‘How?’

‘One of my Uncle Ivak’s many virtues was that he had too much heart, Your Majesty.’

This came as a surprise to Meakin, but naturally he kept silent.

‘Commendable as this quality was,’ Bastorran went on, choosing his words carefully, ‘it had the regrettable effect of encouraging Your Highness’s enemies.’

‘He was soft on the terrorists?’

‘I’m not certain that was his intention, sire, but it’s how his actions were perceived.’

‘Whereas your policies will be firmer.’

‘Considerably. I’d go so far as to say that under my leadership recent events might have taken a very different turn.’

‘You would have prevented this exodus of rebels I’ve been told about?’

‘I take it Your Royal Highness is referring to certain antisocial elements escaping justice by fleeing to the Diamond Isle. It was hardly an exodus.’

‘But how would you have stopped it?’

‘Simply by ensuring that there were no rebels to escape, Majesty. Unlike my uncle, and, if I may say so, certain other decision-makers in the security services, I would never have tolerated these traitors’ existence in the first place.’

‘It seems we share a similar view, High Chief.’

‘I’m pleased to hear you approve, sire.’

‘Oh, yes. If a fire rages, cut down the trees it feeds on.’

‘Precisely, sir.’

‘My father often says that the best way to catch a fish is by draining the sea.’

It struck Bastorran and Meakin that this was an odd analogy, quite apart from Melyobar’s use of the present tense, but both dutifully nodded.

‘I wonder how they dealt with him during the Dreamtime?’ the Prince said.

‘Your pardon, Majesty?’ Bastorran replied.

‘Death. Would he have walked the land in those days?’

They realised he was drifting again.

‘I have no idea, Majesty,’ the paladin ventured. ‘Hasn’t Death always been in the world?’

‘He must have been, mustn’t he? I mean, if he wasn’t, the Founders would still be here, wouldn’t they?’

‘Yes, I suppose that’s-’

‘It’s a sobering thought, isn’t it? Even the mighty Founders, subject to his whim. It goes to show how worthy an opponent he is, doesn’t it?’

‘As you say, Highness.’

Something like clarity seemed to inform the Prince’s features. ‘Still, it’s all irrelevant now, of course. Or about to be.’

‘Sire?’

He gave them a smile that was almost impish. ‘You’ll see.’

It had been snowing hard in the northern wastes. Zerreiss’s army was forced to halt, and even the warlord himself, usually a patient man, had grown restless. But as night fell on the third day, the snow finally died down.

In the warlord’s tent, bathed by the soft glow of oil lamps and candles, Zerreiss stood by a hide map on an easel.

‘Finally ending here,’ he concluded, pointing to a spot on the chart.

‘But what you’re suggesting doesn’t make up the time we’ve lost, sir,’ commented Sephor, the younger of his two closest aides. ‘In fact it adds a significant amount of time to the original plan.’

‘I’m aware of that. But can it be done, logistically? Wellem?’

‘It’s not impossible, but it’ll need a great effort and a lot of preparation. You’re talking about taking the bulk of the army to sea for the first time, and the practicalities of that are complex.’

‘But that was always our intention.’

‘Yes, chief, but not this soon in the campaign. The number of ships we’ll need-’

‘That’s why I propose taking port cities here, here and…here,’ Zerreiss said, indicating sites on the map.

‘Even if we captured every vessel in all three locations,’ Sephor noted, ‘which assumes the defenders wouldn’t move or torch them, we still wouldn’t have all the ships we need.’

‘Then we’ll build more. We have the manpower, and the skills.’

‘Would we have the materials?’ Wellem asked.

The warlord turned to his map again. ‘There are forests here and here. Not too far to haul timber from, assuming the weather’s kind to us.’

‘You’ve heard this before, chief, but I’m worried we’ll spread ourselves too thin. You’re proposing three sieges to take place more or less simultaneously, and what could be a massive boat-building programme. That’s in addition to the forces needed to guard the places we’ve already conquered.’

‘But recruitment continues apace,’ Zerreiss told him. ‘There’s always a net gain. Everywhere we go, they flock to us.’

‘Faster than we can train or equip them.’

‘The best training they can have is in the field. It’s how I got mine. And remember that most of the men we’re attracting to the cause are military anyway. They’re not tyros.’

‘Sir,’ Sephor ventured awkwardly, ‘you’ve told us what you want to do, but you haven’t said why.’

A second passed before Zerreiss answered. ‘I had another dream,’ he explained. ‘I was standing on the terrace of a fortress. The very fortress we conquered not a week since. In my dream I stood there, as I did on the day we took it, surveying our victory. And I saw him again.’

‘The same man you’ve dreamt of before?’

‘Yes. If they can be called dreams.’

‘What happened?’

‘Happened? Nothing. Well, nothing and everything. You look at me strangely, my friends, but that’s the only way I can express it.’

‘Do you have any idea yet who this man is?’ Wellem asked.

‘I’m no nearer knowing that than when he first invaded my sleep.’

‘And you’re still sure he’s a real person? Not…forgive me, sir, but not your mind’s fabrication?’

‘I’ve no doubt he’s real.’

‘Then maybe you should consider yourself the subject of a magical attack,’ the old campaigner stated matter-of-factly.

‘I don’t think you need worry yourself on that score. Whoever this man might be, I don’t think he’s a sorcerer. Though I sense there is a connection to magic in some way.’

‘Isn’t that a contradiction, sir?’

‘Am I not a contradiction myself, Wellem? Why should this man be any less of an enigma?’

‘But what has he to do with your new instructions, sir?’ his younger aide wanted to know.

Zerreiss smiled. ‘Trust you to bring me back to earth, Sephor. No, don’t be embarrassed; I need pulling to the point sometimes. Simply put, he’s the reason for my fresh orders.’

‘You’d change your plans, the whole direction of the campaign, because of somebody you’ve dreamed about, sir?’

‘Not so much change as accelerate.’

‘But why, sir?’

‘I sense he’s nearer, physically, than he was. Don’t ask me how I know. Or why I, of all people, should start to believe in unexplained intuition. I only know that if there’s a chance of being in this man’s presence, I should take it.’

‘What do you think you might gain from that?’

‘Have I ever steered you down a wrong path?’

‘No, sir,’ they answered in unison.

‘Then trust me now, as you have in the past.’

‘It’s not that,’ Sephor assured him. ‘We just want to understand.’

‘So do I. That’s what I’ve been trying to say.’ He sighed. ‘The best way I can put it is that he has a…significance. And I can’t help feeling it might tie in with a particular thought I’ve long been haunted by.’

‘Sir?’

‘Could there be another like me?’

It was obvious the notion had never occurred to his aides. Sephor recovered first. ‘We’ve always thought of you as unique, sir.’

‘I have, too. Or rather, I feared it. My whole life I’ve wondered if I was alone in possessing the talent. And if I am, why? Why me? I hoped there were others, but as the years passed that hope withered. But suppose I’m not exceptional. Can you see what that would mean?’

‘Allies?’ Wellem offered.

‘More than that. I didn’t choose the gift I carry, and sometimes the burden of it seems hard to bear. How much easier it would be if there were others to share the effort.’

‘I’ve never doubted your abilities, sir.’