“It works!” cried Shaun jubilantly when they arrived back at their apartment, having sent Sejanus back to his normal duties. “We’ve been back in Grand Central, on Tharia!”

     Lirenna gave a squeal of joy and flung herself at the soldier, hugging him tight.

     “Do I get one of those?” asked Matthew, grinning, and she happily obliged while Thomas laughed, feeling only the tiniest pang of jealousy. She then hugged the others as well, saving Thomas for last.

     “We’re free!” she cried, tears flowing down her cheeks and dampening Thomas’s neck. “We’re going home!”

     “Not so fast,” said Diana, however. “You’re all forgetting. There’s one thing we have to do first.”

     “What’s that?” asked Jerry.

     “We promised the moon trogs we’d stop the Kronosians from invading them,” replied the cleric. “We can’t go home and leave Kronos in the grip of tyranny, particularly since we’re partly responsible for it.”

     “But we’ve already done that, surely,” said Matthew. “The teleportation chamber’s unlocked and they’ve got the Necklaces of Vacuum Breathing. All we’ve got to do is tell them so and they can all go home any time they like, leaving Kronos entirely to the moon trogs.”

     “It’s not as simple as that,” replied Diana though. “The Konnens are likely to want to keep Kronos as a base of operations while they establish a bridgehead on Tharia. Right?” She looked around at the others. Thomas nodded reluctantly while Jerry looked thoughtful. “They’re not going to want to plunge straight into the unknown,” continued the cleric. “They’re going to want a place they can fall back to if things go wrong. Also, they could bring a huge workforce back up here to carry on mining iron, exactly what the moon trogs are most afraid of. Or just enslave the moon trogs and get them to mine it for them."

     “She’s right,” agreed Thomas, nodding. “And then there’s all the optical fibre.”

     “What do you mean?” asked Shaun.

     “Optical fibre is worth ten times its weight in gold, due to the fact that the trogs have a monopoly on the stuff. But Kronos is full of optical fibre. Think of all those lights in the tunnels and caverns, shining with sunlight brought down from the surface. If the Konnens stripped it all out, they’d have a virtually limitless source of income.”

     “Lirenna gasped in horror. “They wouldn’t do that, surely!”

     “Wanna bet?” said Thomas. “Or they might just get the moon trogs to produce optical fibre for them, along with all the other wonders of trog alchemy. Glowbottles, glass ceramic armour, trogsteel and so on. Kronos will become a Konnen slave moon, producing wealth for the Konnens while they live it up, carving out an empire down on Tharia. No way are they going to just abandon Kronos. They’d be fools to.”

     “So it’s up to us to make them give it up,” said Diana. “It’s our moral duty. And besides, we promised the moon trogs we’d help them and I keep my promises.”

     “Fine words,” said Shaun, “but you're forgetting one thing. We are all serving members of the Beltharan army, including you, sister. It is our sworn duty to return to duty as soon as we possibly can.” He looked around at the others. “That means now. We can all be back on Tharia within the hour. Then we begin the long journey back to Ilandia…”

     “No! We can't abandon the moon trogs!” insisted the cleric. “I won’t abandon them!”

     “We have no choice. We have our orders. We were sent to find the priest with the Sword of Retribution. When we've done that, or failed to do it, our orders were to return to duty as fast as possible. Any deliberate delay in returning home is desertion.”

     “My duty is to my Goddess, and She has made Her wishes clear to me.”

     “How? Have you had a dream? A vision?”

     “I don't need dreams or visions to know what She wants from me.”

     “You swore an oath…”

     “I did not. You swore oaths, I didn’t. The Emperor knows better than to require oaths of loyalty from servants of the Gods. He knows that our first duty is to our deity.”

     “Maybe, but the rest of us did swear oaths, and in case you're forgetting, the penalty for desertion is execution. If we don't go back, we don’t have to worry about the Konnens killing us. The Emperor will do it for them.”

     “So go back. I’ll remain here alone…”

     “You will not! You're coming back with us!”

     She stared at him, her eyes wide. “You'll have to tie me up. Carry me slung over your shoulder.”

     “If necessary.”

     Diana’s eyes widened further as she saw that he meant it. “Are you prepared to anger a Goddess?” she demanded. “Think how many times you've needed healing just since we've been up here on Kronos. Are you prepared to go back into a war without the support of the Lady of Healing?”

     This time it was Shaun whose eyes widened as the seriousness of the threat sank in. “Do you want to see me hung by our own troops?” he asked. “Them too?” He indicated Matthew and the three wizards with a sweep of his hands.”

     “We'll be telling our superiors about this place when we get back,” Matthew said to Diana. “They can send people to take charge of this place. The moon trogs will be safe.”

     “Actually,” said Thomas, “I'm pretty sure the priests of Samnos would regard Kronos as sovereign territory, and they don’t fight for any country that commits acts of aggression. They would oppose any attempt by Belthar to invade and occupy this place, and the Emperor would never risk alienating them, no matter how much he might crave the Lenses of Farseeing.”

     “But if the Konnens were overthrown…” said Diana, staring meaningfully at Shaun. “If this place had no legitimate government…”

     “The common people of the city would soon choose new leaders from among themselves,” said Thomas. “They'd form a new government.

     “Eventually, yes,” said the cleric, looking excited, “but in the meantime this place would be ungoverned territory. The Beltharans would be able to just walk right in and take over.”

     “We have our orders!” repeated Shaun, though, his voice rising as he tried to make her understand. “Our course of action is clear. Go straight back home and tell the authorities about this place. We can't take it upon ourselves to help overthrow a government. A legitimate government, no matter how deplorable we might think it is. We have to tell our superiors about this place and let them decide what to do.”

     “Without us, there'll be no revolution,” countered Diana. “The Konnens have too powerful a grip. The people of this city need us. They need magic and the Gods.” She leaned forward and fixed Shaun with her eyes. “If we help overthrow the Konnens, Belthar gets the Lenses of Farseeing, and they might make the difference. Help us beat the Shadowarmies. An enemy that doesn't just want to conquer us. They want to end all life! Everywhere! Against a threat like that, the usual rules and regulations don't apply.”

     “That’s not for us to decide…”

     “Yes it is, because we’re the only ones with the information! We're the only ones who know about the lenses! Devices that might make the difference between survival and the end of all life! Surely your superiors would see that as an extenuating circumstance. They'd see that you had good reason for not going home right away.”

     “Are you willing to bet all our lives on that?” her brother replied. “Will you still think you made the right decision when you see the five of us hanging by our necks?”

     “They won’t do that. The priest’s of Samnos wouldn't let them. They would be outraged.”

     “They're servants of a God of War! They're all about discipline, obeying orders…”

     “They understand what it means when someone devotes their life to a God!”

     “But that only excuses you! Don't you see? The rest of us don't have that excuse.”

     “I've told you that you're free to go back to Belthar. I'll stay here alone.”

     “But you know we're not going to do that! You know that!”

     Diana was on the verge of tears. “I wish I could make you understand! I’m not a free agent any more. I'm a servant of Carol! I have to do as She commands!” She reached out and took his hand, staring imploringly into his eyes. “I have to!”

     Shaun nodded, understanding her position, but the others saw his body tense up as if he was gathering himself for action. For a moment, they thought he was going to actually do what he'd threatened to do. Leap upon his sister. Overpower her, bind her limbs. Imprison her in the back room until they could arrange for the enchanted soldiers to carry her to the airlock. The others glanced uncertainly at each other, each of them searching for clues in their eyes as to which side they would come down on. Would they help Shaun overpower Diana, or would they come to her defence?

     “I'm with Diana,” said Lirenna suddenly. “If she chooses to stay, then I'll stay with her. And if you try to carry her away by force you’ll have me, as well as several angry soldiers, to deal with.”

     “Lenny?” said Thomas unhappily. “Are you sure?”

     She looked back at him, and he saw nothing but conviction in her bright, epicanthic eyes. “Absolutely,” she said. “And if I end up hanging from the end of a rope, then so be it. I can't believe they'll hang us, though. Not when we give them the Lenses. Not when they see what they can do, how important they are.”

     “But we're not doing it for the Lenses, are we? Not really. We're doing it for the moon trogs. Our superiors back home will almost certainly read our minds. They’ll know what our true motives were.”

     “If they get the lenses, they may not care.”

     “That's a very thin string to hang our lives from. Apologies for the unfortunate analogy.”

     Lirenna managed a thin smile. “Nevertheless, it's what I'm going to do.”

     “Then I guess I'm doing it too,” said Thomas Earnestly.

     Lirenna gave a sad smile and the two wizards reached out to hold each other’s hands. The others saw their fingers turn white with the force of the grip they had on each other. Thomas looked across at Shaun and the woodsman stared back. They seemed to plead with each other with their eyes.

     “Picture this,” the woodsman said, pointing at the demi shae. “Imagine her standing on a trap door, her hands tied behind her back. Imagine that glossy hair of hers trapped against the sides of her neck by the coarse rope of a noose. Imagine that, Thomas. Picture it in your head. Imagine it happening, because that’s what happens to deserters. Even beautiful ones.”

     “I am imagining it,” said the wizard. He looked across at Lirenna, and she looked back at him. “And if that happens, I'll be standing on another scaffold right next to hers. We'll hang together.” Their hands squeezed each other even more tightly.

     “Looks like we’re outvoted, brother,” said Matthew with a rueful smile. “You can go back if you want. No-one’ll try to stop you…”

     “You even suggest I'd go back alone, I'll smash your face in! If the rest of you are staying, though, then I guess I'm staying too. Guess we'll all hang together.” He looked at Diana. “Except you, of course.”

     “I won't let them hang you.” She looked around at the others, fixing them with her eyes one at a time. “I make you this personal guarantee,” she said. “If they punish you for this, then I will declare Excommunicatus on everyone who involves themselves in your execution. The one who gives the order. The one who ties your hands. The one who puts the noose around your neck, the one who pulls the lever. Caroli will deny them Her blessing. Any injury or sickness they receive will not be healed. By me or any other cleric of Caroli. This I promise.”

     “Can you do that?” asked Shaun in astonishment.

     “Absolutely!” declared the cleric. “Misusing an Excommunicatus is a very serious sin, of course. If I misuse it, to save my own life for instance, Carol might Excommunicate me, and then, when I die, my soul will wander the world in misery and torment forever. Caroli would still honour the excommunicatus, though. Even in that extreme case. There's a reason you don't mess with the servants of the Gods.”

     “And you're sure She’ll agree that you're justified in doing this?” asked her brother. “I would rather hang than see that happen to you.”

     “I made you a promise,” said Diana earnestly. “I will keep it.”

     “One of us should still go back to Tharia,” said Jerry. “Just in case we all die here. Someone needs to tell the Empire about this place, just in case… You know.”

     Thomas nodded. “If the Konnens catch us all, if they kill us all, the Empire will never know about the lenses. We can't risk that.”

     That others nodded and Diana turned to Shaun. “It should be you…”

     “No!” he declared emphatically. “I'm not leaving you.”

     “Nor me,” added Matthew.

     “I'll go,” said Jerry. “I'll probably be the least useful in what's to come anyway. I don't dare stick my head out into the street, a nome would be recognised immediately. They can smuggle me out through the airlock somehow. Wrapped in a blanket or something.”

     “The teleportation chamber came out in the middle of a vast, open prairie,” said Matthew doubtfully. “No sign of civilisation. We saw a tribe of nomads, there’s no telling how they’d treat a stranger, particularly a non human one. And there are bound to be wild animals, other hazards.”

     “I’ll take my chances with the nomads. They’ll know where the nearest settlement is, and once there I can book passage back to Belthar.” He looked at the others. “This is what I was always planning to do when I left the University. Travel, see the world…”

     “The nomads we saw will be long gone by the time you get there,” said Shaun. “You might be days, weeks, alone in the wilderness with only the food and water you can carry. Only a small knife and a couple of illusion spells to defend yourself if you come across a tribe of goblins, or a pride of lions.” He reached across and laid a hand on the tiny nome’s shoulder. “Meaning no disrespect. You are brave, resourceful and formidable, but all alone in the wilderness you wouldn't last long unless you got very lucky. I think you should forget it. We all stay here. All six of us, until the Konnens are overthrown.”

     “But if we all die here…”

     “Then let's make sure we don't all die here. We'll overthrow the Konnens, hand the Lenses over to the Empire and they'll be so grateful that they won't hang us.” He looked around at the others. “Agreed?”

     Jerry looked as though he was prepared to argue further, but one by one the others sided with Shaun and eventually the tiny nome nodded his agreement. “Okay then,” he said. “The six of us against the Konnens.”

     “The six of us against the Konnens!” agreed Shaun. He looked at Diana, though, and there was a serious look in his eyes. “But no threatening Excommunicatus, no matter what happens. If they hang us, they hang us. Our souls are what matter. Particularly your soul. Right?” He looked to the others for confirmation.

     “Right!” agreed Matthew and Lirenna together.

     After a moment Thomas agreed was well and the cleric nodded her reluctant agreement, but the wizard still couldn’t get the awful vision out of his head. The vision Shaun had put there of Lirenna, her hands tied behind her back, a noose around her neck while the executioner reached for the lever…