Shard swore at this, but I was more enraged by the château being referred to as Dolos’ ‘summer residence’. The servants spoke of it with such reverence that it had not occurred to me this was only a temporary abode, and that she probably had a far grander and more secure palace on the other side of Bacchus. We had lost lives defending the place, just so she maintained access to her seasonal retreat.

‘Sir, half our intelligence is in Governor Dolos’ pocket. If she wants, she can keep us here indefinitely. We need high command to recognise the threat the storm poses.’

‘You suggest I flout our orders? Do as I see fit?’

‘I think sometimes one must separate the spirit of the order from the letter.’

‘I see,’ he said. ‘So, you feel the spirit of our orders would be to take your little propagandist and fly into the maelstrom?’

Her pace slowed. She glanced at Prospherous. ‘What does this have to do with him?’

‘If you’re going in there, we need a record of what is happening. He’s the only one who seems able to detect the greenskins’ technology, and he certainly has suitable recording equipment. If you wanted to find evidence the orks are hiding something, he would be a useful resource. Hypothetically speaking.’

She looked at him, though from the angle of the pict I could not see her face.

‘Yes, sir,’ she said after a moment.

‘And then, assuming you could provide evidence of the threat, we could petition for additional resources.’

‘Yes, sir.’

He nodded. ‘Good, then it’s decided. Obviously, you can’t do that, because that would be treasonous. But at least now we understand exactly what you mustn’t do, don’t we, flight commander?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Good.’ He smiled. ‘On that note – are you on patrol tonight?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Delegate it to someone else. I’m relieving you of duty. Just for tonight.’

‘Tonight, sir?’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I’m sure you can find something to occupy your time.’

I ceased the playback, resting my chin in my hands, my gaze flicking to the tainted wine provided by Dolos. It might have been tempting, if I was not already sick of that blight-ridden vine-fruit.

I did not know what to feel. Betrayed, I suppose. And manipulated. But I just felt like a fool. I should have seen through her, seen through them both, for Prospherous was just as bad. Worse, in fact, for at least Shard risked her own life alongside mine. It seemed he preferred to abdicate all responsibility to a supposedly renegade pilot.