His spies were everywhere. Their reports were interesting if not entirely unexpected as to contents. Kings and princes and lesser khans, queens and the meanest tribes with any vestige of pride or liberty remaining to them were in ferment. Couriers, post riders, diplomats and ambassadors went back and forth. Spies were said to be everywhere, and more than one man or woman had already lost their lives on mere accusation. Fears and feelings were running all too high. The truth was that nothing much had happened since Sinopus fell under the sway of the Great One. The Heloi had signed a defensive pact with Windermere, and stated their neutrality in any conflict in the region that did not directly affect their long-established and equally well-known interests. The Sicurri were encamped on the northeastern borders of Lowren’s Lemnian kingdom. They moved about every ten or fifteen years, and this was about the southern end of their range. The vassal tribes and related bodies of barbarians were surprisingly peaceful.
