‘Laughed?’ Kring sounded shocked.

‘I sort of gather that you’re not exactly to her taste.’

‘Laughed? At me?’

‘I think your decision’s wise, though, friend Kring,’ Sparhawk said. ‘I don’t think you two would get along very well.’

Kring’s eyes, however, were bulging. ‘Laughed at me, did she?’ he said indignantly. ‘Well, we’ll just see about that!’ And he whirled his horse and rode back to join his men.

‘That might have worked out if you hadn’t told him about the laughing,’ Stragen observed. ‘Now he’ll go out of his way to pursue her. I sort of like him, and I hate to think of what Mirtai’s likely to do to him if he gets too persistent.’

‘Maybe we can talk him out of it,’ Sparhawk said.

‘I wouldn’t really count on it.’

‘What are you actually doing here, Stragen?’ Sparhawk asked the blond man. ‘In the southern kingdoms, I mean?’

Stragen looked off towards a nearby monastery, his eyes distant. ‘Do you want the real truth, Sparhawk? Or would you like to give me a moment or two to fabricate a story for you?’

‘Why don’t we start out with the truth? If I don’t like that, then you can make something up.’

Stragen flashed him a quick grin. ‘All right,’ he agreed. ‘Up in Thalesia, I’m a counterfeit aristocrat. Down here, I’m the real thing – or very close to it. I associate with kings and queens, the nobility and the higher clergy on a more or less equal footing.’ He raised one hand. ‘I’m not deluding myself, my friend, so don’t become concerned about my sanity. I know what I am – a bastard thief – and I know that my proximity to the gentry down here is only temporary and that it’s based entirely on my usefulness. I’m tolerated, not really accepted. My ego, however, is sizeable.’

‘I noticed that,’ Sparhawk said with a gentle smile.

‘Be nice, Sparhawk. Anyway, I’ll accept this temporary and superficial equality – if only for the chance of some civilized conversation. Whores and thieves aren’t really very stimulating companions, you understand, and about all they can really offer in the way of conversation is shop talk. Have you ever heard a group of whores sitting around talking shop?’

‘I can’t say that I have.’

Stragen shuddered. ‘Absolutely awful. You learn things about men – and women – that you really don’t want to know.’

‘This won’t last. You know that, don’t you, Stragen? The time will come when things will return to normal, and people will start closing their doors to you again.’

‘You’re probably right, but it’s fun to pretend for a little while. And when it’s all over, I’ll have that much more reason to despise you stinking aristocrats.’ Stragen paused. ‘I do sort of like you though, Sparhawk – for the time being, at least.’