The Sapphire Rose

‘Who knows?’ Sephrenia laughed. ‘Maybe she likes him. Maybe it’s part of her obsession with symmetry. Maybe it’s something else – something she wants him to do.’

‘Then it wasn’t really my fault, was it?’ Talen said quickly.

‘Probably not.’ She smiled at him.

‘That makes me feel better,’ he said. ‘I knew you wouldn’t like it if I came after you, and I almost choked on all that truth. You should have spanked her when you had the chance, Sparhawk.’

‘Do you have any idea at all of what they’re talking about?’ Stragen asked Tynian.

‘Oh, yes,’ Tynian replied. ‘I’ll explain it to you someday. You won’t believe me, but I’ll explain it anyway.’

‘Did you find out anything about Martel?’ Kalten asked Sparhawk.

‘He rode out through the east gate early yesterday morning.’

‘We’ve gained a day on him then. Did he have any troops with him?’

‘Only Adus,’ Kurik replied.

‘I think it’s time for you to tell them everything, Sparhawk,’ Sephrenia said gravely.

‘You’re probably right,’ he agreed. He drew in a deep breath. ‘I’m afraid I haven’t been entirely honest with you, my friends,’ he admitted.

‘What’s new and different about that?’ Kalten asked.

Sparhawk ignored him. ‘I’ve been followed ever since I left Ghwerig’s cave up in Thalesia.’

‘That crossbowman?’ Ulath suggested.

‘He might have been involved, but we can’t really be sure. The crossbowman – and the people he had working for him – was probably something Martel came up with. I can’t be sure if it’s still a problem or not. The one who was responsible is dead now.’

‘Who was it?’ Tynian asked intently.

‘That’s not particularly important.’ Sparhawk had decided some time ago to keep Perraine’s involvement an absolute secret. ‘Martel has ways to force people to do what he tells them to do. That’s one of the reasons we had to get away from the main body of the army. We wouldn’t have been very effective if we’d had to spend most of our time trying to guard our backs from the attacks of people we could supposedly trust.’

‘Who was following you if it wasn’t the crossbowman?’ Ulath persisted.

Sparhawk told them about the shadowy form that had haunted him for months now.

‘And you think it’s Azash?’ Tynian asked him.

‘It sort of fits together, wouldn’t you say?’

‘How would Azash have known where Ghwerig’s cave was?’ Sir Bevier asked. ‘If that shadow’s been following you since you left the cave, Azash would almost have to have known, wouldn’t he?’

‘Ghwerig was saying some fairly insulting things to Azash before Sparhawk killed him,’ Sephrenia told them. ‘There was a certain amount of evidence that Azash could hear him.’

‘What sort of insults?’ Ulath asked curiously.

‘Ghwerig was threatening to cook Azash and eat him,’ Kurik said shortly.

‘That’s a little daring – even for a Troll,’ Stragen noted.

‘I’m not so sure,’ Ulath disagreed. ‘I think Ghwerig was totally safe in that cave of his – at least safe from Azash. He didn’t have too much to protect him from Sparhawk as it turned out, though.’

‘Would one of you like to clarify that a bit?’ Tynian asked him. ‘You Thalesians are the experts on Trolls.’

‘I’m not sure how much light we can throw on it,’ Stragen said. ‘We know a little bit more about Trolls than other Elenes, but not very much.’ He laughed. ‘When our ancestors first came to Thalesia, they couldn’t tell Trolls from Ogres or bears. The Styrics told us most of what we know. It seems that when the Styrics first came to Thalesia, there were a few confrontations between the Younger Styric Gods and the Troll-Gods. The Troll-Gods realized fairly early on that they were badly overmatched, and they went into hiding. The legends say that Ghwerig and Bhelliom and the rings were sort of involved in hiding them. It’s generally believed that they’re somewhere in Ghwerig’s cave and that Bhelliom’s somehow protecting them from the Styric Gods.’ He looked at Ulath. ‘Wasn’t that sort of what you were getting at?’ he asked.

Ulath nodded. ‘When you combine Bhelliom and the Troll-Gods, you’re talking about enough power to make even Azash step around it a little carefully. That’s probably why Ghwerig could make the kind of threats he did.’

‘How many Troll-Gods are there?’ Kalten asked.

‘Five, aren’t there, Ulath?’ Stragen said.

Ulath nodded. ‘The God of Eat,’ he supplied, ‘the God of Kill, the God of –’ He broke off and gave Sephrenia a slightly embarrassed look. ‘Um – let’s just call it the God of Fertility,’ he continued lamely. ‘Then there’s the God of Ice – all kinds of weather, I suppose – and the God of Fire. Trolls have a fairly simple view of the world.’

‘Then Azash would have known about it when Sparhawk came out of the cave with Bhelliom and the rings,’ Tynian said, ‘and He probably would have followed.’

‘With unfriendly intentions,’ Talen added.

‘He’s done it before,’ Kurik shrugged. ‘He sent the Damork to chase Sparhawk all over Rendor and the Seeker to try to run us down in Lamorkand. At least He’s predictable.’

Bevier was frowning. ‘I think we’re overlooking something here,’ he said.

‘Such as?’ Kalten asked.

‘I can’t quite put my finger on it,’ Bevier admitted, ‘but I get the feeling that it’s fairly important.’

They left Kadach at dawn the following morning and rode eastward towards the city of Motera under skies that continued grey and cloudy. The murky sky, coupled with their conversation of the previous evening, made them all gloomy and downcast, and they rode mostly in silence. About noon, Sephrenia suggested a halt. ‘Gentlemen,’ she said quite firmly, ‘this isn’t a funeral procession, you know.’

‘You could be wrong there, little mother,’ Kalten said to her. ‘I didn’t find much to lift my spirits in last night’s discussion.’

‘I think we’d all better start looking for cheerful things to think about,’ she told them. ‘We’re riding into some fairly serious danger. Let’s not make it worse by piling gloom and depression on top of it. People who think they’re going to lose usually do.’