Lacurnia and their children were there waiting for him and the King 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, as 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 Kelvon Empire is falling into chaos. Carrow already belongs to the Radiants. If Helberion falls..."

     She turned to face him. "Even if everyone else pools their resources, all the other human kingdoms, 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," Leothan replied. "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. She could see the conflict going on inside him, he knew. She knew there was a part of him that wanted desperately to confess something, as if she could give him the absolution he needed, but another part of him 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 he felt her tensing up with the fear that he would just deny it. Pretend that everything was all right with him. Then he looked back, though, and their eyes met again. He could see her silently pleading with him. I'm your wife, he imagined her saying. 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, but beside him he felt his wife relaxing with relief. 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 our men 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?