And thats the only reason you havent killed me yet, isnt it? I said to Glorian. Pilgrims going to use me to help him win over the Dau. Hese going to tell them that Ime the dogchild theyre looking for, the one who ripped out Skenders throat, the one who murdered their Marshals only child, and then hese going to give me up to them and let them take their revenge.

Glorian didnt say anything.

And neither did Pilgrim.

I was sure he could hear everything I was saying – he was only a few yards beneath us – and Ide been expecting him to show some kind of reaction, but for some reason he was keeping his silence.

You realize Pilgrims out of his mind, dont you? I said to Glorian. Thats why this is never going to work and the Dau are going to cut you all to pieces as soon as they find you. Its why Pilgrims still obsessed with killing Gun Sur. Theres no need to kill him anymore, is there? The only reason you needed to get rid of him – and Cruke and Luca and all the others – was to cover yourselves in case something went wrong and the Dau didnt win the battle. Because if that happened, Gun Sur and the others would know youd betrayed us, and the 3 of you would be hanged as traitors. But its not going to happen now, is it? The Dau have won, so you dont need to cover yourselves. You dont need to get rid of Gun Sur. And even if you did, the Dau are going to kill him anyway. But Pilgrim still wants to do it himself, doesnt he? He wants to kill the Marshal because he despises him, because hese always wanted to kill him, because he likes killing people, because hese a madman —

BOOM!

The sudden earthshaking blast came from the Quarterhouse – a massive explosion that lit up the sky with a blinding white flash – and when I looked over at the building I saw a gaping hole in the wall where the door had been and a massive crack in the stonework above that had almost split the building in 2. Great lumps of stone and twisted metal were scattered down the steps, and plumes of thick black smoke were beginning to billow out from all around the building – the shutters, the roof, the hole in the wall---

A Fighter suddenly appeared through the smoke, running out of the building with a rifle in his hands – bent over, choking, holding a cloth to his mouth---the Dau Fighters opened fire, cutting him to pieces, and he fell to the ground without firing a shot.

I heard more shots then, but these were much closer and quieter.

Phht-phht---phht.

A wail of pain came from somewhere below---

Phht.

The wailing stopped.