Next to Miro, Layla shook her head. "He is correct, Miro. Your men have the strength, but becoming a hunter takes a lifetime of training."

"He's under a lot of stress," a voice said from behind Miro.

Miro turned, and saw a man in a green silk robe standing nearby, watching the Alturan archers at practice. His raj hada proclaimed him an enchanter. Not just an enchanter, Miro realised, but a master. He was slim, with dark eyes looking down a sharp hawkish nose.

"I know you." Miro frowned. "You taught my sister."

"I am Elwin Goss," the enchanter said, "Master of the Academy. Yes, I remember your sister, Lord Marshal. How could I forget?"

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Master Goss," Miro said. He wondered what the man's purpose here was.

"You are in a difficult position, Lord Marshal," Master Goss said. "You've been charged with the leadership of our forces, yet High Lord Rorelan manages your supply of essence."

"Do you have a reserve we don't know about?" Miro said, smiling without humour.

"No, but I do have an idea."

"I'll hear it."

"Yes, I have heard you are like your sister... Willing to listen to new ideas."

Miro fought to control his impatience. "Please, Master Goss, I have little time."

"I want to borrow one of these bows, along with someone who knows how to use it."

Miro thought of Aglaran, Prayan's son. "Would one of the Dunfolk suit?"

"To start with, yes. You see, Lord Marshal, my idea is based around the fact that the device already does what you want it to do, but your men are having difficulty controlling their aim. What if I and my fellow enchanters could come up with a matrix, a way to help the arrow hit its target every time?"

Miro shook his head. "I've already thought of that, Master Goss. It all comes back to essence. We've barely enough to keep five sets of armoursilk and five zenblades functioning. If every arrow was enchanted, even conservatively, it would take much more essence than we currently have."

"What if we could enchant the bows?"

Miro looked up, tilting his head. "What do you mean?"

"We don't need to work on the strength of the weapons; they already provide the force you need; your archers simply lack the skill to aim them," Master Goss said. "What if we could find a way, with the absolute minimum amount of essence, to enchant the bows, so that the archers could hit their target every time?"

"That, Master Goss, would make me a very happy man."

For a time there was silence except for the twanging of bowstrings and the cursing of the soldiers.

"There is a problem, however," Master Goss said.

"Somehow I knew you were going to say that."

"I will need to convince the High Enchanter that the project is worth undertaking. It will require a certain amount of essence just to test the idea."