border, even as we stand here. There is no time to waste.'
Alyssa held him tight. 'Just make sure you come back safe to me, My Lord.'
There was something strange about the sound of Alyssa addressing him formally, and he smirked. Winterburne turned his head towards her and kissed her. A faint smell of mint hung on her breath and her lips were soft and gentle as Alyssa responded to him.
Then, Alyssa pulled away. 'Will you do something for me?'
'Anything,' he replied. 'What is it?'
Alyssa looked into Winterburne's eyes and kissed him again.
'Stay with me tonight?' she said.
23
The Twelfth Day of Midsummer,
Imperial Year 2332
Kateryn felt sick with nerves as she thought about the task ahead of her. She had to tell Frederick tonight but he had been preoccupied with state affairs all day and she hadn't seen him since he had left their private chambers that morning. In fact, she remembered, they hadn't shared breakfast together all week. Something was going on, she thought. She didn't know what, but it must be big.
She carried on, almost skipping down the marble stairs towards the Reception Hall, and then across the tiled floor, turning left, onwards towards the side door that led to Frederick's private offices.
As Kateryn walked along the corridor she looked up ahead towards the door to her husband's office, firmly shut to the outside world. It was the door to his own private world, and she rarely went in there. Not that she wasn't welcome, well, at least Frederick always told her she was, it was just that there were so very few places that an Emperor could be truly alone; and this was Frederick's place. He had given her the authority to manage the rest of the Palace as she saw fit, but to exert her power over this part of his realm, well, she just wouldn't dare. Every man needed his den, she thought.
Kateryn rapped on the door, and then waited. There was no response. She pushed her ear against the door to listen for any sounds from inside but she couldn't hear anything. Maybe he wasn't there, she told herself. She waited for a little longer and tapped again, leaning her ear against the wood panel for a second time. The door opened and she almost fell into the room, managing to grab the door frame to steady herself.
'What are you doing down here?' Frederick asked. 'Sneaking around like a thief in the night?'
'A thief in the night! That's nice. I actually came down to...' Kateryn looked up into his face. It looked stern and tense. 'What's wrong?' she asked.
Frederick turned his back on Kateryn and walked back into the room. A chair had been pushed to the side wall and he grabbed the back of it, dragging it towards his desk for her to sit in, she assumed.
'It is alright for me to be down here isn't it?'
'Come in,' Frederick replied, bidding her to enter with a wave.
'I'm not interrupting anything am I?'
'Only my thoughts,' Frederick said, and then bumped down into his chair, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands, 'and God knows they would welcome an interruption right now. Come in.' he said, waving Kateryn into the room, this time with a little more enthusiasm. 'Come and sit down.'
'I haven't seen you all day,' she said, 'and I wanted to speak to you about something important.'
'Something important? What is it?'
'On second thoughts, it can wait for a while,' Kateryn said. But not for much longer, she thought. An awkward silence hung in the air as Kateryn tried to work out how to begin the conversation.
'So,' she said, eventually, 'are you going to tell me what's wrong, or do I have to guess?'
'I might have just ordered two men to their deaths.' Frederick looked up at Kateryn, staring at her.
'Oh,' Kateryn said, a little shocked. 'I see.'
'Two good men that the Empire could well do with.'
She waited, before asking, 'Who are they?'
'Winterburne and Rampton.'
Kateryn was surprised. The two men were certainly two of the brightest prospects that the city had produced in a long time. Winterburne had grown into higher office as if he had been born to it and Rampton seemed to be a good, steady, reliable officer.
Kateryn asked, 'It might help me to understand a little better if you told me what you have asked them to do.'
'I shouldn't tell you.'
'Fine.' Kateryn realised that it must be something important if Frederick wouldn't tell her. But she pushed anyway. 'You can trust me, you know.'
Frederick looked up. 'I know that. I trust you with my life.'
'But you won't tell me?'
'I shouldn't.'
'That's alright. Don't worry,' Kateryn said, 'I'm sure your reasons are good.'
She sat back in the chair and allowed the silence to come back into the room with them. Then, she cultivated it like a gardener tends a flower, allowing it to grow larger until it filled the whole place. She smiled sweetly as Frederick looked over at her. Seconds grew to a minute, and still she allowed the silence to develop and spread its branches around the room, its roots bedding deep, heightening its presence until it was mature and strong. Then she allowed another moment to pass.
'Oh, alright then.' Frederick said. 'I can see that you won't stop nagging until I tell you.' He sighed. 'I've sent them on a mission to try to stop the war from escalating beyond anyone's control. I can't say too much but, in truth, I don't know that I expect them to return.'
Kateryn raised her eyebrows. 'So it's that serious? And you are wondering whether you have done the right thing?'
Frederick nodded.
Kateryn thought about what her husband had just told her. There must be a way for her to ease his concerns, she thought. She allowed her mind to wander.
Then, she said, 'How many people could die in a war between the Empire and the Commonwealth?'
Frederick frowned, shrugging his shoulders. 'I don't know. Tens of thousands, maybe even a hundred thousand.'
'And do you know many of those people that might perish?'
'Perhaps a few senior soldiers, a few of the men, but no, of course not.'
'And you would willingly sacrifice a hundred thousand souls to protect the Empire.'
'If I had to, yes. Where are you going with this, is this one of your—?'
Kateryn held up her hand to silence her husband. 'So, by sacrificing these two men, you might save the lives of a hundred thousand?'
'Yes. I suppose so, if you put it like that.'
'Then sending two men to what might actually be their ordained destiny sounds like the right decision to me. If they have to lay down their lives, but they succeed, whilst it is sad, history will most likely judge that the sacrifice was worthwhile. If they do not, then it will hardly matter.'
Frederick smiled, leaning back into his chair.
'How do you do it?' he said.
'Do what?'
'Make life seem so simple. Boil down the facts to a simple black or white situation. I've been wrestling with these black thoughts all week, and yet five minutes with you makes it so much clearer.'
Kateryn shrugged. 'Isn't it obvious to you that it's the right thing to do?'
Frederick shook his head. 'Not really, no.'
He rose from his seat and stepped out from behind the desk.
'You're letting your personal feelings come into it, Frederick. You cannot do that. You are the Emperor. The ultimate power of life or death is yours to grant as you see fit.'
'You can be hard-faced sometimes.'
'It's not a case of being hard-faced,' Kateryn leaned back in her own chair. 'It's about looking at the situation from a...from a higher perspective.'
Frederick smiled. 'A higher perspective?'
'Yes. A higher perspective.'
'You would be a good ruler.'
Kateryn grinned. 'In some sense I already am.'
Frederick chuckled. 'Even so, the decision still doesn't sit comfortably with me.'
'But you don't have all the necessary information.'
Frederick frowned. 'What do you mea
n?'
'What if I told you something that could change your world. A thing that would make everything look very different to you. Something that would make everything clearer. Something that...well, would prove to you that you had done the right thing to try anything in your power to keep the peace.'
Frederick laughed. 'That's ridiculous. What could you possibly know about any of the circumstances surrounding this?'
Kateryn rose from her chair and walked over to Frederick, draping her arms around his neck and gently pulling his head down towards her so that she could kiss him.
'What if I told you something so absolutely amazing that you would never be the same person again.' She stared deep into his eyes.
'How is that even possible?'
'Oh, believe me, it is.'
'How, then?' Frederick smiled at her.
Kateryn still looked into his eyes, waiting for as long as she dared, until she could see the impatience building in him and he was itching to know what she was going to say next.
'Well go on,' he said, 'tell me.'
'I'm going to have your baby, my love.'
24
The Thirteenth Day of Midsummer,
Imperial Year 2332
Winterburne strapped the last of his leather saddle bags across the back of his horse as it stood proudly in its stall. He was a strong beast, and his tight shoulder muscles flexed visibly beneath his brown coat as he shifted his weight from one front foot to the other.
Winterburne looked across the partition at Rampton, who was busy doing the same thing to his own mount in the next compartment.
'Have you said your goodbyes?' he said.
'The Guard is my family, My Lord. There is no one else for me to care about.' Rampton continued pulling the straps tight, then said, 'Or to care about me, for that matter.'
'You'll