Great Pass. That was when the caravan routes were established.'

A faraway look came into his eyes.

'Those were the days of Sanctuary's greatness. Three or four caravans a weekladen with treasures and trade goods. Not the miserable supply caravans you seetoday - great caravans that took half a day just to enter town.'

'What happened?' asked one of the awestruck urchins.

Hakiem's eyes grew dark. He spat in the dust.

'Twenty years ago, the empire succeeded in putting down the Mountain Men. Withthe Great Pass open, there was no reason to risk major caravans in the bandit-ridden sands of the desert. Sanctuary has become a mockery of its past glory, arefuge for the scum who have nowhere else to go. Mark my words, one day thethieves will outnumber the honest citizenry, and then ...'

'One side, old man!'

A sandalled foot came down on the map, obliterating its outlines and scatteringthe urchins.

Hakiem cowered before the shadow of one of the Hell Hounds, the five new eliteguards who had accompanied the new governor into town.

'Zaibar! Stop that!'

The unsmiling giant froze at the sound of the voice and turned to face thegolden-haired youth who strode on to the scene.

'We're supposed to be governing these people, not bludgeoning them intosubmission.'

It seemed strange, seeing a lad in his late teens chastizing a scarred veteranof many campaigns, but the larger man merely dropped his eyes in discomfort.

'Apologies, Your Highness, but the Emperor said we were to bring law and orderto this hell-hole, and it's the only language these blackguards understand.'

'The Emperor - my brother - put me in command of this town to govern it as 1 seefit, and my orders are that the people are to be treated kindly as long as theydo not break the laws.'

'Yes, Your Highness.'