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CHAPTER 30

‘I don’t kno they did it, Sparhawk,’ Caalador replied with a dark scowl ‘Krager himself hasn’t been seen for days He’s a slippery one, isn’t he?’ Caalador had come in from the city and located Sparhawk on the parapet

‘That he is, ht that Elron could haveeverything but wearing a sign reading "conspirator" on his forehead – all that swirling of his cape and exaggerated tip-toeing through back alleys’ Caalador shook his head ‘Anyway, he was staying in the house of a local Edoo in through the front door We atching every single door and , so we know he didn’t come back out, but he wasn’t inside ent to pick him up’

There was a crash froet at the rebels hiding inside

‘Did your people check the house for hidden rooes?’ Sparhawk asked

Caalador shook his head ‘They stood the Edomish noble barefoot in a brazier of hot coals instead It’s faster that way There was no place to hide in that house I’m sorry, Sparhawk We picked up all the second-raters without a hitch, but the leaders –’ He spread his hands helplessly

‘Soic They’ve done it before’

‘Can you really do that sort of thing with ic?’

‘I can’t, but I’m sure Sephrenia knows the proper spells’

Caalador looked out over the battleovern’

‘I’reed

‘It was fairly important, Sparhawk If they’d succeeded, all of Tamuli would have flown apart As soon as the Atans finishsurvivors – and those underlings we did ht be able to direct us to the iood at this sort of thing I think we’ll find that the underlings don’t actually have a lot of information It’s a shaer’

‘You always get that tone of voice when you talk about hi personal between you two?’

‘Oh, yes, and it goes back a long, long ways I’ve missed any number of opportunities to kill him – usually because it wasn’t convenient I was usually too busy concentrating on the er always h information to make him too valuable to kill The next tinore that’

The Atans were efficiency personified as they rounded up the rebels They offered the arents one opportunity to surrender each tiroup, and they didn’t ask twice By two hours past ain A few Atan patrols searched the grounds and buildings for any rebels who , but there was little in the way of significant activity

Sparhaas bone-tired Though he had not physically participated in the suppression of the rebellion, the tension had exhausted hiht have He stood on the parapet looking wearily down into the corounds-keepers, who had been pressed into service for the unpleasant task, cringingly pulled the floating dead out of the o to bed, Sparhawk?’ It was Khalad His bare, heavy shoulders gleaht His voice and appearance and brusque ain felt that brief, renewed pang of sorrow

‘I just want to be sure that there won’t be any bodies left floating in thePeople who’ve been burned to death aren’t very pretty’

‘I’ll take care of that Let’s go to the bath-house I’ll help you out of your armour, and you can soak in a tub of hot water for a while’

‘I didn’t really exert , Khalad I didn’t even work up a sweat’

‘You don’t have to That srained into your armour that five minutes after you put it on, you smell as if you haven’t bathed for a month’