Domes of Fire by David Eddings

employer’s name, by the way. You’ve heard of Him, I suppose?’

‘A few times.’ Sparhawk forced himself to sound casual. ‘Good. That saves

us a lot of time. Pay attention now, Sparhawk. We’re getting to the

significant part of this little chat. Cyrgon wants you to go home. Your

presence here on the Daresian continent is an inconvenience nothing more,

really. just an inconvenience. If you had Bhelliom in your pocket, we might

take you seriously, but you don’t – and so we don’t. You’re all alone here,

my old friend. You don’t have the Bhelliom, and you don’t have the Church

Knights. You’ve only got the remnants of Ehlana’s honour guard and a

hundred of those mounted apes from Pelosia. You’re hardly worth even

noticing. If you go home, Cyrgon will give you His pledge not to move

against the Eosian continent for a hundred years. You’ll be long dead by

then, and so will everybody you care about. It’s not really a bad offer,

you know. You get yourself a hundred years of peace just by getting on a

ship and going back to Cimmura.’

‘And if I don’t?’

‘We’ll ‘kill you – after we’ve killed your wife and your daughter and

everybody else in the whole world you care about. There’s another

possibility, of course. You could join us. Cyrgon could see to it that you

lived longer than even Otha did. He specifically told me to make you that

offer.’

‘Thank Him for me – if you ever see Him again.’

‘You’re declining, I gather?’

‘Obviously. I haven’t seen nearly as much of Daresia as I want to see, so

I think I’ll stay for a while, and I’m sure I wouldn’t care for the company

of you and Cyrgon’s other hirelings.’

‘I told Cyrgon you’d take that position, but He insisted that I make the

offer.’

‘if he’s so all-powerful, why’s He trying to bribe me?: ‘Out of respect,

Sparhawk. Can you believe that? He respects you because you’re Anakha. The

whole concept baffles Him, and He’s intrigued by it. I honestly believe

He’d like to get to know you. You know how childish Gods can be at times.’

‘Speaking of Gods, what’s behind this alliance He’s made with the

Troll-Gods?’ Then Sparhawk thought of something. ‘Never mind, Krager, I’ve

just worked it out for myself. A God’s power is dependent on the number of

worshippers he has. ‘The Cyrgai are extinct, so Cyrgon’s no more than a

squeaky little voice making hollow pronouncements in a ruin somewhere in

central Cynesga – all noise and no substance.’

‘Someone’s been telling you fairy-tales, Sparhawk. The Cyrgai are far from

extinct – as you’ll find out to your sorrow if you stay in Tamuli. Cyrgon

made the alliance with the Troll-Gods in order to bring the Trolls to

Daresia. Your Atans are very impressive, but they’re no match for Trolls.

Cyrgon’s very sentimental about His chosen people. He’d rather not lose

them needlessly in skirmishes with a race of freaks, ‘ so He made an

arrangement with the Troll-Gods. The Trolls will get the pleasure of

killing – and eating – the Atans.’ Krager drained the rest of his wine.

‘This is starting to bore me, Sparhawk, and my cup’s gone empty. I told

Cyrgon I’d present you with His offer. He’s giving you the chance to live

out the rest of your life in peace. I’d advise you to take it. He won’t

make the offer again. Really, old boy, why should you care what happens to

the Tamuls? They’re nothing but yellow monkeys, after all. ‘Church policy,

Krager. Our Holy Mother takes the long view. Tell Cyrgon to take His offer

and stick it up His nose. I’m staying.’

‘It’s your funeral, Sparhawk,’ Krager laughed. ‘I might even send flowers.

I’ve had all the entertainment of knowing a pair of anachronisms – you and

Martel. I’ll drink to your memories from time to time – if I remember you

at all.’ And then the illusion of the shabby scoundrel vanished. ‘So that’s

Krager,’ Khalad said in a chill tone. ‘i’m glad I got the chance to meet

him.’

‘What exactly have you got in mind, Khalad?’

‘I thought I might kill him just a little bit. Fair’s fair, Sparhawk. You

got Martel, Talen got Adus, so Krager’s mine. ‘

‘Sounds fair to’ me,’ Sparhawk agreed.

‘Was he drunk?’ Kalten asked. ‘Krager’s always a little drunk,’ Sparhawk

replied. ‘He wasn’t so far gone that he got careless, though.’ He looked

around. ‘Would everybody like to say ‘I told you so’ right here and now?’

he asked them. ‘Let’s have it out of the way right at the start, so I don’t

have it hanging over my head. Yes, it Probably would have been more

convenient if I’d killed him the last time I saw him, but if we hadn’t had

his testimony to the Hierocracy at the time of the election, Dolmant

probably wouldn’t be the Archprelate right now.’

‘I might be able to learn to live with that,’ Ehlana murmured. ‘Be nice,’

Emban told her. ‘Only joking, your Grace.’

‘Are you sure you repeated what he said verbatim?’ Sephrenia asked

Sparhawk. ‘It was very close, little mother,’ Khalad assured her. She

frowned. ‘It was contrived. I’m sure you all realise that. Krager didn’t

really tell us anything we didn’t already know – or could have guessed.’

‘The name Cyrgon hadn’t come up before, Sephrenia,’ Vanion disagreed. ‘And

it may very well never come up again,’ she replied. ‘i’d need a lot more

than Krager’s unsubstantiated word before I’ll believe that Cyrgon’s

involved.’

‘Well, somebody’s involved,’ Tynian noted. ‘Somebody had to be impressive

enough to get the attention of the Troll-Gods, and Krager doesn’t quite fit

that description. ‘

‘Not to mention the fact that Krager can’t even pronounce ‘magic’, much

less use it,’ Kalten added. ‘Could just any Styric have cast that spell,

little mother?’ Sephrenia shook her head. ‘It’s very difficult,’ she

conceded. ‘if it hadn’t been done exactly right, Sparhawk’s sword would

have gone right through the real Krager. Sparhawk would have started the

thrust in that room up in the tower, and it would have finished up in a

room a mile away sliding through Krager’s heart.’

‘All right then,’ Emban said, pacing up and down the room with his pudgy

hands clasped behind his back. ‘Now we know that this so-called uprising

tonight wasn’t intended seriously.’ Sparhawk shook his head. ‘No, your

Grace, we don’t know that for certain. Regardless of what he says, Krager

learned much of his style from Martel, and trying to shrug a failure off by

pretending that the scheme wasn’t really serious in the first place is

exactly the sort of thing Martel would have done.’

‘You knew him better than I did,’ Emban shrugged. ‘Can we really be sure

that Krager and the others are working for a God – Cyrgon or maybe some

other one?’

‘Not really, Emban,’ Sephrenia replied. ‘The TrollGods are involved, and

they could be doing the things we’ve encountered that are beyond the

capability of a human magician. There’s a sorcerer out there, certainly,

but we ‘can’t be certain that there’s a God – other than the Troll-Gods involved

as well.’

‘But it could be a God, couldn’t it?’ Emban pressed. ‘Anything’s possible,

your Grace,’ she shrugged. ‘That’s what I needed to know,’ the fat little

churchman said. ‘It rather looks as if I’m going to have to make a flying

trip back to Chyrellos.’

‘That went by me a little fast, your Grace,’ Kalten confessed. ‘We’re

going to need the Church Knights, Kalten,’ Emban said. ‘All of them.’

‘They’re committed to Render, your Grace,’ Bevier reminded him. ‘Render can

wait.’

‘The Archprelate may feel differently about that, Emban,’ Vanion told him.

‘Reconciliation with the Renders has been one of our Holy Mother’s goals

for over half a millennium now.’

‘She’s patient. She’ll wait. She’s going to have to wait. This is a

crisis, Vanion.’

‘I’ll go with you, your Grace,’ Tynian said. ‘I won’t be of much use here

in Tamuli until my shoulder heals anyway, and I’ll be able to clarify the

military situation to Sarathi much better than you will. Dolmant’s had

Pandion training, so he’ll understand military terminalogy. Right now we’re

standing out in the open with our breeches down – begging your Majesty’s

pardon for the crudity of that expression,’ he apologised to Ehlana. ‘It’s

an interesting metaphor, Sir Tynian,’ she smiled, ‘and it conjures up an

absolutely enthralling image.’

‘I’ll agree with the Patriarch of Ucera,’ Tynian went on. ‘We definitely

have to have the Church Knights here in Tamuli. If we don’t get them here

in a hurry, this whole situation’s going to crumble right in our hands.’

‘I’ll send word to Tikume,’ Kring volunteered. ‘He’ll send us several

thousand mounted Peloi. We don’t wear armour or use magic, but we know how

to fight.’

‘Will you be able to hold out here until the Church Knights arrive,