‘I probably should have suspected something like that,’ Wargun laughed to the others, ‘because when I told Ehlana about what was happening here in Chyrellos, she insisted on bringing her army along to help with the fighting. I absolutely forbade it, and all she did was reach out, tweak my whiskers and say, “That’s all right, Wargun. I’ll race you to Chyrellos then.” Now, I don’t let anyone pull my whiskers, so I was going to spank her right there on the spot, queen or no queen, but then that enormous woman over there stepped in.’ He looked at the woman Sparhawk surmised was Mirtai, the Tamul giantess, and shuddered. ‘I couldn’t believe that she could move that fast. She had a knife to my throat before I could even blink. I tried to explain to Ehlana that I had more than enough men to capture Chyrellos, but she said something about having an investment to protect. I never really got the straight of that. Anyway, we all marched out of Cimmura and joined with Dregos and Obler and came on down here to the Holy City. Now, could somebody explain to me what’s really been happening here?’

‘The usual Church politics,’ Patriarch Emban told him dryly. ‘You know how much our mother adores intrigue. We were fighting a delaying action in the meetings of Hierocracy, manipulating votes, kidnapping Patriarchs – that sort of thing. We were barely able to keep the Primate of Cimmura off the throne, and then Martel showed up and laid siege to the Holy City. We pulled back inside the walls of the inner city for one of those tedious last stands. Things were starting to get serious by the time you arrived last night.’

‘Has Annias been seized as yet?’ King Obler asked.

‘I’m afraid not, Your Majesty,’ Dolmant replied. ‘Martel managed to spirit him out of the city just before dawn.’

‘That’s truly unfortunate,’ Obler sighed. ‘He could still come back and make a serious bid for the Archprelacy then, couldn’t he?’

‘We’d be overjoyed to see him, Your Majesty,’ Dolmant said with a mirthless smile. ‘I’m sure you’ve heard of the connection between Annias and Martel and the suspicions we have about some sort of arrangements between them and Otha. As luck had it, we were able to take the commander of the Archprelate’s personal guard to a place where he could overhear Annias and Martel talking. The colonel’s completely neutral, and everybody knows it. Once he reports what he heard to the Hierocracy, Annias will be expelled from the Church – at the very least.’ He paused. ‘Now then,’ he went on, ‘the Zemochs are massed in eastern Lamorkand as a part of the arrangement between Otha and Annias. As soon as Otha finds out that their plans have gone awry here in Chyrellos, he’ll start to march west. I’d suggest that we do something about that.’