Mezentio bowed stiffly from the waist, acknowledging in his own person the cheers for his kingdom. Then, with a final wave, he withdrew from the balcony. Sabrino saw one of his ministers come forward to clasp his wrist in congratulation.

"You'll help save us, Colonel," said the woman who'd kissed him.

"Milady, I shall do what I can," Sabrino answered. "And now, much as I would sooner linger with you" - she dropped him a curtsy for that - "I must go and do it."

The dragon farm lay well outside Trapani, so far outside that Sabrino had to take a horse-drawn carriage for the last leg of the journey, as no leg caravan reached such a distance from the power point at the heart of the capital. "Good of you to join us," said General Borso, the farm commandant, giving Sabrino ajaundiced stare.

"My lord, I am not tardy, not by my orders, and I had the honor of hearing with my own ears King Mezentio casting defiance in the face of all those who wrong Algarve," Sabrino said, respectfully defiant of higher authority.

Higher authority yielded, Borso saying, "Ali, my friend, in that case I envy you. Being confined here on duty, I heard him through the crystal. He spoke very well, I thought. The Kaunians and their friends would be wrong to take us lightly."

"That they would," Sabrino agreed. "The crystal is all very well when required, but everything in it is tiny and tinny. In person, the king was magnificent."

"Good, good." Borso bunched his fingertips and kissed them.

"Splendid. If he was magnificent, we too must be magnificent, to live up to his example. In aid of which, my dear fellow, is your wing fully prepared for action?"

"My lord, you need have no doubts on that score," Sabrino said. "The fliers are in fine fettle, every one of them eager for duty. And we are well supplied with meat and brimstone and quicksilver for the dragons. My report of three days past goes into full detail on all these matters."