The red flare had faded from the sky, but the alarm bells were still ringing.
Ragnar stood in the hallway of the Governor's Palace. He had ordered the "Palace Staff" (the armed Broken Men) to barricade the lower floors. Now, he needed to check on the most critical component of his machine.
He pushed open the door to the Master Bedroom, which doubled as the Archives.
He expected to find Princess Gyda packing. He expected to see her hiding gold or burning sensitive documents.
Instead, he found her sitting on the floor, surrounded by small canvas bags. She was calmly measuring out black powder with a brass scale.
Scoop. Weigh. Pour.
"Gyda," Ragnar said, stepping over a pile of crossbow bolts. "The mob is at the gates. Einar has brought an army."
Gyda didn't look up. "I know. The vibration from their marching is rattling the windows. It is annoying."
She tied off a bag of powder and placed it in a crate marked 'High Velocity'.
