Was I crying, or was blood running down my face?
“This nation does not run without those mines, I’m afraid. A fact the Craftsman haven’t been able to accept. There is only one particular town I wish to bury, Nina. And it won’t be easily squashed. The Miners Union wants you badly enough that I believe if I dangled you out in the open, they’d bring you right into the fold.”
Which town? Surely any town was a price too high. “And once I’m there?” I asked. “What then?”
“Well, we’ll need to ensure you won’t scamper off, won’t we?” He turned his body to the door. “Nurse?” he called. “Would you bring in our guest?”
From the hall came a soft whimper, a shuffling of feet across tiles. The nurse appeared in the door again, and with her she dragged the arm of someone unwilling. Someone who, though
