Mikiss looked at his companions. Nai, still defiant, said nothing; the major just shrugged his shoulders, as though a change of master meant little.

'What do you want with us?' Mikiss asked.

'You will tell me about your mission in Scree,' she said. 'After that, I'm sure I will find a use for you.'

'And if we don't tell you?'

'You no longer have the choice,' she said apologetically, 'not now the wound on your neck has healed.'

Mikiss' hand flew to his neck. The skin was a little tender, but he could feel no injury.

'My curse has you fully in its grip now,' she went on, watching his exploration, 'and it is now a small matter to compel you to speak, or to do exactly as I wish. So let us start. Tell me about your mission in Scree.'

As Zhia spoke those last words, Mikiss felt as though his head had been seized in a vice and wrenched upwards. The blood fizzed and boiled as he fought to keep his mouth closed; black and purple stars burst in front of his eyes until, through no volition of his own, he felt his mouth open and words began to pour out.

It didn't take long, for Lord Styrax had told Mikiss little more than his immediate task: to find the necromancer Isherin Purn in Scree and either secure an artefact of great power from him, or through him, on Lord Styrax's behalf, obviously, or report back on how to acquire it. The necromancer had told him little more in the brief time they were together, for he was intent on hearing all about the Menin conquest of Thotel.

When Mikiss had finished his uncontrolled babbling, the vampire looked far from satisfied.

'So the necromancer said nothing more, other than that he was sure there was a Crystal Skull in the city?'

'He was not so foolish as to go hunting for the bearer of such a weapon,' Nai interjected. 'Either it would be in the hands of a prac¬tised user, in which case his strength would not be enough, or not, in which case the wielder would most likely use it with abandon, and be unable to control the energies released.'

'He could not tell which?' Zhia pressed.

'He suspected a novice, since he had detected experiments per¬formed with the Skull.'

'So when the opportunity came,' mused Zhia, 'he asked his former lord for help, no doubt hoping Styrax would send someone foolish enough to do the confrontation for him. The most likely outcome would be the death of all those involved, leaving Isherin Purn to skip through the ashes and claim his prize.'

For reasons Mikiss could not fathom, this cheered the woman immensely. She announced breezily, 'So, we have someone running around the city with a Crystal Skull. Legana, why am 1 not sur¬prised?'

The pretty dark-haired woman looked taken aback at being addressed, but she said at once, 'Because it confirms some things and explains others. If you'll forgive my presumption, I'm rather more interested in Purn's original mission in the West.' She looked at Mikiss. 'Did you say he was Malich's apprentice?'

Mikiss didn't reply until Zhia turned back to him, whereupon the words spilled out unbidden. 'His apprentice, yes, sent to stir up trouble within the Farlan. I don't know any more.'

'Who does?'

'Nai.'

Legana turned to the necromancer's apprentice, who remained sul¬lenly silent. Zhia gave a hiss of irritation. 'Perhaps I turned the wrong one? It can be rectified easily enough if you don't start to speak now, and I will know if you lie.'

Nai hesitated a moment, then shrugged, Isherin Purn was once an acolyte of Lord Salens at the Hidden Tower. He used his position with Malith to torment Lord Bahl with dreams of his dead bride.'

'in what end?' Legana broke in, taking a step towards Nai.

'To gain control over him,' Nai said bleakly. 'They made him believe he could resurrect her. It was the only way Lord Styrax could draw Lord Bahl away from his armies and kill him.'

'Oh Gods, of course!' the woman breathed. Mikiss looked at her, surprised at the emotional response, and suddenly realised she was most likely Farlan. Yet another spy caught up in Zhia's games? 'He used the Chetse Krann to remove Lord Chalat, but when Styrax planned it all, the Farlan had no Krann and he had only Lord Bahl's own weaknesses to use against him.'

Nai gave a snort, unable to restrain a proud smile. 'And a remark¬able feat of magic it was too, to confound someone so old and power¬ful,' he said.

'You helped him do this?' Legana demanded.

'Certainly. I helped my master in a-'

Before Nai could finish, Legana had grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall. He gasped in pain and grabbed for her arm, but she whipped a dagger from her belt and clubbed him with the pommel.

Nai howled and clouted her around the head with his other hand, but she retaliated by kicking him in the crotch and, when he doubled over in pain, a knee to the face sent him crashing down.

'Enough!' Zhia shouted, the word echoing through the room with such force that Mikiss winced and strained against his bonds in an at¬tempt to cover his ears. 'Children, children,' the vampire continued, her voice a caress, 'this is no playground, and you will not fight unless I say so. Is that quite clear? There are rather more-' She stopped at a crash from elsewhere in the building; a door was being smashed open, and there were angry voices.

'I fear the subtle hand of our fair ruler,' Zhia sighed. 'I'm surprised it has taken Siala so long to decide that I must be to blame for the events of last night. On the subject of Lord Styrax's conquest, I understood the tunnel under the mountains had been destroyed, and who else but Lord Styrax in those parts has the power to do such a thing? So if he was aware of the tunnel, he was also aware of the Fysthrall; could it be coincidence that Lord Styrax dealt so effectively with the two most powerful lords of the West, while King Emin, the other great ruler in these parts, was attacked by the White Circle over some obscure prophecy? Is he really so adept, I wonder?' A mixture of admiration and puzzlement crossed Zhia's face.

The noises resolved themselves into voices arguing outside the room. 'A discussion for another time, I think. Legana; open the doors so Siala can glide straight in, or the drama of her entrance will be lost while she waits for a servant to do it for her.'

The Farlan woman obeyed, and Mikiss heard another woman bark¬ing orders, followed by the clatter of footsteps coming towards them.

'Mistress Ostia, 1 hope you are not overly taxed by relaxing at home while my city collapses into a Gods-cursed wasteland!' Siala cried as she swept into the centre of the room, ignoring Legana, bowing rather i nelegantly, and the bound prisoners sprawled across the floor.

'On the contrary, Mistress Siala, I have spent the entire night restoring order to large parts of the city,' Zhia said. 'This wretched necromancer had an inordinate number of daemons and local spirits bound to him, and tracking them all down was not an easy task.'

'I hope you have an explanation for all this,' Siala demanded, not in the least mollified.

'An explanation?' Zhia said coldly. 'For what, precisely?'

'For why a necromancer was able to set up residence in my city without you or your agents finding out about it; how you managed to get there so quickly with a detachment of troops and how you never theless allowed the entire situation to spiral out of control, letting daemons run wild through my city.' Siala's face was scarlet with fury; any trace of the calm control she'd once possessed was gone. 'There are still mobs roaming the streets, attacking people at random, accus ing normal people of being daemons and setting fire to them!'

'None of which is my fault,' Zhia replied softly, dangerously. 'I have the entire city guard out trying to regain order. There is very little more I can do without troops, and the only soldiers in the city an- not under my command.'