"Just because they can be fought does not mean they should," said Temeraire, "especially when we do not know whom our enemy might send out against us. He is capable of turning people's minds against them: I should not like to hurt anyone, if they are not in the right state of mind."

Not that anything of the sort appeared to be happening, at the moment: the walls of Fire Sector were soon behind them, and the spiky mass of the palace loomed ahead.

"We should have known," he said, after a moment, "of course the bombs would have been a distraction, to pull our attention away from the palace. But Evandau of all people ought not have been unprepared."