He glanced at the seemingly endless line of animals and their handlers making their way up the gangplank. And now a line of rejects was working its way down on the other side. In the confusion it was hard to keep predators and prey apart, and there was a deal of snapping, slashing and biting. The noise and smell was growing intense. A clean-up crew had its work cut out shovelling away droppings.

‘Are there many more?’ the Prince asked.

‘We’ve barely begun. You did order two of everything, Majesty.’

Hunting parties were scouring the land for mating pairs. He had agents purchasing specimens from zoos and private collections, and bartering with merchants as they returned from foreign climes.

His father’s instructions had been quite explicit. Animals were to be acquired two by two, to serve the Prince’s needs in a world in which there was no death. Or, indeed, many other human beings. Melyobar determined to marshal his stamina and see it through, for the sake of the plan. And for his salvation.

An unseemly honking and a fleshy slapping sound broke his reverie. A walrus waddled over for its audience, its mate close behind. Attendants walked ahead of them, holding out fish to keep them moving, while others doused them with buckets of water.

The walrus turned its whiskery face up to the Prince and they locked gazes.

He thought its eyes were very sad.

It was the morning of Kinsel Rukanis’ trial.

Under the circumstances, Caldason thought it odd that Karr should have chosen this day to invite him to share a secret. He wouldn’t be drawn on what it was, and made Reeth swear not to mention it to anyone, without exception. But in the carriage, on their way to a destination Karr wouldn’t reveal, he took the opportunity to castigate the Qalochian.

‘I have to tell you I’m not happy about the brawl you and Serrah got into. With the meld.’

‘We didn’t have too much choice.’

‘Yes, you did. As I understand it, you went looking for trouble.’

‘Then you understand it wrong, Karr. We weren’t looking for the meld.’

‘No, you were carrying out some half-baked little scheme of your own, you and Serrah. Spying on the paladins, of all damn things, without even telling us, let alone asking permission.’

‘Permission?’ Caldason smouldered.

‘I know authority’s not something you take to very well,

Reeth;

any

kind of authority. But when you’ve thrown your lot in with the Resistance you have to accept some measure of discipline.’

‘It was a spur of the moment thing, I admit that. But we just wanted to do something about Kinsel.’

‘We all do, Reeth. But you and Serrah have no monopoly on compassion; Kinsel’s a friend of mine too, and I’ve known him a lot longer. Do you think I find it easy having to sit back while he’s put through the mill?’

‘No, Karr, I don’t.’

‘We don’t need unnecessary attention at the best of times, and certainly not now, with the move looming.’ He was looking tense and flushed.

‘All right,’ Reeth conceded. ‘Message received. Now take it easy, Karr. Don’t get worked up about it. You look ill.’

‘Why does everybody keep worrying about my health?’ the patrician came back heatedly.

‘Because

you

don’t. You’re pushing yourself too hard, man.’

‘I’ve little choice with everything that’s going on at the moment.’

‘There’s always a lot going on. Delegate.’

Karr didn’t answer. He stared out of the carriage’s half-blinded window. It was a crisp autumn day, chill but pleasantly sunny. There were plenty of people about, and road traffic was building up.

‘You’re not indispensable,’ Caldason appended. ‘You’ve told me often enough that nobody is.’

Karr returned his attention to him. ‘I don’t have the stamina I used to. My brain’s all right, more or less, but once I had energy to spare, and now…well, it’s just not there when I need it. Getting old’s a bastard, Reeth.’

Caldason had never heard Karr utter an oath before, even a mild one. ‘I know a bit about growing older. In a way.’

Realisation dawned. ‘Of course. Sorry. I don’t think of you

that way.’ He gave a little laugh. ‘It’s hard to come to terms with the idea that you’re older than me.’

‘Imagine how I feel. But you’re right. Age takes people and twists them out of shape. They look in a mirror and start seeing a stranger. It’s life’s last great act of treachery. I’ve seen it happen to so many. By rights, it should have happened to me long since. You’ve no idea how hard it is, Karr, watching the people around you disfigured by the years, before they wither and die.’

‘I can see why you shun attachments.’

‘But it’s not always possible. Sometimes you can’t help being drawn in.’

‘That’s the thing about people, Reeth. The more you’re with them, the more you can’t help caring. Tell me…’

‘What?’

‘In my head I’m still a young man, still the idealistic youth who first got involved with the movement all those years ago. It’s my body that increasingly fails to respond, not my intellect. How…’

‘How’s my mind? Do I feel like an old man? No. I’m more or less the same inside as I was when I was young. A bit wiser, hopefully. And from what I can make out from other people, that’s the norm. It’s another trick Nature plays on us.’

They were silent for a while, watching the anonymous streets roll by.

‘Where

are

we going?’ Caldason said.

‘Just an ordinary private house. It’s not far now.’

‘Want to tell me what this is all about?’

‘Do you recall our first day here in Valdarr? When you and Kutch and I arrived together in Domex’s old wagon?’

‘What about it?’

‘Remember that storm, and how the lightning struck the energy line and fractured it?’

‘It’s not the sort of thing you’re likely to forget.’

‘No, it isn’t.’

‘What’s that got to do with where we’re going?’

‘You’re about to find out for yourself. We’re here.’

The carriage drew to a halt in an undistinguished side street, lined with unremarkable houses. It wasn’t a poor area, but nor was it particularly well-heeled. They got out. Karr nodded to the driver and the carriage left them.

‘Let’s not linger,’ he said.

He led Caldason to the front door, and delivered a rapid series of knocks. Shortly, a spy hatch slid open and they were scrutinised. Then the door was unbolted and they went in.

The man who admitted them nodded but didn’t speak. He was dressed like an ordinary worker, and was presumably a Resistance man. Caldason hadn’t seen him before, and Karr made no introductions.

‘Would you be good enough to let them know we’re here?’ Karr asked.

The man nodded again and pointed to an open door. They went through it and found themselves in a dusty, neglected room containing not much more than a worn table and a couple of chairs. The window was shuttered, and light came from a few candles.

‘It shouldn’t be long,’ Karr explained. ‘They have to be reasonably sure it isn’t dangerous.’

Caldason raised a quizzical eyebrow at that, but Karr didn’t elaborate.

A moment later the man came back and beckoned them. They were taken along a corridor to another door. This opened onto a staircase that snaked to the cellar, and they were left to make their own way down.

The cellar was quite large and brightly lit by a number of glamour lamps. There were two men and a woman there, all in their middle or late years, and all dressed in the blue

ceremonial robes favoured by Covenant. Karr exchanged greetings with them, but again no names were offered. In one corner a wooden rail had been set up around a sizeable hole. It looked deep.

‘May we approach?’ Karr asked one of the blue-robed figures.

The man nodded. ‘But with care. And be ready to draw back if we tell you.’