The Hidden City. David Eddings

try the secret summoning.’

      ‘What’s that?’ Itagne murmured to Vanion.

      ‘It’s used to pass messages, your Excellency,’ Vanion replied. ‘It summons the awareness of the Child Goddess, but not her presence. We can give her a message to carry to someone else by using that spell.’

      ‘Isn’t that just a little demeaning for the Child Goddess? Do you really make her run errands and carry messages that way?’

      ‘I’m not offended, Itagne.’ Aphrael smiled. ‘After all, we live only to serve those we love, don’t we?’

      Berit’s pronunciation of the second spell raised no objections.

      ‘You’ll probably want to use that one most of the time anyway, Berit,’ Vanion instructed. ‘Krager warned Sparhawk about using magic, so don’t be too obvious about things. If you get any further instructions along the road, make some show of following them, but pass the word on to Aphrael.’

      ‘There’s no real point in decking him out in Sparhawk’s armor now, is there, Lord Vanion?’ Khalad asked.

      ‘Good point,’ Vanion agreed. ‘A mail-shirt should do, Berit. We want them to see your face now.’

      ‘Yes, my Lord.’

      ‘Now you’d better get some sleep,’ Vanion continued. ‘You’ll be starting early tomorrow morning.’

      ‘Not too early, though,’ Caalador amended. ‘We purely wouldn’t want th’ spies t’ oversleep therselfs an’ miss seein’ y’ leave. Gittin’ a new face don’t mean shucks iffn y’ don’t git no chance t’ show it off, now does it?’

      It was chill and damp in the courtyard the following morning, and a thin autumn mist lay over the gleaming city. Sparhawk led Faran out of the stables. ‘Just be careful,’ he cautioned the two young men in mail-shirts and travelers’ cloaks.

      ‘You’ve said that already, my Lord,’ Khalad reminded him. ‘Berit and I aren’t deaf, you know.’

      ‘You’d better forget that name, Khalad,’ Sparhawk said critically. ‘Start thinking of our young friend here as me. A slip of the tongue in the wrong place could give this all away.’

      ‘I’ll keep that in mind.’

      ‘Do you need money?’

      ‘I thought you’d never ask.’

      ‘You’re as bad as your father was.’ Sparhawk pulled a purse from under his belt and handed it to his squire. Then he firmly took Faran by the chin and looked straight into the big roan’s eyes. I want you to go with Berit, Faran,’ he said. ‘Behave exactly as you would if he were me.’

      Faran flicked his ears and looked away.

      ‘Pay attention,’ Sparhawk said sharply. ‘This is important.’

      Faran sighed.

      ‘He knows what you’re talking about, Sparhawk,’ Khalad said. ‘He’s not stupid – just bad-tempered.’

      Sparhawk handed the reins to Berit. Then he remembered something. ‘We’ll need a password,’ he said. ‘The rest of us are going to have different faces, so you won’t recognize us if we have to contact you. Pick something ordinary.’

      They all considered it.

      ‘How about “ramshorn”?’ Berit suggested. ‘It shouldn’t be too hard to work it into an ordinary conversation, and we’ve used it before.’

      Sparhawk suddenly remembered Ulesim, most-favored-disciple-of-holy-Arasham, standing atop a pile of rubble with Kurik’s crossbow bolt sticking out of his forehead and the word Ramshorn still on his lips. ‘Very good, Berit – ah – Sir Sparhawk, that is. It’s a word we all remember. You’d better get started.’

      They nodded and swung up into their saddles.

      ‘Good luck,’ Sparhawk said.

      ‘You too, my Lord,’ Khalad replied. And then the pair turned and rode slowly toward the drawbridge.

      ‘All we’ve really got to work with is the name Beresa,’ Sarabian mused, somewhat later. ‘Krager’s note said that Sparhawk would receive further instructions there.’

      ‘That could be a ruse, your Majesty,’ Itagne pointed out. ‘Actually, the exchange could take place at any time – and any place. That might have been the reason for the instructions to go overland.’

      ‘That’s true,’ Caalador agreed. ‘Scarpa and Zalasta might just be waiting on the beach on the west side of the Gulf of Micae wanting to make the trade right there, for all we know.’

      ‘We’re going to an awful lot of trouble here,’ Talen said. ‘Why doesn’t Sparhawk just have Bhelliom go rescue the Queen? It could pick her up and have her back here before Scarpa even knew she was gone.’

      ‘No,’ Aphrael said, shaking her head. ‘Bhelliom can’t do that any more than I can.’

      ‘Why not?’

      ‘Because we don’t know where she is - and we can’t go looking for her, because they’ll be able to sense us moving around.’

      ‘Oh. I didn’t know that.’

      Aphrael rolled her eyes upward. ‘Men!’ she sighed.

      ‘It was very resourceful of Ehlana to slip her ring to Melidere,’ Sephrenia said, ‘but locating her would be much easier if she still had it with her.’

      ‘I sort of doubt that, dear,’ Vanion disagreed. ‘Zalasta of all people knows that the rings can be traced. If Ehlana had still been wearing it, the first thing Scarpa would have done would have been to send Krager or Elron off in the opposite direction with it.’

      ‘You’re assuming that Zalasta’s involved in this,’ she disagreed. There is the possibility that Scarpa’s acting on his own, you know.’

      ‘It’s always better to assume the worst,’ he shrugged. ‘Our situation is much more perilous if Zalasta and Cyrgon are involved. If it’s only Scarpa, he’ll be relatively easy to dispose of.’

      ‘But only after Ehlana and Alean are safe,’ Sparhawk amended.

      ‘That goes without saying, Sparhawk,’ Vanion said.

      ‘Everything hinges on the moment of the exchange then, doesn’t it?’ Sarabian noted. ‘We can make some preparations, but we won’t be able to do anything at all significant until the moment that Scarpa actually produces Ehlana.’

      ‘And that means that we have to stay close to Berit and Khalad,’ Tynian added.

      ‘No.’ Aphrael was shaking her head. ‘You’ll give everything away if you all start hovering over those two. Let me do the staying close. I don’t wear armor, so no one will be able to smell me from a thousand paces off. Itagne’s right. The exchange could come at any time. I’ll let Sparhawk know the very instant Scarpa shows up with Ehlana and Alean. Then Bhelliom can set him down – with knife – right on top of them. Then we’ll have the ladies back, and we’ll be more or less in charge of things again.’

      ‘And that brings us right back to a purely military situation,’ Patriarch Emban mused. I think we’ll want to send word to Komier and Bergsten. We’re going to need the Church Knights in Cynesga and Arjuna, not in Edom or Astel – or here in Matherion. Let’s have them ride southeast after they come down out of the mountains of Zemoch. We’ll have the Atans in Sarna, the eastern Peloi and the Church Knights we’ve already got in Samar, the Trolls in the Tamul Mountains and Komier and Bergsten on the western side of the Desert of Cynesga. We’ll be able to squeeze the land of the Cyrgai like a lemon at that point.’

      ‘And see what kind of seeds come popping out,’ Kalten added bleakly.

      Patriarch