‘Oh, there are sides now?’ Rojer asked sweetly. ‘I thought it was none of our business.’ Leesha kicked at him, but he danced away, not spilling a drop of the tea he carried to Renna and Arlen in the sitting room. Leesha brought their cups from the kitchen table and saw Arlen and Renna together on her couch and Rojer on the closest seat. She wondered if the men were purposely trying to keep her and Renna as far as possible from each other.

‘Soooo,’ Rojer said with an exaggerated stretch. ‘Ah. How have you been?’

‘Busy,’ Arlen said. ‘Hollow’s expanding faster every day, swallowing hamlets whole even as folk flock here from all the Free Cities. Work’s started on the pattern of greatwards we plotted over the winter, and already some of them are activating.’

Arlen’s eyes twinkled at her. ‘It’s working, Leesha. Greatwards keep growing, some day fighting demons will be irrelevant. Nothing to fight, they’re all trapped in the Core. This rate, “Count” Thamos will be calling himself duke before long, and Rhinebeck won’t be able to say much about it.’

‘But you will,’ Rojer said.

‘Ent my business,’ Arlen said. ‘Don’t care who sits what throne, so long as the greatwards are built and folk prepared for what’s comin’.’

‘And what is that?’ Leesha asked.

‘War,’ Arlen said. ‘The demons will move to stop us, now, before the greatward system can reach critical mass.’

‘Demonshit.’ Rojer glanced to Leesha, then back to Arlen. ‘Sick of hearing you two say things ent your business even when you’re standing right in the thick of them. Those people are flocking here from the Free Cities, building greatwards and arming themselves, because of you, Arlen Bales, the ripping Painted Man, not Count Thamos.’

Arlen shrugged. ‘Maybe. Or maybe they’re just tired of hiding and want to fight for the chance to be free. I’m a banner to flock to, ay, but that don’t give me a claim to the throne even if I wanted it – and I don’t. Why should I oppose Thamos? Bit taken with himself, but he’s doing what a good Royal should do – building roads and towns, helping folk ward their homes and plant crops, appointing magistrates and ministers to keep peace, collect trash, lend money, and keep everyone fed and working to common good. His taxes are steep but fair, he’s open to new citizens so long as they swear to Angiers, and he doesn’t have enough men to really bully anyone.’

‘I heard he had a thousand Wooden Soldiers,’ Rojer said.

Arlen shook his head. ‘A thousand who can put on a wooden helm and march holding a spear, ay, but he’s got barely two hundred Wooden Soldiers. The rest can put an arrow near a target more oft than not, but they’re mostly Warders, engineers, and construction crew.’

‘And now Gared and the Cutters, thanks to you,’ Leesha said.

Again Arlen shrugged. ‘The count can make better use of them in the day. In return, I get them at night, along with the Wooden Soldiers. Thamos himself even comes out at night, and puts his spear where I tell him.’

‘For now,’ Leesha said.

‘Thamos knows I can kick his keep gate down any time I like,’ Arlen said. ‘So long as I’m around, he’ll keep in line.’

‘And when you’re not around?’ Leesha asked.

Arlen smiled. ‘You’ll have to keep him in line yourself, and not pull a vanishing act like you did at court.’

Leesha fumed silently at his smirk. Her ‘disappearing act’ had been a pretence to meet with Duchess Araine, who was the real power in Angiers – her sons little more than puppets. Arlen’s own meeting with the duke and his brothers had been a sham. But of course, she could say nothing of the sort without breaking Araine’s trust.

I have to let him think me a fool instead. The thought angered her. ‘What word from Duke Euchor?’ she asked to change the subject.

‘Rhinebeck will never pay the price Euchor demands for aid,’ Arlen said. ‘Not unless the Krasians are massed right outside his walls, and maybe not even then. There will be no alliance.’

The finality of the statement fell on the room like a weight. It meant Angiers would have to face Ahmann alone, which meant in turn that there would be no aid to Lakton before the Krasians turned their eye that way. How long did the Laktonians have now? A year? Three at the most?

‘What did he want?’ Rojer asked.

‘Rhinebeck still has no son,’ Arlen said. ‘Euchor wants him to divorce Duchess Melny and marry one of his own daughters, all of whom have borne sons of their own.’

‘Hypatia, Aelia, and Lorain,’ Rojer said. ‘Famous throughout the Free Cities for being indistinguishable from stone demons. He might as well have asked Rhinebeck to drop his pants and lie over the barrel.’

Arlen nodded. ‘If the Krasians take Angiers, the metal throne will block their path at Riverbridge.’

‘Euchor is a fool,’ Leesha said.

‘More than you know,’ Arlen said. ‘Euchor has the secrets of fire, Leesha, and schematics to turn them into horror like you never dreamed.’ He produced an ancient, leather-bound book and tossed it to her. The cover read: Weapones of the Olde Wyrld.

‘Rest up before you read it,’ Arlen advised. ‘Be a week before you can sleep again.’

Leesha took the book, looking into Arlen’s eyes as she did. They seemed so calm, so at peace. The look of a man who had stopped worrying over tomorrow to focus fully on today. ‘You’ve changed so much. The plain clothes, going back to your proper name …’ Your eyes, she wanted to say, but wisely held her tongue.

‘Got back to my roots,’ Arlen said, nodding towards Renna. ‘Ent gonna forget them again.’

‘Get another kicking, you do,’ Renna said, laying a hand on his leg.

Arlen put his hand atop hers, squeezing gently. Such a tiny gesture, but it spoke volumes. Leesha suppressed a shiver as Arlen looked back at her. ‘Know what I am now, Leesh. Who I am. No more doubts and worries.’

‘How?’ Leesha asked.

Arlen’s tone grew serious. ‘Last new moon, a demon tried to kill me.’

Rojer chuckled. ‘How’s that different from any other night?’

‘This wasn’t just some worker drone, Rojer,’ Arlen said, his voice taking on a hint of the Painted Man’s rasp. The smile fled Rojer’s face.

‘A smart demon,’ Leesha said. ‘Darsy told me. Gets in your head.’

Arlen tapped his temple. ‘And I got in its. Not for long, but enough to know what we’re up against, and to see magic the way they do. And now that I seen, I can’t unsee.’

He lifted his hand, drawing tiny wards in the air. One by one, the lamps in the room winked out. Leesha reached into her apron for her warded spectacles, but before she could put them on, he traced a light ward in the air above them and it flared, filling the room with more light than when the morning sun struck the windows full-on.

‘Creator,’ Rojer whispered.

‘That’s just the tip.’ Arlen got to his feet, drawing a knife from his belt. ‘Almost impossible to hurt me now, and if something does …’ He slashed at his hand, drawing a bright line of blood.