Taken by surprise, most of the guards were pushed aside. Weapons went flying. One warrior managed to charge Kaz, who met him axe to blade. The close quarters prevented Kaz from making full use of his weapon, but Honor's Face still presented a respectable threat.

"Away with you!" roared Ganth, his tall figure looming over the pack of warriors trying to regroup. Ganth pulled one up and struck him in the jaw, sending the minotaur falling to the earthen floor.

Two minotaurs faced Kaz's father. Another warrior joined the one already dueling Kaz. Against both of them he was hard pressed, unable as he was to fully employ his axe.

Beyond his attackers he could hear swordplay. Ganth laughed and said something, but to Kaz the words were unintelligible.

One of his adversaries suddenly shouted in pain and hopped away. Something brushed Kaz's leg. Delbin, he realized. The kender had something long and sharp in his hands. Kaz identified the shape as a pitchfork the stable hands must have left behind. A brave, loyal companion as always, Kaz thought. It inspired him to fight that much harder.

Thanks to Delbin's diverting action, he was able to press forward. Ganth, too, looked to be pushing his pair back.

A shout came from outside. The entrance to the stable was filled with more armed figures, one of which barked out commands. Reinforcements had arrived to help the beleaguered soldiers.

There was no hope of Kaz and his father escaping now, but there was a slim chance at least one could be saved. "Delbin! Get out of here! Run and hide! The southern gate's only a short distance from here!"

"But, Kaz-!"

"Do it! I'll keep them occupied! Do it for me!"

The kender had more of a chance on his own. The small figure was clever and agile. "Go!" Kaz shouted again.

Delbin dropped the pitchfork and obeyed, not even looking back. The minotaur fighting Kaz turned and tried to seize him, but Kaz thrust and caught him in the side with the upper edge of the axe blade. Grunting, his adversary slumped to his knees, hands covering his wounds.

Angry shouts informed him that Ganth was now under assault. Suddenly Kaz himself had three more warriors pressing him. He was backed into the stall. As he was pushed back near his horse, the animal reared up and, whinnying, struck out at the nearest member of the guard. The unsuspecting warrior was flung backward by the blow, but almost immediately two others moved to take his place.

Again the horse kicked out. Although he missed this time, the stallion prevented anyone from reaching his master. The reprieve was a temporary one at best, but Kaz was grateful to the loyal animal.

"Get back!" commanded a new voice.

Kaz's opponents retreated. Someone brought a torch into the structure. Kaz found himself facing a minotaur with a scarred visage. It was another familiar face, not Angrus, but a more intelligent opponent.

"Surrender now, criminal."

He was all too familiar, but Kaz was more immediately concerned with the bound figure four members of the guard were dragging forward. It was Ganth, still struggling. He was bleeding from minor wounds on one arm and his chest. There was also a patch of blood on his face, but it did not appear to be his own.

"Surrender, Kaz, or I may be forced to execute this old one here and now."

Something in the voice made him remember. "Scum!"

"Captain Scurn of the State Guard, Kaziganthi de-Orilg." The way Scurn pronounced the clan name made it seem a vile curse. "And you'll surrender now. Understand?"

To emphasize the point, one of Scum's men brought the tip of his sword up against Ganth's throat. Kaz's father snorted in contempt. "No honor in the guard anymore, Lad?"

Scurn pretended not to hear him. "What's it to be, Kaz?"

Lowering his axe, Kaz stepped forward. "All right. I yield to you."

"Bind him."

As two of his warriors seized Kaz, Scurn looked around. "Who has the blasted kender?" When he received no response, he grew angry. Scum's eyes took on a reddish glow. In the flickering light of the torch, his eyes looked wild. "Fools! You let a kender sneak away into the city? Search the area at once!"

Nearly half the patrol immediately departed the stables in search of Delbin. Two others began prodding the corners and the piles of hay in the possibility that the wily little fellow was hiding.

"Lose something?" Ganth asked with a touch of mockery.

"Not as much as you'll lose, Old One, after His Holiness is finished dealing with you." He indicated Kaz. "Harboring a fugitive is a criminal offense."

"Now what would the high priest fear from my little boy? What danger could he be?"

"That's not for you to know." As Scurn replied, however, Kaz noted his brief look of annoyance. Evidently, Scurn, too, would have liked an answer to that question. He obviously was not important enough to have earned the right, though, and for someone like Scurn, that fact had to be bothering him.

"Not in here, Captain," announced one of the pair searching the stables.

"Then get outside and help the others. I don't want you back until you have that little vermin… and don't kill him! The high priest might want him since he rides as companion to this one. Anyone who fouls up will be speaking to His Holiness personally."

That was warning enough for any minotaur. The pair ran outside, leaving only Scurn, the torch-bearer, and the soldiers holding the two prisoners. Kaz's old enemy walked past him, eyeing the axe, which now lay on the ground, and then the war-horse. "Don't worry about these, Kaz. I'll keep them for you until you need them back." He laughed, then picked up Honor's Face. In the light of the torch, the axe gleamed. Scurn held it high, admiring the workmanship, especially the mirrorlike finish of the head. "I'll keep them both safe, all right." A grunt of surprise escaped the captain's lips. He glanced at Kaz. "It reflects the torchlight, but there is only a vague image of me in this blade! What sort of trickery is that?"

"A minor one," Kaz returned. And not surprising, either, he thought, to find that you've so little honor left in you, Scurn. He was tempted to tell Scurn the truth, that only those with honor were reflected in the axe face, but decided better of it.

"I'll examine this oddity later." He noticed the pouches hanging on the belt of Kaz's kilt. "What have we here?"

Kaz squirmed, but could not keep Scurn from taking not only the pouches, but also Kaz's knife. The captain put the blade in his own belt, then inspected the contents of the pouches. One bag he tossed away with disgust, no doubt having located nothing of value. From the other he removed several coins and, lastly, the medallion that Delbin had brought to Kaz from his dream.

"So, a souvenir of greatness." Scum snorted in disdain. "Don't know why you kept this. You never cared about it much."

If Scurn expected a response from Kaz, the prisoner was more than willing to disappoint him. Kaz watched his captor pocket the medallion. Then Scurn commanded, "Bring these two. The high priest wants to see them."

"What would the high priest be wanting with simple folks like us?" asked Ganth, still maneuvering for some information.

"You… nothing. Him…" Scurn used Honor's Face as a pointer, thrusting it at Kaz. "He's been in the high priest's eye for some time now." The disfigured minotaur snorted with laughter. "When I was told that Hecar was coming here and that I should arrest him, I was glad to do so, even if I didn't know why. Now I know why… You were baited, Kaz, baited like a fool of a fish."

One of the searchers came up to them as they departed the stables. He saluted Scurn. "No sign of the kender yet, Captain. It's as if he vanished. No one's seen him. We're questioning everyone nearby."

Kaz brightened at this news. Grinning, he said, "Looks like the high priest might be a little annoyed with you, Scurn. You let a kender slip out of your grasp and escape into the city. Nethosak will never be the same."