The Ruby Knight

warned the others.
    ‘Wouldn’t a gallop be more appropriate about now?’ Kalten asked in a strained voice.
    ‘Let’s not let them know that we’ve seen them.’
    ‘This is very hard on my nerves, Sparhawk,’ Kalten muttered, shifting his shield. ‘I’ve got this very uneasy feeling right between my shoulder-blades.’
    ‘So have I,’ Sparhawk admitted. ‘Talen, are they doing anything?’
    ‘Just watching us,’ the boy replied. ‘I can see a head pop up every so often.’
    They trotted on, splashing through the mud.
    ‘We’re almost clear,’ Tynian said tensely.
    ‘The rain’s settling down around that hill,’ Talen reported. ‘I don’t think they can see us now.’
    ‘Good,’ Sparhawk said, letting out an explosive breath of relief. ‘Let’s slow down. It’s obvious that we’re not alone out here, and we don’t want to blunder into anything.’
    ‘Nervous,’ Ulath commented.
    ‘Wasn’t it, though?’ Tynian agreed.
    ‘I don’t know why you were worried,’ Ulath said, eyeing Tynian’s massive Deiran armour, ‘- considering all the steel you’ve got wrapped around you.’
    ‘At close range, a crossbow bolt will penetrate even this.’ Tynian rapped his fist on the front of his armour. It made a ringing sound, almost like a bell. ‘Sparhawk, the next time you talk to the Hierocracy, why don’t you suggest that they outlaw crossbows? I felt positively naked out there.’
    ‘How do you carry all that armour?’ Kalten asked him.
    ‘Painfully, my friend, very painfully. The first time they strapped it on me, I collapsed. It took me an hour to get back on my feet.’
    ‘Keep your eyes open,’ Sparhawk cautioned. ‘A few Lamork treasure-hunters are one thing, but men controlled by the Seeker are something else, and if it had those men back there near the woods, it’s certain to have some here as well.’
    They splashed on through the mud, looking about cautiously. Sparhawk consulted his map again, shielding it from the rain with his cloak. ‘The city of Randera’s up on the east shore of the lake,’ he said. ‘Bevier, did any of your books say anything about whether the Thalesians occupied it?’
    ‘That portion of the battle is a bit obscure in the chronicles I’ve read,’ the white-cloaked knight replied. ‘The only accounts of that part of the battle just say that the Zemochs occupied Randera fairly early in their campaign. Whether or not the Thalesians did anything about that, I simply don’t know.’
    ‘They wouldn’t have,’ Ulath declared. ‘Thalesians have never been very good at sieges. We don’t have that kind of patience. King Sarak’s army probably by-passed it.’
    ‘This might be easier than I thought,’ Kalten said. ‘The only area we have to search is what lies between Randera and the south end of the lake.’
    ‘Don’t get your hopes up too much, Kalten,’ Sparhawk told him. ‘It’s still a lot of ground.’ He looked off into the drizzle towards the lake. ‘The lake-shore seems to be sand, and wet sand is better to ride on than mud.’ He turned Faran and led the others towards the lake.
    The sandy beach that stretched off into the distance along the south shore of the lake did not seem to have been excavated in the same way the rest of the field had. Kalten looked around as they rode out onto the expanse of damp sand. ‘I wonder why they haven’t been digging here,’ he said.
    ‘High water,’ Ulath replied cryptically.
    ‘I beg your pardon?’
    ‘The water level rises in the winter, and it washes the sand back into any holes they might have dug.’
    ‘Oh. That makes sense, I suppose.’
    They rode cautiously along the edge of the water for the next half-hour.
    ‘How far do we have to go?’ Kalten asked Sparhawk. ‘You’re the one with the map.’
    ‘Ten leagues, anyway,’ Sparhawk replied. ‘This beach seems to be open enough to make a gallop safe.’ He nudged Faran with his heels and led the way.
    The rain continued unabated, and the dimpled surface of the lake was the colour of lead. They had ridden some miles along the water’s edge when they saw another group of men digging somewhat furtively out in the sodden field.
    ‘Pelosians,’ Ulath disdainfully identified them.
    ‘How can you tell?’ Kalten asked him.
    ‘Those silly pointed hats.’
    ‘Oh.’
    ‘I think it fits the shape of their heads. They probably heard rumours about the treasure and came down from the north. Do you want us to run them off,