from the grip of her pistol. She knew her mouth was hanging open, but could not find the concentration to close it.
He was golden – golden like the sun, as golden as he had been at Deerlings House – and he trod the ground in the manner of a man whose ownership of all he surveyed was undisputed. His clothes were not of the fine cloth she had seen previously, just a traveller’s simple garb of jacket and shirt and breeches, but he wore them as though they were cloth of gold. They shone in his reflected glory.
King Luthrian of Lascanne, fourth of that name, regarded her with a slight smile to his lips.
‘Your Majesty,’ she whispered.
‘It is customary to affect some reverence in the Crown’s presence. Bow or curtsey as you think fit,’ he said, his smile making it only half serious. She realized that all the others were kneeling before him, and she tried a curtsey, and then decided to kneel in turn, as a soldier before her king.
‘All may rise. What little ceremony we are left with is done,’ said the King sadly. ‘Some man fetch us some wine. Let us pretend that we can yet be civilized.’ His face seemed all wry regret for what had been lost. ‘My dear Emily Marshwic, how glad I am to see you.’
‘Your Majesty is too kind.’
‘The Crown, no less than any private citizen, is aware of the debts that it owes, and will repay all in time,’ he said. ‘I remember you at Deerlings, Emily Marshwic. Of all the ladies and the gentlemen I met there, I remember you. Who could have known, then, that you would prove such a faithful servant to me? To hold the Levant until all hope was lost! You are a hero, Emily. You are the greatest hero of the whole war. When others failed, you stood by your duty. You were true iron, Emily, when the rest were exposed as adulterated metal.’
‘There were many others serving at the Levant, Your Majesty,’ she dared to remind him.
‘None such as you,’ he insisted. ‘Had all my soldiers been of your calibre, what an army I could have raised! But we have fallen on dark times, Emily. The Crown is hunted, assailed on every side by foreign enemies and by traitors at home. Now, more than ever, I need men and women like you to take up the banner for me. You will profess yourself, I hope, still a good servant of king and country.’
‘I will, Your Majesty. I am.’ The words were drawn from her like magic as she looked on his beauty. She had no free will in making them.
‘Of course you are. I need to build an army, Emily – an army that will claw at the innards of the Denlanders even as they try to digest us. I have been up and down the land setting fires, since the defeat at the Couchant. I have inflamed the hearts of men and women, and recalled them to their duty. Now I am come to Chalcaster – and to you.’
‘The Denlanders know you are here, Your Majesty.’ Provost Gottred’s visit now made sudden sense. Doctor Lam had clearly been following rumours of the King, plotting his course from one step ahead, as always.
‘Let them know, and let them fear it. I shall be gone on my way before they can gather their strength. I have escaped from them before. The Crown is sacrosanct. The filthy republicans shall not touch it.’
The word ‘republicans touched a raw nerve in Emily. She was reminded, for a brief moment, of her talks with Doctor Lam, as his prisoner: his words about the causes of the war. Before the radiance of the King it seemed mean and unimportant, and yet she clung to it.
‘You have met some of my lieutenants, Emily, some of my soldiers. There are many still loyal, willing to take up arms against the enemy.’ The King beamed as his gesture took in the ragged dozen gathered about the fire.
‘I have met them, Your Majesty. Some I have even met before now.’
‘Excellent.’
She took a breath. ‘It is not excellent, Your Majesty.’
His smile broadened. ‘Come now, Emily. It is rather early for you to be quarrelling with your comrades, is it not?’
‘This man I know.’ Her finger picked out Griff. ‘He rode with the Ghyer and avoided the draft. He preyed on those whose menfolk were at the war front. And how many others here are bandits,