paces away the nearest soldier gave a cry of surprise and Veil realised the glamour had failed. The soldier reached for his weapon, but he was cut down by the first of the Brotherhood. As Veil ran to join the fight his Brothers were already cutting a path through the soldiers to the gate.
One tried to race through, only to be thrown back by the force of a spear catching him in the side. The next King’s Man kicked out and snapped the shaft against the closed half of the gate, lunging with his sword at the holder and pushing on through.
Veil made for the nearest Menin, feinting right to get behind the tip. Keeping his swords close, he ran straight into the man and spun off his shoulder, stabbing him in the hip even as he darted away and trapped the next soldier’s weapon. Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone’s livery suddenly catch fire. The bright burst of light made the man he was facing hesitate and Veil used the chance to knee him in the groin and smash a pommel into his face. His opponent reeled and Veil chopped down into his arm, then his exposed neck.
As the last man fell and silence returned, Veil checked his surroundings. There were no other soldiers in sight aside from the remainder of their company, who were quickly making up the fifty yards between them.
‘It’s clear,’ called the King’s Man who’d gone through the gate as he dropped to kneel at his injured comrade’s side.
‘How is he?’ Veil asked, watching the bulky shapes of Daken and Coran moving side by side as though in competition.
‘Fucking hurting,’ the injured man grunted, ‘but I ain’t dead yet.’
Veil turned. It was Cedei, one of the veterans of the Brotherhood. ‘Good — but you’re not coming with us like that. Cetarn, stop the bleeding and help him up. You’ll have to make it back to the gate on your own.’
‘Aye,’ Cedei agreed in a strained voice. ‘Luck to you. See you when the killing’s done.’
‘When it’s done,’ Veil confirmed and thumped his forearm against Cedei’s as Coran reached him just ahead of Daken.
‘The alarm will be raised soon,’ Veil said, looking at the bodies on the ground. ‘We’ve got a straight run to the Ruby Tower, so best we get Mage Firnin out in front now to clear the beggars out of our way.’
The white-eyes agreed and they set off jogging in two columns towards the Ruby Tower. The streets were still empty, but there were sounds in the city now, shouts coming from Breakale, and from the main gate between the two districts. Even Daken began to look serious: the real fight was close at hand. Whatever Litania had done, the panic had started.
Dawn was still more than an hour off by the time they reached the wide avenue that skirted the Ruby Tower compound. Behind it was a plateau of enclosed ground a hundred yards across, a series of peaked roofs, and pipes that channelled the floodwaters around the compound. A large statue of Kiyer of the Deluge was positioned at each corner, each with a wide, distended mouth from which the water was channelled into the avenue. The ground outside the gate was open cobbles for fifty yards before reaching the three main streets leading away from the tower.
Veil’s company took a road parallel to one of these. It was blocked at the end, to protect the entrances to the houses on each side, but it gave them a concealed route for most of the way, with a narrow passage which took them to the north corner of the open ground. When they were all settled he moved forward with Doranei and Mage Firnin, the woman carrying a saddlebag with enough care that Veil was keen to see the back of it.
Firnin set the bag down and sat cross-legged on the ground, tugging at her breeches and shirt to put them perfectly in order. That done, she pulled a flask from her pocket, took a long slug of what smelled like brandy, and poured the rest down her front, ignoring the expressions on their faces.
‘What’re you doing?’ Doranei snapped as he watched her. This wasn’t what she’d outlined to him the previous day when he’d told her to take care of the beggars — that was what the saddlebag was for.
Firnin opened one eye and scowled at him, which twisted a scar down her face into an even