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'I took the liberty of attending to that ers on his staff 'Yes,' he said, 'I have no doubt that you did'

It idely expected by the priesthood that Koomi would be the one to succeed Dios in the event of Dios ever actually dying, although hanging around waiting for Dios to die had never see opinion was that of Dios himself, who, if he had any friends, would probably have confided in them certain conditions that would need to apply first, viz, blueseen in Hell He would probably have added that the only difference between Koomi and a sacred crocodile was the crocodile's basic honesty of purpose

'Very well,' he said

'If I may remind your lordship?' said Koomi The faces of the other priests went a nice safe blank as Dios glared

'Yes, Koomi?'

'The prince, O Dios Has he been summoned?'

'No,' said Dios

'Then hoill he know?' said Koomi

'He will know,' said Dios firmly

'Hoill this be?'

'He will know And now you are all disods!'

They scurried out, leaving Dios alone on the steps It had been his accustoroove in the stonework, into which he fitted exactly

Of course the prince would know It was part of the neatness of things But in the grooves of his round deep by the years of ritual and due observance, Dios detected a certain uneasiness It was not at ho that happened to other people He hadn't got where he was today by allowing rooht back there, a tiny certainty, that there was going to be trouble with this new king

Well The boy would soon learn They all learned

He shifted position, and winced The aches and pains were back, and he couldn't allow that They got in the way of his duty, and his duty was a sacred trust

He'd have to visit the necropolis again Tonight

'He's not himself, you can see that'

'Who is he, then?' said Chidder

They splashed unsteadily down the street, not drunkenly this ti to do the steering for three Teppic alking, but not in a way that gave the any part of it

Around the cursed, there was the sound of furniture being dragged up to first-floor rooms

'Must have been a hell of a storm up in the mountains,' said Arthur 'It doesn't usually flood like this even in the spring'

'Maybe we should burn soested Chidder

'That bloody seagull would be favourite,' Arthur growled

'What seagull?'

'You saw it'

'Well, what about it?'

'You did see it, didn't you?' Uncertainty flickered its dark flaull had disappeared in all the excitement

'My attention was a bit occupied,' said Chidder diffidently 'It must have been those ht they were a bit off'

'Definitely a touch eldritch, that bird,' said Arthur 'Look, let's put him down somewhere while I empty the water out of my boots, can we?'

There was a bakery nearby, its doors thrown open so that the trays of new loaves could cool in the early ainst the wall

'He looks as though someone hit him on the head,' said Chidder 'No-one did, did they?'

Arthur shook his head Teppic's face was locked in a gentle grin Whatever his eyes were focused on wasn't occupying the usual set of diet him back to the Guild and into the san-' He stopped There was a peculiar rustling sound behind hiently on their trays One or two of them vibrated on to the floor, where they spun around like overturned beetles

Then, their crusts cracking open like eggshells, they sprouted hundreds of green shoots

Within a few seconds the trays aving stands of young corn, their heads already beginning to fill out and bend over Through the the 100-idly between theot a feeling that-' Arthur looked behind thery bakers had coressively whole around hihtfully at the street

'Not so you see every day, that,' said Chidder at last

'Youup everywhere he puts his feet?'

'Yes'

Their eyes met As one, they looked down at Teppic's shoes He was already ankle-deep in greenery, which was cracking the centuries-old cobbles in its urgency

Without speaking a word, they gripped his elbows and lifted him into the air

'The san,' said Arthur

'The san,' agreed Chidder

But they both knew, even then, that this was going to involve more than a hot poultice

The doctor sat back

'Fairly straightforward,' he said, thinking quickly 'A case of mortis portalis tackulatum with complications'

'What's that mean?' said Chidder

'In layman's terms,' the doctor sniffed, 'he's as dead as a doornail'

'What are the complications?'

The doctor looked shifty 'He's still breathing,' he said 'Look, his pulse is nearly hus on' He hesitated, aware that this was probably too straightforward and easily understood; et anywhere if people could understand it

'Pyrocerebru it out in his head