The Diamond Throne

are.’
    They crossed the alley to the stack of building material. Kurik studiously measured the beams off with his feet. ‘Marginal,’ he observed.
    ‘We’ll never know until we try,’ Sparhawk told him.
    ‘All right. How do we get up to the roof?’
    ‘We’ll lean the beams against the wall. If we slant them up right, we should be able to scramble up and then pull them after us.’
    ‘I’m glad you don’t have to construct your own siege engines, Sparhawk,’ Kurik observed sourly ‘All right. Let’s try it.’
    They leaned several beams against the wall, and Kurik, grunting and sweating, hauled himself up to the roof. ‘All right,’ he whispered down over the edge. ‘come on up.’
    Sparhawk climbed up the beam, picking up a large splinter in his hand in the process. Then he and Kurik laboriously hauled the beams up after them and carried them one by one across the roof to the side facing the consulate wall. The flickering torches atop the wall cast a faint glow across the roof tops. As they were carrying the last beam, Kurik stopped suddenly. ‘Sparhawk,’ he called softly
    ‘What?’
    ‘Two roofs over. There’s a woman lying there.’
    ‘How do you know it’s a woman?’
    ‘Because she’s stark naked, that’s how’
    ‘Oh,’ Sparhawk said, ‘that. It’s a Rendorish custom. She’s waiting for the moon to rise. They have asuperstition here that the first rays of the moon on a woman’s belly increase her fertility.’ ‘Won’t she see us?’
    ‘She won’t say anything if she does. She’s too busy waiting for the moon. Press on, Kurik. Don’t stand there gawking at her.’
    They struggled manfully to push a beam out over the narrow lane, a task made more difficult by the fact that their leverage diminished as they shoved the beam out farther and farther. Finally the stubborn beam clunked down on top of the consulate wall. They slid several more beams across along its top, then rolled them to one side to form a narrow bridge. As they were shoving the last one across, Kurik suddenly stopped with a muttered oath.
    ‘What’s wrong?’ Sparhawk asked him.
    ‘How did we get up on this roof, Sparhawk?’ Kurik asked acidly.
    ‘We climbed up a slanted beam.’
    ‘Where did we want to go?’
    ‘To the top of the wall of the consulate over there.’
    ‘Then why are we building bridges?’
    ‘Because –’ Sparhawk stopped, feeling suddenly very foolish. ‘We could have just leaned a beam against the wall of the consulate, couldn’t we?’
    ‘Congratulations, my Lord,’ Kurik said sarcastically.
    ‘The bridge was such a perfect solution to the problem,’ Sparhawk said defensively.
    ‘But totally unnecessary.’
    That doesn’t really invalidate the solution, does it?’ ‘Of course not.’
    ‘Why don’t we just go on across?’ ‘You go ahead. I think I’ll go talk with the naked lady for a while.’
    ‘Never mind, Kurik. She has her mind on other things.’
    ‘I’m sort of an expert on fertility, if that’s what’s really bothering her.’ ‘Let’s go, Kurik.’
    They crossed their makeshift bridge to the top of the consulate wall and crept along it until they reached a place where the branches of a well-watered fig tree reached up out of the shadows below. They climbed down the tree and stood for a moment or two beside it while Sparhawk got his bearings.
    ‘You wouldn’t happen to know where the consul’s bedchamber is, would you?’ Kurik whispered.
    ‘No,’ Sparhawk replied softly, ‘but I can guess. It’s the Elenian consulate, and all official Elenian buildings are more or less the same. The private quarters will be upstairs at the back.’
    ‘Very good, Sparhawk,’ Kurik said dryly. ‘That narrows things down considerably. Now we only have to search about a quarter of the building.’
    They crept through a shadowy garden and entered by way of an unlocked back door. They passed through a darkened kitchen and into the dimly lit central hall. Kurik suddenly jerked Sparhawk back into the kitchen.
    ‘What ‘ Sparhawk started to object in a hoarse whisper.
    ‘Shhh!’
    Out in the hall there was the bobbing glow of a candle. A matronly woman, a housekeeper or perhaps a cook, walked towards the kitchen door. Sparhawk shrank back as she stood framed in the doorway. Then she took hold of the handle and firmly closed the door.
    ‘How did you know she was coming?’ Sparhawk whispered.
    ‘I don’t know,’ Kurik whispered back. ‘I just did.’ He