‘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 better.’

‘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 not-simple. 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 mind-belly 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.’