"Tanis?" Vanion's voice was stricken. "When did this happen?"

"Just recently, I gather," she replied.

"Is that why we're here tonight?" Vanion asked Sparhawk.

"Not entirely. Before he went to deliver his sword to Sephrenia, Tanis visited me - or at least his ghost did. He told me that someone in the royal crypt wanted to see me. I went to the cathedral and I was confronted by the -ghost of Aldreas. He told me a number of things and then gave me this." He twisted the shaft of the spear out of its socket and shook the ruby ring out of its place of concealment.

"So that's where Aldreas hid it," Vanion said. "Maybe he was wiser than we thought. You said he told you some things. Such as what?"

"That he had been poisoned," Sparhawk replied.

"Probably the same poison they gave Ehlana."

"Was it Annias?" Kalten asked grimly.

Sparhawk shook his head. "No. It was Princess Arissa."

"His own sister?" Bevier exclaimed. That's monstrous!"

Bevier was an Arcian, and he had deep moral convictions.

"Arissa is fairly monstrous," Kalten agreed. "She's not the sort to let little things stand in her way. How did she get out of the cloister in Demos to dispose of Aldreas, though?"

"Annias arranged it," Sparhawk told him. "She entertained Aldreas in her usual fashion, and when he was exhausted, she gave him the poisoned wine."

"I don't quite understand," Bevier frowned.

"The relationship between Arissa and Aldreas went somewhat beyond what is customary for a brother and sister," Vanion told him delicately.

Bevier's eyes widened and the blood drained from his olive-skinned face as he slowly gathered Vanion's meaning.

"Why did she kill him?" Kalten asked. "Revenge for locking her up in that cloister?"

"No, I don't think so," Sparhawk told him. "I think it was a part of the overall scheme she and Annias had hatched. First they poisoned Aldreas and then Ehlana."

"So the way to the throne would be clear for Arissa's b.a.s.t.a.r.d son?" Kalten surmised.

"It's sort of logical," Sparhawk agreed. "It fits together even tighter when you know that Lycheas the b.a.s.t.a.r.d is Annias's son too."

"A Churchman?" Tynian said, looking a bit startled.

"Do you people here in Elenia have different rules from the rest of us?"

"Not really, no," Vanion replied. "Annias seems to feel that he's above the rules, and Arissa goes out of her way to break them."

"Arissa's always been just a little indiscriminate," Kalten added. "Rumour has it that she was on very friendly terms with just about every man in Cimmura."

"That might be a slight exaggeration," Vanion said. He stood up and went to the window. "I'll pa.s.s this information on to Patriarch Dolmant," he said, looking out at the foggy night. "He may be able to make some use of it when the time comes to elect a new Archprelate."

"And perhaps the Earl of Lenda might be able to use it as well," Sephrenia suggested. "The royal council is corrupt, but even they might balk if they find that Annias is trying to put his own b.a.s.t.a.r.d son on the throne." She looked at Sparhawk. "What else did Aldreas tell you?" she asked.

"Just one other thing. We know we need some magic object to cure Ehlana. He told me what it is. It's Bh.e.l.liom. It's the only thing in the world with enough power."

Sephrenia's face blanched. "No!" she gasped. "Not Bh.e.l.liom!"

"That's what he told me."

"It presents a big problem," Ulath declared. "Bh.e.l.liom's been lost since the Zemoch war, and even if we're lucky enough to find it, it won't respond unless we have the rings."

"Rings?" Kalten asked.

"The Troll-Dwarf, Ghwerig, made Bh.e.l.liom," Ulath explained. "Then he made a pair of rings to unlock its power. Without the rings, Bh.e.l.liom's useless."

"We already have the rings," Sephrenia told him absently, her face still troubled.

"We do?" Sparhawk was startled.

"You're wearing one of them," she told him, "and Aldreas gave you the other this very night."

Sparhawk stared at the ruby ring on his left hand, then back at his teacher. "How's that possible?" he demanded.

"How did my ancestor and King Antor come by these particular rings?"

"I gave them to them," she replied.

He blinked. "Sephrenia, that was three hundred years ago."

"Yes," she agreed, "approximately."

Sparhawk stared at her, then swallowed hard. "Three hundred years?" he demanded incredulously. "Sephrenia, just how old are you?"

"You know I'm not going to answer that question, Sparhawk. I've told you that before."

"How did you get the rings?"

"My G.o.ddess, Aphrael, gave them to me - along with certain instructions. She told me where I'd find your ancestor and King Antor, and she told me to deliver the rings to them."

"Little mother," Sparhawk began, and then broke off as he saw her bleak expression.

"Hush, dear one," she commanded. "I will say this only once, Sir Knights," she told them all. "What we do puts us in conflict with the Elder G.o.ds, and that is not lightly undertaken. Your Elene G.o.d forgives, the Younger G.o.ds of Styric.u.m can be persuaded to relent. The Elder G.o.ds, however, demand absolute compliance with their whims. To counter the commands of an Elder G.o.d is to court worse than death. They obliterate those who defy them - in ways you cannot imagine. Do we really want to bring Bh.e.l.liom back into the light again?"

"Sephrenia We have to!" Sparhawk exclaimed. "It's the only way we can save Ehlana - and you and Vanion for that matter."

"Annias will not live forever, Sparhawk, and Lycheas is hardly more than an inconvenience. Vanion and I are temporary, and so, for that matter - regardless of how you feel personally - is Ehlana. The world won't miss any of us all that much." Sephrenia's tone was almost clinical.

"Bh.e.l.liom, however, is another matter - and so is Azash. If we fall and put the stone into that foul G.o.d's hands, we will doom the world forever. Is it worth the risk?"

"I'm the queen's champion," Sparhawk reminded her. "I have to do whatever I possibly can to save her life." He rose and strode across the room to her. "So help me G.o.d, Sephrenia," he declared, "I'll break open h.e.l.l itself to save that girl."

"He's such a child sometimes," Sephrenia sighed to Vanion. "Can't you think of some way to make him grow up?"

"I was sort of considering going along," the Preceptor replied, smiling. "Sparhawk might let me hold his cloak while he kicks in the gate. I don't think anybody's a.s.saulted h.e.l.l lately."

"You too?" She covered her face with her hands. "Oh, dear," she sighed. "All right then, gentlemen," she said, giving up, "If you're all so bent on this, we'll try it - but only on one condition. If we do find Bh.e.l.liom, and it restores Ehlana, we must destroy it immediately after the task is done."

"Destroy it?" Ulath exploded. "Sephrenia, it's the most precious thing in the world."

"And also the most dangerous. If Azash ever comes to possess it, the world will be lost, and all mankind will be plunged into the most hideous slavery imaginable. I must insist on this, gentlemen. Otherwise, I'll do everything in my power to prevent your finding that accursed stone."

"I don't see that we've got much choice here," Ulath said gravely to the others. "Without her help, we don't have much hope of unearthing Bh.e.l.liom."

"Oh, somebody's going to find it all right," Sparhawk told him firmly. "One of the things Aldreas told me was that the time has come for Bh.e.l.liom to see the light of day again, and that no force on earth can prevent it. The only thing that concerns me right now is if it's going to be one of us who finds it, or some Zemoch, who'll carry it back to Otha."

"Or if it rises from the earth all on its own," Tynian added moodily. "Could it do that, Sephrenia?"

"Probably, yes."

"How did you get out of the chapterhouse without being seen by the Primate's spies?" Kalten asked Sparhawk curiously.

"I threw a rope over the back wall and climbed down."

"How about getting in and out of the city after the gates were all closed?"

"By pure luck the gate was still open when I was on my way to the cathedral. I used another way to get out."

"That garret I told you about?" Talen asked Sparhawk nodded.

"How much did he charge you?"

"A silver half-crown."

Talen looked shocked at that. "And they call me a thief. He silled you, Sparhawk."

"I needed to get out of the city." Sparhawk shrugged.

"I'll tell Platime about it," the boy said. "He'll get your money back. A half-crown? That's outrageous." The boy was actually spluttering.

Sparhawk remembered something. "Sephrenia, when I was on my way back here, something was out in the fog watching me. I don't think it was human."

"The Damork?"

"I couldn't say for sure, but it didn't feel the same. The Damork's not the only creature subject to Azash, is it?"

"No. The Damork is the most powerful, but it's stupid. The other creatures don't have its power, but they're more clever. In many ways, they can be even more dangerous."

"All right, Sephrenia," Vanion said then, "I think you'd better give me Tanis's sword now."

"My dear one -" she began to protest, her face anguished.

"We've had this argument once already tonight," he told her. "Let's not go through it again."

She sighed. Then the two of them began to chant in unison in the Styric tongue. Vanion's face turned a little greyer at the end when Sephrenia handed him the sword and their hands touched.

"All right," Sparhawk said to Ulath after the transfer had been completed. "Where do we start? Where was King Sarak when his crown was lost?"

"No one really knows," the big Genidian Knight replied. "He left Emsat when Otha invaded Lamorkand.

He took a few retainers and left orders for the rest of his army to follow him to the battlefield at Lake Randera."

"Did anyone report having seen him there?" Kalten asked.

"Not that I've ever heard. The Thalesian army was seriously decimated, though. It's possible that Sarak did get their before the battle started, but that none of the few survivors ever saw him "I expect that's the place to start then," Sparhawk said.

"Sparhawk," Ulath objected, "that battlefield is immense. All the Knights of the Church could spend the rest of their lives digging there and still not find the crown."

"There's an alternative," Tynian said, scratching his chin.

"And what is that, friend Tynian?" Bevier asked him "I have some skill at necromancy," Tynian told him. ""I don't like it much, but I know how it's done. If we can find out where the Thalesians are buried, I can ask them if any of them saw King Sarak on the field and if any know where he might be buried. It's exhausting, but the cause is worth it."

"I'll be able to aid you, Tynian," Sephrenia told him. "I don't practise necromancy myself, but I know the proper spells."

Kurik rose to his feet. "I'd better get the things we'll need together," he said. "Come along, Berit. You too, Talen."

"There'll be ten of us," Sephrenia told him "Ten?"

"We'll be taking Talen and Flute along with us."

"Is that really necessary?" Sparhawk objected. "Or even wise?"

"Yes, it is. We'll be seeking the aid of some of the Younger G.o.ds of Styric.u.m, and they like symmetry. We were ten when we began this search, so now we have to be the same ten every step of the way. Sudden changes disturb the Younger G.o.ds."

"Anything you say." He shrugged.

Vanion rose and began to pace up and down. "We'd better get started with this," he said. "It might be safer if you left the chapterhouse before daylight and before this fog lifts. Let's not make it too easy for the spies who watch the house."

"I'll agree with that," Kalten approved. "I'd rather not have to race Annias's soldiers all the way to Lake Randera."

"All right, then," Sparhawk said, "let's get at it. Time's running a little short on us."

"Stay a moment, Sparhawk," Vanion said as they began to file out.

Sparhawk waited until the others had left, and then he closed the door.

"I received a communication from the Earl of Lenda this evening," the Preceptor told his friend.

"Oh?"

"He asked me to rea.s.sure you. Annias and Lycheas are taking no further action against the queen. Apparently the failure of their plot down in Arcium embarra.s.sed Annias a great deal. He's not going to take the chance of making a fool of himself again."