the edge of the crowd, a hand grabbed him.
'Are you trying to avoid me, Thomas?' Alyssa asked.
'I'm so sorry,' Winterburne said, as he looked at her, 'but not now. Stay with Cromwell and you will be safe.' He took the woman’s hand from his arm and carried on moving.
Up ahead of him was the dais, with its two thrones, and in the left seat sat the Empress watching the dancers. There was no sign of either Frederick or the Lord Chamberlain. He reached the bottom of the steps and was duly intercepted by two of the guards that had been watching him as he broke from the crowd.
'Thank you,' Kateryn said, holding up her hand to the men, 'but I am perfectly safe.' They looked at each other, and then accepting her words, melted back to their positions.
Cromwell, tailed by Alyssa, had followed Winterburne and they looked awestruck as the Captain addressed Kateryn.
'Your Highness,' Winterburne said, 'where is the Emperor?'
Kateryn gave him a blank look as she saw the concern in his face. 'My Lord Courtenay wished to discuss an urgent, private, matter with my husband, Captain.' She looked at Cromwell and then back to Winterburne.
'Where did they go?'
Kateryn was speechless, and she stared blankly back at Winterburne.
'Quickly!' he said. 'Frederick's life depends on it!'
Kateryn pointed to a door behind the dais. A black curtain had been hung on a brass rail to cover it, but it had been pulled to one side. 'They went to his private office,' she said.
'Wait here, Milo,' Winterburne said. 'Ensure that the Empress is safe.' He ran towards the door, but then stopped, turning back to the Lieutenant. 'And look after Alyssa,' he added. Winterburne gestured to one of the guards at the side of the chamber, as he ran towards to door. 'Come with me,' he said, 'the Emperor is in danger.'
The two men ran towards the wooden door and Winterburne turned the brass handle, but it had been locked from the other side. He stood back and kicked at the door with the sole of his foot, but it held fast. He tried again, and this time it broke open, swinging inwards, the handle crashing against the side wall in the narrow corridor beyond.
'There goes any element of surprise,' Winterburne said.
They pressed on, the soldier following behind and he had to lower his halberd so that he could get it through the narrow passageway. Up ahead, Winterburne met two doors, one off to the right and one straight ahead at the end of the corridor. The door on the right was open, and Winterburne ducked his head around the corner. It was empty, apart from a table and two chairs. They ran on to the end of the corridor.
'What’s on the other side of this door?' Winterburne asked, turning to look back at the soldier.
'Another corridor, Sir,' replied the man. 'It leads along to the right. The Emperor’s office is at the end.'
Winterburne turned the handle and pushed the door. The hinge squeaked as it swung open, and he peered out into the corridor. The layout was just as the soldier had described, but laying on the floor on the other side of the corridor was the body of a guard.
Winterburne knelt beside the body. 'Courtenay must have caught him unaware.' He felt for a pulse at the neck. A pool of blood had spread out across the floor. It looked fresh. 'Too late.' he said, as he looked up into the eyes of the guard.
The soldier stepped past Winterburne and held his halberd in a defensive position as he approached the door leading to the Emperor's office. The man pressed his ear against the door for a moment. 'Take care,' he said, stepping away from the door, 'they’re in there.'
'Is there another way out of the room?'
'Yes, Sir,' the soldier nodded. 'It leads to a back corridor and follows around to the rear of the Palace. It's there for the Emperor to get out quickly if he ever needed to. It will be guarded at the far end.'
Winterburne guessed that this was how Frederick came and went at night without being detected by the Palace staff. He reached down and slowly turned the handle, opening the door by no more than the tiniest crack. The volume of the voices increased a little although he could not quite hear what was being said. At least, he thought, the Emperor was still alive.
He pushed on the door and it opened wide. The room was a fair size with a desk on the far wall and windows high up to allow in the light during the day. On the opposite wall was the other exit. The Emperor stood by the desk, and Courtenay held a dagger in his left hand. In his right he held a small single-handed crossbow and it was pointed directly at Frederick.
Courtenay jumped as Winterburne entered the room and he spun around to face him, his eyes widening as he saw the two men. 'Take care, Captain,' he said, continuing to point the weapon at Frederick. 'I'd have no hesitation in using this.'
The soldier followed Winterburne into the room, his halberd pointing at the Chamberlain. He edged towards Courtenay.
'I wouldn’t if I were you,' Courtenay said. 'Step back, or I will kill him.'
The soldier raised his weapon and took a step back towards the wall.
'Sensible man,' Courtenay said. 'Be calm and I might just decide to let you live.'
Winterburne could hardly believe what he saw before him. The most trusted man in the Empire was holding the Emperor at knife point. 'Lord Courtenay,' he said, 'what is the meaning of all this?'
Courtenay laughed, shaking his head. 'You really don't have any idea what is going on here do you, Captain.' He looked over at the Emperor, still chuckling to himself. 'It seems to me that your Commander Martell summed up this man rather well.'
'How could any of us have known that you were the traitor, Lord Courtenay?' Frederick said.
'A traitor?' Courtenay said, still with the same sly smirk on his face. 'I think you have misjudged me. I have been doing my duty, all this time. To my country. The Commonwealth.'
'That cannot be so,' Frederick replied. 'You must be a citizen of the Empire or else you would not have been eligible for higher office.'
'I may have been born within the boundaries of New Brunswick,' Courtenay answered, 'but I am no more a citizen of the Empire than is the Queen herself.' His face contorted into a grimace of disgust. 'The Empire stole my homeland from its rightful sovereignty, and I mean to see that it is returned.'
'So, finally,' Frederick said, 'it starts to make sense. And to think that my father trusted you for all those years.'
'Your father was a fool.' Courtenay stepped to one side, manoeuvring himself closer to the exit on the back wall. 'He did trust me. Completely. But look what it cost him.'
Frederick looked puzzled at Courtenay’s words.
'Of course, you didn’t realise did you?' Courtenay grinned. 'No one knew. Even the apothecaries thought that your father had a wasting disease, a sickness that went on and on, making him weaker and weaker. But I can see it in your face,' he said, 'you still haven't worked it out, have you?' He laughed again. 'I poisoned him.'
Frederick's face displayed the shock that he felt. It showed the realisation that Courtenay's treachery had run much deeper than any of them had at first thought.
'Not all at once, though,' Courtenay said, 'just a little at a time.' He motioned with his dagger, as if he held a bottle in his hand, and he tipped it, point first towards an imaginary cup. 'Drip...Drip...Drip,' he said, and laughed again. 'Can you remember, Your Highness, at the end, when you fed him? When you gave him water? Can you? I'm sure you must be able to. I know I can.' He looked across at Winterburne. 'It was all very touching, Captain, if only you could have been there. I almost cried with the emotion of it all. Almost,' he added, 'but not quite.' Courtenay's eyes seemed to mist over as he evidently thought back to the day. 'You didn't even know that you were feeding him the very poison that was killing him.' Courtenay smiled. 'Oh, dear,' he said, wiping non-existent tears from his eyes, 'such delicious irony.' He smacked his lips together.
Courtenay, in his enjoyment of the moment, had lowered his weapon and the soldier ran at him, pointing his halberd at the Chamberlain’s head as he charged. Courtenay’s arm moved swiftly. With a direct
purpose of motion, he re-pointed the crossbow at the soldier, pulling the trigger. The strings made a dull thud as the bolt was released.
A fraction of a second later the soldier cried out and fell to the ground with the bolt lodged deeply through his leg. He had released his halberd and it continued forward in an arc for a few feet, powered by its own momentum, until it clattered to the ground, sliding in the direction of the Chamberlain. Courtenay kicked it to one side as it reached him. 'I told you to stay calm,' he said, looking down at the soldier as he lay on the floor, immobilised. Courtenay threw down the weapon, its ammunition now spent.
'Why did you kill my father?' Frederick asked. 'What had he done to deserve such a death?'
Courtenay returned his gaze to the Emperor, and a sneer crossed his face. 'He wouldn't even talk about repatriation.' A look of pure hatred had entered his eyes.
'I don't understand.'
'New Brunswick belongs to the Commonwealth,' Courtenay said. 'It is time for it to be returned to its true heritage. Not as some dingy backwater at the ass-hole end of the Empire, but the Pearl of the Queen, just as in the old days.'
'The Emperor cannot just simply hand over a province, Courtenay,' Winterburne said. 'What about what the people want? Let alone betraying the history, and the culture?'
Courtenay continued to sneer. 'What do the people know of such things? As long as their bellies are full, and their children safe in their beds, they will dance their dance to the tune of any piper that plays for them.' He looked over at Frederick. 'Your father wasn't interested in even discussing it.' A wistful look crossed his face as he evidently thought back to those days. 'So, I decided that it was time to change the balance of power somewhat. I wondered whether perhaps his heir might be more amenable to the thought. Perhaps he might be more malleable.'
'Never!' Frederick replied. 'I would never entertain such an idea. New Brunswick is, and always will be for as long as I live, a Province of the Empire.'
Courtenay chuckled. 'Be careful what you wish for, Your Highness, for you may not actually live very much longer.'
He took another step away from Frederick, edging towards the door a little more. 'And therein lies the reason for our gathering this evening, gentlemen,' Courtenay continued. 'The Emperor would not give way, so then I wondered whether the Queen may be a little more co-operative. But, much to my disappointment my efforts to provoke her to war have, so far at least, failed to stimulate action and she has proven to be more tolerant than I had hoped.'
'I have sent word to Ysabel that there is a traitor,' Frederick said. 'That plan will never work now.'
'Perhaps,' Courtenay replied, 'but one should always make contingency plans, Your Highness.'
'What is that supposed to mean, Courtenay?' Winterburne asked.
'Oh, no, Captain, never reveal all your cards, surely you must know that.'
Winterburne took a step closer to Courtenay. 'But the least that you could tell us is why the girl had to die. She was young and had her whole life to look forward to. Her family deserves some explanation.' It occurred to him that if he could distract the Lord Chamberlain, then perhaps another way to stop him may become apparent.
'She got in my way,' Courtenay said. 'I don't appreciate it when people get in my way.' He stepped back, restoring the space between himself and Winterburne. 'It was most unfortunate that she overheard us in the Palace Gardens. I sent Fenton after her. So you could say that she became a victim of war.'
'My Lieutenant said that you told him Allington went out for air during the Governor's meeting,' Winterburne said. 'We thought him a suspect.'
'I knew you would,' Courtenay smiled, 'you're predictable, you see. He did go out, but he was only gone for a few minutes. I watched him come back. I lied about that, too. I've lied about rather a great