“Yeah, yeah, a trespasser, that’s all.” He pulled the Diary from me. “What’s this?” He looked at it and said in wonder, “A book.” He opened it but could make little of my mixture of shorthand and abbreviations. He probably found reading difficult at the best of times. “Well, I’m sure the Temple will find that interesting, too. A record of spying, I shouldn’t wonder.” He put it in my pocket, pulled the hood over my eyes and propelled me forward again.

The Northern soldiers who’d been escorting the General were down the steps again by now, and just marching off to their barracks. Their leader saluted my captor, who saluted with his free arm. The Northern leader frowned; it was the wrong arm. “Meant no disrespect, sir,” said my captor hurriedly hustling me to the other arm.

“What have you there?” said the Northern leader.

“A trespasser, sir, who I’m about to take to the Temple.”

He had the right arm free now, saluted, and was about to hurry on but the leader stopped him by speaking.

“Has another sentry been detailed to take your place?”

“Well, sir, I was about to go oil’ duty anyway and this is an emergency—”

“You all go off duty a few minutes too early and without bothering to report. Just because most of the day there’s nobody to watch you all but the statues … I find this a very slack outpost of your army. Go back to your post for the necessary five minutes.”

“Sergeant don’t mind, sir—” said my captor almost bully-ingly, very aware of his superior nationality and army.

“Are you slandering your officer?” said the Northern leader smoothly. “I am quite sure your sergeant minds. Leave the trespasser with me. I shall see he is taken, not to the Temple but to the General, whose grounds after all these are.”

The sentry saw his reward slipping through his fingers. The look he gave the leader was murderous but brief, he hurried back to his place on the steps as the leader, without one single glance at me, ordered a soldier to take me to the General.

I was marched away again, not up the steps, but to a small doorway round the corner of the building. We were passed in. This soldier had used his sense: by hurrying up the servers’ stairs, we were in time to meet the General as he emerged leisurely on the second landing of the winding grand staircase inside the house.

We approached, the soldier saluted.

The General stopped. He was alone, the commanders no longer with him, he looked as if were going to his chamber, continued taking off his jacket as he stood before us, his cloak was already over his arm.

“Caught a trespasser in the grounds, sir,” said the soldier.

“A spy, hm?” said the General absent-mindedly.

I darted forward. The soldier was startled and reproachful, 388