"Will you help me out of my predicament again?"

"Same price?" Sorgi asked shrewdly.

"Anything," Sparhawk said in apparent desperation.

,"Done then, Master "Cluff. My ship is at the end of the third wharf down from here. We sail for Emsat with the morning tide."

"I'll be there, Captain Sorgi," Sparhawk promised.

"Now, if you'll excuse us, my man and I have to go and pack a few things." He rose to his feet and extended his hand to the seaman. "You've saved me again, Captain," he said with genuine grat.i.tude. Then he and Kurik quietly left the tavern.

Kurik was frowning as they went back out into the street. "Do you get the feeling that somebody may be tampering with things?" he asked.

"How do you mean?"

"Isn't it peculiar that we just happened to run across Sorgi again - the one man we can usually count on to help us? And isn't it even more peculiar that he just happens to be going to Thalesia - the one place we really want to go?"

"I think your imagination's running away with you, Kurik. You heard him. It's perfectly logical that he should be here."

"But at just the right time for us to run across him?"

That was a somewhat more troubling question. "We can ask Flute about it when we get back up to the city, " he said.

"You think she might be responsible?"

"Not really, but she's the only one I know of who might have been able to arrange something like this - although I doubt if even she could have managed it."

There was, however, no chance to speak with Flute when they returned to the loft above the seedy tavern, because a familiar figure sat across the table from Meland. Large and grossly bearded and wearing a nondescript cloak, Platime was busily haggling.

"Sparhawk!" The huge man roared his greeting.

Sparhawk stared at him in some astonishment. "What are you doing in Acie, Platime?"

"Several things, actually," Platime said. "Meland and I always trade stolen jewellery. He sells what I steal in Cimmura, and I take what he steals around here back to Cimmura and sell it there. People tend to recognize their own jewellery, and it's not always safe to sell things in the same town where you stole them."

"This piece isn't worth what you're asking for it, Platime," Meland said flatly, holding up a jewel-studded bracelet.

"All right, make me an offer," Platime suggested.

"Another coincidence, Sparhawk?" Kurik asked suspiciously.

"We'll see," Sparhawk said.

"The Earl of Lenda's here in Acie, Sparhawk," Platime said seriously. "He's the closest thing to an honest man on the royal council, and he's attending some kind of conference at the palace. Something's afoot, and I want to know about it. I don't like surprises.

"I can tell you what's going on," Sparhawk told him.

"You can?" Platime looked a little surprised.

"If the price is right," Sparhawk grinned.

"Money?"

"No, a little more than that, I think. I sat in on the conference you mentioned. You know about the war in Arcium, of course?"

"Naturally."

"And what I tell you will go no further?"

Platime motioned Meland away from the table, then looked closely at Sparhawk and grinned. "Only in the way of business, my friend."

This was not a particularly rea.s.suring reply. "You've professed some degree of patriotism in the past," Sparhawk said carefully.

"I have those feelings from time to time," Platime admitted grudgingly, "as long as they don't interfere with honest profit."

"All right, I need your co-operation."

"What have you got in mind?" Platime asked suspiciously.

"My friends and I are seeking to restore Queen Ehlana to her throne."

"You have been for quite some time, Sparhawk, but can that pale little girl really manage a kingdom?"

"I think she can, yes, and I'll be right behind her."

"That gives her a certain edge. What are you going to do about Lycheas the b.a.s.t.a.r.d?"

"King Wargun wants to hang him."

"I don't normally approve of hangings, but in the case of Lycheas, I'd make an exception. Do you think I could reach an accommodation with Ehlana?"

"I wouldn't wager any money on it."

Platime grinned. "It was worth a try," he said. "just tell my queen that I am her most faithful servant. She and I can work out the details later.

"You're a bad man, Platime."

"I never pretended to be anything else. All right, Sparhawk, what do you need? I'll go along with you - up to a point."

"I need information more than anything You know Kalten?"

"Your friend. Of course."

"He's at the palace right now. Put on something that makes you look more or less respectable. Go there and ask for him. Make arrangements with him to pa.s.s on information. I gather that you have ways to pick up details about most of the things that are going on in the known world?"

"Would you like to know what's going on in the Tamul Empire right now?"

"Not really. I've got enough trouble here in Eosia at the moment. We'll deal with the Daresian continent when the time comes."

"You're ambitious, my friend."

"Not really. For the moment, I just want our queen back on her throne."

"I'll settle for that," Platime said. "Anything to get rid of Lycheas and Annias."

"We're all working in the same direction then. Talk with Kalten. He can set up ways for you to get information to him, and he'll pa.s.s it on to people who can use it."

"You're turning me into a spy, Sparhawk, " Platime said in a pained voice.

"It's at least as honourable a profession as thievery."

"I know. The only problem, though, is that I don't know how well it pays. Where are you going from here?"

"We have to go to Thalesia."

"Wargun's own kingdom? After you just ran away from him? Sparhawk, you're either braver or stupider than I thought you were."

"You know that we slipped out of the palace then?"

"Talen told me." Platime thought a moment. "You'll probably make port at Emsat, won't you?"

"That's what our captain says."

"Talen, come here," Platime called.

"What for?" the boy replied flatly.

"Haven't you broken him of that habit yet, Sparhawk?"

Platime asked sourly.

"It was only for old times' sake, Platime." Talen grinned.

"Listen carefully," Platime said to the boy. "When you get to Emsat, look up a man named Stragen. He more or less runs things there - the same way I do in Cimmura and Meland does here in Acie. He'll be able to give you whatever help you'll need."

"All right," Talen said.

"You think of everything, don't you, Platime?"

Sparhawk said.

"In my business you have to. People who don't tend to wind up dangling unpleasantly."

They all reached the harbour shortly after sunrise the following morning, and after they had seen to the loading of the horses, they went on board.

"You seem to have picked up another retainer, Master Cluff," Captain Sorgi said to Sparhawk when he saw Talen.

"My man's youngest son," Sparhawk replied truthfully.

"Just as an indication of the friendship I bear you, Master Cluff, there won't be any extra charge for the boy. Speaking of that, why don't we settle up before we set sail?"

Sparhawk sighed and reached for his purse.

There was a good following wind as they sailed out of the Gulf of Acie and around the promontory that lay to the north. Then they entered the straits of Thalesia and left the land behind. Sparhawk stood on deck talking with Sorgi. "How long do you think it's going to take to get to Emsat?" he asked the curly-haired seaman.

"We'll probably make port by noon tomorrow," Sorgi replied, " - if the wind holds. We'll furl sail and rig sea anchors tonight. I'm not as familiar with these waters as I am with the Inner Sea or the Arcian Strait, so I'd rather not take chances."

"I like prudence in the captain of a ship I'm sailing on," Sparhawk told him. "Oh, and speaking of prudence, do you imagine we might be able to find some secluded cove before we reach Emsat? Towns make me very nervous for some reason."

Sorgi laughed. "You see those cousins around every corner, don't you, Master Cluff? Is that why you're under arms?" Sorgi looked meaningfully at Sparhawk's mail shirt and sword.

"A man in my circ.u.mstances can't be too careful.

"We'll find you a cove, Master Cluff. The coast of Thalesia is one long secluded cove. We'll find you a quiet beach and put you ash.o.r.e so you can sneak north to visit the Trolls without the inconvenience of having cousins d.o.g.g.i.ng your heels."

"I appreciate that, Captain Sorgi.

"You up there!" Sorgi bellowed to one of the sailors aloft. "Look lively You're up there to work, not to daydream!"

Sparhawk walked a ways up the deck and leaned on the rail, idly watching the intensely blue rollers sparkling in the mid-day sun. Kurik's questions were still troubling him. Had the chance meetings with Sorgi and Platime indeed been coincidence? Why should they both have been in Acie at precisely the same time that Sparhawk and his friends had made good their escape from the palace? If Flute indeed could tamper with time, could she also reach out over tremendous distances to draw in people they needed at precisely the right moment? How powerful was she?

Almost as if his thought had summoned her, Flute came up the companionway and looked around. Sparhawk crossed the deck to meet her. "I have a question or two for you," he said.

"I thought you might have."

"Did you have anything to do with bringing both Platime and Sorgi to Acie!"

"Not personally, no."

"But you knew they'd be there?"

"It saves time when you deal with people who already know you, Sparhawk. I made some requests, and certain members of my family arranged the details."

"You keep mentioning your family. Just exactly - "

"What on earth is that?" she exclaimed, pointing off to starboard. Sparhawk looked. A huge surging was just beneath the surface, and then a great flat tail burst up out of the water and crashed down, sending up a great cloud of spray. "A whale, I think," he said.

"Do fish really get that big?"

"I don't think they're actually fish - at least that's what I've heard."

"He's singing." Flute said, clapping her hands in delight. "I don't hear anything."

"You're not listening, Sparhawk." She ran forward and leaned out over the bow of the ship.

"Flute!" he shouted. "Be careful!" He rushed to the rail at the bow and took hold of her.

"Stop that," she said. She lifted her pipes to her lips, but a sudden lurch of the ship made her loose her grip on them, and they fell from her hands into the sea. "Oh bother," she said. Then she made a face. "Oh, well, you'll find out soon enough anyway." Then she lifted her small face. The sound that came from her throat was the sound of those rude shepherd's pipes. Sparhawk was stunned.