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‘He’ll expel you and your friends froested

‘He can try,’ Adnari Estarg replied slyly, ‘but we’ll ignore his proclaulator he sends to our part of the world to enforce those coet the point - eventually How ave it quite a bit of thought on my way home, Your Grace,’ Jalkan said ‘I think we should start out with five, at least A half-million men should be able to occupy the southern portion of Veltan’s Do on an invasion frohly unlikely that he’ll divert many troops to reed ‘If it happens to turn out that we need ht that Naos Udar has the church treasury heavily guarded’

‘Indeed he does, Jalkan,’ Adnari Estarg said with a faint smile, ‘but there wasn’t really very much money in that treasury when Udar usurped the holy throne I’d pretty well cleaned it out when I first saw those twelve arot it stored in a well-concealed place, and I’m the only one who knows the location’ He paused for ayour trial, did we, Jalkan?’ he asked rather apologetically

‘I don’t see that you really hadhis best to purge the church of all clergymen who didn’t come from his part of the Empire If any of you had tried to co post right beside me’

‘We will reward you for your discovery, Jalkan’

‘Yes, your Grace, you definitely will,’ Jalkan replied very firmly ‘Since I’m the only one who kno to reach the Land of Dhrall, I’m very valuable, wouldn’t you say?’

The chubby Adnari looked at Jalkan sharply

‘Did you actually think I was just going to roll over and play dead, Your Grace?’Jalkan asked ‘How does twenty percent sound to you?’

‘Twenty percent of what?’

‘Of everything, your Grace - the gold, the slaves, the land, everything’

‘That’s outrageous!’ Estarg exploded

‘That’s my price, your Grace,’ Jalkan said bluntly ‘Take it or leave it If you don’t want to play the game ht start to fade I’m not a churchman any more, your Grace, so I don’t automatically obey those who outrank me now That means that I’ll be the one who makes up the rules this tilohen a look of consternation ca north to the port of Castano seated in an ornate sedan chair carried by eight slaves, and he was consideringthe way He was fairly sure that the high-ranking church had recruited would look upon him as redundant once their forces reached southern Dhrall, so it was an absolute necessity for him to remain a vital part of the operation