Lycien laughed. ‘Madel is a seaport, Sir Sparhawk. Brawling is second nature to sailors. The authorities don’t pay much attention to their little scuffles – except to remove the bodies, of course. Public sanitation, you understand.’

‘Good.’ Sparhawk looked at his friends. ‘You may not get a chance at Krager or Adus, but you might be able to divide Martel’s attention. That could be what it takes to get Kurik and Sephrenia and me aboard a ship unnoticed. I’d rather not have to keep looking over my shoulder when we get to Cippria.’

‘About the only tricky part is going to be getting you to the harbour without being seen,’ Kalten said.

‘It won’t be necessary to go to the harbour,’ Lycien said. ‘I have some warehouses on the river about five miles from here. A fair number of independent sea captains deliver cargoes to me there, and I’m sure arrangements for your passage can be made without any need for going into the city’

‘Thank you, my Lord,’ Sparhawk said. ‘That solves a problem.’

‘When do you plan to leave?’ Tynian asked. ‘I don’t see much point in delaying.’

‘Tomorrow, then?’

Sparhawk nodded.

‘I need to talk with you, Sparhawk,’ Sephrenia said. ‘Would you mind coming to my room?’

He followed her out of the door, slightly puzzled. ‘Is it something we can’t discuss in front of the others?’ he asked her. ‘It might be better if they don’t hear us arguing.’

‘Are we going to argue?’

‘Probably.’ She opened the door to her room and led him inside. Flute sat cross-legged on the bed, her dark eyebrows knit in concentration as she wove the intricate mesh of a cat’s cradle out of a strand of wool yarn. It was far more complex than the one Talen had made when he had demonstrated it to her. She looked up, smiled at them, and proudly extended her little hands to show them her handiwork.

‘She’ll be going with us,’ Sephrenia said.

‘Absolutely not!’ Sparhawk said sharply.

‘I told you we’d argue about this.’

‘It’s an absurd idea, Sephrenia.’

‘We all do many absurd things, dear one.’ She smiled affectionately at him.

‘Don’t do that,’ he said. ‘You’re not going to win me over that way.’

‘Don’t be tiresome, Sparhawk. You’ve been around her long enough to know that she always does what she decides to do, and she’s decided that she’s going with us to Rendor.’

‘She won’t if I have anything to say about it.’

‘That’s the whole point, Sparhawk. You don’t. You’re dealing with something you can’t understand. She’s going to come with us in the end anyway, so why not just give in gracefully?’

‘Gracefulness is not one of my strong points.’

‘I’ve noticed.’