Kring nodded.

A tall Atan came in and murmured something to Itagne.

‘I’m really awfully busy right now, old boy,’ Itagne objected.

‘He’s most insistent, Itagne-Ambassador.’

‘Oh, very well.’ Itagne rose to his feet. ‘I’ll be right back, Lord Vanion,’ he said and followed the Atan from the room.

‘Did Sparhawk find out what country Klæl’s soldiers come from, friend Vanion?’ Kring asked. ‘I’d sort of like to avoid that place.’

‘I don’t think you need to worry, Domi Kring.’ Sephrenia smiled. ‘Klæl’s soldiers were brought here from someplace beyond the stars.’

Kring frowned. ‘You might want to have a talk with Sparhawk, friend Vanion,’ he said. ‘I enjoy a good fight as much as the next man, but if he’s going to declare war on the whole universe, he ought to let the rest of us in on his plans.’

‘I’ll definitely speak with him about it, Domi Kring,’ Vanion said. Then he sighed. ‘I wish we’d known more about Klæl’s soldiers earlier. The Church Knights encountered them in the mountains of Zemoch and lost half their number in killed and wounded.’

‘I’m sorry, friend Vanion. Did you lose many old comrades?’

‘Many, Domi Kring,’ Vanion replied sadly, ‘many.’

‘How’s friend Engessa coming along?’ Kring asked Betuana.

‘Aphrael says that he’s recovering, Domi,’ she replied. ‘I’d like to see that for myself, though.’

Itagne returned, accompanied by a Tamul wearing slightly out-of-date clothing. ‘Would you please see to it that we’re not disturbed?’ he said to the Atan guard in the hall. Then he closed and bolted the door. ‘I have some good news for a change,’ he said then. He put his hand on the stranger’s shoulder. ‘This is my very dear – though new-found friend, Ekrasios,’ he said.

Betuana frowned. ‘That is not a Tamul name,’ she said.

‘No, your Majesty,’ Itagne agreed, ‘it’s not. Actually, it’s Delphaeic. The Delphae are such a musical people. It probably derives from the fact that they still speak classical Tamul. My friend here just stopped by to advise us that the Delphae have decided to come out of their splendid seclusion. Ekrasios, this is Preceptor Vanion, the close friend of Anakha. The regal lady is Betuana, Queen of the Atans. The short fellow is Domi Kring of the western Peloi. The tall, pretty girl with the death-grip on his hand is Mirtai, his betrothed, and the exquisite Styric lady is Sephrenia, High Priestess of the Goddess Aphrael.’

‘Nobles all,’ Ekrasios greeted them with a formal bow. ‘I bring greetings from Beloved Edaemus. Divine Aphrael hath persuaded him that we have common cause in the current situation, and he hath thus relaxed his centuries-old prohibition upon us. I am sent to thee, Lord Vanion, to advise thee that I and diverse companions are at thine immediate disposal. Where might we best be deployed to further our cause?’

‘If I may, Lord Vanion?’ Itagne interposed. ‘It just occurred to me that the Delphae might be best suited to empty those ruins in the Arjuni jungles. If Ekrasios and his friends were to appear in all their glowing splendor at the gates of Scarpa’s camps down there, the rebels would probably go back home and take up peaceful pursuits, just as fast as they possibly could.’

‘Well said,’ Mirtai murmured her agreement.

‘He certainly moves around, doesn’t he?’ Ulath said to Tynian as the beer wagon with Sparhawk and Kalten perched atop the barrels rumbled past on the ancient street. ‘Last I heard, he was in Dirgis.’

‘The natcherl rules don’t seem t’ apply t’ ol’ Spor-hawk,’ Tynian replied in a bad imitation of Caalador’s dialect. ‘What do you think? Should we slip back into real time? Or should we stay where we are?’

‘I think we’ll be more useful if we stay out of sight,’ Ulath replied.

‘That’s fine with me, but how are we going to get word to Sparhawk and the others that we’re here?’

‘I’ll slip a note in his pocket – or blow in his ear.’

‘That ought to get his attention.’

Bhlokw came shambling back up the street with a mournful expression on his ape-like face. ‘There are no dogs here,’ he reported in Trollish.

‘Soldiers don’t usually keep dogs, Bhlokw,’ Tynian explained.

‘I have hunger, Tin-in. Would the man-things here miss one of their herd – a small one?’

‘We might have a problem here,’ Tynian muttered to Ulath. ‘It’s definitely in our best interests to keep our friend here well-fed.’

Ulath scratched at his now clean-shaven cheek. ‘We can’t just turn him loose,’ he noted. ‘He’ll attract attention if he starts grabbing people and jerking them into these broken moments.’

‘He’s invisible, Ulath.’

‘Yes, but if some Arjuni suddenly vanishes and his bones start getting tossed back out of nowhere, it’s bound to attract attention.’ He turned back to the Troll. ‘It is our thought that it would not be good for you to kill and eat the man-things here, Bhlokw. We hunt thought here, and if you kill and eat the man-things, you will frighten the thought away.’

‘I do not like this hunting of thought, U-lat,’ Bhlokw complained. ‘It makes things not-simple.’

‘The forest is near, Bhlokw,’ Tynian said. ‘There must be many good-to-eat things there.’

‘I am not an Ogre, Tin-in,’ Bhlokw protested in a slightly offended tone. ‘I do not eat trees.’

‘There should be creatures that are good-to-eat among the trees, Bhlokw,’ Ulath said. ‘That is what Tin-in was trying to say. It was not his thought to insult you.’

Bhlokw glowered at Tynian for a moment. ‘I will go hunt now,’ he said abruptly. Then he turned and shambled off.

‘You have to be careful, Tynian,’ Ulath warned his friend. ‘If you want to get into a fight almost immediately, all you have to do is suggest to a Troll that he might be an Ogre.’

‘They’re actually prejudiced?’ Tynian asked in amazement.

‘You wouldn’t believe how prejudiced,’ Ulath replied. ‘Trolls and Ogres have hated each other since the beginning of time.’

‘I thought that prejudice was a human failing.’