Marcus hid a smile. Everyone, down to the lowest private, seemed to have caught the habit of saying “Janus” or “the general,” never anything as formal as “General Vhalnich” or “Count Mieran.” “How fast is it?” he asked.

“We can send a hundred and twenty symbols in five minutes,” White said proudly. “Assuming good weather, the message travels down the line at nearly a hundred miles per hour.”

Marcus tried to picture it. Through a crack in the shutters, he could see the hills north of Vordan, miles away. Somewhere on that hilltop was another team of men, with another device like this one. When night fell, they would wait for the distant flashes of an incoming message, then work like mad to flash it along to the next hilltop. More men there would send it to the next, and the next, and so on until it reached the Army of the East more than four hundred miles away. A message could get there and back in a single night, where a fast rider might take days.

It was a fragile connection. Hazy nights could interrupt it, or rain, or even enemy action. The messages it passed along were necessarily brief and often full of ambiguity. Still, it was a tremendous advantage, which was why Janus had been so careful about setting it up. The concept, Marcus knew, had come from the Desoltai of Khandar, whose messages Janus had decoded to lure the desert nomads into a deadly ambush. The general believed in making use of good ideas, regardless of the source.

“Very good, Lieutenant White,” Marcus said, sensing that the man wanted praise. White inflated visibly. “Very good indeed. Now, I’m told you have something for me?”

“Oh! Yes, sir. Here.” He handed Marcus a scrap of paper. “This is the expanded version. We use a great deal of abbreviation and substitution, obviously, even within the coding, to keep the messages short.”

Marcus nodded. The message, in a neat, well-trained hand, said:

Marcus—

Yours of last night received. Threat to R. of great concern, agree that M. is a likely suspect. Approve of her plan. Assist R. to obtain evidence, render all possible aid. Trust her judgment. Keep me informed.

Possible additional threat reported by Downstairs. Have given instructions for you to be briefed. Stay on guard.

Matters here satisfactory. Aim to capture Antova by end of season, secure our position, return to capital. Await developments.

—Janus

Well, Marcus thought, that’s one question answered. He had no idea how Janus expected him to “obtain evidence”—for all that he’d been briefly head of the Armsmen, Marcus had no training in criminal investigation. Maybe Raesinia has some ideas. If the general was uncomfortable with the Queen of Vordan running around playing private investigator, he hadn’t put it in his message.