‘Sleep for a while, Oshi,’ said Chien, but the old man shook his head.
‘I would dream of that place, and I would never wake.’
Nodding, Chien took a sharp knife from the sheath in his sleeve. ‘Then be so kind as to make yourself useful. Shave me.’
The little servant smiled. ‘Yes, lord.’
*
The sun sank beyond the distant, mist-shrouded horizon and Chareos stood alone, staring down at the city below, where the first lanterns of evening had been lit. He thought of his boyhood, and the dream of Attalis that one day Chareos would return to the lands of the Drenai and find the hidden Armour of Bronze.
‘You will be a great leader, my boy. I know. I can see it in you.’
How little you knew me, thought Chareos. You saw me through the eyes of hope. A great leader? I have brought my greatest friends on a quest of death, and they lie unburied and far from home.
And what did we achieve, he wondered? How has the world been changed by their deaths?
‘It is not over yet,’ whispered a voice in his mind.
‘Okas?’ he said aloud. But there was no response, and he wondered if he had imagined the old man’s voice in the whispering of the dusk breeze. He shivered.
Beltzer had saved them all, standing alone in the dark of the mountain. Chareos smiled, and a weight lifted from him. He looked up at the sky. ‘You were a cantankerous, foul-smelling, evil-minded whoreson, Beltzer. But you never let down a friend. May the Source take you. May you drink your fill in the Hall of Heroes.’
He turned away and saw Harokas standing close by, half hidden in the shadows. The assassin stepped forward.
‘I am sorry, Chareos, I did not mean to eavesdrop on your farewell.’
The swordsman shrugged. ‘It does not matter. What did you want?’
‘You intend to go into the city?’
‘Yes.’
Harokas nodded. ‘It strikes me that we shall have a serious problem if you succeed. We have no horses. Even if you bring the woman out – how will we get away?’
‘The wizard will think of something,’ said Chareos uneasily.
‘Yes, I’m sure,’ answered Harokas, dropping his voice, ‘but he is playing his own game – and I don’t like to think what it might be. But every time I have heard of Nadir shamen it is to do with death and human sacrifice. Is that why he wants the woman, do you think?’
When Chareos said nothing Harokas nodded, understanding the silence. ‘Yes, I thought you were worried about that. Look, I will not come with you. I will walk down into the city and buy ponies. I am not known there, and we are not yet at war with the Nadir. Once I have bought them I will ride south, then turn and meet you beyond that bluff, near the stand of poplar.’
Chareos looked deeply into the man’s eyes. ‘Will you betray us, Harokas? Will you sell us for Nadir gold?’
The assassin’s face darkened, but he bit back an angry response. Instead he said, ‘I say this for your ears only, Blademaster; I love Tanaki. I would die for her. You understand me? I would sell you in an instant, but not her. Never her.’
‘I believe you,’ said Chareos. ‘We will meet as you say.’
Harokas eased past the Blademaster and climbed down the ridge. Chareos watched him, but the dark-garbed figure was soon lost among the shadows.
‘Far be it from me to criticise a leader’s decision,’ said Chien-tsu, bowing low, ‘but I do not believe he is to be trusted.’
‘You move silently, ambassador.’
‘Sometimes it is better so to do. Will we truly meet him at the place you agreed?’
‘No. To get there he must pass the trail to the south. We will wait there.’
‘Excellent. It may be, Chareos, that I will not be accompanying you. If that proves to be true, would you be so kind as to look after my servant, Oshi? See him safely to a port. I will leave him coin to pay his passage to Kiatze.’
‘You intend to kill Jungir Khan? Alone?’