Kurik was smiling gently. ‘Well, well,’ he said to Sephrenia, ‘it looks as if Flute’s still around – and in more than just spirit – doesn’t it?’

‘So it would seem,’ she agreed, also smiling.

‘Document?’ Patriarch Emban said to Patriarch Ortzel.

‘I took the liberty of speaking for the Hierocracy,’ Ortzel confessed. ‘I gave each of my messengers a copy for King Wargun. I thought it might be all right, under the circumstances.’

‘It’s quite all right with me,’ Emban said. ‘Makova might not have liked it very much, though.’

‘I’ll apologize to him someday – if I happen to think about it. I wasn’t really sure whether any of the other messages had reached King Wargun, so I more or less briefed him on everything that’s been happening.’

It had taken a few moments for what they were saying to seep through King Wargun’s awareness. ‘Are you saying that I moved my army on the orders of one single Patriarch – who isn’t even a Thalesian?’ he roared.

‘No, Wargun,’ the huge Patriarch Bergsten said firmly. ‘I fully approve of the actions of the Patriarch of Kadach, so you moved your army on my orders. Would you like to argue with me about it?’