indeed, trust is slight in that unwholesome company. Zalasta

hath placed the ultimate prize before them, and well doth he

know that each of them doth secretly covet sole possession of

the jewel. Theirs is an uneasy alliance at best.'

'What did they finally decide to do, Anarae?' Kring asked.

Sparhawk had noticed that the Domi seldom spoke at these

meetings. Kring was not really comfortable indoors, and the

subtleties of politics which so delighted Ehlana and Sarabian

quite obviously bored him. Peloi politics were straightforward

and simple - and usually involved bloodshed.

"it was the consensus of their deliberations that they might

find - for a price - willing helpers in the imperial government

itself,' Xanetia replied.

'They were right about that,' Sarabian said sourly. 'if what we

saw yesterday is any indication, my ministers were standing in

line to betray me.'

"it wasn't really personal, my Emperor,' Oscagne assured him.

'We were betraying each other, not you.'

'Did anyone ever approach you?'

'several, actually. They couldn't offer me anything I really

wanted, though.'

'Truth in politics, Oscagne?' his brother asked in feigned

astonishment. 'Aren't you setti'ng a bad precedent?'

'Grow up, Itagne,' Oscagne told him. 'Haven't you learned

by now that you can't deceive Sarabian? He claims to be a genius,

and he's probably very close to being right - or will be as soon

as we peel away his remaining illusions.'

'isn't that a blunt sort of thing to say, Oscagne?' Sarabian

asked pointedly. 'i'm right here, you know.'

'Why - so you are, your Majesty,' Oscagne replied with exaggerated

astonishment. 'isn't that amazing?'

Sarabian laughed. 'What can I do?' he said to Ehlana. "I need

him too much to even object. Why didn't you tell me about this,

Oscagne?'

"it happened when you were still feigning stupidity, your Majesty.

I didn't want to wake you. I may have met this Ynak you've

been talking about, Anarae. One of the men who approached

me was Styric, and I've never met a more disagreeable man.

I've come across goats who smelled better, and the fellow was

absolutely hideous. His eyes looked off in different directions,

and his teeth were broken and rotting, and they all seemed to

stick straight out. He looked like a man with a mouthful of

brown icicles.'

'Thy description doth closely match Zalasta's memories of

him.'

'That one shouldn't be too orful hord t' find, Stragen,'

Caalador drawled. "I kin send word t' Verel, iffn y' want. This

yore Why-mack ain't likely t' be missed much iffn he's as onpleasant

as the Furrin Minister sez.'

Xanetia looked puzzled.

"it's a pose that amuses my colleague, Anarae,' Stragen apologized.

'He likes to put on the airs of a yokel. He says it's for the

purposes of concealment, but I think he does it just to irritate

me.'

'Thine Elenes are droll and frolicsome, Sephrenia of Ylara,'

Xanetia said.

"I know, Anarae,' Sephrenia sighed. "it's one of the burdens

I bear.'

'Sephrenia!' Stragen Protested mildly.

'How did you put this fellow off without getting a knife in

your back, your Excellency?' Talen asked Oscagne. 'Declining

that sort of offer is usually fatal.'

"I told him that the price wasn't right.' Oscagne shrugged. "I

said that if he could come up with a better offer, I might be

interested. '

'Very good, your Excellency,' Caalador said admiringly. 'What

kind of reason did he give you for making the offer in the first

place?'

'He was a bit vague about it. He hinted about some kind of

large-scale smuggling operation, and said that he could use the

help of the foreign service to smooth the way in various kingdoms

outside Tamuli. He hinted that he'd already bought off

the Interior Ministry and the customs branch of the Chancellory

of the Exchequer.'

'He was lying, your Excellency,' Stragen told him. 'There isn't

that much money to be made in smuggling. It's a big risk for

short pay.'

"I rather thought so myself.' Oscagne leaned back, stroking

his chin thoughtfully. 'This group of Styrics down in Verel may

think they're very worldly, but they're like children when compared

to real criminals and international businessmen. They

cooked up a story that wasn't really very convincing. What they

actually wanted was access to the government and the power

of the various ministries in order to use that power to overthrow

the government itself. The government had to be on the brink

of collapse in order to get me to run off to Eosia to beg Prince

Sparhawk to come here and save us.'

"it worked, didn't it?' Itagne said bluntly.

'Well, yes, I suppose it did, but it was so clumsy. I'd personally

be ashamed to accept such a shoddy victory. It's a matter of

style, Itagne. Any amateur can blunder into occasional triumph.

The true professional controls things well enough not to have

to trust to luck.'

They adjourned for the night not long after that. Sparhawk

watched Sephrenia and Vanion rather closely as they all filed

out. The two of them exchanged a few tentative glances, but

neither seemed ready to break the ice.

They gathered again the following morning, and Talen and

Kalten seemed to be competing to see which of them could eat

the most for breakfast.

After a bit of casual conversation, they got down to business

again. 'Right after the attempted coup here in Matherion, Krager

paid me a visit,' Sparhawk told Xanetia. 'Was he telling the truth

when he said that Cyrgon's involved in this?'

She nodded. 'Cyrgon hath much reason to hate the Styrics

and their Gods,' she replied. 'The curse which hath imprisoned

his Cyrgai for ten eons hath enraged him beyond all measure.

The outcast Styrics in Verel did share his hatred, for they too had

been punished.' She reflected a moment. 'We all have reason to

hate Zalasta,' she said, 'but we cannot question his courage. It

was at peril of his life that he did carry the proposal of the

renegades to the Hidden City of Cyrga to place it before Cyrgon

himself. The proposal was simple. By means of Bhelliom 'could

the curse be lifted and the Cyrgai loosed once more upon this

world. The Styrics could be crushed, which would please both

Cyrgon and the outcasts, the Cyrgai would come to dominate

the world - with positions of honor and power reserved for

Ogerajin and his friends - and Aphrael would be destroyed

thus giving possession of Sephrenia to Zalasta.'

'something for everybody,' Sarabian said dryly.

'So thought Ogerajin and Zalasta,' Xanetia agreed. 'They had,

however, reckoned not upon the nature of Cyrgon. They' soon

found that he would in no wise consent to the secondary role

they had in mind for him. Cyrgon doth command; he doth not

follow. He did set his high' priest, one Ekatas, over his new

allies, telling them that Ekatas spoke for him in all things. Zalasta

did secretly laugh at the God's simplicity, thinking that the High

Priest Ekatas would, like all the Cyrgai, die with the step which

took him over the unseen line in' the sand. Ekatas, however,

had no need of crossing the line. With Cyrgon's aid, did he

travel with his mind, not his body, and could he observe and

direct without leaving Cyrga. Truly, the mind of Ekatas can

reach across vast distances, not only to convey the will of Cyrgon,

but to advise the diverse cohorts of what hath occurred

elsewhere. '

'That explains how the word that we were coming got from

one end of Cynesga to the other so fast,' Bevier said. 'We sort

of wondered how they were keeping ahead of us.'

'Now,' Xanetia pressed on, 'though they are outcast and

despised, Ogerajin and the others are still Styrics, and the Styrics

are not a war-like people. Their efforts had concentrated on

deception and misdirection previously. Cyrgon, however, is a

war-God, and he did command them to raise armies to confront

the Atans, who are the strong arm of the Empire. Then were

the outcasts of Verel nonplussed, for Cyrgon gave the command,

but no guidance. Zalasta, who had traveled much in Eosia, did

suggest to Ekatas that Cyrgon might deceive the Trolls and bring

them to northern Tamuli, and Cyrgon did readily consent. Still

he demanded more. Ynak of hydros, who doth ever carry that

cloud of dissension with him, could fan the fires of discontent

in all of Tamuli, but so contentious is his nature that none would

willingly follow him. Armies require generals, and Styrics are

not gifted in that profession. I do not say this to give offense,

Sephrenia,' she added quickly. Both Xanetia and Sephrenia were

being very careful about that.

'i'm not offended, Xanetia. I like soldiers, mind you . . . ' Her

eyes flickered toward Vanion. 'Some of them, anyway, but I

really think the world might be a nicer place without them.'

'Bite your tongue,' Ulath told her. 'if we couldn't be soldiers,

we'd all have to go out and find honest work.'

Xanetia smiled. "it was in desperation - for Cyrgon did grow

impatient - that Zalasta did journey to Arjuna to enlist his son

Scarpa in the enterprise. Now Scarpa was unlike his father in

that he did willingly - even eagerly - resort to violence. His

years as a performer in shabby carnivals had taught him the

skills of swaying crowds of people by eloquence and by his

commanding presence. His profession, however, was held in

low regard, and this did pain him deeply, for Scarpa hath an

exalted opinion of himself.'

'He does indeed, little lady,' Caalador agreed. 'if what the

thieves of Arjuna tell me is anywhere close to being accurate,

Scarpa probably believes that he could fly or walk on water if

he just set his mind to it.'

'Truly,' she agreed. 'he hath, moreover, a deep contempt for

the Gods and a profound hatred of women.'

'That's not uncommon among bastards,' Stragen said clinically.

'Some of us blame our mothers - or our Gods - for our

social unacceptability. Fortunately, I never fell into that trap. But

then, I'm so witty and charming that I didn't have the usual

inadequacies to try to explain away.'

"I hate it when he does that,' Baroness Melidere said.

"it's only a plain fact, my dear Baroness.' He grinned at her.

'False modesty is so unbecoming, don't you think?'

'Be clever on your own time, Stragen,' Ehlana chided. 'Did

Zalasta tell his son all the details of this conspiracy, Anarae?'

'Yes, your Majesty. Given the nature of the two, there was

surprising candor between them. Scarpa, however, was very

young and had an exaggerated notion of his own cleverness,

although Zalasta did quickly realize that the rudimentary Styric

spells which he had imparted to his son during his infrequent

visits to Arjuna might serve to deceive rural bumpkins, but they

would scarce be adequate for the business at hand. Therefore,

took he his son to Verel to place him under the tutelage of

Ogerajin.'

'When was this, Anarae?' Caalador asked curiously.

'Perhaps five years since, Master Caalador.'

'Then it fits together with what we found out. It was almost

exactly five years ago that Scarpa disappeared from Arjuna.

Then a couple of years later he came back and started stirring

up trouble.'

"it was a short education,' Xanetia said, 'but Scarpa hath a

quick mind. In truth, it was his tutor who did suspend his training,

for Ogerajin was much offended by the young man's

arrogance. '

'This Scarpa sounds like the sort you have to stand in line to

hate,' Talen noted. 'I've never met him, and I already dislike

him.'

'Zalasta was also taken somewhat aback by his son's abrasive

nature,' Xanetia told them, 'and thinking to awe him into some

measure of civility, he did take him to Cyrga that he might

come to know their master. Cyrgon did question the young man

closely, and then, evidently satisfied, did he instruct him in the

task before him. Scarpa came away with no more respect for the

God of the Cyrgai than he had felt 'ere they met, and Zalasta

hath lost what small regard he previously had for his son. It is

now in his mind that should their conspiracy succeed, Scarpa

will not long survive the victory.' She paused. 'An it please thee

to view it so, Sephrenia, thy vengeance hath already had its

beginning. Zalasta is a hollow man with no God and with none

in all the world to love him or to call him friend. Even the scant

affection he had for his son is now withered, and he is empty

and alone.'

Two great tears welled up in Sephrenia's eyes, but then she

angrily dashed them away with the back of her hand. "it's not

enough, Anarae,' she said adamantly.

'You've spent too much time with Elenes, little mother,'

Sarabian said. That startled Sparhawk just a bit. he could not be

sure if the brilliant, erratic Tamul Emperor used that affectionate

term deliberately, or if it had been a slip of the tongue.

'Who recruited the others, Anarae?' Vanion asked, smoothly

moving away from a slightly touchy situation.

"it was Scarpa, Lord Vanion,' she replied. 'Cyrgon had

directed him to seek out confederates to stir rebellion in western

Tamuli, thus to bar the way should Anakha come with the

armies of the Church, for Cyrgon would not willingly pit his

cherished Cyrgai against such as ye. Now Scarpa did know a

certain out-at-the-elbows Dacite nobleman who, plagued by

gambling debts and the ungentle urgings of his creditors to settle

accounts, did flee from Daconia and conceal himself for a time

in the very Arjuni carnival where Scarpa did practice his dubious

art. This scruffy nobleman, Baron Parok by name, did Scarpa

seek out on his return home from Cyrga. Parok, desperate out

of all measure, soon willingly fell in with his former associate,

for the inducements Scarpa offered were enticing. Consulted

then the unscrupulous pair with the debauched Styrics at Verel

and followed their counsel to seek out the merchant Amador in

Edam and the poet Elron in Astel, both men being much taken

with themselves and resentful of the station in life which fate

had assigned them.'

Bevier was frowning. 'We've encountered both of them,

Anarae, and neither one strikes me as a natural leader. Were

they the best Scarpa could find?'

'Their selection was determined by their willingness to

cooperate, Sir Knight. The ability to sway men with words and

that commanding presence which doth draw all eyes to the one

in question can be elevated by certain Styric spells. Unimpressive

though they are, it was the quality of desperation in them which

Scarpa did seek. both Amador and Elron suffered agonies by

reason of their insignificance, and both were willing, even eager,

to go to any lengths to exalt themselves.'

'We see it all the time in Thalesia, Bevier,' Ulath explained.

'We call it "the little man's complaint". Avin Wargunsson's a

perfect example. he'd rather die than be ignored.'

'Amador's not all that short,' Talen pointed out.

'There are all kinds of littleness, Talen,' Ulath said. 'how did

Count Gerrich in Lamorkand get involved, Anarae? And why?'

'He was recruited by Scarpa on Zalasta's instruction, Sir Ulath.

Zalasta thought to stir discord and turmoil on the Eosian Continent

to persuade the Church of Chyrellos that her interests

required that Anakha be dispatched to Tamuli to seek out the

roots of the disturbances. Of all of them, only Zalasta hath his

feet planted on both continents, and only he' doth understand

the thinking of thy Church. In truth, Elron and Amador are but

pawns, knowing little of the true scope of the enterprise they

have joined. Baron Parok is more knowledgeable, but he is still

not privy to all their designs. Count Gerrich is peripheral. He

follows his own purposes, which only occasionally match the

purposes of his colleagues here in Tamuli.'

'You almost have to admire them,' Caalador said. 'This is the

most complicated and well-organized swindle I've ever heard

of. '

'But it all fell apart when Xanetia opened the door to Zalasta's

mind,' Kalten said. 'As soon as we found out that he's been on

the other side all along, the whole thing began to crumble.' He

thought of something. 'How did Krager get mixed up in this?'

'Count Gerrich did suggest him to Scarpa,' Xanetia replied.

'Gerrich had found the one called Krager useful in times past.'

'Yes,' Ulath said. 'We saw him being useful outside the walls

of Baron Alstrom's castle in Lamorkand. Martel's still coming

back to haunt us, isn't he, Sparhawk?'

'how much did my Minister of the Interior and the other

traitors really know about all of this, Anarae?' Sarabian asked.

'Almost nothing, Majesty. In the main they did believe that

their activities were but a part of the ongoing struggle between

Foreign Minister Oscagne and Interior Minister Kolata. Kolata

offered them profit, and so they did follow him.'

'Ordinary palace politics then,' Sarabian mused. "I suppose

I'll have to keep that in mind at their trials. They weren't really

disloyal, only corrupt.'

'All except for Kolata, your Majesty,' Itagne noted. 'His

involvement almost had to have gone deeper than simple

garden-variety political bickering, wouldn't it?'

'Kolata was a dupe, Itagne of Matherion,' Xanetia corrected.

"it was Teovin who was ever Zalasta's man at court. It was to

him that the one called Krager did bring Zalasta's instruction,

and Teovin did tell Kolata only so much as it was needful for

him to know. '

'This brings us to the coup-attempt,' Ehlana said. 'Krager told

Sparhawk that it wasn't intended to succeed - that it was only

designed to force us to reveal our strengths and weaknesses.

Was he actually telling the truth?'

'in part, Majesty,' Xanetia replied. 'in the main, however, was

Zalasta uncertain about the truth of Anakha's declaration that

he had cast Bhelliom into the sea. Sought he by raising rebellion

in the streets of Matherion and endangering all whom Anakha

held most dear to force him to reveal whether or no he still did

possess the jewel.'

'We played right into his hands by going after it, then, didn't

we?' ~Khalad suggested.

"I don't think so,' Sparhawk disagreed. 'We'd never have

found out about Bhelliom's awareness if we'd left it where it

was. That's the thing that nobody knew about - except possibly

Aphrael. Azash didn't seem to know about it, and neither does

Cyrgon. I doubt that either one would have been so interested

in it if they'd known that it might resist their commands - even

to the point of obliterating this world if necessary.'

'All right,' Khalad said. 'Now we know what's led up to all

this. What happens next?'

'That lieth in the future, Khalad of Demos,' Xanetia replied,

'and the future is concealed from all. Know, however, that our

enemies are in disarray. Zalasta's position as advisor to the

imperial government was at the core of all their plans.'

'How quickly will he be able to recover, Sephrenia?' Ehlana

asked. 'You know him better than anyone. Will he be able to

strike back immediately?'

'Possibly,' Sephrenia said, 'but whatever he does won't be

very well thought out. Zalasta's a Styric, and we don't react well

to surprises. he'll flounder for a while - destroying mountains

and setting lakes on fire - before he gets hold of himself.'

'We should hit him again, then,' Bevier observed. 'We

shouldn't allow him to recover his balance.'

'Here's a thought,' Sarabian said. 'After we went through the

secret files of the Interior Ministry, we decided to pick up only

the top level of conspirators - the police chiefs and administrators

in the various towns for the most part. We didn't bother

with the toadies and informers - largely because we didn't have

enough jail-space. The Interior Ministry was central to the whole

conspiracy, I think, and now Zalasta and his friends will probably

be forced to rely on the scrapings we left behind. If I send

the Atans out to make a more thorough sweep, won't that push

Zalasta off balance all the more?'

'Let him start to settle down first, Sarabian,' Sephrenia

advised. 'Right now he's so enraged that he probably wouldn't

even notice.'

'is Norkan still on the Isle of Tega?' Vanion asked suddenly.

'No,' Ehlana replied. "I got tired of the forged letters he was

sending me from there, so we sent him back to Atan.'

'Good. I think we'd better get word of Zalasta's treachery to

him as quickly as possible. Betuana really needs to know about

it.'

'I'll see to it, Vanion-Preceptor,' Engessa promised.

'Thank you, Engessa-Atan. If that little outburst in the throne-room

is any indication of his present state of mind, Zalasta's

totally out of control right now.'

'infuriated to the brink of insanity,' Sephrenia agreed. It was

the first time she had spoken directly to Vanion since the rupture

between them. That fact gave Sparhawk some hope.

'he'll almost have to do something then, won't he?' Vanion

asked her. 'in his present state, inaction would be unbearable.'

She nodded. 'He'll respond in some way,' she said, 'and since

he wasn't at all prepared for what just happened, whatever he

does won't have been planned out in advance.'

'So it'll have large holes in it, won't it?'

' Probably. '

'Most likely it would involve the use of main force,' Sparhawk

added. 'Enraged people usually try to smash things."

'You'd better alert Norkan and Betuana to the possibility,

Engessa-Atan,' Sarabian instructed.

"it shall be as you say, Sarabian-Emperor.'

Vanion began to pace up and down. 'Zalasta's still more or

less in command,' he said. 'At least he will be until he does

something so stupid that Cyrgon replaces him. Why don't we

let him have his temper-tantrum, crush it, and then round up

all the minor conspirators? Let's frighten our opponents just a

bit. If they see us methodically smashing everything they've

gone to so much trouble to prepare, and rounding up all their

friends, they'll start having thoughts about their own mortality.

At that point, I think Cyrgon's going to have to show himself,

and then Sparhawk can turn Bhelliom loose on him.'

"I hate it when he's like this,' Sephrenia said to Xanetia. 'He's

so certain - and probably so right. Men are much more appealing

when they're just helpless little boys.' The casual-seeming

remark was startling. Sephrenia was clearly stepping over

ancient racial antagonisms between Styric and Delphae and

speaking to Xanetia as one woman to another.

'Then all we really have to do is sit here and wait for Zalasta's

next move,' Sarabian observed. "I wonder what he's going to

do.'

They did not have to wait long for the answer. A few days

later an exhausted Atan stumbled across the drawbridge with

an urgent message from Ambassador Norkan.

'Oscagne,' the message began with characteristic abruptness,

'round up every Atan you can lay your hands on and send them

all here. The Trolls are dismantling northern Atan right down

to the very bedrock.'

CHAPTER 23

'We can't send them, Engessa-Atan,' Sarabian said. 'We need

them right where they are. At the moment, they're all that's

holding the Empire together.'

Engessa nodded. "I understand the situation, Sarabian-Emperor,

but Betuana-Queen will only wait for so long. If the

lands of the Atans are in peril, she will have no choice but to

act. She will order the Atans home - despite her alliance with

you.'

'She's going to have to pull her people back,' Vanion advised

the huge Atan. 'She doesn't have enough warriors to defend

the north against the Trolls, so she may have to abandon

northern Atan for a while. We won't be able to send full garrisons

to her aid, but we can pull one or two platoons out of each

garrison. That's several thousand warriors altogether, but

it's going to take them longer to reach Atan because they're

so spread out. She'll just have to pull back until we can get

there. '

'We are Atans, Vanion-Preceptor. We do not run away.'

'i'm not suggesting that, Engessa-Atan. All your queen will

be doing is repositioning her forces. she can't hold the north at

the moment, and there's no point in wasting lives trying. The

best we can do for her in the meantime is to send some Genidian

advisors and Cyrinic technical assistance.'

'Not quite, friend Vanion,' Kring said. 'I'll go to Tikume in

central Astel. The eastern Peloi aren't as fearful of forests as my

children are, and Tikume loves a good fight as much as I do, so

he'll probably bring several thousand horsemen with him. I'll

gather up a few hundred bowmen and come to Atan ahead of

his main force.'

'Your offer is generous, friend Kring,' Engessa said.

"it's a duty, Engessa-Atan. You serve as Mirtai's father, and

that makes us kinsmen.' Kring absently rubbed his hand across

his shaved scalp. 'The bowmen are very important, I think. Your

Atans have moral objections about using bows in warfare, but

when we met those Trolls in eastern Astel, we found out that

you can't really fight them without shooting them full of arrows

first.'

'Here's another thought,' Khalad said, holding up his crossbow.

'How do your people feel about these, Engessa-Atan?' Engessa spread

his hands. "it is a new device here in Tamuli,

Khalad-squire. We have not yet formed an opinion about it.

Some Atans may accept it; others may not.'

'We wouldn't have to arm all the Atans with crossbows,'

Khalad said. He looked at Sparhawk. 'Will you be needing me

here, my Lord?' he asked.

'Why don't you see if you can persuade me that I won't?'

'That's a cumbersome way to put it, Sparhawk. We've still got

all those crossbows we gathered up when we put down the

coup. I broke most of them, but it won't take me too long to fix

them again. I'll go north with Engessa-Atan and the technical

advisors. Engessa can try to persuade his people that the crossbow's

a legitimate weapon of war, and I'll teach them how to

use it.'

'I'll join you in Atan later,' Kring told them. 'I'll have to

lead Tikume's bowmen to the city. The Peloi tend to get lost in

forests.'

'Never mind, Mirtai,' Ehlana told the giantess, whose eyes

had suddenly come alight. "I need you here.'

'My betrothed and my father are going to war, Ehlana,' Mirtai

objected. 'You can't expect me to stay behind.'

'Oh yes I can. You can't go, and that's final.'

'May I be excused?' Mirtai asked stiffly.

'if you wish.'

Mirtai stormed toward the door.

'Don't break all the furniture,' Ehlana called after her.

It was really only a small domestic crisis, but it was a crisis all

the same, largely because the Royal Princess Danae declared

that she would die if her wandering cat were not found immediately.

She wandered tearfully around the throne-room, climbing

into laps, pleading, cajoling. Sparhawk was once again able to

observe the devastating effect his daughter could have on someone's

better judgement when she was sitting in the' person's lap.

'please help me find my cat, Sarabian,' she said, touching

the Emperor's cheek with one small hand. Sparhawk had long

since learned that the first rule in dealings with Danae was

never to let her touch you. Once she touched you, you were

lost.

'We all need some fresh air anyway, don't we?' Sarabian said

to the others. 'We've been sitting in this room for more than a

week now. Why don't we suspend our discussions and go find

Princess Danae's cat. I think we'll all be fresher when we come

back.'

Score one for Danae, Sparhawk smiled.

'I'll tell you what,' Sarabian continued. "it's a beautiful morning.

Why don't we make an outing of it? I'll send word to the

kitchens, and we can all have our lunches out on the lawns.'

He smiled down at Danae, whose hand might just as well have

been wrapped around his heart. 'We'll celebrate the return of

Mmrr to her little mistress.'

'What a Wonderful idea!' Danae exclaimed, clapping her hands

together. 'You're so wise, Sarabian!'

They all smiled indulgently and rose to their feet. Sparhawk

privately admitted that the Emperor was probably right.

The long day's conferences were beginning to make them all

just a little fuzzy-headed. He went to his daughter and picked

her up.

"I can walk, father,' she protested.

'Yes, but I can walk faster. My legs are longer. We do want to

find Mmrr as soon as possible, don't we?'

She glared at him.

'You've got everybody under control,' he murmured to her.

'You don't have to herd them around like sheep. What's this all

about? You can call Mmrr back home anytime you feel like it.

What are you really up to?'

'There are some'things I want to get settled before we get too

busy, Sparhawk, and I can't do anything with all of you huddled

together in this room like a flock of chickens. I need to get you

all out of here so that I can straighten things out.'

'is Mmrr really lost?'

'Well, of course she isn't. I know exactly where she is. I just

told her to go chase grasshoppers for a while.'

'What sort of things were you talking about? Exactly what is

it that you want to get straightened out?'

'Watch, Sparhawk,' she told him. 'Watch and learn.

"it's just not done, Kalten,' Alcan said in a sorrowfully resigned

voice as the two walked out across the drawbridge with Sparhawk

and Danae not far behind.

'What do you mean, "not done?'

'You're a knight, and I'm only a peasant girl. Why can't we

just leave things the way they are?'

'Because I want to marry you.'

She touched his face fondly. 'And I'd give anything to be able

to marry you, but we can't.'

'i'd like to know why not.'

"I told you already. We come from different social classes. A

peasant girl can't marry a knight. People would laugh at us and

say hateful things about me.'

'Only once,' he declared, clenching his fist.

'You can't fight the whole world, my love,' she sighed.

'Of course I can - particularly if the world we're talking about

consists of those butterflies that infest the court at Cimmura. I

could kill a dozen of them before lunch-time.'

'No!' she said sharply. 'No killing! Can't you see what that

would do? People would grow to hate me. We'd never have any

friends. That's all right for you, because you'll be off at whatever

war Prince Sparhawk or Lord Vanion sends you to, but I'll be

completely alone. I couldn't bear that.'

"I want to marry you!' he almost shouted.

"it would make my life complete as well, my dear love,' she

sighed, 'but it's impossible.'

"I want you to fix that, Sparhawk,' Danae said out loud

'Quietly. They'll hear us.'

'They can't hear us, Sparhawk - or see us either for that

matter.'

'You're using a spell, I gather?'

'Naturally. It's a useful little spell that makes people ignore

us. They kind of know we're here, but their minds don't pay

any attention to us.'

'I see. It tiptoes around the moral objection to eavesdropping

too, doesn't it?'

'What on earth are you talking about, Sparhawk? I don't have

any moral problems with eavesdropping. I alw~ays eavesdrop.

How else am I supposed to keep track of what people are doing?

Tell mother to give Alcan a title so that she and Kalten can get

married. I'd do it myself, but I'm busy. Take care of it.'

'is this the sort of thing you were talking about earlier?'

'Of course. Don't waste time on all these silly questions, Sparhawk.

We've got a lot more to do today.'

"I do love you, Berit-Knight,' Empress Elysoun said a little sadly,

'but I love him too.'

'And how many others do you love, Elysoun?' Berit asked her

acidly.

'I've lost count,' the bare-breasted Empress shrugged.

'Sarabian doesn't mind. Why should you?'

'Then we're through? You don't want to see me any more?'

'Don't be ridiculous, Berit-Knight. Of course I want to see you

again - as often as I possibly can. It's just that there are going

to be times when I'll be busy seeing him. I didn't have to tell you

this, you know, but you're so nice that I didn't want to go behind

your back to...' She groped for a word.

'To be unfaithful?' he said bluntly.

'i'm nev~er unfaithful,' she said indignantly. 'You take that back

right now. I'm the most faithful lady in the whole court. I'm

faithful to at least a dozen young men all at the same time.'

he suddenly burst out laughing.

'What's so funny?' she demanded.

'Nothing, Elysoun,' he replied with a genuine fondness.

'You're so delightful that I can't help laughing.'

She sighed. 'Life would be so much simpler for me if you men

wouldn't take these things so seriously. Love's supposed to be

fun, but you all scowl and wave your arms in the air about it.

Go love somebody else for a while. I won't mind. As long as

everybody's happy, what difference does it make who made

them happy?'

he smiled again.

'You do still love me, don't you, Berit-Knight?

'Of course I do, Elysoun.'

'There. Everything's all right then, isn't it?'

'What was that all about?' Sparhawk asked his daughter. They

were standing fairly close to Berit and Elysoun - close enough

to make Sparhawk slightly self-conscious, at any rate.

'Berit was getting just a little too deeply involved with the

naked girl,' Danae replied. 'He's learned what she could teach

him, so it's time for their friendship to calm down a little. I have

other plans for him.'

'Have you ever considered letting him make his own plans?'

'Don't be ridiculous, Sparhawk. He'd just make a mess of

things. I always take care of these arrangements. It's one of the

things I do best. We'd better hurry. I want to look in on Kring

and Mirtai. he's going to tell her something that isn't going to

make her happy. I want to be there to head off any explosions.'

They found Kring and Mirtai sitting on the lawn under a large

tree ablaze with autumn color. Mirtai had opened the basket the

kitchen had provided and was looking inside. 'Some kind of

dead bird,' she reported.

Kring made a face. "I suppose it's civilized food,' he said,

trying to put the best face on it.

'We're both warriors, my betrothed,' she replied, also looking

less than happy with what had been prepared for their lunch.

'We're supposed to eat red meat.'

'Stragen told me once that you ate a wolf when you were

younger,' Kring said, suddenly remembering the story.

'Yes,' she replied simply.

'Do you mean you actually did?' He seemed stunned. "I

thought he was just trying to fool me.'

"I was hungry...' - she shrugged - 'and I didn't have time

to stop. The wolf didn't taste very good, but he was raw. If I'd

had time to cook him, he might have been better.'

'You're a strange woman, my beloved.'

'That's why you love me, isn't it?'

'Well - it's one of the reasons. Are you sure we can't talk about

our problem?' He was obviously coming back to a subject they

had discussed before - many times.

'There's nothing to talk about. We have to be married twice

- once in Atana and then again when we get back to Pelosia.

We won't be really married until we've gone through both ceremonies.'

'We'll be half married after the ceremony in Atana, won't we?'

'Half married isn't good enough, Kring. I'm a virgin. I've killed

too many men protecting that to settle for "half married". You'll

just have to wait.'

He sighed. "it's going to take a long time, you know,' he said

mournfully.

"it's not that far from Atana back to your country. I'll race you

there.'

"it's not the journey that's going to take so long, Mirtai. It's

the two months you'll have to spend in my mother's tent before

the wedding in Pelosia. You'll have to learn our practices and

ceremonies. '

She gave him a long, steady look. 'You said I have to what?'

There was an ominous tone in her voice.

"it's the custom. A Peloi bride always lives for two months

with the groom's mother before the ceremony.'

'Why?'

'To learn about him.'

"I already know about you.

'Well, yes, I suppose you do, but it's the custom.'

'That's ridiculous.'

'Customs often are, but I am Domi, so I have to set a good

example - and you'll be Dona. The Peloi women will have no

respect for you if you don',t do what's expected.'

'I'll teach them respect.' her eyes had turned flint-hard.

He leaned back on his elbows. "I was sort of afraid you might

feel this way,' he sighed.

'is that why you didn't mention it before?'

"I was waiting for the right time. Is there any wine in that

basket? This might be easier if we're both more relaxed.'

'Let's wait. We can get relaxed after you tell me. What is this

nonsense?'

'Let's see if I can explain it.' He rubbed his head. 'When my

people say that the bride 'is "learning about her husband", it

doesn't really mean that she's learning about what he expects

for breakfast or things like that. What they're really talking about

is the fact that there's property involved.'

"I don't have any property, Kring. I'm a slave.'

'Not after you marry me, you won't be. You'll be a very

wealthy woman.

'What are you talking about?'

'Peloi men' own their weapons and their horses. Everything

else belongs to the women. Always before, whenever I stole

something - cattle, usually - I gave it to my mother. She's been

holding my wealth for me until I get married. She's entitled to

some of it. That's what the two months is all about. It's to give

the two of you time to agree on the division.'

"it shouldn't take us that long.'

'Well probably not. My mother's a reasonable woman, but

the two of you will also have to find husbands for my sisters. It

wouldn't be so hard if there weren't so many of them.

'How many?' Her voice was very hard now.

'Ah - eight, actually.'

'Eight?' She said it flatly.

'My father was very vigorous.'

'So was your mother, apparently. Are your sisters presentable?'

'More or less. None of them are as beautiful as you are though,

love _ but then who could be?'

'We can talk about that later. There's some kind of problem

~'with your sisters, isn't there?'

Kring winced. 'How did you know that?'

"I know you, Kring. You saved mention of these sisters until

the very last. That means that you didn't want to talk about

them, and that means there's a problem. What is it?'

'They think they're rich. That makes them put on airs."

'is that all?'

'They're very arrogant, Mirtai.'

'I'll teach them humility.' She shrugged. 'Since there are only

eight, I should be able to do it all at once. I'll just take them all

out into the nearest pasture for an hour or so. They'll be very

humble when we come back - and eager to marry any men your

mother and I choose for them. I'll make sure they're willing to

do anything to get away from me. Your mother and I should be

able to settle the property division in the morning; I'll civilize

your sisters in the afternoon, and you and I can be married that

same evening.'

"it's not done that way, my love.'

"it will be this time. I'm no more enthusiastic about waiting

than you are. Why don't you come over here and kiss me? Now

that everything's been settled, we should take advantage of this

opportunity. '

He grinned at her. 'My feelings exactly, love.' he took her in his

arms and kissed her.'The kiss was rather genteel at first, but

that didn't last for very long. Things turned slightly savage after

a moment.

'That's going to work out just fine,' Danae said smugly. "I

wasn't sure how Mirtai was going to take to the idea of living

with Kring's mother, but she's got everything in hand now.'

'She's going to upset the Peloi, you know,' Sparhawk said.

'They'll live,' the princess shrugged. 'They're too set in their

ways anyhow. They need somebody like Mirtai to open their

eyes to the modern world. Let's move on, Sparhawk. We're not

done yet.'

'How long has this been going on?' Stragen asked in a slightly

choked voice.

'Since I was a little girl,' Melidere replied. 'My father made

the dies when I was about seven or so.'

'Do you realize what you've done, Baroness?'

"I thought we were going to drop the formality, Milord

Stragen.' She smiled at him.

He ignored that. 'You've struck a direct blow at the economy

of every kingdom in Eosia. This is monstrous."

'Oh, do be serious, Stragen.'

'You've debased the coinage!'

"I haven't really, but why should it make any difference to

you?'

'Because I'm a thief. You've devalued everything I've ever

stolen!'

'No, not really. The value of the coins doesn't really have

anything to do with their true weight. It's a matter of trust.

People may not like their governments, but they trust them. If

the government says that this coin is worth a half-crown, then

that's what it's worth. Its value is based on an agreement, not

on weight. If the coin has milled edges, it has the value that's

stamped on its face. I haven't really stolen anything.'

'You're a criminal, Melidere!'

'How can I be a criminal if I haven't stolen anything?'

'What if they find out about what you've been doing?'

'What if they do? They can't do anything about it. If they say

anything or try to do something to me, I'll just tell the whole

story, and every government in Eosia will collapse because

nobody will trust their coins any more.' She touched his cheek.

'You're such an innocent, Stragen. I think that's why I'm fond

of you. You pretend to be depraved, but actually you're like a

little boy.'

'Why did you tell me about this?'

'Because I need a partner. I can handle these affairs in Eosia,

but taking on Tamuli as well might strain my resources just a

bit. You have contacts here, and I don't. I'll teach you the business

and then lease Tamuli to you. I'll buy you a title and set

things up so that you can start immediately.'

His eyes narrowed. 'Why?' he demanded. 'Why are you being

so generous?'

'i'm not being generous, Stragen. You will pay your rent every

month. I can see to that. And you won't pay in coins. I want

bullion, Stragen - nice, solid bars of gold that I can weigh - and

don't try mixing any copper in, either. I'll have your throat cut

if you ever try that.'

'You're the hardest woman I've ever known, Melidere.' He

sounded slightly afraid of her.

'Only in some places, Stragen,' she replied archly. 'The rest of

me is fairly soft. Oh, that reminds me. We'll be getting married.'

'We'll what?'

'Partnerships aren't made in heaven, Milord, marriages are.

Marriage will give me one more hold on you, and I'd be an idiot

to trust a man like you.'

'What if I don't want to get married?' He sounded a little

desperate now.

'That's just too bad, Stragen, because, like it or not, you will

marry me.'

'And you'll have me killed if I don't, I suppose.'

'Of course. I'm not going to let you run around loose with

this information. You'll get used to the idea, Milord. I'm in a

position to make you deliriously happy - and fabulously wealthy

to boot. When have you ever had a better offer?'

The look in Stragen's eyes, however, was one of sheer panic.

'Now that was something I didn't expect,' Danae said as she

and Sparhawk crossed the lawn.

Sparhawk was almost too shocked to answer. 'You didn't

know about Melidere's little hobby, you mean?'

'Oh, of course I knew about that, Sparhawk. Melidere bought

her way into mother's court several years ago.'

'Bought.?'

'She paid an old countess to step aside for her. What I didn't

expect was the direct way she approached Stragen. I thought

she might soften things a little, but she was all business. She

carved him into neat little slices, and she didn't give him any

room to move at all while she did it. I think I've misjudged her.'

'No, actually you misjudged Stragen. She used the only technique

that had any chance of success with him. Stragen's very

slippery. You've got to pin him to the plate with a fork before

you can carve him. He probably wouldn't have listened to an

ordinary marriage proposal, so she was all business with him.

The marriage was only an incidental part.'

'Not to her, it wasn't.'

'Yes, I know. She did it right, though. I'm going to have to

tell your mother about this, you know.'

'No, actually you're not. You heard Melidere. Mother wouldn't'

be able to do anything about it, and all you'd do is worry her.'

'They're stealing millions, Aphrael.'

'They're not stealing anything, Sparhawk. What they're going

to do in no way changes the value of money. When you get

right down to it, they're actually creating wealth. The whole

world will be better for it.'

"I don't entirely follow the logic of that.'

'You don't have to, father,' she said sweetly. 'Just take my

word for it.' She pointed. 'We want to go over there next.'

'Over there' was beside the moat, where Sephrenia and Vanion

walked side by side along the grassy bank. Sparhawk was growing

accustomed to his de facto invisibility by now, but it was still

strange to have one of his friends look directly at him without

acknowledging his presence.

"it would depend entirely on what kind of fish were locally

available,' Vanion was explaining. Sparhawk could tell that't

Vanion was explaining because he was using his 'explaining'

voice, which was quite a bit like his 'preaching' voice. Vanion

had put whole generations of Pandion novices to sleep - both

in the lecture-hall and in chapel.

'Why is he talking like that?' Danae asked.

'Because he's afraid,' Sparhawk sighed.

'Of Sephrenia? Vanion isn't afraid of anything - least of all

Sephrenia. He loves her.'

'That's what's making him afraid. he doesn't know what to

say. If he says the wrong thing, it could all fall apart again.

'Now,' Vanion continued to lecture, 'there are warm-water

fish and cold-water fish. Carp like the water to be warm, and

trout like it colder.'

Sephrenia's eyes were starting to glaze over.

'The water in the moat has been standing for quite a while,

so it's fairly warm. That would sort of rule out trout, wouldn't

you say?'

"I suppose so,' she sighed.

'But that doesn't mean that you couldn't plant some other

kind of fish in there. A really good cook can do wonders with

carp - and they do help to keep the water clean. There's nothing

like a school of carp to keep standing water from turning

stagnant.'

'No,' she sighed. 'i'm sure there isn't.'

'What on earth is he doing?' Danae exploded.

"it's called "walking on eggshells",' Sparhawk explained. 'He

probably talks a great deal about the weather, too.'

'They'll never get back together if he doesn't talk directly to

her about something that matters.'

'He probably won't do that, Aphrael. I think Sephrenia's going

to have to take the first step.'

"I found her!' Talen's shout came across the lawn. 'She's up

in this tree!'

'Oh, bother!' Danae said irritably. 'he wasn't supposed to find

her yet - and what's she doing up a tree? She wasn't supposed

to climb any trees.'

'We may as well go on over,' Sparhawk told her. 'Everybody's

drifting in that direction. You'd better turn off your spell.'

'What about Vanion and Sephrenia?'

'Why don't we just let them work it out for themselves?'

'Because he'll go on talking about fish for the next ten years,

that's why.'

'Sephrenia will only listen to lectures about fish for just so

long, Danae, then she'll get to the point. Vanion isn't really talking

about fish. He's telling her that he's ready to make peace if

she is.'

'He didn't say anything about that. He was just about to start

giving her recipes for boiled carp.'

'That's what you heard him saying, but that wasn't what he

was really saying. You've got to learn to listen with both ears,

Danae.'

'Elenes.' she said, rolling her eyes upward.

Then they heard Kalten shout, 'Look out!'

Sparhawk looked sharply toward the spot where the others

were gathered around a tall maple tree. Talen was up among

the topmost branches, inching his way slowly out on a very

slender limb toward the wild-eyed Mmrr. Things weren't

going well. The limb was sturdy enough to support Mmrr,

but Talen was too heavy. The limb was bending ominously,

and there were unpleasant cracking sounds coming from its

base.

'Talen,' Kalten shouted again, 'get back.'

But by then, of course, it was too late. The tree-limb did not

so much break off from the trunk as it did split at its base

and peel down the side of the tree. Talen made a desperate

grab, caught the confused and terrified cat in one hand, and

then plunged headlong down through the lower branches of

the tree.

The situation was still not irretrievable. The Church Knights

were all versed in various levels of magic, Sephrenia was there,

and Aphrael herself rode on Sparhawk's shoulders. The problem

was that no one could actually see Talen. The maple tree had

large leaves and the boy was falling down through the limbs

and was thus totally obscured by the foliage. they could hear

him hitting limbs as he fell, a series of sharp raps and thumps

accompanied by grunts and sharp cries of pain. Then he

emerged from the lower foliage, falling limply to land with a

thud on the grass under the tree with Mmrr still loosely held in

one hand. He did not get up.

'Talen!' Danae screamed in horror.

Sephrenia concurred with the opinion of Sarabian's physicians.

Talen had suffered no really serious injuries. He was bruised

and battered, and there was a large, ugly knot on his forehead

from his encounter with the unyielding tree-limb which had

knocked him senseless, but Sephrenia assured them that, aside

from a splitting headache, he would have no lasting after-effects

from his fall.

Princess Danae, however, was in no mood to be reassured.

She hovered at the bedside, reacting with little cries of alarm

each time the unconscious boy stirred or made the slightest

sound.

Finally, Sparhawk picked her up and carried her from the

room. There were people there who probably shouldn't witness

miracles. "it got away from you, didn't it, Aphrael?' he observed

to the distraught Child Goddess.

'What are you talking about?'

'You had to tamper with things - trying to fix things that would

have fixed themselves if you'd just left them alone - and you

almost got Talen killed in the process.'

"it wasn't my fault that he fell out of the tree.

'Whose fault was it, then?' He knew that logically he was

being grossly unfair, but he felt that maybe it was time for the

meddling little Goddess to be brought short. 'You interfere too

much, Aphrael,' he told her. 'People have to be allowed to live

their own lives and to make their own mistakes. We can usually

fix our mistakes by ourselves, if you'll just give us the chance.

I suppose that what it gets down to is that just because you can

do something doesn't always mean that you should do it. You

might want to think about that.'

She stared at him for a long moment, and then she suddenly

burst into tears.

'Tikume's bowmen will help,' Vanion said to Sparhawk a bit

later when the two stood together on the parapet. 'Ulath's right

about Trolls. You definitely want to slow them down before you

fight them.'

'And Khalad's idea about the crossbows isn't bad either.'

'Right. Thank God you brought him along.' The Preceptor

pursed his lips. 'i'd like to have you take personal charge of

Khalad's training when you get him back to Cimmura, Sparhawk.

Make sure that he gets instruction in politics, diplomacy

and Church Law as well as in military skills. I think he's going

to go a long way in our order, and I want to be sure he's ready

for any position.'

'Even yours?'

'Stranger things have happened.'

Sparhawk remembered Vanion's declamation on fish that

morning. 'Are you making any progress at all with Sephrenia?'

he asked.

'We're speaking to each other, if that's what you mean.'

"it wasn't. Why don't you just sit down and talk with her? about

something more significant than the weather, or how

many birds can sit on a limb, or what kind of fish can live in

the moat?'

Vanion gave him a sharp look. 'Why don't you mind your

own business?'

"it is my business, Vanion. She can't function while there's

this rift between you - and neither can you, for that matter. I

Need you - both of you - and I can't really count on either of

you until you resolve your differences.'

'i'm moving as fast as I dare, Sparhawk. One wrong move

here could destroy everything.'

'So could a failure to move. She's waiting for you to take the

first step. Don't make her wait too long.'

Stragen came out onto the parapet. 'He's awake now,' he

reported. 'He's not very coherent, and his eyes aren't focused,

but he's awake. Your daughter's making quite a fuss over him,

Sparhawk.'

'She's fond of him,' Sparhawk shrugged. 'She tells everybody

that she's going to marry him someday.'

'Little girls are strange, aren't they?'

'Oh, yes, and Danae's stranger than most.

'i'm glad I was able to catch the two of you alone,' Stragen

said then. 'There's something I'd like to talk over with you before

I mention it to the others.' Stragen was absently twiddling two

gold Elenic half-crowns in his right hand, ccarefully running one

fingertip across the milled edges and hefting them slightly as if

trying to determine their weight. Baroness Melidere's confession

appeared to have unsettled him just a bit. 'Zalasta's little fit of

rage wasn't quite as irrational as we thought it would be. Turning

the Trolls loose on northern Atan was the most disruptive

thing he could have done to us. We'll have to deal with that, of

course, but I think we'd better start preparing for his next move.

Trolls don't need much supervision once they've been pointed

in the right direction, so Zalasta's free to work on something

else now, wouldn't you say?'

'Probably,' Sparhawk agreed.

'Now, I could be wrong...'

'But you don't think you are.' Vanion completed his sentence

sardonicallly.

'He's in a touchy mood today, isn't he,' Stragen said to

Sparhawk.

'He's got a lot on his mind.'

"it's my guess that whatever Zalasta comes up with next is

going to involve those conspirators Sarabian and Ehlana left in

place for lack of jail cells.'

"it could just as easily involve the armies Parok, Amador and

Elron have raised in western Tamuli,' Vanion disagreed.

Stragen shook his head. 'Those armies were raised to keep

the Church Knights off the continent, Lord Vanion, And they

were raised at Cyrgon's specific orders. If Zalasta risked them

now, he'd have to answer to Cyrgon for it, and I don't think

he's that brave yet.'

'Maybe you're right,' Vanion conceded. 'All right, let's say

that he wi'll use those second-level conspirators. Sarabian and

Ehlana have already set things in motion to round them up.'

'Why bother rounding them up at all, my Lord?'

'To get them off the streets, for one thing. Then there's also

the small detail of the fact that they're guilty of high treason.

They need to be tried and punished.'

'Why?'

'As an example, you idiot!' Vanion flared.

'I'll agree that getting them off the streets is important, Lord

Vanion, but there are more effective ways to make examples of

people - not only more effective, but more terrifyingly certain.

When you send policemen out to arrest people, it's noisy, and

usually others hear the noise and manage to escape. There's

also the fact that trials are tedious, expensive, and not absolutely

certain.'

'You've got an alternative in mind, I gather,' Sparhawk said.

'Naturally. Why not have the executions first and the trials

later?'

They stared at him.

'i'm sort of extending the idea I had the other day,' Stragen

said. 'Caalador and I have access to a number of non-squeamish

professionals who can carry out the executions privately.'

'You're talking about murder, Stragen,' Vanion accused.

'Why, yes, Lord Vanion, I believe that is the term some people

do use to describe it. The whole idea behind "examples" is to

frighten others so much that they won't commit the same crime.

It doesn't really work, because criminals know that their chances

of being caught and punished are very slim.' he shrugged. "it's

just one of the hazards of doing business. We professional criminals

break laws all the time. We don't, however, break our own

rules. People in our society who break the rules aren't afforded

the courtesy of being tried. They're just killed. No acquittals, no

pardons, no last-minute jail-breaks. Dead. Period. Case closed.

The justice of regular society is slow and uncertain. Ours is just

the opposite. If you want to use terror to keep people honest,

use real terror.'

"it has got possibilities, Vanion,' Sparhawk suggested tentatively.

'You're not seriously considering it, are you? There are thousands

of those people out there you'rE talking about the largest

mass murder in history!'

"it's a way to get my name in the record books, anyway,'

Stragen shrugged. 'Caalador and I are probably going to do this

anyway. We're both impatient men. I wouldn't have bothered

you about it, but I thought I'd like to get your views on the

subject. Should we tell Sarabian and Ehlana, or should we just

go ahead and not bother them? Discussions about relative morality

are so tedious, don't you think? The point here is that we

need to come up with something that will unhinge Zalasta all

the more, and I think this might be it. If he wakes up some

morning in the not too distant future and finds himself absolutely

and totally alone, it might give him some second thoughts

about the wisdom of his course. Oh, incidentally, I've borrowed

Berit and Xanetia. They're taking a stroll in the vicinity of the

Cynesgan embassy so that Xanetia can run that dip-net of hers

through the minds of the people inside. We've got quite a few

names, but I'm sure there are more.'

'Doesn't she have to be in the same room with somebody to

listen to his thoughts?' Vanion asked.

'She's not really certain. She's never had occasion to test the

limits of her gift. The expedition today is something in the nature

of an experiment. We're hoping that she'll be able to reach in

through the walls and pull out the names of the people inside.

If she can't, I'll find some way to get her inside so that she can

seine out what we need. Caalador and I want as much information

and as many names as we can get. Setting up the largest

mass murder in history is a very complicated business, and we

don't want to have to do it twice.'

'Because Caalador and I are going to use the information to

set that new world record I was telling you about yesterday.

Sarabian hasn't authorized it yet, so let's not upset him over

something he doesn't need to know about - at least not until

we've stacked all the bodies in neat piles.'

Chapter 24

princess Danae fell ill the next day. It was nothing clearly definable.

There was no fever, no rash, and no cough involved - only

a kind of listless weakness. The princess seemed to have no

appetite, and it was difficult to wake her.

"It's the same thing as it was last month,' Mirtai assured the

little girl's worried parents. 'She needs a tonic, that's all.'

Sparhawk, however, knew that Mirtai was wrong. Danae had

not really been ill the previous month. The Child Goddess made

light of her ability to be in two places at the same time, but her

father knew that when her attention was firmly fixed on what

was going on in one place, she would be semi-comatose in the

other. This illness was quite different somehow. 'Why don't you

go ahead and try a tonic, Ehlana?' he suggested. 'I'll go talk

with Sephrenia. Maybe she can think of something else.'

He found Sephrenia sitting moodily in her room. She was

looking out the window, although it was fairly obvious that she

did not even see the view. 'We've got a problem, little mother,'

Sparhawk said, closing the door behind him. 'Danae's sick.'

She turned sharply, her eyes startled. 'That's absurd, Sparhawk.

She doesn't get sick. She can't.'

"I didn't think so myself, but she's sick all the same. It's nothing

really tangible, no overt symptoms or anything like that, but

she's definitely not well.'

Sephrenia rose quickly. 'i'd better go have a look,' she said.

'Maybe I can get her to tell me what's wrong. Is she alone?'

'No. Ehlana's with her. I don't think she'll be willing to leave.

Won't that complicate things?'

'I'll take care of it. Let's get to the bottom of this before it goes

any further.'

Sephrenia's obvious concern worried Sparhawk all the more.

He followed her back to the royal quarters with growing aprehension.

She was right about' one thing. Aphrael was not in

any way susceptible to human illnesses, so this was no simple

miasmic fever or one of the innumerable childhood diseases that

humans catch, endure and get over. he dismissed out of

hand the notion that there could be such a thing as the sniffles

of the Gods.

Sephrenia was very business-like. She was muttering the

Styric spell before she even entered Danae's room.

'Thank God you're here, Sephrenia!' Ehlana exclaimed, half

rising from her chair beside the little girl's bed. 'I've been so...'

Sephrenia released the spell with a curious flick of her hand,

and Ehlana's eyes went blank. She froze in place, half risen from

her chair and with one hand partially extended.

Sephrenia approached the bed, sat on the edge of it, and took

the little girl in her arms. 'Aphrael,' she said, 'wake up. It's me

Sephrenia. '

The Child Goddess opened her eyes and began to cry.

'What is it?' Sephrenia asked, holding her sister even more

tightly and rocking back and forth with her.

'They're killing my children, Sephrenia!' ~APhrael wailed. 'All

over Eosia the Elenes are killing my children! I want to die!'

'We have to go to Sarsos,' Sephrenia said to Sparhawk and

Vanion a short while later when the three of them were alone.

"I have to talk with the Thousand.'

"I know that it's breaking her heart,' Vanion said, 'but it can't

really hurt her, can it?'

"It could kill her, Vanion. The younger Gods are so totally

involved with their worshipers that their very lives depend

on them. Please, Sparhawk, ask Bhelliom to take us to Sarsos

immediately. '

Sparhawk nodded bleakly and took out the box and touched

his ring to the lid. 'Open!' He said it more sharply than he'd

intended.

The lid snapped up.

'Blue Rose,' Sparhawk said, 'a crisis hath arisen. The Child

Goddess is made gravely ill by reason of the murder of her

worshipers in far-off Eosia. We must at once to Sarsos that

Sephrenia might consult with the Thousand of Styricum regarding

a cure.'

"It shall be as thou dost require, Anakha.' The words came

from Vanion's mouth. The Preceptor's expression turned

slightly uncertain. 'is it proper for me to tell thee that I feel

sympathy for thee and thy mate for this illness of thine only

child?'

"I do appreciate thy kind concern, Blue Rose.'

'My concern doth not arise merely from kindness, Anakha

Twice hath the gentle hand of the Child Goddess touched me,

and even I am not proof against the subtle magic of her touch.

For the love we all bear her, let us away to Sarsos that she may

be made whole again.'

The world seemed to shift and blur, and the three of them

found themselves outside the marble-sheathed council hall in

Sarsos. Autumn was further along here, and the birch forest

lying on the outskirts Of the city was ablaze with color.

'You two wait here,' Sephrenia told them. 'Let's not stir

up the hot-heads by marching Elenes into the council chamber

again.'

Sparhawk nodded and opened Bhelliom's golden case to put

the jewel away.

'nay, Anakha,' Bhelliom told him, still speaking through

Vanion's lips. "I would know how Sephrenia's proposal is

received.'

'An it please thee, Blue Rose,' Sparhawk replied politely.

Sephrenia went on inside.

"It's cooler here,' Vanion noted pulling his cloak a little tighter

about him.

'Yes,' Sparhawk agreed. "It's farther north.'

'That more or less exhausts the weather as a topic. quit worrying,

Sparhawk. Sephrenia has a great deal of influence with the

Thousand. I'm sure they'll agree to help.'

They waited as the minutes dragged by.

It was probably half an hour later when Sparhawk felt a sharp

surge, almost a shudderr pass through Bhelliom. 'Come with

me, Anakha.' Vanion's voice was sharp, abrupt. 'What is it?'

'The Styric love of endless talk discontents me. I must needs

go past the Thousand to the Younger Gods themselves. These

babblers do talk away the life of Aphrael.' Sparhawk was a bit

surprised by the vehemence in Vanion's voice. He followed as

his Preceptor, walking in a gait that was peculiarly not his own,

stormed into the building. The bronze doors to the council

chamber may have been locked. The screech of tortured metal

that accompanied Vanion's abrupt opening of them suggested

that they had been, at any rate.

Sephrenia was standing

before the council pleading for aid when Vanion came

through the door.

'We don't allow Elenes in here!' one of the council members

on a back bench shrieked in Styric, rising to his feet and waving

his arms.

Then a sort of strangled silence filled the chamber. Vanion

began to swell, spreading upward and outward into enormity

even as an intensely blue aura flickered brighter and brighter

around him. Flickers of lightning surged through that aura, and

ripping peals of thunder echoed shockingly back from the

marble-clad walls. Sephrenia stared at Vanion in sudden awe.

Prompted by an unvoiced suggestion which only he could

hear, Sparhawk raised the glowing Sapphire Rose. 'Behold Bhelliom!'

he roared. 'And hearken unto its mighty voice!'

'Hear my words, ye Thousand of Styricum!' The voice coming

from the enormity which a moment before had been Vanion

was vast. It was a voice to which mountains would listen and

which waves and torrents would stop at once to hear. "I would

speak with your Gods! Too small are ye and too caught up in

endless babble to consider this matter!'

Sparhawk winced. Diplomacy, he saw, was not one of

Bhelliom's strong suits.

One of the white-robed councillors drew himself up, spluttering

indignantly. 'This is outrageous! We don't have to...' He

was suddenly gone, and in his place stood a confused-looking

personage who appeared to have been interrupted in the middle

of his bath. Naked and dripping, he gaped at the huge, bluelighted

presence and at the glowing jewel in Sparhawk's hand.

'Well, really...' he protested.

'Setras,' the profound voice said sharply. 'How deep is thy

love for thy cousin Aphrael?'

'This is most irregular,' the youthful God protested.

'How deep is thy love?' The voice was inexorable.

"I adore her, naturally. We all do, but... '

'What wouldst thou give to save her life?'

'Anything she asks, of course, but how could her life be in

danger?'

'Thou knowest that Zalasta of Styricum is a traitor dost thou

not?'

There were gasps from the council.

'Aphrael said so,' the God replied, 'but we thought she might

have been a little excited. You know how she is sometimes.'

'She told thee truly, Setras. Even now do Zalasta's minions

slaughter her worshipers in far-off Eosia. With each death is

she made less. If this be permitted to continue, soon she will be

no more.'

The God Setras stiffened, his eyes suddenly blazing. 'Monstrous!'

'What wilt thou give that she may live?'

'Mine own life, if need be,' Setras replied with archaic formalism.

'Wilt thou lend her of thine own worshipers?'

Setras stared at the glowing Bhelliom, his face filled with

chagrin.

'Quickly, Setras! Even now doth the life of Aphrael ebb away!'

The God drew in a deep breath. 'There is no alternative?' he

asked plaintively.

'None. The life of the Child Goddess is sustained only by love.

Give her the love of certain of thy children for a time that she

may be made whole again.'

Setras straightened. "I will,' he declared. 'Though it doth rend

mine heart.' A determined look crossed that divine face. 'And

I do assure thee, World-Maker, that mine shall not be the only

children who will sustain the life of our beloved cousin with

their love. All shall contribute equally.'

'Done, then.' bhelliom seemed fond of that exPression.

'Ah...' Setras said then, his tone slightly worried and his

speech slipping into less formal colloquialism. 'She will give

them back, won't she?'

'Thou hast mine assurance, Divine Setras,' Sephrenia

promised with a smile.

The Younger God looked relieved. Then his eyes narrowed

slightly. 'Anakha,' he said crisply.

'Yes, Divine One?'

'Measures must be taken to protect Aphrael's remaining children.

How might that best be accomplished?'

'Advise them to go to the chapterhouses of the Knights of the

Church of Chyrellos,' Sparhawk replied. 'There will they be kept

from all harm.'

'And who doth command these knights?'

'Archprelate Dolmant, I suppose,' Sparhawk replied doubtfully.

"It is he who doth exercise ultimate authority.'

"I will speak with him. Where may I find him?'

'He will be in the Basilica in Chyrellos, Divine One.'

"I will go there and seek him out that we may consult together

regarding this matter.'

Sparhawk nearly choked on the theological implications of

that particular announcement. Then he looked somewhat more

closely at Sephrenia's face. She was still regarding Vanion with

a certain amount of awe. Then, so clearly that he could almost

hear the click in her mind, Sephrenia made a decision. Her

whole face, her entire being, announced it louder than words.

'Ulath,' Kalten said irritably, 'pay attention. You've been woolgathering

for the past two weeks. What's got you so distracted?'

"I don't like the reports we've been getting back from Atan,'

the big Genidian replied, shifting the Princess Danae, rollo and

Mmrr around in his lap. The little princess had been confined

to her room for ten days by her illness, and this was her first

day back among them. She was engaging in one of her favorite

pastimes - lap-switching. Sparhawk knew that most of his

friends really didn't pay that much attention, responding automatically

to her mute, wan little appeals to be picked up and

held. In actuality, however, Aphrael, with toy and with cat, was

very busily going from lap to lap to re-establish contact with

those who might have drifted out of her grasp during her illness.

As always, there were kisses involved, but those kisses were

not really the spontaneous little demonstrations of affection they

seemed. Aphrael could change minds and alter moods with a

touch. With a kiss, however, she could instantly take possession

of the entirety of someone's heart and soul. Whenever Sparhawk

was engaged in a dispute with his daughter, he was always very

careful to keep at least one piece of furniture between them.

'Things aren't working out the way I thought they would,'

Ulath said in a gloomy voice. 'The Trolls are learning to hide

from arrows and crossbow bolts.'

'Even a Troll is bound to learn eventually,' Talen said. Talen

seemed fully recovered from his tumble out of the maple tree,

although he still complained of headaches occasionally.

'No,' Ulath disagreed. 'That's the whole point. Trolls don't

learn. Maybe it's because their Gods don't learn - or can't. The

Trolls that are walking around right now know exactly what the

first Troll who ever lived knew - no more, no less. Cyrgon's

tampering with them. If he alters the Trolls to the point that

they can learn things, mankind's going to be in serious trouble.'

'There's something more, too, isn't there, Ulath?' Bevier asked

shrewdly. 'You've had your "theological expression" on your

face for the past several days. You're tussling with some moral

dilemma, aren't you?'

Ulath sighed. 'This is probably going to upset everybody, but

try to consider it on its merits instead of just going up in flames

about it.'

'That doesn't sound too promising, old boy,' Stragen murmured.

'You'd better break it to us gently.'

"I don't think there is a gentle way, Stragen. Betuana's dispatches

are getting more and more shrill. The Trolls won't come

out in the open any more. The mounted Atans can't get at them

with lances, and the arrows and crossbow bolts are hitting more

trees than Trolls. They're even setting grass-fires so they can

hide in the smoke. Betuana's right on the verge of calling her

people home, and without the Atans, we don't have an army

any more.'

'Sir Ulath,' Oscagne said, "I gather that this gloomy preamble

is a preparation for a shocking suggestion. I think we've all been

sufficiently prepared. Go ahead and shock us.'

'We have to take the Trolls away from Cyrgon,' Ulath replied,

absently scratching Mmrr's ears. 'We can't let him continue to

teach them even rudimentary tactics, and we definitely don't

want them cooperating with each other the way they have been.'

'And how exactly are you going to take totally unmanageable

brutes away from a God?' Stragen asked him.

"I was sort of thinking along the lines of letting their own Gods

do it. The Troll-Gods are available, after all. Ghwerig imprisoned

them inside Bhelliom, and Sparhawk's got Bhelliom tucked

away inside his shirt. I'd imagine that Khwaj and the others

would do almost anythi'ng for us if we promise to give them their

freedom.'

'Are you mad?' Stragen exclaimed. 'We can't turn them loose!

That's unthinkable!' He droPPed the Pair of gold coins he always carried

now.

'i'd be more than happy to consider alternatives - if anyone

can come up with some. The threat to Atan is serious enough,

but the longer Cyrgon dominates the Trolls, the more they're

going to learn from him. Sooner or later, they'll go back to Thalesia.

Do we really want a trained army of Trolls outside the gates

of Emsat? We've got at least some small advantage if we deal

with the Troll-Gods. We hold the key to their freedom. But we

don't really have anything Cyrgon wants - except Bhelliom itself.

I'd rather deal with the Troll-Gods, myself.'

'Why don't we just have Sparhawk take Bhelliom to northern

Atan and exterminate the Trolls with it?'

Sparhawk shook his head. 'Bhelliom won't do that, Stragen.

It won't obliterate an entire species. I know that for certain.'

'You've got the rings. You could force it to do as you say.'

'No. I won't do that. Bhelliom isn't a slave. If it cooperates,

it's going to have to be willingly.'

'We can't just turn the Troll-Gods loose, Sparhawk. I may be

a thief, but I'm still a Thalesian. I'm not going to just sit by and

let the Trolls over-run the entire peninsula.'

'We haven't even talked with the Troll-Gods yet, Stragen,'

Ulath told him. 'Why don't we see what they have to say before

we decide? No matter what, though, we're going to have to do

something very soon. If we don't, we're going to start seeing long

columns of Atans marching out of their barracks on their way

back home.'

Danae slipped down from Ulath's lap and retrieved Stragen's

coins. 'You dropped these, Milord,' she said sweetly. Then she

frowned. 'is it my imagination, or is one of them just a little

lighter than the other?'

Stragen looked at her with a slightly sick expression on his

face.

It was somewhat later, and Sparhawk and Vanion were escorting

Sephrenia back to her room. They reached the door and stopped.

'Oh, this is absurd!' Sephrenia suddenly burst out in an exasperated

tone of voice. 'Vanion, go get your things and come

back home where you belong!'

Vanion blinked. "I...'

'Hush,' she told him. Then she glared at Sparhawk. 'And not

a word out of you, either!'

'Me?'

'You have packing to do, Vanion,' she said. 'Don't just stand

there gawking.'

'I'll get right at it.'

'And don't take all day.' She threw her arms up in the air.

'Men. Do I have to draw pictures for you? I did everything short

of lighting signal fires and blowing trumpets, and all you wanted

to talk about was the weather - or fish. Why wouldn't you ever

get to the point?'

'Well - I...' he floundered. 'You were very angry with me,

Sephrenia. '

'That was then. This is now. I'm not angry any more, and

I want you to come back home. I'm going to go have a word

with Danae, and I want to see you back in our room when I

return.'

'Yes, dear,' he replied meekly.

She glared at him for a moment, and then she spun on her

heel and went off down the hall, talking to herself and waving

her hands in the air.

'Well, Krager's back,' Talen reported as they gathered again later

that afternoon. 'One of the beggars saw him slipping in through

the back gate of the Cynesgan embassy about two hours ago staggering

might be a better word for it, though. He was roaring

drunk.'

'That's the Krager we've come to know and love,' Kalten

laughed.

"I can't understand how Zalasta can put any faith in a known

drunkard,' Oscagne said.

'Krager's very intelligent when he's sober, your Excellency,'

Sparhawk explained. 'That was the only reason Martel put up

With him.' He scratched at his cheek. 'Could we prevail on you

to go back to that look-out near the embassy, Anarae?'

Xanetia started to rise from her chair.

'Not right now,' he smiled. "It usually takes Krager all night

to sober up, so tomorrow morning should be soon enough. I

think we'll want to know what instructions he brings to the

Cynesgan ambassador.'

'There's something else, too,' Stragen added. 'We've never

really been sure if Krager knows that we're using criminals to

gather information for us. He knew that we were getting help

from Platime in Cimmura and that we had contact with thieves

and the like in other cities in Eosia, but we should find out if

he's made the connection between the two continents yet.'

'he sort of hinted that he knew when he talked with me after

we put down the coup,' Sparhawk reminded him.

"I don't want to disgard the entire apparatus on the basis of a

hint, Sparhawk,' Stragen said, 'and I really need to know if he's

aware of the fact that we can use certain criminals for things

other than spying.'

"I shall probe his mind most closely,' Xanetia promised.

'Where are Vanion and Sephrenia, Sparhawk?' Ehlana asked

suddenly. 'They should have been here an hour ago.'

'Oh, I'm sorry, dear. I meant to tell you about that. I excused

them for the rest of the day. They have something important to

take care of.'

'Why didn't you tell me?'

"I am, dear - right now.''

'What are they doing?'

'They've resolved their differences. I'd imagine they're discussing

that right now - at some length.'

She flushed slightly. 'Oh,' she said in a neutral sort of way.

'What finally got them back together again?'

He shrugged. 'Sephrenia got tired of the estrangement and

told Vanion to come back home. She was very direct about it and

she even managed to twist it around so that it was all his

fault. You know how that goes.'

'That will do, Sir Knight,' she said firmly.

'Yes, your Majesty.'

'Would this Krager person know where Zalasta is right now,

Prince Sparhawk?' Oscagne asked.

'i'm sure he does, your Excellency. Zalasta probably doesn't

Want him to know - Krager being what he is, and all - but it's

very hard to hide things from Krager when he's the least bit

sober.'

'He could be enormously valuable to us, Prince Sparhawk.

Particularly in the light of the Anarae's special gift.'

'You'd better get all you can from him right now, your Excellency,'

Talen suggested, 'because just as soon as my brother gets

back from Atan, he'll probably kill him.'

Oscagne looked startled.

"It's a personal thing, your Excellency. Krager was involved

in the death of our father - around the edges, anyway. Khalad

wants to do something about that.'

'i'm sure we can persuade him to wait, young master."

"I wouldn't be, your Excellency. '

"It's been a part of us for so long that I don't think we'd be

Styrics without it, Anarae,' Sephrenia said sadly.

It was one of those private meetings at the top of the tower.

Sparhawk and his daughter had joined Sephrenia, Vanion

and Xanetia as evening settled over Matherion so that they

could discuss certain things the others did not need to know

about.

"It is even so with us, Sephrenia of Ylara,' Xanetia confessed.

'Our hatred of thy race doth in part define the Delphae as well.'

'We tell our children that the Delphae steal souls,' Sephrenia

said. "I was always taught that you glow because of the souls

you've devoured, and that the people you touch decay because

you've jerked their souls out of them.'

Xanetia smiled. 'And we tell our young ones that the Styrics

are ghouls who rob graves for food - when there are no

Delphaeic children nearby to be eaten alive.'

"I know a child with a slightly Styric background who's been

considering cannibalism lately,' Sparhawk noted blandly.

'Snitch,' Danae muttered.

'What's this?' Sephrenia demanded of her sister.

'The Child Goddess was very upset when she found out that

Zalasta had deceived her,' Sparhawk said in an offhand sort of

way, 'and even more upset when she discovered that he wanted

to steal you from her. She said she was going to rip his heart

out and eat it right before his very eyes.'

'Oh - I probably wouldn't have done it.' Aphrael tried to

shrug it off.

'Probably?' Sephrenia exclaimed.

'His heart's so rotten it would have made me sick.'

Sephrenia gave her a long, steady look of disapproval.

'Oh, all right,' the Child Goddess said, "I was exaggerating.'

She looked pensively out over the city, then back at Sephrenia

and Xanetia. 'All this hatred and the wild stories the Styrics and

the Delphae tell their children about each other aren't really

natural, you realize. You've been very carefully coached to feel

this way. The real argument was between my family and

Edaemus, and it involved things you wouldn't even understand.

It was a silly argument - like most arguments are - but

Gods can't keep their arguments private. You humans were

drawn into something that didn't really concern you at all.' She

sighed. 'Like so many of our disagreements, that one started to

spill over from the part of the world where we live into your

part. It's our party, and you never should have been invited.'

'Where is this country of yours, Aphrael?' Vanion asked

curiously.

'Right here.' She shrugged. 'All around us, but you can't see

it. It might be better if we had our own separate place, but it's

too late now. I should have told Sephrenia about our foolishness

when she and I were children and I heard her parroting some

of that nonsense about the Delphae, but then the Elene serfs

destroyed our village and killed our parents, and Zalasta tried

to shift his own guilt to the Delphae, and that set her prejudices

in stone.' She paused. "I always knew there was something about

Zalasta's story that didn't ring true, but I couldn't get into his

thoughts to find out what it was.'

'Why not?' Vanion asked her. 'You are a Goddess, after all.'

'You've noticed,' she exclaimed. 'What a thrilling' discovery that

must have been for you!'

'Mind your manners,' Sparhawk told her.

'Sorry, Vanion,' she apologized. 'That was a little snippy,

wasn't it? I can't look into Zalasta's thoughts because he isn't

one of my children.' She paused. 'Don't you find the fact that

I'm limited but Xanetia isn't just a bit interesting, Sephrenia?'

'Xanetia and I are exploring our differences, Aphrael,'

Sephrenia smiled. 'Every one of them we've examined so far

has turned out to be imaginary.'

'Truly,' Xanetia agreed. Sparhawk could only begin to imagine

how difficult even these tentative steps toward peacemaking

must be for this strangely similar pair of women. The tearing

down of institutionalized bigotry must have been somewhat

akin to dismantling a house that had been standing for a hundred

centuries.

'Vanion, dear,' Sephrenia said then, 'it's starting to get a little

chilly.'

'I'll run down and fetch your cloak.'

She sighed. 'No, Vanion,' she told him. "I don't want a cloak.

I want you to put your arms around me.'

'Oh.' he said. "I should have thought of that myself.'

'Yes,' she agreed. 'Try to think of it more often.'

He smiled and put his arms about her.

That's so much nicer,' she said, snuggling up against him.

There's something I've been meaning to ask,' Sparhawk said

to his daughter. 'Regardless of who put them up to it, the people

who attacked Ylara were Elenes. how in the world did you ever

persuade Sephrenia to take on the chore of teaching the

Pandions us the Secrets? She must have hated Elenes.'

'She' did.' The Child Goddess shrugged. 'And I wasn't too

fund of you myself. I had Ghwerig's rings, though, and I absolutely

had to get them on the fingers of King Antor and the first

Sparhawk - otherwise, I wouldn't be here.' She paused and

her eyes narrowed. 'That's intolerable.' she exclaimed.

'What is?'

'Bhelliom manipulated me. after I stole the rings from

Ghwerig - or maybe even before - it put the notion into the

rings themselves. I know it did. I no sooner took those rings than

the idea occurred to me to separate them by giving one of them

to your ancestor and the other to Ehlana's. This has all been

Bheliom's scheme. That - that thing used me!'

'My, my,' Sparhawk said blandly.

'And it was so clev~er!' she fumed. "It seemed like such a good

idea. your blue friend and I are going to have a long talk about

this!'

'You were telling us how you forced Sephrenia to become our

tutor, I believe,' he said.

"I commanded her to do it - after coaxing wouldn't work. First

I ordered her to take the rings to that pair of bleeding savages, and

then I took her to your mother-house at Demos and compelled

her to become your tutor. I had to have her there to keep your

family on the right track. You're Anakha, and I knew I'd need

some kind of hold on you. Otherwise, Bhelliom would have had

you all to itself, and I didn't trust it enough to let that happen.'

'Then you did plan all this in advance,' Sparhawk said just a

bit sadly.

'Bhelliom may have planned it first,' she said darkly. "I was

absolutely sure it was my idea. I thought that if I just happened

to be your daughter, you'd at least pay some attention to me.'

He sighed. "It was all completely calculated, then, wasn't it?'

'Yes, but that doesn't have anything to do with the way I feel

about you. I had a great deal to do with inventing you, Sparhawk,

so I do really love you. You were a darling baby. I almost

disassembled Kalten when he broke your nose. Sephrenia talked

me out of it, though. Mother was a different story. You were

sweet, but she was adorable. I loved her from the first moment

I saw her, and I knew you two would get on well together. I'm

really rather proud of the way things have turned out. I even

think Bhelliom approves - of course it would never admit it.

Bhelliom's so stuffy sometimes.'

'Did your cousin Setras actually go into the Basilica and talk

with Dolmant?' Vanion asked her suddenly.

'Yes.'

'How did Dolmant take it?'

'Surprisingly well. Of course, Setras can be very charming

when he wants to be, and Dolmant is fond of me.' She paused,

her dark eyes speculative. "I think his Archprelacy's going to

bring about some rather profound changes in your Church,

Vanion. Dolmant's mind isn't absolutely locked in stone the way

Ortzel's is. I think Elene theology's going to change a great deal

while he's Archprelate.'

'The conservatives won't like that.'

'They never do. Conservatives wouldn't even change their

underwear if they didn't have to.'

'That's extremely questionable from a legal standpoint, your

Majesty,' Oscagne said. 'i'm not personally questioning your

word, Anarae,' he added quickly, 'but I think we can all see the

problem here. All we'll have in the way of evidence is Xanetia's

unsubstantiated testimony about what somebody's thinking.

Even the most pliable of judges is likely to choke a bit on that.

These are going to be very difficult cases to prosecute - particularly

in view of the fact that some of the accused are going to

be members of the great families of Tamuli proper.'

'You might as well go ahead and tell them all of it, Stragen,'

Sparhawk suggested. 'You're going to carry out your plan anyway,

and they'll worry over legal niceties for weeks if you don't

tell them.'

Stragen winced. "I really wish you hadn't brought it up, old

boy,' he said in a pained voice. 'Their Majesties are official personages,

and they're more or less obliged to observe the strict

letter of the law. They'd both be much more comfortable if they

didn't know too many details.'

'i'm sure they would, but all this fretting about building ironclad

court cases is wasting time we should be spending on other

problems.'

'What's this?'

Sarabian asked.

'Milord Stragen and Master Caalador are contemplating something

along the lines of what you might call legal short-cuts,

your Majesty - in the interests of expediency. Do you want to

tell them, Stragen? Or do you want me to do it?'

'You go ahead. It might sound better coming from you.'

Stragen leaned back, still brooding over his two gold coins.

'Their plan's very simple, your Majesty,' Sparhawk told the

Emperor. 'They propose that instead of rounding up all these

conspirators, spies, informers and the like, we just have them

murdered.'

'What.?' Sarabian exclaimed.

'That was a very blunt way to put it, Sparhawk,' Stragen complained.

'i'm a blunt man.' Sparhawk shrugged. 'Actually, your Majesty,

I sort of approve of the notion. Vanion's having a little

trouble choking it down, though.' He leaned back in his chair.

'justice is a funny thing,' he observed. 'She's only partly interested

in punishing the guilty. What she's really interested in is

deterrence. The idea is to frighten people into avoiding crime

by doing unpleasant things - publicly - to the criminals who get

caught. But as Stragen pointed out, most criminals know that

they probably won't get caught, so all the police and the courts

are really doing is justifying their continued employment. He

suggests that we by-pass the police and the courts and send

out the murderers some night very soon. The next morning,

everybody even remotely connected with Zalasta and his renegade

Styrics would be found with his throat cut. If we want a

deterrent, that would really be the most effective one. There

wouldn't be any acquittals or appeals or imperial pardons to

confuse the issue. If we do it that way, everybody in all of

Tamuli will have nightmares about the fruits of treason for years

afterward. I approve of the idea for tactical reasons, though. I'll

leave justice to the courts - or the Gods. I like the idea because

of the damage it would do to Zalasta. he's a Styric, and Styrics

usually try to get what they want by deception and misdirection.

Zalasta's set up a very elaborate apparatus to gain his ends without

a direct confrontation. Stragen's plan would destroy that

apparatus in a single night, and only madmen would be willing

to join Zalasta after that. Once the apparatus is gone, he'll have

to come out in the open and fight. He's not good at that, but

we are. This would give us the chance to fight this war on our

own terms, and that's always an enormous tactical advantage.'

'And we can pick our own time,' Caalador added. 'The timing

would be very important.'

'They wouldn't be expecting it, that's one thing,' Itagne noted.

'There are rules, Itagne,' his brother objected. 'Civilization's

based on rules. If we break the rules, how can we expect others

to follow them?'

'That's the whole point, Oscagne. Right now, the rules are

protecting the criminals, not society as a whole. We can wriggle

around and come up with some kind of legalistic justification

for it afterward. About the only real objection I have is that these

ah - agents of government policy, shall we say, won't have

any official standing.' He frowned for a moment. "I suppose we

could solve that problem by appointing Milord Stragen to the

post of Minister of the Interior and Master Caalador to that of

Director of the Secret Police.'

'real secret, your Excellency,' Caalador laughed. "I don't even

know who most of the murderers are.'

Itagne smiled. 'Those are the best kind, I suppose.' He looked

at the Emperor. 'That would put a slight stain of legality on the

whole business, your Majesty - in the event that you decide to

go ahead with it.'

Sarabian leaned thoughtfully back in his chair. 'i'm tempted,'

he said. 'A blood-bath like this would insure domestic tranquility

in Tamuli for at least a century.' He shook off his expression of

wistful yearning and sat up. "It's just too uncivilized. I couldn't

approve of something like that with Lady Sephrenia and Anarae

Xanetia watching me and sitting in judgement.'

'What are your feelings, Xanetia?' Sephrenia asked tentatively.

'We of the' Delphae are not over-concerned with niceties and

technicalities, Sephrenia. '

"I didn't think you would be. Good is good, and bad is bad,

wouldn't you say?'

"It seemeth so to me.'

'And to me as well. Zalasta's hurt the both of us, and Stragen's

massacre would hurt him. I don't think either of us would object

too much to something that would cause him pain, would we?'

Xanetia smiled.

"It's your decision, then, Sarabian,' Sephrenia said. 'Don't look

to Xanetia and me for some excuse not to make it. We find nothing

objectionable in the plan.'

'i'm profoundly disappointed in both of you,' he told them.

"I was hoping you'd get me off the hook. You're my last chance,

Ehlana. Doesn't this monstrous notion turn your blood cold?'

'Not particularly.' She shrugged. 'But I'm an Elene -- and a

politician. As long as we don't get caught with bloody knives

in our own hands, we can always wriggle out of it. '

'Won't anyone help me?' Sarabian actually looked desperate.

Oscagne gave his Emperor a penetrating look. "It has to be

your decision, your Majesty,' he said. "I personally don't like it,

but I'm not the one who has to give the order.'

'is it always like this, Ehlana?' Sarabian groaned.

'Usually,' she replied quite calmly. 'Sometimes it's worse.'

The Emperor sat staring at the wall for quite some time. 'all

right, Stragen,' he said finally. ' Go ahead and do it.'

'That's mother's darling boy,' Ehlana said fondly.

CHAPTER 25

'No, Caalador,' Sparhawk said, 'as a matter of fact, it won't take

three or four weeks. I have access to a faster way to get from

place to place.'

'That won't do any good, Sparhawk,' the ruddy-faced Cammorian

objected. 'The people in the Secret Government won't

take orders from you.'

"I won't be giving the orders, Caalador,' Sparhawk told him.

'You will.'

Caalador swallowed. 'Are you sure it's safe to travel that way?'

he asked doubtfully.

'Trust me. How many people will we have to get word to?'

Caalador threw an uncomfortable glance at Sarabian. 'i'm not

at liberty to say. '

"I won't use the information, Caalador,' the Emperor assured

him.

'You and I know that, your Majesty, but rules are rules. We

like to keep our numbers just a little vague.'

'Generalize, Caalador,' Ehlana suggested. 'A hundred? Five

hundred?'

'Not hardly that many, dorlin',' he laughed. 'Then ain't no pie

whut kin be cut into that many pieces.' He squinted a bit anxiously

at Stragen. 'Let's just say more than twenty and less than

a hundred and let it go at that, shall we? I'd rather not get my

own throat cut.'

'That's general enough,' Stragen laughed. "I won't turn you

in for that, Caalador. '

'Thanks.'

'Don't mention it.'

'Two or three days, then,' Sparhawk said.

'Let's not start passing the word around until after the Anarae

pulls her net through Krager's mind tomorrow morning,'

Stragen said.

'Thou art fond of that particular metaphor, Milord Stragen,'

Xanetia noted in a slightly disapproving tone.

'i'm not trying to be offensive, Anarae. I'm groping for a way

to explain something I couldn't begin to understand, that's all.'

Stragen's face grew bleak. 'if Krager really knows about the

Secret Government, he's probably infiltrated it, and there'll be

some people out there we won't want to tell about this.'

'And whose names we'll be adding to our list,' Caalador

added.

"Just how long is your list, Master Caalador?' Oscagne asked.

'You don't really need to know that, your Excellency,' Caalador

replied in a tone that clearly said that he wasn't going to

discuss the matter. 'Let's pick a date - something that sort of

stands out in people's minds. Thieves and cutthroats aren't all

that good at reading calendars.'

'How about the Harvest Festival?' Itagne suggested. "It's only

three weeks away, and it's celebrated in all of Tamuli.'

Caalador looked around. 'Can we wait that long?' he asked.

"It would be the perfect time. Our murderers would have three

nights to get the job done instead of one, and there's lots of

noise and confusion during the Harvest Festival.'

'And lots of drinking,' Itagne added. 'The whole continent

gets roaring drunk.'

"It's a general holiday, then?' Bevier asked.

Itagne nodded. 'Technically it's a religious holiday. We're supposed

to thank the Gods for a bountiful harvest. Most people

can get that out of the way in about a half a minute, and that

leaves them three days and nights to get into trouble. The harvest

crews are all paid off, they take their annual baths, and

then head for the nearest town in search of mischief.'

"It's made to order for our purposes,' Caalador added.

'Will you be ready to move your forces against the Trolls in

three weeks, Lord Vanion?' Sarabian asked.

'More than ready, your Majesty. We weren't planning to

gather them all in one place anyway. The detachments from

each garrison are only platoon-sized, and a platoon

can move faster than a battalion. they're all moving toward staging areas

along the Atan border.'

'Do we want to hit them all at the same time?' ~Kalten asked.

'We could go any one of three ways on that,' Sparhawk said.

'We can hit the Trolls first and pull Zalasta's attention to northern

Atan, or we can murder the conspirators first and send him

scurrying around the continent trying to salvage what he can of

his organization, or we can do it simultaneously and see if he

can be in a hundred places all at the same time.'

'We can decide that later,' Sarabian said. 'Let's get word

to the murderers first. We know that we want them to go to

work during the Harvest Festival. The military situation's more

fluid.'

'Let's make a special point of eliminating Sabre, Parok and

Rebal this time,' Stragen said to Caalador. 'Evidently the Atans

missed them in the last general round-up. Those Elene kingdoms

in western Tamuli are standing between Sir Tynian and

Matherion, and as long as those three trouble-makers are alive,

he's going to have rough going. Is there any way we could get

Scarpa as well?'

Caalador shook his head. 'He's holed up in Natayos. He's

turned it into a fortress and filled it with fanatics. I couldn't pry

a murderer enough to try to kill him. The only way we'll get

Scarpa is to mount a military expedition.'

'That's a shame,' Sephrenia murmured. 'The death of his only

son would definitely twist a knife in Zalasta's belly.'

'Savage,' Vanion accused affectionately.

'Zalasta killed my family, Vanion,' she replied. 'All I want to

do is return the favor.'

'That sounds fair to me,' he smiled.

'i'm still dead set against it,' Stragen said stubbornly when he,

Sparhawk and Ulath met in the hallway a bit later.

'Be reasonable, Stragen,' Ulath said. "It won't hurt anything

to see what they have to say, will it? I'm not going to just turn

them loose without any restrictions at all, you know.'

'They'll agree to anything to get their freedom, Ulath. They

might promise to pull the Trolls out of Atan - or even to help

us deal with Zalasta and Cyrgon - but once they get back to

Thalesia, they won't feel obligated to honor any commitments.

We're not even members of the same species as their worshipers.

We're just animals in their eyes. Would you feel

obliged to keep promises you made to a bear?'

'That would depend on the bear, I suppose.'

'The Troll-Gods might break promises they make to us,' Sparhawk

said, 'but they won't break faith with Bhelliom, because

Bhelliom can re-absorb them if they try any tricks.'

'Well,' Stragen said doubtfully, "I want to be sure everybody

understands that I don't like this, but I guess it won't hurt to

hear what they have to say. I want to be present, though. I don't

altogether trust you, Ulath, so I want to hear the promises you

give them.'

'Do you understand Trollish?'

Stragen shuddered. 'Of course not.'

'You're going to have a little difficulty following the conversation,

then, don't you think?'

'Sephrenia's going along, isn't she? She can translate for me.'

'Are you sure you trust her?'

'That's a contemptible thing to say.'

"I thought I'd ask. When do you want to do this, Sparhawk?'

'Let's not be premature," Sparhawk decided. "I still have to

take Caalador around to talk with his friends. Let's get that all

set up and make sure that the Atans Vanion's calling in are in

the staging areas before we broach the subject to the Troll-Gods.

There's no point in getting them excited until we need them.'

"I think we'll want to be out in the countryside when we talk

with them,' Ulath suggested. 'When we tell them that Cyrgon's

stolen their worshipers, their screams of outrage might shatter

all the sea-shells off the walls of Matherion.'

'His mind is much fogged by drink,' Xanetia reported about

mid-morning the next day after she and Berit had returned from

the Cynesgan embassy, 'and it is difficult to wring consistency

from it.'

'Does he have any suspicions at all, Anarae?' Stragen asked

with a worried expression.

'He doth know that thou hast set thieves and beggars to watch

him in the past, Milord Stragen,' she replied, 'but it is his

thought that thou - or young Talen - must make these arrangements

in each city and that one of ye must go there to speak

With each chief separately.'

'He don't know nothin' about the Sekert Cover-mint?'

Caalador pressed, speaking in dialect for some obscure reason.

'His understanding of thy society is vague, Master Caalador.

Cooperation of such nature is beyond his grasp, for Krager himself

is incapable of it, being guided only by immediate self-interest.'

'What a splendid drunkard,' Stragen exulted. 'Let's all Pray

that he never sobers up!'

'A-men.' Caalador agreed fervently. 'Well, Sporhawk, why

don't yew have a talk with this yore joel o' yourn, an me'n you'll

go a-hippety-skippin"round about Tamuli. We got us folks t'

see an' th'otes t' cut.'

Xanetia's face took on a pained expression.

Caalador was badly shaken the first few times Bhelliom whisked

him half-way across the continent, but after that he seemed to

grow numb. It took him about a half-hour each time to pass

instructions to the various criminal chiefs of Tamuli, and Sparhawk

strongly suspected that the ruddy-faced Cammorian

settled his shaken nerves with strong drink at each stop. Sparhawk

could not be sure, of course, since he was quite firmly

excluded from the discussions. 'You don't need to know who

these people are, Sparhawk,' Caalador said, 'and your presence

would just make them nervous.'

Vanion's small Atan detachments were streaming into the

staging areas along the Atan border from all over Tamuli, and

Tikume had promised several thousand eastern Peloi in addition

to the three hundred bowmen Kring had taken with him back

to Atan. Bhelliom took Sparhawk and Vanion to the Atan capital

so that they could reassure Betuana that they were in fact

marshaling forces to come to her aid, Bud to explain why they

were holding most of that aid at the border. 'The Trolls wouldn't

understand the significance of those reinforcements, Betuana-Queen,'

Vanion told her, 'but Cyrgon's completely versed in

strategy and tactics. He'd understand what was going on

immediately. Let's not give him any hints about what we're

doing until we're ready to strike.'

'Do you really think you can spring surprises on a God,

Vanion-Preceptor?' she asked. Betuana was dressed in what

passed for armor among the Atans, and her face clearly showed

that she had been functioning on short sleep for weeks.

'i'm certainly going to try, Betuana-queen,' Vanion rePlied

with a brief smile. "I think it's fairly safe to say that Cyrgon

hasn't had a new thought in the last twenty thousand years.

Military thinking's changed a great deal in that time, so he probably

won't fully understand what we're up to.' He made a wry

face. 'At least that's what I'm hoping,' he added.

And then it reached the point where they could not put it off

any longer. None of them were really comfortable with the idea

of chatting with the Troll-Gods, but the time had come to put

Ulath's notion to the test.

About an hour before dawn of the day none of them had

really been looking forward to, Sparhawk and Vanion went to

Sephrenia's room to speak with Sephrenia, Xanetia and Danae.

Their discussions struck a snag almost immediately.

"I have to go along, Sparhawk,' Danae insisted.

'That's out of the question,' he told her. 'Ulath and Stragen

are going to be there. We can't let them find out who you really

are.'

'They're not going to find anything out, fatHer,' she said

with exaggerated patience. "It won't be Danae who'll be going

along.'

'Oh. That's different, then.'

'Exactly how are we going to work this, Sparhawk?' Vanion

asked. 'Won't you have to release the Troll-Gods in order to talk

with them?'

Sparhawk shook his head. 'Bhelliom says we won't. The TrollGods

themselves will still be locked up inside Bhelliom. Their

spirits have always been free to roam around, except when

Bhelliom's encased in gold - or steel. They have a certain limited

amount of power in that condition, I guess, but their real power's

locked up with them inside the Bhelliom.'

'Wouldn't it be safer just to get them to agree to use that

limited power rather than to unleash them entirely?' Vanion

asked.

"It wouldn't work, dear one,' Sephrenia told him. 'The TrollGods

may encounter Cyrgon, and if they do, they'll need their

full power.'

'Moreover,' Xanetia added, "I do strongly believe that they

will sense our need and bargain stringently.'

'Are you going to do the talking, Sparhawk?' Vanion asked.

Sparhawk shook his head. 'Ulath knows Trolls - and the TrollGods better

than I do, and his Trollish is better than mine. I'll

hold Bhelliom and call the Troll-Gods out and then let him do

the talking.' He looked out the window. "It's almost dawn,' he

said. 'We'd better get started. Ulath and Stragen are going to

meet us down in the courtyard.'

'Turn your backs,' Danae told them.

'What?' her father asked.

'Turn around, Sparhawk. You don't have to watch this.

"It's one of her quirks,' Sephrenia explained. 'She doesn't want

anybody to know what she really looks like.'

"I already know what Flute looks like.'

'There's a transition, Sparhawk. She doesn't go directly from

Danae to Flute. She passes through her real person on the way

from one little girl to the other.'

Sparhawk sighed. 'How many of her are there?'

'Thousands, I'd imagine.'

'That's depressing. I've got a daughter I don't really know."

'Don't be silly,' Danae said. 'Of course you know me.'

'But only one of you, a several thousandth part of who you

really are - such a tiny part.' He sighed again and turned his

back.

"It's not a tiny part, father.' Danae's voice changed as she

spoke, becoming richer, more vibrant. It was no longer a child's

voice, but a woman's.

There was a mirror on the far side of the room, a flat sheet of

polished brass. Sparhawk glanced at it and saw the wavering

reflection of a figure standing behind him. He quickly averted

his eyes.

'Go ahead and look, Sparhawk. It's not a very good mirror,

so you won't see all that much."

He raised his eyes and stared at the gleaming brass. The

reflection was distorted. About all he could really see was the

general size and shape. Aphrael was somewhat taller than

Sephrenia. Her hair was long and very dark, and her skin was

pale. Her face was hardly more than a blur in that imperfect

reflection, but he could see her eyes quite clearly for some

reason. There was an ageless wisdom in those eyes and a kind

of eternal joy and love. "I wouldn't do this for just anybody,

Sparhawk,' the woman's voice told him, 'but you're the best

father I've ever had, so I'm stretching the rules for you.'

'Don't you wear any clothes?' he asked her.

'What on earth for? I don't get cold, you know.

'i'm talking about modesty, Aphrael. I am your father, after

all, and things like that are supposed to concern me.'

She laughed and reached around from behind him to caress

his face. It was not a little girl's hand which touched his cheek.

He caught the faint scent of crushed grass, but the rest of the

familiar fragrance that lingered about both Danae and Flute had

been subtly changed. The person standing behind him was

definitely not a little girl.

'is this the way you appear to the rest of your family?' he

asked her.

'Not very often. I prefer to have them think of me as a child.

I can get my own way a lot easier in that form - and I get a lot

more kisses.'

'Getting your own way is very important to you, isn't it,

Aphrael?'

'Of course. It's important to all of us, isn't it? I'm just better

at it than most.' She laughed, a deep, rich laugh. 'i'm probably

the best there is at getting my own way.'

'I've noticed that,' he said dryly.

'Well,' she said then, 'i'd love to talk more with you about it,

but I suppose we shouldn't keep Ulath and Stragen waiting.'

The reflection wavered and began to shrink, sliding back into

childhood. 'All right, then Flute's familiar voice said, 'let's go

have it out with the Troll-Gods. '

It was blustery that morning, and dirty gray clouds scudded in

off the Tamul Sea. There were few citizens abroad in fire-domed

Matherion as Sparhawk and his friends rode out of the palace compound

and down the long, wide street leading to the west gate.

They left the city and rode up the long hill to the place from

which they had first glimpsed the gleaming city. 'How do you

plan to approach them?' Stragen asked Ulath as they crested the

hill.

'Carefully,' Ulath grunted. 'i'd rather not get eaten. I've talked

with them before, so they probably remember me, and the fact

that Sparhawk's holding Bhelliom in his fist may help to curb

their urge to devour me right on the spot.'

'Any particular sort of place you'd like?' Vanion asked him.

'An open field - but not too open. I want trees nearby - so I

can climb one - in case things turn ugly.' Ulath looked around

at the rest of them. 'One word of caution,' he added. 'Don't any

of you stand between me and the nearest tree once I get started.

'Over there?' Sparhawk suggested, pointing toward a pasture

backed by a pine grove.

Ulath squinted. "It's not perfect, but no place really would be.

Let's get this over with. My nerves are strung a little tight this

morning for some reason.'

They rode out into the pasture and dismounted. 'is there anything

anyone would like to tell me before we start?' Sparhawk

asked.

'You're on your own, Sparhawk,' Flute replied. "It's all up to

you and Ulath. We're just here to observe.'

'Thanks,' he said dryly.

She curtsied. 'Don't mention it.'

Sparhawk took the box out from inside his tunic and touched

his ring to it. 'Open,' he told it.

The lid popped up.

'Blue Rose,' Sparhawk said, speaking in Elenic.

"I hear thee, Anakha.' The voice came from Vanion's lips

again.

"I feel the Troll-Gods within thee. Can they understand my

words when I speak in this tongue?'

'Nay, Anakha.'

'Good. Cyrgon hath by deceit and subterfuge lured the Trolls

here to Daresia and doth hurl them against our allies, the Atans.

We would attempt to persuade the Troll-Gods to re-assert their

authority over their creatures. Thinkest thou that they might be

willing to give hearing to our request?'

'Any God listens most attentively to words concerning his

worshipers, Anakha.'

"I had thought such might be the case. Dost thou agree with

mine assessment that the knowledge that Cyrgon hath stolen

their Trolls will enrage them?'

'They will be discomfited out of all measure, Anakha.'

'How thinkest thou we might best proceed with them?'

'Advise them in simple words of what hath come to pass.

Speak not too quickly nor with obscured meaning, for they are

slow of understanding.'

"I have perceived as much in past dealings with them.'

'Wilt thou speak with them? I say this not in criticism, but thy

Trollish is rude and uncouth."

'Did you put that in, Vanion?' Sparhawk accused.

'Not me.' Vanion protested his innocence. "I wouldn't know

good Trollish from bad.'

'Forgive mine ineptitude, Blue Rose. Mine instructor was in

haste when she schooled my tongue in the language of the manbeasts.'

'Sparhawk!' Sephrenia objected.

'wel, weren't you?' He addressed the stone again. 'My comrade,

Sir Ulath, hath greater familiarity with Trolls and their

speech than do I. It is he who will advise the Troll-Gods that

Cyrgon hath stolen their creatures.'

"I will bring forth their spirits that thy comrade may address

them.' The stone pulsed in his hand, and the gigantic presences

Sparhawk had sensed in the Temple of Azash were there, but

this time they were in front of him where he could see them.

He fervently wished that he could not. Because their reality was

still locked inside the Bhelliom, their forms were suffused with

an azure glow. They bulked enormous before him, their brutish

faces enraged and their fury held in check only by the power of

Bhelliom.

'All right, Ulath,' Sparhawk said. 'This is a dangerous situation.

Try to be very, very convincing.'

The big Genidian knight swallowed hard and stepped forward.

"I am Ulath-from-Thalesia,' he said in Trollish. "I speak

for Anakha, Bhelliom's child. I bring word of your children. Will

you hear me?'

'Speak, Ulath-from-Thalesia.' Sparhawk judged from the

crackling roar mingled in the enormous voice that it was Khwaj,

the Troll-God of Fire, who spoke.

Ulath's face took on an expression of mild reproach. 'We are

baffled by what you have done,' he told them. 'Why have you

given your children to Cyrgon?'

'What.?' Khwaj roared.

"It was our thought that you wished it so,' Ulath said, feigning

surprise. 'Did you not command your children to leave their

home-range and to walk for many sleeps across the ice-whichnever

-melts to this alien place?'

Khwaj howled, beating at the ground with his ape-like fists,

raising a cloud of dust and smoke from the ground.

'When did this come to pass?' Another voice, a voice filled

with a kind of gross slobbering, demanded.

Two full turns of the seasons, Ghnomb,' Ulath answered the

question of the God of Eat. "It was our thought that you knew.

Blue Rose called you forth that we might ask why you have

done this. Our Gods wish to know why you have broken the

compact.'

'Compact?' Stragen asked after Sephrenia had translated.

"It's an agreement,' Flute explained. 'We didn't really want to

exterminate the Trolls, so we told the Troll-Gods that we'd leave

their children alone if they'd stay in the Thalesian mountains.'

'When did this happen?'

'Twenty-five thousand years ago - or so.'

Stragen swallowed hard.

'Why are your children obeying Cyrgon if you did not command

it?' Ulath asked.

One of the gigantic figures stretched out an abnormally long

arm, and the huge hand plunged into a kind of emptiness, vanishing

as it went in, almost as a stick seems to vanish when

poked into a forest pool. When the hand re-emerged, it held a

struggling Troll. The enormous God spoke, harshly demanding.

The language was clearly Trollish, snarling and roaring.

'Now that's interesting,' Ulath murmured. "It appears that

even Trollish has changed over the years.'

'What's he saying?' Sparhawk asked.

"I can't entirely make it out,' Ulath replied. "It's so archaic that

I can't understand most of the words. Zoka's demanding some

answers, though.'

'Zoka?'

'The God of Mating.' Ulath listened intently.

'The Troll's confused,' he reported. 'He says that they all

thought they were obeying their Gods. Cyrgon's disguise must

have been nearly perfect. The Trolls are very close to their Gods,

and they'd probably recognize any ordinary attempt to deceive

them. '

Zoka roared and hurled the shrieking Troll back into emptiness.

'Anakha!' another of the vast Gods bellowed.

'Which one is that?' Sparhawk muttered.

'Ghworg,' Ulath replied quietly, 'the God of Kill. Be a little

careful with him. He's very short-tempered.'

'Yes, Ghworg,' Sparhawk responded to that vast brute.

'Release us from your father's grip. Let us go. We must reclaim

our children.' There was blood dripping from the fangs of the

God of Kill. Sparhawk didn't want to think about whose blood

it might be.

'Let me,' Ulath murmured. He raised his voice. 'That is

beyond Anakha's power, Ghworg,' he replied. 'The spell which

imprisoned you was of Ghwerig's making. It is a Trollish spell,

and Anakha is untaught in such.'

'We will teach him the spell.'

'No!' Flute suddenly broke in, throwing aside her pretense of

merely observing. 'These are my children. I will not permit you

to contaminate them with Trollish spells.'

'We beg you, Child Goddess Set us free! Our children stray

from us!'

'My family will never agree. Your children look upon our

children as food. If Anakha frees you, your children will devour

ours. It cannot be.'

'Ghnomb!' ~hwaj roared. 'Give her surety!'

The huge face of the God of Eat twisted in agony. "I cannot!'

It was almost a wail. "It would lessen me! Our children must eat.

All that lives must be food!'

'Our children are lost unless you agree!' The grass around the

feet of the God of Fire began to smoke.

"I think I see a toe-hold here,' Ulath said in Elenic. he spoke

again in Trollish. 'There is justice in Ghnomb's words,' he told

the Gods. 'Why should he alone lessen himself? Each must also accept

lessening. Ghnomb will not accept less."

"It speaks truly' ghnomb howled. "I will not be lessened

unless all are lessened!'

The four other Troll-Gods squirmed, their faces reflecting the

same agony that had marked Ghnomb's.

'What will satisfy you?' It was the voice of the God that had

not yet spoken. There were blizzards in that voice.

'The God of Ice,' Ulath identified the speaker, 'Schlee.'

'Lessen yourselves,' Ghnomb demanded stubbornly. "I will

not if you will not!'

'Trolls,' Aphrael sighed, rolling her eyes. 'Will you accept my

mediation in this?' she demanded of the monstrous deities.

'We will hear your words, Aphrael,' Ghworg replied doubtfully.

'Our purposes are the same,' the Child Goddess began.

Sparhawk groaned.

'What's wrong?' Ulath asked quickly.

'She's going to make a speech - now of all time proportions."

'Shut up, Sparhawk!' the Child Goddess snapped. "I know

what I'm doing.' She turned to face the Troll-Gods again. 'Cyrgon

deceived your children,' she began. 'He brought them

across the ice-which-never-melts to this place to make war on

my children. Cyrgon must be punished!'

The Troll-Gods roared their agreement.

'Will you join with me and my family to cause hurt to Cyrgon

for what he has done?'

'We will cause hurt to him by ourselves, Aphrael,' Ghworg

snarled.

'And how many of your children will die if you do? My children

can pursue the children of Cyrgon into the lands of the

sun, where your children die. Should we not join then that

Cyrgon will suffer more?'

'There is wisdom in her words,' Schlee said to his fellows.

The breath of the God of Ice steamed in the air, though it was

not really that cold, and glittering snowflakes appeared out of

nowhere to settle on his massive shoulders.

'Ghnomb must agree that your children will no longer eat

mine,' Aphrael bored in. 'if he does not, Anakha will not free

you from his father's grip.'

Ghnomb groaned.

'Ghnomb must do this,' she insisted. 'if he does not, I will not

permit Anakha to free you, and Cyrgon will keep your children.

Ghnomb will not agree to this if each of you will not accept equal

lessening. Ghworg! You must no longer drive your children to

kill mine!'

Ghworg raised both huge arms and howled.

'Khwaj!' she continued inexorably. 'You must curb the fires

which rage through the forests of Thalesia each year when the

sun returns to the lands of the north.'

Khwaj stifled a sob.

'Schlee!' ~APhrael barked. 'You must hold back the rivers of

ice which crawl down the sides of the mountains. Let them melt

when they reach the valleys.'

'No!' Schlee wailed.

'Then you have lost all your children. Hold back the ice or

you will weep alone in the wastes of the north. Zoka! No more

than two offspring can issue from each she-Troll.'

'Never.' Zoka bellowed. 'My children must mate!'

'Your children are now Cyrgon's. Will you aid Cyrgon'

increase?' She paused, her eyes narrowing. 'One last agreement

will I have from you all, or I will not let Anakha free you.'

'What is your demand, Aphrael?' Schlee asked in his ice-choked

voice.

'Your children are immortal. Mine are not. Your children must

also die - each in an appointed time.'

They exploded in an absolute rage.

'Return them to their prison, Anakha,' Aphrael said. 'They

will not agree. The bargaining is done.' She said it in Trollish,

so it was obviously intended for the benefit of the raging

Troll-Gods.

'Wait!' Khwaj shouted. 'Wait!'

'Well?' she said.

'Let us go apart from you and your children that we may

consider this monstrous demand.'

'Do not be long,' she said to them. "I have little patience.'

The five vast beings withdrew further out into the pasture.

'Weren't you pushing them a little far?' Sephrenia suggested.

'That last demand of yours may very well kill any chance of

reaching an agreement.'

"I don't think so,' Aphrael replied. 'The Troll-Gods can't think

that far into the future. They live for now, and right now the

most important thing for them is taking their Trolls back from

Cyrgon.' She sighed. 'The last demand is the most important,

really. Humans and Trolls can't live in the same world. One or

the other has to leave. I'd rather that it was the Trolls, wouldn't

you?'

'You're very cruel, Aphrael. You're forcing the Troll-Gods to

assist in the extermination of their own worshipers.'

'The Trolls are doomed anyway,' the Child Goddess sighed.

'There are just too many humans in the world. If the Trolls

suddenly become mortal, they'll just slip away peacefully. If you

humans have to kill them all, half of your number will die with

them. I'm just as moral as the rest of the Gods. I love my

children, and I don't want half of them killed and eaten

in the mountains of Thalesia in some war to the death with the

Trolls.'

'Sparhawk,' Stragen said, 'didn't Khwaj do something that

made it possible for you to watch Martel and listen to him talking

when we were going across Pelosia toward Zemoch?'

Sparhawk nodded.

'Can Aphrael do that?'

'i'm right here, Stragen,' Flute told him. 'Why don't you ask

me?'

'We haven't really been properly introduced yet, Divine One,'

he said with a fluid bow. 'Can you? - reach out and talk with

somebody on the other side of the world, I mean?'

"I don't like to do it that way,' she replied. "I want to be close

to someone when I talk to him.'

'My Goddess places great importance on touching, Stragen,

Sephrenia explained.

'Oh. I see. All right, then, when the Troll-Gods come back and

if they agree to our preposterous demands - I'd like to have

Sparhawk - or Ulath - ask Khwaj to do me a favor. I need to

talk to Platime back in Cimmura.'

'They do return,' Xanetia advised.

They all turned to face the monstrous beings coming back

across the autumn-browned pasture.

'You have left us no choice, Aphrael, ' Khwaj said in a broken

voice. 'We must accept your brutal demands. We must save our

children from Cyrgon.'

'You will no longer kill and eat my children?' she pressed.

'We will not.'

'You will no longer burn the forests of Thalesia?'

Khwaj groaned and nodded.

'You will no longer fill the valleys with glaciers?'

Schlee sobbed his agreement.

'You will no longer breed your Trolls like rabbits?'

Zoka wailed.

'Your children will grow old and die as do all other creatures?'

Khwaj buried his face in his hands. 'Yes,' he wept.

'Then we will join with you and do war upon Cyrgon. You

will return to Bhelliom's heart for now. Anakha will carry you

to the place where your children languish in thrall to Cyrgon.

There will he release you and there will you wrest your children

from Cyrgon's vile grasp. And there will we join together to cause

hurt to Cyrgon. We will make his pain like the pain of Azash.'

'YES.' the Troll-Gods howled their agreement in unison.

'Done then!' Aphrael declared in a ringing voice. 'One boon

more, Khwaj - in demonstration of our newly formed alliance.

This child of mine would speak with one known as Platime in

Cimmura in far-off Elenia. Make it so that he can do this."

"I will, Aphrael.' Khwaj held out his vast hand, and a sheet

of unwavering fire dripped from his fingertips.

Behind the fire there lay a bedchamber with a vast, snoring

bulk sprawled on an oversized bed.

'Wake up, Platime,' Stragen said crisply.

'Fire!' platime shrieked, struggling into a sitting position.

'Oh, be quiet!' Stragen snaPPed. 'There isn't any fire. This is

magic.'

'Stragen? Is that you? Where are you?'

'i'm behind the fire. You probably can't see me.

'Are you learning magic now?'

"Just dabbling,' Stragen lied modestly. 'Now listen carefully.

I don't know how long the spell will last. I want you to get in

touch with Arnag in Khadach. Ask him to kill Count Gerrich. I

don't have time to explain. It's important, Platime. It's part of

something we're doing here in Tamuli.'

'Gerrich?' Platime said doubtfully. 'That's going to be expensive,

Stragen.'

'Get the money from Lenda. Tell him that Ehlana authorized

it.'

'Did she?'

'Well - she would if she knew about it. I'll get her approval

next time I talk with her. Now, listen carefully, because this is

the most important part. Gerrich has to be killed exactly fifteen

days from now - not fourteen, not sixteen. The time's very

important. '

'All right, I'll see to it. Tell Ehlana that Gerrich will die in

exactly fifteen days. Was there anything else? That magic fire of

yours is making me very nervous.'

'See if you can identify anybody else Gerrich has been dealing

with and kill them as well - those Pelosian barons who've allied

themselves with him certainly, and any people in the other kingdoms

who are in this with him. You know the kind I mean the

ones like the Earl of Bolton.'

'You want them all killed at that same time?'

'As close as you can. Gerrich is the really important one,

though.' Stragen pursed his lips. 'While you're at it, you'd probably

better kill Avin Wargunsson as well - just to be'on the safe

side.'

'He's as good as dead, Stragen.'

'You're a good friend, Platime.'

'Friend, my foot. You'll pay the usual fees, Stragen."

Stragen sighed. 'All right,' he said mournfully.

'How deeply are you attached to your Elene God, Stragen?'

Aphrael asked as they rode back to Matherion.

'i'm an agnostic, Divine One.'

'Would you like to examine that last sentence for logical consistency,

Stragen?' Vanion asked with an amused expression.

'Consistency's the mark of a little mind, my Lord,' Stragen

replied loftily. 'Why do you ask, Aphrael?'

'You don't really belong to any God, then, do you?'

'No, not really.'

Sephrenia started to say something, but Aphrael raised one

little hand to cut her off. 'You might want to look into the advantages

of coming to serve me,' the Child Goddess suggested. "I

can do all sorts of wonderful things for you.'

'You're not supposed to do this, Aphrael,' Sephrenia protested.

'Hush, Sephrenia. This is between Stragen and me. I think

that maybe it's time for me to broaden my horizons. Styrics are

very, very nice, but sometimes Elenes are more fun. Besides,

Stragen and I are both thieves. We've got a lot in common.' She

grinned at the blond man. 'Think it over, Milord. I'm not at all

difficult to serve. A few kisses and a bouquet of flowers now

and then and I'm perfectly happy.'

'She's lying to you,' Sparhawk warned. 'Enlisting in the service

of Aphrael is volunteering for the profoundest slavery you could

possibly imagine.'

'Well...' the Child Goddess said deprecatingly, "I suppose

it is when you get right down to it - but as long as we're all

having fun what difference does it make?'

CHAPTER 26

It was quite early, several hours before dawn, Sparhawk judged,

when Mirtai entered the royal bedroom - as usual without

knocking. 'You'd better get up,' the golden giantess announced.

Mirtai could be very blunt when the occasion demanded it.

Sparhawk sat up. 'What's the problem?' he asked.

'There's a fleet of boats coming toward the city,' she replied.

'Either that, or the Delphae have learned how to walk on water

There are enough lanterns on the eastern horizon to light up a

small city. Put your clothes on, Sparhawk. I'll go wake the

others.' She turned abruptly and left the room.

"I wish she'd learn to knock,' Sparhawk muttered, throwing

off the covers.

'You're the one who's supposed to make sure that the doors

are locked,' Ehlana reminded him. 'Do you think it might be trouble?'

"I don't know. Did Sarabian say anything about expecting a

fleet?'

'He didn't mention it to me,' she replied, also rising from their

bed.

'i'd better go have a look.' He picked up his cloak. 'There's

no need for you to go outside, dear,' he told her. "It's chilly up

on the parapet.'

'No. I want to see for myself.'

They went out of the bedroom. Princess Danae came out of

her room in her nightdress, rubbing her eyes with one hand

and dragging rollo behind her. Mutely she went to Sparhawk,

and he picked her up without even thinking.

The three of them went into the hallway and up the stairs

toward the top of the tower.

Kalten and Sarabian were standing on the east side of the

tower looking out across the battlements at the lights strung out

along the eastern horizon.

'Any idea of who they might be?' Sparhawk asked as he and

his family joined them.

'Not a clue,' Kalten replied.

'Could it be the Tamul navy? Ehlana asked the Emperor.

"It could be, I suppose,' he replied, 'but if it is, they're not

responding to any orders I sent out.'

Sparhawk stepped back a few paces. 'Who do the ships belong

to?' he murmured to his daughter.

"I ain't a-tellin', dorlin',' she replied with a little smirk.

'Stop that. I want to know who's coming.'

'You'll find out...' She squinted out toward the lights on

the horizons. 'in a couple of hours, I'd imagine.'

"I want to know who they are,' he insisted.

'Yes, I can see that, but wanting isn't getting, father, and I

ain't a-gonna tell ya.'

'Oh, God,' he groaned.

'Yes?' she responded innocently. 'Was there something?'

The dawn came up rusty that morning. There was no hint

of a breeze, and the smoke from the chimneys of fire-domed

Matherion hung motionless in the air, blurring the light from

the east. Sparhawk and the other knights roused the Atan garrison,

put on their armor, and rode down to the harbor.

The approaching ships were clearly of Cammorian construction,

but they had been altered. Banks of oars had been added

along their sides.

'Somebody was in a hurry to get here,' Ulath noted. 'A Cammorian

ship with a good following wind can make thirty leagues

a day. If you added oars to that, you could increase it to fifty.'

'How many ships are there?' Kalten asked, squinting at the

approaching fleet.

"I make it close to a hundred,' the big Thalesian replied.

'You could carry a lot of men on a hundred ships, ' Sarabian said.

'Enough to make me nervous, your Majesty,' Vanion agreed.

Then, as the ships entered the harbor, the red and gold standards

of the Church were run up on the masts, and as the

lead vessel came closer, Sparhawk could make out two familiar

figures standing in the bow. The one man had broad shoulders

and a massive chest. His round face was split with a delighted

grin. The other was short and very stout. he was also grinning.

'What kept you?' Ulath shouted across the intervening water.

'Class distinctions,' Tynian shouted back. 'Knights are defined

as gentlemen, and they objected to being pressed into service

as oarsmen.'

'You've got knights manning the oars?' Vanion called incredulously.

"It's a part of a new physical conditioning program, Lord

Vanion,' Patriarch Emban shouted. 'Archprelate Dolmant

noticed that the Soldiers of God were getting a little flabby.

They're much more fit now than they were when we left

Sarinium.'

The ship approached the wharf carefully, and the seamen

threw the mooring hawsers to the knights ashore.

Tynian leaped across. Emban gave him a disgusted look and

waddled back amidships to wait for the sailors to extend the

gangway.

'How's the shoulder?' Ulath asked the broad-faced Deiran.

'Much better,' Tynian replied. "It aches when the weather's

damp, though.' He saluted Vanion. 'Komier, Darellon and

Abriel are leading the Church Knights east from Chyrellos, my

Lord,' he reported. ''Patriarch Bergsten's with them. Patriarch

Emban and I came on ahead by ship - obviously. We thought

a few more knights here in Matherion might be useful.'

'indeed they will, Sir Tynian. How many do you have with

you?'

'Five thousand, my Lord.'

'That's impossible, Tynian. There's no way you could crowd

that many men and horses on a hundred ships.'

'Yes, my Lord,' Tynian replied mildly, 'we noticed that ourselves

almost immediately. The knights were terribly disappointed

when they found out that we weren't going to let

them bring their horses with them.'

'Tynian,' Kalten objected, 'they have to have horses. A knight

without his horse is meaningless.'

'There are already horses here, Kalten. Why bring more?'

'Tamul horses aren't trained.'

'Then we'll just have to train them, won't we? I had a hundred

ships. I could have brought fifteen hundred knights along with

their horses, or five thousand without the horses. Call the extra

thirty-five hundred a gift.'

'How were you able to make them row?' Ulath asked.

'We used whips.' Tynian shrugged. 'There's a Captain Sorgi

who plies the inner sea, and the oars were his idea.'

'Good old Sorgi,' Sparhawk laughed.

'You know him?'

"Quite well, actually.'

'You'll be able to renew your friendship. His ship's out

there with the fleet. We'd have sailed aboard his ship, but

Patriarch Emban didn't like the looks of it. It's all patched

and rickety.'

"It's old. I think Sorgi has a secret bet with himself about which

of them falls apart first - him or his ship.'

'His mind's still sharp, though. When we asked him how to

get more speed out of the ships, he suggested adding oars to

the sails. It's very seldom done that way because of the expense

of paying the oarsmen - not to mention the fact that they take

up room usually reserved for cargo. I decided not to bring any

cargo, and Church Knights are sworn to poverty, so I didn't

have to pay them. It worked out fairly well, actually.'

They gathered in Ehlana's sitting room several hours later to

hear Emban and Tynian report on what was happening in Eosia.

'Ortzel quite nearly had apoplexy when Dolmant pulled all

the knights out of Render,' Emban told them. He leaned back

in his chair with a silver tankard in his pudgy hand. 'Ortzel

really has his heart set on returning the Renders to the bosom

of our' Holy Mother. Dolmant seemed inclined to agree with him

right at first, but he woke up one morning with a completely

different outlook. Nobody's been able to explain his sudden

change of heart.'

'He received a message, Emban,' Sephrenia smiled. 'The

messenger can be very impressive when he wants to be.'

'Oh?'

'An emergency came up, your Grace,' Vanion explained. 'Zalasta

had sent word to his confederates in Eosia, and they began

killing the worshipers of the Child Goddess, Aphrael. That put

her life in danger as well. We spoke with one of the other

Younger Gods - Setras. He agreed that the other Younger Gods

would lend Aphrael some of their children, and he went to

Chyrellos to ask Dolmant to offer sanctuary to Aphrael's surviving

worshipers. He was also going to try to persuade Dolmant

to send the Church Knights here. Evidently he was a bit more

convincing than you and Tynian were.'

'Are you saying that a Styric God went into the Basilica?'

Emban exclaimed.

'He said that's what he was going to do,' Sparhawk replied,

shifting his daughter in his lap.

'No Styric God has ever gone into the Basilica!'

'He's wrong,' Princess Danae whispered into her father's ear.

'I've been there dozens of times.'

"I know,' Sparhawk whispered back. 'Setras paid a formal visit,

though.' He thought of something. 'Setras went to Chyrellos

just a short time ago,' he murmured into her ear. 'Even with

oarsmen to help, Tynian's fleet couldn't have reached Matherion

this fast. Have you been tampering again?'

'Would I do that?' Her eyes were wide and innocent.

'Yes, as a matter of fact, you probably would.'

'if you already knew the answer, why did you ask the question?

Don't waste my time, Sparhawk. I am very busy, you know."

'Things seem to be coming to a head in Lamorkand,' Tynian

continued his report. 'Count Gerrich's forces have taken Vraden

and Agnak in northern Lamorkand, and King Friedahl's been

appealing to the other monarchs for assistance.'

'We'll be taking care of that shortly, Sir Tynian,' Stragen told

him. 'I've been in touch with Platime, and he's arranging fatal

accidents for Gerrich and the various barons who've been helping

him.'

The door opened, and Berit entered with Xanetia.

'What did you find out, Anarae?' Sephrenia asked intently.

'This morning's sortie was quite profitable, little mother,' Berit

advised her. 'Zalasta's friend Ynak showed up at the Cynesgan

embassy, and the Anarae was able to probe his mind. I think

we've got most of the details of their plan now.'

'is this the lady with the rare gift?' Emban asked.

"I seem to be forgetting my manners,' Vanion apologized.

'Anarae Xanetia, this is Sir Tynian of Deira and Patriarch Emban

of the Church of Chyrellos. Gentlemen, this is Xanetia, the

Anarae of the People of Delphaeus.'

Tynian and Emban bowed, their eyes curious.

'What have our friends at the embassy been up to, Anarae?'

Sarabian asked.

'Though it was not pleasant to probe so vile a mind, Ynak's

thought did reveal much, Majesty,' she replied. 'As we had

surmised, the outcast Styrics at Verel have long known that the

greatest threat to their design would come from Eosia. They

wished Anakha to come to Tamuli, but they did not wish for him

to bring a hundred thousand Church Knights with him. The

turmoil in western Tamuli is in fact intended to block the passage

of the knights. All else is extraneous. Moreover, the attacks of

the Trolls in Atan are also designed to divert attention. Our peril

doth not approach from the west or from the north. It is from

the south that our enemies plan to make their main assault. Even

now do Cynesgan troops filter across the unguarded frontier to

join with Scarpa's forces in the jungles of Arjuna, and Elenes

from western Tamuli, moreover, do journey by ship to southern

Arjuna to add their weight to Scarpa's growing horde. The distractions

in the west and in Atan were to drain away imperial

might and to weaken Tamul proper, thus opening a path for

Scarpa to strike directly across Tamul and to lay siege to

Matherion itself. Ynak and the others were much chagrined by

the exposure of Zalasta's treachery, for it voided his opportunity

to do us harm by misdirection and false counsel.'

'What's the real goal of a siege of Matherion, Lady Xanetia?'

Emban asked shrewdly. "It's a nice enough city, but...' He

spread his hands.

'Our enemies thought to compel the imperial government to

surrender up Anakha by posing a threat to Matherion itself,

your Grace. The subversion of diverse ministers and officials

gave them hope that the Prime Minister might be persuaded to

capitulate so that Matherion might be spared.'

'That might have worked,' Sarabian noted. 'Pondia Subat's

backbone isn't really very rigid. Zalasta and his four friends plan

things quite well.'

'Three friends now, your Majesty,' Berit grinned. 'The Anarae

tells me that the one named Ptaga came a cropper a few days

ago.'

'The vampire-raiser?' Kalten said. 'What happened to him?

'May I tell them, Anarae?' Berit asked politely.

'An it please thee, Sir Knight.'

"It seems that Ptaga was in southern Tamul proper - in those

mountains between Sama and Samar. He was waving his arms

and creating the illusion of Shining Ones to turn loose on the

populace. One of the real Delphae was out scouting the area and

came across him and quietly joined the crowd of illusions.' Berit

grinned a nasty little grin.

'Well?' Kalten said impatiently. 'What happened?'

'Ptaga was inspecting his illusions, and when he came to the

real Shining One, not even he could tell the difference. The

Delphaeic scout reached out and touched him. Ptaga's cast his

last illusion, I guess. He was in the process of dissolving when

the scout left the area.'

'Ynak of hydros is most discomfited by his associate's demise,'

Xanetia added, 'for without the illusions of Ptaga, our enemies

must produce real forces to confront us.'

'And that brings us to something we should consider, '

Oscagne observed. 'The arrival of Sir Tynian and Patriarch

Emban with five thousand knights, the elimination of these illusions

which were terrorizing the populace, and our knowledge

of this planned attack from the south changes the whole strategic

situation, doesn't it?'

"It certainly does,' Sarabian agreed.

"I think we might want to consider these new developments

in our planning, then, your Majesty.'

'You're very right, of course, Oscagne.' Sarabian squinted at

Sparhawk. 'Could we prevail on you to go on up to Atan and

bring Betuana back here, old boy?' he asked. 'if we're going to

discuss changes in planning, she should be present. Betuana's

bigger than I am, and I definitely don't want to insult her by

leaving her out of our discussions.'

Betuana, the Queen of the Atans, ruled more or less by default.

King Androl, her husband, was a stupendous warrior, and that

may have been a part of the problem. He was so stupendous

that the normal concerns of the military commanders - such

problems as being grossly outnumbered, for example - were

quite beyond his grasp. Men who are sublimely convinced of

their own invincibility seldom make good generals. Betuana, on

the other hand, was a good general, quite possibly one of the

best in the world, and the peculiar Atan society, which totally

ignored any distinctions between the sexes, gave her talents

the fullest opportunity to flower. Far from resenting his wife's

superiority, Androl was inordinately proud of her. Sparhawk

rather suspected that Betuana might have preferred it otherwise,

but she was realistic about the whole thing.

She had, moreover, a disconcerting level of trust. Sparhawk

had carefully marshaled a number of explanations about both

the need for the council of war and about their mode of travel,

but those explanations proved totally unnecessary. 'All right,'

she replied calmly when he told her that Bhelliom would transport

them instantly to Matherion.

'You don't want any details, your Majesty?' He was more than

a little surprised.

'Why waste time explaining something I wouldn't understand

anyway, Sparhawk-Knight?' She shrugged. 'I'll accept your

word that the jewel can take us to Matherion. You don't have

any reason to lie to me about it. Give me a few moments to tell

Androl that I'm going and to change clothes. Sarabian-Emperor

finds my work-clothes a trifle unsettling.' She glanced down at

her armor.

'He's changed quite a bit, your Majesty.'

'So Norkan tells me. I'm curious to find out just how much

your wife has modified him. I'll be right back.' She strode from

the room.

'You get used to that, Sparhawk,' Khalad said. 'She's very

direct, and she doesn't waste time asking questions about things

she doesn't need to know about. It's quite refreshing, actually.'

'Be nice,' Sparhawk said mildly.

Ambassador Norkan was nervous, but both Kring and Engessa

were quite nearly as calm as the queen.

'God.' Emperor Sarabian exclaimed as the momentary blur

faded and the trees of Atan vanished to be replaced by the

familiar blue carpeting, breeze-touched drapes, and the gleaming,

opalescent walls of the royal sitting room in Ehlana's castle.

'isn't there some way you can announce that you're coming,

Sparhawk?'

"I don't think so, your Majesty,' Sparhawk replied.

'Having a group of people simply pop out of nowhere is very

unnerving, you know.' He frowned. 'What would have happened

if I'd been standing in the same spot as the one you just

appeared in? Would we have suddenly gotten sort of combined?

- all mixed together into one person?'

"I don't really know, your Majesty.'

'Tell him that it is impossible, Anakha,' Vanion, still speaking

for Bhelliom, said. "I would not make such errors, and it is

unusual for two things to be in the same place at once.'

'Unusual?' Sarabian demanded. 'Do you mean that it can

happen?'

"I pray thee, Anakha, ask him not to pursue this question

The answers will greatly disturb him.'

'You're looking fit, Sarabian-Emperor,' Betuana said. 'You are

much changed. Do you know how to use that sword?'

'The rapier? Oh, yes, Betuana. Actually, I'm quite proficient.'

'The weapon is light for my taste, but each of us must select

such arms as suit him best. Sparhawk-Knight and VanionPreceptor

tell me that much has changed. Let us consider those

changes and adjust our plans to fit them.' She looked at Ehlana

and smiled. 'You look well, Sister-Queen,' she said. 'Matherion

suits you.'

'And you're as lovely as ever, dear sister,' Ehlana replied

warmly. 'The gown is breathtaking.'

'Do you really like it?' Betuana turned almost girlishly to show

off her deep blue Atan gown which left one golden shoulder

bare and was girdled at the hips with a golden chain.

"It's absolutely stunning, Betuana. Blue is definitely your

color.'

Betuana glowed at the compliment. 'Now then, Sarabian,' she

said, all business again, 'what's happened, and what are we

going to do about it?'

"I do not find that amusing, Sarabian-Emperor,' Betuana

declared angrily.

"I didn't say it to amuse you, Betuana. I felt much the same

way when they told me about it. I've sent for the lady. You're

probably going to have to see for yourself.'

'Do you take me for some child to be frightened by stories of

ghosts and hobgoblins?'

'Of course not, but I assure you, Xanetia really is a Delphae.'

'Does she glow?'

'Only when it suits her. She's been suppressing the light for

the sake of our peace of mind - and she's altered her coloration.

She looks like an ordinary Tamul, but believe me, she's

far from ordinary.'

"I think you've lost your mind, Sarabian-Emperor.'

'You'll see, dorlin'. '

She gave him a startled look.

'Local joke.' He shrugged.

The door opened, and Xanetia, Danae and Sephrenia entered.

Princess Danae, her face artfully innocent, went to Betuana's

chair and held out her arms. Betuana smiled at the little girl,

picked her up, and held her on her lap. 'How have you been,

Princess?' she asked in Elenic.

'That's all right, Betuana,' the little girl replied in Tamul.

'Sephrenia's taught us all to speak the language of humans. I've

been a little sick, actually, but I'm all better now. It's really boring

to be sick, isn't it?'

'I've always thought so, Danae.'

"I don't think I'll do it any more, then. You haven't kissed me

yet.'

'Oh,' Betuana smiled. "I forgot. I'm sorry.' She quickly

attended to the oversight.

Sarabian straightened in his chair. 'Queen Betuana of Atan, I

have the honor to present Anarae Xanetia of Delphaeus. Would

you mind showing the queen who you are, Anarae?'

'An it please thee, Majesty,' Xanetia replied.

"It's a startling experience, your Majesty,' Emban said to the

Atan queen, folding his pudgy hands on his paunch, 'but you

get used to it.'

Xanetia looked gravely at Betuana. 'Thy people and mine are

cousins, Betuana-Queen,' she said. 'Long, however, have we

been separated. I mean thee no harm, so fear me not.'

"I do not fear thee.' Betuana lapsed automatically into archaic

Tamul.

'Mine appearance here in Matherion is of necessity disguised,

Betuana-Queen. Behold my true state.' Once again the color

drained from Xanetia's hair and face, and her unearthly glow

began to shine through.

Danae calmly reached up to touch Betuana's face with one

small hand. Sparhawk carefully concealed his smile.

"I know what you're feeling, Betuana,' Sephrenia said quite

calmly. 'i'm sure you can imagine how Xanetia and I both felt

about each other the first time we met. You know about the

enmity between our two races, don't you?'

Betuana nodded, obviously not trusting herself to speak.

'i'm going to do something profoundly unnatural, Anarae,'

Sephrenia said then, 'but I think Atana Betuana needs reassurance.

Let's both try to control our nausea.' Then, with no hesitation

or evident revulsion, she embraced the glowing woman.

Sparhawk knew her very well, however, and he could see the

faint ripple along her jaw. Sephrenia had steeled herself as she

might have before thrusting her hand into fire.

Almost timidly, Xanetia's arms slipped around Sephrenia's

shoulders. 'Well met, sister mine,' she murmured.

'Well met indeed, my sister,' Sephrenia replied.

'Did you notice that the world didn't come to an end, Betuana?'

Ehlana said.

"I think I did'd feel it quiver, though,' Sarabian smiled.

'We seem to be surrounded by people obsessed with their

own cleverness, Xanetia,' Sephrenia smiled.

'A failing of the young, my sister. Maturity may temper their

impulse to levity.'

Betuana straightened in her chair and put Danae down. 'This

alliance meets with your approval, Sarabian-Emperor?' she

asked formally.

"It does, Betuana-Queen.'

'Then I shall abide by it.' She rose to her feet and went to the

two sorceresses, holding out her hands. Sephrenia and Xanetia

took those hands, and the three stood together so for a long minute.

'Thou art brave, Betuana-Queen,' Xanetia noted.

'i'm an Atan, Anarae.' Betuana shrugged. Then she turned

and gave Engessa a stern look. 'Why did you not tell me?' she

demanded.

"I was told not to, Betuana-Queen,' he replied. 'SarabianEmperor

said that you would need to see Xanetia-Anarae before

you would believe that she is who we say she is. He also wanted

to be present when you and she met. He takes delight in the

astonishment of others. His is a peculiar mind.'

'Engessa!' Sarabian protested.

"I am bound to speak the truth as I see it to my queen,

Sarabian-Emperor. '

'Well, I suppose you are, but you don't have to be quite so

blunt about it, do you?'

'All right, then,' Vanion summed it all up, 'we start marching

north with the knights, the majority of the local Atan garrisons,

and the Imperial Guard. We'll make a great deal of noise and

show about it, and Ekatas, Cyrgon's High Priest, will pass the

word to Zalasta and Cyrgon that we're on the way. That will

give Stragen's murderers a free hand, because everybody will

be watching us. Then, when the Harvest Festival's over and the

bodies start to turn up, our friends out there should be a bit

distracted. At that point, Sparhawk takes Bhelliom to northern

Atan and releases the Troll-Gods. Northern Atan becomes

totally secure at that point. We reverse our line of march, pick

up the bulk of the Atans, and go south to meet Scarpa. Are we

all agreed so far?'

'No, we're not, Vanion-Preceptor,' Betuana said firmly. 'The

Harvest Festival's still two weeks away, and the Trolls could

very well be in the streets of Atana in two weeks. We have to

devise some means to slow their advance.'

'forts,' Ulath said.

"I must be getting used to you, Ulath,' Kalten laughed. "I actually

understood that one.'

'So did I,' Sarabian agreed, 'but the Trolls might just bypass

any forts we build and keep marching on Atana.'

'The Trolls might, your Majesty,' Sparhawk disagreed, 'but

Cyrgon won't. Cyrgon's got the oldest military mind in the

world, and a soldier absolutely will not leave enemy strongholds

behind his lines. People who do that lose wars. If we build forts,

he'll have to stop his advance to deal with them.'

'And if the forts are in open fields, the Trolls won't be able to

hide in the forest,' Bevier added. 'They'll have to come across

open ground, and that's going to put them in plain view of the

Peloi archers, my catapult crews, and Khalad's crossbowmen.

Even if they cover the field with smoke, we'll be able to put

down a goodly number of them with blind shots.'

'My Atans do not like to hide behind walls,' Betuana said

stubbornly.

'We all have to do things we don't like sometimes, Betuana,'

Ehlana told her. 'Forts will keep your warriors alive, and dead

soldiers don't serve any purpose at all.'

'Except to provide supper for the Trolls,' Talen added. 'There's

an idea, Sparhawk. If you could train your Pandions to eat their

enemies, you wouldn't need supply trains.'

'Do you mind?' Sparhawk said acidly.

"It still won't work,' Betuana told them. 'The Trolls are too

closely engaged with my armies. We don't have time to build

forts.'

'We could build the forts a few miles behind your lines and

withdraw your troops into them once they're finished, your

Majesty,' Sparhawk told her.

'Have you had many dealings with Trolls, Prince Sparhawk?'

she asked tartly. 'Do you have any idea at all of how fast they

can run? They'll be on top of you before you can get the walls

up.'

'They can't run anywhere if time stops, your Majesty. We

used that when we were on our way to Zemoch. The Troll-God

of Eat can put people - or Trolls - into the space between one

second and the next. We found that when we were in that space,

the rest of the world didn't move at all. We'll have plenty of

time to build the forts.'

'Why don't you verify that with the Bhelliom before you start

making predictions, Sparhawk?' Emban suggested. 'Let's be

sure that it's going to work before we base any strategies on it.

Let's find out if it has any reservations about the notion.'

Bhelliom, as it turned out, had several. 'Thy design is flawed,

Anakha,' it responded to Sparhawk's question. Vanion's hand

lifted Sephrenia's tea-cup and released it.

The cup stopped in mid-air and hung there.

'Take the vessel down, Anakha,' Vanion's voice instructed.

Sparhawk took hold of the cup and immediately found that

it was as immobile as a mountain. He tried as hard as he could

to move it, but it simply stayed where it was.

'Thou couldst not so much as move a leaf, Anakha,' Bhelliom

told him. 'Thou canst easily move thyself through that frozen

moment, but to move other objects would require thee to move

the entire universe.'

"I see,' Sparhawk said glumly. 'Then we wouldn't be able to

cut down trees and build forts, would we?'

'Are those structures of great importance to thee? Doth some

obscure custom require them?'

'Nay, Blue Rose. It is our intent to place obstructions in the

path of the Trolls that they may not attack our friends, the

Atans.'

'Wouldst thou be offended were I to offer a suggestion?'

Ulath looked sharply at Tynian. 'Have you been talking to

that poor stone in secret?' he accused.

'Very funny, Ulath,' Tynian said sourly.

"I did not understand.' Vanion's tone was slightly chilly.

"It is an ongoing discussion between the two, Blue Rose,' Sparhawk

explained, giving the pair a hard look. "It hath reached a

point so obscure now that it is incomprehensible. Gladly would

I hear thy suggestion, my friend.'

'is it needful to injure the Trolls, Anakha? If they be totally

denied access to the lands of thy friends, the Atans, must thou

kill them?'

'indeed, Blue Rose, we would prefer not to cause them harm.

When their Gods wrest them from Cyrgon's dominion, shall

they be our allies.'

'Would it offend thee should I erect a barrier before them? a

barrier beyond their ability to cross?'

'Not in the least. Indeed, we would be most grateful.'

'Let us then to Atan, and I will make it so. I would not see

any destroyed needlessly. My child will surely aid me, and

between us, she and I will bar the Trolls from proceeding farther

southward. '

'Thou hast a daughter too, Blue Rose?' Sparhawk was

stunned.

"I have millions, Anakha, and each is as precious to me as

thine is to thee. Let us to Atan, then, that the bloodshed may

cease.'

northern Atan was forested, but the more rugged mountains

lay to the south. The mountains of the north had been ground

down by glaciers in ages past, and the land sloped gradually on

down to the Sea of the North where eternal pack-ice capped the

globe. Sparhawk looked around quickly. Bhelliom had

responded to his unspoken request and had brought only warriors

to this northern forest. There were certain to be arguments

about that later, but that could not be helped.

'Engessa-Atan.' Vanion's voice was crisply authoritative. An

absurd notion occurred to Sparhawk. He wondered suddenly if

Bhelliom had ever commanded troops.

'Yes, Vanion-Preceptor?' the big Atan replied.

'Command thy kinsmen to withdraw one league's distance

from the place where now they are engaged.'

Engessa looked sharply at Vanion, then realized that it was

not the Pandion Preceptor who had spoken. 'That will take some

time, Blue Rose,' he explained. 'The Atans are engaging the

Trolls all across the North Cape. I will have to send messengers.'

'Do thou but speak the command, Engessa-Atan. All shall

hear thee, thou hast mine assurance.'

"I wouldn't argue, friend Engessa,' Kring advised. 'That's the

jewel that stops the sun. If it says they'll all hear you, they'll all

hear you, take my word for it.'

'We'll try it, then.' Engessa raised his face. 'Withdraw!' he

roared in a shattering bellow. 'Fall back one league and regroup!'

The huge voice echoed and re-echoed through the forest.

"I think you could make yourself heard from one side of the

cape to the other without any help at all, Engessa-Atan,' Kalten

said.

'Not quite so far, Kalten-Knight,' Engessa replied modestly.

'Thy judgement of thy people's speed will be more precise

than mine, Engessa-Atan,' Bhelliom told him. 'Advise me when

they have reached safety. I would not have them trapped north

of the wall.'

'The wall?' Ulath asked.

'The barrier of which I spake.' Vanion bent and touched the

ground with strangely gentle fingertips. "It is well, Anakha. We

are within a few paces of the place I sought.'

"I have ever had absolute faith in thine ability to find a precise

spot, Blue Rose.'

"'Ever" is perhaps an imprecise term, Anakha.' A faint, ironic

smile touched Vanion's lips. "It seemeth me I do recall some talk

of finding thyself on the surface of the moon when first we

began to move from place to place.'

'You did say that, Sparhawk,' Kalten reminded his friend.

'Thou spakest of thy daughter, Blue Rose,' Sparhawk said,

rather quickly changing the subject. 'May we be privileged to

meet her?'

'Thou hast met her, Anakha. Thou standest this very moment

upon her verdant bosom.' Vanion's hand fondly patted the

ground.

'The earth itself?' Bevier asked incredulously.

'is she not fair?' There was a note of pride in the question.

Then Vanion straightened. 'Let us withdraw somewhat from

this spot, Anakha. What I am to do here will take place some

six of thy miles beneath our feet, and its effects here at the

surface are difficult to predict. I would not endanger thee or

thy companions by mine imprecision, and there will be some

disturbance here. Is it safe to proceed now, Engessa-Atan?'

Engessa nodded. 'Any Atan who hasn't covered at least a

league by now doesn't deserve to be called an Atan,' he replied.

They turned and walked some hundred paces to the south.

Then they stopped.

'Farther, I pray thee, Anakha, yet again as far, and it would

be well if thou and thy companions did lie upon the earth. The

disturbance may be quite profound.'

'Your friend is beginning to make me nervous, Sparhawk,'

Tynian confessed as they walked another hundred paces back.

'Exactly what is it planning here?'

'You know as much about it as I do, my friend.'

Then they heard a deep-toned subterranean booming which

seemed to rise up out of the core of the earth. The ground

shuddered sharply under their feet.

'Earthquake.' ~Kalten shouted in alarm.

"I think that may be what you were asking about, Tynian,

Ulath rumbled.

'This is not simple, Anakha,' Bhelliom observed in an almost

clinical tone. 'The pressures are extreme and must be adjusted

with great delicacy to achieve the end we do desire.'

The next jolt staggered them. The ground heaved and shuddered,

and the dreadful, hollow booming grew louder.

"It is time, Anakha. The disturbance which I did mention previously

is about to begin.'

'Begin.?' Bevier exclaimed. "It's all I can do to stand up now!'

'We'd better do as we're told,' Sparhawk said sharply, dropping

to his knees and then sprawling out face down on the carpet

of fallen leaves. "I think the next one's going to be spectacular.'

'The next one' lasted for a full ten minutes. Nothing with legs

could have stood erect on the violently jerking and convulsing

earth. Then, with a monstrous roar, the earth not fifty paces in

front of them split. The land beyond that ghastly crack in the

earth's shell seemed to fall away, while the shuddering ground

to which they clung heaved upward, rising ponderously, rippling

almost like a wind-tossed banner. Great clouds of birds,

squawking in alarm, rose from the shuddering trees.

Then the earthquake gradually subsided. The violence of the

tremors grew less severe and less frequent, although there were

a number of intermittent jolts. The awful booming sound grew

fainter, echoing up through miles of rock like the memory of a

nightmare. Vast clouds of dust came billowing up over the lip

of the newly formed precipice.

'Now mayest thou contemplate mine handiwork, Anakha,'

Bhelliom said quite calmly, although with a certain modest

pride. 'Speak truly, for I will not be offended shouldst thou find

flaws. If thou dost perceive faults in what I have wrought, I will

correct them at once.'

Sparhawk decided not to trust his feet just yet. Followed

closely by his friends, he crawled to the abrupt edge which had

not been there fifteen minutes earlier.

The cliff was almost as straight as a sword-cut, and it went

down and down at least a thousand feet. It stretched, moreover,

as far as the eye could reach both to the east and to the west.

A huge escarpment, a vast wall, now separated the upper

reaches of the North Cape from the rest of Tamuli.

'What thinkest thou?' Bhelliom asked, just a little anxiously.

'Will my wall deny the Trolls access to the lands of thy friends?

I can do more if it is thy wish.'

'No, Blue Rose,' Sparhawk choked, 'no more, I pray thee.'

"I am pleased that thou art satisfied.'

"It is a splendid wall, Blue Rose.' It was a ridiculous thing to

say, but Sparhawk was badly shaken.

Bhelliom did not seem to notice. Vanion's face was suddenly

creased with an almost shy smile at Sparhawk's stunned

expression of approval. "It is an adequate wall,' it said a bit

deprecatingly. 'There was some urgency in our need, so I had

not time enough to mold and shape it as I might have wished,

but methinks it will serve. I would take it as kindness, however,

that when next thou dost require modification of the earth, thou

wouldst give me more extensive notice, for truly.', work done in

haste is never wholly satisfactory.'

"I shall endeavor to remember that, Blue Rose.'

CHAPTER 27

"It's not so bad in here, Sarabian,' Mirtai was saying to the distraught

Emperor. 'The floor's carpeted here, so most of the tiles

weren't broken when they fell.' She was on her knees gathering

up the small opalescent tiles as Sparhawk and the others

emerged from that blurred gray emptiness.

'Sparhawk!' Sarabian exclaimed, recoiling in shocked surprise.

"I wish you'd blow a trumpet or something before you do that!'

'What happened here, your Majesty?' Vanion asked, staring

at the littered carpet.

'We had an earthquake. Now I've got an economic disaster

on my hands in addition to everything else!'

'You felt it here, your Majesty?' Vanion choked.

"It was terrible, Vanion!' Sephrenia said. "It was the worst

earthquake I've ever been through!'

'Here?'

'You're going to make me cross if you keep saying that. Of

course we felt it here. Look at the walls.'

"It looks like a bad case of the pox,' Kalten said.

'The tiles were jumping off the walls like grasshoppers,' Sarabian

said in a sick voice. 'God knows what the rest of the city

looks like. This will bankrupt me.'

"It's over four hundred leagues!' Vanion choked. 'Twelve hundred

miles!'

'What is he talking about, Sparhawk?' Ehlana demanded.

'We were at the center of the earthquake,' Sparhawk replied.

"It was up in northern Atan.'

'Did you do this to me, Sparhawk?' Sarabian demanded.

'Bhelliom did, your Majesty. The Trolls won't be attacking the

Atans any more.'

'Bhelliom shook them all to pieces?'

Sparhawk smiled faintly. 'No, your Majesty. It put a wall

across the North Cape.'

'Can't the Trolls climb over it?' Betuana demanded.

"I wouldn't think so, your Majesty,' Vanion said. "It's about a

thousand feet high, and it stretches from the Tamul Sea to that

coast that lies to the northwest of Sarsos. The Trolls won't be

coming any farther south - not in the next two weeks, anyway,

and after that, it won't make any difference.'

'What exactly do you mean when you say "wall", Vanion?'

Patriarch Emban asked.

'Actually, it's an escarpment, your Grace,' Vanion explained,

'a huge cliff that stretches all the way across the North Cape.

That's what caused the earthquake.'

'Won't Cyrgon be able to reverse whatever Bhelliom did?'

Sephrenia asked.

'Bhelliom says no, little mother,' Sparhawk replied. 'He isn't

strong enough.'

'He's a God, Sparhawk.'

'Evidently that doesn't make any difference. What happened

was just too enormous. Bhelliom said that it shifted some things

about six miles beneath the surface of the earth, and certain

changes in the shape of that part of the continent happened all

at once instead of being spread out over a million or so years.

The changes were going to happen anyway, but Bhelliom just

made them happen all at once. I gather that the escarpment

will become a mountain range as it gradually breaks down. The

concepts are just too vast for Cyrgon to comprehend, and the

pressures involved are beyond his ability to control.'

'What in God's name have you done, Sparhawk?' Emban

exclaimed. 'You're ripping the world apart!'

'Tell them not to be disquieted, Anakha.' Bhelliom spoke again

in Vanion's voice. "I would not hurt my daughter, for I do love

her. She is a wayward and whimsical child at times, much given

to tantrums and sweet, innocent vanity. Behold how she doth

adorn herself with spring and mantle her shoulders with the

white gown of winter. The stresses and tensions which I did

relieve in raising the wall had, in truth, been causing her some

discomfort.

indeed doth she take some pleasure in her new adornment, for,

as I say, she is a trifle vain.'

'Where's Kring?' Mirtai asked suddenly.

'We left him, Engessa and Khalad back at the escarpment,'

Sparhawk told her. 'Bhelliom's excellent wall keeps the Trolls

from getting at us, but it also keeps us from getting at them. We

have to work out some way to get the Troll-Gods past it to steal

back their Trolls.'

'You've got Bhelliom, Sparhawk,' Stragen said. 'Just jump

over it.'

Sparhawk shook his head. 'Bhelliom says that we'd better not.

The ground's still a little touchy near the wall right now. If we

jump around too much in that general vicinity, we might set off

more earthquakes.'

'God.' Sarabian cried. 'Don't do that! You'll shake the whole

continent apart.'

'We're trying to avoid that, your Majesty. Engessa, Kring and

Khalad are working on something. If we can't go down the

escarpment, we may have to use Tynian's fleet and sail around

the eastern end of it.'

'We want to think about that for a while, though,' Vanion

added. 'Sparhawk and I are still debating the issue. I still think

we'll want to make some show of marching north. If we leave

here in about a week with banners flying and five thousand

knights added to the forces we've gathered in this general area,

we'll have Zalasta's full attention. If we go out to sea, he won't

know we're coming, and that might give him the leisure to sniff

out some details of Stragen's plans for our special celebration of

the Harvest Festival. Both ideas have an element of surprise

involved. We're quibbling about which surprise would disrupt

Zalasta's plans the most.'

The training of Tamul horses began immediately. Tynian's

knights, of course, complained bitterly. The riding-horses favored

by the Tamul gentry were too small and delicate to carry

armored men, and the oversized plow horses used by Tamul

farmers were too slow and docile to make good war-horses.

They were always rushed now. Caalador had given the order,

and it was irrevocable. The murders would take place during the

Harvest Festival, whether their other plans were fully in place

or not, and every minute brought the holiday that much closer.

It was five days following the return of Sparhawk and his

friends from northern Atan when a runner reached Matherion

with a message from Khalad. Mirtai admitted the weary Atan

to the sitting room, where Sparhawk and Vanion were still arguing

the relative merits of their opposing plans. Wordlessly, the

messenger handed Khalad's note to Sparhawk.

'My Lord,' he read the characteristically abrupt note aloud.

'The earthquake has jumbled the northeast coast. Don't rely on

any charts of the area. You're going to have to come by sea,

however. There's no way we can climb down the wall - particularly

not with Trolls waiting for us at the bottom. Engessa, Kring

and I will be waiting with the Atans and Tikume's Peloi a couple

of leagues south of where the wall dives into the Tamul Sea.

Don't take too long to get here. The other side is up to

something. '

'That throws both your plans out the window, doesn't it,'

Emperor Sarabian noted. 'You won't be able to go by land,

because you can't climb down the wall, and you can't go by sea,

because the sea's filled with uncharted reefs.'

'And to make matters worse, we've only got about two days

to make the decision." Itagne added. 'The forces we're sending

to the north are going to have to start moving at least a week

before the Festival if they're going to reach the North Cape in

time to spring our second surprise on Zalasta.'

'i'd better go have a talk with Captain Sorgi,' Sparhawk said,

rising to his feet.

'He and Caalador are down in the main pantry,' Stragen

advised him. 'They're both Cammorians, and Cammorians like

to be close to food and drink.'

Sparhawk nodded, and he and Vanion quickly left the room.

An almost immediate friendship had sprung up between

Caalador and Sorgi. They were, as Stragen had pointed out,

both Cammorians, and they even looked much alike. Both had

curly hair, though Sorgi's was nearly silver by now, and they

were both burly men with heavy shoulders and powerful hands.

'Well, Master Cluff,' Sorgi said expansively as Sparhawk and

Vanion entered the large, airy kitchen store-room, 'have you

solved all the world's problems yet?' Captain Sorgi always called

Sparhawk by the alias he had used the first time they had met.

'Hardly, Sorgi. We've got one that maybe you can solve for

us, though.'

'Get the money part settled first, Sorgi,' Caalador recommended.

'ol' Sporhawk here, he gets a little vague when th'

time comes t' settle up.'

Sorgi smiled. "I haven't heard that dialect since I left home,'

he told Sparhawk. "I could sit and listen to Caalador talk by the

hour. Let's not worry about money yet. The advice is free. It

starts costing you money when I lift my anchor up off the

bottom.'

'We have to go to a place where there's been an earthquake

recently,' Sparhawk told him. 'Kurik's son just sent me a message.

The earthquake has changed things so much that all the

old maps are useless.'

'Happens all the time,' Sorgi told him. 'The estuary that runs

on up to Vardenais changes her bottom every winter.'

'How do you deal with that?'

Sorgi shrugged. 'We put out a small boat with a strong sailor

to do the rowing and a clever one to heave the sounding-line.

They lead us through.'

'isn't that sort of slow?'

'Not nearly as slow as trying to steer a sinking ship. How big

an area got churned up by the earthquake?'

"It's sort of hard to say.''

'Guess, Master Cluff. Tell me exactly what happened, and

give me a guess about how big the danger-spot is.'

Sparhawk glossed over the cause of the sudden change in the

coastline and described the emergence of the escarpment.

'No problem,' Sorgi assured him.

'How did you arrive at that conclusion, Captain?' Vanion

asked him.

'We won't have to worry about any reefs to the north of your

cliff, my Lord. I saw something like that happen on the west

coast of Render one time. You see, what's happened is that the

cliff keeps on going. It runs on out to sea - under the water so

once you get to the north of it, the water's going to be a

thousand feet deep. Not too many ships I know of draw that

much water. i'll just take along some of the old charts. We'll go

out about ten leagues and sail north. I'll take my bearings every

so often, and when we get six or eight leagues north of this new

cliff of yours, we'll turn west and run straight for the beach. I'll

put your men ashore up there with no trouble at all.'

'And that's the problem with your plan, Sparhawk,' Vanion

said. 'You've only got a hundred ships. If you take both the

knights and their horses, you'll only be able to take fifteen hundred

up there to face the Trolls.'

'is a-winnin' this yore arg-u-ment real important t' you two?'

Caalador asked.

'We're just looking for the best way, Caalador,' Sparhawk

replied.

'Then why not combine the two plans? Have Sorgi start north

first thing in the morning, and you mount up your armies and

ride on up that way as soon as you get things organized. When

Sorgi gets to a place ten leagues or so south of the wall, he can

feel his way in to shore. You meet him there, and he starts

ferrying your army on around the reef and puts you down on

the beach north of the wall. Then you can go looking for Trolls,

and Sorgi can drop his anchor and spend his time fishing.'

Sparhawk and Vanion looked at each other sheepishly.

"It's like I wuz a-sayin', Sorgi,' Caalador grinned. 'The gentry

ain't got hardly no common sense a-tall. I b'leeve it's 'cause they

ain't got room in then heads fer more'n one i'dee at a time.'

Inevitably, the day arrived when the relief column was scheduled

to depart for Atan. It was before dawn when Mirtai came

into the bedroom of the Queen of Elenia and her Prince Consort.

'Time to get up,' the giantess announced.

'Don't you know how to knock?' Sparhawk asked, sitting up

in bed.

'Did I interrupt something?'

'Never mind, Mirtai,' he sighed. "It's a custom, that's all."

'Foolishness. Everybody knows what goes on in here.

'isn't it almost time for you and Kring to get married?'

'Are you trying to get rid of me, Sparhawk?'

'Of course not.'

'Kring and I have decided to wait until after all of this is

finished up. Our weddings are going to be a little complicated.

We have to go through two ceremonies in two parts of the world.

Kring's not very happy about all the delay.'

"I can't for the life of me see why,' Ehlana said innocently.

'Men are strange.' Mirtai shrugged.

'They are indeed, Mirtai, but how would we amuse ourselves

without them?'

Sparhawk dressed slowly, pulling on the padded, rust-stained

underclothing with reluctance and eyeing his black-enameled

suit of steel work-clothes with active dislike.

'Did you pack warm clothing?' Ehlana asked him. 'The' nights

are getting chilly even this far south, so it's going to be very

cold up on the North Cape.'

"I packed it,' he grunted, 'for all the good it's going to do. No

amount of clothing helps when you're wearing steel.' He made

a sour face. "I know it's a contradiction, but I start to sweat the

minute I put the armor on. Every knight I've ever known does

the same. We keep on sweating even when we're freezing and

icicles are forming up inside the armor. Sometimes I wish I'd

gone into another line of work. Bashing people for fun and profit

starts to wear thin after a while.'

'You're in a gloomy mood this morning, love.'

"It's just that it's getting harder and harder to get started. I'll

be all right once I'm on the road.'

'You will be careful, won't you, Sparhawk? I'd die if I lost

you.'

'i'm not going to be in all that much danger, dear. I've got

Bhelliom, and Bhelliom could pick up the sun and break it across

its knee. It's Cyrgon and Zalasta who'll have to watch out.'

'Don't get over-confident.'

'i'm not. I've got more advantages than I can count, that's all.

We're going to win, Ehlana, and there's nothing in the world

that can stop us. All that's really left is the tedious plodding

from here to the victory celebration.'

'Why don't you kiss me for a while now?' she suggested.

'Before you put on the armor. It takes weeks for the bruises to

go away after you kiss me when you're all wrapped in steel.'

'You know,' he smiled, 'that's an awfully good idea. Why

don't we do that?'

The column stretched for several miles, undulating across the

rounded hills on the east coast of Lake Sama. There were Church

Knights, Atans, Kring's Peloi, and a few ornately garbed regiments

of the Tamul army.

It was a splendid day, one of those perfect autumn days with

a stiff wind aloft hurrying puffy white clouds across an intensely

blue sky, and the enormous shadows of those clouds raced

across the rolling landscape so that Sparhawk's army rode alternately

in sunshine and in shadow. The pennons and flags were

of many hues, and they snapped and rippled in the breeze,

tugging at the lances and flag-staffs to which they were fastened.

Queen Betuana strode along at Faran's shoulder. 'Are you

sure, Sparhawk-Knight?' she asked. 'The Troll-beasts are animals,

and all animals are born knowing how to swim. Even a

cat can swim. '

'Only reluctantly, Betuana-Queen,' Sparhawk smiled, remembering

Mmrr's 'cat-paddling' in Sephrenia's fish-pond in Sarsos.

'Ulath-Knight says that we won't have to worry about the Trollbeasts

swimming around the end of the escarpment. They'll

swim across rivers and lakes, but the sea terrifies them. It has

something to do with the tides, I think - or maybe it's the salt.'

'Must we continue at this slow pace?' Her tone was impatient.

'We want to be certain that Zalasta's spies see us, your Majesty,'

Vanion told her. 'That's a very important part of our plan.'

'Elene battles are very large,' she observed.

'We'd prefer smaller ones, Atana, but Zalasta's schemes

stretch across the whole continent, so we have to respond.'

Sephrenia, with Flute riding in front of her, rode forward with

Xanetia. They had all watched the tentative friendship growing

between Sephrenia and Xanetia. Both were still very cautious,

and there were no great leaps in their relationship. The tennousness

now came not from defensiveness but rather from an

excess of concern about inadvertently giving offense, and Sparhawk

felt that to be a rather profound change for the good. 'We

grew tired of all the stories,' Sephrenia told Vanion. "I can't be

sure which is the bigger liar, Tynian or Ulath.'

'Oh?"

'They're trying to outdo each other. Ulath's exaggerating outrageously,

and I'm sure Tynian's doing the same thing. Each of

them is doing his level best to persuade the other that he missed

the adventure of the century. They'll be drowning in falsehood

before long.'

"It's a demonstration of a form of affection, little mother,' Sparhawk

explained. 'They'd be too embarrassed to admit that

they're genuinely fond of each other, so they tell each other wild

stories instead.'

'Did you understand that at all, Xanetia?' Sephrenia smiled.

'What reasonable person can ever understand how and why

men express their love, sister?'

'Men aren't really comfortable with the word "love",'

Sparhawk told them, 'particularly when it's applied to other

men. '

"It is love, though, isn't it, Sparhawk?' Sephrenia asked him.

'Well, I suppose it is, but we're not comfortable with it all the

same.'

"I have meant to speak with thee, Anarae.' Betuana lapsed

perhaps unconsciously into archaic Tamul.

'Gladly will I hear thy words, Queen of Atan.

"It hath been the wont of youthful Atans to seek Delphaeus,

having it in their minds to destroy thy home and to put thy

people to the sword. I am heartily sorry that I have permitted

this.'

Xanetia smiled. "It is of no moment, Queen of Atan. This is

but an excess of adolescent enthusiasm. I must freely confess

that our fledglings do entertain themselves by deceiving and

distracting thine, leading them away from their intended goal by

rudimentary enchantments and clumsy deceptions. It cometh to

me all unbidden that thus are we both relieved of the obligation

to entertain our children, who, by virtue of their youth and

inexperience and profound inability to divert themselves, do

continually complain that there is nothing for them to do - at

least nothing worthy of what they perceive to be their enormous

gifts. '

Betuana laughed. 'Do thy children have that self-same plaint,

Anarae?'

'All children complain,' Sephrenia assured them. "It's one of

the things that make parents age so fast.'

'Well said,' Sparhawk agreed. Neither he nor Sephrenia

looked directly at Flute.

They reached Lebas in northern Tamul in about two days. Sparhawk

had spoken with the army, stressing the enormous power

of Bhelliom to explain how it would be possible for them to cover

great distances in a short period of time. In actuality, however,

Bhelliom was in no way responsible. Flute was in charge of their

travel arrangements on this particular trip.

There was another Atan runner waiting for them in Lebas

with yet another message from Khalad. It was a fairly offensive

note which suggested that the runner had been sent to guide

them to the stretch of beach where Kring and Engessa waited

with their forces, since if knights were left to their own devices

in the forest, they would inevitably get lost. Khalad's class prejudices

were still quite firmly in place.

There was no road as such leading north from Lebas, but the

trails and paths were quite clearly marked. They reached the

southern edge of the vast forest that covered the northeastern

quadrant of the continent, and the hundred Peloi Kring had

brought with him from Eosia pulled in to ride very close to their

allies. Deep woods made the plains-dwelling western Peloi very

nervous.

"I think it has to do with the sky,' Tynian explained to the

others.

'You can barely see the sky when you're in the deep woods,

Tynian,' Kalten objected.

'Exactly my point,' the broad-faced Deiran replied. 'The

western Peloi are accustomed to having the sky overhead. When

there are tree-limbs blocking their view of it, they start to get

nervous.'

They were never able to determine if the attempt was random

or was deliberately aimed at Betuana. They were a hundred

leagues or so into the forest and had set up their night's encampment,

and the large tent for the ladies - Betuana, Sephrenia,

Xanetia and Flute - had been erected somewhat apart so that

they might have a bit of privacy.

The assassins were well concealed, and there were four of

them. They burst out of the thicket with drawn swords just

as Betuana and Xanetia were emerging from the tent. Betuana

responded instantly. Her sword whipped out of its sheath and

plunged directly into the belly of one of the attackers. Even as

she jerked the sword free, she dove to the ground, rolled and

drove both feet full into the face of yet another.

Sparhawk and the others were running toward the tent in

response to Sephrenia's cry of alarm, but the Queen of the Atans

seemed to have things well in hand. She parried a hasty thrust

and split the skull of the shabby assailant who had made it.

Then she engaged the remaining attacker.

'Look out!' Sent shouted as he ran toward her. The man she

had felled with her feet was struggling to rise, his nose bleeding

and a dagger in his hand. He was directly behind the Atan

Queen.

Always before, when Xanetia had shed her disguise, the

change had been slow, the concealing coloration receding

gradually. This time, however, she flashed into full illumination,

and the light within her was no mere glow. Instead, she

blazed forth like a new sun.

The bloody-nosed assassin might have been able to flee from

her had he been in full possession of his faculties. The kick he

had received in the face, however, appeared to have rattled him

and shaken his wits.

He did scream once, though, just before Xanetia's hand

touched him. His scream died in a hoarse kind of gurgle. With

his mouth agape and his eyes bulging with horror, he stared at

the blazing form of she who had just mortally wounded him but

only for a moment. After that, it was no longer possible to

recognize his expression. The flesh of his face sagged and began

to run down, turned by that dreadful touch into a putrefying

liquid. His mouth seemed to gape wider as his cheeks and lips

oozed down to drip off his chin. He tried to scream once, but

the decay had already reached his throat, and all that emerged

from his lipless mouth was a liquid wheeze. The flesh slid off

his hand, and his dagger dropped from his skeleton clutch.

He sagged to his knees with the slimy residue of skin and

nerve and tendons oozing out of his clothing.

Then the rotting corpse toppled slowly forward to lie motionless

on the leaf-strewn floor of the forest - motionless, but still

dissolving as Xanetia's curse continued its inexorable course.

The Anarae's fire dimmed, and she buried her shining face in

her glowing hands and wept.

CHAPTER 28

It was raining in Esos, a chill, persistent rain that swept down

out of the mountains of Zemoch every autumn. The rain

did not noticeably dampen the Harvest Festival celebration,

since most of the revelers were too drunk to even notice the

weather.

Stolg was not drunk. He was working, and he had nothing

but contempt for men who drank on the job. Stolg was a Nondescript

sort of fellow in plain clothing. He wore his hair cropped

close, and he had large, powerful hands. He went through the

crowd of revelers unobtrusively, moving toward the wealthier

quarter of the city.

Stolg and his wife Ruts had argued that morning, and that

always put him in a bad humor. Ruts really had little cause for

complaint, he thought, stepping aside for a group of drunken

young aristocrats. He was a good provider, after all, and their

neat little cottage on the outskirts of town was the envy of all

their friends. Their son was apprenticed to a local carpenter,

and their daughter had excellent prospects for a good marriage.

Stolg loved Ruts, but she periodically became waspish over some

little thing and pestered him to death about it. This time she

was upset because their cottage had no proper lock on the front

door, and no matter how many times he told her that they, of

all people, had no need of locks, she had continued to harp on

the subject.

Stolg stopped and drew back into a recessed doorway as the

watch tramped by. Djukta would normally have bribed the

watch to stay out of Stolg's way, but it was Harvest Festival

time, so there would be plenty of confusion to cover any incidental

outcries. Djukta was not one to spend money needlessly. It

was a common joke in the seedier taverns in Esos that Djukta

had deliberately grown his vast beard so that he could save the

price of a cloak.

Stolg saw the house that was his destination and went into

the foul-smelling alley behind it. He had arranged for a ladder

to be placed against the back of the house, and he went up

quickly and entered through a second-story window. He walked

on down the hallway and through the door into a bedroom. A

former servant in the house had drawn a diagram and had

pointed out the room of the owner of the house, a minor nobleman

named Count Kinad. Once inside the room, Stolg lay down

on the bed. As long as he had to wait, he might as well be

comfortable. He could hear the sound of revelry coming from

downstairs.

As he lay there, he decided to install the lock Ruts wanted.

It wouldn't be expensive, and the peace and quiet around the

house would be more than worth it.

It was no more than half an hour later when he heard a

heavy, slightly unsteady footfall on the stair. He rolled quickly

off the bed, crossed silently to the door, and put his ear to the

panel.

"It's no trouble at all,' a slurred voice outside said. 'I've got a

copy in my bedroom.'

'Really, Count Kinad,' a lady's voice called from below, "I take

your word for it.'

'No, Baroness, I want you to read his Majesty's exact words.

It's the most idiotic proclamation you've ever seen.' The door

opened, and a man carrying a candle entered. It was the man

who had been pointed out to Stolg two days ago. Stolg idly

wondered what Count Kinad had done to irritate someone

enough to justify the expense of a professional visit. He brushed

the thought aside. That was really none of his business.

Stolg was a thorough professional, so he had several techniques

available to him. The fact that Count Kinad's back was

to him presented the opportunity for his favorite, however. he

drew a long poniard from his belt, stepped up behind the count,

and drove the long, slim blade into the base of the count's skull

with a steely crunch. He caught the collapsing body and quietly

lowered it to the floor. A knife-thrust in the brain was always

certain, and it was quick, quiet, and produced a minimum of

mess. Ruts absolutely hated to wash her husband's work-clothes

when there was blood all over them. Stolg set his foot between

the count's shoulders and wrenched his poniard out of the back

of the skull. That was sometimes tricky. Pulling a knife out of

bone takes quite a bit of strength.

Stolg rolled the body over and looked intently into the dead

face. A professional always makes sure that a client has been

permanently serviced.

The count was definitely dead. His eyes were blank, his face

was turning blue, and a trickle of blood was coming out of his

nose. Stolg wiped off his poniard, put it away, and went back

out into the hallway. He walked quietly back to the window

through which he had entered.

There were two more names on the list Djukta had given him,

and with luck he could service another this very night. It was

raining, however, and Stolg really disliked working in the rain.

He decided to go home early instead and tell Ruts that he would

give in just this once and install the lock she wanted so much.

Then he thought it might be nice if they took their son and their

daughter to the tavern at the end of the street to have a few

tankards of ale with their neighbors. It was the harvest Festival,

after all, and a man should really try to spend the holidays with

his friends and family.

Sherrok was a small, weedy sort of fellow with thinning hair

and a lumpy skull. He did not so much walk as scurry through

the crowded streets of Verel in southern Daconia. In the daytime,

Sherrok was a minor official in the customs house, biting

his tongue as he took orders from his Tamul superiors. Sherrok

loathed Tamuls, and being placed in a subservient position to

them sometimes made him physically ill. It was that loathing

that had been primarily behind his decision to sell information

to the diseased Styric Ogerajin, to whom a mutual acquaintance

had introduced him. When Ogerajin, after a few carefully

worded questions, had slyly hinted that certain kinds of information

might be worth quite' a bit of money, Sherrok had leaped

at the chance to betray his despised superiors - and to make tidy

sums as well.

%The information he had for Ogerajin tonight was Lenl important.

The greedy, blood-sucking Tamuls were going to 'raise the

customs rate by a full quarter of a percent. Ogerajin should pay

handsomely for that piece of information.

Sherrok licked his lips as he rushed through the noisy crowds

celebrating the Harvest Festival. There was an eight-year-old

Astellian girl available at one of the slave-marts, a ravishing child

with huge, terrified eyes, and if Ogerajin could be persuaded to

be generous, Sherrok might actually be able to buy her. He had

never owned a child so young before, and the very thought of

her made his knees go weak.

His mind was full of her as he passed a reeking alleyway, and

so he was not really paying any attention - until he felt the

strand of wire snap tight around his neck.

He struggled, of course, but it was really not much use. The

assassin dragged him back into the alley and methodically

strangled him. His last thought was of the little girl's face. She

actually seemed to be laughing at him.

'You're really more trouble than you're worth, you know,'

Bersola said to the dead man sprawled in the bow of the rowboat.

Bersola always talked to the men he had killed. Many of

Bersola's colleagues believed that he was crazy. Candor compels

us to admit that they were probably right.

Bersola's major problem lay in the fact that he always did

things exactly the same way. He invariably stuck his knife into

someone between the third and fourth ribs at a slightly downward

angle. It was effective, though, since a knife thrust there

absolutely cannot miss the heart. Bersola also never left a body

lying where it fell. He had a compulsive sense of neatness which

drove him to put the remains somewhere out of sight. Since

Bersola lived and worked in the Daconian town of Ederus on

the coast of the Sea of Edam, disposal was a simple matter. A

short trip in a rowboat and a few rocks tied to the deceased's

ankles removed all traces. Bersola's habit-driven personality,

however, led him always to sink the bodies in the exact same

place. The other murderers of Ederus made frequent laughing

reference to 'Bersola's Reef', a place on the lake-bottom supposedly

piled high with sunken bodies. Even people who didn't

fully understand the significance of the phrase referred to

Bersola's Reef.

'You went and did it, didn't you?' Bersola said to the corpse

in the bow of the boat as he rowed out to the reef. 'You Just had

to go and offend somebody. You've got nobody to blame but

yourself for this, you know. If you'd behaved yourself, none of

this would have happened.'

The corpse did not answer. They almost never did.

Bersola stopped rowing and took his bearings. There was the

usual light in the window of Fanna's Tavern on the far shore,

and there was the warning fire on the rocky headlands on the

near side. The lantern on the wharf protruding out from Ederus

was dead astern. 'This is the place,' Bersola told the dead man.

'You'll have lots of company down there, so it won't be so bad.'

He shipped his oars and crawled forward. He checked the knots

on the rope that held the large rock in place between the dead

man's ankles. 'i'm really sorry about this, you know,' he apologized,

'but it was your own fault.' he lifted the rock - and

the dead man's legs - over the side. He held the shoulders

for a moment. 'Do you have anything you'd like to say?' he

asked.

He waited for a decent interval, but the dead man did not

reply.

"I didn't really think you would,' Bersola said. He let go of

the shoulders, and the body slithered limply over the gunwale

and disappeared into the dark waters of the lake.

Bersola whistled his favorite tune as he rowed back to Ederus.

Avin Wargunsson, Prince Regent of Thalesia, was in an absolute

fury. Patriarch Bergsten had left Thalesia without so much as a

by-your-leave. It was intolerable! The man had absolutely no

regard for the Prince Regent's dignity. Avin Wargunsson was

going to be king one day, after all - just as soon as the raving

madman in the north tower finally got around to dying - and

he deserved some courtesy. People always ignored him! That

indifferent lack of regard cankered the soul of the little crown

prince. Avin was scarcely more than five feet tall, and in a kingdom

absolutely awash with blond people a foot or more taller,

he was almost unnoticeable. He had spent his childhood scurrying

like a mouse out from under the feet of towering men who

kept accidentally stepping on him because they refused to look

down and see that he was there.

Sometimes that made him so angry that he could just scream.

Then, without even bothering to knock, two burly blond ruffians

opened the door and rolled in a large barrel. ''here's that

cask of Arcian red you wanted, Avin,' one of them said. The

ignorant barbarian didn't even know enough to use a proper

form of address.

"I didn't order a barrel of wine,' Avin snapped.

'The chief of the guards said you wanted a barrel of Arcian

red,' the other blond savage declared, closing the door. 'We're

just doing what we were told to do. Where do you want this?'

'Oh, put it over there,' Avin said pointing. It was easier than

arguing with them.

They rolled the barrel across the floor and set it up in the

corner.

"I don't think I know you two,' Avin said.

'We're new,' the first one said, shrugging. 'We just joined the

Royal Guard last week.' He set a canvas bag on the floor and

took out a pry-bar. He carefully inserted the bar under the lid

of the barrel and worked it back and forth until the lid came

free.

'What are you doing?' Avin demanded.

'You can't drink it if you can't get at it, Avin,' the fellow

pointed out. 'We've got the right tools, and you probably don't.'

At least the man was clean-shaven. Avin approved of that. Most

of the men in the Royal Guard looked like trees with golden

moss growing on them. 'You'd better taste it and make sure it

hasn't soured, Brok.'

'Right,' the other one agreed. He scooped up some of the

wine in the cupped palm of his hand and sucked it in noisily.

Avin shuddered. 'Tastes all right to me, Tel,' he reported. A

thoughtful look crossed his face. 'Why don't I fill up a bucket

of this before we put the lid back on?' he suggested. 'Hauling

this barrel up the stairs was heavy business, and I've worked

up quite a thirst.'

'Good idea,' Tel agreed.

The bearded man picked up the brass-bound wooden bucket

Avin used for a waste basket.

'is it all right if I use this, Avin?' he asked.

Avin Wargunsson gaped at him. This went too far - even in

Thalesia.

The burly fellow shook the contents of the waste basket out

on the floor and dipped it into the barrel. Then he set the pail

down. "I guess we're ready then, Tel,' he said.

'All right,' Tel replied. 'Let's get at it.'

'What are you doing?' Avin demanded in a shrill voice as the

two approached him.

They didn't even bother to answer. It was intolerable he was

the Prince Regent people had no right to ignore him like this!

They picked him up by the arms and carried him over to the

barrel, ignoring his struggles. He couldn't even get their attention

by kicking them.

'in you go,' the one named Tel said pleasantly, almost in the

tone one uses when he pushes a horse into a stall. The two lifted

Avin Wargunsson quite easily and stuffed him feet first into the

barrel. The one called Brok held him down while Tel took a

hammer and a handful of nails out of the canvas bag and picked

up the barrel-lid. He set the lid on Avin's head and pushed him

down. Then he rapped his hammer around the edge of the lid,

settling it in place.

Only Avin's eyes and forehead were above the surface of the

Wine. He held his breath and pounded impotently on the underside

of the lid with both fists.

Then there was another pounding sound as Tel calmly nailed

down the lid of the barrel.

The ladies quite firmly dismissed Kalten when they set out the

morning after the attempt on Queen Betuana's life. Kalten took

his self-appointed duties as Xanetia's protector quite seriously,

and he was a bit offended at being so cavalierly sent away.

'They need some privacy right now,' Vanion told him. 'Set

some knights to either side to protect them, but give them

enough room to get Xanetia through this.' Vanion was a soldier,

but his insights were sometimes quite profound. Sparhawk

looked back over his shoulder. Sephrenia rode close to one side

of the sorrowing Xanetia, and Betuana strode along on the other.

Xanetia rode with her head bowed, holding Flute in her arms.

There was about them a kind of exclusionary wall as they closed

ranks around their injured sister. Sephrenia rode very close to

the Anarae, frequently reaching out her hand to touch the

stricken woman. The racial differences and eons-old enmity

appeared to have been overridden by the universal sisterhood

of all women. Sephrenia reached across those barriers to comfort

her enemy without even thinking about it. Betuana was no less

solicitous, and in spite of the gruesome demonstration of the

effects of Xanetia's touch, she walked very close to the Delphaeic

woman.

Aphrael, of course, was in complete control of the situation.

She rode with her arms about Xanetia's waist, and Aphrael's

touch was one of the more powerful forces on earth. Sparhawk

was quite certain that Xanetia was not really suffering. The Child

Goddess would not permit that. The Anarae's apparent horror

and remorse at what she had been compelled to do was entirely

for the benefit of her two comforters. Aphrael was quite deliberately

erasing Sephrenia's racial animosity and Betuana's superstitious

aversion by the simple expedient of intensifying

Xanetia's outward appearance of grief.

It was easy to underestimate Aphrael when she appeared in

one of her innumerable incarnations as a capricious little girl

and that was probably the main reason she had chosen the form

of the Child Goddess in the first place. Sparhawk, however, had

seen the reality of Aphrael waveringly reflected in the brass

mirror back in Matherion, and the reality was neither childish

nor whimsical. Aphrael always knew exactly what she was

doing, and she always got exactly what she wanted. Sparhawk

firmly fixed the wavering image of the reality of Aphrael in his

mind so that it would always be present when the dimples and

the kisses began to cloud his judgement.

The days were significantly shorter this far to the north. The

sun rose far to the southeast now, and it did not go very high

above the southern horizon before it started to descend again.

Each long night's frost piled up on the previous night's lacy

blanket, since the pale, weak sun no longer had the strength to

melt what had built up during the hours of darkness.

It was nearly sunset when a towering Atan came loping down

a frosty forest path to meet them. He went directly to Queen

Betuana and banged his fist against his chest in salute. Betuana

motioned quickly to Sparhawk and the others. 'A message from

Engessa-Atan,' she said tersely. 'There are enemies gathering

on the coast at the eastern end of the wall.'

'Trolls?' Vanion asked quickly.

The tall Atan shook his head. 'No, Vanion-Lord,' he replied.

'They're Elenes, and for the most part they're not warriors'

They're cutting trees.'

'To use in building fortifications?' Bevier asked.

'No, Church Knight. They are lashing the trees together to

build things that will float.'

'Rafts?' Tynian asked. 'Ulath, you said that Trolls are afraid

of the sea. Would they be willing to use rafts to go around the

outer edge of the escarpment?'

"It's hard to say,' the blond-braided Thalesian replied.

'Ghwerig did use a boat to cross Lake Venue, and he almost had

to have stolen a ride on some ship to get from Thalesia to Pelosia

when he followed King Sarah during the Zemoch war, but

Ghwerig wasn't like other Trolls.' He looked at the Atan. 'Are

they building these rafts north of the wall or here on the south

side?'

'They're on this side of the wall,' the Atan replied.

'That doesn't make too much sense, does it?' Kalten asked.

'Not to me, it doesn't,' Ulath admitted.

"I think we'd better get up there and have a look, Sparhawk,'

Vanion said. 'That attack on Betuana last night was fair evidence

that Zalasta knows we're coming, so this little stroll through

the woods has accomplished its purpose. Let's join forces with

Engessa and Kring and find out if Sorgi's made it to the beach

yet. Winter's coming on very fast anyway, and I think we'll want

to deal with the Trolls before the sun goes down permanently.'

'Would you see to that, Divine One?' Sparhawk said to

Aphrael. 'i'd ask Bhelliom to do it, but you've been handling

things so well that I wouldn't want to appear critical by taking

over at this point.'

Aphrael's eyes narrowed. 'Don't push your luck, Sparhawk,'

she said ominously.

Sparhawk was never really certain whether Aphrael had somehow

moved them during the night or had slipped them across

the intervening miles at some point between the time when they

swung up into their saddles and the time when their mounts

took their first steps. The Child Goddess was too practiced, too

skilled, to be caught tampering when she didn't want to be.

The hill was the same hill that had been lying to the northwest

of their night's encampment when the sun had gone down - or

so it seemed - but when they crested it about a half-hour after

they set out, there was a long, sandy beach and the lead-gray

expanse of the Tamul Sea on the other side instead of a broad,

unbroken forest.

'That was quick,' Talen said, looking around. Talen's presence

on this expedition had never really been explained to Sparhawk's

satisfaction. He suspected Aphrael, however. It was easy

to suspect Aphrael of such things, and more often than not the

suspicions proved to be well founded.

'There's someone coming down the beach,' Ulath said,

pointing at a tiny figure riding along the water's edge from the

north.

'Khalad.' Talen shrugged.

'How can you tell?'

'He's my brother, Sir Ulath - besides, I recognize his cloak.'

They rode on down the hill and out onto the sand.

'What kept you?' Khalad asked Sparhawk bluntly when he

joined them.

'i'm glad to see you too, Khalad.'

'Don't try to be funny, Sparhawk. I've been struggling to keep

Engessa and his Atans from swimming round the outer edge of

the escarpment for the past ten days. They want to go attack

the Trolls all by themselves. How did Stragen's plan come

off?'

"It's hard to say,' Talen told him. 'We were on the road during

the harvest Festival. I know Stragen and Caalador well enough

to know that most of the people they were after are probably

dead by now, though. We're a little late because we wanted to

make sure that Zalasta's people saw us coming. We thought we

might be able to divert him enough to keep him out of the way

of Caalador's murderers.'

Khalad grunted.

'Are the Trolls gathering anywhere nearby?' Ulath asked.

'As closely as we can tell, they're all clustered around the

abandoned village of Tzada over on the other side of the Atan

border,' Khalad replied. 'They tried to climb the wall for a while,

but then they pulled back. Engessa's got scouts on top of the

wall watching them. They'll let us know when they start to

move.'

'Where are Engessa and Kring?' Vanion asked him.

'Up the beach about a mile, my Lord. We've built an encampment

back in the forest a ways. Tikume's joined us. He brought

in several thousand of the eastern Peloi about five days ago.'

'That should help,' Kalten said. 'The Peloi are very enthusiastic

about their wars.'

'Any sign of Sorgi yet?' Sparhawk asked.

'He's feeling his way in through the reefs,' Khalad replied.

He sent a longboat on ahead to let us know that he was coming.'

'What's this business with the rafts all about?' Vanion asked

him.

'They aren't rafts, my Lord. They're sections of a floating

bridge.'

'A bridge? A bridge to where?'

'We aren't sure. We've been staying back a ways so that the

Edomish peasants constructing it won't see us.'

'What are Edomishmen doing on this side of the continent?'

Kalten asked with some astonishment.

'Building a bridge, Sir Kalten. Weren't you listening? Talen's

old friend Amador - or Rebal, or whatever he calls himself now

- is sort of in charge, but Incetes is there too, and he's the one

who's making the big im'pression. He bellows orders in archaic

Elenic, and he's been braining anyone who doesn't understand

him or move fast enough."

'is it that counterfeit one we saw in the woods near Jorsan?'

Talen asked.

"I don't think so. This fellow seems to be quite a bit bigger,

and he's got a sizeable contingent of men in bronze armor with

him. I'd guess that somebody's resurrecting people out of the

past again.'

'That would probably be Djarian of Samar,' Sephrenia said.

'Maybe he can raise whole armies after all.'

'He can if Cyrgon's lending him a hand,' Aphrael added.

The Child Goddess had appeared to be dozing in her sister's

arms, but she had clearly been listening. She opened her large,

dark eyes. 'Hello, Khalad,' she said. 'You look a little windburned.'

'We've had some gales coming in off the Tamul Sea, Divine

One. There's a strong smell of ice mixed up in them.'

'That's what they're doing,' Ulath said, snapping his fingers.

'Does he still do that?' Tynian asked. "I was hoping you'd

cured him of it by now.'

'Ulath likes to play leap-frog with his mind, Tynian,'

Sephrenia said calmly. 'he'll come back in a moment or two and

fill in the blank spaces for us.'

'How long has it been cold up here, Khalad?' Ulath asked.

"It wasn't particularly warm when we got here, Sir Ulath.'

'is any ice forming up in the inlets and along the beach at

night?'

'Some. It isn't very thick, though, and the tide comes in and

breaks it up before it has the chance to spread.'

'The floating ice a mile or so out to sea isn't breaking up,

though,' Ulath said. "It rises and falls with the tide because it's

not grinding up against the rocks. It's probably almost a foot

thick out there by now. The Edomishmen aren't building rafts

or a bridge. They're building a pier out to that pan-ice. There'll

be another one north of the wall as well. The Trolls will cross

the ice. We know that because they did it to get here from

Thalesia. Cyrgon's going to march the Trolls to the pier north

of the wall and drive them out to the pan-ice. Then they'll march

south across the ice and come ashore on this south pier.'

'And then they'll attack the Atans again,' Vanion said bleakly.

'How thick will the pan-ice have to be to support the weight of

the Trolls?'

'Two feet or so. It should be thick enough by the time the

piers are finished - if it stays cold.'

"I think we can count on Cyrgon to make sure that it stays

cold,' Tynian noted.

'There's something else, too,' Khalad added. 'if Cyrgon's playing

with the weather this way, it won't be too long before Sorgi's

ships are locked in ice. I think we'd better come up with something,

my Lords - and fairly soon - or we're going to be hip-deep

in Trolls again.'

'Let's go talk with Kring and Engessa,' Sparhawk said.

chapter 29

%'Not even a little bit, your Majesty.' Ulath shuddered. 'The

point is that we don't really want to fight them at all. We want

to steal them. We could just ignore all this construction work

here on the coast, you know. Sorgi's ships could ferry us around

these work-gangs and put us ashore far enough north of the

escarpment so that Bhelliom won't set off a new batch of earthquakes,

and then we could have it carry us directly to Tzada.'

'That's a good plan, Ulath-Knight,' Betuana agreed, 'except

for the ice. It's already forming out there, you know.'

'Aphrael,' Sparhawk said to the Child Goddess, 'could you

melt that ice for us?'

'if I really had to,' she replied, 'but it wouldn't be polite. The

ice is a part of winter, and winter belongs to the earth. The earth

is Bhelliom's child, not mine, so you'll have to talk to Bhelliom

about it.'

'What should I ask it to do?'

She shrugged. 'Why not just leave that up to Bhelliom? Tell

it that the ice is a problem and let it decide how to deal with it.

You've got a lot to learn about the etiquette of these situations,

Sparhawk.'

"I suppose so,' he admitted, 'but it's the sort of thing that

doesn't come up every day, so I haven't had much practice.'

'You see what I mean about those rafts, Sparhawk?' Khalad said.

'Those green logs lie so low in the water that you couldn't lead

a donkey along that pier without getting him wet all the way

up to the hocks.'

'How would you have built them?'

'i'd have used a double layer of logs - one layer across the

top of the other.' The two of them were lying under some bushes

on a knoll watching the Edomish peasants laboring on the rafts.

The first part of the pier was already anchored in place, and it

jutted about a quarter of a mile out into the icy water. Additional

rafts were being added to the outer end as quickly as they were

completed.

'There's Incetes,' Khalad said pointing at a huge man in a

bronze mail-shirt and horned helmet. 'He and those pre-historic

warriors he brought with him have been driving those poor

peasants to the point of exhaustion. Rebal's running around

waving his arms and trying to look important, but it's Incetes

who's really in charge. The peasants don't seem to understand

his dialect, so he's been talking to them by hand.' Khalad

scratched his short black beard. 'You know, Sparhawk, if we

killed him, his warriors would vanish, and one charge by the

knights would chase Rebal and his Peasants half-way back to Edam.'

"It's a nice idea, but how are we going to get close enough to

kill him?'

'i'm already close enough, Sparhawk. I could kill him from

right here.'

'He's two hundred and fifty paces away, Khalad. Your father

said that the maximum range with a crossbow is two hundred

yards - and even that involved a lot of luck.'

'i'm a better shot than father was.' Khalad lifted his crossbow.

'I've modified the sights and lengthened the arms a bit. Incetes

is close enough, believe me. I could stick a bolt up his nose from here.'

'That's a graphic picture. Let's go talk with Vanion.' They slid

back down the back of the knoll, mounted their horses, and

rode back to their hidden encampment. Sparhawk quickly

explained his squire's plan to the others.

'Are you sure you could hit him at that range, Khalad?' Vanion

asked a bit skeptically.

Khalad sighed. 'Do you want a demonstration, my Lord?' he

asked.

Vanion shook his head. 'No. If you tell me you can hit him,

then I'll believe you.'

'All right. I can hit him, my Lord.'

'That's good enough for me.' Vanion frowned. 'What would

you say might be the absolute extreme range of the crossbow?'

he asked.

Khalad spread his hands uncertainly. 'i'd have to experiment,

Lord Vanion,' he said. 'i'm sure I could build one that would

reach out a thousand yards, but aiming it would be difficult,

and it would probably take two men a half-hour to re-cock it.

The arms would have to be very stiff.'

'A thousand paces,' Vanion sighed, shaking his head. He

rapped his knuckles on the chest of his suit of armor. "I think

we're becoming obsolete, gentlemen.' Then he straightened.

'Well, we're not obsolete yet. As long as we're here anyway,

let's go ahead and neutralize this southern pier. All it's going

to cost us is one crossbow bolt and a single mounted charge.

The dismay it's going to cause our enemies is worth that much

anyway.'

Kring and Tikume came riding up the hill from the beach with

Captain Sorgi clattering along beside him. Sorgi was not a very

good horseman, and he rode stiffly, clinging to the saddle-bow.

'Friend Sorgi came ashore in one of those rowboats,' Kring said.

'His big boats are still about a mile out in the water.'

'Ships, friend Kring,' Sorgi corrected with a pained expression.

'the little ones are boats, but the big ones are called

ships.'

'What's the difference, friend Sorgi?'

'A ship has a captain. A boat operates by mutual consent.'

Sorgi's expression grew somber. 'We have a problem, Master

Cluff. The ice is forming up right behind my ships. I'll be able

to bring them ashore, but I don't think they'll be of much use

to you. I've had soundings taken, and we'll have to sail a couple

of miles out to get around the reef that runs out to sea from that

cliff. We don't have those two miles any more. The ice is moving

inshore very fast.'

'You'd better talk with Bhelliom, Sparhawk,' Aphrael said. "I

think I told you that this morning.'

'Yes,' he agreed, 'as a matter of fact you did.'

'Why didn't you do it, then?'

"I had a few other things on my mind.'

'They get like that as they grow older,' Sephrenia told her

sister. 'They get mulish and deliberately put off doing things

they're supposed to do just because we suggest them. They hate

being told what to do.'

'What's the best way to get around that?'

Sephrenia smiled sweetly at the warriors standing around her.

'I've always had good luck with telling them to do the exact

opposite of what I really want.'

'All right,' the Child Goddess said doubtfully. "It sounds silly

to me, but if it's the only way to get the job done...' She drew'

herself up. 'Sparhawk!' she said in a commanding voice. 'Don't

you dare talk to Bhelliom!'

Sparhawk sighed. "I wonder if Dolmant could find an opening

in a monastery for me when I get home,' he said.

Sparhawk and Vanion went off a ways from the others to

consult with the Sapphire Rose. Flute trailed along behind them.

Sparhawk touched his ring to the lid of the box. 'Open,' he said.

The lid snapped up.

'Blue Rose,' Sparhawk said, 'winter doth approach with

unseemly haste, and the freezing of the sea doth hinder our

design. We would proceed some distance beyond thine excellent

wall so that our movements will not perturb thy daughter.'

'Thou' art considerate, Anakha,' Vanion's voice replied.

'His courtesy is not untainted by self-interest, Flower-Gem,'

Aphrael said with an impish little smile. 'When thy daughter

shudders, it doth unsettle his stomach.'

'You didn't have to say that, Aphrael,' Sparhawk told her.

'Are you going to do this?'

'No. My manners are better than that.'

'Why did you come along, then?'

'Because I owe Bhelliom an apology - and it owes me an

explanation.' She looked into the golden cask, and the azure

glow from the stone illuminated her face. She spoke directly to

the stone in a language Sparhawk did not understand, although

it was somehow tantalizingly familiar. There were pauses as she

spoke, pauses during which Sparhawk presumed Bhelliom was

responding, communing directly with her in a voice which only

she could hear. At one point she laughed, peal upon peal of

silvery laughter that almost seemed to sparkle in the chill air. 'All

right, Sparhawk,' she said finally, 'Bhelliom and I have finished

apologizing to each other. You can go ahead and present your

problem now.'

'You're too kind,' he murmured.

'Be nice.'

"I would not trouble thee with our trivial concerns, Blue Rose,'

Sparhawk said then, 'but methinks the onset of the winter ice

hath been hastened by Cyrgon's hand, and it is beyond our

power to respond.'

Vanion's tone was stern as Bhelliom replied. 'Methinks Cyrgon

doth need instruction in courtesy, Anakha - and perchance

in humility as well. He hath bent his will to the premature formation

of the ice. I will tweak his beard for this. There are rivers

in the sea, and he hath turned one of these aside to freeze this

coast in furtherance of his design. I will turn aside yet another

and bring the torrid breath of tropic climes to this northern shore

and consume his ice.'

Aphrael clapped her hands together with a delighted laugh.

"What's so funny?' Sparhawk asked her.

'Cyrgon's going to be a little sick for a few days,' she replied.

'Thou art wise beyond measure, Flower-Gem,' she said gaily.

'Thou art kind to say so, Aphrael, but methinks thy praise

hath some small taint of flattery to it.'

'Well,' she said, 'a little, perchance, but over-fulsome praise

for those we love is no sin, is it?'

'Guard well thine heart, Anakha,' Bhelliom advised. 'The

Child Goddess will steal it from thee when thou dost least expect

it.'

'She did that years ago, Blue Rose,' Sparhawk replied.

"I can do this myself, Sparhawk,' Khalad whispered. "I don't

need a chaperone.' The two were lying behind a log atop the

knoll from which they had observed the Edomish workmen the

previous day. The work-gangs were laboring by the smoky light

of fires being fed with green wood. The moon was full, and

the smoke from the fires seemed almost to glow in its pale

light.

"I just came along to admire the shot, Khalad,' Sparhawk

replied innocently. "I like to watch professionals in action.

Besides, I have to give Ulath the signal just as soon as you put

Incetes to sleep.' He shivered. 'Aren't we just a bit early?' he

asked. 'the sky won't start to get light for another hour yet. All

we're doing here is sprouting icicles.'

'Did you want to do this?'

'No. I probably couldn't even come close at this range.'

'Then do you want to keep your mouth shut and let me do

it?'

'You're awfully grouchy for so young a fellow, Khalad. That

doesn't usually set in until a man's much older.'

'Dealing with knights has prematurely aged me.'

'how does this new sight of yours work?'

'Do you know what the word "trajectory" means?'

'Sort of.'

Khalad shook his head wearily. 'Never mind, Sparhawk. My

calculations are accurate. Just take my word for it.'

'You actually work it out on paper.'

'paper's cheaper than a bushel of new crossbow bolts.'

"It sounds to me as if you spend more time calculating and

adjusting your sights than' you do shooting.'

'Yes,' Khalad admitted, 'but if you do it right, you only have

to shoot once.'

'Why did we come out so early, then?'

'To give my eyes time to adjust to the light. The light's going

to be peculiar when I make the shot. I'll have moonlight, firelight,

and the first touches of dawn in the sky when the time

comes. It's all changing, and I need to watch it change so that

my eyes are ready. I've also got to pick Incetes out and keep a

close eye on him. Killing his second cousin won't do the job.'

'You think of everything, don't you?'

'Somebody has to.'

They waited. The pale light of the full moon made the sand

of the newly emerged mile-wide beach intensely white, almost

the same as snow, and the night air was bitingly cold.

'Keep your head down, Sparhawk, or hold your breath.'

'What?'

'Your breath is steaming. If somebody looks this way, he'll

know that we're here.'

'They're two hundred and fifty paces away, Khalad.'

'Why take chances if you don't have to?' Khalad peered

'intently at the ant-like figures working at the edge of the trees.

'is Empress Elysoun still chasing Berit?' he asked after a few

moments.

'She seems to be branching out a bit. I think she caught him

a few times, though.'

'Good. Berit was awfully stuffy when he was younger. He's

in love with your wife, you know.'

'Yes. We talked about it some years back.

"It doesn't bother you?'

'No. It's just one of those infatuations young men go through.

He doesn't really intend to do anything about it.'

"I like Berit. He'll make a good knight - once I grind off the

remnants of his nobility. Titles make people a little silly.' He

pointed. "It's starting to get light off to the east.'

Sparhawk glanced out across the icy reaches of the north

Tamul Sea. 'Yes,' he agreed.

Khalad opened the leather pouch he had brought along and

took out a length of sausage. 'A bite of breakfast, my Lord?' he

offered, reaching for his dagger. 'Why not?'

The first faint touches of light along the eastern horizon faded

back into darkness as the 'false dawn' came and went. No one

had ever satisfactorily explained that particular phenomenon to

Sparhawk. He had seen it many times during his exile in Render.

'We've still got about another hour,' he told his squire.

Khalad grunted, laid back against the log, and closed his eyes.

"I thought you were here to watch,' Sparhawk said. 'How can

you watch if you're asleep?'

'i'm not sleeping, Sparhawk. I'm just resting my eyes. Since

you came along anyway, you can watch for a while.'

The true dawn began to stain the eastern sky some time later,

and Sparhawk touched Khalad's shoulder. 'Wake up,' he said

quietly.

Khalad's eyes opened quickly. "I wasn't asleep."

'Why were you snoring, then?'

"I wasn't. I was just clearing my throat.'

'For half an hour?'

Khalad rose up slightly and peered over the top of the log.

'Let's wait until the sun hits those people,' he suggested. 'That

bronze breastplate Incetes is wearing should gleam in the sunlight,

and a brighter target's easier to hit.'

'You're the one doing the shooting.'

Khalad looked at the laboring Edomish peasants. "I just had

a thought, Sparhawk. They've built a lot of those rafts. Why

waste them?'

'What did you have in mind?'

'Even if Bhelliom melts Cyrgon's ice, it's going to take Captain

Sorgi a couple of days to ferry all of us around that reef. Why

not use these rafts? Sorgi can put a good-sized force on the beach

a few miles north of the pier that's probably being constructed

on the other side of the wall, and the rest of us can slip around

the reef from this side on those rafts, and we can jump the

people up there from both sides.'

"I thought you didn't like these rafts.'

"I can fix them, Sparhawk. All we have to do is take two of

them, lay one on top of the other, and we'll have one good one.

Cyrgon might have more forces up here on the North Cape than

just the Trolls. I think we'll want to put all these rafts well out

of his reach, don't you?'

'You're probably right. Let's talk to Vanion about it.' Sparhawk

looked at the eastern horizon. 'The sun's starting to come up.'

Khalad rolled over and laid his crossbow across the log. He

carefully checked the settings on his sighting mechanism and

then settled the stock against his shoulder.

Incetes was standing on a tree stump in the full light of the

half-risen sun. He was waving his arms and bellowing incomprehensible

exhortations to his exhausted workmen.

'Are we ready?' Khalad asked, laying his cheek against the

stock and squinting through the sight.

'i'm ready, but you're the one who has to shoot.'

'No talking. I have to concentrate now.' Khalad drew in a deep

breath, let part of it out, and then stopped breathing entirely.

Incetes, gleaming golden in the new-risen sun, stood

bellowing and waving his arms. The titan from pre-history

looked tiny, almost toy-like in the distance.

Khalad slowly, deliberately squeezed the release lever.

The crossbow thumped heavily, its rope-thick gut string giving

off a deep-toned twang. Sparhawk watched the bolt arc upward.

'Got him,' Khalad said with a certain satisfaction.

'The arrow hasn't even reached him yet,' Sparhawk objected.

"It will. Incetes is dead. The arrow will go right through his

heart. Go ahead and signal Ulath to charge.'

'Aren't you being a little...'

A vast cry of chagrin rose from the crowd at the edge of the

forest. Incetes was toppling slowly backward, and the bronze-age

warriors surrounding him wavered and vanished even as he fell.

'You've got to learn to have a little more faith, Sparhawk,'

Khalad noted. 'When I tell you that somebody's dead, he's dead -

even if he doesn't know it yet. Were you planning to signal Ulath sometime

today?'

'Oh. I almost forgot.'

'Age does that to people - or so I've been told.'

'The ministries are corrupt, Ehlana. I'll be the first to admit that,

but if I have to rebuild the government from the ground up, I'll

spend the rest of my life at it, and I'll never get anything else

done.' Sarabian's tone was pensive.

'But Pondia Subat's such an incompetent,' Ehlana objected.

"I want him to be an incompetent, dear heart. I'm going to

reverse the usual roles. He's going to be the figurehead, and I'm

going to be the one pulling the strings. The other ministers are in

the habit of obeying him, so having him as Prime Minister won't

even confuse them. I'll write Subat's speeches for him and terrorize

him to the point where he won't depart from the prepared

text. I'll terrorize him to the point where he won't even change

clothes or shave without my permission. That's why I want him

to sit in and hear the reports of Milord Stragen's unique solution

to our recent problem. I want him to imagine the feel of the knives

going in every time he has an independent thought.'

'Might I make a suggestion, your Majesty?' Stragen asked.

'By all means, Stragen,' Sarabian smiled. 'The stunning success

of your outrageous scheme has earned you a sizeable balance

of imperial indulgence.'

Stragen smiled and began to pace the floor, his face deep in

thought and his fingers absently weighing a gold coin. Ehlana

wondered where he had picked up that habit. 'The society of

thieves is classless, your Majesty,' he pointed out. 'We're firm

believers in the aristocracy of talent, and talent shows up in

some of the strangest places. You might want to consider including

some people who aren't Tamuls in your government. Racial

purity is all well and good, I suppose, but when every government

official of rank in every subject kingdom is a Tamul, it stirs

the kind of resentments which Zalasta and his friends have been

exploiting. A more ecumenical approach might dampen those

resentments. If an ambitious man sees the chance for advancement,

he's much less likely to want to throw off the yoke of the

Godless yellow devils.'

'Are they still calling us that?' Sarabian murmured. He leaned

back. "It's an interesting notion, Stragen. First I ruthlessly crush

rebellion, and then I invite the rebels into the government. It

should confuse them, if nothing else.'

Mirtai opened the door to admit Caalador.

'What's afoot?' Ehlana asked him.

'Our friends at the Cynesgan embassy are very busy, your

Majesty,' he reported. 'Evidently our unusual celebration of the

Harvest Festival made them nervous. They're bringing in supplies

and reinforcing the gates. It looks as if they're expecting

trouble. I'd say they're getting ready to fort up.'

'Let them,' Sarabian shrugged. 'if they want to imprison themselves,

it saves me the trouble of doing it.'

'is Krager still inside?' Ehlana asked.

Caalador nodded. "I saw him walking across the courtyard

this morning my very own-self."

'Keep an eye on him, Caalador,' she instructed.

"I purely will, dorlin',' he grinned. "I purely will.'

Vanion led the charge up the beach. The knights and the Peloi

descended upon the demoralized work-gangs in a thunderous

rush, while Engessa's Atans ran along the water's edge to the

foot of the makeshift pier to cut off the escape of those laboring

to extend it farther out into the chill waters of the Tamul Sea.

The ribbon clerk Amador was shrieking orders from the pier,

but no one was really paying much attention to him. Some few

of the workmen who had been cutting trees put up a feeble

resistance, but most fled back into the forest. It only took a few

minutes for those who had chosen to resist to realize that the

decision had been a bad one, and they threw down their

weapons and raised their hands in surrender. The knights,

trained to be merciful, readily accepted surrenders; Tikume's

Peloi did so only reluctantly, the Atans on the pier tended to

ignore those who sued for mercy, pausing only long enough to

kick them off into the water. With Betuana and Engessa in the

lead, the Atans marched ominously out onto the pier, killing

anybody who offered any resistance and throwing the rest into

the chill water on either side. The men in the water struggled to

shore to be rounded up by the Tamul soldiers from the imperial

garrison at Matherion. The soldiers' presence was primarily

a gesture, since they were ceremonial troops unprepared

either by their training or their natural inclinations for fighting.

They were quite good at rounding up the shivering men who

emerged, dripping and blue with the cold, from the icy water,

however.

'i'd say that Bhelliom's warm current hasn't arrived yet,'

Khalad observed.

"It wouldn't seem so,' Sparhawk agreed. 'Let's go on down.

The days are very short now, and I'd like to secure the north

pier before the sun goes down.'

'if there is a north pier,' Khalad said.

'There has to be one, Khalad.'

'You wouldn't mind if I ambled over to the edge of the cliff

and had a look for myself, would you? Logic is all well and

good, but a little verification never hurt anything.'

They walked back down the knoll, mounted, and rode out to

join their friends.

'Not much of a fight,' Kalten complained, looking disdainfully

at the mob of terrified prisoners.

'Those are the best kind,' Tynian told him.

'Sorgi's coming,' Ulath told them pointing at the fleet moving

toward the beach. 'As soon as Betuana and Engessa finish clearing

the pier, we'll be able to get started.'

The Atans were half-way to the end of the pier by now, and

the terrified Edomishmen were being crowded into a tighter and

tighter mass by that inexorable advance.

'How cold is that water?' Talen asked. "I mean, has it started

to warm up at all?'

'Not noticeably,' Ulath said. "I saw a fish swim by earlier wearing

a fur coat.'

'Do you think a man could swim back to shore from the end

of the pier?'

'Anything's possible.' Ulath shrugged. "I wouldn't want to

wager any money on it, though.'

Rebal was at the very end of the pier by now, and his screams

were growing increasingly shrill. The Atans leveled their spears

and continued their inexorable advance. They did not even

bother to kill the Edomishmen any more. They simply shoved

everyone off the pier to struggle in the icy water. A large knot

of the workmen at the very end of the pier went off the end in

a kind of cluster, the ones at the extreme outer end dragging

their fellows with them as they toppled off. The Atans lined the

sides and the end of the pier, keeping everyone in the water at

spear's length from safety. That went perhaps somewhat

beyond the bounds of civilized behavior, but Sparhawk knew

of no diplomatic way to object to Queen Betuana about it, so he

ground his teeth together and let it pass.

There was a great deal of splashing at first, but that did not

last for very long. Singly and in groups the freezing peasants

gave up and slid under the waves. A few athletic ones struck

out for shallow water, but no more than a handful reached that

questionable safety.

Amador, Sparhawk noted, was not among the few survivors

being rounded up by the Tamul soldiers at the water's edge.

Sorgi's ships were standing at anchor some few yards off the

beach by now, and the plans they had all drawn up the night

before proceeded smoothly.

There was one thing, however, which their planning had not

taken into account. Khalad had ridden to the edge of the cliff to

look to the north, and he rode back with a slightly worried

frown.

'Well?' Sparhawk asked him.

'There's a pier north of the wall, right enough,' Khalad

replied, dismounting, 'but we've got a problem coming up from

the south. Bhelliom's warm current is arriving.'

'Why is that a problem?'

"I think Bhelliom got a little carried away. It looks as if the

leading edge of that current is boiling.'

'So?'

'What do you get when you pour boiling water on ice

Sparhawk?'

'Steam, I suppose.'

'Right. Bhelliom's melting the ice out there, right enough, but

it's raising a lot of steam in the process. What's another word

for steam, my Lord?'

'Please don't do that, Khalad. It's very offensive. just how big

is this fog-bank?'

"I couldn't see the end of it, my Lord."

'Thick?'

'You could probably walk on it.'

'Could we possibly stay ahead of it?'

Khalad pointed out to sea. "I sort of doubt it, my Lord. I'd say

it's already here.'

The fog was rolling across the water in a thick gray blanket,

its leading edge a solid wall obscuring everything in its

path.

Sparhawk started to swear.

'You seem melancholy, my queen,' Alcan said when the ladies

were alone.

Ehlana sighed. "I don't like being separated from Sparhawk,'

she said. 'There were too many years of that when he was in

exile.'

'You've loved him for a long time, haven't you, your Majesty?'

"I was born loving Sparhawk. It's really more convenient that

way. You don't have to waste time thinking about other possible

husbands. You can concentrate all your attention on the one

you're going to marry and make sure you've closed all his escape

routes."

There was a knock on the door, and Mirtai rose, put her hand

on her sword-hilt, and went to answer it.

Stragen entered. He was wearing rough clothes.

'What on earth have you been up to, Milord?' Melidere asked

him.

'Pushing a wheelbarrow, Baroness.' He shrugged. 'i'm not

sure that it accomplishes all that much to disguise myself this

way, butt it's good to maintain proper work habits. I've been

posing as an employee of the Ministry of Public Works. We've

been repairing the street outside the Cynesgan embassy.

Caalador and I rolled dice, and he won the right to sit on a

roof-top to keep watch. I get to trundle wheelbarrow-loads of

cobblestones to the pavers.'

"I gather that something's happening at the embassy?' Ehlana

guessed.

'Yes, my Queen. Unfortunately, we can't quite figure out

what. All the chimneys are spouting smoke that doesn't look

like wood smoke. I think they're burning documents. That's

usually a sign of incipient flight.'

'Don't they know that they haven't a chance of getting out of

town?' Mirtai asked him.

"It appears that they're going to make a try anyway. It's just

a guess, but I'd say they're planning something that's going to

seriously offend the authorities, and then they're going to try

to make a run for it.' He looked at Ehlana. "I think we'd better

tighten our security arrangements, your Majesty. All these preparations

hint at something serious, and we don't want to be

caught off-guard.'

'I'll have a talk with Sarabian,' Ehlana decided. "It was useful

to have that embassy functioning as long as Xanetia was here

to eavesdrop. Now that she's off with Sparhawk and the others,

the embassy's just an irritation. I think it might be time to send

in some Atans to nullify it.'

"It's an embassy, your Majesty,' Melidere objected. 'We can't

just go in and round everybody up. That's against all the rules

of civilized behavior.'

'So?'

'We don't have much choice, Master Cluff,' Sorgi said gravely.

'When you're out in deep water and this kind of fog comes up,

all you can do is put out your sea-anchor and hope you don't'

run aground on some island. You'd never be able to pick your

way around the end of that reef with those rafts, and I'd rip the

bottoms out of half the ships in the fleet if I tried to slip through

the channel between the reef and the ice. We're going to have

to wait until this lifts - or thins out at least. '

'And how long will that be?' Sparhawk asked.

'There's no way to tell.'

'The air's colder than the water, Sparhawk,' Khalad explained.

'That's what's causing the fog. I don't think it's going to lift until

the air warms up. We won't be ready to leave here until

tomorrow anyway. We're going to have to do something to raise

those rafts up out of the water a bit before we load men and

horses on them. If we try to use them the way they are, we'll

be trying to move them half submerged.'

'Why don't you get started on that, Khalad?' Vanion suggested.

'Sparhawk and I'll go have a talk with Sephrenia and

Aphrael. We might just need a bit of divine intervention here.

Coming, Sparhawk?'

The two of them went back on down the beach to the fire

Kalten had built for the ladies.

'Well?' Sephrenia asked. She was seated on a driftwood log

with her sister in her lap.

'The fog's creating some problems,' Vanion replied. 'We can't

get around the end of the reef until it lifts, and we're a little

crowded for time. We'd like to reach Tzada before the Trolls

start to march. Any ideas?'

'A few,' Aphrael replied, 'but I'll need to talk with Bhelliom

first. There are certain proprieties and courtesies involved, you

understand. '

'No,' Sparhawk replied. "I don't, really, but that doesn't matter

all that much. I'll take your word for it.'

'Oh, thank you, Sparhawk!' she said with a certain false

ingenuousness. "I think Bhelliom and I should discuss this in

private. Open the box and give it to me.'

'Whatever you say.' He took out the cask and touched it with

his ring. 'Open,' he told it. Then he handed the box to the Child

Goddess.

She slid down off Sephrenia's lap and went down the beach

a little way. Then she stood looking out at the fog-enveloped

sea. So far as Sparhawk could tell, she was not speaking aloud

to the Sapphire Rose.

It was about ten minutes later when she returned. She handed

the box back to Sparhawk. "It's all taken care of,' she told him

in an offhand way. 'When do you want to leave?'

'Tomorrow morning?' Sparhawk asked Vanion.

Vanion nodded. 'That should give Khalad time to modify the

rafts, and we can get the knights and their horses on board

Sorgi's ships and ready to go by then.'

'All right,' Aphrael said. 'Tomorrow, then. Now why don't

you go find Ulath and ask him whose turn it is to do the cooking?

I'm absolutely famished.'

It was not much of a breeze, and it did not entirely dissipate

the fog, but they could at least see where they were going, and

the tattered remnants of mist would provide them with some

cover after they rounded the tip of the reef.

Khalad had decided that the quickest way to modify the rafts

was simply to double them, pulling one raft on top of another

so that the added buoyancy would provide a reasonable freeboard.

This made the rafts very cumbersome, of course. They

were heavy and hard to steer, and so their progress out along

the reef was painfully slow.

The skiff leading the way, however, cut through the water

ahead of the flotilla and faded into the remnants of the fog-bank.

Khalad and Berit had not really asked, but had simply

announced that they would scout on ahead.

After about an hour, the skiff returned. 'We marked the channel,'

Khalad told them. 'That boiling water really cut the ice

away, so there'll be plenty of room to get the rafts round the

tip of the reef. '

'We saw Captain Sorgie's ships go by,' Berit reported. 'Apparently

he didn't entirely trust the sails. This breeze is a little

erratic...' He hesitated. 'You don't have to tell Aphrael I said

that, of course. Anyway, Sorgi's put the knights to work rowing.

They'll get to the beach north of the pier quite some time before

we make it to shore.'

'Are those trees sticking up out of the water going to cause

us any problems?' Kalten asked.

'Not if we stick close to the face of the cliff, Sir Kalten,' Khalad

replied. 'The landslides Bhelliom's earthquake set off knocked

down all the trees for about a hundred yards out from the wall.

The trees farther out will give us some additional cover. When

you add them to what's left of the fog, I don't think anybody

on shore will see us coming.'

"It's working out fairly well, then,' Ulath said, grunting as he

pushed his twenty-foot-long pole against the sea-bottom, 'except

for this part, of course.'

'We could always swim,' Tynian suggested.

'No, that's all right, Tynian,' Ulath replied. "I don't mind

poling all that much.'

When they reached the tip of the reef, the flotilla of rafts split

up into two separate fleets. Queen Betuana and Engessa took

the Atans and made their way along the outer edge of the halfsubmerged

forest toward the pier that thrust out from shore,

while Sparhawk and his friends took the Peloi and the knights

for whom there had not been room aboard Sorgi's ships along

the cliff-face with Khalad and Berit scouting ahead in the skiff.

Since even Sorgi's hundred ships and the large number of rafts

were not enough to carry all their forces, they had been obliged

to leave a sizeable portion of their army on the south beach

along with Sephrenia, Talen, Flute and Xanetia.

"It's shoaling,' Ulath said after about another half-hour. "I

think we're getting closer to shore.'

'More of the trees are sticking up out of the water as well,'

Kalten added. 'I'll definitely be glad to get off this raft. It's a

nice enough raft, I suppose, but pushing it through the water

with a twenty-foot pole is sort of like trying to tip over a house.'

The skiff came ghosting back out of the fog. 'You'd better start

keeping your voices down, my Lords,' Khalad said in a hoarse

whisper. 'We're getting closer.' He reached out with one hand

to steady the skiff. 'We're in luck, though. There used to be a

road running along parallel to the beach - at least I think it was

a road. Anyway, the road or whatever it was gives us an open

channel through the trees, and the trees between us and the

beach will keep the workmen from seeing us.'

'And probably keep us from getting ashore as well,' Tynian

added.

'No, Sir Tynian,' Berit replied. 'There was a meadow out there

a mile or so from where the cliff is now, and that's where the

pier is. All we have to do is follow that road and it'll bring us

out almost on top of the work-gangs.'

'Could you hear them at all?' Vanion asked.

'Oh, yes,' Khalad replied, 'almost as if they were standing

about ten feet away - and you'll start hearing their axes in just

a few minutes.' He and Berit climbed aboard the raft.

'Could you make out their accents? Were they more of those

Edomishmen we came up against on the south pier?'

'No, my Lord. The men up here are Astels. We couldn't see

the beach, but I'd guess that the people giving the orders came

from Ayachin's army instead of Incetes' people.'

'Let's push on, then,' Kalten said, hefting his pole. 'Figuratively

speaking, of course,' he added.

'Are we all ready?' Sparhawk asked, looking up and down the

line of rafts strung out to either side.

'What is there to get ready for, Sparhawk?' Kalten asked. 'if

anything, Astellian serfs are going to be even more timid than

those Edomish peasants were. Ulath could probably chase them

all back into the trees by just standing out here in what's left of

the fog blowing on his Ogre-horn.'

'All right, then,' Sparhawk said. - Aphrael - he threw the

thought out - are you listening? Well,

of course I'm listening, Sparhawk. He

decided to try a different approach. He cast his request in

formal Styric this time - An it please thee, Divine Aphrael, I do

Beseech thine aid

Aren't you feeling well? _ her tone was susPicious.

I- but sought to demonstrate mine unutterable regard and respect

for thee, Divine One.

- Are you making fun of me? No,

of course not. I Just realized that I haven't been all that~ respectful

lately. We're in position now. We're going to start moving the rafts

slowly ~toward shore. As soon aS We can make out the people on the beach,

Ulath's going to give the signal for the general attack. I'd appreciate a

nice strong gust of wind at that point, if it's not too much trouble

Well, I'll think about it

Will you be able to hear Ulath's horn.? Or would you rather have

me tell you when we need the wind'nd?

Sparhawk, I can hear a spider walking across the ceiling of a house

ten miles away. I'll blow as soon as Ulath does

That's a novel way to put it

Get moving, Sparhawk, or you'll run out%

Yes, ma'am -

He looked around at the others. 'Let's get

started,' he told them. 'The Divine One's drawing in deep

breaths. I think she plans to blow the fog all the way to the

pole.'

The rafts inched forward, concentrating on staying in a

straight line so that none of them emerged from the fog before

the others.

They could clearly hear the voices speaking in Elenic from the

shore now, and the faint lapping of wavelets sloshing over the

protruding roots of the trees off to the left.

'Six feet,' Kalten reported in a loud whisper as he lifted his

pole out of the water. 'We can make a mounted charge when it

shoals down to four.'

'if the fog holds out that long,' Bevier amended.

They crept on with the water shoaling under their rafts inch

by inch as they eased closer to shore.

They heard the sound of a heavy blow and curses spat out in

archaic Elenic.

'That's one of Ayachin's men,' Khalad whispered.

'Ayachin himself wouldn't be here, would he?' Berit asked.

'Incetes was, so I wouldn't discount the possibility.'

'if Ayachin is here, I want you two to go looking for Elron,'

Sparhawk instructed. 'We lost Amador, but Xanetia should be

able to get the same kind of information out of Elron. Don't let

him get away - or get himself killed.'

'Three feet!' Kalten announced in a triumphant whisper. 'We

can charge just as soon as we catch sight of them now.'

The rafts inched closer, and the voices ahead were much

louder now.

'There's something moving,' Khalad said pointing at a dim

shape ahead.

'How far?' Sparhawk asked, Peering into the white blankness

ahead.

'Maybe thirty paces.'

Then Sparhawk saw more of the dark outlines in the fog and

heard the sound of men slogging through shallow water. 'Mount

up!' he commanded in a low voice. 'And signal the other rafts.'

They pulled themselves slowly into their saddles, being careful

not to make any noise.

'All right, Ulath,' Sparhawk said aloud, 'let everybody know

that we're starting.'

Ulath grinned and lifted the curled Ogre-horn to his lips.

CHAPTER 30

It was more like a gale than a breeze, and it came howling out

of nowhere, bending the evergreens and tearing the last of the

leaves from birch and aspen. The fog streamed away in the

leaf-speckled blast.

The crests of the shallow waves were suddenly whipped to

froth, and the water ran against a shoreline that was not sand,

nor gravel nor rock, but grass and half-submerged bushes. There

were thousands of men on shore, roughly dressed serfs laboring

in a field of tree stumps.

'Heretic knights!' a man at the edge of the water screamed.

He wore crude bits and pieces of ancient armor, and he stood

gaping at the huge force of mounted men which had appeared

quite suddenly out of nowhere as the gale tore the fog away.

Ulath's horn continued its barbaric call, and Tikume's Peloi

and the knights plunged off the rafts, their mounts sending great

sheets of water out to either side, almost like icy wings.

'What must we do, noble Ayachin?' the crudely armored man

shrieked to a lean fellow astride a white horse. The mounted

man was more completely armored, although his armor was an

archaic blend of steel plate and bronze chain-mail.

'Fight!' he roared. 'Destroy the heretic invaders! Fight - for

Astel and our holy faith!'

Sparhawk sawed Faran's reins round and charged directly at

the resurrected Astellian hero, his sword aloft and his shield in

front of his body.

Ayachin's helmet had no visor as such, but rather a steel noseguard

protruding down over half his face. There was a quick

intelligence in that face and a burning zeal. The eyes

were the eyes of a fanatic. He set himself, raised his

sword, and spurred his white mount forward to meet

Sparhawk's charge.

The two horses crashed together, and the white mount reared

back. Faran was the bigger horse, and he was skilled at fighting.

He slammed his shoulder into Ayachin's mount and tore

chunks from the white animal's neck with his teeth. Sparhawk

caught the ancient hero's sword-stroke with his shield and

countered with a heavy overhand stroke of his own, clashing his

blade down on the hastily raised and bulky shield.

'Heretic!' Ayachin snarled. 'Spawn of hell! Foul sorcerer."

'Give it up!' Sparhawk snapped. 'You're out of your class." Sparhawk

found that he had no real wish to kill this man who was fighting

to defend his homeland and his faith from a brutal Church policy

long since abandoned. Sparhawk had no real quarrel with him.

Ayachin bellowed his defiance and swung his sword at Sparhawk.

He showed some proficiency with the weapon, but he was no

real match for the black-armored Pandion he faced. Sparhawk

%caught the sword-stroke with his shield again, and st

a chopping blow at his opponent's shoulder. 'Run away

Ayachin!' he barked. "I don't want to kill you! You've been

duped by an alien God and brought thousands of years into the

future. this isn't your fight! Take your people and go.'

It was too late, though. Sparhawk saw the madness in his

opponent's eyes, and he had been in too many fights not to

recognize it. He sighed, crowded Faran in against the other

horse, and began a series of strokes he had used so many times

in the past that, once it began, the succeeding blows were

automatic.

The ancient fought bravely, struggling to respond with

unwieldy equipment, but the outcome was inevitable. Sparhawk's

progressive strokes bit him deeper and deeper,

chunks of his armor flew from each savage cut.

Then, altering his last stroke to avoid a grotesque maim

Sparhawk thrust instead of delivering the customary overhand

stroke that would have split his opponent's head. His swordpoint

crunched through the ancient and ineffective armor and

smoothly ran through Ayachin's chest.

The fire went out of that ancient face, and the hero Aga

stiffened and toppled slowly from his saddle.

Sparhawk raised his sword-hilt to his face in a sad salute.

A great cry went up from the Astellian serfs as Ayachin's army

vanished. A burly serf at the water's edge bawled contradictory

orders, gyrating his arms like a windmill. Berit leaned over in

his saddle and brought the flat side of his axe-blade down on

top of the man's head, felling him instantly.

There were a few pockets of ineffective and half-hearted resistance,

but the serfs for the most part fled. Queen Betuana and

her Atans drove the panicky workers from the pier, and the

knights and the Peloi parted ranks to permit them to flee into

the forest. Sparhawk rose up in his stirrups and looked to the

north. The knights who had disembarked from Sorgi's ships

were also driving the misguided serfs on the far side of the pier

back into the trees.

The battle, such as it had been, was over.

The Queen of the Atans came ashore with a look of discontent

on her golden face. "It was not much of a fight, SparhawkKnight,'

she accused.

'i'm very sorry, your Majesty,' he apologized. "I did the best

I could with what I had to work with. I'll try to do better next

time.

She suddenly grinned at him. "I was teasing you, SparhawkKnight.

Good planning reduces the need for fighting, and you

plan very well.'

'Your Majesty is very kind to say so.'

'How long will it take that Cammorian sailor to bring the rest

of our army to this side of the wall?'

'The rest of today and most of tomorrow, I'd imagine.'

'Can we afford to wait that long? We should go to Tzada

before the Troll-beasts start to march.'

'I'll talk with Aphrael and Bhelliom, your Majesty,' he said.

'They'll be able to tell us what the Trolls are doing - and delay

them if necessary.'

Khalad rode up. 'We couldn't find any sign of Elron, Sparhawk,'

he reported. 'We captured a few of those serfs, and they

told us that he wasn't here.'

'Who was in charge, then?'

'That husky fellow Berit put to sleep with the flat of his axe

seems to have been the one giving all the orders.'

'Wake him up and see what you can get out of him. Don't

twist him too hard, though. If he decides to be stubborn, we'll

wait until Xanetia gets here. She can find out everything he

knows without hurting him.'

'Yes, my Lord.' Khalad wheeled his mount and went looking

for Berit.

'You have a kindly disposition for a warrior, SparhawkKnight,'

Betuana observed.

'These serfs aren't really our enemies, Betuana-Queen.

I'll show you the other side of my nature after we catch

Zalasta.'

'His name is Torbik,' Khalad reported when he joined them in

the pavilion they had erected for the ladies. 'He was one of

Sabre's first followers. I think he's a serf from Baron Kotyk's

estate. He wouldn't say so, but I'm fairly sure he knows that

Elron is Sabre.'

'Does he know why Elron sent him rather than coming here

himself?' Tynian asked.

'He hasn't a clue - or so he says,' Khalad replied. 'Anarae

Xanetia can look inside his head and find out for sure.' He

paused. 'Excuse me, Anarae,' he said to the Delphaeic woman.

'We all keep groping for ways to describe what you do when

you listen to the thoughts of others. We'd probably be a lot less

offensive if you'd tell us the right word for it.'

Xanetia, who had arrived with Sephrenia, Talen and Flute on

Sorgi's ship with the first contingent being ferried around the

reef, smiled. "I had wondered which of ye would be the first to

ask,' she said. 'Methinks I should have known it would be thee,

young master, for thine is the most practical mind in all this

company. We of the Delphae do refer to this modest gift as

"sharing". We share the thoughts of others, we do not "leech"

them, nor do we scoop them like struggling minnows from the

dark waters of consciousness.'

'Would it offend you, Sir Knights, if I pointed out that it's

easier to ask than to grope your way through four languages

looking for the right term?' Khalad asked rather innocently.

'Yes,' Vanion said, 'as a matter of fact it would offend us.'

"I won't point it out, then, my Lord.' Khalad even managed

to say it with a straight face. 'Anyway, Torbik was here primarily

to keep the Astellian serfs from talking with Ayachin's warriors

too much. Evidently there's a great potential for confusion in

the situation. Elron definitely didn't want the two groups to

start comparing notes.'

'Does he have any idea at all about where Elron is right now?'

Kalten asked.

'He doesn't even know where he is right now. Elron just said

a few vague things about eastern Astel and let it go at that.

Torbik wasn't really the one in charge here - any more than

Ayachin was. There was a Styric with them, and he was the one

who was giving all the orders. He was probably one of the first

to run off into the woods when we came ashore.'

'Could that have been Djarian?' Bevier asked Sephrenia.

'Zalasta's necromancer? Somebody had to be the one who

plucked Ayachin out of the ninth century.'

"It might have been,' Sephrenia replied doubtfully. 'More

likely, though, it was one of Djarian's pupils. It's the initial

'spell that's difficult. Once the people from the past have been

successfully raised, a fairly simple spell can bring them back

again. I'm sure there was a Styric south of the wall calling up

Incetes and his men as well. Zalasta and Ogerajin have a large

body of renegades to draw upon.'

'May I come in?' Captain Sorgi asked from just outside the

tent.

'Of course, Captain,' Vanion replied.

The silvery-haired seaman came inside. 'We'll have the last

of your people ashore on this side of the reef by tomorrow

noon, my Lords,' he reported. 'You'll want us to wait here,

won't you?'

'Yes,' Sparhawk replied. 'if all goes well, we'll need to go back

around the reef after we've finished at Tzada.'

'Will the warm water hold? I'd rather not get ice-bound up

here.'

'We'll see to it, Captain,' Sparhawk promised.

Sorgi shook his head. 'You're a strange man, Master Cluff.

You can do things no one I've ever met can do.' He suddenly

smiled. 'But strange or not, you've thrown a lot of profit my

way since you started running away from that ugly heiress.' He

looked at the others. 'But I'm just interrupting things here. Do

you suppose I might have a word with you in private, Master

cluff?"

'Of course." Sparhawk rose and followed the sailor outside.

'I'll get right to the point,' Sorgi said. 'Do you have any further

plans for these rafts - after you use them to go back around the

reef, I mean?'

'No, I don't think so.

'Would it be all right with you if I left a crew on the beach south

of the reef while I run you and your friends back to Matherion?'

"I have no objections, Captain, but I don't quite understand.'

'The rafts are made of very good logs, Master Cluff. After

your army uses them to get around the reef, they'll just be lying

there. It'd be a shame to waste them. I thought I'd leave a crew

to lash them together into some kind of boom. I'll come back

after I drop you off in Matherion, and we'll tow them to the

timber market in Etalon - or maybe even back to Matherion

itself. They should fetch a good price.'

Sparhawk laughed. 'Good old Sorgi,' he said, putting a

friendly hand on the sea-captain's shoulder. 'You never overlook

a chance for a profit, do you? Take the logs with my

blessing.'

'You're a generous man, Master Cluff.

'You're my friend, Captain Sorgi, and I like doing things for

friends.'

'You're my friend as well, Master Cluff. The next time you

need a ship, come and look me up. I'll take you anywhere you

want to go.' Sorgi paused, his expression suddenly cautious.

'For only half price,' he added.

The village of Tzada had been abandoned several years ago, and

the rampaging Trolls had knocked most of the buildings down.

It lay at the edge of a vast marshy meadow with Bhelliom's

escarpment looming over it to the south. The sun was just rising

far to the southeast, and the grassy meadow was thick with frost

that glittered in the slanting sunlight.

'How large is the meadow, your Majesty?' Vanion asked

Betuana.

'Two leagues across and six or eight leagues long. It will be a

good battlefield.'

'We were sort of hoping to avoid that, your Majesty,' Vanion

reminded her.

Engessa was ordering his scouts out to pinpoint the exact

location of the Trolls. 'We were able to see them from the top

of the escarpment,' he told Vanion. 'They've been gathering out

in the middle of the meadow every day for the past several

weeks. They were too far away for us to see exactly what they've

been doing, though. The scouts will locate them for us.'

'What's the plan, friend Sparhawk?' Kring asked, fingering

his saber-hilt. 'Do we march on them and turn their Gods loose

on them at the last minute?'

"I want to talk with the Troll-Gods first,' Aphrael said. 'We

want to be absolutely certain that they understand all the conditions

of their release.'

Vanion rubbed at the side of his face. "I think we'll want the

Trolls to come to us instead of the other way round, don't you,

Sparhawk?'

'Definitely, but a feint of some kind should draw them out. '

Sparhawk thought for a moment. 'Why don't we move a mile

or so out into the meadow so they can see us. Then we'll draw

up in a standard formation - knights in the center, Atans on

either side, and the Peloi out on the flanks. Cyrgon's got a milltary

mind, and that formation's older than dirt. He'll think we're

preparing to attack. The Cyrgai are an aggressive people, and

they would want to attack first. Cyrgon's commanding Trolls this

time instead of his own people, but I think we can count on him

to do what's customary.'

'He might as well' Ulath shrugged. 'The Trolls will attack

as soon as they see us no matter what Cyrgon wants them

to do. The idea of just defending themselves won't even occur

to them. They look on us as food, and somebody who sits in

one place waiting for supper to come to him usually goes to

bed hungry.'

'Better and better,' Vanion said. 'We'll hold our formation and

let them get to within a few hundred yards of us. Then we'll

turn the Troll-Gods loose. They'll reclaim their Trolls and Cyrgon

will be left standing out there in the middle of the meadow all

alone.'

'Or maybe not quite,' Sephrenia added. 'He might just have

Zalasta with him. I certainly hope so, anyway.'

'Savage,' Vanion said fondly to her.

'Let's leave the army here and go round to the back side of

the village,' Sparhawk suggested. 'if we're going to talk with

the Troll-Gods, I'd rather not do it out in plain sight.' He turned

Faran and led the others around the ruined village to a smaller

clearing a few hundred yards to the east.

Sparhawk had deliberately not closed the box after Bhelliom

had transported them to Tzada. This time he wanted his enemies

to know where he was. 'Blue Rose,' he said politely, 'canst thou

find anything amiss in our plan?'

"It seemeth sound to me, Anakha,' the stone replied through

Vanion's lips. "It might be prudent, however, to advise the TrollGods

that Cyrgon may reach back into antiquity for reinforcements

once he doth perceive that the Trolls are no longer

deceived by his assumed guise.'

'Thou art wise, my friend,' Sparhawk replied. 'We shall so

advise them.' He looked at Aphrael. 'Don't pick any fights right

now,' he told her. 'Let's try to get along with our allies - at least

until the battle's over.'

'Trust me,' she said.

'Do I have any choice?'

'No, not really. Bring on the Troll-Gods, Sparhawk. Let's get

to work. The day won't last Forever, you know.'

He muttered something under his breath.

"I didn't quite hear that she said.

'You weren't supposed to.' He raised the glowing gem. 'Please

bring them forth now, my friend,' he told it. 'The Child Goddess

doth grow impatient. '

"I did notice that myself, Anakha.'

Then the vast presences of the Troll-Gods were there, glowing

blue and towering enormous.

'The time is come,' Sparhawk announced in Trollish. 'This is

the place where Cyrgon has your children. Let us join together

to cause hurt to Cyrgon.

'Yes' Ghworg exulted.

"I will remind you of our compact,' Aphrael said. 'You have

given surety. I will hold you to your promises.'

'Well will we keep them, Aphrael.' Ghworg's voice was sullen.

'Let us repeat them,' she said shrewdly. 'Promises made in

haste are sometimes forgotten. Your children will no longer eat

my children. Is it agreed?'

Ghnomb sobbed his assent.

'Khwaj will restrain his fire and Schlee his ice. Agreed?

Ghworg will forbid your children to kill mine, and Zoka will

permit no more than two cubs to each she-Troll. Is it agreed?'

'Agreed. Agreed,' Ghworg said impatiently. 'Free us.'

'in a moment. Is it also agreed that your children will become

mortal? That they will age and die as do mine?'

They howled in fury. They had evidently been hoping in their

dim minds that she had forgotten that promise.

'Agreed?' she bored in with a not-so-veiled threat in her voice.

'Agreed," Schlee said reluctantly.

'Turn them loose, Sparhawk.'

'in a minute.' Then he spoke to the Troll-Gods directly. "It is

our intent to punish Cyrgon,' he told them. 'Let him seem to

have victory in his mouth before we jerk it from between his

teeth. Thus will he suffer more.'

"It speaks well,' Schlee told the others. 'Let us hear its words.

Let us find out how the pain of Cyrgon may be made greater.'

Sparhawk quickly outlined their plan of battle. 'Thus,' he concluded, 'w

hen your children are ten tens of strides from

Aphrael's children and Cyrgon exults, you can appear and jerk

your stolen children back from his grasp. In pain and agony

may he bring his own children from the shadowy past to meet

us. I will appeal to the Child Goddess and ask her to relent this

once and let your children feast upon Cyrgon's, and Cyrgon

himself will feel their teeth as they rend and tear the flesh of

his children.'

'Your words are good, Anakha,' Schlee agreed. "It is my

thought that you are almost worthy to be a Troll.'

"I thank you for thinking so,' Sparhawk replied a bit

doubtfully.

The army advanced at a steady trot. The Church Knights, their

armor gleaming in the slanting rays of the newly risen sun and

the pennons on their lances fluttering, rode forward, the hooves

of their heavy war-horses crushing the knee-high grass of the

meadow. The unmounted Atans loped along on either side, and

Tikume's Peloi probably the finest light cavalry in the world,

ranged out on the flanks. Despite Vanion's violent objections,

Sephrenia and Xanetia rode with the knights. Flute, for some

obscure reason, rode with Talen this time.

They trotted perhaps two miles out into the frost-whitten

meadow, and then Vanion held up his hand to signal a halt. Ulath

blew a long, strident blast on his Ogre-horn to pass the word.

Engessa, Betuana and Kring joined them. 'We have more

details now,' Betuana told them. 'Some of our scouts concealed

themselves in the high grass to watch the Trolls. Cyrgon is

exhorting the man-beasts, and there are several Styrics with him.

My people don't know the language of those monsters, so they

couldn't understand what Cyrgon was saying.'

"It's not too hard to guess.' Tynian shrugged. 'We've got quite

an army here, and we've drawn up in the traditional battle formation.

I'm sure Cyrgon thinks we're planning to attack the

Trolls. He's preparing them for battle.'

'Could your scouts recognize any of the Styrics, Betuana?'

Sephrenia asked, her face grim.

The Atan queen shook her head. 'They couldn't get that close,'

she replied.

'Zalasta is there, Sephrenia,' Xanetia said. "I can feel the presence

of his mind.'

'Can you hear his thoughts, Anarae?' Bevier asked her.

'Not clearly, Sir Knight. He is not yet close enough.'

Vanion frowned. "I wish we could get some assurance that

this ruse of ours is working,' he fretted. 'This could turn very

ugly if Zalasta's got any idea at all of what we're planning. Could

your scouts get any kind of estimate about how many Trolls are

out there, your Majesty?'

'Perhaps fifteen hundred, Vanion-Preceptor,' Betuana replied.

'That's almost the whole herd,' Ulath observed. 'There aren't

really very many Trolls.' He made a wry face. 'There don't really

have to be. One Troll's a crowd all by himself in a fight.'

'if we were planning a battle, would we have enough men?'

Tynian asked him.

Ulath wobbled one hand back and forth uncertainly. 'it'd be

touch and go,' he replied. 'We've only got about twelve thousand.

Attacking fifteen hundred Trolls with so few would be an

act of desperation.'

'Our ruse is believable, then,' Vanion said. 'Cyrgon and

Zalasta shouldn't have any reason to suspect a trap.'

They waited. The horses of the knights were restive and grew

more difficult to control as the minutes ticked by.

Then an Atan woman came running back across the frosty

meadow. 'They've started to move, Betuana-Queen!' she

shouted from about a hundred yards out.

"It worked, then,' Talen said gleefully.

'We'll see,' Khalad said cautiously. 'Let's not start dancing in

the streets just yet.'

The scout came the rest of the way across the meadow to join

them.

'Tell us what you saw,' Betuana commanded.

'The man-beasts are coming toward us, Betuana-Queen,' the

woman replied. 'They move singly, some far to the front and

others lagging behind.'

'Trolls wouldn't understand the concept of fighting as a unit,'

Ulath told them.

'Who commands them?' Betuana asked.

'Something that is very large and ugly, Betuana-queen." the

scout reported. 'The man-beasts around it are taller than

Atan, and they scarcely come as high as its waist. Then

Styrics with it as well - eight, by my count.'

'Did one of them have silvery hair and beard?' Sephrenia

asked intently.

'There were two such. One is thin, and one is fat. The thin

one is close by the big ugly thing.'

'That one is Zalasta,' she said in a bleak voice.

'I'll take a promise from you now, Sephrenia,' Vanion said

firmly.

'You can go whistle for promises right now, Vanion,' she

replied tartly. She was flexing her fingers in an ominous sort of

way.

'You were right, Sparhawk-Knight,' Engessa said with a faint

smile. 'When we reached Sarsos last summer, you said

Sephrenia was two hundred feet tall. She does seem to grow as

one comes to know her better, doesn't she? I don't think I'd care

to trade places with Zalasta right now.'

'No,' Sparhawk agreed. 'That wouldn't be a good idea.'

'Will you at least agree to think just a little before you start

grappling with Zalasta?' Vanion pleaded. 'For my sake? My heart

stops when you're in danger.'

She smiled at him. 'That's very sweet, Vanion, but I'm not

the one in danger right now.'

Then they heard it. It was a dull, rhythmic thudding of hundreds

of feet striking the earth in unison, and that thudding was

accompanied by a low, brutish grunting. Then the thudding and

grunting suddenly broke off, and a shrill, wailing ululation rose,

fluctuating and piercing the chill air.

'Kring!' Ulath barked. 'Let's go have a look.' And the two

galloped out across the frozen meadow.

'What is it?' Vanion asked.

"Very bad news,' Kalten replied tensely. 'We've heard that

noise before. When we were on our way to Zemoch, we came

across some creatures Sephrenia called the "Dawn Men". They

make Trolls look like tame puppies by comparison.'

'And the Troll-Gods wouldn't have any authority over them,'

Sephrenia added. 'We might have to retreat.'

'Never!' Betuana almost shouted. "I won't run away again not

from anything! I've been humiliated too many times already!

My Atans and I will die here if necessary!'

Ulath and Kring came riding back, their faces baffled. 'They're

just ordinary Trolls!' Ulath exclaimed. 'But they're stamPing and

grunting and wailing the same way the Dawn-Men did!'

Flute suddenly burst out laughing.

'What's so funny?' Talen demanded.

'Cyrgon,' she replied gaily. "I knew he was stupid, but I didn't

think he was this stupid. He can't tell the difference between Trolls

and Dawn-Men. He's forcing the Trolls to behave the way their

ancestors did, and that won't work with Trolls. All he's doing is

confusing them. Let's go out and meet them, Sparhawk. I want

to watch Cyrgon's face crumble and fall off the front of his head.'

Then she drove her little grass-stained feet into the flanks of

Talen's horse, obliging the rest of them to follow along behind.

They crested a low hill and reined in. The Trolls were advancing

through the tall grass on a broad front, quite nearly a mile

across, shuffling, stamping their heels, and grunting in unison.

A vast shape which very closely resembled Ghworg, the God of

Kill, shambled along in the center of the brutish throng, beating

on the frozen ground with a huge, iron-bound club.

The monstrous apparition was closely surrounded by a group

of white-robed Styrics. Sparhawk could quite clearly see Zalasta

to Cyrgon's right.

'Cyrgon!' Aphrael called. Her voice was shatteringly loud.

Then she spoke at some length in a language that had only

traces of Styric in it and was shaded around the edges with bits

and pieces of Elenic and Tamul and a half-dozen other languages

as well.

'What tongue is that?' Betuana demanded.

"It is the language of the Gods,' Vanion replied, his voice

carrying that slightly wooden overtone that always overlaid it

when Bhelliom spoke. 'The Child Goddess doth taunt Cyrgon.'

Vanion seemed to wince slightly. 'Thou wert perhaps unwise to

expose thy Goddess overmuch to Elenes, Sephrenia,' Bhelliom

observed. 'Her capacity for imprecation and insult seemeth me

inappropriate for one so young.'

'Aphrael is hardly young, Blue Rose,' she replied.

A faint smile touched Vanion's lips. 'Not to thee, perhaps.

Perspective, however, doth color all. To me, thy seemingly

ancient Goddess is scarce more than a babe.'

'Be nice,' Aphrael murmured. Then she continued to rail at

the now-enraged Cyrgon.

'Can you hear Zalasta's thoughts now, Anarae?' Kalten asked.

'Clearly, Sir Knight,' Xanetia replied.

'Does he have any suspicion at all about what we're going to

do?'

'Nay. He doth believe that victory is within his reach.'

Aphrael stopped in mid-curse. 'Let's disabuse him of that right

now,' she said. 'Turn loose the Troll-Gods, Sparhawk.'

'An it please thee, Blue Rose,' Sparhawk said politely, 'evict

thine unwanted tenants now.'

'More than gladly, Anakha,' Bhelliom replied with great relief.

The Troll-Gods were not surrounded by that azure nimbus

this time. They appeared suddenly and in vividly excruciating

detail. Sparhawk suppressed a wave of revulsion.

'Go to your children, Ghworg!' Aphrael commanded in Trollish.

"It is your semblance Cyrgon has stolen, and it is your right

to cause hurt to him for that.'

Ghworg roared his agreement and charged down the hill with

the other Troll-Gods close on his heels.

The counterfeit Ghwerg gaped up the hill at the dreadful

reality descending upon him. And then he screamed in sudden

agony.

'Does that even happen to Gods?' Talen asked Flute. 'Does it

hurt you as much as it hurts humans to have one of your spells

broken?'

'Even more,' she almost purred. 'Cyrgon's brains are on fire

right now.'

The Trolls were also gaping at their suddenly materialized

Gods. One huge brute not far from the writhing God of the

Cyrgai reached out almost absently, picked up a shrieking Styric,

and pulled off his head. Then he tossed the head aside and

began to eat the still-convulsing body.

The Troll-Gods roared something in unison, and the Trolls all

fell on their faces

Cyrgon writhed, shrieking, and the seven remaining Styrics

collapsed as if they had been cut down. The false shape of

Ghworg shuddered away into nothingness, and Cyrgon himself

suddenly appeared as an amorphous blob of pale, intense light.

Aphrael sneered. 'That's Cyrgon for you,' she noted. 'He

claims to be too proud to assume a human form. Personally, I

think he's just too clumsy. If he tried, he'd probably put the head

on upside down or both arms on the same side.' She shrieked a

few more triumphant insults.

'Aphrael.' Sephrenia actually sounded shocked.

'I've been saving those up,' the Child Goddess apologized.

'You weren't really supposed to hear me say them.'

Cyrgon's fire was fluctuating wildly now, flaring and dimming

as his agony swelled and then diminished.

'What is Zalasta feeling now?' Sephrenia eagerly asked

Xanetia.

'His pain doth go beyond mine ability to describe it,' the Anarae

replied.

'Dear, dear sister!' Sephrenia exulted. 'You've made me haPpier

than you could possibly imagine!'

'Are you ever going to be able to tame her again?' Sparhawk

asked Vanion.

"It may take a while.' Vanion's tone was troubled.

The writhing, half-formed shape of the flame-like Cyrgon partially

rose and waved one huge, fiery arm, and a half-mile or so

behind the Trolls there suddenly appeared a vast glittering.

'He's called up his Cyrgai!' Khalad shouted. 'We'd better do

something. '

'Ghworg! Schlee~' Vanion roared in Bhelliom's huge voice.

'Cyrgon hath summoned his children. Now may your children

feast!'

The Troll-Gods swelled even more enormous and barked

sharp commands to their prostrate worshipers. The Trolls

scrambled to their feet, turned, and looked hungrily at the

advancing Cyrgai drawn from ages past. Then with a great roar

they rushed toward the banquet Cyrgon had so generously

provided.

Ehlana was tired. It had been one of those exhausting days with

so many things to do that nothing had been really wrapped

up before the next intruded itself. She had retired to the royal

bedroom with Mirtai, Alcan and Melidere to prepare for bed.

Danae trailed along behind them, dragging Rollo by one hind

leg and yawning broadly.

'The Emperor was in a peculiar humor this evening,' Melidere

noted, closing the door behind them.

'Sarabian's nerves are strung a little tight right now,' Ehlana

said, sitting down at her dressing-table. 'The future of his whole

empire hinges on what Sparhawk and the others are doing in

the north, and there's no way he can keep track of what's going

on up there.'

Danae yawned again and curled up in a chair.

'Where's your cat?' Ehlana asked her.

'She's around somewhere,' Danae replied sleepily.

'Check my bed, Mirtai,' Ehlana instructed. "I don't like furry

little surprises in the middle of the night.'

Mirtai patted down the canopied royal bed and then dropped

to her knees to look under all the furniture. 'No sign of her,

Ehlana,' she reported.

'You'd better go find her, Danae,' the queen said.

'i'm sleepy, mother,' Danae objected.

'The sooner you find your cat, the sooner you can get to bed.

Let's catch her before she gets out of the castle this time. Go with

her, Mirtai. After you two find the cat put Danae to bed and

then see if you can locate either Stragen or Caalador. One of

them's supposed to bring me a report on what's going on at the

Cynesgan embassy tonight, and I'd like to get it out of the way

before I go to bed. I don't want them banging on my door in

the middle of the night.'

Mirtai nodded. 'Come along, Danae,' she said.

The princess sighed. She climbed out of her chair, kissed her

mother, and followed the golden giantess out of the room.

Alcan began to brush the queen's hair. Ehlana loved to have

her hair brushed. There was a kind of sleepy, sensual delight

in it that relaxed her tremendously. She was quite vain about

her hair. It was thick and heavy and lustrously blonde. Its pale

color was astounding to the dark-haired Tamuls, and she knew

that all eyes would be on her any time she entered a room.

The three of them talked, the drowsy, intimate talk of ladies

preparing for bed.

Then there was a polite tapping at the door.

'Oh, bother,' Ehlana said. 'See who that is, Melidere.'

'Yes, your Majesty.' The Baroness rose to her feet and crossed

the bedroom to the door. She opened it and spoke for a moment

with the people outside. "It's four of the Peloi, your Majesty,'

she said. 'They say they have word from the north.'

'Bring them in, Melidere.' Ehlana turned to face the door.

The man who came through the door did not look all that

much like a Peloi. The clothing, tight-fitting and mostly leather,

was right, as was the saber at the man's waist. His head was

shaved, as were the heads of all Peloi men, but this fellow's face

was slightly tanned, whereas his scalp was as pale as the belly

of a fish. Something was wrong here.

The man behind the first wore a carefully trimmed black

beard. His face was very pale, and it looked somehow familiar.

The last two also wore Peloi garb and had shaved their heads,

but they were definitely not Peloi. The first was Elron, the juvenile

Astellian poet, and the second pouchy-eyed and slightly

tipsy, was Krager. 'Ah,' he said in his drink-slurred voice, 'so

good to see you again, your Majesty.'

'How did you get in here, Krager?' she demanded.

'Nothing easier, Ehlana,' he smirked. 'You should have kept

a few of Sparhawk's knights here to stand watch. Church

Knights are more observant than Tamul soldiers. We dressed as

Peloi and shaved our heads, and no one gave us a second glance.

Elron here covered his face with his cloak when the Baroness

answered the door - just as a precaution - but otherwise it was

almost too easy. You have met Elron before, haven't you?'

"I vaguely remember him, don't you, Melidere?'

'Why, yes, I believe so, your Majesty,' the blonde girl replied.

'Wasn't he that literary incompetent we met back in Astel? The

one with delusions of grandeur? I'd hardly call those atrocities

he commits poetry, though.'

Elron's face went suddenly white with outrage.

'i'm not an expert in the area of poetry, ladies,' Krager

shrugged. 'Elron tells me that he's a poet, so I take him at his

word. May I present Baron Parok?' he indicated the first man

who had entered the room.

Parok bowed floridly. His face was marked with the purplish

broken veins of a heavy drinker, and his eyes were pouchy and

dissipated-looking.

Ehlana ignored him. 'You're not going to get out of here alive,

Krager. You know that, don't you?'

"I always get out alive, Ehlana,' he smirked. 'My preparations

are always very thorough. Now I'd like to have you meet our

leader. This is Scarpa.' He gestured at the bearded man. 'i'm

sure you've heard of him, and he's been absolutely dying to

make your acquaintance.'

'He doesn't look all that dead to me - yet,' she noted. 'Why

don't you call the guards to remedy that, Melidere?'

Scarpa blocked the Baroness. 'This bravado is quite out of

place in a mere woman,' he said to Ehlana coldly in a voice

loaded with contempt. 'You give yourself too many airs. All the

genuflecting and "your Majesty"s seem to have gone to your

head and made you forget that you're still only a woman.'

"I don't think I need instruction in proper behavior from the

bastard son of a whore!' she retorted.

Scarpa's face flickered a brief annoyance. 'We're wasting time

here,' he said. His voice was deep and rich, the voice of a performer,

and his manner and gestures were studied. He had

obviously spent a great deal of time in the public eye. 'We have

many leagues to cover before dawn.'

'i'm not going anyplace,' she declared.

'You'll go where I tell you to go,' he said, 'and I'll teach you

your place as we go along.'

'What do you hope to gain from this?' Melidere demanded.

'Empire and victory.' Scarpa shrugged. 'We're taking the

Queen of Elenia hostage. her husband is so stupid that he forgets

that the world is full of women - one very much like

another. He's so foolishly attached to her that he'll give us anything

for her safe return.'

'Are you such an idiot that you actually believe that my busband

will trade Bhelliom for me?' Ehlana said scornfully. 'Sparhawk

is Anakha, you fool, and he has Bhelliom in his fist. That

makes him a God. He killed Azash, he'll kill Cyrgon, and he'll

definitely kill you. Pray that he does it quickly, Scarpa. He has

it in his power to make your dying last for a million years if he

chooses.'

"I do not pray, woman. Only weaklings put any faith in Gods.'

"I think you underestimate Sparhawk's devotion to you,

Ehlana,' Krager said. 'He'll give up anything to gain your safe

return.'

'He won't have to,' Ehlana snapped. 'I'll deal with the

four of you myself. Do you really think you can get out of here

when one word from me will bring half the garrison running?'

'You won't give that word, however,' Scarpa sneered. 'You're

just a little too arrogant, woman. I think you need to know the

full reality of your situation.' He turned and pointed at Baroness

Melidere. 'Kill that one,' he commanded Elron.

'But...' the pasty-faced literary poseur began to object.

'Kill her!' Scarpa snapped. 'if you don't, I'll kill you!'

Elron tremblingly drew his rapier and advanced on the defiant

Baroness. "It's not a knitting-needle, you clot,' Melidere told

him. 'You can't even hold it right. Stick to butchering language,

Elron. You don't have the skill - or the stomach - to move up

to people yet, although your so-called poetry's bad enough to

make people want to die.'

'How dare you?' he almost screamed, his face turning purple.

'How's your "Ode to Blue" coming, Elron?' she taunted him.

'You could make a fortune peddling that one as an emetic, you

know. I felt the urge to vomit before you'd finished reciting the

first stanza. '

He howled in absolute rage and made a clumsy thrust with

his rapier.

Ehlana had watched Stragen training Sarabian often enough

to know that the thrust was well off the mark. The intrepid

Baroness, however, coolly deflected the blade with the wrist of

the hand she seemed to be raising in a futilely defensive gesture,

and Elron's blade passed smoothly through her shoulder.

Melidere gasped, clutching at the blade to conceal the exact

location of the wound. Then she lurched back to pull herself

free of the blade and clawed at the wound to spread the

blood spurting from it over the bodice of her nightdress. Then

she fell.

'You murderer!' Ehlana shrieked, rushing to her fallen friend.

She hurled herself across Melidere's inert body, weeping and

crying out in apparent anguish. 'Are you all right?' she muttered

under her breath between sobs.

"It's only a scratch,' Melidere lied, also in a whisper.

'Tell Sparhawk that I'm all right,' the queen instructed, tugging

off her ring and concealing it in Melidere's bodice, 'and tell

him that I forbid him to give up Bhelliom, no matter what they

threaten to do to me.' She rose to her feet, her face tear-streaked.

'You'll hang for this, Elron,' she said in a deadly voice, 'or maybe

I'll have you burned at the stake instead - with a slow fire.' She

pulled a blanket from the bed and quickly covered Melidere with

it to prevent too close an examination.

'We will leave now,' Scarpa said coldly. 'That other one is also

your friend, I believe.' He pointed at the ashen-faced Alcan.

'We'll take her along and if you make any outcry at all, I'll

personally slit her throat.'

'You're forgetting the message, Scarpa,' Krager said pulling

a folded piece of paper from the inside of his leather Peloi jacket.

'We have to leave a friendly little note for Sparhawk - just to let

him know that we stopped by to call.' Then he drew a small

knife. 'Your pardon, Queen Ehlana,' he smirked, exhaling the

sharp, acrid reek of his wine-sodden breath into her face, 'but

I need a bit of authentication to prove to Sparhawk that we're

really holding you captive.' He took hold of a lock of Ehlana's

hair and roughly sawed it off with his knife. 'We'll just leave

this with our note so that he can compare it with later ones to

verify that it's really yours.' His grin grew even more vicious

'if you should feel a sudden urge to cry out, Ehlana, just remember

that all we really need is your head. We can harvest hair

from that, so we won't need to bring the rest of you along if

you start being too much bother. '