«You and I. At last King Thambral will have to believe that the cult of Ayocan is a deadly danger.»

«I did not think he was ignoring it before, your Majesty.»

«No, but he wished to be just and legal about dealing with it. And he wished above all things peace with Chiribu.»

«A good wish, I should think.» Blade had a vague and disagreeable feeling that hidden meanings were lurking in Jaskina's words. He wanted to draw more out of her.

«No doubt, under most circumstances. But peace with Chiribu, at the cost of ignoring such a deadly threat? That is not wise. And now the threat extends to the very existence of the Throne of the Red Ox.» Again Blade had the impression of hidden meanings.

And again he decided to test Jaskina. «Indeed it does. I don't know when the Death-Vowed will be turned loose against you and Thambral and perhaps others among the highly placed of Gonsara. But I suspect it will be soon. Certainly within a few days, perhaps even tonight. I think-«

«Indeed, it might very well be tonight,» said Jaskina slowly. «Well, my own household is well protected, as you know.» She pointed at Blade's thorn wounds. «Once the gate guards are alerted, not even the Death-Vowed will be able to get in. And if they do, I have you, as a second line of defense.»

«Your Majesty, I must go to the palace of King Thambral and warn him also. Otherwise his guards may not be alert, and the Death-Vowed may break through them and kill him.»

«Yes, they might.» The total calm in Jaskina's voice as she said that bothered Blade. «Indeed, they might. But-«

«Yes, your Majesty. But-«There was an edge in Blade's voice now, as suspicions grew in him.

«But I think if Thambral will not take proper precautions by himself, is there any reason to help him? The gods take small care for fools, so why should we do more than they?»

There were any number of possible answers to that question, but Blade gave none of them. Suspicion had become certainty. If Queen Jaskina was not on the side of the cult of Ayocan, she certainly had ambitions of her own. And she was as ready as any Elder Brother of the cult to see King Thambral's life spurt out under the swords and axes of the Death-Vowed.

This definitely was a surprise for Blade, and a thoroughly unpleasant one. It was what J would have called «a most infernally disagreeable complication.» Between one minute and the next, Jaskina had gone from probable ally to almost certain enemy. She was looking hard at him now, and Blade had to avoid meeting her eyes. If he had done so, she would have seen his new knowledge and his new hostility there as clearly as if they had been written on the wall in letters a foot high.

As it was, she did not see it and react to it until Blade had rolled out of bed and put a safe distance between himself and the queen. That was just as well. When Jaskina did realize what Blade was thinking, she screamed like a panther in its death agony. Then she rolled out of bed and dashed for the cord to summon the servants.

Fortunately the pillows on the bed were large and heavy. Blade snatched one up and flung it across the room after Jaskina, aiming low and hitting her in the back of the legs. She staggered, stumbled, and went down. Blade leaped over the bed, pain from his wounded leg stabbing through him. He reached Jaskina and fell on top of her just as she was reaching for the pull-cord.

She screamed again as he landed on her, and then all her breath went out of her in a whoosh. She went almost completely limp, but Blade did not let go of her. He didn't trust her out of his sight or out of his hands, and he began looking around the room for something to use to tie her up. Then he would have to get out of the palace as fast as possible. He had just decided on using the sheets from the bed when he heard the sound of several sets of running feet outside the door. Along with the feet he heard heavy breathing, and then two shrill screams. One was a woman, obviously not a mute, dying in agony and terror. The other was unmistakably the scream of one of Ayocan's Death-Vowed.

As the woman's scream died away in a choking gurgle, Blade leaped to his feet and darted for the door. Jaskina also leaped to her feet and ran in the opposite direction, toward the inner chambers of her apartment. Blade didn't worry about her. For the moment he could only afford to worry about getting out of this palace, through a swarm of Death-Vowed. And they would doubtless make him their main target the moment he stuck his nose out into the corridor.

If he hadn't been able to lay hands on his sword and axe, his situation would have been desperate. But he found both and snatched them up just as the door gave inward, with a splintering of wood and a spang of metal hinges coming apart. Three of the Death-Vowed charged through the open doorway, eyes wide in frenzy and mouths open.

They were too blind with fury and the drug that was in them to notice Blade until he leaped at them. The first one he struck died in mid-scream. The scream was cut off abruptly as Blade's axe smashed through the man's ribs and tore apart everything behind them. Then the scream became a gurgle as blood welled up in the man's throat and spurted out of his mouth. The man's terrible drug given vitality kept him on his feet and moving forward. But he was now only a blinded, maimed animal, blundering forward until he collided with the wall and fell to the rug.

The death of the first Death-Vowed alerted the other two. But they were blindly, madly determined to have Blade's death, so they did not retreat. At least not far enough to escape him. His sword whistled low and took one in the thigh. His axe struck overhand and came down on a shoulder, shearing through flesh and bone. Neither blow killed, but both crippled. This time the two Death-Vowed did draw back, enough for Blade to charge between them and out into the corridor.

Now the two Death-Vowed ignored Blade, and lurched forward into the queen's chambers. Would they have enough strength left to find Jaskina and strike her down? For a moment Blade considered going back to finish them off and save the queen. It went against his grain to leave any woman to be slaughtered like a pig by the Death-Vowed of Ayocan.

That moment of doubt was enough for three more of the Death-Vowed to come charging down the hall. In front of them ran one of the deaf-mute servant girls, her mouth open in what should have been a scream of terror. It stayed open in agony as the Death-Vowed caught her and sank their axes into her skull, shoulders, and back. Blood spurted from her mouth as she fell forward and writhed on the carpet. The axes sank into her back again, and she lay still.

Before the Death-Vowed could free their axes and rise to meet Blade, his own weapons came down at them. His sword sliced through the back of a neck, a ragged and imperfect cut that left the head dangling. But not even a Death-Vowed's unnatural vitality could keep the man on his feet after that wound. He fell onto the body of his victim, and lay still.

Before the first Death-Vowed struck the floor, Blade's axe smashed into the forehead of the second. But his bandaged left hand could not grip the axe properly, and it turned in his hand as he struck. Only the flat of the head struck the Death-Vowed, and that only half-stunned him. He took a lurching step forward, and his sword came down with a clang on Blade's, so hard that the shock ran up Blade's arm and jarred his whole body.

Blade backed away, feinted at the man's head again with his axe, and then slashed sideways at the man's stomach. The Death-Vowed was moving forward at that moment, and the tip and a good six inches of bronze sank into his stomach. In the next moment the third Death-Vowed leaped at Blade, striking with both sword and axe. Blade blocked, the axe with his own. But his sword was just pulling free of his second victim's stomach. The third Death-Vowed's sword came down on Blade's with a terrible crash. This time the shock was so great that even Blade's unwounded right hand could not keep its grip on his sword. The sword fell to the rug. The Death-Vowed closed again. He screamed in triumph as well as rage when he saw that he now had two weapons against a man armed with only one.