‘If we step outside these walls, we will be killed and any non-mage enslaved. I fail to see the purpose of walking into their hands and leaving the College to their mercy,’ said Vilif.

‘One thing we will not be doing is rolling over, let me assure you of that,’ said Kerela.

‘If we fight them, we will lose,’ said Seldane. ‘We can exist here until help arrives.’

‘It’s not going to!’ snapped Kerela, thumping her hand on the table. ‘Do you still not see what should have been obvious right from the start? While the Shroud remains, no one will come to our aid. We have erected an impenetrable barrier. We are safe. No one knows what is happening in here and I tell you something, if I was a Dordovan, I wouldn’t be rushing on to Wesmen swords with no guarantee of help from those I was supposed to be rescuing. Would you?’

There was a knock on the door and Kard entered. He looked harassed, sweat beading his face which was red and vein-shot.

‘Your arrival is most opportune,’ said Kerela. ‘Please, take a drink, sit yourself down and tell us what is happening out there.’

Kard nodded, grateful for a moment’s respite. He unhooked his cloak and draped it over the back of his chair, filled a crystal glass with water and sat down, exhaling loudly. He drained his glass and set it down gently, a more natural colour already returning to his face.

‘I’m too old for this,’ he said. An embryonic chuckle ran around the table.

‘That applies to most of us here,’ said Vilif. The General smiled briefly.

‘All right, we’ve put back the cork for now but I can’t keep it there indefinitely. These people are not our prisoners, they are not disarmed and they outnumber my soldiers two to one, though that is small concern because we will not fight them hand to hand. Not if a decision, the right decision, comes from this room before noon. We have to stop Senedai’s killing.’

‘What would you have us do, General?’ asked Seldane, her tone terse.

‘Remove the Shroud—’

‘And leave us open for slaughter just like that?’ Endorr was incensed.

‘No, young idiot,’ snarled Kard, his demeanour changed suddenly, his voice hard, military. ‘The College Guard of Julatsa will never leave us open for slaughter or these buildings at their mercy. Save your sharp tongue for your spells.’

‘Kard, be calm,’ said Barras, reaching out a hand towards the General. ‘We are all under great pressure.’

Kard nodded and straightened his uniform tunic.

‘A number of events must happen in quick succession if we are to buy the time we need. And much of it falls on the mages in the first instance. If I might make my recommendations without interruption? ’

Kerela smiled. ‘I think we can agree to that.’

‘Good, good.’ Kard shot a sharp glance in the direction of Endorr. ‘It is my belief that the Dordovans are hidden, probably half a day’s ride or more from the city, and also probably in contact with escaped Julatsans. If they aren’t, we’ll fail.

‘After the Shroud is dropped, mages need to complete two tasks the moment the Wesmen raise the alarm as they undoubtedly will. First, Communion to establish contact with anyone who will hear but particularly the Dordovans. We will need them and anyone else who is out there and armed to hit the rear of the Wesmen lines. We may be able to hold them alone for a couple of days, but we may not.

‘Second, I need that bastard moving tower destroyed. I don’t care how it’s done but it’ll provide access as well as vision once the Shroud goes.’ He paused, refilled his glass and drank.

‘My soldiers are ready drilled for their positions and I need your permission to set mage defence around the walls. Lastly, Barras, I need you to speak to Senedai. Tell him we’re going to come out in three days. See if you can delay any more of this senseless death. That’s all.’

‘You want to break out in three days?’ asked Torvis.

‘No, two. But I don’t want the Wesmen ready to receive us. Every moment we buy is precious.’

‘We should drop the Shroud at night, then, when there are fewer of them to see it go,’ said Endorr.

‘Absolutely,’ agreed Kard. ‘I was thinking of the dark before the dawn. Remember, we don’t want to spark trouble in the middle of the night because the Dordovans will be sleeping too. We shouldn’t bring down the tower until the Wesmen realise the Shroud is gone. Again, should that buy us an hour in which to mobilise the Dordovans, it could be critical.’

‘But this doesn’t change the fact that we are surrendering the College,’ said Seldane. Kard turned his head and looked long at her.

‘My Lady, I have no intention of surrendering this College.’

‘So why are we dropping the Shroud for which, I remind you, Deale gave his life?’ demanded Endorr.

‘Because the time has come again to fight for our freedom. And to gamble that help will arrive. And if the times become desperate again, we can bury the Heart. Julatsa will beat life until we can reclaim it,’ said Kard.

‘But surely you don’t believe we can win?’ Endorr’s scepticism was written in a sneer all over his face.

‘Young man, I never start a battle I believe I can’t win. You’ve seen the energy out there. If we channel it right, and if the help outside the city hits the rear of the Wesmen lines, we can win.’

‘Thank you, Kard,’ said Kerela. ‘I suggest that you and Barras speak to Senedai. We will stay here and discuss the division of mages for your tasks.’

As he and Kard walked, under guard, to the North Gate, Barras could feel the tension in the silent College. In the wood and steel tower, which currently stood overlooking the Long Rooms, half a dozen Wesmen leaned on the parapet, monitoring their movement with only passing interest.

‘You should have been a Negotiator, General,’ said Barras, a wry smile on his face. ‘You’re almost as good a liar as I am.’

‘I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.’ Kard fixed his gaze straight ahead but Barras saw the twitching of his lip.

‘Outside these walls, there must be ten thousand heavily armed and focused Wesmen. Inside, we have seven hundred soldiers, a few hundred angry men and fewer than two hundred mages. What do you think I mean?’

‘Actually, with our estimates of their ability to reinforce, there could be as many as twenty thousand Wesmen out there.’

‘And do you really believe the Dordovans are waiting for a sign? Surely they’ll have been recalled once Julatsa fell.’

‘No, I’d say they were still there somewhere. There just aren’t enough of them.’

‘So how long can we hold them off?’ asked Barras.

Kard shrugged. ‘Hard to say. Realistically, perhaps three days but it could be over in one if our spirit crumbles.’

‘But you don’t think we can win?’

Kard laughed, clapped Barras on the back with one hand and pulled open the door to the North Gate tower with the other.

‘I may be old, but I am not senile. I strongly suggest you place your most valuable texts in the Heart prior to burial,’ he said and gestured at the stairs. ‘After you.’

Lords Blackthorne and Gresse arrived at the southern port of Gyernath too late to lend their ramshackle forces of soldiers and farmers to the battle but not to the clear-up. And as Blackthorne directed his men to their tasks, he felt a sense of relief despite the destruction and death all around them.

They had seen the fires while they were still over a day’s march away, an orange glow blooming over the mountains which marked the northern reaches of Gyernath’s boundaries. He and Gresse had feared the worst then, could see the sacking of the port and the routing of her army in their minds’ eyes and with it, the extinguishing of their still embryonic hopes for victory.