‘Well you should. Now, help me up. We must leave here.’

‘Exploiting the very freedom K’rul offers us.’

‘I delight in the irony.’

Sechul Lath turned and looked down at the corpse of the Jaghut, lying so near the edge of the spar. It was a fell thing, to murder someone. Errastas was right: outrage swirled in the air, thick as smoke. It felt heady enough to make his head spin.

‘I never knew,’ said Errastas as Sechul, with only one working arm, awkwardly helped him to stand, ‘that killing could be so much fun.’

Sechul shuddered. ‘Errastas, look at what we have done. Invited her here under false pretences, and then set upon her like wild beasts. We have awakened the wrath of the Jaghut. Nothing good will come of that.’

‘Night comes to the Jaghut, Setch. Their fury is as nothing now.’

‘Too easy your dismissal, Errastas. We have just murdered his wife.’

‘And Hood will weep – what of it? Now, let us go, before they draw close enough to hear us. Besides, it is not Hood who approaches, is it?’

‘No,’ Sechul Lath muttered, ‘only his brother.’

* * *

Haut paused on the trail, squinting upward.

Behind him, Korya sagged down in exhaustion. Circling the top of a tower did not make for much exercise. Three strides from edge to edge; such was her realm, the span of faith for her godly aspirations. It seemed paltry, small, and she had begun to suspect that the world ever delivered lessons in humility, even to gods and goddesses.

‘It is not far now,’ said Haut. ‘I should have selected the sword; this axe grows heavy. Bold my pride; feeble my aged muscles.’ He glanced back at her. ‘Have you given more thought to this scattered treasure?’

‘Was I to have given it more thought?’

‘I await your wisdom.’

She shook her head. ‘Of wisdom I have little, master. But I see it as a deliberate mockery of worth.’

‘Yes, but why?’

‘Maybe we are being told that only what awaits us at the end of this trail holds true worth.’

‘Possibly. The Azathanai are curious creatures. They are not acquisitive. In fact, there is one among them who bears the title of Protector, yet protects nothing. The Jheleck came to their villages and stole all they could carry, and he but smiled.’

‘Perhaps he protects what cannot be seen.’

‘And what might that be?’

She considered, taking her time as it gave her further respite. ‘There are many virtues that cannot be measured in a material manner.’

‘Indeed? Name one.’

‘Love.’

‘Torcs and rings of gold, brooches and diadems; expensive gifts, a solid home and a roof that does not leak. A child.’

‘From all those love can be stripped away, yet still they remain.’

‘Excellent. Go on.’

‘Trust.’

‘Guard my wealth and I will pay you in return.’

‘That is a transaction.’

‘One that purchases trust.’