“Aye, I did,” Muhassin answered inZuwayzi. “He’s no fool. He speaks Algarvian well--a better accent than I havemyself, as a matter of fact. But he doesn’t know anything about us.” Hechuckled in grim anticipation. “Well, he’ll have his chance to find out.”

“So he will. There’s always work to bedone in the mines.” Hajjaj gestured to the column of captives. “They may go onnow.”

Muhassin spoke to the guards. The guardsshouted at the captives. The captives shambled forward again. Muhassin turnedback to Hajjaj. “And now, your Excellency, shall we go on toward the oldfrontier, the frontier we are restoring?”

“By all means, Colonel,” the foreignminister said. His camel wasn’t so interested in going on, but he managed topersuade it.

“Here and there, we’re already in positionto cross the old frontier,” Muhassin said. As if to underscore his words, asquadron of dragons flew by overhead, going south. Muhassin pointed to them. “Wecouldn’t have come so far so fast without help from the Algarvians. Unkerlanthasn’t got but a few dragons up here in the north country.”

“Cross the old frontier?” Hajjaj frowned. “HasKing Shazli authorized the army to invade Unkerlant itself? I had not heard ofany such order.” He wondered if Shazli had given the order but not told him forfear of angering or alarming him. That would have been courteous of the king--courteous,aye, but also, in Hajjaj’s view, deadly dangerous.

To his vast relief, Muhassin shook hishead. “No, your Excellency: as yet, we have received no such orders. I merelymeant to inform you that we have the ability, should the orders come. A fairnumber of folk south of the old frontier--and east of it, too--have dark skins.”He ran a dark finger along his own arm.