The Complete Elenium Trilogy: The Diamond Throne, The Ruby Knight, The Sapphire Rose. David Eddings

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      Platime shrugged. ‘I’m not an art critic,’ he said. ‘He spends all his time drawing pictures, though – when he isn’t begging or stealing.’

      ‘Isn’t he a little young for your line of work?’

      Platime laughed. ‘He’s got the nimblest fingers in Cimmura,’ he said. ‘He could steal your eyes right out of their sockets, and you wouldn’t even miss them until you went to look closely at something.’

      ‘I’ll keep that in mind,’ Kalten said.

      ‘It could be too late, my friend. Weren’t you wearing a ring when you came in?’

      Kalten blinked, then raised his blood-stained left hand and stared at it. There was no ring on the hand.

Chapter 6

      Kalten winced. ‘Easy, Sparhawk,’ he said. ‘That really hurts.’

      ‘It has to be cleaned before I can bandage it,’ Sparhawk replied, continuing to wipe the cut on his friend’s side with a wine-soaked cloth.

      ‘But do you have to do it so hard?’

      Platime waddled around the smoky fire pit and stood over the cot where Kalten lay. ‘Is he going to be all right?’ he asked.

      ‘Probably,’ Sparhawk replied. ‘He’s had the blood let out of him a few times before, and he usually recovers.’ He laid aside the cloth and picked up a long strip of linen. ‘Sit up,’ he told his friend.

      Kalten grunted and pushed himself into a sitting position. Sparhawk began to wind the strip about his waist.

      ‘Not so tight,’ Kalten said. ‘I have to be able to breathe.’

      ‘Quit complaining.’

      ‘Were those church soldiers after you for any particular reason?’ Platime asked. ‘Or were they just amusing themselves?’

      ‘They had reasons,’ Sparhawk told him as he knotted Kalten’s bandage. ‘We’ve managed to be fairly offensive to Primate Annias lately.’

      ‘Good for you. I don’t know how you noblemen feel about him, but the common people all hate him.’

      ‘We moderately despise him.’

      ‘That’s one thing we all have in common then. Is there any chance that Queen Ehlana might recover?’

      ‘We’re working on that.’

      Platime sighed. ‘I think she’s our only hope, Sparhawk. Otherwise Annias is going to run Elenia to suit himself, and that would really be too bad.’

      ‘Patriotism, Platime?’ Kalten asked.

      ‘Just because I’m a thief and a murderer doesn’t mean that I’m disloyal. I respect the crown as much as any man in the kingdom. I even respected Aldreas, weak as he was.’ Platime’s eyes grew sly. ‘Did his sister ever really seduce him?’ he asked. ‘There were all kinds of rumours.’

      Sparhawk shrugged. ‘That’s sort of hard to say.’

      ‘She went absolutely wild after your father forced Aldreas to marry Queen Ehlana’s mother, you know.’ Platime sniggered. ‘She was totally convinced that she was going to marry her brother and get control of the throne.’

      ‘Isn’t that sort of illegal?’ Kalten asked.

      ‘Annias said that he’d found a way around the law. Anyway, after Aldreas got married, Arissa ran away from the palace. They found her a few weeks later in that cheap brothel over by the river. Just about everybody in Cimmura had tried her before they dragged her out of the place.’ He squinted at them. ‘What did they finally do with her anyway? Chop off her head?’

      ‘No,’ Sparhawk told him. ‘She’s cloistered in the nunnery at Demos. They’re very strict there.’

      ‘At least she’s getting some rest. From what I hear, the Princess Arissa was a very busy young woman.’ He straightened and pointed at a nearby cot. ‘You can use that one,’ he told Sparhawk. ‘I’ve got every thief and beggar in Cimmura out looking for this Krager fellow of yours. If he sets foot in the streets, we’ll know about it within an hour. In the meantime, you might as well get some sleep.’

      Sparhawk nodded and rose to his feet. ‘Are you all right?’ he asked Kalten.

      ‘I’m fine.’

      ‘Do you need anything?’

      ‘How about some beer – just to restore all the blood I lost, of course.’

      It was impossible to tell what time it was since the cellar had no windows. Sparhawk felt a light touch and came awake immediately, catching the hand that had touched him.

      The grubby-looking boy, Talen, made a sour face. ‘Never try to pick a pocket when you’re shivering,’ he said. He mopped the rain out of his face. ‘It’s really a miserable morning out there,’ he added.

      ‘Were you looking for anything in particular in my pockets?’

      ‘No, not really – just anything that might turn up.’

      ‘Would you like to give me back my friend’s ring?’

      ‘Oh, I suppose so. I only took it to keep in practice anyway.’ Talen reached inside the wet tunic and drew out Kalten’s ring. ‘I cleaned the blood off it for him,’ he said, admiring it.

      ‘He’ll appreciate that.’

      ‘Oh, by the way, I found that fellow you were looking for.’

      ‘Krager? Where?’

      ‘He’s staying in a brothel in Lion Street.’

      ‘A brothel?’

      ‘Maybe he needs affection.’

      Sparhawk sat up. He touched his horsehair beard to make sure it was still in place. ‘Let’s go talk to Platime.’

      ‘Do you want me to wake your friend?’

      ‘Let him sleep. I’m not going to take him out in the rain in his condition anyway.’

      Platime was snoring in his chair, but his eyes opened instantly when Talen touched his shoulder.

      ‘The boy found Krager,’ Sparhawk told him.

      ‘You’re going after him, I suppose?’

      Sparhawk nodded.

      ‘Do you think the primate’s soldiers are still looking for you?’

      ‘Probably.’

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