The Diamond Throne

if the weight of the suddenly materialized sword had crushed her to earth.
    Kurik rushed forward, scooped her slight form up in his arms, and carried her back into the shade beside the pool.
    Sparhawk, however, moved at a resolute pace towards the spot where she had fallen, heedless of the blistering gravel under his naked feet, and retrieved his fallen brother’s sword.
    Behind him, he heard the sound of Flute’s pipes. The melody was one that he had not heard before. It was questioning and filled with a deep sadness and an aching kind of longing. He turned around with the sword in his hand. Sephrenia lay on a blanket in the shade of the palms. Her face seemed drawn, and quite suddenly dark circles had appeared beneath her now-closed eyes. Kurik knelt anxiously beside her, and Flute sat cross-legged not far away with her pipes to her lips, sending her strange, hymn-like song soaring into the air.
    Sparhawk crossed the gravel and stopped in the shade. Kurik rose and joined him. ‘She won’t be able to go on today,’ the squire said quietly, ‘perhaps not even tomorrow.’
    Sparhawk nodded.
    ‘This is weakening her terribly, Sparhawk,’ Kurik continued gravely ‘Each time one of those twelve knights dies, she seems to wilt a little more. Wouldn’t it be better to send her back to Cimmura when we get to Jiroch?’
    ‘Perhaps so, but she wouldn’t go.’
    ‘You’re probably right,’ Kurik agreed glumly. ‘You do know that you and I could move faster if we didn’t have her and the little girl along, though, don’t you?’
    ‘Yes, but what would we do without her when we got to where we’re going?’
    ‘You’ve got a point there, I guess. Did you happen to recognize that ghost?’
    Sparhawk nodded. ‘Sir Kerris,’ he said shortly.
    ‘I never got to know him very well,’ Kurik admitted. ‘He always seemed a little stiff and formal.’
    ‘He was a good man, though.’ ‘What did he say to you? I was too far away to hear him.’
    ‘He said that we’re on the right course and that we’ll find the answer we need at Dabour.’
    ‘Well, now,’ Kurik said. ‘That helps, doesn’t it? I was about half-afraid that we were chasing shadows.’
    ‘So was I,’ Sparhawk admitted.
    Flute had laid aside her pipes and now sat beside Sephrenia. She reached out and took the stricken woman’s hand and held it. Her small face was grave, but betrayed no other emotion.
    An idea came to Sparhawk. He went to where Sephrenia lay ‘Flute,’ he said quietly.
    The little girl looked up at him.
    ‘Can you do something to help Sephrenia?’
    Flute shook her head a bit sadly
    ‘It is forbidden.’ Sephrenia’s voice was hardly more than a whisper, and her eyes were still closed. ‘Only those of us who were present can bear this burden.’ She drew in a deep breath. ‘Go put some clothes on, Sparhawk,’ she said then. ‘Don’t walk around like that in front of the child.’
    They remained in the shade beside the pool for the remainder of that day and all of the next. On the morning of the third day, Sephrenia rose and resolutely began to gather up her things. ‘Time is moving along, gentlemen,’ she said crisply, ‘and we still have a long way to go.’
    Sparhawk looked closely at her. Her face was still haggard, and the deep circles beneath her eyes had not lessened. As she bent to pick up her veil, he saw several silvery strands in her glistening black hair. ‘Wouldn’t you be stronger if we stayed here another day?’ he asked her.
    ‘Not appreciably, Sparhawk,’ she replied in a wearyvoice. ‘My condition can’t be improved by resting. Let’s move on. It’s a long way to Jiroch.’
    They rode at an easy pace at first, but after a few miles, Sephrenia spoke rather sharply. ‘Sparhawk,’ she said, ‘it’s going to take all winter if we keep sauntering along like this.’
    ‘All right, Sephrenia,’ he said. ‘Whatever you say.’
    It was perhaps ten days later when they arrived in Jiroch. Like Cippria, the port city in western Rendor was a low, flat town with thick-walled, flat-roofed houses thickly plastered with white mortar. Sparhawk led them through a series of twisting alleys to a section of town not far from the river. It was a quarter where foreigners were, if not actually encouraged, at least tolerated. While most of the people in the streets were still Rendors, there was a fair spattering of brightly robed Cammorians, a number of Lamorks, and even a few Elenians in the crowd.