The Hidden City

recruit more and hunt them all down. I will be obeyed!’
    Cyzada of Esos controlled his fury with an obviously great effort. Krager saw his lips moving and his fingers weaving intricate pattens in the air. ‘Let’s get out of here, CabaL!’ he said urgently.
    ‘What? the crazy man ordered us all to watch.’
    ‘You don’t want to watch what’s going to happen next,’ Krager told him. ‘Cyzada’s casting a spell—Zemoch, most likely. He’s summoning a demon to teach our “emperor” the meaning of the word “obedience”.’
    ‘He can’t do that. Zalasta left his son in charge here.’
    ‘No, actually Cyzada’s in charge. I personally heard Zalasta tell that Styric who’s wriggling his fingers right now to kill Scarpa the minute he stepped out of line. I don’t know about you, my friend, but I’m going to find someplace to hide. I’ve seen the kind of creatures that were subject to Azash before, and I’m feeling a little delicate this morning, so I don’t want to see one again.’
    ‘We’ll get into trouble, Krager.’
    ‘Not if the demon Cyzada’s summoning right now eats Scarpa alive, we won’t.’ Krager drew in a deep breath. ‘It’s up to you, CabaL. Stay if you want, but I think I’ve seen as much as I want to of Natayos.’
    ‘You’re going to desert?’ CabaL was aghast.
    ‘The situation’s changed. If Sparhawk’s allied himself with the Delphae, I want to be a long way from here when they come glowing out of that jungle. I find that I’m suddenly homesick for Eosia. Come or stay, CabaL, but I’m leaving—now.’

Chapter 25
    Zalasta’s face was strangely altered when Ekatas unlocked and opened the door to the small, dank cell adjoining the larger room at the top of the tower a week or so after he had brought Ehlana and Alcan to Cyrga. The doubt and remorse which had filled it before were gone, and the Styric’s expression was now one of calm detachment. He took in the horrid little room at a glance. Ehlana and Alcan were chained to the wall, and they were sitting on heaps of moldy straw that were supposed to serve as beds. Crude earthenware bowls filled with cold gruel sat untouched on the floor.
    ‘This won’t do, Ekatas,’ Zalasta said in a remote kind of voice.
    ‘It’s really none of your concern,’ the High Priest replied. ‘Prisoners are kept closely confined here in Cyrga.’ As always, Ekatas sneered when he spoke to Zalasta.
    ‘Not these prisoners.’ Zalasta stepped into the cell and took up the chains that bound the two women to the wall. Then, showing no emotion, he crushed them into powdery rust. ‘The situation here has changed, Ekatas,’ he snapped, helping Ehlana to her feet. ‘Get this mess cleaned up.’
    Ekatas drew himself up. ‘I don’t take orders from Styrics. I am the High Priest of Cyrgon.’
    ‘I’m truly sorry about this, your Majesty,’ Zalasta apologized to Ehlana. ‘My attention’s been diverted for the past week or so. Evidently I didn’t make my wishes clear to the Cyrgai. Please excuse me for a moment, and I’ll correct that oversight.’ He turned back to Ekatas. ‘I told you to do something,’ he said in a dreadful voice. ‘Why haven’t you started?’
    ‘Come out of there, Zalasta, or I’ll lock you in with them.’
    ‘Oh, really?’ Zalasta said with a thin smile. ‘I thought you had better sense. I don’t have time for this, Ekatas. Get this room cleaned up. I have to take our guests to the Temple again.’
    ‘I’ve received no such instructions.
    ‘Why should you have?’
    ‘Cyrgon speaks through me.’
    ‘Precisely. The instructions didn’t come from Cyrgon.
    ‘Cyrgon is God here.’
    ‘Not any more, he isn’t.’ Zalasta gave him an almost pitying look. ‘You didn’t even feel it, did you, Ekatas? The world heaved and convulsed all around you, and you didn’t even notice. How can you possibly be so dense? Cyrgon has been supplanted. Klael rules in Cyrga now—and I speak for Klael.’
    ‘That’s not possible. You’re lying!’
    Zalasta walked out of the cell and took hold of the front of the High Priest’s robe. ‘Look at me, Ekatas,’ he commanded. ‘Take a long, hard look, and then tell me that I’m lying.’
    Ekatas struggled momentarily, and then, unable to help himself, he looked into Zalasta’s eyes. The blood slowly drained from his face, and then he screamed. He screamed again, trying to tear himself free from the Styric’s iron grasp. ‘I beg of you!’ he cried out