Malone had stopped listening, though, his heart pounding with excitement. Carrow’s entire army, camped close around Marboll! Well, not their entire army, but the bulk of it. He remembered something the Brigadier had said once, during their journey to Mekrol in search of a cure for the Princess. They'd been sitting around a campfire, the Brigadier had been talking to Sergeant Blane. They'd been talking about the likelihood of another war with Carrow and the Brigadier had said that their best chance would be to lure Carrow’s army into a trap. Something about the way he’d said it had suggested to Malone that he had a very good idea what kind of trap it would be. That's what was happening now, he was suddenly certain? The Brigadier had told Leothan his idea, and the King was putting it into action. Leothan was luring Carrow into a trap!

     Don’t say anything! he thought in near terror. Don't even think it! But if Benjamin cursed him, stripped away some of his humanity, he would eventually lose the ability to know what he should say and what he shouldn't. He would tell Benjamin all about the trap, smiling happily while he did it, no longer capable of knowing what he was doing. Benjamin would tell the Carrowmen and they would avoid the trap. Helberion would be lost. Maybe all human civilisation would be lost, and all because of him. Because of Malone.

     He mustn't curse me, he thought, but the only way to stop him was to give him no reason to. When Benjamin questioned him about the Brigadier, he would have to tell him everything. Try to give the impression that he was completely broken, that he lacked the will to hold anything back. If he did that, maybe he'd be able to hold back this one thing, avoid betraying Helberion completely. So when he starts asking questions, answer them! Answer them fully and completely, and pray to Those Above that Benjamin doesn't figure out what he was doing.

      Benjamin stood and picked up his top hat. “But not today,” he said. “I have an appointment at the opera with a couple of friends and their wives. High ranking guardsmen whom I think I can persuade to press the Emperor for martial law for the duration of this emergency, even despite the more conciliatory attitude he seems to have adopted since the Brigadier's visit. Something else for the poor, oppressed working man to react to.” He stood for a moment, examining the former batman. “When you think of the sheer magnitude of the violence soon to engulf this country... It's quite exhilarating, don't you think? Should make quite a spectacle. I hope I get a chance to see it before the Radiants take me away.”

     “How sure are you that they're going to keep their promise?” asked Malone. “Maybe they’re just using you, like King Nilon, and when they're finished with you they'll just cast you aside like a worn out sock. Do you really think they want a traitorous bastard like you living among them? How will they ever be able to trust you when you betrayed us so easily?”

     He'd been hoping that the aristocrat’s reply would reveal whether King Nilon really was working with the Radiants to help destroy civilisation, or whether the King was just an unwitting stooge. Part of him still held on to the idea that he might somehow be able to escape and carry the information back to Helberion. He was surprised, therefore, so see the man react just a little before he could regain control of himself, as if he’d hit a nerve. He decided to dig a little deeper. “After all,” he ventured, therefore. “You wouldn't be the first to be dropped by the Radiants like a hot potato.”

     Benjamin stared at him, as if trying to decide if there was any way he could know... Something. He looked for a moment as if he might be about to speak, but then he just swept out of the room without a word, leaving the former batman staring after him in wonderment, his head buzzing with possibilities. He knew about something that had happened to another adoptee! Something the Radiants were responsible for, and he was worried that the same thing might happen to him! Malone found himself smiling, and he was still grinning as Dennis and Sid returned to take him back to his cell.

☆☆☆

     “He still maintains that Lord Benjamin Hedley is financing the rebellion,” said Kuriakin, the Imperial spy chief.

     Emperor Tyron looked up from the papers and reports spread across his desk. They made uncomfortable, depressing reading. He was glad to be diverted from it for a while, even by this. “He's lying,” he said. “Lord Hedley is one of my oldest, closest friends. He's an immensely rich nobleman with almost as much to lose from a civil war as myself. It's inconceivable that he’d be involved.”

     “Everything else Fienwell’s told us has checked out. We've rounded up his whole network, dozens of men, most of whom have already confessed. Why would he lie about this one person?”

     “To hide his true master, that’s obvious. Do we have any other evidence that Lord Hedley's involved?”

     “Well...”

     Tyron looked up again. “Well what?” he asked.

     “A few days ago, Ambassador Mornwell came forward with a claim that one of their agents had implicated Lord Hedley in the rebellion. He said that one of their agents had infiltrated the rebellion and had been taken to Lord Hedley's mansion, where he saw him interacting with a Radiant. He witnessed one of Hedley's men murdering Toby Fletcher, one of the government agents they captured. You remember me telling you that the other agent, Rickard Fell, was released. We assume that the killing was an initiation, to test the loyalty of the killer and ensure he could never betray them.”

     “And this Helberion agent witnessed the killing? And did nothing to stop it?”

     “He couldn't have done anything without blowing his cover. He would only have died with him.”

     “Very well. Bring this agent in, have him give testimony in front of a Grand Court. If his testimony stands up to scrutiny we'll have grounds to bring Hedley in for questioning.”

     “I told the Ambassador the same thing, Your Majesty. Unfortunately, it seems that this agent is unavailable for the moment. He is still undercover and can't be retrieved without being put in jeopardy.”

     “Well, that’s that then. We can't bring Hedley in without more than that.”

     “Your Majesty, may I ask, when did you last see Lord Hedley?”

     “Well, it’s been a couple of years now. He's missed the last few engagements I’ve invited him to. Trouble with his estates, he said, requiring his attention.”

     “The reason I ask, Majesty, is that both Fienwell and Ambassador Mornwell claim that Lord Hedley has been adopted by the Radiants. I wondered, if you had seen him, whether he wears powder on his face.”

     “He didn't the last time I saw him.” He paused for a moment in thought. “I suppose I could have someone pay him a visit, on some pretext, just to find out. Yes, I'll do it. I'll have Maywell take care of it. I have no doubt that he'll tell us that all's well with Hedley. I simply can't imagine that he's involved!”

     “You’re probably right, Majesty, but it's still best to make sure.”

     “Yes. Still, a bad time to be pulling Maywell away from his other work, with what’s happening in the west. With what’s happening right here, for that matter. More bombings every couple of days, the rebels growing ever bolder. I’m still not convinced that it’s a good idea to ease up on the criminal scum.”

     “It was Fienwell's tactic to make us crack down hard on them, to make them ever more angry and resentful. I still believe that out best chance to save the Empire is to defuse the rebels, instead of trying to crush them. We've identified some of their leaders, and we're trying to arrange meetings to discuss their grievances. That, and replacing those guardsmen who are, shall we say, over enthusiastic with their work, replacing them with peacemakers... We're gradually undoing all the harm that Tiver and Fienwell did over the past couple of years.”

     “I understand that Tiver was trying to destabilise the Empire, but we may have reached the point where only those kind of tactics will save us. We still may have to declare martial law before this is over. There are barbarians at the gate, trying to steal all our gold, and your answer is to give them half of it!”

     “It could be argued that it was their gold to begin with, that it was we who stole it from them. This may be the only way to stop them getting all the gold, and hanging us from the nearest tree in the process.”

     “We are nowhere near that point, Ilya. We can send the army in at any time. Crush the rebels once and for all.”

     “Sire, that was what Tiver and Fienwell were working towards all the time. That was their endgame. Trask believes that it would be a mistake, and I agree with him.”

     “Well, we’ll see. If these peace talks go well, all well and good, but if they don't, I'll still send the army in. My first duty is to preserve the Empire. The Empire I inherited from my father and that I intend to pass on to my son. I'll send the army in if I have to, you mark my words.”

     “Yes, Sire.”

     “Did we learn anything else from Fienwell?”

     “Nothing of any importance. He insists that the Radiants are no longer speaking to him, that they intend to kill him the first chance they get. Apparently, he refused to carry out a suicide mission for them.”

     Tyron chuckled. “They promised to make him a Radiant when it was all over, then broke that promise. We can use that, Ilya. I'll have Maywell mention it to Lord Hedley, just in passing. Even if he isn't the traitor, he might inadvertently pass it on to the real traitor. Shake him up a bit. You never know.”

     “Indeed, Majesty. Will that be all, Sire?”

     “Yes, Ilya. You may be about your duties.”