Peter watched the door close with a dull, final thud, and felt for perhaps the first time in his life that he was utterly alone.

"Now, Peter," came the hissing voice of the Wolf, "perhaps you would be so good as to share your secrets?"

"Show us how to harness your gunpowder," rasped the Leopard. Peter made a sound rather like a gulp and stepped forward. This was not at all what he had intended—but what else was there to do? How else could he save his sister? 

If he gave them the diagram of a cannon he would save Julia by making the Jackal, the Leopard, and the Wolf invincible. Was the cost too high?

Peter decided he must get a grip of himself. His own life and that of his sister were at stake. He simply could not afford to make any more mistakes. He stepped forward and looked directly at the Wolf. Behind that mask, he told himself, was an ordinary human being. There was nothing to fear from a mask.

"My lord, I gave you the secret of gunpowder. But this is of little use without the weapon to direct the blast over great distances. We call these weapons cannons. I am prepared to tell you how to make one, but there are conditions."

The Leopard laughed—a cold, gravelly laugh that held no trace of joy. "You are in no position to negotiate. We have ways of making you tell us what we need to know."

Peter squared his shoulders and tried to look brave. "I will tell you nothing that I have not agreed to, my lords. Of that you can be certain. I am offering to give you this information on certain conditions."

Again that gasping laugh from the Leopard, but the Wolf intervened, motioning the others to silence.

"We would like to hear your conditions, Lord Peter. Pray tell us."

"Freedom for the lady Julia and myself. Freedom…and a boat, so that we might return to our own land." A boat wouldn't do them much good, he knew. Somehow they had to get back to that garden and make the pond become a portal back to Oxford. But freedom had to come first.

The Wolf nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on Peter.

 "Rebellion against the state is a capital crime. The penalty is severe and immediate. Traitors must die. You know that. Normally, we would…"

Peter's heart leapt at the word "normally." Surely this meant that they were about to make an exception in his case?

"Normally, we would insist on immediate execution. But if you serve us in this way, we will allow you and your companion to leave Aedyn. You will supervise the construction and testing of this weapon, and you will have your freedom if the test is successful. If it is not, you will die. Is that clear?"

Peter gulped again. This was getting out of control. But what other option did he have?

"That is very satisfactory, my lord. I have your word on this?"

"You have the word of the Wolf." The lord stood and reached out a pale hand to Peter, who took it in his. "Now you will return to your apartment. You will remain there under guard while you show us how to build this cannon of which you speak so highly."

At a nod of his head the guards turned on their heels and dragged Peter away from the Great Hall and back to his chambers. He heard the ominous click of the lock as the door was closed behind him. He was alone. He looked out of the windows of his apartment. The darkening night matched his mood as one thought whirled over and over through his mind: what reason did the lords have to keep him and Julia alive if the cannon worked?

Julia had been thrown into a wooden cage just outside the castle grounds, the door locked behind her. Two guards patrolled outside. As the sun left the sky in a burst of oranges and pinks Julia closed her eyes and wept, enveloped by the deep gloom of hopelessness. There was nothing that she could do or say to make things better. Her fate lay beyond her control. She watched the guards marching up and down with a growing sense of despair. Was there any way to escape?

Unaccountably, her mother sprang to her mind. Not her mother as she had been in the end, lying weak and pale in bed, unable to eat, unable to speak, unable to hold her own children. No, she thought of her mother as she had been in the years before. Strong and tall—just as tall as her husband, and with all of his fire and bravery. She had been, Julia thought, a great woman. She would have known what to do. She would have known how to help the slaves and how to get home. She would have found a way out of this cage.

Help would certainly not come from her brother. Peter had abandoned and betrayed her, taken in by the dark lords of Aedyn and his silly need to impress, to be on top. She rested her chin on her knees and looked up at the night sky. The stars were winking into place in the purple velvet heavens.

And then she remembered Gaius and Simeon, and how they had spoken of the One who was greater than Marcus. Surely this was the moment to call on him. So there and then, on that dark, cold night, Julia asked the Lord of Hosts to be at her side. To stand by her, even in this darkest hour. And to help her set his people free. Then, exhausted, she fell asleep on the uncomfortable floor of the cage.
 

Something woke her some hours later—she could never be sure how many. It was still night, and the guards were still patrolling. But something was different—some hint of intrigue was in the air. Julia stayed still, rooted to the spot in apprehension. In the moonlight she could just make out a small group of shadowy figures coming soundlessly toward her—was she to be executed immediately? She wanted to scream, wanted to cry out for help, but what good could that do? There was no escape from the Death Cage.
 

As the figures came closer Julia could distinguish four of them. The two smallest seemed to lurk behind in the background—perhaps to prevent any escape for the doomed prisoner. The other two were running towards the Death Cage, silently but swiftly. They reached the guards, who had not seen or heard them coming.

In the darkness Julia could not be quite sure what was happening, but she could see a scuffle between the two figures and the men guarding the cage. The strangers had the element of surprise on their side but the guards were quick and well-trained, and for a moment it looked as if they might gain the upper hand. But finally the guards were overpowered, and the two figures in the background approached to help tie and gag them. 

Not a word was spoken. It was as if the whole operation had been well planned in advance. Julia watched in astonishment as one of the raiders extracted a set of keys from one of the guards and opened the door. The stranger made quick work of the ropes that bound Julia's hands and helped her roughly to her feet.

 "Who are you?" she hissed, rubbing her wrists where the ropes had cut into her skin.

"I am Lukas," the stranger said briefly. "Gaius sent me from the forest. You'll be safe with us. Come."The two trussed guards were dragged into the Death Cage and the doors locked. Lukas hid the keys within his robes as Julia looked, for the first time, at the other figures.

"Alyce—and Helen!" she breathed. The younger woman grinned and Helen caught Julia into a hard embrace. "How—how did you…"

"There is no time for stories," said the fourth figure, a man whom Julia did not recognize. "We ride."

Lukas guided Julia into the darkness of the trees, where five horses stood tethered and waiting. A few moments later, just as dawn was beginning to touch the sky, they galloped off toward the dark forest of the west.

Continue to Chapter Eleven.