The preceptors of the other three orders marched down from the dais and joined Vanion, who led the way from the ornate audience chamber. Once they were out in the corridor, Komier, the hulking Preceptor of the Genidian Knights, grinned openly ‘Very neat, Vanion,’ he said.

‘I’m glad you liked it.’ Vanion grinned back.

‘My head must have been packed in wool this morning, ’ Komier confessed. ‘Would you believe I almost accepted all that tripe?’

‘It was not entirely your fault, Lord Komier,’ Sephrenia told him.

He gave her a questioning look.

‘Let me think my way through it a bit more,’ she said, frowning.

The big Thalesian looked at Vanion. ‘It was Annias, wasn’t it?’ he guessed shrewdly as they progressed down the hall. ‘The scheme was his, I take it?’

Vanion nodded. ‘The Pandion presence in Elenia is hindering his operations. He saw this as a way to remove us.’

‘Elenian politics get a bit dense sometimes. We’re much more direct in Thalesia. Just how powerful is the Primate of Cimmura?’

Vanion shrugged. ‘He controls the Royal Council. That makes him more or less the ruler of the kingdom.’

‘Does he want the throne for himself?’

‘No, I don’t think so. He prefers to manipulate things from behind the scenes. He’s trying to groom Lycheas for the throne.’

‘Lycheas is a bastard, isn’t he?’

Vanion nodded again.

‘How can a bastard be king? Nobody knows who his father is.’

‘Annias probably believes he can get around that problem. Until Sparhawk’s father intervened, our good primate had very nearly convinced King Aldreas that it was perfectly legitimate for him to marry his own sister.’

‘That’s disgusting,’ Komier shuddered.

‘I’ve heard that Annias has certain ambitions involving the Archprelate’s throne in Chyrellos,’ Abriel, the greyhaired Preceptor of the Cyrinic Knights, said to Patriarch Dolmant.

‘I’ve heard some of the same rumours myself,’ Dolmant replied blandly

‘This humiliation is going to be quite a setback for him, isn’t it? The Hierocracy’s likely to look with some disfavour on a man who makes a total ass of himself in public’

‘That thought had crossed my mind as well.’

‘And your report will be quite detailed, I expect?’

‘That is my obligation, Lord Abriel,’ Dolmant said piously ‘As a member of the Hierocracy myself, I could hardly conceal any of the facts, could I? I will have to present the whole truth to the high councils of the Church.’

‘We wouldn’t have it any other way, your Grace.’

‘We’re going to need to talk, Vanion,’ Darellon, the Preceptor of the Alcione Knights, said seriously. This scheme was directed at you and your order this time, but it concerns us all. It could be any one of us the next time. Is there someplace secure where we can discuss this matter?’