"You summoned me," said Arwin Tsocco stiffly. "Here I am."

They were in King Leothan's private audience chamber. The King had risen from his chair and come around from behind his desk to greet the ambassador, holding his hand out, but the ambassador made no move to take it. He stared at the King as if resentful at having been dragged all the way from the Kelvon embassy, even though this was the hour at which he would normally have come for their weekly game of Glory. He was wearing his full ambassadorial regalia, as if he was there on official business, rather than the casual dress he normally wore to their social meetings, and he had brought his attaché; a small, fussy looking man with oiled hair that stuck tightly to his scalp and a shirt that was buttoned so tightly against his throat that it must have been rather uncomfortable. Leothan thought his name was Benlow or something. He wasn't sure because Arwin had never brought him before.

"I didn't summon you," the King said. "I invited you. I want to know what's bothering you."

"There's nothing bothering me, Majesty. Everything's just fine."

"You missed our last Glory night. That's not unusual, I know. We both have duties that get in the way of our social lives, but you normally send a message, explaining why you can't come. When no message came I assumed you'd just forgotten, or that an underling had neglected to deliver it. Something like that. But then, yesterday, you again missed our evening together, again without explanation."

"I've begun to feel that it's inappropriate for the two of us to have a social relationship. It affects our objectivity."

"That's a load of crap! It's perfectly normal for ambassadors to socialise with the heads of the states in which they're stationed."

"Really? Which other ambassadors do you play Glory with?"

"You never used to feel this way. What happened?"

"Nothing's happened, Majesty. I simply want to do my job as effectively as possible."

"Has the Emperor been putting pressure on you? You said some people in court were uncomfortable with the two of us being such good friends."

"No-one has been putting pressure on me."

"I would have thought he'd welcome our close friendship. It means you can keep a closer eye on me." He smiled as he said it, but there was no answering smile from the ambassador. "Dammit, Arwin! What's wrong?"

"I assure you, Majesty, there is nothing wrong."

"Is it about that Carrow business? Does the Emperor still think we're trying to steal his export markets?"

"It is no easy matter to pull the wool over his eyes, Majesty. Nor mine. I am no fool."

"No-one said you were..." There was the slightest flicker in the ambassador's eyes and the King tensed up at the sight of It. "Someone said you were a fool for believing my protestations of innocence," he said.

Arwin was unable to keep the look from his face that confirmed his guess, but there was more. The set of the ambassador's body signalled anger and resentment. Anger directed at him, the King! And embarrassment, as if he'd just discovered that he'd been fooled and didn't like it.

"You've discovered more evidence pointing to our guilt," guessed the King. "Evidence planted by Carrow agents, no doubt."

"How easy it is to blame Carrow for everything."

"Do you mean to say that you're starting to believe it? That you think we would actually..."

"Stop it, Bill! For the sake of Those Above, stop it! How stupid do you think I am? No, you're right, I am stupid, to have believed you all this time. To have trusted you..."

Leothan stared in astonishment and horror, and Benlow stared at the floor as if embarrassed to see the King humiliated like this. "What happened?" asked Leothan. "What happened to make you think this?"

Arwin just looked at him for a moment, then reached into a pouch and produced a crumpled scrap of paper that he placed on the table. "The last time we played Glory, this was lying on the floor. Notes from your last meeting." He watched as the King picked it up, smoothed it out and read it.

"Arwin, this is a forgery." The ambassador started to speak but Leothan waved him quiet. "This looks like my handwriting, but I never wrote this, I swear it. We've known for some time that Carrow has an agent right here in the palace..."

"Carrow, Carrow, Carrow!" snapped the ambassador. "How long do you think you can keep spouting that line..." He froze in shock as he realised what he was saying. "Forgive me, Your Majesty. I forgot myself."

"Arwin, you have to believe that I did not write this. This is exactly what they want, to drive a wedge between us. Think about it. How can gaining a few of Kelvon's export markets possibly benefit us more than the friendship of the Empire?"

"It is clearly only a small part of some larger scheme that we have yet to uncover..."

"There is no larger scheme!"

"...but uncover it we will, you can be sure. What is more, you can expect the Empire to take punitive economic measures against your country in retribution."

"Arwin, this note is a forgery. I never called you a fool. But if you believe all this then you are a fool! You are doing exactly what Carrow wants you to do."

"Am I excused, Your Majesty?" He turned to go.

"Arwin! I predict that Carrow will very soon declare war against us. As soon as they can be confident that you will not come to our aid. They will declare war, Arwin, and when they do you will see that I was telling the truth."

"Perhaps you should seek a diplomatic settlement with them. Was there anything else, your Majesty?" The King shook his head miserably and the ambassador left, his aide close on his heels.

Leothan watched the door close behind them, and he stood there quivering with rage, his mind a whirling confusion of frustration and bafflement. How could Arwin believe that of him? Had their friendship been so shallow all along, so fragile, that it could be destroyed so easily? Had he been fooling himself that a friendship like that was possible? His advisors had been warning him for years that kings and politicians didn't have friends. They had contacts. People they thought were useful to them in their careers and ambitions and who were cast off as the tides of political fortune turned. Was it he, the King, who'd been a fool to think that his and Arwin's friendship had been different? That it had been real, rising above politics? The possibility left him feeling lost and lonely. And afraid.

He stared down at the scrap of paper Arwin had left behind, holding it in a trembling hand, then he turned and stormed out through the room's other door, into the corridor that led to the administration wing. Minister Falow, the head of internal security, had come to the palace that morning to meet with Minister Carr, the trade secretary. If he was lucky the man would still be there.

There were voices coming from committee room one and he went in to see the two men sitting in the padded green armchairs with glasses of wine in their hands. They stood abruptly. "Your Majesty," they said together.

"A moment of your time, Minister Falow?" Minister Carr bowed low and left the room, leaving the two other men together.

Leothan quickly told the other man about his meeting with Arwin Tsocco, and the minister frowned. "This is bad," he said.

"You have a knack for understatement. Has there been any progress in identifying the Carrow agent in the palace?"

"I'm afraid not. We've replaced everyone who's worked here for less than three years. Swapped them with staff from other ministry buildings and stately homes with no prejudice to their careers."

"Yes, that was weeks ago. What about since?"

"I'm afraid that, so long as he or she just goes about his duties, we have no way to catch him. We have to wait until he does something and hope that he makes a mistake."

"He has done something." He tossed the scrap of notepaper onto the minister's desk. "This was planted in the Glory room two weeks ago. You can narrow down your search to everyone who has access to that room."

"Everyone who has official access. Someone else could still have sneaked in..."

"No, I don't think so. Too much risk of being caught. This person is clever and careful. It has to be someone who has a legitimate reason to be there if someone else goes in at the wrong moment. Someone who's been serving here for more than three years."

"Maybe we should think about swapping out all the staff, including the long termers. We'll know we've gotten rid of the agent if we get rid of everyone."

The King shook his head. "People with that kind of experience have long histories. Younger staff members, we can pick people who've been under observation every day since they were adopted, but older people might have friendships and loyalties we know nothing about. We run the risk of bringing in new Carrow agents with the new staff. Instead of just one, we could end up with a dozen! No, we keep the long termers, but we redouble our attempts to catch the agent. Increase the frequency of random searches and questionings. Examine their backgrounds in more detail, and the people who adopted them. I want him caught! Perhaps a full confession will be enough to persuade the Empire."

"I'll have Balhern tell the staff to do everything in pairs from now on. The agent won't dare get up to any more mischief if he has someone right there by his side everywhere he goes. Unfortunately, it won't help us catch him."

The King nodded. "Do it," he said. "And make whatever preparations you need to prepare the country for economic sanctions from the Empire."

"Those Above forbid that it comes to that! We're already tightening our belts preparing for war."

"War is coming, Jack. I've done my level best to prevent it. Swallowed my pride, sacrificed my dignity. All for nothing. We'll just have to tighten our belts a little bit more."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Leaving the room, Leothan then shouted for Darnell, his Private Secretary. The man whose job required that he never, at any time of the day or night, be out of the King's earshot. Darnell normally tried to be discrete, though, and to remain just out of sight, and so he appeared from the doorway of the room in which he'd been standing while the King spoke to his ministers.

The man's uniform was more elaborate and colourful than anyone else in the palace except for the King himself. It was a uniform that told everyone who saw him that when he spoke, he was speaking on behalf of the King. When he spoke, it was as though the King himself was speaking. He was accompanied by two runners, also splendidly uniformed, who carried messages for him while the Secretary himself remained with the King.

"Assemble the War Council," said Leothan. "Every member of the council in the city or not too far from it is to be in the War Room in one hour."

Darnell bowed, then turned to his runners. "Malak, find Field Mashall Amberley, then return to me. Finn, send the rest of the runners to me. Then find General Glowen." He then followed twenty paces behind the King as he returned to his private quarters, glowering to himself and his hands clenched into fists.