him. I’d have recognized-“
“I’d recognize him before you would,” Strat interrupted, and there was no one in
the group who could gainsay that claim.
“Does that mean Ischade?” Molin asked nervously. They accepted the necromant as
the lesser of the two witches, but even so neither was a force that any man.
except Straton, was comfortable with.
“It means Haught. It means he wants the globe. It means he wants to be Roxane,
Datan, or some other bloody magician. You can take the Nisi away from Wizardwall
but you can’t boil the treachery out of their blood.”
Molin stood silent for a moment after Strat had finished. “At least, then, it
wasn’t Roxane. Tempus will be glad to hear that.”
The other groups Tempus had assigned to guard the oxcart’s progress were
beginning to appear. Crit came up with a half-dozen Stepsons, most of whom
appeared to have heard Strat’s accusations or at least had no desire to look
their erstwhile field commander full in the face. The 3rd Commando, or a good
sized part of it, rode up from behind. Whatever Tempus’s opinion of the
operation, he’d made certain it didn’t lack for manpower.
“I think we’ve found out what we wanted to know,” Molin said, not quite
takingcommand away from Strat, Crit, and Walegrin, but eliminating the need for
them to decide who was in command. “Randal, borrow a horse. We’ll head back for
the palace. They’ll want to know what’s happened. Straton- you should probably
come along. The rest of the Stepsons can lend a shoulder to the garrison men in
getting this cart turned around and back to the palace. I’ll leave it to you