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Like your man sent to slay the fool Quarnach, Rosil? said the voice of Vad Garnath, sharp with
goading malice.
Phu-si-Yantong quelled them. He must not be slain. Through him we can rule all Vallia aye, and the
Vallian empire!
Strom Rosil would not easily be quelled, although he spoke in a lowered, malevolent tone. My man was
no professional stikitche. The hunt is delayed. I care nothing for the hunt, and the onker Quarnach may
crawl about the corridors bleeding to death for all I care. My Katakis and I need slaves! When we have
Pandahem and then Vallia
Vad Garnath laughed. Saffi, who tried to listen, shivered.
Much will depend on Queen Thyllis. For she believes her power to be absolute.
Remember, came the ghost-whisper of Yantong. Today her power in Hamal is absolute. We plan for
the day after tomorrow.
And I grow impatient, by the Triple Tails of Targ the Untouchable!
Then I caution you to learn wisdom, Rosil, or you may suffer from a visit from your own
Chezra-gon-Kranak for your sins.
By my tail! The voice of the Chuktar Strom growled with malefic force through the bronzed grille. I
know well how to deal with those who cross my path.
Still I was unable to move. Saffi tugged again; I barely felt her fingers on my arm, although pain struck
from my shoulder. These three had been talking and I had stumbled into the middle of their talk, so that
much of what they said meant nothing, overheard as it was out of context. But I felt I was on the verge of
great discoveries. Yantong was talking about Strom Rosil s twin, the Stromich Ranjal who was, I
gathered, about some evil business for this unholy trio. I could not tear myself away. I listened,
fascinated.
Saffi cautiously edged up close to me and I felt her golden hair tickling my neck. She put her lips close to
my ear and whispered: Amak Hamun! We must go before they search us out!
I did not reply.
She was right. That paralysis dropped away. I began to move, and heard Phu-si-Yantong saying: So
the problem of Dray Prescot will find its own solution when the emperor is gone. Very well. I am
concerned over this attempt by the king of Menahem to steal the secrets of voller manufacture.
Vad Garnath laughed again. The spy Dopitka ti Appanshad was taken and put to the question and sent
to Queen Thyllis syatra. The spines pierced him through and
Yes, Garnath, I can well imagine what happened to the spy from Menahem. But there may well be
others. I am of Loh. I owe the cities of Havilfar and Hamal and Hyrklana much enmity from the
old times and the ancient days. Without vollers the Empire of Loh was as a broken reed. Now the
position has swung as the weathercock swings. Pandahem must not gain vollers, and none must be
allowed to go to the Vallian rasts. His whispering voice cut through the darkness. I found I was gripping
the hilt of my thraxter with a grip that pained. The vaol boxes and the paol boxes contain the seeds of a
power greater than any you have imagined. They must never be broken.
What if they are? Vad Garnath sounded impatient. Even I do not know the nobles of Hamal charged
with these secrets. They are not spoken of. Until the Nine Faceless Ones approach a noble and summon
him to voller-duty he or anyone must remain ignorant of the secrets. All a meddler will find is dirt
and air.
Dirt and air!
Now I felt absolutely certain that the Savanti or the Star Lords had brought me to just this spot and just
this time. I stopped moving back and strained to listen, and Saffi fretfully tugged again, anxious to be
gone.
She dared not speak, and neither of us dared make a sound. So I listened as these three talked. They
did not mention the word cayferm once, but I felt an uplifting sense that I had taken a measurable stride
closer to the heart of the secret.
Now I could leave here. Now I could see a course of action ahead of me that would bring the secrets
tumbling into my lap like shonages from a full-grown tree. Marvelous!
My first wriggling movement backward started Saffi agilely back down the slot. The last words I heard
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