‘I thought you lot just killed everyone who crossed you?’ Her tone was sharp, accusatory. ‘That one,’ she said, indicating Rennic who was a few paces away, ‘killed three people in the hour after I met him.’

‘Hey!’ Rennic, bristling, held up one hand. ‘It was five. You missed the two in the armoury.’

‘You must be very proud of the life you’ve lived,’ she shot back, which seemed to give Rennic pause.

Eka, their one-eyed guide, cleared her throat. ‘The conclave is beginning. You should go below. We can keep watch over your friend.’

Chel and the others turned for the door. ‘You’re not joining us?’

She shook her head. ‘We are patriots, not politicians. We will watch from the gallery.’

Rennic scooped him along with a wide arm as he passed. ‘Come on, little man. Wouldn’t want them deciding anything without us.’ He had Tarfel marching before him, encircled by his other arm. The prince turned as he saw Chel, eyes wide and watery.

‘Listen, Vedren, I really don’t think this is any place for me,’ he began as Rennic pushed him on. ‘I think perhaps I should be moving off elsewhere, and I was wondering if—’

‘Keep moving, princeling, you’re holding everyone up.’

‘My brother will be looking for me, Vedren, he has plans – such plans! We should—’

‘You’re not staying out there. Now button your flap and keep your head down,’ Rennic growled as they followed Foss into the dark of the tower. ‘If there’s anyone who can marshal against that bastard in the citadel, they’re within these walls.’

***

Stairs led both up and down, to galleries above and a stone-cut pit below. Sab and the Nort had stayed with Eka at Foss’s suggestion – just political wrangling to come, very dull for outsiders, he assured them. Whisper went with them. Foss chattered as he led Chel, Tarfel, Rennic, and Lemon down the wooden stairs, which creaked beneath his feet. ‘This place was once a grain-store, during Taneru days, or so I’m told. There was a settlement at the bottom of the hill. It was a temple after that, old gods …’ He shuddered and made the sign of the crook. ‘I think it was a mill after that, but now it’s our watchtower. Everyone’s here.’

Rennic’s mouth twitched. ‘Everyone?’ He nudged Chel. ‘This is how we get back on the horse, little man, here’s how we turn the battle-tide. First, they’re going to pay us, then we’re going to join hands across the kingdom and deliver a steel-capped kicking to Golden King Shit-Grin, our boots front and centre. He’s out in the open now, him and his red-cloth fuckers.’

Chel offered a weak grin. ‘It’ll be nice to hear what our rebellion is up to, I suppose.’