Everybody looked up as I entered and silence descended over the benches filled with journalists and their a.s.sistants, saddle-sore in crumpled clothes.

Frost was sitting on a bench by the front wall, facing them. She fiddled with her river pearl wedding ring, her only jewellery, but she looked meditative rather than nervous; she was probably pa.s.sing time by working out equations in her head.

A number of architects and engineers sat on the furthest benches. Many were women, watching their role model with expressions of adulation, fountain pens poised to scribble on sheaves of paper on their knees. I scanned the room for familiar faces, thinking: I'll watch out for the Morenzians, they tend to be the least respectfulbut I spotted Kestrel Altergate, the exception to the rule.

Frost had taped a schematic drawing of the dam to the chimney breast. I stood in front of it and addressed the audience. 'Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Slake Cross, representatives of the governors and of the press. I know you've made many days' journey and I apologise that the lodgings we have to offer are of necessity fairly basic.

'Tonight is the centenary of the battle of Slake Cross. On this very night, one hundred years ago, thousands of Insects emerged from the cave system under the river, into the middle of a vanguard camp of five battalions. Only thirty mortals survived, all archers who showed incredible courage.

'I was there, and can never forget, but even for those who were not, the date is charged with meaning. We were forced to retreat in this part of the valley. Here and only here, for the first time since the foundations of Lowespa.s.s Fortress were laid in the year ten-oh-nine, the Insects extended their Wall on the south side of Oriole River. It is our vulnerable spot. For exactly a century the Castle has been striving to push the Wall back and reclaim our land. A hundred years andby G.o.dit seems like a long time!'

I waited until the journalists' polite laughter had subsided and then I opened my wing towards Frost. 'The Circle's Architect has taken five years to design and build the dam, the largest construction ever. It is truly the wonder of the modern world.

'Insects may be instinctive architects but they had to run when the river began to expand. I watched from the air, I saw them drowning, curling and twisting. Now, next week we will drain the lake and you are all invited to witness the prodigious sight. It'll be the biggest waterfall you can possibly imagine.'

My enthusiasm made them sit up. I was very excited at the prospect of seeing millions of tonnes of water spurting into the river. 'As the lake level drops, the Insect buildings will gradually emerge, slick and slimy.

'All the immortals will lead the fyrd to secure two hundred square kilometres of land and the north bank of the river. We have battalions already drawn up from coastal Awiathat is to say, the manors of Tanager, Peregrine and Wroughtand Lakeland Awia, the manors of Micawater and Rachiswater. I have also requested battalions from Hacilith and Eske, so you see the Empire's other capitals are partic.i.p.ating with good will.'

Kestrel Altergate, on the first row, tried to interrupt me, 'Comet'

I raised a hand, 'Please wait and I'll take questions at the end. I'd like to hand you over to Frost, who will give some more details of her magnificent achievement.'

I waved her up extravagantly and went to sit down. As we pa.s.sed each other I clapped her shoulder and leant to mutter in her ear, 'Don't bog them down with technicalities.'

Frost stood behind her table, using it as a barrier between her and the audience, speaking over the top of her papers. She smiled, and a lifetime of looking uptight disappeared from her face. She held her hands apart and expanded the distance between them as she expounded her thoughts. 'I have built the dam where the Insect Wall crossed the river. Its wall is two kilometres long and thirty metres high. It holds back a lake twenty kilometres in length. The dam is an embankment, an earth mound with a core of rubble, faced with protective stone. It is an economical constructionthe fyrd are used to building earthworks for our defences and this is no different. It is constructed around piers set into the former river bed.'

Oh G.o.d, I thought; here she goes.

'The headwatersI mean, the lakeis intended to be wide rather than deep to flood the largest possible area. You see, the valley is shallow so the lake spreads out.

'A team of horses will be harnessed to wind a capstan and hoist up the sluice gate. It is so heavy I have used s.h.i.+p's rope for the winch rather than chain, or else the horses won't be able to lift it. However, rope doesn't last for ever in the damp environment and will need to be replaced, so a maintenance shaft accesses the top of the gate.

'The capstan's gears are a new invention and they're fascinating, you see'

I caught Frost's eye. She dropped her notes, picked them up and shuffled them. 'Um. Well...Two hundred million cubic metres of water will be released at a hundred and ten kilometres an hour. The waterfall into the stilling basin and the gabionned and ca.n.a.lised reaches of the river will indeed be impressive.'

I let her drone on while I appraised Kestrel. He was the son of the reeve of Altergate. Kestrel always managed to be the first reporter on the scene of any trouble and he was far too astute a commentator for my liking.

I kept half an ear on Frost's speech but I had heard it all before and my attention began to drift. I speak every one of the Fourlands' six current and seven dead languages but I will never be fluent in Frost's engineering jargon. She once tempted me to learn mathematics by telling me it was a language, but I soon found it was only used to describe things that were really dull. Frost was losing the rest of the audience too. Reporters don't thank you for too much information because newspapers are never more than three printed sheets.

I thought about my place on the Castle's tennis ladder. About ways to avoid Eleonora as much as possible. And about the fact that Frost could actually be rather attractive if she made the effort.

Eleonora strode in, waking me from my reverie. The bra.s.sy firelight starred her shoulder and waist. Lightning was close behind her, sc.r.a.ping his boots. I leapt to my feet and called, 'Please stand for the Queen of Awia!'

She seated herself on the bench beside me, placed her helm on the floor and tucked her 1910 Sword behind her on the seat. She sat with her hand on the fabulous opal hilt of that finely-tempered blade.

Frost waited for the audience to settle, then continued, 'I believe at long last we have a means of winning the war. I am determined not to stop here. The dam will allow us to control the river for decades to come. We can flood adjoining sectors, from which the Insects will also retreat. I can redirect the river and use additional dams to inundate more and more land. Ca.n.a.ls will keep Insects out of cleared areas. Over the next half-millennium we can push them further and further back, until we reclaim the entire Paperlands...Then my work, and the work of the Castle, will be complete...Um...I've finished, I think.'

I said, 'Thank you, Frost. Are there any questions?'

Kestrel raised his hand and shouted over half a dozen other reporters, 'Comet!'

'Yes, Kestrel?'

'A hundred years ago the ground gave way. Am I right?'

'Yes,' I said quietly.

'Why can't it happen again?'

I gestured, allowing Frost to answer. She said, 'No, no. That's not possible. I tested the ground thoroughly and it's solid. The lake has flooded the Insect warren, and the bedding planes and phreatic pa.s.sages in the karst bedrockI mean, the cavesare completely full. Slake Master Cave swallowed twice as much water as I first estimated. I admit the tunnels are big. Really bigwith a breadth the size of the Throne Roombut there are no Insects left underneath us; foam is pouring out of the resurgence to prove it.'

I said, 'They pose no danger to the advancing troops, wouldn't you say, Lightning?'

Lightning stood up. 'The only difficulty I foresee is an attack from further down the valley. Insects have been pressed back into the Paperlands where there is nothing edible left, so they will be ravenous. But with archers and lancers at all sides, I a.s.sure you no Insects will infiltrate our defences nor live to lay a scent trail for the rest.'

Kestrel nodded, and I pointed at another man who had his hand up.

'Smatchet, Hacilith Post,' he said. 'Is it true the Trisians are causing difficulties for the Sailor?'

I said, 'We're not discussing Tris now. We're talking about the dam.'

'I hear Trisians are striking because they don't want to be fyrd or sailors.'

'It must have been days since you ran a story on Mist Fulmer,' I said sarcastically. He was beloved of the gutter press, finding as he did a wh.o.r.e in every port and a port in every wh.o.r.e, and only half of them women.

'Is it true there's a garrison in Capharnaum?'

Kestrel turned to Smatchet and said, 'The Trisians have put a chain across the whole harbour mouth to prevent s.h.i.+ps entering.'

'Really?'

'Absolutely.'

I glared eloquently at both of them. 'The Senate has asked the Castle for a.s.sistance in restoring order and we're complying with Governor Vendace, nothing more. OK?'

Smatchet backed down: 'OK.'

'Any more? Yes, Kestrel?'

'Will draining the dam be safe?'

Frost said, 'Oh, yes. I agree these are immense hydrostatic forces. To novices the interactions between fluctuating pressures would certainly appear frightening. But I will raise the gate very slowly and control the outflow. It will take five days to release a year's acc.u.mulation of water. I wish I could be more accurate but I can't, of course, because the reservoir and tunnels are an irregular shape, so we have conditions of flow under varying head. To put it in context...' She rummaged through the papers on her table and emerged with a sheet covered in a complicated sum. She held it up, then looked frustrated as she realised few people in the room would understand. 'Come and see me afterwards and I'll explain...Well, I'll try to. You can watch the event from a safe distance. It'll be greatair entrainment and bulking'

'White water,' I said.

'Whatever.' Frost shrugged.

I said, 'Not only will it be safe, it'll be a sight you can tell the grandchildren about. Are there any more questions? Yes, Smatchet?'

The Hacilith Post reporter addressed Lightning, 'My lord, our readers would like to know if you are ready to announce a date for your wedding with Governor Swallow Awndyn?'

'That's not our topic!' I said, exasperated.

Lightning answered mildly, 'I think our engagement needs a little more time.'

I said, 'Well, there's your answer. Any more relevant questions?'

Kestrel crossed his legs and nudged his a.s.sistant to keep writing. He said, 'With respect, Comet, is Queen Eleonora making the same mistake as King Dunlin?'

Frost panicked but Eleonora stood up and looked at Kestrel impa.s.sively. I said, 'I don't understand. What do you mean?'

'Well, ten years ago the campaign of King Dunlin Rachiswater tried to breach the Wall and for our pains all we had was the worst swarm of Insects for centuries and a horrendous death toll. Altergate lost every man in its conscriptable generation, so that now the Castle has exempted it from the draft. Tambrine is also exempt from fyrdinge. Awndyn manor is in the enviable position of being able to use its Trisian trade profits to pay scutage rather than raise fyrd. Lowespa.s.s and Summerday are the only two manors where the Castle can appoint a governor, and both have been given to the Queen's lance captains. Their garrisons have been increased because the threat still remains'

'Kestrel' I said.

'But you are proposing to advance into the Paperlands again. What did we gain last time? Nothing! The Wall is still in the same place. Many people think it should be left alone. Don't mess with it. Is your campaign military necessity, or are you rus.h.i.+ng ahead too fast?'

Eleonora took a breath. 'Comet, I will answer the man. The offensive of Dunlin Rachiswater was poorly thought out. His was a campaign of muscle not the mind. The Insects' bodies are so much stronger than ours, we can only beat them with our skills and our brains. Dunlin responded to them rather than outwitting them and it was the downfall of his dynasty. Our current attack in no way compares. We're using our knowledge of the Insects' behaviour rather than our soldiers' lives. We will take ten times more land than he did. Our fresh approach uses the Castle's latest innovationswhich are, dare I say, watertight?and the might of my well-trained and experienced Select. The Emperor approves it.'

She hooked her thumb in her sword belt. 'Insects from here devastated the western reaches of my kingdom; I must protect Plow's precious fields. I will not allow Insects to make paper from Awian feathers and bones.

'I am simply first among the governors of Awia. In a time of emergency I took special care of my people and now that things are returning to normal I have made sure of my governors' support'Lightning nodded in agreement'Awia has always had a stoic att.i.tude. The Tanagers never accept defeat. I have fielded all my Select Fyrd because I know this will improve their families' lives.

'Let me tell you that if we are successful we will no longer need to call up the General Fyrd. There will no longer be a need for a general levy of the whole of the people. I know they resent their sixty days' unpaid service per year, and we are aware of desertions during the harvest and midwinter. Well, from now on they may remain at their proper work.

'There is good news for the Select Fyrd too. Their monthly payments will be raised to five pounds a week and an equipment allowance of twenty pounds a year. Commissions will be renewed as usual on G.o.dsloss day. I expect that the advance will be over by then. At last we have the means to win the war! In future we will look back on this as a momentous date, not because of nineteen twenty-five but twenty twenty-five, when we at last halted the onslaught and took the first step that led to the death of every last Insect!'

Eleonora gave her grand smile. Kestrel and the other journalists were hunched over, scribbling rapidly. None of them, therefore, was free to meet her eye. Their finished pages dropped, leafed down and slipped under the benches.

I said, 'Are there any more questions...No?...Very well. Then on behalf of the Castle I draw this meeting to a close, may it please Your Highness, ladies and gentlemen.' And added informally to the reporters, 'You can get lunch in the pub.'

They still took ten minutes to finish and gather their belongings. The benches sc.r.a.ped on the flagstones and they left the hall. It suddenly seemed very s.p.a.cious. I rested my backside on the table edge, leant back, arms straight and stretched my legs.

The Architect had disappeared in a crowd of excited students in thick fustian jackets. They were asking her questions and surrounded the table to watch while she sketched an answer to one. She extricated herself by giving them as many figures and equations as they could take in and then we all watched them trickle out of the hall with their minds reeling.

CHAPTER 3.

'I think that was successful, if I do say so myself.'

'Red or white?'

'No thanks. I had too much yesterday and I'm still recovering.'

Lightning was now on his second gla.s.s. 'The vintage is not as good as the previous year, but still...'

'Well, a splash of red then, thank you.'

Frost, Eleonora, Lightning and me were celebrating with lunch in the hall. We were together at the head of the table so we could hear the hubbub of the other immortals further down and occasional voices from the tavern across the square as the journalists entertained themselves. Frost rested her notebook on the table beside her. Woe betide anybody who gets between her and its pages when she has an idea.

She neatened her bone-handled cutlery with precision and began to rub a little b.u.t.ter into her chapped hands. 'Thank you, Jant,' she said. 'I couldn't have done it on my own.'

'No more should you. It is Jant's office and I am glad he is pulling his weight for once.'

'Hey, Archer, what are you drinking? That's not like you.' I grinned at him.

Lightning scowled back. 'At least your Messenger service has become more reliable recently.'

Eleonora, at the head of the table, leant to the side as a boy served trout cooked in verjuice. She said, 'Cloud has surpa.s.sed himself, don't you think?'

'It is all right for the front,' said Lightning, who tended to bring good food and a cellar's worth of wine with him. It was his only show of wealth because his clothes were understated, if expensive. You wouldn't know from looking at him that he has millions a year.

Each of Lightning's features taken separately would also seem normal rather than striking, but even if I didn't know he was n.o.ble he would impress me as such; he has that confidence that casts a glow and makes a man the centre of attention, because he knows he ought to be. Give his plain grey eyes an imperious look but make them often p.r.o.ne to be cloaked. Dimple his chin, make his mouth firm, used to command but with a twist of sarcasm. Mark that he not only alternates between being ardent and brooding but sometimes manages to be both at once.

Constant training is the only thing that will make men stick fast in a s.h.i.+eld wall, and Lightning drills the fyrd until they are less terrified of the Insects than they are of his anger. Since he is the Lord Governor of Micawater manor, as well as an Eszai, he boldly shapes the world but he still welcomes the yearly cycle of harvests, hunting seasons and accounts. He takes the world seriously, because he has no imagination. Because he has no imagination, he is a popular novelist.

The Lowespa.s.s wind bl.u.s.tered across the square and howled through the alleys. It never seemed to stop. The Riverworks banner fissled and slapped on the roof.

Frost glanced at me. 'The wind's getting up again.'

I shuddered. I had a sudden vivid image of the soil crumbling over my clothes. I could taste it. I said, 'We're supposed to be celebrating your accomplishment. Don't remind me of the state I was in a hundred years ago.'

Lightning said, 'You survived. Simply take more care next time.'

'Next time?'

'Most of us have been bitten. Tornado has been bitten more times than he can count.'

'Do you remember being picked up?' Eleonora asked me.

'Ha! Of course not.'

'He was in a coma,' Lightning said.

'I was moribund.'

'He lay unconscious for fourteen weeks in the field hospital at Whittorn. Rayne moved him to Rachiswater Infirmary, then to her hospital in the Castle. He stayed there for a year.'

I wrapped a strip of fish around my two-p.r.o.nged fork. 'It was terrible. I'm far too impatient to convalesce in hospital for day after day, with nothing to do but the occasional haemorrhage.'

I had a collapsed lung and pneumoniawhich injured Awians are p.r.o.ne toand a b.l.o.o.d.y great hole in my side. Sepsis led to organ failure but Rayne knew to let me lie dormant until my body recovered itself. When I came round I screamed solidly, high and eerie like a sick infant until she pumped me full of painkillers. I was in shock; it coc.o.o.ned and isolated me from reality. I knew I was very badly hurt but could only lie still and trust her. The thought I might never fly again constantly distressed me; if that broken wing had grounded me permanently I would have been vulnerable to Challengers so I made sure Rayne paid it careful attention. I also suffered from a great sense of failure because the mortals who looked to me to lead them had all been killed. I desperately needed to talk but I kept my silence. It was like being in a dark tunnel that very gradually widened and I began to realise what had actually happened to me. I relived it again and again and I grew to understand it. Then I began to talk about it and I healed more quickly.