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uncertainly, ‘The flames of God -‘
    ‘What? What did you say?’
    ‘The flames of God, my lord. Children - their eyes and ears are still open - they speak the truth -‘
    ‘And so shall you, Kelderek, before you are done. You’d be thought a simple fellow, then, soft in the head perhaps, a stranger to drink and wenches, playing with children and given to talk of God; for no one would suspect such a man, would he, of spying, of treachery, of carrying messages or treating with enemies on his lonely hunting expeditions -‘
    ‘My lord -‘
    ‘Until one day he returns injured and almost empty-handed from a place believed to be full of game, too much confused to have been able to invent a tale -‘
    ‘My lord!’ The hunter fell on his knees.
    ‘Did you displease the man, Kelderek, w as that it? Some brigand from De elguy, perhaps, or slimy slave-trader from Terekenalt out to make a little extra money by carrying messages during his dirty travels? Your information was displeasing, perhaps, or the pay was not enough?’
    ‘No, my lord, no!’
    ‘Stand up!’
    The beads clicked in a gust that flattened the lamp-flame and made the shadows dart on the wall like fish startl ed in a deep pool. The High Baron was silent, collecting himself with the air of a man repulsed by an obstacle but still determined to overcome it by one means or another. When he spoke again it was in a quieter tone.
    ‘Well, so far as I am any judge, Kelderek , you may be an honest man, though you are a great fool with your talk of children and God. Could you not have asked for one single friend to come here, to testify to your honesty?’
    ‘My lord -‘
    ‘No, you could not, it seems, or else it never occurred to you. But let us assume that you are honest, and that something took place today which for some reason you have neither concealed nor revealed. If you had gone about with ginning to conceal it altogether, I suppose you would not have been compelled to come here — you would not be standing here now. No doubt, then, you know very well that it is something that is bound to come to light sooner or later, so that it would have been foolish for you to try to hide it.’
    ‘Yes, I am sure enough of that, my lord,’ replied Kelderek without hesitation.
    Bel -ka-Trazet drew his knife and, like a man idly passing the time while waiting for supper or a friend, began to heat the point in the lamp-flame.
    ‘My lord,’ said Kelderek suddenly, ‘if a man were to return from hunting and say to the shendron, or to his friends, “I have found a star, fallen from the sky to the earth,” who would believe him?’
    Bel-ka- Trazet made no reply, but went on turning the point of the knife in the flame.
    ‘But if that man had indeed found a star, my lord, what then? What should he do and to whom should he bring it?’
    ‘You question me, and in riddles, Kelderek , do you? I have no love for visionaries or their talk, so be careful.’
    The High Baron clenched his fist but then, like a man determined to exercise patience, let it fall open and remained staring at Kelderek with a sceptical look.
    ‘Well?’ he said at length.
    ‘I fear you, my lord. I fear your power and your anger. But the star that I found - it is from God, and this, too, I fear. I fear it more. I know to whom it must be revealed -‘ his voice came in a strangled gasp - ‘I can reveal it - only to the Tuginda! ’
    In an instant Bel -ka -Trazet had seized him by the th roat and forced him to the floor. The hunter’s head bent sharply backwards, away from the hot knife-point thrust close to his face.
    ‘I will do this - 1 can do only that! By the Bear, you will no longer choose what you w ill do when your bow-eye is out! You’ll end in Zeray, my child!’
    Kelderek ‘s hands stretched upwards, clutching at the black cloak bending over him and pressing him backwards from knee to wounded shoulder. His eyes were closed against the heat of the knife and he seemed about to faint in