Free Chosen Ones by Alister E. McGrath Page A

were, if it was possible, more stoic, more opaque than ever before. Julia felt an unaccustomed chil go through her bones as she walked towards them.
    The Wolf—Xenos, she remembered from Simeon’s story—spoke first. He spoke simply and to the point, his voice entirely without emotion. He sounded, thought Julia, almost as if he were bored.
    “For planting false information under the guise of friendship and deliberately sabotaging an experiment performed in the name of science, Peter and Julia, emissaries of Albion across the sea, you are sentenced to death by hanging at first light.” And that was al there was. He raised a hand and dropped it in a dismissive gesture, and before Peter or Julia could say a word the guards had taken hold of them, twisting their hands tight behind their backs and dragging them back out of the Hal .
    Julia tried without a great deal of success to shake them off, and then, as the harsh reality of their situation dawned on her, she went absolutely stil .
    She stared, wide-eyed and mute, as Peter cried out.
    “A word in private, my lords!”
    The Jackal, the Leopard, and the Wolf looked up at him—in shock, perhaps, for when had a prisoner ever dared to question them? The Wolf nodded and beckoned him forward. The guard holding Peter loosened his grip, and Peter shook him off as he approached the thrones.
    As he spoke softly to the three lords Julia strained to hear what was being said, but could make out only snatches of the conversation. But the words she could hear sent her heart plummeting into her stomach.
    “…show you how to make a cannon…must be al owed to go free…”
    Peter then stepped backwards, al owing the lords to consult among themselves.
    If he had happened to look at Julia just then he might have seen the most curious mix of emotions on her face: distrust, confusion, fear, and anger—
    anger above al . But he kept his eyes careful y focused on the polished tile of the ground beneath his feet.
    After a few moments the Wolf stood, addressing the guards. “Take the lady Julia to the Death Cage. Lord Peter wil live.”
    Julia remembered then what had happened in the meadow, when the three horsemen were reduced to whimpers of pain at her screams. She opened her mouth with a vague idea of doing the same—of hurting the guards, hurting the lords, hurting Peter—but al that came out were sobs.
    She shivered with cold and fear as she was dragged from the Hal , sobbing for anyone—Helen, Alyce, Simeon—anyone who would make this al right again. And so, with her eyes shut tight against the horrors of Aedyn, she didn’t see her brother final y looking at her, staring after her captors in stark horror.

CHAPTER
10
    P eter watched the door close with a dul , 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 al 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 cal these weapons cannons. I am prepared to tel you how to make one, but there are conditions.” The Leopard laughed—a cold, gravel y laugh that held no trace of joy. “You are in no position to negotiate. We have