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Authors: David Eddings
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burst out with a sudden oath. ‘All we’re doing is groping in the dark.’
‘Would you be opposed to logic at this point?’ Stragen asked him.
‘I wouldn’t even be opposed to astrology just now,’ Sparhawk replied sourly.
‘All right.’ The blond Thalesian thief rose to his feet and began to pace up and down, his eyes thoughtful. ‘First of all, we know that somehow the Troll-Gods have got out of that box.’
‘Actually, you haven’t really proved that, Stragen,’ Ulath disagreed. ‘Not logically, anyway.’
Stragen stopped pacing. ‘He’s right, you know,’ he admitted. ‘We’ve been basing that conclusion on a guess. All we can say with any logical certainty is thatwe’ve encountered something that looks and feels like a manifestation of the Troll-Gods. Would you accept that, Sir Ulath?’
‘I suppose I could go that far, Milord Stragen.’
‘I’m so happy. Do we know of anything else that does the same sort of things?’
‘No,’ Ulath replied, ‘but that’s not really relevant. We don’t know about everything. There could be dozens of things we don’t know about that take the form of shadows or clouds, tear people all to pieces and give humans a chilly feeling when they’re around.’
‘I’m not sure that logic is really getting us anywhere,’ Stragen conceded.
‘There’s nothing wrong with your logic, Stragen,’ Ehlana told him. ‘Your major premise is faulty, that’s all.’
‘You too, your Majesty?’ Kalten groaned. ‘I thought there was at least one other person in the room who relied on common sense rather than all this tedious logic.’
‘All right then, Sir Kalten,’ she said tartly, ‘what does your common sense tell you?’
‘Well, first off, it tells me that you’re all going at the problem backwards. The question we should be asking is what makes Krager so special that something supernatural would go out of its way to protect him? Does it really matter what the supernatural thing is at the moment?’
‘He might have something there, you know?’ Ulath said. ‘Krager’s a cockroach basically. His only real reason for existing is to be stepped on.’
‘I’m not so sure,’ Ehlana disagreed. ‘Krager worked for Martel, and Martel worked for Annias.’
‘Actually, dear, it was the other way around,’ Sparhawk corrected her.
She waved that distinction aside. ‘Belton and theothers were all allied to Annias, and Krager used to carry messages between Annias and Martel. Belton and his cohorts would almost certainly have known Krager. Pelk’s story more or less confirms that. That’s what made Krager important in the first place.’ She paused, frowning. ‘But what made him important after the renegades were all in custody?’
‘Backtracking,’ Ulath grunted.
‘I beg your pardon?’ The queen looked baffled.
‘This whatever-it-is didn’t want us to be able to trace Krager back to his present employer.’
‘Oh, that’s obvious, Ulath,’ Kalten snorted. ‘His employer is Count Gerrich. Pelk told Sparhawk that there was somebody in Lamorkand who wanted to keep us so busy here in Elenia that we wouldn’t have time to take any steps to put down all the turmoil over there. That has to be Gerrich.’
‘You’re just guessing, Kalten,’ Ulath said. ‘You could very well be right, but it’s still just a guess.’
‘Do you see what I mean about logic?’ Kalten demanded of them. ‘What do you want, Ulath? A signed confession from Gerrich himself?’
‘Do you have one handy? All I’m saying is that we ought to keep an open mind. I don’t think we should close any doors yet, that’s all.’
There was a firm knock on the door, and it opened immediately afterward. Mirtai looked in. ‘Bevier and Tynian are here,’ she announced.
‘They’re supposed to be in Rendor,’ Sparhawk said. ‘What are they doing here?’
‘Why don’t you ask them?’ Mirtai suggested pointedly. ‘They’re right out here in the corridor.’
The
‘Would you be opposed to logic at this point?’ Stragen asked him.
‘I wouldn’t even be opposed to astrology just now,’ Sparhawk replied sourly.
‘All right.’ The blond Thalesian thief rose to his feet and began to pace up and down, his eyes thoughtful. ‘First of all, we know that somehow the Troll-Gods have got out of that box.’
‘Actually, you haven’t really proved that, Stragen,’ Ulath disagreed. ‘Not logically, anyway.’
Stragen stopped pacing. ‘He’s right, you know,’ he admitted. ‘We’ve been basing that conclusion on a guess. All we can say with any logical certainty is thatwe’ve encountered something that looks and feels like a manifestation of the Troll-Gods. Would you accept that, Sir Ulath?’
‘I suppose I could go that far, Milord Stragen.’
‘I’m so happy. Do we know of anything else that does the same sort of things?’
‘No,’ Ulath replied, ‘but that’s not really relevant. We don’t know about everything. There could be dozens of things we don’t know about that take the form of shadows or clouds, tear people all to pieces and give humans a chilly feeling when they’re around.’
‘I’m not sure that logic is really getting us anywhere,’ Stragen conceded.
‘There’s nothing wrong with your logic, Stragen,’ Ehlana told him. ‘Your major premise is faulty, that’s all.’
‘You too, your Majesty?’ Kalten groaned. ‘I thought there was at least one other person in the room who relied on common sense rather than all this tedious logic.’
‘All right then, Sir Kalten,’ she said tartly, ‘what does your common sense tell you?’
‘Well, first off, it tells me that you’re all going at the problem backwards. The question we should be asking is what makes Krager so special that something supernatural would go out of its way to protect him? Does it really matter what the supernatural thing is at the moment?’
‘He might have something there, you know?’ Ulath said. ‘Krager’s a cockroach basically. His only real reason for existing is to be stepped on.’
‘I’m not so sure,’ Ehlana disagreed. ‘Krager worked for Martel, and Martel worked for Annias.’
‘Actually, dear, it was the other way around,’ Sparhawk corrected her.
She waved that distinction aside. ‘Belton and theothers were all allied to Annias, and Krager used to carry messages between Annias and Martel. Belton and his cohorts would almost certainly have known Krager. Pelk’s story more or less confirms that. That’s what made Krager important in the first place.’ She paused, frowning. ‘But what made him important after the renegades were all in custody?’
‘Backtracking,’ Ulath grunted.
‘I beg your pardon?’ The queen looked baffled.
‘This whatever-it-is didn’t want us to be able to trace Krager back to his present employer.’
‘Oh, that’s obvious, Ulath,’ Kalten snorted. ‘His employer is Count Gerrich. Pelk told Sparhawk that there was somebody in Lamorkand who wanted to keep us so busy here in Elenia that we wouldn’t have time to take any steps to put down all the turmoil over there. That has to be Gerrich.’
‘You’re just guessing, Kalten,’ Ulath said. ‘You could very well be right, but it’s still just a guess.’
‘Do you see what I mean about logic?’ Kalten demanded of them. ‘What do you want, Ulath? A signed confession from Gerrich himself?’
‘Do you have one handy? All I’m saying is that we ought to keep an open mind. I don’t think we should close any doors yet, that’s all.’
There was a firm knock on the door, and it opened immediately afterward. Mirtai looked in. ‘Bevier and Tynian are here,’ she announced.
‘They’re supposed to be in Rendor,’ Sparhawk said. ‘What are they doing here?’
‘Why don’t you ask them?’ Mirtai suggested pointedly. ‘They’re right out here in the corridor.’
The
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