‘A tribute to the efficiency of Annias’s assassins,’ the Thalesian Komier said dryly.

‘Most probably,’ Abriel agreed. ‘At any rate, there are one hundred and thirty-two Patriarchs in Chyrellos now.’

‘Out of how many?’ Kalten asked.

‘One hundred and sixty-eight.’

‘Why such an odd number?’ Talen asked curiously.

‘It was arranged that way, young man,’ Abriel explained. ‘The number was selected so that it would take one hundred votes to elect a new Archprelate.’

‘One hundred and sixty-seven would have been closer,’ Talen said after a moment.

‘To what?’ Kalten asked.

‘The hundred votes. You see, one hundred votes is 60 per cent of –’ Talen looked at Kalten’s uncomprehending expression. ‘Ah – never mind, Kalten,’ he said. ‘I’ll explain later.’

‘Can you come up with those numbers in your head, boy?’ Komier asked with some surprise. ‘We’ve wasted a bale of paper grinding out computations then.’

‘It’s a trick, My Lord,’ Talen said modestly. ‘In my business you sometimes have to deal with numbers very rapidly. Could I ask how many votes Annias has right now?’

‘Sixty-five,’ Abriel replied, ‘either firm or strongly leaning towards him.’

‘And we have?’

‘Fifty-eight.’

‘Nobody wins then. He needs thirty-five more votes, and we need forty-two.’

‘It’s not quite that simple, I’m afraid,’ Abriel sighed. ‘The procedure set down by the Church Fathers says that it takes one hundred votes – or a like proportion of those present and voting – to elect a new Archprelate, or to decide all matters of substance.’

‘And that’s what used up that bale of paper,’ Komier said sourly.

‘All right,’ Talen said after a moment’s thought. ‘Annias only needs eighty votes then, but he’s still fifteen short.’ He frowned. ‘Wait a minute,’ he said. ‘Your numbers don’t add up. You’ve only accounted for one hundred and twenty-three votes, and you said there were one hundred and thirty-two Patriarchs in Chyrellos.’

‘Nine of the Patriarchs have still not decided,’ Abriel told him. ‘Dolmant suspects that they’re just holding out for bigger bribes. There are votes from time to time on non-substantive matters. In those cases, it only takes a simple majority to win. Sometimes the nine will vote with Annias and sometimes they won’t. They’re demonstrating their power to him. They’ll vote to their own advantage, I’m afraid.’

‘Even if they all vote with Annias every time, they still won’t make any difference,’ Talen said. ‘No matter how you stretch nine votes, you can’t turn them into fifteen.’

‘But he doesn’t need fifteen,’ Preceptor Darellon said wearily. ‘Because of all the assassinations and all the church soldiers in the streets of Chyrellos, seventeen of the Patriarchs opposed to Annias have gone into hiding somewhere in the Holy City. They aren’t present and voting, and that changes the numbers.’

‘This is all beginning to make my head ache,’ Kalten said to Ulath.

Talen was shaking his head. ‘I think we’re in trouble, My Lords,’ he said. ‘Without those seventeen to raise the total, the number to win is sixty-nine. Annias only needs four more votes.’

‘And as soon as he can come up with enough money to satisfy four of those nine hold-outs, he’ll win,’ Sir Bevier said. ‘The boy’s right, My Lords. We’re in trouble.’

‘We have to change the numbers then,’ Sparhawk said.

‘How do you change numbers?’ Kalten asked. ‘A number is a number. You can’t change it.’

‘You can if you add to it. What we have to do when we get to Chyrellos is find those seventeen Patriarchs who are hiding and get them safely back to the Basilica to participate in the vote. That would bring the number Annias needs to win back up to eighty, and he can’t reach that number.’

‘But neither can we,’ Tynian pointed out. ‘Even if we brought them back, we’d still only have fifty-eight votes.’

‘Sixty-two actually, Sir Tynian,’ Berit corrected respectfully. ‘The Preceptors of the four orders are also Patriarchs, and I don’t think any of them would vote for Annias, would you, My Lords?’

‘That changes the number again,’ Talen said. ‘Add the seventeen and the four, and the total is one hundred and thirty-six. That raises the number needed to win to eighty-two – eighty-one and a fraction, actually.’

‘An unreachable number for either side,’ Komier said in a gloomy voice. ‘There’s still no way we can win.’

‘We don’t have to win the vote in order to come out on top, Komier,’ Vanion said. ‘We’re not trying to elect anybody. All we’re trying to do is keep Annias off the throne. We can win with a stalemate.’ Sparhawk’s friend rose to his feet and began to pace up and down in the pavilion. ‘As soon as we reach Chyrellos, we’ll get Dolmant to send a message to Wargun down in Arcium declaring that there’s a religious crisis in the Holy City. That will put Wargun under our orders. We’ll include a command signed by the four of us that he’s to suspend his operations in Arcium and ride for Chyrellos with all possible speed. If Otha starts to move, we’re going to need him there anyway.’

‘How are we going to get enough votes for such a declaration?’ Preceptor Darellon asked.

‘I wasn’t planning to put it to a vote, my friend,’ Vanion smiled thinly. ‘Dolmant’s reputation will convince Patriarch Bergsten that the declaration is official, and Bergsten can order Wargun to march on Chyrellos. We can apologize for the misunderstanding later. By then though, Wargun will be in Chyrellos with the combined armies of the west.’

‘Less the Elenian army,’ Sparhawk insisted. ‘My queen is sitting in Cimmura with only a pair of thieves to protect her.’

‘I’m not trying to offend you, Sir Sparhawk,’ Darellon said, ‘but that’s hardly crucial at this point.’

‘I’m not so sure, Darellon,’ Vanion disagreed. ‘Annias desperately needs money now. He has to have access to the Elenian treasury – not only to bribe the remaining nine, but also to keep the votes he already has. It wouldn’t take too many defections to put the throne completely out of his reach. Protecting Ehlana – and her treasury – is even more vital now than it was before.’