‘I must remind the Patriarch of Coombe that further discussion is not in order.’ Ortzel’s voice cracked like a whip. ‘I call for the vote.’ He looked around. ‘You,’ he snapped at the clergyman sitting not far from the goggle-eyed Annias, ‘fetch the instruments of the vote. They are, as I recall, in the chest at the right hand of the Archprelate’s throne.’

The clergyman hesitated, looking fearfully at Annias.

‘Move, man!’ Ortzel roared.

The priest jumped to his feet and ran to the shrouded throne.

‘Somebody’s going to have to explain this to me a little better,’ Talen said in a baffled tone.

‘Later, Talen,’ Sephrenia told him softly. Sephrenia, wearing a heavy black robe that looked slightly ecclesiastical and concealed her race and sex, sat amongst the Church Knights, almost totally concealed by their armoured bulk. ‘Let’s watch the exquisite dance being performed before us.’

‘Sephrenia,’ Sparhawk chided her.

‘Sorry,’ she apologized. ‘I’m not poking fun at your Church, Sparhawk, just at all this involuted manoeuvring. ’

The instruments of the vote consisted of a fairly large black box, quite dusty and totally unadorned, and two plain leather bags securely held shut with stamped leaden seals.

‘Patriarch of Coombe,’ Ortzel said quite concisely. ‘You hold the chair at the moment. It is your duty to break the seals and cause the ballots to be distributed.’

Makova glanced quickly at the law clerk, and the little monk nodded. Then Makova took up the two bags, prised open the leaden seals and took an object from each. They were perhaps the size of a common penny. One was white and the other black. ‘We will vote with these,’ he declared to his fellow Patriarchs, holding the counters up. ‘Is it agreed that the black means no and the white yes?’

There was a rumble of agreement.

‘Distribute the counters then,’ Makova instructed a pair of youthful pages. ‘Each member of the Hierocracy shall receive one white counter and one black.’ He cleared his throat. ‘As God gives you wisdom, my brothers, vote your consciences in this matter.’ Some trace of colour had returned to Makova’s face.

‘He’s been counting votes,’ Kalten said. ‘He’s got fifty-nine, and he thinks we’ve only got forty-seven. He doesn’t know about the five Patriarchs hiding in that closet. I’d imagine those five votes will come as quite a surprise to him. He’ll still win, though.’

‘You’re forgetting the neutrals, Kalten,’ Bevier reminded him.

‘They’ll just abstain, won’t they? They’re still looking for bribes. They’re not going to offend either side.’

‘They can’t abstain, Kalten,’ Bevier told him, ‘not on this vote. Church Law says that they have to come down on one side or the other of this question.’

‘Where did you learn so much about this, Bevier?’

‘I told you that I’d studied military history.’

‘What’s military history got to do with this?’