Christopher G Nuttall [Royal Necropolis (epub)

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.Olivia hadn’t deserved to die, just because her powers had been declared illegal.“And because we might have needed her in the future.”“Like the Tsar needed her?” Alexander asked.There was a bitter tone in his voice.“Would this have ended better if she’d died in London?”“You can’t blame Olivia for the Tsar’s madness,” Gwen snapped.Cold ice ran down her spine as she considered the likely reaction in England.It could bring the government down if the truth came out.“He made his own decisions.” She sighed.“He used Olivia as a weapon.A weapon isn’t to blame if someone misuses it, is it?”“Some weapons shouldn’t be built at all,” the Russian pointed out.“And this one shouldn’t have been allowed to live.”Objectively, Gwen knew, he was right.If Olivia had been executed, under the terms of the Demonic Powers Act, there would have been no Necromancer for the Tsar to kidnap and put to work.But there would have been no guarantee that the Tsar wouldn’t have found another Necromancer from among the Russian population.or that he wouldn’t have come up with something else, perhaps even something worse.And even if he hadn’t.She shook his head.There was no way to escape the simple fact that executing Olivia would have been executing a young girl, solely for an accident of birth.Gwen knew that children had been hanged before, sometimes for crimes of a very adult nature, but there was no way she could condone executing someone for being born a magician.Perhaps she would have felt differently about it if she hadn’t been a magician herself, but she was.And besides, she had come to care deeply for Olivia.“She cannot be blamed for existing,” she said, firmly.“And if Sir Sidney’s mad plan is necessary, she will be our only hope.”“Follow the river,” Alexander said, changing the subject.“The airstrip is two miles away from the city.”Gwen looked down at the countryside as they turned and followed the river to the west.There were signs that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people had fled the city, probably followed by the undead.She couldn’t see any signs of organised resistance, however; it was quite possible that the soldiers had fled or simply already been overwhelmed.But the Tsar’s plans had to have been badly damaged by Gwen’s arrival, she told herself.He couldn’t have been expecting her.“There it is,” Alexander said.“I suggest you put us down outside the gate.”The Russian airstrip looked primitive, Gwen decided, but it hardly mattered.A large airship, somehow cruder than the ones she’d seen at St Petersburg, floated at anchor, while another was perched inside a hanger, ground crews working desperately to prepare her for flight.Gwen dropped down, casting a wary eye around as they touched the ground, then followed Alexander towards the gate.The guards on duty pointed rifles at them as they came into view, shouting orders in Russian.Gwen sighed and kept her hands in view, but prepared herself to shield them both if necessary.The undead had a habit of making everyone paranoid.Alexander shouted at the guards in Russian and a brief discussion occurred, before the guards waved them forward and into the complex.A handful of soldiers sat on the hard earth, their weapons close at hand, playing cards; behind them, a squadron of Cossacks sat next to their horses, eying the newcomers suspiciously.Alexander ignored them all magnificently as he strode towards the nearest building, which was guarded by yet more soldiers.Inside, Gwen could hear the sound of shouting.When they strode inside, they saw a dozen officers perched around a table, arguing over who was in command.She watched, impatiently, as Alexander introduced himself, then explained to the officers what had happened.Gwen didn’t understand a word, but she had the very definite impression that the Russians had lost contact with Moscow and didn’t know what to do, while they’d seen enough refugees to give them the idea that something had gone badly wrong.It seemed to take hours – a glance at her watch told her that it had been twenty minutes – before Alexander assumed command of the airstrip.“We’ll send messengers to the garrisons,” he said.“Assuming the undead haven’t reached them first, we should be able to get them to work with us.”Gwen nodded.The Russian officers kept sending her glances, as if they couldn’t quite believe their eyes.“And the airships?” she asked.“Should be able to reach St Petersburg,” Alexander said.“How do you plan to get your people from the palace to here?”“I don’t know yet,” Gwen said [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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