have copies of the pay lists of the Calziran companies.'
'The Deves.'
'They aren't happy about how they were treated here.'
'You said 'we.' Who are you now, Captain?'
'Still Else Tage. Your Captain. I was given an assignment. I'm living it. I've had tremendous success, news of which apparently hasn't gotten back to al-Qarn.' Else shielded Bone from details the man might be tempted to pass along.
'Bone, I have no idea what er-Rashal is up to. He's managed to waste Dreanger's fleet and a lot of Sha-lug. He isn't going to win here. He seems blind to the real situation. Do us both a favor. Get out before he gets you killed. Get out and carry the word back to al-Qarn.'
Bone looked distinctly uncomfortable. Pained in his heart and flesh. 'Can't, Captain. We swore the oath. We all did, back when we thought this would stop the crusaders from coming.'
Else did not argue. This kind of commitment might seem foolhardy but it was critical to Sha-lug. 'Will his death release you?'
'Yes.'
Else rested a hand on his old friend's shoulder. 'Don't chase us tonight, Bone. Don't make us kill you when we come back. I'm leaving, now. Forget you saw me.'
Else darted out of the temple. There was action around Waterhouse Four but the big racket was somewhere else, off to the east
Else caught snatches before he clambered down into the cistern of Waterhouse Two. Braunsknechts had seized a gate. Imperial troops were in the city.
Else's escape attempt ended quickly. Scores of Pramans had gotten into the drainage system through Waterhouse Four, chasing the raiders. Else stayed where he was, hoping to go unnoticed, wishing he wore less distinctively Chaldarean clothing.
34. Stalkers' Hour
Only Arlensul's encouragement kept Svavar going. He was ready to put this whole mad world behind. People by the hundred were dying over religious differences he found incomprehensible.
Shagot only added to his misery. Grim seemed incapable of not attracting attention when he was awake. Though that problem did ease once Imperial forces settled east of al-Khazen, content to outwait their remaining enemies.
Shagot was frustrated when he was awake. The Old Ones could not locate or identify the Godslayer, though they were sure he was, probably, in the camp of the Emperor's Episcopal allies.
Shagot was little more than a draug, one of the walking dead from the legends of lands now lost beneath the ice. Svavar used his brother as a device to endear his band to Vondera Koterba and the Emperor.
Arlensul always warned Svavar when enemy patrols were nearby. If Shagot was awake, they would go kill some and take prisoners. Eventually, the enemy stayed away. But powerful incursions of another sort began to occur after dark.
The rumors were true. There were powerful sorcerers in the city. And the Emperor had not equipped himself to deal with them.
The Imperials were being lured to their destruction.
Arlensul planted that notion in Svavar's head. He could not keep that to himself. He told Grim and the rest of their dwindling band.
One by one, the men who had come when they followed the Emperor found an excuse to fade away. Soon there would be none left who could not imagine a better life.
Svavar and Shagot had been noticed up and down the Imperial chain of command. They were too strange and too effective to be overlooked.
Neither Svavar nor Shagot had any experience of sedentary warfare. They did not like it. Shagot wanted to drop everything to go hunt the Godslayer.
'We need to know where he is, first,' Svavar argued. “What happens if we're wandering around these hills, hunting him, and you fall asleep? I can't protect you by myself. These soldiers won't help us hunt. They don't care. But we're better off here, where misfortune is less likely to find us, till we know where to find our man.'
A messenger from Vondera Koterba came to the Grimmssons' shelter. He asked Svavar, 'Is your brother awake? The Emperor may need your special skills. It's possible the crown prince has been captured by the Pramans.'
'I'll try to waken him,' Svavar promised. 'How much time do we have?' i
'I'm just alerting you.'
Events began to move soon afterward. Another messenger instructed them to join a force assembling outside the castle where the Emperor and his court had come to rest. Shagot was disinclined to respond.
Arlensul appeared in the doorway, bent because she was too tall. 'He will be there.'
Svavar believed her. When a goddess told you something you wanted badly to hear, you believed.
'Come on, Grim. We're there. Our man is going to be at the other end of this. Come on. Get up. It's time.'
Shagot responded sluggishly, groggily. He heard but did not believe. He had had no word from the Old Ones.
When they reached the assembly point it seemed the whole army was on the move. A delegation to the Episcopals that included the crown prince had been overrun by Praman commandos during the night. Details were scant. Most of the party were believed dead, with just a handful captured.
A long column filed through the cold morning and snow, following a route marked by pioneers. Svavar and Shagot were assigned to the vanguard. They would not be cowed by the dark.
The lead troops were Hansel's best. Their progress was quieter than seemed possible, but slow. Svavar told Shagot, 'Those people won't be surprised. We're headed for a trap.'
Shagot grunted. It seemed likely. It seemed so probable, in fact, that Johannes ought not to be falling for it.
Maybe the Emperor knew something no one else did.
The commanders called a halt during the afternoon. Distant fighting could be heard. The crown prince's captors making a fighting retreat, Svavar presumed. But who was harrying them?
The Emperor's scouts reported. Svavar was near enough to eavesdrop.
The crown prince was alive and unharmed. The same could not be said for most of his party. Johannes seemed more interested in the fate of Ferris Renfrow than in that of his son. But Johannes knew his son was all right.
The summons came to Svavar rather than Shagot. Johannes addressed him directly. 'Soultaken, do you understand my situation?'
'I do.' He experienced the thing that made Johannes Ege so much more than a little man who had lucked into a great deal of power. Hansel made people feel that they were fellow conspirators.
The Emperor asked, 'You understand what they want to do to us? That they hope I'll charge into a trap?'
'I see that. And I see you giving them what they want.'
'Not quite.'
'There's a huge accumulation of dark power behind those walls. The Tyranny of the Night is complete, though the fighters probably don't know.'
'Complete? I doubt that. However. Those forces are unaware of you and your brother.'
Svavar waited, calm and fearless. He felt the proximity of Arlensul. She lent him courage and confidence.
'I understand what you are. You serve the Instrumentalities of the Night. You're here to accomplish a
