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I went.

My knees trembled as I did. There is somewhat unnatural about exposing oneself to an entire enemy army without cover. Lucius watched me with amusement.

"Well done," he said when I reached him, clapping my shoulder. "At least you're not a damned coward like the rest of 'em."

I heaved a sigh. "My thanks, my lord."

On the ground, a pair of figures rode forward; a man and a woman, the former leading the latter. Neither was armed. He wore elaborate robes glinting with cloth-of-gold trim. Her gown of red silk flowed over the crupper of her saddle. She kept her eyes downcast.

"Valpetra," Lucius muttered. "That must be the girl."

I glanced at him. "Do you… understand… what's happening here?"

He shrugged. "Enough."

"Lucca!" The man on the ground shouted. He grabbed the woman's unresisting hand and raised it. "How do you like my new bride? Come out and see her!"

There was a scramble at the door of the guard tower as Gaetano Correggio emerged, accompanied by the captain and a handful of guards. The Prince of Lucca stared at the scene before him and paled.

"That's my daughter," he whispered.

"His wife, now." Lucius shrugged. "That's him, right?"

"Domenico Martelli, Duke of Valpetra." Gaetano pronounced the words as though they were poison on his tongue. "Valpetra!" he shouted. "Let her go, damn you!"

The distant figure laughed. "Is that any way to greet your new son?" he called. "Lucca, I have a lawful claim by marriage as your heir. Open your gates and make me welcome!"

"And if I don't?" Gaetano asked grimly.

The Duke of Valpetra gestured. Behind him, a mounted figure barked an order. A squadron of soldiers unslung their shields and marched forward. The company of archers followed, taking up a kneeling position behind their line. "I'll open them for you!"

"Guards!" Lucius roared. "Take aim!"

They obeyed him without thinking, raising crossbows to their shoulders. Gaetano Correggio turned his stricken face toward Lucius. "What do I do?"

"Tell him to take your poxy whore of a daughter and go home," Lucius said promptly. He laughed as Gaetano gaped at him, too shocked for anger. "Oh, come on, man! This isn't about the girl. He wants Lucca." He nodded in the Duke's direction. "Unless matters have changed overmuch in a generation, Valpetra's a piss-poor holding compared to Lucca. That's a mercenary army he's hired, and I'll wager a mountain of gold against a steaming heap of dung that he's promised them spoils in lieu of wages." Lucius shrugged. "You want to see your temples stripped, your women raped, and your sons put to the sword? Go ahead, open the gates."

"How…" Gaetano Correggio licked lips gone dry with fear. "How can you be sure?"

Lucius smiled, or at least the thing that wore his face did. "It's what I'd do."

I tried to make myself as unobtrusive as possible. I didn't want any part of this conversation, let alone the tense standoff between their archers and our guards. But there was nowhere to go atop the wall. Lucius stood there with a sublime lack of concern, the wind ruffling his dark red curls. Gaetano Correggio stared numbly at the figure of his daughter.

"But he'll kill her," he said.

"Her?" Lucius laughed. "Not likely. She's his only claim to legitimacy."

"No." The Prince of Lucca shook his head. "No. I won't risk her. There's got to be another way." His features strengthened with resolve. "Guards!" he snapped. "Stand down." There was a moment's hesitation before they obeyed, lowering their crossbows. "Valpetra!" he shouted. "I want a parley!"

"Idiot," Lucius muttered.

I nearly thought he might challenge Gaetano Correggio then and there, but he merely listened and scowled as they hashed out the terms of a parley meeting. In the end, Valpetra agreed to withdraw the bulk of his army and enter the city with an armed escort. Fifty men, no archers. Gaetano was reluctant to accede, but after much haggling, Valpetra offered to bring Helena into the city with him. At that, the Prince