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Anyone willing to strike a blow against Hamal would, in Vallia’s present circumstances, be regarded as an ally. And then Jaezila put the question that was crucial for any decision.
    “Against Hamal, Ty? Or against the empress?”
    “That, by Krun, I do not know. My people have done well to discover what they have. There was a spymaster here in Huringa I could have called on for assistance. Unfortunately, he disappeared before we arrived. Our ambassador here is jolly and fat and sweaty, as you know, Zila, and more than a bit of a ninny.”
    “Well,” I said, putting the boot in, “the empress chose him.”
    “For a purpose, Jak. The Hyrklese hate us. Fat jolly Homan ham Ambath is a man difficult to detest. I think in this Thyllis chose wisely.”
    So that chopped me down to size. But Tyfar was right. Thyllis might be mad and bad; she was also shrewd and cunning and utterly ruthless, and therefore uncaring of ways and means just so long as the ends were her ends. And then Prince Tyfar said something that made me hold my glass motionless at my mouth just a little too long.
    “It would solve many of our problems if only Hyrklana were a part of the Empire of Hamal.”
    Oh, no, my bonny prince,
I said to myself,
in that, my blade comrade, you are totally misguided.

Chapter three
    Unmok and I Agree to Quarrel
    “Wriggled like a beetle stuck through with a pin, did he?” Unmok spoke with great satisfaction. He was not a bloodthirsty man, as I well knew, and he’d always avoid a fight and pay someone else to take the knocks if he could. If he had to fight, then he would take his part bravely. “Serve him good. Although, to be sure, Jak, I didn’t know you had friends in Huringa.”
    “The capital is big enough to take in all kinds.”
    “I didn’t mean that! And you know it, you hairy apim!”
    “Well, that fellow may be gone. I wish we knew if Noran intends to send anyone else after us.”
    We sat at the table in our camp with Froshak the Shine, Unmok’s big Fristle assistant, and now Froshak, who spoke so seldom as to be regarded as Froshak the Silent, leaned forward and spoke.
    “We ought to slit Noran’s throat.”
    “Ah — yes...” said Unmok. “But—”
    The tame slaves set up a caterwauling by their fire, and Froshak turned his fierce bewhiskered cat face toward them, whereat they became silent on a sudden. A useful man with a knife, this Froshak, silent and swift and devoted to Unmok and bearing me no malice that I was the partner merely because of gold. Well, not merely. I was, after all, a working partner in the wild-beast business.
    “I had some news that ought to get us out of this pickle,” said Unmok, scooping up the last of his vosk rashers. The fat shone on his lips. The suns were up, shedding their mingled ruby and jade lights, and the morning air smelled sweet with the fragrances of the countryside — ah! A dawn on Kregen, that marvelous and mysterious world four hundred light-years from Earth, is like no dawn on any other planet of the universe.
    “News?”
    “I saw Avec, and the cage voller will take time. It seems all the shipyards are building as fast as they can for Hamal.”
    “That is to be expected. A second-hand voller?”
    Unmok wiped bread around his plate. “Difficult. But Avec is putting out inquiries. However, I heard — and this is in the strictest confidence — that Noran is mixed up in some plot against Queen Fahia. If he is, then his head will come off and we’ll hear no more of him. So — don’t worry!”
    “If Avec Parlin knows and told you, then with all due respect, Unmok, the news is general. I mean—”
    “I agree, Jak. If they are conspirators, then they conspire damned foolishly.”
    “So Vad Noran’s head—”
    “Will come off in the jaws of a leem in the Jikhorkdun!”
    “Or she’ll toss him to her pet neemus.”
    “But in the matter of my agreeing with your conclusions that the news is general — no. No, I do not think