‘Ah. Is this philosophy?’

‘Practical philosophy, my lord.’

‘Nevertheless, I find myself amazed, Leonard, that you appear to have come up with a solution just as soon as I presented the problem…’

Leonard of Quirm cleaned his brush. ‘I always say, my lord, that a problem correctly posed contains its own solution. But it is true to say that I have given some thought to issues of this nature. I do, as you know, experiment with devices… which of course, obedient to your views on this matter, I subsequently dismantle because there are, indeed, evil men in the world who might stumble upon them and pervert their use. You were kind enough to give me a room with unlimited views of the sky, and I… notice things. Oh… I shall require several dozen swamp dragons, too. No, that should be… more than a hundred, I think.’

‘Ah, you intend to build a ship that can be drawn into the sky by dragons?’ said Lord Vetinari, mildly relieved. ‘I recall an old story about a ship that was pulled by swans and flew all the way to—’

‘Swans, I fear, would not work. But your surmise is broadly correct, my lord. Well done. Two hundred dragons, I suggest, to be on the safe side.’

‘That at least is not a difficulty. They are becoming rather a pest.’

‘And the help of, oh, sixty apprentices and journeymen from the Guild of Cunning Artificers. Perhaps there should be a hundred. They will need to work round the clock.’

‘Apprentices? But I can see to it that the finest craftsmen—’

Leonard held up a hand.

‘Not craftsmen, my lord,’ he said. ‘I have no use for people who have learned the limits of the possible.’

The Horde found Cohen sitting on an ancient burial mound a little way from the camp.

There were a lot of them in this area. The members of the Horde had seen them before, sometimes, on their various travels across the world.