about a man with high ideals here. When he got to Natayos and
found out that there might be actual fighting involved, he started
to lose interest. Anyway, I found him in one of the shabbiest
taverns I’ve ever seen, and he was roaring drunk. Believe me,
From, he was in no condition to lie to me. I told him that I was
thinking of joining Scarpa’s army, and he turned all fatherly on
me – “Don’ even skink about it, boy. It’s tur’ble there” – that sort
of thing. He said that Scarpa’s a raving lunatic with delusions of
invincibility who thinks he can just blow on the Atans and make
them go away. He said he’d just about decided to desert anyway,
and then Scarpa came back to Natayos – along with Krager, Elron
and Baron Parok. They had the Queen and Alcan with them, and
Zalasta met them at the gate. The Dacite happened to be nearby,
so he could hear what they were saying. Evidently, Zalasta’s still
got a few good manners, so he wasn’t very happy about the way
Scarpa had been treating his prisoners. The two of them had an
argument about it, and Zalasta tied his son into a very complicated
knot with magic. I guess Scarpa was squirming around like a
%wont on a hot rock for a while. Then Zalasta took the ladies to a
large house that had been fixed up for them. From what my
deserter said, the house comes fairly close to being luxurious – if
you discount the bars on the windows.’
‘He could have been coached,’ Sparhawk fretted. ‘Maybe he
wasn’t as drunk as he appeared to be.’
‘Believe me, From, he was drunk,’ Talen assured him. ‘I cut a
purse on my way to that tavern – just to keep in practice – so I
had plenty of money. I poured enough strong drink into him to
stun a regiment.’
‘I think he’s right, From,’ Stragen said. ‘There are just too
many details for this to be a contrived story.’
‘And if this deserter had been sent to spin cobwebs for our
benefit, why would he waste time and effort entertaining a
young pickpocket?’ Talen added. ‘None of us look the way we
did the last time Zalasta saw us, and I doubt that even he could
have guessed how Sephrenia and Xanetia put their heads
together to modify us.’
‘I still think we should hold off,’ Sparhawk said. ‘Aphrael’s
going to put Xanetia into Natayos in a day or so, and Xanetia
can find out for sure if it’s really Ehlana who’s locked up in that
house.’
‘We could at least get closer,’ Stragen said.
‘Why? Distance doesn’t mean anything to my blue friend
here.’ Sparhawk touched the bulge under the front of his tunic.
‘Just as soon as I know for certain that Ehlana’s there, we’ll go
pay Zalasta and his bastard a call. I might even invite Khwaj to
come along. He has some plans for them that sort of interest
me.’
The light was suddenly very bright, and the citizens of Sepal
abruptly ceased jerking around like marionettes on strings and
started to walk like normal humans. It had taken a half a day
to explain to Ghnomb why it was necessary for them to return
to real time, and the God of Eat still had some serious reservations
about the whole idea.
‘i’ll wait in that tavern just up the street,’ Tynian said to Ulath
as the two of them stepped out of the narrow alley. ‘Do you
remember the password?’
Ulath grunted. ‘I shouldn’t be long,’ he said. He walked across
the street toward the pair of travelers who had just come into
town. ‘That’s an interesting looking saddlebow you’ve got there,
neighbor,’ he said to one of them, a broken-nosed man on a
roan horse. ‘What’s it made of? Ramshorn?’
Berit gave him a startled look, then glanced quickly around
the narrow street near the east gate of Sepal. ‘I didn’t think to
ask the saddle-maker, Sergeant,’ he replied, noticing the blond
Elene’s tattered-looking uniform jacket. ‘Ah – maybe you could
give my young friend and me some advice.’
‘Advice is free. Go ahead and ask.’
‘Do you happen to know of a good inn here in Sepal?’
‘The one my friend and I are staying at isn’t too bad. It’s about
three streets over.’ Ulath pointed. ‘it’s got the sign of a boar
hanging out front – although the picture doesn’t look very much
like any boar I’ve ever seen.’
‘We’ll look into it.’
‘Maybe my friend and I’ll see you there. We’re usually in the
taproom after supper.’
‘We’ll stop by – if we decide to stay there.’
Ulath nodded and walked up the street to a tavern and went
on inside, where he joined Tynian at a table near the fire. ‘What
did you do with our shaggy friend?’ he asked.
‘He went out looking for another dog,’ Tynian replied. ‘You
‘might have made a mistake there, Sergeant. He seems to be
developing a taste for them. There won’t be a dog left in the
whole town if we stay much longer.’
Ulath sat down and leaned back. ‘Ran into an Elene fellow
out there in the street,’ he said, loudly enough to be heard by
the other tavern patrons.
‘Oh?’ Tynian said casually. ‘Astellian or Edomish?’
‘it was sort of hard to say. He’d had his nose broken at one
tine or another, so it was a little difficult to determine his race.
He was looking for a good inn, so I recommended the one where
we’re staying. We might see him there. It’s good to hear somebody
talking Elenic for a change. I get tired of listening to people
babbling at me in Tamul. If you’re about finished here, why
don’t we drift on down to the harbor and see if we can find
somebody to ferry us on across the lake to Tiara.’
Tynian drained his tankard. ‘Let’s go,’ he said, standing up.
The two of them left the tavern and strolled back to their inn,
Walking casually and moving at the leisurely pace of men with
nothing really pressing to do.
I want to have a look at that shoe on my horse’s left forehoof,’
Ulath said when they arrived. ‘Go on ahead. I’ll meet you in
the taproom. ‘
Where else?’ Tynian laughed.
Khalad was in the stable as Ulath had expected. He was
making some show of currying Faran. ‘I see that you and your
friend decided to stay here,’ the big Thalesian said in a casual
tone.
It was handy,’ Khalad shrugged.
listen carefully,’ Ulath said in a voice hardly more than a
whisper. ‘We were able to pick up some information. Nothing’s
going to happen here. You’ll get another one of those messages.’
Khalad nodded.
“it’s going to tell you to go on across the lake to Tiara. Be
careful of what you say on the boat, because there’ll be a fellow
on board who’s working for the other side – an Arjuni with a
long scar on his cheek.’
‘i’ll keep an eye out for him,’ Khalad said.
‘You’ll get another message in Tiara,’ Ulath continued. ‘You’ll
be told to go on around the lake to Arjun.’
‘That’s the long way around,’ Khalad objected. ‘We could
take the road from here and be in Arjun in less than half
the time.’
‘Evidently they don’t want you to get there that soon. They’ve
probably got some other irons in the fire. I won’t swear to this,
but I think they’ll send you on to Verel from Arjun. If Kalten’s
right and Ehlana’s being held in Natayos, that would be the next
logical step.’
Khalad nodded again. ‘i’ll tell Berit. I think we’d better stay
out of that taproom. I’m sure we’re being watched, and if we
start talking with other Elenes, we’ll just put the enemy on their
guard.’
The horses in the stable suddenly began to squeal and kick at
the sides of their stalls.
‘What’s wrong with the horses?’ Khalad demanded. ‘And
what’s that odd smell?’
Ulath muttered an oath. Then he raised his voice and spoke
in Trollish. ‘Bhlokw, it is not good that you come into the dens
of the man-things this way. You have been eating dog, and the
man-things and their beasts can smell you.’
There was an injured silence as Ulath’s unseen travelingcompanion
withdrew from the stable.
Betuana and Engessa, dressed in sleek otter-skins, accompanied
Vanion and the knights south from Sama. At Engessa’s suggestion
they proceeded due west to come down out of the mountains
in eastern Cynesga.
‘We’ve been watching them, Vanion-Preceptor,’ the towering
Atan said as he loped along beside Vanion’s horse. ‘Their main
supply dump is about five leagues west of the frontier.’
‘Did you have anything pressing to attend to, your Majesty?’
Vanion asked Betuana, who was running along on the other
side. ‘Nothing that can’t wait. What did you have in mind?’