Later, as twilight crept in over the city, Sparhawk paced along the parapet surmounting the wall of the chapterhouse, glancing from time to time down into the street outside.
‘Sparhawk,’ Kurik’s gruff voice came from the yard below, ‘are you up there?’
‘Yes. Come on up.’
There was the sound of footsteps on the stone stairs leading up to the parapet. ‘You wanted to see us?’ Kurik asked as he, Berit, and Talen came up out of the shadows clotting the stairway.
‘Yes. There’s a company of church soldiers outside. They’re blocking the gate, and I need to get a message to Dolmant. Any ideas?’
Kurik scratched his head as he mulled it over.
‘Give me a fast horse and I can ride through them,’ Berit offered.
‘He’ll make a good knight,’ Talen said. ‘Knights love to charge, I’m told.’
Berit looked sharply at the boy.
‘No hitting,’ Talen said, shrinking back. ‘We agreed that there wasn’t going to be any more hitting. I pay attention to the lessons, and you don’t hit me any more.’
‘Have you got a better idea?’ Berit asked.
‘Several.’ Talen looked over the wall. ‘Are the soldiers patrolling the streets outside the walls?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ Sparhawk said.
‘That’s not really a problem, but it might have been easier if they weren’t.’ Talen pursed his lips as he thought it over. ‘Berit,’ he said, ‘are you any good with a bow?’
‘I’ve been trained,’ the voice said a bit stiffly.
‘That’s not what I asked. I said are you any good?’
‘I can hit a mark at a hundred paces.’
Talen looked at Sparhawk. ‘Don’t you people have anything better to do?’ he asked. Then he looked at Berit again. ‘You see that stable over there?’ he asked, pointing across the street. ‘The one with the thatched roof?’
‘Yes.’
‘Could you get an arrow into the thatch?’
‘Easily.’
‘Maybe training pays off after all.’
‘How many months did you practise cutting purses?’ Kurik asked pointedly.
‘That’s different, father. There’s a profit involved in that.’
‘Father?’ Berit sounded astonished.
‘It’s a long story,’ Kurik told him.
‘Any man in the world listens to a bell that rings for any reason whatsoever,’ Talen said, affecting a schoolteacherish tone, ‘and no man can possibly avoid gawking at a fire. Can you lay your hands on a length of rope, Sparhawk?’
‘How long a length?’
‘Long enough to reach the street. Here’s how it goes. Berit wraps his arrow with tinder and sets fire to it. Then he takes a shot at that thatched roof. The soldiers will all run to this street to watch the fun. That’s when I go down the rope on the far side of the building. I can be out on the street in less than a minute with no one the wiser.’
‘You can’t set fire to a man’s stable,’ Kurik objected, sounding horrified.
‘They’ll put it out, Kurik,’ Talen said in a patient tone. ‘They’ll have lots of warning, because we’ll all stand up here shouting “Fire!” at the top of our voices. Then I’ll shinny down the rope on the far wall and be five streets away before the excitement dies down. I know where Dolmant’s house is, and I can tell him whatever you want him to know.’
‘All right,’ Sparhawk approved.
‘Sparhawk!’ Kurik exclaimed. ‘You’re not going to let him do this, are you?’
‘It’s tactically sound, Kurik. Diversion and subterfuge are part of any good plan.’
‘Do you have any idea of how much thatch – and wood – there is in this part of town?’
‘It might give the church soldiers something useful to do,’ Sparhawk shrugged.
‘That’s hard, Sparhawk.’
‘Not nearly as hard as the notion of Annias sitting on the Archprelate’s throne. Let’s get what we need. I want to be out of Chyrellos before the sun comes up tomorrow, and I can’t do that with all those soldiers camped outside the gate.’
They went down the stairs to fetch rope, a bow, and a quiver of arrows.
‘What’s afoot?’ Tynian asked as he, Kalten, Bevier, and Ulath met them in the courtyard.
‘We’re going to get word to Dolmant,’ Sparhawk told him.
Tynian looked at the bow Berit was carrying. ‘With that?’ he asked. ‘Isn’t that rather a long shot?’
‘There’s a little more to it than that,’ Sparhawk told him. He quickly sketched in the plan. Then, as they started up the steps, he put his hand on Talen’s shoulder. ‘This isn’t going to be the safest thing in the world,’ he told the boy. ‘I want you to be careful out there.’
‘You worry too much, Sparhawk,’ Talen replied. ‘I could do this in my sleep.’
‘You might need some kind of note to give to Dolmant,’ Sparhawk said.
‘You’re not serious? If I get stopped, I can lie my way out of trouble, but not if I’ve got a note in my pocket. Dolmant knows me, and he’ll know that the message is from you. Just leave everything to me, Sparhawk.’
‘Don’t stop to pick any pockets along the way.’
‘Of course not,’ Talen replied, just a little too glibly.
Sparhawk sighed. Then he quickly told the boy what to say to the Patriarch of Demos.
The plan went more or less as Talen had outlined it. As soon as the patrol had passed in the narrow street, Berit’s arrow arched out like a falling star and sank into the thatched stable roof. It sputtered there for a moment or two, and then bluish-coloured flame ran quickly up to the ridgepole, turning sooty orange first, then bright yellow as the flames began to spread.
