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