the ambassador. ‘I didn’t tell you that I was really awake when most of you
thought I was sleeping because it wasn’t necessary for you to know before.
Now it is. Snap out of it, man. The foreign minister has to be able to take
these little surprises in his stride.’
‘It’s just taking me a little while to re-adjust my thinking, your
Majesty.’
‘You thought I was an idiot, am I right?’
‘Well -‘
‘You were supposed to think so, Oscagne – you and Subat and all the other
ministers. It’s been one of my main defences – and amusements. Actually,
old boy, I’m something of a genius.’ He smiled at Ehlana. ‘That sounds
immodest, doesn’t it? But it’s true, nonetheless. I learned your language
in three weeks, and Styric in four. I can find the logical fallacies in the
most abstruse treaties on Elene theology, and I’ve probably read – and
understood – just about everything that’s ever been written. My most
brilliant achievement, however, has been to keep all that a secret. The
people who call themselves my government – no offence intended, Oscagne
seem to be engaging in some vast conspiracy to keep me in the dark. They
only tell me things they think I’ll want to hear. I have to look out of a
window to get an accurate idea of the current weather. They have the
noblest of motives, of course. They want to spare me any distress, but I
really think that someone ought to tell me when the ship I’m riding in is
sinking, don’t you?’ Sarabian was still talking very fast, spilling out
ideas
as quickly as they came to him. His eyes were bright, and he seemed almost
on the verge of laughing out loud. He was obviously tremendously excited.
‘Now then,’ he rushed on, ‘we must devise a means of communicating without
alerting everyone in the palace down to and including the scullery boys in
the kitchen to what we’re doing. I desperately need to know what’s really
going on so that I can bring my towering intellect to bear on it.’ That
last was delivered with selfdeprecating irony. ‘Any ideas?’
‘What are your feelings about magic, your Majesty?’ Sparhawk asked him. ‘I
haven’t formed an opinion yet, Sparhawk.’
‘It won’t work then,’ Sparhawk told him. ‘You have to believe that the
spell’s going to work, or it’ll fail.’
‘I might be able to make myself believe,’ Sarabian said just a bit
dubiously. That probably ‘wouldn’t do it, your Majesty,’ Sparhawk told him.
‘The spells would succeed or not depending on your mood. We need something
a bit more certain. There are things we’ll need to tell you that will be so
important that we won’t be able to just trust to luck.’
‘My feelings exactly, Sparhawk. That defines our problem then. We need an
absolutely certain method of passing information ‘ back and forth that
can’t be detected. My experience tells me that it has to be something so
commonplace that nobody will pay any attention to it.’
‘Exchange gifts,’ Baroness Melidere suggested in an offhand way. i’d be
delighted to send you gifts, my dear Baroness,’ Sarabian smiled. ‘Your eyes
quite stop my heart, but -‘ She held up one hand. ‘Excuse me, your
Majesty,’ She told him, ‘but nothing is more common than the exchange of
gifts between ruling monarchs. I can carry little mementos from the queen
to you, and the ambassador here can carry yours to her. After we’ve run
back and forth a few times, nobody will pay any attention to us. We can
conceal messages in those gifts, and no one will dare to search for them.’
Where did you find this wonderful girl, Ehlana?’ Sarabian demanded. ‘i’d
marry her in a minute – if I didn’t already have nine wives – oh,
incidentally, Sparhawk, I need to talk with you about that – privately,
perhaps.’ He looked around. ‘Can anyone see any flaws in the baroness’s
plan?’
‘Just one,’ Mirtai said, ‘but I can take care of that.’
‘What is it, Atana?’ the excited emperor asked. ‘Someone may still have
suspicions about this exchange of gifts – particularly if there’s a steady
stream of them. He might try to intercept Melidere, but I’ll escort her
back and forth. I’ll personally guarantee that no one will interfere.’
‘Excellent, Atana! Capital! We’d better get back, Oscagne. Subat misses me
terribly when I’m not where he expects me to be. Oh, Sparhawk please
designate several of your knights to entertain my wife, Elysoun.’
‘I beg your Majesty’s pardon?’
‘Young preferably handsome and with lots of stamina – you know the type.’
‘Are we talking about what I think we’re talking about, your Majesty?’
‘Of course we are. Elysoun enjoys exchanging gifts and favours too, and
she’d be crushed if no one wanted to play with her. She’s terribly shrill
when she’s unhappy. For the sake of my ears, please see to it, old boy.’
‘Ah – how many, your Majesty?’
‘A dozen or so should suffice, I expect. Coming, Oscagne?’ And the emperor
of Tamuli rushed to the door.
CHAPTER 25
‘its a characteristic of people with a certain level of intelligence, your
Majesty,’ Zalasta advised Ehlana. ‘They talk ‘very fast because their ideas
are spilling over. Emperor Sarabian may not be quite as brilliant as he
thinks he is, but his is a mind to be reckoned with. The amazing thing is
that he’s managed to keep it a secret from everybody in his government.
Those people are usually so erratic and excitable that they trip themselves
‘uP.’ They were all gathered in the royal apartment to discuss the previous
night’s startling revelation. Ambassador Oscagne had arrived early,
bringing with him a diagram of the hidden passageways and concealed
listening posts inside the Elene castle which was their temporary home. A
half-dozen spies had been rooted out and politely but firmly invited to
leave. ‘There’s nothing ‘really personal involved, your Majesty,’ Oscagne
apologised to Ehlana. ‘It’s just a matter of policy.’ I understand
completely, your Excellency,’ she replied graciously. Ehlana wore an
emerald green gown this morning, and she looked particularly lovely. is
your espionage system very well-developed, your excellency?’ Stragen asked.
‘No, not really, Milord. Each bureau of the government has its spies, but
they spend most of their time spying on each other. We’re far more nervous
about our coleagues than we are about foreign visitors.’ Their’s no
centralised intelligence service, then?’
‘ i’m afraid not, Milord.’
‘Are we sure we cleaned all the spies out?’ Emban asked, looking a bit
nervously at the gleaming walls. ‘Trust me, your Grace,’ Sephrenia smiled.
‘I didn’t follow that, I’m afraid.’
‘She wiggled her fingers, Patriarch Emban,’ Talen said dryly. ‘She turned
all the spies we didn’t catch into toads.’
‘Well, not exactly,’ she amended, ‘but if there are any spies left hiding
behind the walls, they can’t hear anything.’
‘You’re a very useful person to have around,
Sephrenia,’ the fat little churchman observed. ‘I’ve noticed that myself,’
Vanion agreed. ‘Let’s push on here,’ Ehlana suggested. ‘We don’t want to
overuse our subterfuge, but we will want to exchange a few gifts with
Sarabian just to make sure that no one’s going to intercept our ‘messages
and to get the courtiers in the hallways accustomed to seeing Melidere
trotting back and forth with trinkets.’
‘I won’t really trot, your Majesty,’ Melidere objected. ‘I’ll swish
seductively. I’ve found that a man who’s busy watching your hips
doesn’t pay too much attention to what the rest of you is doing.’
‘Really?’ Princess Danae said. ‘I’ll have to remember that. Can you show
me how to swish, Baroness?’
‘You’re going to have to grow some hips first, Prin-cess,’ Talen told her.
Danae’s eyes went suddenly dangerous. ‘Never mind,’ Sparhawk told her. She
ignored him. ‘I’ll get you for that, Talen,’ she threatened. ‘I doubt it,
your Highness,’ he replied impudently. ‘I can still run faster than you
can.’
‘We have another problem,’ Stragen told them. ‘The absolutely splendid
plan I conceived some months ago fell all to pieces on me last night. The
local thieves aren’t going to be much help, I’m afraid. They’re even worse
than Caalador led us to believe back in Lebas. Tamul society’s so rigid
that my colleagues out there in the streets can’t think independently.
There’s a certain way that thieves are supposed to behave here, and the
ones we met last night are so hide-bound that they can’t get around the
stereotyPes. The Elenes in the local thieves’ community are creative
enough, but the Tamuls are hopelessly inept.’
‘That’s certainly the truth,’ Talen agreed. ‘They don’t even try to run
when they’re caught stealing. They just stand around waiting to be taken
into custody. It’s the most immoral thing I’ve ever heard of.’
‘We might be able to salvage something out of it,’ Stragen continued.
‘I’ve sent for Caalador. Maybe he can talk some sense into them. What
concerns me the most is their absolute lack of any kind of organisation.