‘Maybe they found out that we were a little more effective than they thought we’d be,’ Ulath rumbled. ‘I don’t think they really expected us to break up that Cyrgai assault or exterminate a hundred Trolls or break the back of this coup-attempt the way we did. It’s altogether possible that we surprised them and even upset them more than a little. Krager’s visit could have been sheer bravado, you know. We might not want to get over-confident, but I don’t think we should get under-confident either. We’re professionals, after all, and we’ve won every encounter so far. Let’s not give up the game and run away just because of a few windy threats by a known drunkard.’

‘Well said,’ Tynian murmured.

‘We don’t have any choice, Aphrael,’ Sparhawk told his daughter later when they were alone with Sephrenia and Vanion in a small room several floors above the royal apartments. ‘It’s going to take Emban and Tynian at least three months to get back to Chyrellos and then nine months for the Church Knights to come overland to Daresia. Even then, they’ll still be present only in the western kingdoms.’

‘Why can’t they come by boat?’ The princess sounded a bit sulky, and she was holding Rollo tightly to her chest.

‘There are a hundred thousand Church Knights, Aphrael,’ Vanion reminded her, ‘twenty-five thousand in each of the four orders. I don’t think there are enough ships in the world to transport that many men and horses. We can bring in some – ten thousand perhaps – by ship, but the bulk of them will have to come overland. We won’t be able to count on even that ten thousand for at least six months – the time it’s going to take Emban and Tynian to reach Chyrellos and then come back by ship with the knights and their horses. Until they arrive, we’re all alone here.’

‘With your breeches down,’ she added.

‘Watch your tongue, young lady,’ Sparhawk scolded her.

She shrugged that off. ‘My instincts all tell me that it’s a very bad idea,’ she told them. ‘I went to a lot of trouble to find a safe place for Bhelliom, and the first time there’s a little rain-shower, you all want to run to retrieve it. Are you sure you’re not exaggerating the danger? Ulath might have been right, you know. Everything Krager said to you could have been sheer bluster. I still think you can handle it without Bhelliom.’

‘I disagree,’ Sephrenia told her. ‘I know Elenes better than you do, Aphrael. It’s not in their nature to exaggerate dangers. Quite the reverse, actually.’

‘The whole point here is that your mother may be in danger,’ Sparhawk told his daughter. ‘Until Tynian and Emban bring the Church Knights to Tamuli, we’re seriously over-matched. Even as stupid as they are, it was only the Bhelliom that gave us any advantage over the Troll-Gods last time. You couldn’t even deal with them, as I recall.’

‘That’s a hateful thing to say, Sparhawk,’ she flared.

‘I’m just trying to get you to look at this realistically, Aphrael. Without the Bhelliom, we’re all in serious danger here – and I’m not just talking about your mother and all our friends. If Krager was telling the truth and we are matched up against Cyrgon, He’s at least as dangerous as Azash was.’

‘Are you sure all of these flimsy excuses aren’t coming into your head because you want to get your hands on Bhelliom again, Sparhawk?’ she asked him. ‘Nobody’s really immune to its seduction, you know. There’s a great deal of satisfaction to be had in wielding unlimited power.’

‘You know me better than that, Aphrael,’ he said reproachfully. ‘I don’t go out of my way looking for power.’

‘If it is Cyrgon, His first step would be to exterminate the Styrics, you know,’ Sephrenia reminded the little Goddess. ‘He hates us for what we did to His Cyrgai.’

‘Why are you all joining forces to bully me?’ Aphrael demanded.

‘Because you’re being stubborn,’ Sparhawk replied. ‘Throwing Bhelliom into the sea was a very good idea when we did it, but the situation’s changed now. I know that it’s not in your nature to admit that you made a mistake, but you did, you know.’

‘Bite your tongue!’

‘We have a new situation here, Aphrael,’ Sephrenia said patiently. ‘You’ve told me again and again that you can’t fully see the future, so you couldn’t really have foreseen all of what’s happening here in Tamuli. You didn’t really make a mistake, baby sister, but you have to be flexible. You can’t let the world fly all to pieces just because you want to maintain a reputation for infallibility.’

‘Oh, all right!’ Aphrael gave in, flinging herself into a chair and starting to suck her thumb as she glared at them.

‘Don’t do that,’ Sparhawk and Sephrenia told her in unison.

She ignored them. ‘I want all three of you to know that I’m really very put out with you for this. You’ve been very impolite and very inconsiderate of my feelings. I’m ashamed of you. Go ahead. I don’t care. Go ahead and get the Bhelliom if you think you absolutely have to have it.’

‘Ah – Aphrael,’ Sparhawk said mildly, ‘we don’t know where it is, remember?’

‘That’s not my fault,’ she replied in a sulky little voice.

‘Yes, actually it is. You were very careful to make sure that we didn’t know where we were when we threw it into the sea.’

‘That’s a spiteful thing to say, father.’

A horrible thought suddenly occurred to Sparhawk. ‘You do know where it is, don’t you?’ he asked her anxiously.

‘Oh, Sparhawk, don’t be silly! Of course I know where it is. You didn’t think I’d let you put it someplace where I couldn’t find it, did you?’