“And what about you, Royce?” She turned toward him. “Have you forgotten the wagons? What do you think the fate of those and others like them will be when the New Empire rules all?

“Don’t you see?” She addressed the entire room. “We either fight here and win, or die trying, because there won’t be anything left if we fail. This is the moment. This is the crucial point where the future of yet unborn generations will be decided either by our action or inaction. For centuries to come, people will look back at this time and rejoice at our courage or curse our weakness.” She looked directly at Royce now. “For we have the power. Here. Now. In this place. We have the power to alter the course of history and we will be forever damned should we not so much as try!”

She stopped talking, exhausted and out of breath.

The room was silent.

To Hadrian’s surprise, it was Royce who spoke first. “Making Emery disappear isn’t the hard part. Keeping him hidden is the problem.”

“They’ll tear the city apart looking, that’s certain,” Polish said.

“Can we bring him here?” Arista asked.

Polish shook his head. “The Imps know about us. They leave us alone because we don’t cause much trouble and they enjoy the black market we provide. No, they’ll most certainly come down here looking. Besides, without orders from the Jewel or the First Officer, I couldn’t expose our operation to that much risk.”

“We need a safe house where the Imps won’t dare look,” Royce said. “Someplace they won’t even want to look. Is the city physician an Imperialist or a Royalist?”

“He’s a friend of Emery, if that’s any indication,” Quartz explained.

“Perfect. By the way, Princess, conquering Ratibor wasn’t in our contract. This will most certainly cost you extra,” Royce said.

“Just keep a tally,” she replied, unable to suppress her smile.

“If this keeps up, we’re going to own Melengar,” Hadrian mentioned.

“What’s this we stuff?” Royce asked. “You’re retired, remember?”

“Oh? So you’ll be leading the Nationalist advance, will you?”

“Sixty-forty?” Royce proposed.

Despite the recent rain, the public stable on Lords Row caught fire just after dark. More than two dozen horses ran through the streets. The city’s inhabitants responded with a bucket brigade. Those unable to find a place in line stood in awe as the vast wooden building burned with flames reaching high into the night’s sky.