Her answering smile was wicked. ‘Trust me. I’ve had dealings with all the regular ones. They’re all little more than butterflies. These strangers are wasps.’

He gave her an amused look. ‘Have you actually winnowed your way through all the courtiers in the Women’s Palace?’

‘More or less.’ She shrugged again – quite deliberately, he thought. ‘Actually it was rather boring. Courtiers are a tepid lot, but it was a way to keep track of what was going on.’

‘Then it wasn’t entirely –?’

‘A little, perhaps, but I have to take steps to protect myself. Our politics are subtle, but they’re very savage.’

‘Are these strangers Tamuls?’

‘Some are. Some aren’t.’

‘How long has this been going on?’

‘Since we all moved back to the Women’s Palace. I didn’t see any of these wasps when we were all living here with the Elenes.’

‘Just the past few weeks then?’

She nodded. ‘I thought you should know. It could be just more of the same kind of thing that’s been going on for years, but I don’t really think so. It feels different somehow. Our politics are more indirect than yours, and what’s happening in the Women’s Palace is men’s politics.’

‘Do you suppose you could keep an eye on it for me? I’d be grateful.’

‘Of course, my husband. I am loyal, after all.’

‘Oh, really?’

‘Don’t make that mistake, Sarabian. Loyalty shouldn’t be confused with that other business. That doesn’t mean anything. Loyalty does.’

‘There’s a lot more to you than meets the eye, Elysoun.’

‘Oh? I’ve never tried to conceal anything.’ She inhaled deeply.

He laughed again. ‘Do you have plans for this evening?’

‘Nothing that can’t be put off until some other time. What did you have in mind?’

‘I thought we might talk a while.’

‘Talk?’

‘Among other things.’

‘Let me send a message first. Then we can talk for as long as you like – among those other things you mentioned.’

* * *

They were two days out of Tiana on their way around the west end of the lake on the road to Arjuna. They had camped on the lake-shore some distance from the road, and Khalad had shot a deer with his crossbow. ‘Camp-meat,’ he explained to Berit as he skinned the animal. ‘It saves time and money.’

‘You’re really very good with that crossbow,’ Berit said.

Khalad shrugged. ‘Practice,’ he replied. Then his head came up sharply. ‘Company coming.’ He pointed toward the road with his knife.

‘Arjuni,’ Berit noted, squinting at the approaching riders.

‘Not all of them,’ Khalad disagreed. ‘The one in front’s an Elene – an Edomishman, judging from his clothes.’ Khalad wiped his bloody hands on the long grass, picked up his crossbow and re-cocked it. ‘Just to be on the safe side,’ he explained. ‘They do know who we really are, after all.’

Berit nodded bleakly and loosened his sword in its scabbard.

The riders reined in about fifty yards away. ‘Sir sparhawk?’ the Edomishman called out in Elenic.

‘Maybe,’ Berit called back. ‘What can I do for you, neighbor?’

‘I have a message for you.’

‘I’m touched. Bring it on in.’

‘Come alone,’ Khalad added. ‘You won’t need your bodyguards.’

‘I’ve heard about what you did to the last messenger.’

‘Good,’ Khalad replied. ‘We sort of intended for word of that to get around. The fellow had a little trouble being civil, but I’m sure you have better manners. Come ahead. You’re safe – as long as you’re polite.’

The Edomishman still hesitated.

‘Friend,’ Khalad said pointedly, ‘You’re well within range of my crossbow, so you’d better do as I tell you. Just come on in alone. We’ll conduct our business, and then you and your Arjuni friends can be on your way. Otherwise, this might turn unpleasant.’

The Edomishman conferred briefly with his bodyguards and then rode cautiously forward, holding a folded parchment above his head. ‘I’m not armed,’ he announced.

‘That’s not very prudent, neighbor,’ Berit told him. ‘These are troubled times. Let’s have the note.’

The messenger lowered his arm slowly and extended the parchment. ‘The plans have changed, Sir Sparhawk,’ he said politely.

‘Astonishing.’ Berit opened the parchment and gently took out the lock of identifying hair. ‘This is only about the third time. You fellows seem to be having some difficulty making up your minds.’ He looked at the parchment. ‘That’s accommodating. Somebody even drew a map this time.’

‘The village isn’t really very well-known,’ the Edomishman explained. ‘It’s a tiny place that wouldn’t even be there if it weren’t for the slave-trade.’

‘You’re a very good messenger, friend,’ Khalad told him. ‘Would you like to carry a word back to Krager for me?’

‘I’ll try, young Master.’

‘Good. Tell him that I’m coming after him. He should probably start looking back over his shoulder, because no matter how this turns out, one day I’ll be there.’

The Edomishman swallowed hard. ‘I’ll tell him, young Master.’

‘I’d appreciate it.’

The messenger carefully backed his horse off a few yards and then rode off to rejoin his Arjuni escort.

‘Well?’ Khalad asked.

‘Vigayo – over in Cynesga.’

‘It’s not much of a town.’

‘You’ve been there?’

‘Briefly. Bhelliom took us there by mistake when Sparhawk was practicing with it.’

‘How far is it from here?’

‘About a hundred leagues. It’s in the right direction, though. Aphrael said that Zalasta’s taking the Queen to Cyrga, so Vigayo’s got to be closer than Arjun. Pass the word, Berit. Tell Aphrael that we’ll start out first thing in the morning. Then you can come and help me cut up this deer. It’s ten days to Vigayo, so we’re probably going to need the meat.’

‘He hath been there,’ Xanetia told them. ‘His memories of the Hidden City are vivid, but his recollection of the route is imprecise. I could glean no more than disconnected impressions of the journey. His madness hath bereft his thought of coherence, and his mind doth flit from reality to illusion and back without purpose or direction.’