Rennic half-turned, speaking over his shoulder. ‘Fucking dreadful. Still not wearing his chain. Living in constant fear of assassination by his own guards or being flung across the bridge by an angry populace.’

‘Ah. Did he, uh, say anything?’

‘Yeah.’ He affected a girlish squeak, speaking as if his mouth were stuffed with plums. ‘“Don’t let me down, chaps, if we don’t see these buggers off, I doubt my death will be quick or pleasant.”’

‘It’s like he’s here with us now.’

Kosh stood back from her device. ‘It is ready.’

Chel tried to peer past them. ‘What is it?’

‘A leveller.’ Rennic nodded to himself, then turned to the guards huddled at the courtyard’s edges. ‘Right, you lot, bring in the rest. And if you want to keep your hands, best be careful as fuck.’

The guards set about ferrying jugs and pots to locations around the rubble-strewn courtyard. They kept their distance, but their curiosity about Kosh’s machine was undeniable. Chel heard their whispers and concerned mutterings, and wondered himself. Over the wrecked outer wall, beyond the debris and the ruined bridge, the plateau was a sea of movement. Fires still burned across it, sending stinking black plumes into the morning sky. Somewhere, something large was moving.

‘Can they understand me?’ Rennic gestured at the meagre complement of guards manning the walls above. The guard captain nodded, and Rennic called up to them. ‘Take shots as it comes, but be ready to fall back the moment they cross the span. Understand? Drop back to this courtyard, keep away from the gate.’

The woman’s frown was deep beneath the sweat-grime, her once-gleaming armour pitted and scorched. ‘We do not hold the gate?’

‘They’ve learnt their lesson this time. That gate is doomed. But we’ll be waiting for them here.’ He patted the device in front of him, its apparatus peeking over the barricade. ‘And we can always fall back to the last gate. They’ve got nowhere to go. Remember, on my signal, shields up.’

The captain nodded again. ‘Shields up.’

‘Rennic, what about the aqueduct? Can we send some guards—’

‘Do you see any spare fucking house guards, little man? I need all these people and more. If this next bit goes to shit, I doubt any of our deaths will be quick and painless, yes? Now, alchemist. When I want it to do its thing, I pull this?’

‘I will do it.’

Rennic blinked, then stared at Kosh through narrowed eyes. ‘You sure? This isn’t the place for you, remember? Too risky.’

‘I want to be here.’

‘And why’s that?’

‘To watch them suffer. For what they did.’

Rennic chuckled, black, bleak. Her nostrils widened in irritation. ‘I mean it! Do not disparage me, mercenary! I have seen death before, plenty of it.’

‘Ever pulled the lever yourself? Watched the light leave another’s eyes?’