There was so much to do! I had made a speech to the men in the garden before they dispersed. Our prince must be rescued. They had a man of power and action leading them now.
My words, and perhaps my aspect as I stood up there in the moonlight, aroused them to enthusiasm. They were men. Courageous. Patriotic. They had never yet had a real leader. But they had one now.
It stirred me, as I had stirred them, when I heard them cheering.
I summoned the chief of the guards before me, a slim, straight young fellow with flashing eyes. When I demanded his allegiance—he and all his fellows’—he swung on his heel to the old men who were ranged along the side of the room. They nodded timorously, and he turned back and bowed before me.
“Tell him, Sonya, that I want ten of his men always patrolling the castle grounds. And others, he can use his judgment as to numbers, patrolling the city. If there is any sign of disturbance, notify me at once. I want the people all to go to their homes and stay there.”
There was so much that I did not know! “Sonya, are there any cities beside Kalima?”
“No,” she said. “Only small villages. And there is the village on the Virgins’ Island.”
I nodded. “I want messengers sent out, to tell everyone of the change of government and a warning to beware of the Nameless Horror. It is abroad; it may appear anywhere. Have the people in the rural districts gather food and bar their homes, stay indoors. Sonya, who has been in charge of organizing the army?”
She named him, but it transpired that there had been nothing at all done, as yet, except a manufacturing of the weapons of war.
“Send him to me,” I ordered. “And the leader of the scientists—he has been in charge of the manufacturing? I want to see him also.”