The Ruby Knight

have much choice,’ Alstrom replied. ‘We absolutely must get you to safety, and this seems to be the only way.’
    ‘Did you see Krager out there too?’ Kalten asked Sparhawk.
    ‘No, but I imagine he’s around somewhere. Somebody’s got to keep an eye on Adus.’
    ‘Is this Adus so very dangerous?’ Alstrom asked.
    ‘He’s an animal, My Lord,’ Kalten replied, ‘and a very stupid one. Sparhawk’s promised that I get to kill Adus if I don’t interfere when he goes after Martel. Adus can barely talk, and he kills for the sheer pleasure of it.’
    ‘He’s dirty and he smells bad too,’ Talen added. ‘He chased me down a street once in Cammoria, and the odour almost knocked me off my feet.’
    ‘You think Martel might be with them?’ Tynian asked hopefully.
    ‘I doubt it,’ Sparhawk said. ‘I think I nailed his foot to the floor down in Rendor. It’s my guess that he set things up here in Lamorkand and then went to Rendor to hatch things there. Then he sent Krager and Adus back here to set things in motion.’
    ‘I think the world would be better off without this Martel of yours,’ Alstrom said.
    ‘We’re going to do what we can to arrange that, My Lord,’ Ulath rumbled.
    A few moments later, Sephrenia and Flute returned.
    ‘Did you find the things you need?’ Sparhawk asked.
    ‘Most of them,’ she replied. ‘I can make the others.’ She looked at Ortzel. ‘You might wish to retire, Your Grace,’ she suggested. ‘I don’t want to offend your sensibilities.’
    ‘I will remain, Madame,’ he said coldly. ‘Perhaps my presence will prevent this abomination from coming to pass.’
    ‘Perhaps, but I rather doubt it.’ She pursed her lips and looked critically at the small earthen jar she had carried from the kitchen. ‘Sparhawk,’ she said, ‘I’m going to need an empty barrel.’
    He went to the door and spoke with the guard.
    Sephrenia walked to the table and picked up a crystal goblet. She spoke at some length in Styric, and with a soft rustling sound, the goblet was suddenly filled with a powder that looked much like lavender sand.
    ‘Outrageous,’ Ortzel muttered.
    Sephrenia ignored him. ‘Tell me, My Lord,’ she said to Alstrom, ‘you have pitch and naphtha, I assume.’
    ‘Of course. They’re a part of the castle’s defences.’
    ‘Good. If this is to work, we’re going to need them.’
    The soldier entered, rolling a barrel.
    ‘Right here, please,’ she instructed, pointing to a spot away from the fire.
    He set the barrel upright, saluted the baron and left.
    Sephrenia spoke briefly to Flute. The little girl nodded and lifted her pipes. Her melody was strange, hypnotic and languorous.
    The Styric woman stood over the barrel, speaking in Styric and holding the jar in one hand and the goblet in the other. Then she began to pour their contents into the barrel. The pungent spices in the jar and the lavender sand in the goblet came spilling out, but neither vessel emptied. The two streams, mixing as they fell, began to glow, and the room was suddenly filled with star-like glitterings that soared, firefly-like, and sparkled on the walls and ceiling. Minute after minute the small woman poured on and on from the two seemingly inexhaustible containers.
    It took nearly half an hour to fill the barrel. ‘There,’ Sephrenia said at last, ‘that should be enough.’ She looked down into the glowing barrel.
    Ortzel was making strangling sounds.
    She put the two containers far apart on the table. ‘I wouldn’t let these two get mixed together, My Lord,’ she cautioned Alstrom, ‘and keep them away from any kind of fire.’
    ‘What are we doing here?’ Tynian asked her.
    ‘We must drive the Seeker away, Tynian. We’ll mix what’s in this barrel with naphtha and pitch and load the baron’s siege engines with the mixture. Then we’ll ignite it and throw it in amongst Count Gerrich’s troops. The fumes will force them to withdraw, temporarily at least. That’s not the main reason we’re doing it, however. The Seeker has a much different breathing apparatus from that of humans. While the fumes are noxious to humans, to the Seeker they’re lethal. It will either flee or die.’
    ‘That sounds encouraging,’ he said.
    ‘Was it really all so very terrible, Your Grace?’ she asked Ortzel. ‘It’s going to save your life, you know.’
    His face was troubled. ‘I had always thought that Styric sorcery was mere trickery, but there was no way you could have