off in the direction that Winterburne had indicated.
As Winterburne rounded the corner, he could clearly see the robed figure of the man. He was about the same height as himself and the cowl of his hood had been pulled up to hide the entirety of his face.
The upper floors of the three storey houses overhung the narrow streets and the figure crossed the cobbles in a clear attempt to try to take advantage of the additional darkness that clung to the far side. The man glanced behind him.
'Damn!' Winterburne said out loud, as he realised that the man had looked straight at him. He quickened his pace a little in an attempt to see how the man responded to being followed. Sure enough, his target glanced behind him again and increased his pace also.
Winterburne knew these streets well and remembered that there was an alley up ahead that he could use to outflank the man, assuming of course that the man did not also know of its existence. He reached the darkened entrance and ducked inside, breaking into a run. The buckles on his uniform rattled as he jogged, threatening to give him away, but nevertheless he quickly covered the ground to the end of the passage. The street lay beyond and he stopped and waited, close to the exit, pressing his back to the wall. Faint footsteps grew louder as the man approached along the street.
Winterburne stepped out of the alleyway, directly into the path of the man, and grabbed his shoulders to prevent him from turning and running in the opposite direction.
'That’s far enough, my friend,' he said, tightening his grip with his left hand. He placed his his right hand onto the handle of his sword. 'Take down your hood. I mean to see who I am talking to.'
'I am no threat to you, Captain,' the man said.
Winterburne wondered what it was about the man's voice that made it sound somehow familiar to him, but he met many hundreds of people in the course of a week, so perhaps he was mistaken. 'What is your name, and why are you creeping about like a common criminal?'
'You can call me Vaughan,' the man replied, 'and as for my business, Captain, well that's my own.'
'Don't be a smart ass,' Winterburne said. 'This is a Watch matter now, and if you know what's good for you you'll answer my question.'
The man sighed loudly. 'I'm seeking information,' he said
'What kind of information?' Winterburne tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword and readied himself for a confrontation. 'Show your face!'
The man reached up and paused, holding the brim of his hood. With a sense of purpose, he pulled the hood back to reveal a face that was immediately recognisable to Winterburne. Wide-eyed and shocked, he released the man and took a step backwards.
'Your Highness!' Winterburne said, as he released his hand from the hilt of his sword. 'What in heavens name are you doing here?'
Frederick smirked. 'I like to get out, Captain,' he said. 'And this is the first chance I've had since I got back.'
Still stunned, Winterburne looked around him, but the streets were empty, and quiet.
'I like to have a look around now and then,' Frederick said, 'just to see how things are.' He still had the same look of satisfaction on his face, and he seemed to be relishing the effect he had had on Winterburne. 'To be honest,' he added, 'I like to find out what the people really think of me. You would be surprised at how many of my ideas come from the people of these very streets.'
'That figures,' Winterburne said. 'I always wondered how you sometimes manage to sense the mood in the city so quickly, especially when it tends to change quicker than the wind.'
Winterburne’s heart was still racing and he was uneasy in the knowledge that the Emperor, of all people, was moving about the city unprotected and in such an unconventional manner.
'Or perhaps,' Frederick said, 'you think I should rely only on my advisers to tell me the truth all the time?'
'You cannot mean that they lie to you, Sire? Surely you must be able to get hold of reliable reports and news from your informants around the city.'
'Yes, of course,' Frederick replied, smirking, 'but you have to admit that this is much more fun.'
'It does my heart no good, Your Highness.'
'What would you have me do? Sit inside an ivory tower, disconnected from the very people that I exist to server? No, Captain, that is not the kind of life I want to live.'
There was a simple logic to what Frederick had said but nonetheless the strangeness of the situation made Winterburne feel uncomfortable. 'And the Empress?' he asked. 'How does she feel about this?'
'I would imagine that if she knew then she would not approve.'
'You mean she doesn't know?'
Frederick still smirked, and he looked down at his feet.
Winterburne was reminded of a naughty boy caught with his fingers in the biscuit jar. 'Surely,' he said, 'if you wish to do this then you could simply declare it as your wish, and then she would not question you?'
'Oh, really?' Frederick chuckled as he reached up and ruffled his hair, messy now after being under the hood. 'Clearly, Captain, you have never been married.'
Winterburne had met the Emperor many times in the course of his duties, but to do so in this environment was an unexpected experience for him. In all honesty, despite everything, he found the relaxed air that the man projected refreshing. It was very different from the formality of their meetings in the Palace.
'Honestly, though,' he said, glancing around him to look up and down the street again, 'I wish you would not walk around my city in such a way. It makes me nervous.'
'Your city!' Frederick laughed. He reached forward to rest his right hand on the Captain’s shoulder. 'And there was me somehow thinking that it was I who was the Emperor.'
Winterburne felt himself blush. Perhaps he had spoken a little out of turn, but his meaning was sincere. 'Sire, with the greatest respect, you are, what I would call, a security risk.'
'Captain Winterburne, your concern is extremely reassuring to me, but I can promise you I am in no danger here.' Keeping his eyes on Winterburne, the Emperor stepped onto the cobblestones of the street and as he did so he held his right hand above his head pointing to the sky. He circled it several times.
Out of the corner of his eye, Winterburne could see some movement and he flashed a look across the street to the source, no more than fifty yards away where two of the buildings formed a inner corner, deep in shadow. A soldier wearing dark leather armour, and with his face painted black, stepped from the depths into the moonlight. His hand held the pommel of his sword in what was obviously meant to be a half threat. On the roof of the same building, another stood up and silhouetted himself against the sky. The outline of the man suggested to Winterburne that he had aimed an arrow directly at him.
'There are three more around here too,' Frederick said, 'somewhere. All are sworn men and they would die for me this instant, Captain, if it was my bidding.' He crossed his arms and a look of satisfaction crossed his face. 'So I would ask you, who is it that is in danger?'
'That's checkmate, if I'm very much not mistaken,' muttered Winterburne, under his breath, as he realised that he had been completely outsmarted.
Frederick laughed. 'I apologise, Captain,' he said, as he waved to the two guards to stand down, 'but may I say that I did enjoy that.'
Winterburne looked up into the eyes of his Emperor, and smiled with a nod that acknowledged he knew when another had won the game. 'Sire,' he said, 'may I ask why you referred to yourself as ''Vaughan''?'
'Ah yes, Vaughan.' Frederick said. 'I am Vaughan.' He gestured theatrically and bowed with a flourish. 'He is merely a creation of mine that allows me to get out of the Palace almost whenever I would like, engagements permitting, of course. Vaughan is able to see things, go to places, and talk to people that the Emperor Frederick would never be able to. Vaughan likes to sup a tankard of ale in the inn, as it tastes so much better than Frederick can get at the Palace. But most of all, Captain, Vaughan is useful.' Frederick smiled at Winterburne, pulling his hood over his head to hide his face once more. 'Well, Captain,' he added
, 'can I assume that I am now free to go home to my warm bed, and my warm wife?'
'I don't believe that I actually arrested you, Sire,' Winterburne chuckled. 'And despite how suspicious it looks, there is no law that forbids a man from walking around the city at night with a hood over his head.'
'Quite right,' Frederick replied. 'Very well then, Captain. Until next time,' he said, and set off in the direction of Imperial Square.
A moment later the robed figure, and his retinue, had vanished into the shadows. Winterburne raised his eyebrows, and puffed out his cheeks as he exhaled a long breath. 'What on earth was that all about,' he said, scratching his head.
He was still standing in the middle of the street when he heard Cromwell's footsteps approaching from behind him. 'Well, Lieutenant,' he said, without looking over his shoulder as the man reached him. He was still looking in the direction in which the Emperor had disappeared. 'Did you find our assassin?'
'No, Sir.'
'A pity,' Winterburne said. 'Neither did I.'
oOo
The Ship’s Master stood alone on the deck of the cog and rubbed his hands together, warming them over the glowing coals of a burning brazier. Even though spring had arrived, the nights could still grow cold and he appreciated the comfort that the red glow provided. It seemed to be the only blessing he had this night as he suffered the loneliness of his turn as Officer of the Watch. He felt it important to take a shift on deck and had always found that it engendered a higher level of loyalty in his men. Not that he minded; his best thinking was often done during these times.
The dock was still and quiet as he looked out over the railings towards the blackness of the city. The occasional lighted window broke up the blanket of night, but even now their number decreased one-by-one as the inhabitants turned to their beds.
Far away, a dog barked. It set off a series of similar replies that crossed the capital in a wave, only subsiding into the silence of the night as it broke onto the distant shore of the other side of the city.
It struck him how much he hated Highport, and the whole Empire reeked of old age.
He reached inside his tunic and pulled out the envelope that he had been instructed to open on this night. He ran his thumb beneath the flap and the seal popped open. The sheet of heavy parchment crinkled as he pulled it free and he threw the envelope onto the coals. It blackened around the edges for a moment before bursting into flame, burning brightly for a few seconds. He breathed deeply as the smell reached his nostrils. A leaf of ash rose on the hot air before being taken by the breeze, floating away into the darkness.
Laughter filtered up from below deck and he looked over at the doors that led down to the hold. He waited for a moment to see if anyone came through them, then, when he was sure they would not, he brought his attention back to the paper. The sheet rustled as he unfolded it and he held it on an angle, allowing the light from the fire to help him distinguish the characters. The writer of the words was instantly recognisable to him by the shapes of the letters, and the flow of the words.
''Make preparations to depart on Emperor’s Feast Day. Await further orders, but expect to leave at short notice.
Long live the Queen.''
So. This was the signal, then. Long live the Queen, indeed.
He raised his eyes from the paper, folding it back along its creases, before laying it on the coals. Like its envelope before it, the parchment caught alight, the flame spreading swiftly up the length of the sheet. The Master watched as the blaze grew to its maximum and then died down again, leaving a blackened ember with glowing orange edges. He pulled his tunic tight around him to keep out the worst of the cold.
Still, he thought, at least he still had the fire to keep him warm.
oOo
Aside