The Diamond Throne

was very brave of you, Ulesim. Surely you know how holy Arasham feels about those who act independently of his instructions? Many have lost their heads for taking too much upon themselves.’
    Ulesim began to tremble violently.
    ‘I’m sure he’ll forgive you when I tell him of the incident, however. A lesser man would be sent to the block immediately, but after all, you’re his favourite disciple, aren’t you? Was there anything else, Ulesim?’
    Mutely, his face pasty white, Ulesim shook his head.
    ‘My friends and I will be going, then. Coming, Mahkra?’ Sir Perraine led them from the tent.
    As they rode through the city of tents that had grown up on the outskirts of Dabour, Perraine talked at length about how depressed the cattle market currently was. The tents they passed had apparently been pitched at random, and there was nothing resembling a street. Hordes of dirty children ran and played in the sand, and dispirited-looking dogs rose from the shady side of each tent they passed to bark indifferently a few times before returning to flop down out of the sun again.
    Perraine’s house was a square, blocklike structure that stood in the centre of a patch of weedy ground just beyond the tents. ‘Come inside,’ the knight told them loudly as they reached the door. ‘I want to hear more about this cattle herd of yours.’
    They went in, and he closed the door. It was dim and cool inside. The house had but a single room. There were rudimentary cooking facilities on one side and an unmade bed on the other. A number of large, porous jugshung from the rafters, each seeping moisture which dripped into puddles on the floor. A table and two benches sat in the middle of the room. ‘It’s none too ornate,’ Perraine apologized.
    Sparhawk looked meaningfully at the lone window at the back of the house, a window that seemed only loosely shuttered. ‘Is it safe to talk?’ he asked in a low voice.
    Perraine laughed. ‘Oh, yes, Sparhawk,’ he replied. ‘In my spare time I’ve been nurturing a thorn bush outside that window. You’d be amazed at how much it’s grown and how long the thorns are. You’re looking well, my friend. I haven’t seen you since we were novices.’ Perraine spoke with the faintest trace of an accent. Unlike most Pandions, he was not an Elenian, but came instead from somewhere in the vast reaches of central Eosia. Sparhawk had always liked him.
    ‘You seem to have learned how to talk, Perraine,’ Sephrenia said. ‘You were always so silent before.’
    He smiled. ‘It was my accent, little mother,’ he said. ‘I didn’t want people making fun of me.’ He took her wrists and kissed her palms in greeting and asked her blessing.
    ‘You remember Kurik?’ Sparhawk said.
    ‘Of course,’ Perraine replied. ‘He trained me with the lance. Hello, Kurik. How’s Aslade?’
    ‘Very well, Sir Perraine,’ Kurik said. ‘I’ll tell her you asked. What was that business back there all about-with Ulesim, I mean?’
    ‘He’s one of the officious toads who’ve attached themselves to Arasham.’
    ‘Is he really a disciple?’
    Perraine snorted. ‘I doubt that Arasham even knows his name,’ he said. ‘Of course there are days when Arasham doesn’t even know his own. There are dozens like Ulesim – self-appointed disciples who go around bothering honest people. He’s probably five miles outinto the desert by now and riding very hard to get away. Arasham is very firm with people who overstep what little authority he gives them. Why don’t we all sit down?’
    ‘How did you manage to accumulate so much power, Perraine?’ Sephrenia asked him. ‘Ulesim behaved as if you were some king or something.’
    ‘It wasn’t really too hard,’ he replied. ‘Arasham has only two teeth in his head – and they don’t meet. I give him a tender, milk-fed veal every other week as a token of my unspeakable regard for him. Old men are very interested in their bellies, so Arasham is profuse in his thanks. The disciples aren’t blind, so they defer to me because of Arasham’s supposed favour. Now, what brings you to Dabour?’
    ‘Voren suggested that we look you up,’ Sparhawk said. ‘We need to talk with someone here, and we didn’t want to attract too much attention.’
    ‘My house is yours,’ Perraine said ironically, ‘such as it is. Who is it you need to talk with?’
    ‘A physician named Tanjin,’ Sephrenia told him, removing her veil.
    Perraine looked at her rather closely ‘You