The Diamond Throne

to evening, and that grove over there seems to be fairly clear of undergrowth. We may as well set up our night’s encampment here.’ He raised his voice then, calling back over his shoulder. ‘Sir Parasim,’ he shouted.
    The young knight with the butter-coloured hair rode forward. ‘Yes, my Lord Sparhawk?’ he said in his light tenor voice.
    ‘We’ll stop for the night here,’ Sparhawk told him. ‘As soon as the wagons get here, set up Sephrenia’s tent for her and see to it that she has everything she needs.’
    ‘Of course, my Lord.’
    The sky had turned a chill purple by the time Sparhawk had overseen the setting up of their encampment and had posted sentries. He walked past the tents and the flickering cooking fires to join Sephrenia at the small fire before her tent, which was set slightly apart from the rest of the camp. He smiled when he saw her ever-present tea-kettle hanging from a metal tripod which she had set over the flames.
    ‘Something amusing, Sparhawk?’ she asked.
    ‘No,’ he said. ‘Not really’ He looked back towards the youthful knights moving around their cooking fires. ‘They all seem so young,’ he said almost as if to himself, ‘hardly more than boys.’
    ‘That’s the nature of things, Sparhawk. The old make the decisions, and the young carry them out.’
    ‘Was I ever that young?’
    She laughed. ‘Oh yes, dear Sparhawk,’ she told him. ‘You couldn’t begin to believe how young you and Kalten were when you came to me for your first lessons. I felt as if a pair of babies had been placed in my care’
    He made a rueful face ‘I guess that answers that question, doesn’t it?’ He held out his hands to the warmth of her fire. ‘It’s a cold night. I think my blood thinned out while I was in Jiroch. I haven’t been really warm since I came back to Elenia. Did Parasim bring you your supper?’
    ‘Yes. He’s a very nice boy, isn’t he?’
    Sparhawk laughed. ‘He’d probably be offended if he heard you say that.’
    ‘It’s the truth, isn’t it?’
    ‘Of course, but he’d be offended all the same. Young knights are always sensitive.’
    ‘Have you ever heard him sing?’
    ‘Once. In chapel.’
    ‘He has a glorious voice, doesn’t he?’
    Sparhawk nodded. ‘I don’t think he really belongs in a militant order. A regular monastery would probably suit his temperament better.’ He looked around, then stepped outside the circle of firelight, dragged a log to the side of the fire, and covered it with his cloak. ‘It’s not exactly an easy chair,’ he apologized, ‘but it’s better than sitting on the ground.’
    ‘Thank you, Sparhawk.’ She smiled. ‘That was very thoughtful of you.’
    ‘I do have a few manners, I suppose.’ He looked at her gravely ‘This is going to be a hard journey for you, I’m afraid.’
    ‘I can endure it, my dear.’
    ‘Perhaps, but don’t go out of your way to be unnecessarily brave. If you get tired or cold, don’t hesitate to say something to me’
    ‘I’ll be just fine, Sparhawk. Styrics are a hardy people’
    ‘Sephrenia,’ he said then, ‘how long will it be until the twelve knights who were in the throne room with you begin to die?’
    ‘That’s really impossible to say, Sparhawk.’
    ‘Will you know – each time it happens, I mean?’
    ‘Yes. At the moment, I’m the one to whom their swords will be delivered.’
    ‘Their swords?’
    ‘The swords were the instruments of the spell, and they symbolize the burden that must be passed on.’
    ‘Wouldn’t it have been wiser to have distributed that responsibility?’
    ‘I chose not to.’
    ‘That might have been a mistake.’
    ‘Perhaps, but it was mine to make.’
    He began to pace angrily. ‘We should be working on a cure instead of riding halfway across Arcium,’ he burst out.
    ‘This is important, too, Sparhawk.’
    ‘I couldn’t bear to lose you and Ehlana,’ he said, ‘and Vanion, too.’
    ‘There’s still time, dear one.’
    He sighed. ‘Are you all settled in, then?’ he asked her.
    ‘Yes. I have everything I need.’
    ‘Try to get a good night’s sleep. We’ll be starting early. Good night, Sephrenia.’
    ‘Sleep well, Sparhawk.’
    He awoke as daybreak had begun to spread its light through the wood. He strapped on his armour, shivering at the touch of the cold plate He emerged from the tent he shared with five other knights and looked around the sleeping camp. Sephrenia’s fire was flickering in front of her tent