When the soldiers started settling down for the night, Morghien stood and beckoned for Isak to follow him. The white-eye paused only to sling his swordbelt over his shoulder and indicate to Carel that he didn't want an escort.
Within a minute or two he and Morghien were walking through the trees following the slope of the ground down until they reached a natural hollow of no great depth, no more than twenty yards across. At
the bottom of the hollow was a stone lying half-buried in the earth, its surface worn flat by wind and rain and looking like a crudely carved
table top. Isak glanced back and saw Mihn watching them from the tree. line. The failed Harlequin's face, framed by shadow, was strangely comforting. He gestured for the man to return to his bed, but felt curi-ously pleased when Mihn ignored the order and maintained his vigil.
This is ideal,' Morghien commented, running a hand over the stone surface.
'Ideal for what?'
'A little magic. My skills have never been remarkable, but this is a simple thing li you have the right tools.'
he took out a.small silver hladed knife, battered and worn by years of use Isak could tell it had a simple charm on it, though not what
sort. Morghien scored a faint cross about a foot long on the stone's surface and connected the ends so that the cross was bound within a
diamond. From the same pocket he pulled a golden chain on which was strung a set of fat, oversized coins, all made from different materials
and set with gemstones.
'Gods,' Isak breathed, reaching out to touch one until Morghien jerked it away, 'what are those?'
'It's called an augury chain; it's used for divination. The way they fall and their position in relation to each other can reveal a surprising amount, if the caster has the experience to properly interpret what he sees.' Morghien saw the sceptical look on Isak's face. 'Don't look like that,' he said sternly, 'this isn't the random drawing of cards. Each coin is aligned to a God of the Upper Circle, blessed by a high priest of that God and thus touched by a being outside of time or the laws governing the Land. When cast by a mage, there is a pattern spread over the board that guides the fall of the coins. Trust me, this is not mere chance.'
He held up a blank disc of gold, turning it over to show Isak its flip side, obsidian or polished jet. 'There are two that aren't aligned to the Upper Circle: this one, the Lady's Coin, represents Chance, but in a very specific way, and the Mortal, which is usually the principal coin in a casting, since all events ultimately revolve around people.'
He carefully separated out another coin on the chain as he spoke and held it out to Isak, keeping the others well away. Isak realised it was lapis lazuli, deep blue with a thin speckled line of pyrite. 'This is Nartis' coin, as you can probably guess. I suggest you don't touch any of the others, as you might upset the balance.' He grinned. 'And here's a piece of advice for you: never trust a priest with one of these. Without the balance of alignment they're useless – worse than useless
because whatever is read that way will be horribly skewed.'
'What about the cross?' Isak asked as he ran the dead white fingers of his left hand over the disc's polished surface. The snake symbol of Nartis was engraved in the centre and surrounded by an unfamiliar script Isak assumed was the huntsman's prayer. As Morghien gave an approving nod, Isak realised his magic-marked hand would probably improve Nartis' own coin.
'The cross is our board, divided into quarters: the heavens and the land above, fire and water below. I have owned this augury chain for many years now, and I know its moods well enough. The position "I ench coin in relation to the board and each other once the blanks have been removed should provide an answer to the question in your mind when you cast the coins.'
'The blanks? Ah, only one side is engraved,' Isak said, turning the Nartis coin over. 'What about the Lady's Coin, though? That one's blank on both sides.'
'That one is rather special,' Morghien agreed. 'The obsidian side Indicates that a path is already taken and Fate herself cannot change a mat ter. Here, Fate acts as the idea of chance, or suggesting an oppor-tunity to take. When the black side comes up on this particular chain, However, on my chain, I suspect it represents Azaer.'
The word hung in the air between them as Isak stared down at the- tiny reflection of Alterr, the greater moon, on the coin's polished surface. Though he knew little about Azaer – or the shadow, as King emin called it – he was certain it had been watching him over the last few months. The night normally held no terrors for Isak, who had been walking the Land with only the moons for company all his life, but several times recently he'd felt an unaccountable fear, and found himself fleeing to the light. Even King Emin had been unable to tell him why the shadow did what it did. Isak did not want to be caught up in Az.aer's plans.
Without wasting any further time, Morghien unhooked the clasp holding the chain closed and held the stack of coins above the board. the Mortal was on the bottom. They fell with a clatter onto the stone as the hunter's moon came out from behind a cloud to cast its tinted
light over the stone board.
As Morghien leaned close over them, his hand poised to remove the blanks, a hiss escaped his lips.
isak loo ked down himself, and realised that even he could read what the board was saying only too welclass="underline" just inside the quarter Morghien had called the heavens lay the Mortal, almost entirely covered by the obsidian side of the Lady's Coin.
'AZAER did not want you to meet Fedei again, and so I lose another dear friend,' whispered Morghien to the night, and he bowed his head in grief
CHAPTER 2
The next day was cooler and overcast, with wide furrowed clouds that darkened towards the horizon and threatened rain. They made for the forest road, riding mostly in silence as every member of the party listened hard for the crash of branches and drum of following hooves. Having abandoned the river, they headed directly north, skirting the borderland between Tor Milist and the lands claimed by the Farlan. Their destination now was the suzerainty of Saroc, a longer journey, but one that avoided the most obvious route home.
One glance at a map made it abundantly clear where the danger lay: on the river that took them up the border between Nerlos and the suzerainty of Tildek, seat of the inordinately powerful Certinse family. Suzerain Tildek and his nephew, the Duke of Lomin, would be overjoyed to catch Lord Isak with only a small force of guards before the- young heir could reach Tirah and assert his claim. Their only dilemma would be deciding between themselves as to which of them should become king.
Riding on the fringe of the group, Morghien sat awkwardly atop one of the spare horses, his eyes fixed on the lead Ghost. As there was nothing he could do for Wisten Fedei, Morghien had agreed to Isak's suggestion that he accompany them to Tirah instead. He wasn't a natural horseman, and his discomfort added to his misery as the hours crawled past.
Isak had worried that the forest was too quiet, but early in the afternoon, when the forest thinned to the familiar sight of groves and thickets encircled by pastureland that characterised much of Farlan territory, the Land remained deserted. Where they would expect sheep and cattle to be grazing, thus far they hadn't seen even a rabbit, and the air was empty of birdsong. Isak had spent enough time alone in the wilds to know what a quiet day sounded like; this was the silence that followed a hunting predator.
'We crossed the Longbow River two hours ago now,' he said, break¬ing the silence. 'We should have seen someone by now.' Like his soldiers, Isak was riding in full armour, his helm upturned in his lap. |eil and Borl, the rangers, were scouting ahead with Mihn; Isak didn't believe anyone could catch all three of them unawares, but still he felt better when his hand was resting on the hilt of his sword. There was something nagging at the back of his mind. He looked around again; there were few enough hiding places nearby – and yet he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.