‘Who’s going to stop her? She’s safe, Sparhawk. Platime put the biggest woman I’ve ever seen to guarding her. The woman’s almost as big as Ulath, and she carries more weapons than a platoon.’

‘That would be Mirtai, the giantess,’ Talen said. ‘Queen Ehlana’s perfectly safe, Sparhawk. Mirtai’s an army all by herself.’

‘A woman?’ Kalten asked incredulously.

‘I wouldn’t recommend calling her that to her face, Kalten,’ the boy said seriously. ‘She thinks of herself as a warrior, and nobody in his right mind argues with her. She wears men’s clothes most of the time, probably because she doesn’t want to be pestered by fellows who like their women large. She’s got knives attached to her in some of the most unexpected places. She’s even got a pair built into the soles of her shoes. Not much of those two knives stick out past her toes, but it’s enough. You really wouldn’t want her to kick you in certain tender places.’

‘Where did Platime ever come across a woman like that?’ Kalten asked him.

‘He bought her,’ Talen shrugged. ‘She was about fifteen at the time and hadn’t reached her full growth. She didn’t speak a word of Elene, I’ve been told. He tried to put her to work in a brothel, but after she’d crippled or killed a dozen or so potential customers, he changed his mind.’

‘Everybody speaks Elene,’ Kalten objected.

‘Not in the Tamul Empire, I understand. Mirtai’s a Tamul. That’s why she has such a strange name. I’m afraid of her, and I don’t say that about many people.’

‘It’s not only the giantess, Sparhawk,’ Kurik continued. ‘The common people know their neighbours, and they know everybody who has unreliable political opinions. The people are fanatically loyal to the queen now, and every one of them makes it his personal business to keep an eye on his neighbours. Platime’s rounded up just about everybody in town who’s the least bit suspect.’

‘Annias has a lot of underlings in Cimmura,’ Sparhawk fretted.

‘He used to, My Lord,’ Kurik corrected. “There were a number of messy object lessons, and if there’s anyone left in Cimmura who doesn’t love the queen, he’s being very careful to keep that fact to himself. Can I have something to eat? I’m famished.’