"Thank you, Belet Vor," I said.

"Good luck," he murmured as we left and followed Darnad towards Chinod Sai's 'palace'.

The building we finally came upon was situated in the centre of the city. It was only two stories high and while it had some stone in its construction it was mainly of wood.

It stood in an open square from which several narrow streets radiated. We hugged the shadows of the streets and watched the guards as they patrolled the grounds of the palace.

Belet Vor had told Darnad exactly where the guest rooms were and when the Argzoon were likely to retire. We assumed that Shizala and Horguhl would not be dining with Chinod Sai. At this time it was likely that the Argzoon were eating in the main hall of the building. This meant we might be able to rescue the two women without arousing the suspicion of those inside and thus avoid a noisy fight.

After we had ascertained the exact movements of the patrolling guards, Darnad placed the first dart carefully in the blow-pipe and took aim.

His aim was accurate. The dart winged its way towards the guard. I saw him clutch his neck and then fall almost soundlessly to the ground.

The next guard—there were four we needed to attend to in all—saw his comrade fall and rushed towards him. We heard him lean over him and speak casually. "Get up, Akar, or the Bradhi will have your head. I told you not to drink so much before we went on guard!"

I held my breath as Darnad aimed another dart, expelled it softly—and the second guard fell.

The third guard turned a corner and paused in astonishment on seeing the bodies of his fallen comrades.

"Hey! What's this-?"

He would never fully know, for Darnad's third dart took him in his naked shoulder. The drug was quick. The guard fell. Darnad grinned at me—we seemed near to success.

The fourth guard was disposed of even before he saw his fellows.

Then the eight of us moved in, cat-footing it towards the guest rooms.

Soon, soon, I thought, all this would be over and we could return to Varnal to live in peace. I could study the sciences of the mysterious Sheev, increase the inventions that the Karnala would be able to use. With my help, the Karnala need never fear attack again. They had the basic technology necessary for building internal combustion engines, electric power generators, radios—I could accomplish all that for them.

Those were the thoughts—inapt, perhaps, for the moment—that coursed through my brain as we crept towards the guest room windows.

The windows were not glazed, only shuttered, and one of these was drawn back. Luck seemed to be on our side that night.