The Ruby Knight

Bevier replied piously. ‘We take a vow of poverty, so we’re not really in a position to gamble on sporting events.’
    King Wargun roared with laughter.
    The city gate opened somewhat hesitantly.
    ‘Somehow I knew they’d see it my way,’ Wargun said, leading the way into the city. ‘Where will I find your chief magistrate?’ he asked one of the trembling gate guards.
    ‘I-I believe he’s in the council-house, Your Majesty,’ the guard stammered. ‘Probably hiding in the cellar.’
    ‘Be a good fellow and go and fetch him for me.’
    ‘At once, Your Majesty.’ The guard threw down his pike and ran off down the street.
    ‘I like Lamorks,’ Wargun said expansively. ‘They’re always so eager to be obliging.’
    The chief magistrate was a pudgy man. His face was pale, and he was sweating profusely as the gate guard bodily dragged him into Wargun’s presence.
    ‘I will require suitable quarters for King Soros, myself and our entourage, Your Excellency,’ Wargun informed him. ‘This won’t inconvenience your citizens all that much, because they’ll be up all night equipping themselves for an extended military campaign anyway.’
    ‘As Your Majesty commands,’ the magistrate replied in a squeaky voice.
    ‘You see what I mean about Lamorks?’ Wargun said. ‘Soros will have smooth going down here. He’ll sweep the whole kingdom clean in a week – if he doesn’t stop to pray too often. Why don’t we go someplace and get something to drink while his excellency here empties a dozen or so houses for us?’
    After a consultation with King Soros and Patriarch Bergsten the following morning, Wargun took a troop of Thalesian cavalry and led them towards the west with Sparhawk riding at his side. It was a fine morning. The sunlight sparkled on the lake, and there was a light breeze blowing in from the west.
    ‘I suppose you’re still not going to tell me what you were doing in Pelosia?’ Wargun said to Sparhawk. The Thalesian King seemed relatively sober this morning, so Sparhawk decided to risk his mood.
    ‘You know about Queen Ehlana’s illness, of course,’ he began.
    ‘The whole world knows about it. That’s why her bastard cousin is trying to seize power.’
    ‘There’s a bit more to it than that, Your Majesty. We’ve finally isolated the cause of the illness. Primate Annias needed access to her treasury, so he had her poisoned.’
    ‘He did what ?’
    Sparhawk nodded. ‘Annias is not overburdened with scruples, and he’ll do anything to reach the Archprelacy.’
    ‘The man’s a scoundrel,’ Wargun growled.
    ‘At any rate, we’ve discovered a possible cure for Ehlana. It involves the use of magic, and we need a certain talisman to make it work. We found out that the talisman is in Lake Venne.’
    ‘What is this talisman?’ Wargun asked, his eyes narrowed.
    ‘It’s a kind of ornament,’ Sparhawk replied evasively. ‘Certain people used to wear them.’
    ‘Do you really put that much store by all that magic nonsense?’
    ‘I’ve seen it work a few times, Your Majesty. Anyhow, that’s why we objected so much when you insisted that we join you. We weren’t trying to be disrespectful. Ehlana’s life is being sustained by a spell, but it’s only good for just so long. If she dies, Lycheas will take the throne.’
    ‘Not if I can help it, he won’t. I don’t want any throne in Eosia occupied by a man who doesn’t know his own father.’
    ‘The idea doesn’t appeal to me either, but I think Lycheas does in fact know who his father is.’
    ‘Oh? Who is it? Do you know?’
    ‘The Primate Annias.’
    Wargun’s eyes went wide. ‘Are you sure of that?’
    Sparhawk nodded. ‘I have it on the very best authority. The ghost of King Aldreas told me. His sister was somewhat profligate.’
    Wargun made the sign to ward off evil, a peasant gesture that looked peculiar coming from a reigning monarch. ‘A ghost, you say? The word of a ghost won’t stand up in any court, Sparhawk.’
    ‘I wasn’t planning to take it to court, Your Majesty,’ Sparhawk said grimly, resting his hand on his sword-hilt. ‘As soon as I have the leisure, the principals will be standing before a higher judgement.’
    ‘Good man,’ Wargun approved. ‘I wouldn’t have thought that a churchman would have succumbed to Arissa, though.’
    ‘Arissa can be very persuasive sometimes. Anyway, this campaign of yours is directed at another one of Annias’s plots. I strongly suspect that the