arm and stepped into the bath.

"Only Lord Fergox Spearthrower himself, him that's going to save you."

Mergot's voice was proud.

Tashi had been preparing herself for bad news, but this was far worse than she had feared. The

Emperor himself! What price would he demand from her people for her return? "But I don't

need saving by him--I need rescuing from him."

Mergot laughed as if Tashi had just cracked a joke. "He said you'd be confused. He told me you

weren't really evil, not like the other three witches.

That's why

100

I offered to look after you when none others wanted to. They said you'd curse them, but you

won't spell an old woman like me, will you?"

"I know no spells," Tashi replied quietly.

102

The maid clucked sceptically and poured a basin of hot water over Tashi's hair. With rough

fingers, she washed away the dirt of the journey. The bathwater was filthy by the time she had

finished.

"There now," Mergot said, wrapping her in a towel and drying her like an infant. "You're to rest tonight. Our lord will see you tomorrow, he said, if you're strong enough."

Too exhausted to argue, Tashi nodded, pulled on the clean nightgown and climbed into the bed.

Mergot bustled round the room for a few more minutes, then left, carrying off Tashi's dirty

clothes in a bundle. The sheets smelt sweet; the bed was warm. Tashi heard the key turn in the

lock, then fell asleep.

101

Chapter 6

Ramil had also bathed and changed but, unlike Tashi, he was expected to dine with Fergox that

evening. An armed guard escorted him down the dark, cramped corridors of the old castle keep

to Fergox's private chambers: no one here was taking any chances that he might escape again.

Ramil found the ruler of most of the known world reading by the fire, the leather-bound book

looking oddly small in his strong fists. Fergox threw it aside on his approach.

"Are you a scholar, Prince Ramil?" he asked, waving Ramil to a chair opposite him.

A servant carried in a small table and began to set it for supper.

"I can read, sir," replied Ramil, "if that's what you mean."

103

Fergox smiled and tapped the cover of his book. "A soldier's answer. The ac Burinholts never

prized learning. Your scholars are much undervalued. That will change."

Ramil swallowed his bitter retort. Fergox was already reordering the kingdom he had not yet

conquered.

102

"You are probably wondering what I have got planned for you," Fergox said in a friendly fashion, pouring two glasses of red wine. He sounded like a benefactor planning the career of a favorite

ward.

"It had crossed my mind, yes," Ramil answered sardonically.

"Ha!" Fergox raised a glass to him. "I like you. Plenty of spirit. I always rather admired the Burinholt dynasty."

"You have a strange way of showing your admiration: kidnapping me, locking me up with a tiger,

dragging me all the way from the border."

Fergox raised an eyebrow in interest. "My man locked you up with a tiger, did he? What, you

and my little Tashi?"

"Who?"

"The Princess Taoshira."

104

Ramil nodded, wondering at the familiarity of tone.

"That was very imaginative of him. I suppose there was no other way of smuggling you across

the border. Orboyd is really one of my most useful spies."

The servants entered with the dinner. Produce from all over Spearthrower's empire had made

its way to his table. Ramil did not recognize some of the dishes but had no desire to display his

ignorance so ate everything without question.

"But back to the subject of your future," Fergox said, pouring some more wine. "I am in your debt, Prince. It was a lucky turn of fortune when your father and the old witches negotiated your

match to little Tashi. You cannot imagine how much easier it made

103

my plans, for it brought the Blue Crescent Princess so close to my snares. I was going to have to

lure her from her island somehow but you did it for me."

Fergox reached out to a globe by his side and gave it a languid spin. "And it has all turned out far better than I could have hoped. As you may guess, the Blue Crescent is none too pleased that

you let the Princess be taken." He gave a rough laugh at Ramil's scandalized expression. "And some, thanks to the whispers circulated by my men, think you are to blame. Rumor has it that,

rather than wed her, you killed her in the forest and ran for the border."

Ramil put down his knife and fork, his appetite fled.

"There will be war between your two countries come spring. Your father will be only too

relieved to receive my offer of alliance. It will appear to him most . . . timely."

105

"You are trapping him so you can take Gerfal without a fight?"

"Of course. I do not want to squander my men on your little kingdom when I have my sights set

on the much bigger prize to the west. He'll need my armies to defeat the Blue Crescent forces.

The price will be acknowledging me as overlord."

"Why not crush Gerfal, like you did Brigard?" Ramil tossed back his wine angrily.

Fergox gave him a cold smile. "What would be the point? I have a large empire to control. If I

can achieve my aims without wasting resources on unnecessary battles, then I will do so."

104

"And what about me?"

The warlord refilled Ramil's glass. "I will tell your father that you came here to seek my aid

against those Westerners. I received you as a cousin with open arms, welcomed you into my

household, took your unwelcome bride off your hands and even offered you one of my blood as

your wife instead to cement the al iance."

"He'll never believe it," Ramil said defiantly, hoping his father would not think him capable of such treachery. This story made him out as a traitor to Gerfal, bringing war upon them by ill-treating a princess.

"Perhaps not, but that won't matter. This is the public story; what he knows in private is neither here nor there. By spring he will have no choice but to accept it or end up fighting on two

fronts." Fergox smiled at Ramil's expression. "Don't look so sad, Prince Ramil. You will still have your throne.

106

It could be much worse."

"A throne, but no power." Ramil drained his glass, trying to rid himself of the foul taste in his mouth.

"Some power," corrected Fergox. "And, if you please me, my favor."

Ramil resisted the temptation to tell the Spearthrower what he could do with his "favor."

"And what of the Princess Taoshira, my unwanted bride as you called her?"

Fergox cocked his head quizzically, his eyes calculating. "Do you care what becomes of her,

Prince Ramil?"

"She was under my protection, my guest--"

Fergox nodded, as if this explained everything. "Ah yes, Gerfalian chivalry, I had forgotten. I have no plans

105

to harm her, if that is what worries you. Quite the opposite: I intend to give her an important

role in shaping the future of her country."

"And that is . . . ?"

107

Fergox picked up the book he had discarded and brandished it at Ramil.

"Did you know that the Blue Crescent Islanders do not believe in God?"

"They believe in a Goddess."