A Crown Imperiled by Raymond E. Feist Page A

deal to talk about.’
    Arkan hesitated, finding the situation as absurd as Nakor, but he nodded once and sat in the empty chair, while the others retook theirs.
    Arkan retold his story briefly and when he was finished, he said, ‘And that is why I am here in this pest hole of a city.’
    Nakor grinned. ‘If you think this is a pest hole, you should visit Durbin!’
    Miranda put her hand on Nakor’s and said, ‘Enough.’
    Calis said, ‘You said you are of the Ardanien. You knew Gorath?’
    Arkan looked surprised for the first time. ‘He was my father.’
    Calis nodded. ‘I see the resemblance. I met him when I was young. You had a remarkable father, Arkan. He was the first moredhel I had ever spoken with and he bore a terrible burden.’
    ‘He is counted a traitor by most of our people.’ He glanced at the three faces confronting him and felt reluctant to discuss family history, but he was surprised to discover that Calis had met his father. ‘I know there are rumours and some, like Liallan, think him a saviour, but the truth of those days is shrouded by lies and rumour.’
    ‘Perhaps Pug can shed some light on that time?’ said Calis.
    ‘Pug?’
    Nakor said, ‘The man in black, in your aunt’s vision, is almost certainly Pug or perhaps his son Magnus. Both are given to wearing black, and both are great sorcerers who struggle to protect this world. If the vision of dragon riders is more than mere metaphor, they would be the Valheru’s most powerful opposition.’ He glanced at Miranda.
    She looked deeply troubled. ‘We know things,’ she said to Arkan. ‘Some of which are best discussed after we find Pug. We seem fated to travel together. If we can contrive some way to get past this invading army and navy blocking our way!’ She sat back in her chair with an audible sigh and said, ‘If there was some way I could contact Pug, reach out with my mind and tell him . . .’ Tell him what? she wondered silently. That his dead wife’s memories had been attached to a demon queen, who under any other circumstances would happily rip off his head and devour his brain; but who would now like nothing more than for him to hold her? Tears threatened, and she willed herself away from that emotional trap.
    ‘Pug,’ she said softly. ‘I wonder what he’s doing this minute?’

•  CHAPTER FOUR  •
    Isle of Snakes
    P UG SIGNALLED.
    Sandreena and Amirantha moved out from behind the large rock where they had been waiting. She was clad in the traditional armour of her order, the Shield of the Weak, and he had forgone his usual finery to don a more appropriate outfit: heavy woollen trousers, a dark green flannel shirt, and stout black boots. His attire made the staff he carried look almost gaudy. It had been created that way for theatrical effect, to help gull potential victims into his confidence scheme – summoning relatively harmless demons then banishing them for reward – but was a powerful magic artefact in its own right.
    They were tired and dirty from their journey down to the region where Jim Dasher had encountered what he thought was a Pantathian Serpent priest, and it had proved far more problematic than anticipated.
    Reaching a safe house in the Keshian city of Teléman had been simple enough, since Pug’s orb had taken them there. But that was as far south as the Conclave had established any permanent stations. Like almost everyone monitoring Kesh, the Conclave had considered the nations of the Keshian Confederacy barely worth consideration. They were universally regarded to be nothing more than an annoyance to the Empire on her southern boundary, and not an area noteworthy enough to warrant the Conclave’s continuing surveillance. The Conclave resources had limits, and Kesh was a vast land. Most of their intelligence gathering had been focused on the City of Kesh, heart of the Empire, and key population centres along the borders with the Kingdom, as well as major sea ports. None of Pug’s