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The woman sighed. “The weapon itself is not the issue. It’s the idea of it.”

“How do you mean?”

“Did you play at war as a child?”

“I certainly crossed sticks with my brothers.”

“Our children here … They don’t play at war. They don’t cross sticks.”

“What do they play?”

“Oh, other things. They like to read books, and pretend at being birds, and they like to draw with paints.”

“I also enjoyed all of those things as a child.”

“Yes,” said the woman pointedly. “But here, they don’t play at war.”

There was a moment of tension, diffused when Havelock cleared his throat. “We’ll take better care,” he said, “and you have our apologies. My name is Havelock Harper. Sebastian and I are here on behalf of the Duchess. Might you be Heather?”

“I am,” she said, and these are the things that Havelock noticed about her that he would later tell me:

Heather Fairweather wore a practical outfit with no regard whatsoever to current fashions. The skirts were clean, but permanently stained with flecks of paint and chalk. The skin of her hands was red and peeling slightly, suggesting that she washed them too often. There were a few small flowers placed haphazardly in her hair, which she kept long down her back. Instead of shoes, she wore tough boots, which were very well-worn.

“You’ll have to forgive our intrusion, especially so early in the day,” said Havelock. “We were lost in the forest, and drawn to the sound of your children at play. Would you have a spare moment to speak with us? We are investigating the felling of the Duke.”

The woman’s face paled. “A dreadful thing,” she said.

“The Duchess mentioned that you and she have a disagreement.”

Heather snorted bitterly. “I expect she did. Reckons I felled the Duke, does she? Imagines me sneaking through the forest in the dark of night, and hacking at that poor defenceless tree with an axe? I wouldn’t put it past her.”

“Where were you, that night?” I asked.

“Sound asleep in my bed, thank you very much.”

“Can anyone vouch for that?”

“You can enquire of my housemate, but I don’t think she’d take very kindly to it.”

Havelock held up a hand to me. “Thank you, Sebastian,” he said. Then, to Heather: “Would I be right in thinking that you and the Duchess don’t get along?”

“You certainly would. The Duchess risks too much by inviting men like yourselves to Farleigh. Look at the damage you’ve done, in a mere moment.” Heather gestured at the children. One of them was thrusting a fallen twig at the others. “We take such pains to protect ourselves from the Empire, and she invites it in.”

“Ah,” said Havelock, nodding. “I think I see.”

“What do you see?” asked Heather.

“It makes sense to me now. Why Farleigh appears to be in such decline. It is for the sake of the Empire, yes? You appear meek and without value, so that you remain unobserved? It is a measure of protection—on behalf of your forest.”

Heather chewed at her lip. “What of the forest?”

“We’ve seen the words in the trees.”

At this, Heather dropped her skirts and pressed her hands to her chest. “We are lost, then! You will return from whence you came, and report what you’ve seen. The Queen will send men, and they will uproot the forest. They will take the trees, and put them on display in museums. They will cut out the words, and frame them, and put them in their big, fancy homes. The Duchess has doomed Farleigh!”

Havelock was taken aback. “No!” he said. “Of course not.”

“But that’s what you’ll do, isn’t it? That’s what the Empire does. It takes.”