Either way, he knew he could not betray Rochant. He would have to find another way to deal with the Red Brothers. At least Rochant could help him learn about the Corpseman. He will tell me and then I will tell Murderkind and then I will have kept my promise.

Murderkind will be pleased and I will get to keep Tal as my friend.

This thought gave Sa-at comfort as they struggled their way down Sorn’s main street.

Rochant’s breath was laboured by his ear. ‘What is your plan?’

He exchanged a glance with Tal. ‘I don’t have one.’

‘My lord,’ Tal added, with no small amount of fear.

‘You,’ gasped Rochant, ‘are going to need one. My enemies will come for me.’

‘How many?’ asked Sa-at.

‘One, maybe two.’

‘Women?’

‘You saw them?’

‘Yes.’

Sa-at could still picture them in his mind now. So unlike anyone he’d seen before that he hungered to see them again. Tal had said that one of them was Deathless too. Did the Deathless fight each other then, like the princes of the Wild? Sa-at would have to ask. Somewhere beneath his fear, a little excitement bubbled at the idea of all the new knowledge he could get. New things are the best things.

They were reaching the edge of Sorn now and the time was coming to make a decision about what to do.

‘When you saw them,’ continued Rochant, ‘which way were they going?’

Sa-at pointed.

‘Then we have a head start. They’ll be coming faster than us though, and they are skilled hunters. We can’t outrun them, our only chance is to outthink them.’

‘Out … think them, my lord?’ asked Tal. ‘But how?’

‘That is the question. Our enemy is quick, experienced and thorough. They will know the immediate surroundings well, and they know me and the kind of tricks I am likely to try.’

Sa-at frowned. Even though the man was describing a terrible situation, his face had become more animated, his eyes lively. He is backwards. He says good things like they’re bad things, and bad things like they’re good things.

‘They might expect me to try for the Godroad,’ Rochant mused. ‘It isn’t far from here and offers protection from the Wild. However, it would be easy for them to spot me and catch me on it.

‘They might expect me to use the cover of the forest near the Godroad. Following it home but keeping out of sight. That’s actually not a bad plan. If a traveller came by, I could get a ride with them to the nearest settlement and then get an escort back to my castle. However, it would still be a gamble. There’s always a chance that my enemies have their own people on the Godroad. If we met one of them, it would not go well for us.’