‘The building with the black dome is the Temple of Azash. He’s there – waiting for us.’

Chapter 26

Subterfuge had never really been an option, Sparhawk concluded as he and his companions put aside their minimal disguises to don their armour. Deceiving unsophisticated peasants and third-rate militiamen out in the countryside was one thing, but attempting to pass unchallenged through a deserted city patrolled by elite troops would have been futile. Ultimately they would be obliged to resort to force of arms, and under the circumstances, that meant full armour. Chain-mail was adequate for impromptu social get-togethers in rural surroundings, he thought wryly, but city life required greater formality. Country attire simply would not do.

‘All right, what’s the plan?’ Kalten asked as the knights helped each other into their armour.

‘I haven’t exactly put one together yet,’ Sparhawk admitted. ‘To be perfectly honest with you, I didn’t really think we’d get this far. I thought the best we could hope for was to get close enough to Otha’s city to include it in the general destruction when I smashed the Bhelliom. As soon as we get settled into harness, we’ll talk with Sephrenia.’

High, thin clouds had begun to drift in from the east during the afternoon, and as the day moved on towards sunset, those clouds began to thicken. The desiccated chill began to lessen, and it was replaced by a peculiar sultriness. There were occasional rumblings of thunder far beyond the eastern horizon when, as the sun was dying amidst bloody clouds, the knights gathered around Sephrenia.

‘Our glorious leader here seems to have neglected a few strategic incidentals,’ Kalten announced to sort of start things off.

‘Be nice,’ Sparhawk murmured to him.

‘I am, Sparhawk. I haven’t used the word “idiot” even once. The question that makes us all burn with curiosity is what do we do now?’

‘Just offhand I’d say we could rule out a siege,’ Ulath observed.

‘Frontal assaults are always fun,’ Tynian said.

‘Do you mind?’ Sparhawk said to them acidly. ‘This is sort of how I see it, Sephrenia. We’ve got what appears to be a deserted city out there, but there are sure to be patrols of Otha’s élite guards. We might possibly be able to avoid them, but it wouldn’t be a good idea to pin too many hopes on that. I just wish I knew a little bit more about the city itself.’

‘And about how good Otha’s elite guards are,’ Tynian added.

‘They’re adequate soldiers,’ Bevier supplied.

‘Would they be a match for Church Knights?’ Tynian asked.

‘No, but then who is?’ Bevier said it with no trace of immodesty. ‘They’re probably about on a par with the soldiers in King Wargun’s army.’

‘You’ve been here before, Sephrenia,’ Sparhawk said. ‘Just exactly where are the palace and the temple located?’

‘They’re the same building actually,’ she replied, ‘and they’re in the exact centre of the city.’

‘Then it wouldn’t really matter which gate we used, would it?’

She shook her head.

‘Isn’t it rather odd for a palace and a temple to be under the same roof?’ Kurik asked.

‘Zemochs are odd people,’ she told him. ‘Actually there is some degree of separation, but you have to go through the palace to reach the temple. The temple itself doesn’t have any outside entrances.’

‘Then all we have to do is to ride to the palace and knock on the door,’ Kalten said.

‘No,’ Kurik disagreed firmly. ‘We walk to the palace, and we’ll talk about knocking when we get there.’

‘Walk?’ Kalten sounded injured.

‘Horses make too much noise on paved streets, and they’re a little hard to hide when you need to take cover.’

‘Walking any distance in full armour isn’t much fun, Kurik.’

‘You wanted to be a knight. As I remember it, you and Sparhawk even volunteered.’

‘Could you sort of whistle up that invisibility spell Sparhawk told us about?’ Kalten asked Sephrenia, ‘– the one Flute used to play on her pipes?’

She shook her head.

‘Why not?’

She hummed a short musical phrase. ‘Do you recognize that melody?’ she asked him.

He frowned. ‘I can’t say that I do.’

‘That was the traditional Pandion hymn. I’m sure you’re familiar with it. Does that answer your question?’

‘Oh. Music isn’t one of your strong points, I see.’

‘What would happen if you tried it and hit the wrong notes?’ Talen asked curiously.

She shuddered. ‘Please don’t ask.’

‘We skulk then,’ Kalten said. ‘So let’s get to skulking.’

‘Just as soon as it gets dark,’ Sparhawk said.

It was a mile or more across a flat, dusty plain to the grim walls of Zemoch, and the armoured knights were all sweating profusely by the time they reached the west gate.

‘Muggy,’ Kalten said quietly, wiping his streaming face. ‘Isn’t there anything normal about Zemoch? It shouldn’t be this sticky at this time of year.’

‘There’s definitely some unusual weather coming in,’ Kurik agreed. The distant rumble of thunder and the pale flickers of lightning illuminating the cloudbanks lying to the east confirmed their observations.

‘Maybe we could appeal to Otha for shelter from the storm,’ Tynian said. ‘What are the Zemoch views on hospitality?’

‘Undependable,’ Sephrenia replied.

‘We’ll want to be as quiet as we can once we’re in the city,’ Sparhawk cautioned.

Sephrenia lifted her head and looked off to the east, her pale face scarcely visible in the sultry darkness. ‘Let’s wait a bit,’ she suggested. ‘That storm’s moving this way. Thunder would cover a great deal of incidental clinking.’

They waited, leaning against the basalt walls of the city as the crack and tearing roar of the thunder marched inexorably towards them.

‘That should cover any noise we make,’ Sparhawk said after about ten minutes. ‘Let’s get inside before the rain comes.’

The gate itself was made of crudely squared-off logs bound with iron, and it stood slightly ajar. Sparhawk and his companions drew their weapons and slipped through one by one.

There was a strange smell to the city, an odour that seemed to have no counterpart in any place Sparhawk had ever visited. It was an odour neither fair nor foul, but one which was more than anything peculiarly alien. There were no torches to provide illumination, of course, and they were forced to rely upon the intermittent flickers of lightning staining the purple cloudbanks rolling in from the east. The streets revealed by those flashes were narrow, and their paving-stones had been worn smooth by centuries of shuffling feet. The houses were tall and narrow, and their windows were small and for the most part barred. The perpetual dust storms which scoured the city had rubbed the stones of the houses quite smooth. The same gritty dust had gathered in corners and along the doorsills of the houses to give the city, which could not have been deserted for much more than a few months, the air of a ruin abandoned for eons.