need their children there instead of in the Tamul mountains,’
Tynian rePlied. ‘A day or so, Probably. Once they’re
convinced, they’ll put their children into No-Time. If we didn’t
have to stop now and then to feed the Trolls, we could be in
Zhubay before you could even blink. If I knew where Cyrga
was, I could have fifteen hundred Trolls on the doorstep by
morning.’
‘There’s no need to rush.’ The Child Goddess looked around
with steely eyes. ‘Nobody – and I mean nobody – is going to
move on Cyrga until I know that Ehlana and Alcan are safe. If
I have to, I can keep you running around in circles out there in
that desert for generations, so don’t try to get creative on me.’
‘is the Queen of Elenia so very important to you, Divine One?’
Betuana asked mildly. ‘War is hard, and we must accept our
losses.’
‘It’s a personal matter, Betuana,’ Aphrael said shortly. ‘These
are your positions.’ She gestured over the miniature continent.
‘Bergsten will come in from the north and west to cover that
side of the city, Ulath, Tynian and Bhlokw will bring the Trolls
down from Zhubay and join with Betuana’s Atans on their left
flank, Vanion will come in from the east and be joined on his
left by Kring and the Peloi, Stragen’s persuaded that disgusting
Dacite in Beresa that there are a million or so Church Knights
landing on the coast around Verel and Kaftal, and that should
divert most of the armies of Cynesga. We’ll all converge on
Cyrga. There are some discrepancies in the distances, but I’ll
take care of those. When the time comes, you will all be in place
– even if I have to pick you up one by one and carry you.’ She
stopped abruptly. ‘What is your problem, Bergsten? Don’t laugh
at me, or I’ll take you by the nose and shake you.”
‘I wasn’t laughing, Divine One,’ he assured her. ‘I was only
smiling in approval. Where did you learn so much about strategy
and tactics?’
‘i’ve been watching you Elenes make war since shortly after
you discovered fire, your Grace. I was bound to learn a few of
the tricks of the trade.’ She turned suddenly on Bhlokw. ‘What?’
she asked irritably in Trollish.
‘U-lat has said to me what you have said, Child Goddess
Why are we doing this?’
‘To punish the Wicked ones, Priest of the Troll-Gods.’
“What?” Sparhawk said to Ulath in stunned amazement. ‘What
did she call him?’
‘Oh?’ Ulath said mildly. ‘Didn’t you know? Our shaggy friend
has a certain eminence.’
‘They actually have priests?’
‘Of course. Doesn’t everybody?’
‘It is good to punish the wicked ones who have taken
Anakha’s mate away,’ Bhlokw was saying, ‘but do we need to
take so many? Khwaj will punish the wicked ones. This is the
season of Schlee, and we should be following the way of the
hunt. The young must be fed or they will die, and that is not a
good thing.’
‘Oh, dear,’ Aphrael murmured.
‘What’s happening here, Sir Ulath?’ Sarabian asked.
‘The Trolls are hunters, your Majesty,’ Ulath explained, ‘not
warriors. They have no real understanding of warfare. They eat
what they kill.’
Sarabian shuddered.
‘It is very moral, your Majesty,’ Ulath pointed out. ‘From a
Troll’s point of view, wasting the meat is criminal.’
Aphrael was squinting at the priest of the Troll-Gods. ‘It is a
good thing to do that which follows the way of the hunt and
punishes the wicked ones at the same time,’ she said. ‘if we
hunt this way, we will cause hurt to the wicked ones and bring
much meat to the young during the season of Schlee.’
Bhlokw considered that. ‘The hunts of the man-things are
not-simple,’ he said dubiously, ‘but it is my thought that the
hunts of the God-things are even more not-simple.’ He reflected
on it. ‘It is good, though. A hunt that gathers more than meat
is a good hunt. You hunt very well, Child Goddess. Sometime
we might take eat together and talk of old hunts. It is good to
do this. It makes pack-mates closer so that they hunt together
%kiter.’
‘It would make me glad if we did this, Bhlokw.’
Then we will do it. I will kill a dog for us to eat. Dog is even
more good-to-eat than pig.’
Aphrael made a slight gagging sound.
wILl it cause anger to you if I speak to our pack-mates in
bird-noises, Bhlokw?’ Sparhawk stepped in. ‘It will soon be time
for the hunt to begin, and all must be made ready.’
‘It will not cause anger to me, Anakha. U-lat can say to me
what you are saying.’
‘All right then,’ Sparhawk said to the rest of them. ‘We all
know how we’re going to converge on Cyrga, but there are
several of us who have to go in first. Please hold off on your
attack until we’re in position. Don’t crowd us by trampling on
our heels.’
‘Who are you taking in with you, Sparhawk?’ Vanion asked.
‘Kalten, Bevier, Talen, Xanetia and Mirtai.’
‘I don’t quite -‘
Sparhawk held up one hand. ‘Aphrael made the choices, my
Lord,’ he said. ‘if there are any objections, take them up with
her.’
‘You have to have those people with you, Sparhawk,’ Aphrael
explained patiently. ‘if you don’t, you’ll fail.’
‘Whatever you say, Divine One,’ he surrendered.
‘You’ll be out in front of Berit and me then?’ Khalad asked.
Sparhawk nodded. ‘The people on the other side will expect
us to trail along behind you. If we’re in front, it might confuse
them – at least that’s what we’re hoping. Aphrael will take us
directly to Vigayo and we’ll nose around a bit. If the fellow with
the next message is already there, Xanetia should be able to pick
up your new destination. Sooner or later, somebody’s going to
have to give you the key to the illusion that’s hiding Cyrga, and
that’s the one piece of information we have to have. Once we’ve
got that, the rest is easy.’
‘I like his definition of easy,’ Caalador murmured to Stragen.
Emban jotted another note on his inevitable list. Then he
cleared his throat.
‘Must you, Emban?’ Bergsten sighed.
‘It helps me to think, Bergsten, and it makes sure that we
haven’t left anything out. If it bores you so much, don’t listen.’
‘The man-things talk much when they decide how they will
hunt, U-lat,’ Bhlokw complained.
‘It is the nature of the man-things to do this.
‘It is because the hunts of the man-things are too much notsimple.
It is my thought that their hunts are not-simple because
they do not eat the ones they kill. They hunt and kill for reasons
which I do not understand. It is my thought that this thing the
man-things call “war” is a very great wickedness.’
‘It is not in our thought to cause anger to the priest of the
Troll-Gods,’ Patriarch Bergsten said in flawless Trollish. “The
thing which the man-things call war is like the thing which
happens when two Troll-packs come to hunt on the same range.’
Bhlokw considered that. Then he grunted as comprehension
came over his shaggy face. ‘Now it is clear to me,’ he said. ‘This
thing the man-things call “war” is like the hunting of thought.
That is why it is not-simple. But you still talk much.’ The Troll
squinted at Emban. ‘That one is the worst,’ he added. ‘His mindbelly
is as big as his belly-belly.’
‘What did he say?’ Emban asked curiously.
‘It wouldn’t translate very well, your Grace,’ Ulath replied
blandly.
Patriarch Emban gave him a slightly suspicious look and then
meticulously laid out their deployment once again, checking
items off his list as he went. When he had finished, he looked
around. ‘Can anybody think of anything else?’
‘Perhaps,’ Sephrenia said, frowning slightly. ‘Our enemies
know that Berit’s not really Sparhawk, but they’re going to think
that Sparhawk won’t have any choice but to follow along behind.
It might help to confirm that belief. I think I know a way to
duplicate the sound and sense of Bhelliom. If it works, our
enemies will think that Sparhawk’s somewhere in the column
of knights Vanion’s going to lead out into the desert. They’ll
concentrate on us rather than looking for him.’
‘You’re putting yourself in danger, Sephrenia,’ Aphrael
objected.
‘There’s nothing particularly new about that.’ Sephrenia
smiled. ‘And when you consider what we’re trying to do, no
place is really safe.’
‘is that it, then?’ Engessa asked, standing up.
‘Probably, friend Engessa,’ Kring replied, ‘except for the hour
or so we’ll all spend telling each other to be careful.’
Engessa squared his shoulders, turned and faced his Queen
directly. ‘What are your orders, Betuana-Queen,’ he asked her
with military formality.
She drew herself up with a regal stiffness. ‘It is our instruction
that you return with us to Sama, Engessa-Atan. There you will