The Hidden City

‘I don’t think it’s a good idea. We’re right in Cyrgon’s lap here. Won’t he be able to sense you?’

‘Xanetia’s there, isn’t she?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then Cyrgon won’t feel a thing. That’s why I sent her along.’ She paused again. ‘Who came up with a way to get you inside the city?’

‘It was Talen’s idea.’

‘You see? And you wanted to argue with me about taking him with you. When will you learn to trust me, Father? Keep talking. I’ve almost got you located. Tell me how Talen managed to get you inside the walls of Cyrga.’

He described the subterfuge at some length.

‘All right,’ she said from just behind him. ‘That’s enough. I get the general drift.’ He turned and saw her in Xanetia’s arms. She looked around. ‘I see that the Cyrgai haven’t discovered fire yet. It’s darker than the inside of an old boot here. Exactly where are we?’

‘In the outer city, Divine One,’ Bevier said softly. ‘I suppose you could call it the commercial district. The slave-pens are here and various warehouses. It’s guarded by Cynesgans, and they’re not particularly alert.’

‘Good. Let’s get out of the street.’

Talen groped his way along one of the barn-like storehouses until he found a door. ‘Over here,’ he whispered.

‘Isn’t it locked?’ Kalten asked.

‘Not any more.’

They joined him and went inside.

‘Would you mind, dear?’ Aphrael asked Xanetia. ‘I can’t see a thing in this place.’

Xanetia’s face began to glow, a soft light that faintly illuminated the area around them.

‘What do they keep in here?’ Kalten asked, peering into the dimness. ‘Food maybe?’ His tone was hopeful. ‘That slop they fed us in the slave-pens wasn’t very filling.’

‘I don’t think it’s a food warehouse,’ Talen told him. ‘It doesn’t smell quite right.’

‘You can go exploring some other time,’ Aphrael told him crisply. ‘We have other things to do now.’

‘How are the others making out?’ Sparhawk asked her.

‘Bergsten’s captured Cynestra,’ she reported, ‘and he’s coming south with the Church Knights. Ulath and Tynian took the Trolls to Zhubay, and the Trolls ate about half of the Cynesgan cavalry. Betuana and Engessa are marching southwest with the Atans. Vanion and Sephrenia are out in the desert laying down false hints that you’re with them. Kring and Tikume are allowing themselves to be chased all over the desert west of Sarna by Cyrgai, Cynesgan cavalry, and Klæl’s overgrown soldiers – although I don’t think those brutes are going to be a problem for much longer. Khalad’s devised a way to neutralize them.’

‘All by himself?’ Talen sounded surprised.

‘Klæl outsmarted himself. He found caves where his soldiers could breathe, and they were hiding in the caves and then coming out to attack us. Khalad’s come up with a way to set the caves on fire. The results are fairly noisy.’

‘That’s my brother for you,’ Talen said proudly.

‘Yes,’ the Child Goddess said critically. ‘He’s inventing new horrors at every turn. Stragen and Caalador have managed to convince that Dacite in Beresa that we’ve got an invasion force off the south coast and –’ she stopped. ‘You know about all this already, Sparhawk. Why am I wasting time describing it to you?’

‘It’s all going according to plan, then?’ he asked her. ‘No setbacks? No new surprises?’

‘Not for us. Cyrgon’s not having such a good time, though. The Delphae have almost completely dispersed Scarpa’s army, so the danger to Matherion’s pretty much evaporated. I’ve enlisted some of my family to lend a hand. They’re compressing time and distance. As soon as Ehlana’s safe, I’ll pass the word, and we’ll have whole armies knocking at the gates of Cyrga.’

‘Did you get word of Khalad’s invention to the others?’ Talen asked her.

‘My cousin Setras is taking care of it for me. Setras is a little vague sometimes, but I went over it with him several times. I don’t think he’ll garble it too badly. Everything’s in place. The others are simply waiting for word from us to start moving, so let’s get down to business. Has anyone had a chance to look around here at all?’

‘I have explored the outer city to some degree, Divine Aphrael,’ Xanetia replied. ‘Anakha deemed it unwise for me to share their captivity in the slave-pens.’

The Child Goddess handed Talen a large sheet of stiff, crackling parchment and a pencil. ‘Here,’ she said to him, ‘earn your keep.’

‘Where did you get these?’ he asked curiously.

‘I had them in one of my pockets.’

‘You don’t have any pockets, Flute.’

She gave him one of those long-suffering looks.

‘Oh,’ he said. I keep forgetting that for some reason. All right, Anarae, you describe the city, and I’ll draw it.’

The sketch that emerged was fairly detailed – as far as it went. ‘I was not able to penetrate the wall which doth encircle the inner city,’ Xanetia apologized. ‘The gates are perpetually locked, for the Cyrgai do hold themselves aloof from their Cynesgan hirelings and from the slaves whose toil supports them.’

‘This should be enough to work with for now,’ Flute said, pursing her lips as she examined Talen’s drawing. ‘All right, Bevier, you’re the expert on fortifications. Where’s the weak spot?’

The Cyrinic studied the sketch for several minutes. ‘Did you see any wells, Anarae?’ he asked.

‘Nay, Sir Knight.’

‘They’ve got a lake right outside the front gate, Bevier,’ Kalten reminded him.

‘That wouldn’t do much good if the city were under siege,’ Bevier replied. ‘There has to be some source of water inside the walls – either a well or some kind of a cistern. A siege ends rather quickly when the defenders run out of water.’

‘What makes you think that the place was built to hold off a siege?’ Mirtai asked. ‘Nobody’s supposed to be able to find it.’

‘The walls are a little too high and thick to be purely ornamental, Atana. Cyrga’s a fortified city, and that means that it was built to withstand a siege. The Cyrgai aren’t very bright, but nobody’s stupid enough to build a fort without water inside. That’s my best guess, Divine Aphrael. Find out how they’re getting water – both here in the outer city and in the inner city as well. There might be a weakness there. If not, we may have to tunnel under the inner wall or try to scale it.’