Then Meliadus swung down from the bridge and strode into his cabin below it. He was followed by every one of the captains who stood before him and every one of them was to leave the cabin alive.

Baron Meliadus stood before them, his dark cabin lighted only by a dim lamp. There were maps on his table, but he did not consult them. He spoke in a low, vibrant voice to his men.

“I shall not waste time further, gentlemen, but will tell you at once the nature of this adventure. We are embarking upon treason …” He cleared his throat. “We are about to rebel against our hereditary ruler, Huon the King Emperor.”

There were many gasps from around the cabin as the Wolf and Vulture masks stared intently at Baron Meliadus.

“King Huon is insane,” Meliadus told them quickly. “It is not personal ambition drives me to this scheme, but a love for our nation. Huon is madhis two thousand years of life, has clouded his brain rather than given him wisdom. He is trying to make us expand too

rapidly. This expedition, for instance, was to go to Amarehk to see if the land could be conquered, while we have barely crushed the whole Middle East and there are still parts of Muskovia that are not entirely ours.”

“And you would rule in Huon’s place, eh, baron?” a Vulture captain suggested cynically.

Meliadus shook his head. “Not at all. Flana Mikosevaar would be your Queen. Vulture and Wolf would take the place of the Mantis in the royal favour. Yours would be the supreme Orders…”

“But the Vultures are a mercenary Order,” a Wolf captain pointed out.

Meliadus shrugged. “They have proved loyal to Granbretan. And it could be argued that many of our own Orders are moribund, that fresh blood is needed in the Dark Empire.”

Another Vulture captain spoke thoughtfully. “So Flana would be our Queen Empressand you, baron?”

“Regent and Consort. I shall marry Flana and aid her rule.”

“You would be the King Emperor in all but name,” said the same Vulture captain.

“I would be powerful, it is truebut Flana is of the Royal blood, not I. She is your Queen Empress by right of ancestry. I shall be merely Supreme Warlord and leave the other affairs of state to herfor war’s my life, gentlemen, and I seek only to improve the manner in which our wars are conducted.”

The captains seemed satisfied.

Meliadus continued: “So instead of sailing to Amarehk on the morning tide, we sail around the coast a little, biding our time, then make for the Tayme estuary, sailing upriver to Londra and arriving in the heart of the city before anyone can guess our intent.”

“But Huon is well-protected. His palace is impossible to storm. There will be legions in the city loyal to him, surely,” said another Wolf captain.