He turned to look round at all of them, his face both troubled and sincere. ‘What Vail does is give these men and women—these ordinary, mostly ineffectual individuals—the power of the mob. That is what makes him so dangerous. A coward is at his most vicious when hidden among other cowards. That is when he becomes a fiend, willing to strike down anyone—be it a child, his neighbour or his brother—when anonymity assures him immunity. But behind all those cowards, all their collective audacity and frenzy and madness, behind it all, you will find Vail. He is the flag under which they gather—the rallying point for the horde. And when enough cowards have gathered for the audacity to become resolve and they burst forth together, he will be the torch lighting their path of descent from men to beasts. And in doing so, he becomes more than just a man. That is why the threat he poses is so frightening.’

‘And it is fitting that you would be the first to feel frightened,’ said Ucho. Castor turned to respond, but he made a dismissive gesture and went on. ‘But now I have some real work to do. I’m going to see if I can find out who this rabble was.’

‘I would prefer it, Ucho, if you spent your time investigating what Albert has told us,’ said Father quietly.

Ucho stared at him for a moment, and then nodded, although he still seemed reluctant. ‘As you say, then. I’ll send out a couple of scouts. If that slime really is back, we’ll know soon enough.’

‘I shall wait to hear from you, Ucho.’

Ucho nodded again. ‘As soon as I have something, then. I take your leave, Father!’

He turned to look at Colby and his crew and screwed up his face. Then he shook his head. ‘You’ve dealt with enough,’ he said softly. ‘Captain, take the rest of the afternoon off. Come see me in the evening. Your men can have the rest of the day off. All three of you are off duty tomorrow as well. Rest.’

He turned to leave, then turned back again. ‘And, Captain,’ he said, his voice still low.

‘Yes, sir?’ said Colby.

‘You know what needs be done. Do it. Before you go home.’

‘Yes, sir,’ said Colby, looking extremely unhappy.

‘It’s never easy, but that’s what you get for being in command.’

‘We’ll come, too, Cap’n,’ said Kieran.

‘Aye,’ said Joe.

Ucho nodded. ‘Good. All right, dismissed!’ Turning on his heel, he walked off.

‘What about my guard?’ called Castor at his retreating back. Ucho acted as if he hadn’t heard. Castor made a face at his retreating back.

‘We should be going,’ said Colby, still looking thoroughly miserable.