‘We should probably rush the throne-room then. We’ll bar the doors, deal with whatever guards may be in there and then take Otha prisoner. If we put a knife to his throat, I don’t think any of his soldiers will interfere with us.’

‘Otha’s a magician, Sparhawk,’ Tynian reminded him. ‘Taking him prisoner might not be as easy as it sounds.’

‘Otha’s no particular danger at the moment,’ Sephrenia disagreed. ‘We’ve all had spells come apart on us before. It takes a while to recover from that.’

‘Are we ready then?’ Sparhawk asked tensely.

They nodded, and he led them through the doorway.

The corridor leading from the kitchens to Otha’s throne-room was narrow and not very long. Its far end was illuminated by ruddy torchlight. As they neared that light, Talen slipped on ahead, his soft-shod feet making no sound on the flagstone floor. He returned in a few moments. ‘They’re all there,’ he whispered in a voice tight with excitement. ‘– Annias, Martel and the rest. It looks as if they just got here. They’re still wearing travellers’ cloaks.’

‘How many guards in the room?’ Kurik asked him.

‘Not too many. Twenty or so at the most.’

‘The rest of them are probably out in the halls looking for us.’

‘Can you describe the room?’ Tynian asked. ‘And the places where the guards are standing?’

Talen nodded. ‘This corridor opens out not far from the throne itself. You’ll be able to pick Otha out of the rest almost immediately. He looks a lot like a garden slug. Martel and the others are gathered around him. There are two guards at each of the doors – except for the archway right behind the throne. Nobody’s guarding that one. The rest of the guards are scattered along the walls. They’re wearing mail and swords, and each one of them is holding a long spear. There are a dozen or so burly fellows in loincloths squatting near the throne. They don’t have any weapons.’

‘Otha’s bearers,’ Sephrenia explained.

‘You were right,’ Talen told her. ‘There are four doors – this one just ahead of us, another over on the far side of the room, the archway and a bigger one down at the end of the room.’

‘The door that leads out into the rest of the palace,’ Sephrenia said.

‘That’s the important one then,’ Sparhawk decided. ‘There's nobody in these kitchens but a few cooks, I'd imagine, and not very many people in Otha's bedroom, but there'll be soldiers on the other side of that main door. How far is it from this door to that one?’

‘About two hundred feet,’ the boy said.

‘Who feels like running?’ Sparhawk looked around at his friends.

‘What do you say, Tynian?’ Ulath asked. ‘How fast can you cover two hundred feet?’

‘As fast as you can, my friend.’

‘We’ll take care of it then, Sparhawk,’ Ulath said.