The route Chaldez chose for his return to Sigmar's hill-top encampment in Kraitia was similar to the one which the Imperial Horse had followed on its way to Fromond, minus the detour into Laifya. He and the three Seians enjoyed each others' company, and Nopin and Gudgar, both loners, concentrated on their tasks as guides, scouts and foragers. They travelled speedily and in good humour. Towards mid-summer they were crossing the hilly homelands of the Osarians, and Chaldez was becoming increasingly obsessed by the thought of Tamasi. He ached for her, and several times awoke at night, thinking that he had heard her calling his name. During the daytime his mind constantly drifted away to her, and he would dwell on the rapture of their re-union. Without any effort of imagination he could feel her warmth and see her smile, and sometimes he startled himself by thinking he could smell the scent of her body.
Common-sense told him that she and Sigmar and the army would no longer be where he had last seen them, but he was not in the mood for common-sense. He wanted to believe that everything would be as he had left it, and he felt a sense of betrayal when, in the distance, he saw the hill where the encampment had been, and it was obviously deserted.
Wallowing in bitter disappointment, he rode with his companions past the defences and up on to the barren hill. No one spoke. Presently the silence was broken by a shout; a man was approaching on foot. When next he called, Chaldez could hear that he was speaking a language he did not know. He waited until the man was nearer, and then, in Laifyan, said he was looking for the lord Sigmar's army. The man appeared not to understand. Chaldez tried again. "I am from the Imperial Horse."
Rather to his surprise, the response came back in fluent Laifyan. "I have never heard of that. Who is its commander?"
"I am," said Chaldez. "Zakarrah of the Sei Empire."
The man still seemed doubtful. "Who is the second in command?"
Chaldez was growing impatient. "Zahkahn Jeng," he snapped.
The man repeated the words, as though testing them, and satisfied that they sounded right, he said "My name is Accam, servant of the Danbedekkan. My lord commands me to take you to him."
Chaldez discovered later that Accam, a Laifyan, had been left behind to await the messengers whom Sigmar expected from the Imperial Horse, and that he had been instructed to expect a trap, hence his caution.
As soon as Chaldez and his companions were ready to continue their journey, Accam led them eastwards, up the valley of the Ix. All along the way they were met by guides whom Sigmar had left behind as he had marched to meet Cregitzig, so gradually the party of travellers grew larger. The Ix led them into a range of abrupt-sided hills where scars of white, bare rock could be mistaken at a distance for patches of snow.
They left the river, and for a while were in the midst of dry, windswept uplands in which streams inexplicably vanish among the stones of their own beds, and where the only vegetation is coarse grass and thorny scrub. Chaldez believed it to be the realm of an evil deity, and his companions seemed to share his unease. The hot sun blazed in a clear sky, burning the skin on arms, thighs and necks, while the constant headwind sapped strength and energy.
After the best part of a day's ride, Chaldez became aware that they were once more accompanied by a stream. It seemed to have appeared from nowhere. In the shelter of its shallow valley the wind was less tiresome, and he noticed that the clear, rushing water was flowing in the opposite direction to that of the Ix; he fancied that it was as eager to leave the scarred, barren hills as he was, and he liked the thought that he only needed to follow this stream to escape them.
In its lower reaches, where it matures into a great river, it is known as the Ibres which he and Dan, and Habre the magician and the voluptuous Eonni had followed on their way to Ibre-Shad years earlier, but he was not to know that.
The route taken by Sigmar's guides veered southwards, leaving the Ibres, and when Chaldez learned that they were in the territory of the Soans he wondered if he would recognise where he was, and when they began to cross a high plateau he began to think he did. Was it, he wondered, the same one which he had encountered after Tassin and Pau had decided to go their own way? He told Tsem that he believed they were close to where he had ridden against the bandits and all-but decapitated their leader. Tsem, as always, was gratifyingly impressed. He had heard the story more than once, but he gave no hint of being bored by it.
As the days passed and Sigmar's camp continued to elude them, Chaldez began to think that he and his army had vanished. None of the guides whom met him was able to say how much farther there was to go. Tamasi occupied his thoughts some of the time, but more often he was simply anxious; anxious about finding Sigmar, and anxious about his reception, if ever he should.
The Sairish encampment, when he did at last reach it, was among a range of high, rugged hills where the local tribes are known as the Ashtaks. Judging by its good defensive position and the earthworks which had been thrown up to protect its approach, Chaldez supposed it marked the end of Sigmar' peregrinations for that year, anyway.
As he and his by-now considerable entourage rode passed the guards and on into the camp he expelled Tamasi from his mind, concentrating instead on what he would say to Sigmar. A shout distracted him: someone had called his name - not the name he wanted to be known by, but Chaldez. Instinctively he started to turn his head, but perhaps it was no more than a twitch because he instantly looked ahead again, his heart pounding with alarm. He called to Tsem, whom he knew without looking was at his side, though not quite abreast of him. Tsem rode up. Chaldez said "Someone called just then. Did you see who it was?"
Tsem said "Yes. It was the Laifyan prince. Feldak."
"What did he say?"
"I couldn't hear. It sounded like a name."
Chaldez knew that his real name, even if Tsem had heard it, would have meant nothing to him. In recounting his adventures to him he had never said that he was called Chaldez, (besides which, he had only referred in the vaguest terms to the kingdom which was rightfully his).
As they continued on their way towards Sigmar's pavilion, his mind was possessed by three recurring questions: had Feldak in fact called out his name? If so, where had he heard it, and did anyone notice his own reaction?
Sigmar was outside in the late afternoon sun, and when he caught sight of Chaldez, he shouted "He's lost another army! By the gods, I wish you were a Murak."
Chaldez called back "The men are safe."
"So why aren't you with them?"
Chaldez had mistaken Sigmar's mood; he had thought he was being facetious but could see now that there was real anger in his expression. He dismounted. "I will give you a full account," he said. "I think you will find you have no reason to be displeased."
Sigmar shouted "I AM displeased! I sent you to harass the convoys until I sent for you. Did I not provide you with messengers to bring your news to me? Is Zakarrah a messenger now?""You can either listen to what I have to say or we can stand here and shout at each other so the entire army can hear," Chaldez retorted.
Sigmar shot back at him, his voice as loud if not louder than it had been: "You have disobeyed me. I allow no one the right to vary my commands."
Chaldez, who had dismounted, re-mounted. His horse had taken a few paces away when Sigmar bawled "Bring that man back here!"
Men closed in on Chaldez from several directions, seized his horse and led it back to Sigmar. Chaldez thought he had never seen a man look so angry. "Get down from there!" Sigmar ordered. "You and these others are under arrest." He indicated Tsem, Rassi and Zikir.
They were led away and put inside a small, stinking enclosure surrounded by tall, sharpened staves. Seven or eight men were in there already; Chaldez stared at them with horror. They were gaunt and their clothes torn and filthy. They looked starved. Along one end of the enclosure, the staves forming its only wall, was a crude shelter.
Chaldez wanted to weep with anguish for what he had brought upon his three friends, but if they felt resentment they did not show it. Tsem told him that he did not blame him, and the other two nodded in agreement. But their situation was appalling, and they all knew it.