The Hidden City

Bevier said.
    ‘They’d only dig him up again,’ Sparhawk told him. ‘Besides, he added, ‘If you start trying to bury them all, we’ll be here for several lifetimes.’ He gestured at the bone-littered plain stretching off to the low range of black mountains lying to the west.
    He looked at Xanetia. ‘It was a mistake to bring you along, Anarae,’ he apologized. ‘This is going to get worse before it gets any better.’
    ‘It was not unexpected, Anakha,’ she replied.
    Kalten looked up at the flock of vultures circling overhead. ‘Filthy brutes,’ he muttered.
    Sparhawk raised up in his stirrups to peer on ahead. ‘We’ve got a couple more hours until the sun goes down, but maybe we’d better pull back a mile or two and set up camp a little early. We’ll have to spend one night out there. Let’s not spend two.’
    ‘We need those pillars for landmarks anyway,” Talen added, ‘and they’re a lot brighter when the sun first comes up.’
    ‘That’s if that bright spot we’ve been following really comes from those pillars,’ Kalten said dubiously.
    ‘They got us here, didn’t they? This has to be what Ogerajin called “the Plain of Bones”, doesn’t it? I had my own doubts at first. Ogerajin was raving so much of the time that I was sure that he’d garbled at least some of the directions, but he hasn’t led us astray yet.’
    ‘We still haven’t seen the city, Talen,’ Kalten reminded him, ‘so I’d sort of hold off on composing the letter of thanks.’
    ‘I’ve got all the money I’ll ever need, Order,’ Krager said expansively, leaning back in his chair and looking out through the window at the buildings and the harbor of the port city of Delo.
    He took another drink of wine.
    ‘I wouldn’t go around announcing that, Krager,’ the burly Order advised. ‘Particularly not here on the waterfront.’
    ‘I’ve hired some bodyguards, Order. Can you ask around and find out if there’s a fast ship leaving for Zenga in Cammoria in the next week or so?’
    ‘Why would anybody want to go to Zenga?’
    ‘I grew up there, and I’m homesick,’ Krager replied with a shrug. ‘Besides, I’d sort of like to grind a few faces—all the people who said that I’d come to no good end while I was growing up.’
    ‘Did you happen to come across a fellow named Ezek while you were in Natayos?’ Order asked. ‘I think he’s a Deiran.’
    ‘The name rings a bell. I think he was working for the fellow who ran the tavern.’
    ‘I sent him down there,’ Order explained, ‘him and the other two—Col and Shallag. They were going to see if they could join Narstil’s band of outlaws.’
    ‘They may have, but they were working in the tavern when I left.’
    ‘It’s none of my business, but if you were doing so well in Natayos, why did you leave?’
    ‘Instincts, Order,’ Krager replied owlishly. ‘I get this cold little feeling at the base of my skull, and I know that it’s time to run. Have you ever heard of a man named Sparhawk?’
    ‘You mean Prince Sparhawk? Everybody’s heard of him. He’s got quite a reputation.’
    ‘Oh, yes. That he does. Anyway, Sparhawk’s been looking for an opportunity to kill me for twenty years or so, and that’s the sort of thing that puts a very fine edge on a man’s instincts.’
    Krager took another long drink.
    ‘You might want to give some thought to drying out for a while,’ Order advised, looking meaningfully at Krager’s tankard of Arcian red. ‘I run a tavern, and I’ve learned to recognize the signs. Your liver’s starting to go on you, my friend. Your eyeballs are turning yellow.’
    ‘I’ll cut down once I get out to sea.’
    ‘I think you’ll have to do more than just cut down, Krager. You’re going to have to give it up entirely if you want to go on living. Believe me, you don’t want to die the way most drunkards do. I knew one once who screamed for three straight weeks before he finally died. It was awful.’
    ‘There’s nothing wrong with my liver,’ Krager said truculently. ‘It’s just the funny light in here. When I get out to sea, I’ll space out my drinks. I’ll be all right.’ His face had a haunted expression, however, and the mere mention of giving up strong drink had set his hands to trembling violently.
    Order shrugged. He had tried to warn the man. ‘It’s up to you, Krager,’ he said. ‘I’ll ask around and see if I can find a ship that’ll get you out of Prince Sparhawk’s