The device looked a little like a crossbow, but much bigger. The limb was six feet across, made from many layers of seasoned yew and capable of holding an immense amount of energy as the cable was pulled back. It was mounted on a swivel, so that it could be pointed in any direction, including up into the sky, and the mount itself was set on artillery wheels so that it could be pulled behind a horse like a cannon. The arms were pulled back by means of a winch which required two men to operate, two levers that operated a ratchet mechanism. Beside it sat a rack containing two dozen bolts, each three feet long and made from cylinders of solid steel half an inch across. Just behind the wickedly sharp points were holes like the eye of a needle where small pieces of oil soaked rag could be tied in place with wire. Two of them already had pieces of oily rag in place, so that they only had to be placed on the guide rail and set alight before being fired.

“What's its range?” asked King Leothan, staring at the weapon in fascination. Around him, the army base was almost empty, with almost everyone out defending the city. Essential work was being carried out by elderly veterans, grumbling at the injuries and ailments that kept them from the front line. Leothan’s attention was momentarily diverted by a one armed man raising the flag of Helberion from the pole that stood before the command building, on the other side of the wide, empty parade ground. The sight caused the King a sudden attack of anxiety that be controlled with an effort, and he returned his attention to the weapon.

“About five hundred yards,” replied Sergeant Bollinger, the man who'd been put in charge of the project. He and his small platoon were the only young, healthy men left in the city, and they would be going out to join their fellows soon enough. “Its effective range against Radiants is probably much less, though. If they see a bolt coming, they’ll probably be able to dodge out of its way by blasting gas out of their blowholes. To be sure of hitting one, you’d probably have to let it come a lot closer. Maybe within a hundred yards.”

“That’s still too far away for them to be able to curse our men, though. Right?”

“They've never cursed anyone from a distance greater than about twenty feet. That has to be their effective range. This weapon will force them to stay much further away than that.” He stared up into the sky. He still couldn't get used to a sky that was completely empty of the creatures. Since the attack on the palace, not a single Radiant had returned to the city. Where are they? he wondered. What are they up to? There were Radiants out over the battlefields, of course, but that was still miles away. Everyone had been expecting them to return an masse to the city itself, to launch a major attack, killing and cursing thousands. The attack on Adams Hill had intensified the fear, and many people had left the city, going to live with relatives in the countryside, but so far the skies had remained clear. All the warnings and drills, telling people what to do in the event of a Radiant attack, had been for nothing, and the fear was gradually ebbing away as fear of the Carrowmen grew. They probably won't come now, thought the Sergeant. If they were going to, they would have done so by now. Why wait, why give us the chance to prepare for them? He didn't know that the two people the Radiants had been so desperate to kill in Adams Hill had just recently arrived in Marboll.

“They still have their control of the weather and their ability to cause earthquakes,” said the King.

“We've never seen them cause an earthquake in the same place twice, not even when it would have dealt us a heavy blow to have done so. It may be that they simply can't cause an earthquake in the same place twice.”

“We can certainly hope so! How many of these devices have your people managed to build?”

“Twenty so far, and we’ve got another twenty in production. After that, though... The problem is the yew wood. Yew is very slow growing and we don’t have very much old, seasoned wood in stock. Theoretically, you could use any hard wood. Maple, ash, oak... But none of them can create weapons with the same range and penetrating power.”

“Can’t be helped. Make them out of whatever you can. We need one of these weapons at every strategic point, anywhere a Radiant might attack. We need hundreds. This is a good start, though. I want these sent out to the front line immediately. With these, we can neutralise the bastards as a military threat. Then it'll just be us against Carrow.”

“The damage has been done, though, Sire. We've taken so many losses, and we were outnumbered in the first place. Also, everyone's complaining about the shortage of gunpowder. There's wagon after wagon of it entering the city, but none of it...”

“Wait!” said the King, though. “Who says there’s gunpowder entering the city?”

“One of them broke an axle on a pothole. It fell over and great kegs of gunpowder came rolling out, and there’s dozens of wagons...”

The King held up a hand to silence him. “Only that one wagon contained gunpowder,” he said. “The others contain food to sustain a siege. Make sure the men understand that.”

The Sergeant looked doubtful, but he nodded. “I will, Your Majesty.”

“Good. You've done good work here, Sergeant. Keep it up.”

“We will, Sire. We'll give ‘em a hell of a good show when they come, you can be sure of that. If they want this city, they’ll pay for it in blood!”

“Good to hear. Carry on, Sergeant.” The soldier saluted as Leothan walked away, his bodyguard falling in beside him. In the distance, the sound of cannon fire was clearly audible, only twenty miles now from Marboll itself. It had been a managed retreat, though, forcing the enemy to advance over ground sewn with mines and other booby traps, costing them men and equipment for every step they took. The result was that, even with the Radiants as allies, the Carrowmen had been losing men much faster than the Helberians. With the capital itself now at the backs of the defenders, though, there was no more room to retreat. The time had come to make a stand.

Back in the palace, Leothan made his way to the War Room, therefore, where the rest of the War Council was waiting for him. “We have a problem,” he said as everyone stood. “The men know there’s gunpowder entering the city. If they know it, it won’t be long before the Carrowmen know it as well. They'll wonder what we're doing with it.”

“We're telling everyone the wagons contain food,” said Field Marshall Amberley.

“One broke open, kegs of gunpowder rolled out of it. No matter what we say, they’ll wonder what the odds are that it was the one wagon carrying gunpowder that had the accident.”

“I doubt it’ll be a problem, Sire. They'll believe we're bringing food in. It's plausible and logical to bring food in when expecting to come under siege. The real wonder is that the Carrowmen haven't tried to stop them.”

“They're probably confident that they can destroy our food stocks anytime they like,” replied General Lannier. “I'd be astonished if there weren't one or two saboteurs in the city, despite all our precautions. They’re leaving one road open so we can abandon the city when they begin their real assault. They have to leave us a way out to minimise Carrow casualties. They don't care how much food we bring in because they don't expect to have to starve us out. I recommend we start a fire ourselves when the time comes, let it be known that a saboteur succeeded in destroying most of our food and that that’s why we're pulling out.”

Amberley nodded, accepting his analysis. “So the plan isn't in danger?” asked the King.

“I don’t think so. If they thought we were bringing that much gunpowder into the city, they'd probably guess what we were going to do with it and they'd close the road, or target the wagons. They haven't done either, so they don't.”

“Let's hope so, since it’s the only hope we've got. It was the Brigadier's idea, you know. He says the idea came to him while talking to Parcellius.” The other members of the War Council just looked at him. “Yes, well. Those Ballistae look good,” he said to Amberley. “They should punch through their tough Radiant hides nicely.”

“In tests, the bolts punched half way through the trunk of a full grown oak tree. I don’t care how tough their hides are, those bolts will get through. Unlike the bows and arrows...”

“It was a good idea,” said the King. “Well worth trying. They look so flimsy when they’re floating around up there, like jellyfish. An arrow ought to go through them like they’re made of tissue paper! Ah well. Maybe we’ll be able to make portable versions of the weapon that can be carried, like crossbows.”

“It's the size of the weapon that gives them their penetrating power,” replied Amberley, though. “A smaller version just wouldn't work, unless they had some other way to propel the bolt. Gunpowder, perhaps. A small, hand held cannon that fires a bolt instead of a shell, but there's no time left to develop such a weapon.”

The King nodded regretfully, then walked over to the maps hanging on the wall. The one showing all of Helberion was still there, and showed Carrow troops across half the country, but another one beside it showed the area around the capital city. The sight of enemy forces so close, almost totally encircling the city, made him restless and uneasy. He had to keep reminding himself that the enemy was right where he wanted them. All together, in one place. As if the enemy armies were one man, and he was lining up his rifle for a clean shot through the heart. It had to work! he told himself. If it didn't, if they were forced to abandon Marboll for real, there would be nothing to stop the Carrowmen from sweeping across the rest of the country in days! Marboll was the only defensible place left. If they were going to break the Carrow invasion force, it would have to be here!

Leothan examined the map carefully. Every Helberion position was marked in red, Carrow in blue. Even a causal glance showed a lot more blue than red, but Leothan also saw trenches marked, and minefields, command posts, telegraph lines, and Leothan had by now gained enough experience with strategy and tactics that he'd have been able to read the defensive strategy his Generals had worked out even if they hadn’t already explained it to him. They would keep it up for a week or two longer, to stop the Carrowmen becoming suspicious, before springing their trap, and the real brilliance of the Brigadier's plan was that the Radiants wouldn’t be able to interfere! They were constantly drifting over the trenches that encircled the city, spying out all their positions. They even seemed to be able to peer through the camouflage netting that covered their artillery positions, and could tell real guns from the plywood replicas they’d put in other places, in an attempt to deceive the enemy. If all went to plan, though, that would just make the Carrowmen more confident, make it easier to lure them to their deaths.

“Anyone had any ideas how we can improve our chances?” he asked.

“No,” replied Amberley. “My team of analysts has been over it time and again and we think it’s as good as it’s ever going to be. Unless you’ve had some ideas yourself, the plan remains just as it was.”

Leothan nodded. “When do we do It?” he asked.

“As soon as we have enough Ballistae in position,” said General Lannier. “It's not just the Carrowmen we have to fool, after all. It’s the Radiants as well. They have to believe that we're doing absolutely everything we can to hold them back, that when we fall back it’s because they’ve left us with absolutely no choice. We're expecting to have enough of the new weapons to cover all our positions and assets within a week or two.”

“What about the incendiary ammunition? How's the phosphorus mine coming along?”

“They've started digging. It’s the processing of the ore that’s holding things up. They expect to have the first white phosphorus ready to be made into ammunition in a couple of weeks.”

“Any way of hurrying it up?”

“I've already stuck all the rockets up their arses I can. They're going as fast as humanly possible.” Leothan nodded reluctantly. “By the way, have you seen that place? The Hetin folk used to have a quarry there, the whole place is a giant hole in the ground ten miles across! The geology guys say they were digging out a million tons of phosphate ore every year, for fifty years at least! What could they possibly have wanted that much phosphorus for?”

“Maybe they were mining something else,” suggested Lannier. “It’s just coincidence there was phosphorus in the same place.”

“No, you can tell from the tailings that it was phosphorus they wanted, in vast amounts! But why...”

“Let's not get side tracked,” said the King. “Getting back to the Carrowmen, what do we do if they and the Radiants mount a major offensive before we get the gunpowder in position?”

“That would be a mistake. They would suffer heavy losses against our defensive positions. They have to take out our artillery first, and that takes time.”

“What if it’s not up to them, though? At the moment, they’re taking their orders from adoptees, who are following Radiant orders, and the Radiants are desperate to kill Andrea McCrea and her assistant before they can build their, whatever it is they’re trying to build. What if the Radiants order an all out attack now? After all, they don’t want a prosperous, victorious Carrow. They want Carrow in ruins just as much as they want Helberion in ruins.”

“I'm sure their Generals would resist an order that was clearly self destructive,” said General Glowen.

“Would they, though?” said the King. “They're conditioned to obey orders. Any initiative on the part of a Carrow commander, no matter how intelligent and successful, is likely to end with the man being executed. If the order comes to attack us, to throw themselves at our cannons, the order may simply be obeyed without question or hesitation.”

“I hope they do,” said Amberley. “If they want to die on our guns, I’ll be happy to oblige them.”

There was a murmur of agreement from around the room, but the King frowned. “We have to look beyond a short term gain, no matter how welcome it would be,” he said. “We have to look to the end of the war, either victory or a stalemate in which their forces are depleted beyond the point where they can hold any more territory. What we need most is time. Time for the scientists to create the electricity weapon, time to get a supply line of incendiary ammunition up and running. No matter what losses the enemy would take, we don’t want them to attack now. Is there anything we can do to dissuade them?”

“Make them pull troops back from the front line to hold onto the territory they've already got,” said Amberley. “The Wolf Packs are doing an exemplary job with sabotage and assassinations, causing mayhem for the Carrowmen in the occupied territories, but when all’s said and done they're civilians, enthusiastic amateurs. If we could bolster them with trained army men...”

“Can we spare the men?” asked Leothan.

“Not fighting men,” said Lannier. “Every man able to stand and hold a weapon is worth more than gold. I can't spare any. Not one.”

“It's advice they need more than anything else,” said Glowen. “The best places to put explosives, how to kill an enemy officer without getting killed in turn, that sort of thing. We have plenty of invalid veterans. They could be sent out to join the Wolf Packs in an advisory role. Make it plain to them that they’re not taking charge, we don’t want to alienate the civilians that have been doing such a first class job. They're only there to make suggestions, give advice.”

“Those men have already given so much for their country,” said Leothan, though. “For me. They've earned their retirement.”

“They would be honoured to do anything they can,” said Glowen. “They would jump at the chance! In fact, they would probably be deeply hurt and offended if they later learned that there was something they could have done and weren't given the opportunity.” Lannier nodded his agreement.

“Carrowmen pulled back from the ring around Marboll are men who won’t be caught in our trap,” pointed out Brigadier Kinley. “Our whole battle strategy so far has been to pull their entire army here, gather them together in one place. Now you're talking about dispersing them again?”

“We're not talking about enough men to be a serious threat once we've broken the main strength of their army,” said Amberley, though. “It means we'll have some mopping up to do afterwards, that’s all.”

Leothan looked deeply unhappy, but then he nodded. “Volunteers only,” he said. “Nobody gets ordered. Make it plain that this is a choice they can make, or not make. And make sure that anyone who's clearly incapable is firmly turned down.” Lannier nodded his understanding. “How many Wolf Packs are there, anyway?”

“No way to know,” replied Amberley. “Most of them probably only do one mission. A group of young lads get together, decide they’re going to do their bit for King and country by picking off a couple of Carrowmen, and they’re all killed, or they have a close shave that leaves them too scared to do anything more. The number that actually achieve anything and that go on to achieve victory after victory is probably rather small, but they’re worth ten times their number because of the number of enemy troops they pull away from the front line to hunt for them. If we do actually manage to win this war, it'll be as much down to them as any of us.”

“Is there any way he can help them?” asked the King. “Ammunition, explosives, intelligence...”

“We have no way to communicate with them, and even if we did, the front line is between us and them. Maybe something could be worked out if we had time, pigeons carrying messages to and fro, that sort of thing, but that would take weeks to arrange and we simply don’t have that much time. If they need resupply, their best bet is probably to steal it from the Carrowmen.”

Leothan nodded. “If it goes badly,” he said, “If we lose Marboll, what then?”

“You need to get out of the city,” said Minister Falow. “If they capture or kill you, it’s all over. So long as you live, so long as you’re free, you're a rallying point around which resistance can form. We may have to endure a generation of occupation, maybe two, but your grandfather threw off Carrow rule and we can do so again, so long as the people have you to inspire them.”

“I'm not that important...”

“Begging your pardon, Majesty, but you are. You are an easily recognisable, charismatic figure. You can keep hope alive, and you can lead the people in revolt when the time comes. There is no-one else who has the hearts and trust of the people the way you and your daughter do.”

“Speaking of Ardria,” said the King. “Has there been any news?”

“None, Sire. We can only hope that she is still on her way.”

“If Marboll falls before she gets there, her supposed offer to negotiate a surrender will lose its appeal. She will lose her negotiating position.”

“She still has the Kelvon troopers to guarantee her freedom and safety.”

“So long as Kelvon remains a credible threat. The last we heard, things were not going well over there. More acts of sedition and sabotage every day, open violence in the streets between government troops and rebels... Who knows what’s happened over there since Carrow cut the telegraph lines? If it’s civil war over there now, Nilon will just kill the troops, ours and Kelvon’s, and take her prisoner. Use her as a hostage.”

“I don't believe the rebels are ready for that yet. They don’t have the numbers yet, they don’t have the resources. Our analysts say it'll still be months yet. The Princess is safe, Sire. International politics will protect her.”

Leothan nodded. There was nothing he could do for her, so he had to make himself believe it, try not to think about what might be happening to her right now... He took a deep breath while the members of the War Council watched him with concern.

He was King! he reminded himself. The country needed to see him strong. He stood straight, therefore. Imagined there was a rod of iron running up his spine keeping him erect, and the others responded, growing visibly more confident, as if the strength was flowing from him into them. It was a miracle that never failed to astonish him, that he could have this effect on the people around him. The effort was taking its toll on him, though. He had to get out of their sight for a while before they saw it.

“Same time tomorrow, then,” he said. The other members of the War Council bowed as he left the room, heading back to his temporary residence in the Ministerial Building. Once again, he needed to not be King for a little while.

Lacurnia and their children were there waiting for him and he gave them all a tremulous hug before pouring himself a glass of Kermot from the bottle he found in the wall cabinet. The alcohol calmed his nerves and he gave them all another hug, longer and warmer this time, before collapsing into an armchair. A precious few minutes of just being a husband and a father, he thought, before I go meet with Callum to talk about the city's food supply.

“Ardria?” she asked. He shook his head, unable to meet her eyes. I should never have let her go, he thought. Worrying about her daughter almost killed the Queen once, and now it’s doing it again, but I had to let her go! The Queen is strong, as strong as I am. She knows the need, she knows why she went. If she hates me, its just a little bit.

“I spoke with King Ponwell today, by telegraph,” she said, was if desperate to change the subject. “We talked about Lady Dwen.”

“Telegraph? The telegraph lines have been cut, except the line with Carrow. Nilon wants me to be able to surrender to him when I inevitably come to my senses.”

“The line to Gildon’s still intact too. They discovered it quite by accident while testing the lines to the artillery positions. I used my, well your, influence to send a message to Ponwell. I wanted to offer my condolences for Lady Dwen's death. Turns out he's angry about her death, she and the King were great friends, very close. He was angry with us at first, he blamed us, but apparently there’s too much evidence that the Radiants were responsible. He has his agents in the palace, reporting back to him, and they told him what really happened.”

“Thank Those Above for foreign spies among us,” said Leothan with a tense smile. Prince Bowen jumped into his lap and he tickled him under the chin. “What does he intend to do with his anger?”

“He asked what he could do to help fight the Radiants.”

Leothan sat bolt upright in his chair and stared at her. “He did what?”

“He wants to help fight the Radiants. I told him about the Ballistae, and what we're doing to make incendiary ammunition. I hope that was okay.”

“Absolutely! He wants to help us fight the Radiants? Does he know the danger he’s putting his country in? If Carrow defeats us, that'll make Gildon their next target! The Radiants will insist they invade with whatever troops they can spare from occupying Helberion! Gildon barely has an army, just a few thousand troops. Nilon will only have to scrape together ten thousand men to take the country!” He stood, holding the Prince in his arms, and paced back and forth across the plush carpet. “I've been trying to warn the eastern kingdoms about the Radiants and gotten nowhere. If they all stand together, pool their military resources, they’ll have a chance against whatever's left of Carrow’s army after they’ve finished with us. Ponwell suddenly wants to go it alone because Dwen was killed? He must know the danger!”

He paused. Bowen tried to climb up onto his shoulder, he placed the Prince down on the ground, where he licked a paw and began washing himself. “On the other hand, when the other Kingdoms see what he's doing, maybe they'll be inspired to follow suit. Ponwell is well admired and respected, and they can clearly see the danger posed by Carrow. They must all fear being picked off one by one. Maybe Dwen's death was a blessing in...”

He suddenly became aware of the look on the Queens face. “Her death was tragic, of course. If there was anything I could do to change what happened...”

Lacurnia stood and walked over to take his hand. “I know,” she said, forcing a smile. “I know you’re not glad she's dead. But because she died...”

“We have an ally,” said Leothan, still trying not to sound too happy. “Maybe all the eastern kingdoms. Even if we fall, they can carry on the fight. Spread word to the rest of the human world, warn them about the Radiants.”

“What human world? Helberion will soon be nothing more than a conquered province...”

“That's by no means certain. I've told you what we're planning.”

“But what are the chances it'll work? Seriously? Your plan depends on the Carrowmen doing exactly what you want them to do! What if they don't? I am the Queen, the Generals are quite open and honest with me. The Empire is falling into chaos, Carrow already belongs to the Radiants.... Even if everyone else pools their resources, we're still only talking about a few thousand troops! And none of them are scientifically advanced! Us, Carrow, Kelvon, we're the only countries doing real scientific research. What are the chances that Gildon will prefect the electric weapon? Or Erestin, or Wilterland? What are the chances that one of those countries will be able to manufacture incendiary ammunition? They don't have the technology or the people. People like Andrea McCrea. True, they all have engineers good enough to use and maintain telegraph equipment, but Andrea has a spark of genius and people like her are rare. Without us, what hope does the rest of the world have?”

“A lot! A lot of hope! How many troops will Carrow have to spare after conquering us? Can they take everything east of Kelvon by themselves?”

“They don’t want to take it. They want to destroy it! They won't need to leave behind an occupying force when every fighting man in Helberion has been put to death, every factory destroyed, every gun spiked...” She began sobbing with despair and Leothan dashed over to sit beside her. He put an arm around her shoulders, gave her a gentle squeeze. “I know the situation,” the Queen said, and Leothan could feel her body shaking. “I wish I didn't, but I do! Please don’t try to sugar coat it for me. And don’t hold things back! There's something else bothering you. Something eating away at you.” She twisted around to look him in the eye. “I'm your wife. I'm the one you can lay down your burdens with. I'm the one who can help you carry them. Please tell me what it is.”

Leothan stared into her eyes, and she saw the conflict going on inside him. Part of him wanted desperately to confess something, as if she could give him the absolution he needed, but another part wanted to protect her. She was already bearing such a heavy load. Worrying about Ardria, about the armies invading their country. What right did he have to lay another burden on her? He looked away, and for a moment she thought he was going to deny it, pretend that everything was all right with him, but then he looked back again, their eyes met again. I'm your wife, Lacurnia tried to communicate without saying anything. You can tell me. It's your job to bear the burdens of the country, and it’s my job to bear yours. You can tell me! Please tell me!

He closed his eyes in shame, and Lacurnia felt a vast relief sweeping over her. He stood again, strode angrily across the room and thumped the coffee table in anger and frustration. “We had them, Kat! We had fifty thousand Carrow prisoners and I let them go!”

“You didn't let them go...”

“Didn't I? Most of the Generals wanted them killed. It was me who insisted that we keep them alive, because of my delicate, civilised sensibilities! “We're trying to lure them to their deaths now. If I'd agreed to have them killed then, the threat would be over! Helberion would be at peace, thousands of our men who are now dead would still be alive! Their deaths are on my hands!”

“You couldn't have killed them without becoming one of them. What are we fighting for, if not to protect our values? Everyone understands. I'm sure the Generals suggested killing them because it was their job to make sure you knew all the options open to you. If it had been up to them, they probably would have made the same decision you did. I know I would have.” She rose from her seat, walked across to him and took his hand, gave it a squeeze. “Look at it this way,” she said. “All those former prisoners will be telling their comrades in arms about how you could have had them killed, but didn't. Everyone wants to think that they’re the good guys, that they're fighting for what's right and fair. If they receive orders to kill prisoners, maybe they'll start thinking that they’re fighting on the wrong side.”

Leothan couldn't help but laugh. “You think that’s what will save us? A mass desertion of Carrow troops wanting to join the ranks of the good guys? They've all got families back home. Hostages...”

“I think you underestimate the power of basic human decency. Remember how we gained the Tweenlands? A whole chunk of Carrow decided they wanted to be ruled by your father instead of Maylorth. What if the whole of what's left of Carrow is thinking along the same lines?”

“It won’t happen unless they think we're strong enough to stand up to the armies of Carrow.”

“Then make sure we are. Win the battle, win the war. You are our hope, the hope of all mankind.” She moved into his arms and they held each other tightly, but inside Leothan was shaking his head sadly. No, He though. I'm not the hope of all mankind. Ardria is. Her desperate mission. It’s all on her. Where is she now? What’s she doing?