"As it turned out," Katon continued, "Urim, himself, desired this girl and was planning to make her Sephar's queen. When he learned that she loved me, his anger was very great, and one night I was taken from my bed and put here."
His voice took on a deeper note. "The next morning they called to take the girl to Urim. They found her on the floor of her room, dead, a knife driven into her heart. She had taken her own life."
The two men talked on, while the time slipped by. Finally their conversation turned to religion as accepted by the Sepharians. Tharn found his friend's explanation difficult to understand; a creed that allowed a single god both to threaten and defend his worshippers was far beyond his simple direct way of thinking.
One part of Katon's remarks on religion did interest him, however. This concerned the friction between Urim and Pryak, high priest in Sephar of the God-Whose-Name-May-Not-Be-Spoken-Aloud. Of this, Katon offered the following:
"Pryak is as cruel and tyrannical as Urim is kind and just. Many rites and ceremonies introduced by the high priest have so angered the king that he has banned their practice—a move widening the rift between the two men.
"Twice, I am told, they have quarreled openly; but Urim's warriors and followers so outnumber those of Pryak, that the priest dares not persist. By doing so he might plunge the entire city into civil war; for much of Sephar would flock to Pryak's side, since he is the true representative of our god.
"Each passing day, however, brings the tension nearer a breaking point. Pryak is crafty and wise and very proud. Some day he will seek to overthrow Urim and put a more friendly ruler in his place. Even Pryak, himself, may take the throne. It would not be the first time in our history a high priest became king!"
The entrance of the balance of the prisoners ended their conversation at this point. After the noon meal was eaten the men lay down on their beds to rest.
Tharn found sleep hard to find. Flat on his back he lay, eyes fixed unseeingly on the grill-work far above him, while his mind reviewed the remarkable adventures that had befallen him since he had set out on a mission of vengeance.