Guards! Guards!

'Yes,' said Wonse hoarsely. 'It must have been terrible.'

'Ye gods, but I'd like to get my hands on him! All those years I’ve known the man, and I'd never realized ...'

Wonse said nothing.

'Run,' said Vimes softly.

'What?'

'Run. I want to see you run.'

'I don't underst….'

'I saw someone run away, the night the dragon flamed that house. I remember thinking at the time that he moved in a funny way, sort of bounding along. And then the other day I saw you running away from the dragon. Could almost have been the same man, I thought. Skipping, almost. Like someone running to keep up. Any of them get out, Wonse?'

Wonse waved a hand in what he might have thought was a nonchalant way. 'That's just ridiculous, that's not proof,' he said.

'I noticed you sleep in here now,' said Vimes. 'I suppose the king likes to have you handy, does he?'

'You've got no proof at all,' whispered Wonse.

'Of course I haven't. The way someone runs. The eager tone of voice. That's all. But that doesn't matter, does it? Because it wouldn't matter even if I did have proof,' said Vimes. 'There's no one to take it to. And you can't give me my job back.'

'I can!' said Wonse. 'I can, and you needn't just be captain…'

'You can't give me my job back,' repeated Vimes. 'It was never yours to take away. I was never an officer of the city, or an officer of the king, or an officer of the Patrician. I was an officer of the law. It might have been corrupted and bent, but it was law, of a sort. There isn't any law now except: 'you'll get burned alive if you don't watch out'. Where's the place in there for me?'

Wonse darted forward and grabbed him by the arm.

'But you can help me!' he said. 'There may be a way to destroy the dragon, d'you see, or at least we can help people, channel things to mitigate the worst of it, somehow find a meeting point…'

Vimes's blow caught Wonse on the cheek and spun him around.

'The dragon's here, 'he snapped. 'You can't channel it or persuade it or negotiate with it. There's no truce with dragons. You brought it here and we're stuck with it, you bastard. '

Wonse lowered his hand from the bright white mark where the punch had connected.

'What are you going to do?' he said.

Vimes didn't know. He'd thought of a dozen ways that the thing could go, but the only one that was really suitable was killing Wonse. And, face to face, he couldn't do it.

'That's the trouble with people like you,' said Wonse, getting up. 'You're always against anything attempted for the betterment of mankind, but you never have any proper plans of your own. Guards! Guards!'

He grinned maniacally at Vimes.

'Didn't expect that, did you?' he said. 'We've still got guards here, you know. Not so many, of course. Not many people want to come in.'

There were footsteps in the passage outside and four of the palace guards padded in, swords drawn.

'I wouldn't put up a fight, if I were you,' Wonse went on. 'They're desperate and uneasy men. But very highly paid.'