‘Be still, man,’ Sparhawk muttered.

Martel rose to his feet and began to pace up and down, his face ruddy in the candlelight. ‘Try to follow me on this, Annias,’ he said. ‘You gave Ehlana darestim, and darestim’s always fatal. There’s no cure, and ordinary magic could not have reversed the effects. I know that because I was trained in magic by Sephrenia myself.’

‘That Styric witch!’ Annias said from between clenched teeth.

Martel seized him by the front of his robe and half-lifted him from his chair. ‘Be very careful what you say, Annias,’ Martel said from between his teeth. ‘Don’t insult my little mother, or you’ll wish that it was Sparhawk who caught you. As I said, he’s basically a gentle sort of person. I’m not. I can do things to you Sparhawk would never dream of.’

‘Surely you don’t still have any feeling for her.’

‘That’s my business, Annias. All right then. If only magic could have cured the queen and ordinary magic wouldn’t have worked, what does that leave us?’

‘Bhelliom?’ Annias guessed, rubbing his hand over the wrinkles Martel’s fist had gathered up in the front of his robe.

‘Precisely. Sparhawk’s somehow managed to get his hands on it. He used it to cure Ehlana, and more than likely he’s still got it with him. It’s not the sort of thing you leave lying around. I’ll send the Rendors out to knock down the bridges over the Arruk. That should delay Wargun for a while and give you and me more time to run. We’d better go north for a little way and get out of the main battle zone before we turn east towards Zemoch.’ He grinned mirthlessly. ‘Wargun’s always wanted to exterminate the Rendors anyway. If I send them out to destroy the bridges, he’ll get his chance, and God knows I won’t miss them all that much. I’ll order the rest of my troops to make a stand against Wargun on the east bank of the river. They’ll engage him in a splendid battle – which might even last for a couple of hours before he butchers the lot of them. That’s about all the time you and I and our friends are going to have to get clear of this place. We can count on Sparhawk to be right behind us, and we can be absolutely sure that he’ll have Bhelliom with him.’

’How do we know that? You’re guessing, Martel.’