The Prahbrindrah Drah said, “I was put out by the damage done. Master Gupta and his predecessors worked on that for a century.”

“Not the damned plants!” Smoke almost lost control. “A man is dead, killed by sorcery. Seven more were carried off to who knows what fate? Tal and his cronies were slain in their very temples. Strangled!”

“They asked for it,” the Radisha said. “They did something stupid. They paid for it. You notice the other Gunni priests weren’t put out.”

“Ghapor’s bunch? They probably encouraged Tal and didn’t mind when he came out on the short end.”

“Probably.”

“Don’t you see what she’s done? A year ago no priest would have considered murder. Now it’s accepted. Nobody is distressed.”

“Tal is gone. You say he was stupid and asked for it and you’re right. But he was one of the most important men in Taglios. So was Jahamaraj Jah. He asked for it, too. When she picks off the next one, well, maybe everybody will say the same thing again. He asked for it. And the next one and the next and then it’s you and the Prahbrindrah Drah and after that the deluge. Never mind professionalism as a soldier. She might be the best that ever was. Maybe she can ruin the Shadowmasters in her sleep. But even if they never cross the Main again, if they never come north of Dejagore, if they never win another skirmish, if she’s in charge, Taglios will lose as certainly as if we hadn’t resisted at all.”

The Prahbrindrah Drah started to speak. The Radisha jumped in first. “He has a point. Taglios won’t ever be the same.”

“Oh?”

“If we give the woman a free hand she’ll make Taglios over into the image of the Shadowlands because that’s what it will take to win. Smoke, I see that. Even if you’re obsessive about the Stranglers and the Year of the Skulls. I’ve watched the woman. I doubt if anyone but that man Croaker ever had any influence on her. Brother, he’s right. She’ll turn us into what we fear in order to save us.”

“Then we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t. We let her go on, we’re done. We don’t, the Shadowmasters eat us.”

Smoke said, “There’s another way...” But he could not tell them. He had not told them everything when he had reported the approach by Longshadow’s agents. Too late now. If he brought up overlooked details they would no longer trust him. They might even think his opposition to the woman had been ordered by Taglios’ enemies.

That wrinkled little man had foreseen this. Damn him.

“Well?” the Radisha demanded.

“I had a thought. It was impractical. Emotion guiding the mind. Forget it. Kina is stirring. The Daughter of Night walks among us. We must silence her.”

The Prahbrindrah Drah said, “We can talk about this all night. None of us will change our minds. We’d better concentrate on staying a step ahead of the priests till we do agree.”

Smoke shook his head. That would not do. The woman would keep everyone confused and divided; then it would be too late. That was the way of darkness. Deceit. Endless deceit.

No point talking anymore. There was only one choice left.

They would hate him if they caught him. They would brand him traitor. But there was no other answer.

He had to pray for courage and a clear head. The Shadowmasters were masters of deceit themselves. They would use him if they could. But if he played the game carefully he could serve Taglios better than any dozen armies.

He started trying to cut the conversation short. As brother and sister were leaving, the prince said, “Smoke, I meant to ask. Why would she put a bounty on bats all of a sudden?” “A what?”

“The Shadar Singh mentioned it. He heard it on his way here. She put out word that any children who wanted could pick up a few coppers by bringing her dead bats. Every poor family in town will start hunting them. And the treasury will have to pay for them. Why?” “I have no idea,” Smoke lied. His heart was in his throat. She knew. That business about reporting strangers... It wasn’t a propaganda ploy. She knew. “A few exotic spells use bat parts powdered. Fur, claws, livers. But they’re the kind that make your neighbor’s cattle sterile or his hens stop laying. Nothing of use to her.”

But live bats were useful to the Shadowmasters. He barely waited till the prince and his sister turned a corner down the hall. Then he headed for the world outside, before there were no bats left to find him.

Croaker sat on a rock in the wood, leaning against a tree, twisting an animal figure. He finished it and tossed it at a stump. Crows watched. He paid them no heed. He was thinking about Soulcatcher.

She was not great company. She had spent ages turned inward. She could be amiable and animated for brief periods but did not know how to keep it up. Neither did he. Sometimes it seemed they were moving in parallel rather than together. But she would not let him go just because they weren’t soulmates. She had uses for him.

She had been bustling around the temple all day. He did not know why. He felt no urge to find out. He was depressed. He came to this spot when his mood was at low ebb.

The imp Frogface materialized. “Why the long face, Cap?” “Why not?” “You got me there.” “What’s happening in Dejagore?”

“Got me there, too. I’ve been busy.”

“Doing what?”

“Can’t say.” The imp aped his morose stance. “Last time I was there your boys was doing fine. Maybe fussing and feuding a little more than before. Old One-Eye and his sidekick don’t get along with that Mogaba, not even a little. They been talking about doing a fade and letting him go to hell his own way.”

“He’d get wiped out if they did.”

“He don’t appreciate them enough, that’s sure.”

“She says we’re going down there.”

“Well. Then you can look for yourself.”

“I don’t think that’s what she’s got in mind. She call you in?”

“Came to report. Interesting things happening. You could ask. She might tell you.”

“What’s she doing?”

“Fixing the place up so it don’t look like somebody’s been living there. That Festival thing is coming up. Them weirdos will be getting here real soon.”

Croaker doubted he would get a straight answer but he asked anyway. “How’s Lady?”

“Fine. Keeps on, she’ll be running the whole show in six months. Got every poobah in Taglios so confused she’s doing any damned thing she pleases.”

“She’s in Taglios?” He hadn’t known that. Catcher hadn’t told him. He hadn’t asked.

“Has been for weeks. Left that Blade character in charge at Ghoja and went up to the city and started taking over.”

“She would. She isn’t the kind to wait for things to happen.”

“Tell me about it. Whoa! I hear the boss calling. Better get on over there. Pack up your things.”

“What things?” He did not have much but the clothes he wore. And those were rags.

“Whatever you have to take with you. She’s leaving in an hour.”

He did not argue. That was as futile as arguing with a stone. His wants and interests did not count. He had less freedom than a slave. “Take it easy, Cap,” the imp said. And vanished.

They rode till Croaker collapsed. They rested, then rode again. Soulcatcher ignored such niceties as restricting travel to daylight hours. She permitted a third halt only after they entered the hills northwest of Dejagore. She spoke seldom except to her crows, and to Frogface briefly after they arrived, while Croaker was sleeping.

She wakened him as the sun rose. “We reenter the world today, my love. Sorry I haven’t been as attentive as I should.” He could tell nothing from her choice of voices. This one he thought was her own, much like her sister’s, always neutral. “I’ve had a lot on my mind. I should bring you up to date.”

“That would be nice.”

“Your flair for sarcasm hasn’t disappeared.”