think I will kill him both slowly and painfully.”
They both looked at me. Just because I had once known western magic, they seemed to think I had some sort of insight into Ifriti. All I could do was shake my head. “He means it.”
Hugo seemed to be working his way from misery over his father to indignation and anger. “So he’s not going to let either of us go, no matter what we do? He wants to watch one of us die by the sword, and the other one by torture?”
“That’s certainly what he says.”
Ascelin turned sharply and pulled his helmet back on. “Defend yourself just enough to keep the Ifrit happy,” he said to Hugo in a low voice. “We’re both dead anyway. I’ll kill you as quickly and painlessly as I can.”
“But-” Hugo pulled his helmet back on as well and raised his sword. His voice was hollow from inside the helmet. “That means you’ll let the Ifrit torture you!”
“Shut up and obey me,” said Ascelin roughly. His first blow caught Hugo unprepared and sent him staggering.
But the young lord recovered quickly and swung up his shield. “You’re not my prince!” he yelled. “I don’t have to obey you!”
“Yes, you do,” said Ascelin grimly, landing another blow. “That’s right, appear to defend yourself. I’ll try to make this quick.”
“That’s better,” said the Ifrit with satisfaction, watching with his hands on his hips. “I don’t know why you humans always raise so many objections to everything.”
They were both really fighting now. All I had ever seen, closeup, was tournament fighting, but even I could tell the difference. Their swords flashed faster than I could follow, and their feet churned up the sandy soil. It would have been thrilling if it was not so terrible. Ascelin slowly backed Hugo toward a boulder, using his superior height and reach to full advantage. But the younger man ducked under what looked like a fatal thrust and landed a glancing blow on Ascelin’s arm as he darted away.
Ascelin stopped and looked at him. Blood seeped slowly onto his sleeve. “You aren’t listening, Hugo.”
“No,
Without answering, Ascelin sprang forward. Their swords rebounded with great clangs from each other’s helmets. Blood and sweat were dripping from them both now. I thought sickly that at least neither one of them would still be alive for the Ifrit to kill slowly. Joachim was murmuring under his breath again.
“Hugo!” said Ascelin, stepping back for a second. “Stop defending yourself! I know you don’t like this, but it’s for your own good.”
Hugo didn’t give him a chance to finish before he was on him, swinging his sword wildly. “I told you I’m not going to obey you! This is
Ascelin caught Hugo’s sword tip in his shield and gave a sharp jerk, wrenching it from the younger man’s hand. But as he drove his own sword forward, Hugo dropped, rolled, grabbed his sword again, and bounced back to his feet behind Ascelin. The prince whirled just in time. I turned my head away, unable to watch.
“Ifrit!” came a bellow from beside me. “Ifrit! You must make them stop!”
It was a voice, loud and ringing, I could never recall hearing before. But when I turned I saw it was the king.
Hugo and Ascelin were both so surprised that they stopped, twenty feet apart, eyeing each other warily.
“Sire?” said Dominic cautiously.
King Haimeric, as slight and white-haired as ever, glared up at the Ifrit, trembling like a leaf in the wind but completely determined. “All I can offer you is myself, but I’m not going to let you make them kill each other!”
“And who do you think you are, little man?” said the amused Ifrit, lifting him on his palm to face level.
“I am King Haimeric of Yurt.”
“Yurt,” said the Ifrit softly, and the color drained from his dark cheeks. “I’ve heard of Yurt.”
V
“If you’ve heard of Yurt,” said the king determinedly, “then you know it is a kingdom where no one, not even criminals, is put to death.”
“I was told,” said the Ifrit, still very softly and as though he had not even heard this remark, “to watch for people from Yurt.”
“And what were you supposed to do with us when we came?” demanded King Haimeric.
“I wasn’t supposed to kill you,” said the Ifrit unhappily. “Or at least not right away,” he added, brightening.
“Then you can’t make my warriors fight to the death,” said the king firmly.
“I guess not,” said the Ifrit glumly. “You, little warriors there! Stop killing each other.”
Both Hugo and Ascelin collapsed where they stood, dropping their shields and swords and reaching up for their helmets with trembling fingers.
“How did the king do that?” I said to the chaplain as we rushed toward them. “I couldn’t have changed the Ifrit’s mind even if I had all my magical abilities. Maybe I’ve been using magic as a crutch all these years.”
Joachim gave me what might have been a smile. “If so then I’ve been using religion the same way. Each of us has to use the abilities we are given, and Haimeric is a king and born to command.”
Dominic and I helped the fighters remove their armor, and Joachim found the bandages and Ascelin’s salves. The two were bruised all over and nicked and bleeding on the parts of their bodies not protected by mail. None of the cuts were deep, but there were enough that I thought they both would have an impressive collection of scars- that is, if they lived long enough for the cuts to heal. Hugo fell asleep while we were still bandaging him.
“Christ,” said Ascelin, his head between his knees. “That kid’s good. Why wouldn’t he let me kill him cleanly?”
“Be glad he wouldn’t,” said Dominic. “At least you’re both still alive-for the moment. Stop twitching and let me get this bandage tight.”
“I remember now,” said the Ifrit slowly. “You people of Yurt have a secret. I’m supposed to make you tell me. Or maybe you’re supposed to give something to me.”
“What kind of secret?” the king asked.
“That’s what I’m asking you!”
It was hard enough trying to deal with an unpredictable and enormously powerful magical being without dealing with a stupid one as well. “If you let me have my magical powers back,” I called up, “I think I could tell you.”
The Ifrit lowered the king abruptly to the ground, where Dominic caught him, and lifted me up instead. “Tell me first,” he said avidly.
I looked into his terrifying huge eyes, weighing my words carefully. If the Ifrit wasn’t supposed to kill us, it was certainly because Kaz-alrhun-or even some other powerful mage-thought we had a secret and wanted it. Once we gave up that secret, there would be no reason to keep us alive. My only hope was to satisfy the Ifrit for the moment. Then maybe we could find some way to escape-perhaps while he was asleep-before whoever had the power to master an Ifrit arrived to tell him he could kill us at his leisure.
In the meantime, it again seemed that everyone else knew something about Yurt that we did not.
“So what’s the secret?” asked the Ifrit eagerly.
Since I had no idea what the real secret was, I had to stall him with something plausible. “It’s this ring,” I said, showing him the onyx. “See, it’s even carved with the word Yurt.”
“I can’t read,” said the Ifrit, frowning. “That other mage also wanted me to read.”
“Your wife will read it for you,” I suggested.
The Ifrit smiled at this, showing his enormous yellow teeth. “I’m sure she’d enjoy meeting you all.”
Again the earth turned under us, and what seemed a dozen suns raced across the valley’s sky. When the
