sea, which here made first a neatly sheltered bay, then endless blue beyond a
thin, curving peninsula of docks and lighthouses and fortifications.
A favorable combination of warm latitude and cool ocean currents made Sarykam
a place of near-perpetual spring. Behind the Palace and the western fringe of
the city, the mountains rose up, rank on rank, and topped with wild forests of
pine. The trees upon the eastern side of the crest, toward the city and the
sea, were warped by almost everlasting winds, fierce at that altitude but
usually much milder down here near sea level. Six hours' ride inland, beyond
those mountains, lay High Manor, which, among its other functions, served
sometimes as a summer home for royalty. And only a couple of kilometers from
the Manor was the cave where yesterday's mysterious kidnapping attempt-Mark
had to interpret the violent incident as such-had been thwarted.
There was much about that attempt that the Prince still found mysterious.
Naturally investigations on both the military and the magical level had been
set in motion last night-as soon as the fighting stopped-and were going
forward.
Even now Mark could see a winged messenger coming from inland, perhaps bearing
news of some results. There, halfway between the highest tower of the Palace
and the crest of the mountains, were a pair of small, fine wings beating
swiftly. He could hope that the courier was bringing word of some success by
the searching cavalry.
Had the attempt been only the impulsive gamble of some bandit chief, reckless
enough to accept the risks in return for the chance of a fat ransom? The
Prince thought not, for several reasons.
The enemy had come with powerful magical assistance. The small detachment of
the Palace Guard that had been stationed, as a matter of routine protection,
in the area where the children were playing had been surprised and wiped out
ruthlessly. The children had been tracked to the cave where they were hiding.
And then, just when the greatest tragedy should have been inevitable, came
inexplicable good fortune. The enemy, for all the competence and
determination they had displayed up to that point, had been unable to
determine that the children were actually in the cave. Or-and this
alternative seemed even more unlikely-the enemy had known they were there, but
had simply been unable to get at them. Either explanation seemed quite
incredible under the circumstances. It was true that Elinor and Zoltan had
both reported the subjective feeling of some protective power at hand, but in
Mark's experience such feelings had little to do with the real world.
Of course in this case the feelings could have had some basis in fact. Karel,
who was Princess Kristin's uncle as well as her chief wizard, had divined from
his workroom in Sarykam that something was wrong out near High Manor and had
done what he could do at a distance. Meanwhile one of the winged messengers
employed by the military had fortunately witnessed the wiping-out of the Guard
detachment and had darted back to its roost at High Manor to report the
attack. Mark, who was at the Manor, had hastily gathered a force and ridden
out at once. The children had been completely unprotected in the presence of
the enemy for only a few minutes.
Mark and his swordsmen had surprised the attackers-who to all appearances were
no more than a group of bandits-at the very mouth of the cave in which the
children were sheltering. Fortunately it had been possible to drive off the