Sparhawk sank to the grass beside his friend. ‘This is just a thought,’ he said, ‘but could we throw some clandestine support to one of the other factions and undermine Arasham’s position?’

‘It’s a nice idea, Sparhawk, but at the moment there aren’t any other factions. After Arasham received his epiphany, he spent forty years exterminating all possible rivals. There was a blood bath in central Rendor of colossal proportions. Pyramids of skulls dot the desert out there. Finally, he gained control of Dabour, and he rules there with an authority so total that he makes Otha of Zemoch look like a liberal. He has thousands of rabid followers who blindly follow his every lunatic whim. They roam the streets with sun-baked brains and burning eyes, searching for any infraction of obscure religious laws. Hordes of the unwashed and lice-ridden and only marginally human rage through the streets in search of the opportunity to burn their neighbours at the stake.’

‘That’s direct enough,’ Sparhawk said. He glanced at Sephrenia. Flute had dipped a handkerchief into the fountain and was gently bathing the small woman’s face with it. Peculiarly, Sephrenia had her head laid against the little girl’s shoulder as if she were the child. ‘Arasham has gathered an army, then?’ he asked Voren.

Voren snorted. ‘Only an idiot would call it an army. They can’t march anywhere because they have to pray every half-hour, and they blindly obey even the obvious misstatements of that senile old man.’ He laughed harshly ‘Arasham sometimes stumbles over the language which isn’t surprising, since he’s probably at least half baboon – and once, during his campaigns back in the hinterlands, he gave an order He meant to say, “Fall upon your foes,” but it came out wrong. Instead, he said, “Fall upon your swords,” and three whole regiments did exactly that. Arasham rode home alone that day, trying to figure out what had gone wrong.’

‘You’ve been here too long, Voren.’ Sparhawk laughed. ‘Rendor’s starting to sour your disposition.’

‘I can’t abide stupidity and filth, Sparhawk, and Arasham’s followers believe devoutly in the sanctity of ignorance and dirt.’

‘You’re starting to develop a fine flair for rhetoric, though.’

‘Contempt is a powerful seasoning for one’s words,’ Voren admitted. ‘I can’t say what I think openly here in Rendor, so I have plenty of time to polish my phrases in private ‘ His face grew serious. ‘Be very careful in Dabour, Sparhawk,’ he advised. ‘Arasham has a couple of dozen disciples – some of whom he even knows. They’re the ones who really control the city, and they’re all as crazy as he is.’

‘That bad?’

‘Worse, probably’

‘You’ve always been such a cheerful fellow, Voren,’ Sparhawk said dryly

‘It’s a failing of mine I try to look on the bright side of things. Is anything happening in Cippria I ought to know about?’