He scrambled out of the tent and almost tripped over the lip of the incision that Utik’cah had made, crawling along the short tunnel that had been burrowed through the sand. Outside, it appeared as if he had emerged from the side of a dune, and the desert had moved completely from its place before the storm, leaving them at the base of an enormous wall of white sand, rising almost vertically above them. It seemed remarkably lucky that their tent had only been buried a short distance from the edge.
It was early morning, but already the sun was gaining inheat, punishinganything caught beneath it. The other desert-men all seemed accounted for, but the camels were nowhere to be seen.
‘It isgoodthat you survived,’ Utik’cah noted. ‘These sudden storms can be ferocious and deadly.’
‘Did everyone survive?’
‘Yes. We know the ways of the desert well. I was only afraid for you. I thought you mightdo something foolish and bring your roof down upon your head. I trust you found a way to pass the time.’
Samuel ignored the remark, peering out at the other men as they continued to pull their belongings from beneath the sands. ‘What of the camels?’
‘We set them loose. They also know how to weather these storms and will eventually make their way back to the city. Unfortunately, this means we must continue the rest of the way on foot. It will not be comfortable but,now that the storm has passed, we are safe.’
A grunting sound followed and the Koian woman came stumbling out from the tent, as if ejected from the side of the dune. She adjusted her clothes, looking indignant. Noticing Samuel and Utik’cah looking at her, she threw them an evil glare.
‘Avert your eyes!’ she hissed and they both did so, before her temper waselevatedany further.
‘No mentioned of this, please,’ Samuel whispered to the man beside him as the Koian woman strutted away in no particular direction.
‘There is nothing to mention,’ Utik’cah responded.
There was no doubt the Koian woman avoided him in the days after thatepisode in the tentand Samuel was glad for it. Upon arriving at the palace, he had told the Emperor of his visit with the Empress,and the man had been elated to learn that his wife and child were well. Samuel returned to visit the Queen on subsequent nights and she was attentive but,for some reason, shehad lost much of her passion and attended to him without the spark that had first enticed him. Either that, or perhaps he had lost his interest in her-he could not be entirely sure.
It had been some time since he had ventured into the catacombs and earlyonemorning hecreptaway stealthily, knowing full well that the Koian woman next door would not be awake at such an hour.
He had found an abandoned room in the palace where the floor had fallen in and, as luck would have it, the hole led into the tunnels beneath the palace. This entrance, too, had been covered with a spell of detection, tuned to catch the passing of any living creature but,of course,it slipped over him as if he did not exist. He could enter and exit this way asoftenas he pleased, and he did not have to bother finding ways around the fearful guards. It wasaless direct route, for he first had to navigate a twisting spiral of cobwebbed tunnels beneath the palace before he could enter the mountain proper, but he was in no particular hurry.
He kept a map of his explorations in his head and,on this occasion,he delved further and deeper into the mountain than he had ever beenbefore, but still without any sign of Balten. With each trip,he hoped to reduce the number of tunnels that he had not yet seen, but each trip only revealed more endless passages that required exploration.
He found all manner of cells,ranging from comfortable furnished rooms, to broken and abandoned holes in the floor. Some were filled with torturous devices or had been flooded with water and he guessed there were perhaps hundreds of prisoners held within those dungeons. He dared not free any of the poor souls he found, or even give away his presence, for he did not want to risk anything that would give his actions away. Only if he was eventually successful in finding Balten and in regaining his ring could his plans come to fruition.
After several hours, once again defeated, he returned to the surface and madeitback to his room.
He was surprised to find Utik’cah waiting for him there.
‘Out walking?’ the Paatin asked.
‘Yes,’ he replied plainly.
The desert-man accepted the answer at face value and continued, ‘Alahativa summons you. I would be quick, if I were you.’
That was all he needed to hear and Samuel started off at once to see why the Paatin Queen had called for him so early in the day.
On reaching her hall, it was immediately apparent that something was wrong. She was standing upon her dais, waiting angrily. The Emperor, who stood below, waited patiently,his hands clasped by his front.
‘What is happening?’ Samuel asked, coming to stand beside the embodied Emperor. ‘Why have you summoned Sir Ferse?’
‘Sir Ferse?’ she said calmly, although Samuel knew her expressions wellenough by now to know she was furious. ‘Interesting that you should use such a name. I know you and your party came here to kill me and retake your Empress, Samuel. That is no surprise. I had thought those who had accompanied you were of small interest, for I hadreceivedlimited reports on Sir Ferse: a court member of little importance. However, it seems you magicians are still capable of surprises. I did not expect-as I’m sure no one did-that the Emperor himself would somehow accompany you. While it is true that few in my city would recognise him, I am led to believe that his disguise is rather…convincing. But what comes as the greatestsurprise is that, from all accounts, he has been long dead.’ Samuel tried to withhold his own surprise, quite poorly. The Emperor, however, remained resilient and showed no emotion at all. ‘So please forgive my lack of courtesy, Your Majesty for,if I had known it was you, my hospitality would have been more fitting.’
‘Think nothing of it,’ said the Emperor. ‘I am glad that this charade can end.’
‘Of course I will have you moved to a more appropriate room, befitting a man of your standing.’
‘My room is fine. I have given up my station as Emperor and, if you don’t mind, I would rather as few people learned of this as possible.’
‘As you wish,’ she said,with a deliberate bow of her head.
They waited for her to say more, but she was silent.
‘Is that all?’ Samuel asked.
‘It is,’ she replied, with a fuming expression.
They turned together and left.
‘This is very bad,’ Samuel said to the Emperor as they hurried along the halls.
‘Why is that?’ Edmond said back to him.
‘She is very,
‘I sensed that. What will she do?’
‘I don’t know, but when she gets angry, people die. We will have to wait and see.’
Samuel was glad that there was no summons to come to her chamber for the next few nights. Instead, he spent as much time as possible exploring the catacombs.
The Koian woman was still being evasive and so, when he was not delving beneath the mountain, he had little to do but chat with Canyon and the Emperor about their possible plans, all of which hinged on him regaining his ring.
Each day, he continued his attempts to recover his magic, with little result,savethe odd spark and the occasional trembling mage-sphere of glowing light. It seemed his power existed, which was some consolation, but it was still evasive and unreliable. At this rate, it would be years before he could reliably cast a worthy spell.
A servant waiting at his door one evening was a signal that Samuel had been summoned again by the Queen, and he hurried off. He was half-hoping that he would be led to her bedchamber but,instead,the servant once again guided him towards herreceptionhall.
‘Why have you summoned me, wondrous Alahativa?’ he said. He already knew that something was wrong, for the Paatin Queen was standing with her back to him, surveying her city through the misty veils on her balcony. Several men and a woman lay dead on the floor, crushed by magic, and Samuel did his best to ignore their grimacing corpses.
She turned and came back inside, brushing through the translucent cloth. It was the first time he had ever
