‘The cows are coming, noble sir,’ Sparhawk told him. ‘We were sent on ahead to make arrangements.’

The man with the pendant knit his brows, trying hard to find something wrong with that. ‘Do you know who I am?’ he demanded finally in a pugnacious tone of voice.

‘I’m afraid not, noble sir,’ Sparhawk apologized. ‘I haven’t had the pleasure of making your acquaintance.’

‘You think you’re very clever, don’t you?’ the officious fellow demanded. ‘All these soft answers don’t deceive me in the least.’

‘I wasn’t trying to be deceptive, neighbour,’ Sparhawk said with a slight edge coming into his voice, ‘merely polite.’

‘I am Ulesim, favoured disciple of holy Arasham,’ the bearded man said, striking his chest with his fist.

‘I’m overwhelmed by the honour of meeting you,’ Sparhawk said, bowing in his saddle.

‘That’s all you have to say?’ Ulesim exclaimed, his eyes bulging at the imagined insult.

‘As I said, Lord Ulesim, I’m overwhelmed. I hadn’t expected to be greeted by so illustrious a man.’

‘I’m not here to greet you, cowherd. I’m here to take you into custody. Get down off your horses.’

Sparhawk gave him a long look, assessing the situation. Then he swung down from Faran’s back and helped Sephrenia to dismount.

‘What’s this all about, Sparhawk?’ she whispered as she lifted Flute down.

‘I’d guess that he’s a minor bootlicker trying to assert his own importance,’ Sparhawk whispered back. ‘We don’t want to stir anything up, so let’s do as he says.’

‘Take the prisoners to my tent,’ Ulesim commanded grandly after a moment’s hesitation. The favoured disciple didn’t seem to know exactly what to do.

The pikemen stepped forward threateningly, and one of them led the way towards a tent surmounted by a drooping pennon made of dirty green cloth.

They were roughly shoved into the tent, and the flap was tied down.

Kurik’s expression was filled with contempt. ‘Amateurs, ’ he muttered. ‘They hold those pikes like shepherd’s crooks and they didn’t even search us for weapons.’

‘They may be amateurs, Kurik,’ Sephrenia said softly, ‘but they’ve managed to take us prisoner.’

‘Not for long,’ Kurik growled, reaching under his robe for his dagger. ‘I’ll cut a hole in the back of the tent, and we can be on our way’

‘No,’ Sparhawk said quietly ‘We’d have a horde of howling fanatics on our heels in about two minutes if we did that.’

‘We’re not just going to sit here?’ Kurik asked incredulously

‘Let me handle it, Kurik.’

They sat waiting in the stifling tent as the minutes dragged by.

After a bit, the tent-flap opened and Ulesim entered with two of his men close behind him. ‘I will have your name from you, cowherd,’ he said arrogantly.

‘I am called Mahkra, Lord Ulesim,’ Sparhawk replied meekly, ‘and this is my sister, her daughter, and my servant. May I ask why we have been detained?’

Ulesim’s eyes narrowed. ‘There are those who refuse to accept holy Arasham’s authority,’ he declared. ‘I, Ulesim, his most favoured disciple, have taken it upon myself to root out these false prophets and send them to the stake. Holy Arasham relies upon me completely.’

‘Is that still going on?’ Sparhawk asked in mild surprise. ‘I thought that all opposition to Arasham had been stamped out decades ago.’

‘Not so! Not so!’ Ulesim half-shrieked. ‘There are still plotters and conspirators hiding in the desert and lurking in the cities. I will not rest until I have unearthed every one of these criminals and consigned them to the flames.’

‘You have nothing to fear from me or my band, Lord Ulesim,’ Sparhawk assured him. ‘We revere the holy prophet of God and pay him homage in our prayers.’

‘So you say, Mahkra, but can you prove your identity and satisfy me that you have legitimate business in the holy city?’ The fanatic smirked at his two cohorts as if he had just scored a tremendous point.

‘Why yes, Lord Ulesim,’ Sparhawk replied calmly, ‘I believe I can. We are here to speak with a cattle buyer named Mirrelek. Do you perhaps know him?’

Ulesim puffed himself up. ‘What would I, the favoured disciple of holy Arasham, have to do with some common cattle buyer?’

One of the disciple’s toadies leaned forward and whispered at some length in Ulesim’s ear. The disciple’s expression grew less and less certain and finally even a bit frightened. ‘I will send for this cattle buyer you mentioned,’ he declared grudgingly ‘If he confirms your story, well and good; but if not, I will take you to holy Arasham himself for judgement.’

‘As the Lord Ulesim wishes,’ Sparhawk bowed. ‘If you would have your messenger tell Mirrelek that Mahkra is here with greetings from his little mother, I’m sure he’ll come here immediately and clear up this whole matter.’

‘You’d better hope so, Mahkra,’ the bearded disciple said threateningly. He turned to the toady who had whispered in his ear, ‘Go and fetch this Mirrelek. Repeat the message of this cowherd to him and tell him that I, Ulesim, favoured disciple of holy Arasham, command his presence immediately.’

‘At once, favoured one,’ the fellow replied and scurried from the tent. Ulesim glowered at Sparhawk for a moment, then he and his other sycophant left the tent.

‘You’ve still got your sword, Sparhawk,’ Kurik said. ‘Why didn’t you just let the air out of that windbag? I could have dealt with the other two.’

‘It wasn’t necessary’ Sparhawk shrugged. ‘I know Perraine well enough to know that by now he’s managed to make himself indispensable to Arasham. He’ll be here shortly and put Ulesim-favoured-disciple-of-holy-Arasham in his place.’

‘Aren’t you gambling, Sparhawk?’ Sephrenia asked. ‘What if Perraine doesn’t recognize the name Mahkra? As I recall, you were in Jiroch, and he’s been here in Dabour for years.’

‘He may not recognize the name I go by here in Rendor,’ Sparhawk replied, ‘but he can’t fail to recognize yours, little mother. It’s a very old password. The Pandions have been using it for years.’

She blinked. ‘I’m very flattered,’ she said, ‘but why didn’t someone tell me?’