John Flanagan - The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

As they started forward, he heard a strange cracking, grinding noise from above. Looking up, he saw what appeared to be a section of the mountain wall suddenly tearing loose. A vast pile of rocks, earth and timber tumbled end over end down the wall, bouncing, smashing, crushing anything and everything in its path.

A log smashed the sword from his hand and a jagged rock slammed into him, driving him to his knees. As earth and rock thundered around him, he toppled sideways, knowing the assault had failed – then everything went dark.

The stunned attackers, with almost of a third of their number killed or injured in the trap devised by Halt and Selethen, slowly began to withdraw from the palisade, leaving their fallen comrades behind them. They straggled back down the valley in small groups, to face the wrath of their commander. General Todoki, leader of the advance party and one of Arisaka's most ardent supporters, watched in disbelief as his defeated men shambled out of the valley, bruised, bleeding and disheartened. He screamed at them, his rage making him lose all control and all sense of dignity. For the most part, they ignored him. He hadn't been there with them and they'd left over thirty comrades behind them, without any chance of decent burial.

That night, winter took care of that for them. The snow began in earnest, and by morning, there was nearly two metres piled up in the valley. The pure white carpet obliterated all sign of the previous day's carnage.

'How do you propose to get this thing down the cliffs to the lake?' Halt nudged the kayak dubiously with one toe. The narrow craft was nearly four metres long, with a light wooden framework covered by oiled linen, stretched to drumskin-tautness. He'd seen kayaks before. As Alyss had said, she had one herself at Castle Redmont, and this one looked similar, so far as he could remember. The Kikori had done an excellent job constructing it, under Alyss's watchful eye.

'Eiko solved that problem for us,' Evanlyn replied. 'The Kikori will lower it down by rope, doing it a stage at a time.'

They were standing in a half circle around the newly completed boat. Evanlyn and Alyss wore an air of excitement and proprietorial pride. Will and Horace looked extremely doubtful about the whole project. Halt, who had known about it for some time, was more or less resigned to it. But he wasn't enthusiastic.

'That's going to take a bit of handling,' he said. But Alyss put up a hand to stop him saying any more and knelt beside the kayak.

'Aha, that's the beauty of this design. Watch,' she said. She worked two wooden retaining pins out of their sockets and removed one of the four bulkhead sections that created the cross-section profile of the kayak. The ribs that ran the length of the boat collapsed inwards slightly, and the oilskin covering lost some of its tension. She repeated the action with the other three formers and within minutes, the kayak was nothing more than a bundle of light ribs, frames and oilskin. She rapidly gathered them together, then used the oilskin to wrap the ribs into a tight bundle. She stood back from the result – a narrow bundle of long, light wooden stakes.

'There!' she announced. 'We simply collapse it so that it's a much more manageable bundle. Tie a rope round one end and we lower it down the cliffs, hanging vertically.'

Will stepped forward and eyed the narrow bundle critically. When it was assembled, it had looked like a boat. But now the frailty of the design was far more evident. It was nothing more than sticks and cloth.

'Will it float?' he asked doubtfully and Alyss smiled at him. She knew the reason behind his lack of enthusiasm and she couldn't help being a little pleased by it. By the same token, she wasn't going to allow it to go too far. Will might worry about her, and she knew he loved her. But that didn't mean he owned her or could dictate what she might or might not do.

'Of course it will float,' she told him. 'And if it doesn't, we'll just have to come back up the cliffs.'

'Well…I don't like it,' Will said.

Horace echoed the sentiment. 'Neither do I.'

'Your dislike for the project will be duly noted,' Evanlyn told them coolly.

'And ignored,' Alyss added. The two girls exchanged a quick smile.

Will opened his mouth to speak further but Selethen stepped in to prevent any unfortunate statements.

'Personally, I think it's a good plan,' he said smoothly. 'What's more, I'll sleep soundly through the winter knowing that there is the prospect of a relieving force arriving in the spring.'

In Arrida, the women of the desert tribes lived in a hostile environment and took their share of dangerous tasks. They often ranged far into the desert, hunting for food and fighting off the predators that attacked their herd animals. He knew these two girls and was confident they had the ability and the courage to carry out the mission they had taken on. And his comment about feeling a sense of comfort at the prospect of a relieving force was the truth. Selethen, like the others, knew that they could not simply occupy this defensive position indefinitely once the snows melted. Arisaka would eventually be victorious, by dint of his overwhelming numbers.

'Yeah…well…maybe,' Horace said. He was a little surprised that Selethen was supporting the girls. Will looked at Halt.

'What do you think about this, Halt? Are you really going to let them go?'

At the words 'let them' both girls bristled with indignation. But Halt held up a hand and they held their peace for the moment.

'I can't say I'm happy about it,' he began and Will nodded knowingly, glad to see that his mentor was in agreement with him and Horace. But Halt's next words wiped out any sense of satisfaction he might be feeling.

'But I wasn't happy in Arrida when you went off searching for Tug,' he said. His gaze moved around to include Horace. 'Nor when I heard you two had assaulted Castle Macindaw with just thirty men.'

'Thirty-three,' mumbled Horace. He was beginning to see where Halt was heading.

The Ranger gave him a withering look. 'Oh, pardon me…Thirty-three men. That makes a lot of difference. Look, we live in a dangerous world, and both Evanlyn and Alyss have decided they want to do more than sit by and watch while we menfolk take care of them.

'They don't want to be spectators. They're courageous and imaginative and adventurous. That's why you like them. They fit into the world you've chosen for yourselves. If you'd wanted a pair of silly, primping maidens who are good for nothing but gossip and needlepoint, there are plenty of those around. But I doubt they'd interest you.'

He paused, watching to see if his words had sunk in. Slowly, Will and Horace began to nod agreement with what he'd said. Halt himself had come to terms with all these points many years ago, when he had fallen in love with Lady Pauline. He'd had to accept that she would fulfil the duties of a Courier – which would inevitably take her into harm's way. And he had to trust in her ability to look after herself – as she had learned to trust in his.

'Now, what Selethen says is true. We are going to need help in the spring. We can't simply sit behind the palisade and hope to hold Arisaka off forever. And the only available source of that help lies across the lake, with the Hasanu. Is that right, Lord Shigeru?'

The Emperor nodded. He had been following the discussion with great interest. The evenings he'd spent talking with Evanlyn had shown her to be a young lady of remarkable courage and determination. And she was highly intelligent and articulate – qualities that would be necessary if she were going to carry his request for help to Lord Nimatsu.

'Lord Nimatsu has the only viable force that can help us defeat Arisaka,' he said.

'Then it makes sense for Evanlyn and Alyss to enlist his aid,' Halt finished, eyeing the two young men.