Just the wind, Arthur thought.
‘I’ll go out with the truce flag,’ he said. ‘I don’t suppose the Piper will be there … though I guess he can probably use the Improbable Stair too … so maybe he will be …’
Arthur paused for a moment, thinking before he continued.
‘I’ll ask for him. If he’s not there and they’re prepared to talk, it will win us some time. If he is, I’ll try to drag things out as long as I can, to give Dame Primus time to get the reinforcements here.’
I just pray she’s not as slow and bureaucratic as she normally is, thought Arthur. He hoped this doubt did not show on his face.
‘They may simply try to kill you,’ said Marshal Dusk. ‘The Key will protect you to some extent, but we do not know the extent of their Nothing-based sorcery or powers. And the Piper … I know little about him, but he was always rumoured to be a most powerful and unusual sorcerer himself.’
‘When did you last hear about him?’ asked Arthur.
‘We do not pay much attention to what goes on elsewhere in the House or the Secondary Realms,’ Dusk explained. ‘But of course new recruits bring rumours, and letters come from their civilian homes. Now that I think on it, I suppose I have not heard anything of the Piper’s exploits for several hundred years at least.’
‘And now the Piper’s back, apparently from Nothing, with an army of New Nithlings.’
‘With your permission, I will personally choose and lead your bodyguard,’ said Dusk.
Arthur shook his head and pointed down.
‘I’ll go alone. To the middle of the firewash-burned zone there, between those two bastions. You can cover me from there. If too many of them come for me, I’ll back off. But I hope when they see the white flag, they’ll send just one messenger. They are very military … I think they’ll do the right thing.’
‘They are good soldiers,’ Dusk said slowly, as if it were hard for him to say this aloud. ‘Perhaps they will send a herald. But in case they do not … we have a troop of the Horde here, sir. So, again with your permission, I will have them stand ready near the southwest sally port. In the event a rescue is required.’
‘Sure,’ Arthur said. ‘But no one is to do anything unless I give a clear signal or I’m being literally dragged away or attacked. I don’t want everything to go off the rails because someone shoots the herald or something.’
He hesitated, then spoke again.
‘You’d better assign soldiers to watch the Piper’s children too. The Piper might be able to make them do things. I don’t want any of them hurt or locked up or anything. They should be allowed to carry out their duties. Just have them watched, and if they do act strangely, they can be restrained. But not hurt, all right?’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Dusk. ‘Here is Marshal Noon, with the truce flag.’
Noon stomped grumpily out onto the battlements, a staff with a furled white flag in his hand.
‘Thank you, Marshal.’ Arthur felt a bit guilty for sending the Marshal to get a white flag. It was because the Denizen had annoyed him, and he felt ill that he had behaved in such a way. His mother and father would be horrified at his misuse of power. If he wasn’t careful, Arthur thought, he’d not only turn into a Denizen, he’d turn into one like Sir Thursday. ‘I should have sent a junior officer. I apologise.’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Noon stiffly. ‘Do you have further orders, sir?’
‘I want you to take personal charge of the defence of the outer bastions,’ said Arthur. ‘I am going to try to get us time by talking, but it may not work, and the New Nithlings are apparently preparing to attack again.’
Noon looked out over the crenellated wall and back again.
‘Within the hour, I would say,’ he said. ‘At sundown.’
‘I suppose I should change into something more impressive,’ said Arthur. He looked down at his dusty cuirass and the torn and bedraggled uniform underneath it.
‘You hold the Key, and Part Four of the Will of the Architect rides upon your arm,’ said the Will. ‘You need no adornment to proclaim your authority. Now, Lord Arthur, I think that you might find ten minutes to hold a court and try Sir Thursday –’
‘Please stop going on about a trial or whatever for Thursday!’ exclaimed Arthur. ‘I’ve got enough to worry about!’
‘In my experience, if justice needs to be done, it should be done swiftly and visibly,’ protested the Will.
Arthur wasn’t listening. One of the officers around him had idly picked up a lead bullet or a small stone and was throwing it over the wall. Something about its arc made him suddenly wonder if he’d thrown the Skinless Boy’s pocket far enough to land in the Nothing. If it had fallen short, as now seemed all too likely, he would have to try to get that back from the Piper in order to destroy it.