‘Even better,’ Ulath said. ‘We work on our fortifications here very quietly, and mostly at night. We bring in barrels of pitch and naphtha. Bevier builds siege-engines. Then, just before the sun goes down, we move the entire government and the Atan garrison inside the castle. The mob will storm the imperial compound and rage through the halls of all those impressive buildings here in the grounds. They won’t encounter any resistance – until they come here. They’ll try to storm our walls, and they’ll be over-confident because nobody will have tried to fight them in any of the other buildings. They won’t really be expecting a hail-storm of large boulders or sheets of boiling pitch dumped in their faces. Add to that the fact that their crossbows won’t work because Khalad’s been breaking the triggers in that Dacite warehouse for the last two nights, and you’ve got a large group of people with a serious problem. They’ll mill around out there in confusion and chagrin, and then, probably about midnight, the Atans will enter the city, come to the imperial compound and grind the whole lot of them right into the ground.’

‘Yes!’ Engessa exclaimed enthusiastically.

‘It’s a brilliant plan, Sir Ulath,’ Sarabian told the big Thalesian. ‘Why are you so dissatisfied with it?’

‘Because I don’t like sieges, your Majesty.’

‘Ulath,’ Tynian said, wincing slightly as he shifted his broken shoulder, ‘don’t you think it’s time that you abandoned this pose? You’re as quick to suggest fortingup as any of the rest of us when the situation calls for it.’

‘Thalesians are supposed to hate sieges, Tynian. It’s a part of our national character. We’re supposed to be impetuous, impatient and more inclined toward brute force than toward well-considered endurance.’

‘Sir Ulath,’ Bevier said, smiling slightly, ‘King Wargun’s father endured a siege at Heid that lasted for seventeen years. He emerged from it none the worse for wear.’

‘Yes, but he didn’t enjoy it, Bevier. That’s my point.’

‘I think we’re overlooking an opportunity, my friends,’ Kring noted. ‘The mob’s going to come to the imperial compound here, right?’

‘If we’ve guessed their intentions correctly, yes,’ Tynian agreed.

‘Some of them are going to be all afire with political fervour – but not really very many, I don’t think. Most of them are going to be more interested in looting the various palaces.’

Sarabian’s face blanched. ‘Hell and night!’ he swore. ‘I hadn’t even thought of that!’

‘Don’t be too concerned, friend Emperor,’ the Domi told him. ‘Whether it’s politics or greed that brings them, they’ll almost all come into the grounds. The walls around the compound are high and the gates very imposing. Why don’t we let them come in – but then make sure they don’t leave? I can hide men near the gate-house. After the mob’s in the grounds, we’ll close the gates. That should keep them all more or less on hand to greet the Atans when they arrive. The loot will bring them in, and the gates will keep them in. They’ll loot, right enough, but loot isn’t really yours until you’ve escaped with it. We’ll catch them all this way, and we won’t have to dig any of them out of rabbit-holes later.’

‘That’s got real possibilities, you know that, Kring?’ Kalten said admiringly.

‘I’d have expected no less of him,’ Mirtai said. ‘He is a brilliant warrior, after all – and my betrothed.’

Kring beamed.

‘One last touch, perhaps,’ Stragen added. ‘I think we all have a burning curiosity about certain things, and we’ve compiled this list of the names of people who might have answers to some of our most urgent questions. Battles are chancy, and sometimes valuable people get killed. I think there are some out there in Matherion who should be removed to safety before the fighting starts.’

‘Good idea, Milord Stragen,’ Sarabian agreed. ‘I’ll send out some detachments on the morning of the big day to round up those we’d like to keep alive.’

‘Ah – perhaps that might not be the best way to go at it, your Majesty. Why not let Caalador attend to it? As a group, policemen tend to be obvious when they arrest people – uniforms, chains, marching in step – that sort of thing. Professional murderers are much more unobtrusive. You don’t have to put chains on a man when you arrest him. A dagger-point held discreetly to his side is just as effective, I’ve found.’

Sarabian gave him a shrewd look. ‘You’re speaking from experience, I gather?’ he speculated.

‘Murder is a crime, your Majesty,’ Stragen pointed out, ‘and as a leader of criminals, I should have some experience in all branches of the field. Professionalism, you understand.’

CHAPTER 28

‘It was definitely Scarpa, Sparhawk,’ Caalador assured the big Pandion. ‘We didn’t have to rely entirely on the drawing. One of the local whores is from Arjuna, and she’s had business-dealings with him in the past. She positively identified him.’ The two of them were standing atop the castle wall where they could speak privately.

‘That seems to be everybody but Baron Parok of Daconia then,’ Sparhawk noted. ‘We’ve seen Krager, Gerrich, Rebal of Edom, this Scarpa from Arjuna, and Elron from Astel.’

‘I thought the conspirator from Astel was called Sabre,’ Caalador said.

Sparhawk silently cursed his careless tongue. ‘Sabre keeps his face hidden,’ he said. ‘Elron’s a sympathizer – more than that, probably.’

Caalador nodded. ‘I’ve known some Astels,’ he agreed, ‘and some Dacites, too. I wouldn’t be positive that Baron Parok’s not lurking in the shadows somewhere. They’re definitely all gathering here in Matherion.’ He looked thoughtfully out over the gleaming nacreous battlements at the fosse below. ‘Is that ditch down there going to be all that much a barrier?’ he asked. ‘The sides are so gently sloped that there’s lawn growing on them.’

‘It gets more inconvenient when it’s filled with sharpened stakes,’ Sparhawk replied. ‘We’ll do that at the last minute. Has there been any influx of strangers into Matherion? All those assorted patriots have large followings. A mob gathered off the streets is one thing, but a horde drawn from most of Tamuli would be something else entirely.’