‘Do I have any choice? They’re going to be watching me.’
‘Let them. Do you remember how we met Berit?’
‘He was a novice in the Chapterhouse in Cimmura,’ Sparhawk shrugged.
‘Not when, I first saw him, he wasn’t. I was coming back from exile in Lamorkand, and I stopped at a roadside tavern outside of Cimmura. Berit was there with Kurik, and he was wearing your armor. I’ve known you since we were children, and even, I couldn’t tell that he wasn’t you. If, I couldn’t tell, Krager’s spies certainly won’t be able to. If somebody has to plod around Tamuli, let Berit do it. You and I have better things to do.’
Sparhawk was startled. ‘That’s the best idea I’ve heard yet.’ He looked around at the others. ‘Could I have your attention, please?’ he said.
They all looked sharply at him, their faces apprehensive.
‘It’s time to get to work,’ he told them. ‘Kalten here just reminded me that we’ve used Sir Berit as a decoy in the past. Berit and I are nearly the same size, and my armor fits him – more or less – and with his visor down, nobody can really tell that he isn’t me. If we can prevail on him to masquerade as a broken-down old campaigner again, we might just be able to prepare a few surprises for Krager and his friends.’
‘You don’t even have to ask, Sparhawk,’ Berit said.
‘Get some details before you volunteer like that, Berit,’ Khalad told his friend in a pained voice.
‘Your father used to say almost exactly the same thing,’ Berit recalled.
‘Why didn’t you listen to him?’
‘It’s an interesting plan, Prince Sparhawk,’ Oscagne said a bit dubiously, ‘but isn’t it extremely dangerous?’
‘I’m not afraid, your Excellency,’ Berit protested.
‘I wasn’t talking about your danger, young sir. I’m talking about the danger to Queen Ehlana. The moment someone penetrates your disguise – well …’ Oscagne spread his hands.
‘Then we’ll just have to make sure that his disguise is foolproof,’ Sephrenia said.
‘He can’t keep his visor down forever, Sephrenia,’ Sarabian objected.
‘I don’t think he’ll have to,’ Sephrenia replied. She looked speculatively at Xanetia. ‘Do we trust each other enough to co-operate, Anarae?’ she asked. ‘I’m talking about something a little deeper than we’ve gone so far.’
‘I will listen most attentively to thy proposal, my sister.’
‘Delphaeic magic is directed primarily inward, isn’t it?’
Xanetia nodded.
‘That’s probably why no one can hear or feel it. Styric magic is just the reverse. We alter things around us, so our magic reaches out. Neither form will work by itself in this particular situation, but if we were to combine them …’ She left it hanging in the air between them.
‘Interesting notion,’ Aphrael mused.
‘I’m not sure I follow,’ Vanion said.
‘The Anarae and I are going to have to experiment a bit,’ Sephrenia told him, ‘but if what I’ve got in mind works, we’ll be able to make Berit look so much like Sparhawk that they’ll be able to use each other for shaving mirrors.’
‘As long as each of us knows exactly what the other’s doing, it’s not too difficult, Sparhawk,’ Sephrenia assured him later when he and Berit joined her, Vanion and the Anarae in the room she shared with Vanion.
‘Will it really work?’ he asked her dubiously.
‘They haven’t actually tried it yet, Sparhawk,’ Vanion told him, ‘so we’re not entirely positive.’
‘That doesn’t sound too promising. This isn’t much of a face, but it’s the only one I’ve got.’
‘There will be no danger to thee or to young Sir Berit, Anakha,’ Xanetia said. ‘In times past it hath oft been necessary for my people to leave our valley and to go abroad amongst others. This hath been our means of disguising our true identity.’
‘It works sort of like this, Sparhawk,’ Sephrenia explained. ‘Xanetia casts a Delphaeic spell that would normally imprint your features on her own face, but just as she releases her spell, I release a Styric one that deflects the spell to Berit instead.’
‘Won’t every Styric in Matherion feel it when you release your spell?’ Sparhawk asked.
‘That’s the beauty of it, Sparhawk,’ Aphrael told him. ‘The spell itself originates with Xanetia, and others can’t feel or hear a Delphaeic spell. Cyrgon himself could be in the next room and he wouldn’t hear a thing.’
‘You’re sure it’s going to work?’
‘There’s one way to find out.’
Sparhawk, of course, did not feel a thing. He was only the model, after all. It was a bit disconcerting to watch Berit’s appearance gradually change, however.
When the combined spell had been completed, sparhawk carefully inspected his young friend. ‘Do I really look like that from the side?’ he asked Vanion, feeling a bit deflated.
‘I can’t tell the two of you apart.’
‘That nose is really crooked, isn’t it?’
‘We thought you knew.’
‘I’ve never looked at myself from the side this way before.’ Sparhawk looked critically at Berit’s eyes. ‘You should probably try to squint just a little,’ he suggested. ‘My eyes aren’t as good as they used to be. ‘That’s one of the things you have to look forward to as you get older.’
‘I’ll try to remember that.’ Even Berit’s voice was different.
‘Do I really sound like that?’ Sparhawk was crestfallen.
Vanion nodded.
Sparhawk shook his head. ‘Seeing and hearing yourself as others do definitely lowers your opinion of yourself,’ he admitted. He looked at Berit again. ‘I didn’t feel anything, did you?’
Berit nodded, swallowing hard.
‘What was it like?’
‘I’d really rather not talk about it.’ Berit gently explored his new face with cringing fingertips, wincing as he did.
‘I still can’t tell them apart,’ Kalten marveled, staring first at Berit and then at Sparhawk.
‘That was sort of the idea,’ Sparhawk told him.
‘Which one are you?’
‘Try to be serious, Kalten.’
‘Now that we know how it’s done, we can make some other changes as well,’ Sephrenia told them. ‘We’ll give you all different faces so that you’ll be able to move around freely – and we’ll put men wearing your faces here in the palace. I think we can all expect to be watched, even after the Harvest Festival, and this should nullify that particular problem.’