The Diamond Throne

the tiny rapier in the fairy’s hand.
    Tanjin shrank away with his hands behind his back. ‘How did you do that?’ he asked in a trembling voice.
    ‘Do you mean that you can’t? The charges against you must be false then. This is a very simple spell – quite rudimentary, actually.’
    ‘As you can see, Doctor,’ Sparhawk said, ‘we have no qualms about magic. You can speak freely to us with no fear of being denounced to Arasham or his fanatic followers.’
    Tanjin tightly clamped his lips shut, continuing tostare at the fairy seated sedately on Sephrenia’s palm with fluttering wings.
    ‘Don’t be tiresome, Doctor,’ Sephrenia said. ‘Just tell us how you cured the king’s brother, and we’ll be on our way.’
    Tanjin began to edge away from her.
    ‘I think, dear brother, that we’re wasting our time here,’ she said to Sparhawk. ‘The good doctor refuses to co-operate.’ She raised her hand. ‘Fly, little sister,’ she told the fairy, and the tiny creature soared once again into the air. ‘We’ll be going now, Tanjin,’ she said.
    Sparhawk started to object, but she laid one restraining hand on his arm and started towards the door.
    ‘What are you going to do about that?’ Tanjin cried, pointing at the circling fairy
    ‘Do?’ Sephrenia said, ‘why nothing, Doctor She’s quite happy here. Feed her sugar from time to time, and put out a small dish of water for her. In return, she’ll sing for you. Don’t try to catch her, though. That would make her very angry’
    ‘You can’t leave her here!’ he exclaimed in anguish. ‘If anyone sees her here, I’ll be burned at the stake for witchcraft.’
    ‘He sees directly to the central point, doesn’t he?’ Sephrenia said to Sparhawk.
    The scientific mind is noted for that.’ Sparhawk grinned. ‘Shall we go, then?’
    ‘Wait!’ Tanjin cried.
    ‘Was there something you wanted to tell us, Doctor?’ Sephrenia asked mildly
    ‘All right. All right. But you must swear to keep it a secret that I told you this.’
    ‘Of course. Our lips are sealed.’
    Tanjin drew in a deep breath and scurried to the curtained doorway to make certain that no one waslistening outside. Then he turned and motioned them into a far corner where he spoke in a hoarse whisper. ‘Darestim is so virulent that there’s no natural remedy or antidote,’ he began.
    ‘That’s what Voldi told us,’ Sparhawk said.
    ‘You’ll note that I said no natural remedy or antidote,’ Tanjin continued. ‘Some years ago in the course of my studies, I came across a very old and curious book. It predated Eshand’s time, and it had been written before his prohibitions came into effect. It seems that the primitive healers here in Rendor routinely utilized magic in treating their patients. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t- but they effected some astonishing cures. The practice had one common element. There are a number of objects in the world which have enormous power. The physicians of antiquity used that sort of thing to cure their patients.’
    ‘I see,’ Sephrenia said. ‘Styric healers sometimes resort to the same desperate measure’
    ‘The practice is quite common in the Tamul Empire on the Daresian continent,’ Tanjin went on, ‘but it’s fallen into disfavour here in Eosia. Eosian physicians prefer scientific techniques. They’re more reliable, for one thing, and Elenes have always been suspicious of magic But Darestim is so potent that none of the customary antidotes have any effect. Magical objects are the only possible cure’
    ‘And what did you use to cure the king’s brother and nephews?’ Sephrenia asked.
    ‘It was an uncut gem of a peculiar colour I think it originally came from Daresia, though I can’t really be sure. It’s my belief that the Tamul Gods infused it with their power.’
    ‘And where is that gem now?’ Sparhawk asked intently.
    ‘Gone, I’m afraid. I had to grind it to a powder and mix it with wine to cure the king’s relatives.’
    ‘You idiot!’ Sephrenia exploded. That is not the way to use such an object. You need only touch it to the patient’s body and call forth its power.’
    ‘I’m a trained physician, madame,’ he replied stiffly. ‘I cannot turn insects into fairies, nor levitate myself nor cast spells upon my enemies. I can only follow the normal practices of my profession, and that means that the patient must ingest the medication.’
    ‘You destroyed a stone that might have healed thousands