I shook my head and he turned back to his men. ‘That’s not all, is it?’
‘The Skythes approach from the northeast, General. Further away than the Turasi, and a smaller force, but every one of them mounted.’
As Sidonius cursed under his breath, Roshi plucked at my elbow, her eyes wide, the whites bright with worry. ‘Tilde,’ she said, a strangely timorous note in her voice. ‘Those are my people – and yours.’
I said nothing – words seemed superfluous – but reached for her hand instead.
She shook me away. ‘They’re coming because of you.’
‘They’re coming because Dieter called them,’ I said.
‘Because he’s your husband.’
Stubbornness set my chin. ‘They treated him as my husband even after I tried to point out I had no choice but to marry him. They chose to support him then, they can support him now. I don’t figure into it.’
She grabbed my arm, stopping me from turning away. ‘They don’t know he’s not your husband anymore,’ She hissed.
‘A binding is eternal, Roshi. He’s still my husband,’ I protested. Then a new and uncomfortable idea occurred to me: ‘Do you mean to say your people can … can …’ I sought for a word. ‘Unbind?’
‘You’re allied against him, Tilde, and sending men in to kill him –’
‘Not kill.’ Not right away, at least, I thought, remembering Achim’s purpose.
‘If they knew your alliance, they’d not send him aid,’ Roshi insisted.
‘Their inattentiveness isn’t my concern.’
‘They’ll die,’ she whispered, fear tightening her cheeks and pinching at her eyes. ‘You can stop it.’
I shook my head. ‘How? I’ve no way to get a message to them. Unless you mean me to ride out and meet them? Actually, that’s not a bad idea. We could turn them to our aid. I’m sure Sidonius would –’
‘No!’
Her cry drew other eyes, but she stared them down before turning back to me. ‘Ilthea doesn’t ally. Sell your Turasi if you want, they’re used to masters and lords and orders. My people will die, starving for the sky.’
‘You’re being melodramatic,’ I said. ‘Stone roofs didn’t kill you. Besides, I don’t know what you think I can do. If you don’t want me to ally them with Sidonius, he’ll see them as a threat.’
‘Tell him about the bolthole,’ she said.
I shook my head, drew back a step. ‘No!’
‘Damn you, matilde!’ she hissed. ‘Would you pick a side and stick with it? You’ve allied with this Sidonius, stop hampering him.’
‘I’ve picked a side,’ I replied coldly. ‘Mine.’
‘And it’ll get us all killed, stuck between Dieter’s walls and my people’s spears!’ she cried, squaring her shoulders and setting her jaw, determined. ‘If you don’t tell him I will. This conflict is yours. I’ll not let it draw my people to their deaths.’
Stubborn as I was, I didn’t want to see more bloodshed either. That had been one of the reasons for allying with Sidonius in the first place, so I relented. As it turned out Sidonius refused me the courtesy of privacy when I asked to speak to him alone, though he did at least gesture to his men to move away, though they didn’t draw out of earshot.
When I told him of the bolthole, and the precise location where it breached ground, he closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.
‘You didn’t think to mention this before because …?’ he asked, his eyes still closed and his voice tightly controlled.
‘It didn’t occur to me,’ I said, the transparency of the lie making my voice weak.
Giving me a contemptuous glare, he summoned his men back. ‘The lady has miraculously remembered a bolthole. I’ll organise a force to take the tunnel and break in, then we’ll overrun them from the inside. Give us two hours’ – this with a glance at me to ensure the time would be adequate – ‘Then bring out the scaling ladders and the battering ram to distract them. Given his injuries, it isn’t likely that Achim will have finished the ramp by then, so we’ll open the gates for you –’
‘Easier said than done,’ I interrupted. Why couldn’t I keep my mouth shut? ‘The passage leads to the stables. The main gates are courtyards away from there.’
‘It’s a good thing we’ll have you to guide us, then.’
‘Me?’
‘You,’ he said. ‘You’ll forgive my lack of trust, I’m sure, but I’m not sending my men into a bolthole you’ve conveniently forgotten until now without insurance. I can’t think of a better safeguard than sending you into the dragon’s maw with them.
‘Oh, and in case that’s what you were