‘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.’