In total it took over thirty minutes for the entire building to melt away, for it was a gigantic edifice and not even the city could reabsorb its mass any quicker. During that time, the constable teams Edeard asked for arrived in the square and formed a circle five men deep around the vanishing mansion.

Captain Ronark was among them. He saluted the Waterwalker, as did the sergeants. They listened to his simple orders before organizing their men as he wanted.

At the end, when the last stubs of the wall washed away, the area where the mansion had stood was reduced to a small lake of dust. It turned solid as rock. Piled up on it was a mound of smashed furniture, and clothes and curtains and carpets and linen, books and bottles of wine, broken crockery, bent cutlery — all the glittery detritus that any incredibly wealthy family would accumulate over two millennia. Ranged around that were the survivors; sullen and resentful, but most of all fearful of the Waterwalker and his power. They glowered as Edeard addressed them, but none dared to interrupt or argue.

'If you are a Diroal or one of those I named, you will hand over your weapons to the constables, he told them. 'And you will walk from here to the North Gate. The constables will escort you, and safeguard your passage. You may take with you whatever you can carry, and no more. Everyone else is free to go.

Captain Ronark headed the motley procession, square-shouldered and glowing with pride, taking them down Jankal Lane.

'I'll join you in a moment, Edeard told him, and walked over the square to Burfol Street. The regiment was still floating gently between the buildings. Several dozen had managed to cling to the vines, where they hung trembling. No matter how hard they clutched the fronds, their stomachs still insisted they were falling. The air was filled with little globules of tacky fluid. Edeard wrinkled his nose as he approached. The smell was truly awful.

His third hand drew Captain Larose to the front of the falling zone the city had created for him.

'I don't have orders for you, because I am not the Mayor, Edeard said as he looked up at the miserable man in his appallingly stained uniform. 'However, I would like to suggest that the regiment help the victims of this day. Do you find that suggestion sensible, Captain?

'Yes, the captain whispered.

'Thank you. My pardon for any discomfort. Please, all of you, engage your safety catches; nobody wants an accident now.

The regiment sank slowly down to the ground.

Edeard joined the line of constables on escort duty. The ones he fell in with were from Fiacre station; they welcomed him with muted smiles, trying not to appear too triumphal, but their thoughts were so bright it was hard to disguise. His farsight showed him Kristabel arriving in Mid Pool. She was on a family gondola, with Acena, their old doctor. Behind her was a procession of thirty gondolas, each with a couple of doctors, and several novices.

'The militia will be with you in a while, Edeard told her. 'They'll help you aid the victims. Try and ignore the smell.

'I'm not sure I want their help, she replied tartly.

'No recriminations, my love. We all have to live together after this.

'Yes. Of course.

'Can you talk to your father for me? I'd like a ship loaded with food and blankets to sail north this afternoon. It can anchor just offshore and supply the exiles with enough to get them through the next few days. We can't just fling them out with nothing. There are children going with them.

'There are times, Edeard, when it's really hard to live up to your standards of decency, but there isn't a day goes by when I don't thank the Lady you have those standards. I'll talk to Daddy right away.

As Edeard and the banished made their way across Sampalok, small groups of constables guided other people to join them: the men who had exclusion warrants issued against them. Sometimes their wives and children were with them, sometimes they came alone. As they walked onwards Edeard felt the continued intangible pressure of farsight pressing down on the morose column of unfortunates. He could feel the unconscious question brewing within the city's residents: what next? It was a question he was a little vague on himself.

'I need some advice, sir, he said to Finitan.

'I think all of us are redundant now, aren't we? the Grand Master replied.

'That's the thing, I can't be seen as some kind of emperor standing outside the Council. All of us have to work within the framework of the law, otherwise it becomes an irrelevance, and people can't live without the order it brings. That's what today was about, restoring order. We can't lose now. People have died.

'I know. Even until the last minute, I thought Owain would pull back. If you are willing to accept the constraints of the law then it should be possible to start afresh. Not that it will be easy. However, once people have time to reflect, and with some encouragement, they should be able to see that you were acting for the best. We just have to have a strategy that can take us up to the election. That is when you and I both will face the ultimate judgement.

'I know that. I have some ideas.

'Very well, my boy, let's hear them.

Kanseen, Dinlay and Macsen were on the Cloud Canal bridge, sitting together on one of its twisty pillars. They'd spread their jackets on the next pillar to dry in the bright sunlight. Kanseen's wet hair clung to her scalp like a bad beret. Her knuckles were grazed and muddy. Dinlay was trying to clean the one intact lens left in his glasses. Not that it mattered much, one eye was so badly swollen he could barely see through it. His lip was split, and still dribbling blood. He'd taken his boots off, so that his left ankle could be bound in a thick bandage. Macsen's nose was broken. Two small wads of tissue were jammed up each nostril, scarlet with blood. His jacket was missing, and his shirt under the drosilk waistcoat was ripped, revealing a lot of scratches and bruises on his arms.

They didn't get up as Edeard approached, they just sat their watching him in silence. He stopped in front of them. 'Don't tell me, he said. 'I should see the other fellows.

Kanseen sneered. 'If there was anything left of them.

'You stood by me, he told them. 'You believed in me. You took on Eustace's idiots so I could get through.

Macsen turned to Dinlay and grinned. 'Eustace's idiots. Good name for that platoon.

'We can probably get it made official, Dinlay conceded. He eased himself off the short pillar, wincing at the movement as he put some weight on his sprained ankle. 'Come here.

Edeard embraced him, unbelievably happy that no harm had befallen his surviving friends — well, nothing permanent. Then Kanseen stepped into his outheld arms. Finally Macsen gave him a hug.

'Ouch!

'You all right? Edeard asked anxiously.

'He might be a complete tit, Macsen's index finger probed his nose gingerly. 'But he knows how to fight dirty, I'll give him that. .

'So, Dinlay said. 'We get to stay constables.

Edeard gave Macsen and Kanseen a mildly guilty look. 'For the moment, yes. You going to help me with this escort duty?

Dinlay gave his bandaged ankle an annoyed look. 'I don't think I can make it all the way to North Gate.

'The doctors will be here soon, Edeard assured him. 'How about you two?

'Bloody Honious, it's all go with you, isn't it?

The march over High Moat was swift enough. By the time Ronark reached North Gate, Edeard counted nearly eight hundred people in the column. He hated that so many women and children were being taken along, but there was nothing he could do about that, not now. It was always going to be like this.

The road on both sides of the giant gate was deserted. Edeard and the constables stopped at the crystal wall. Bise, who was at the head of the column, paused at the giant archway through the wall.