The guard who had brought Eleanor to the King's City closed the prison door with Miss Locke inside, and Eleanor outside. “Come along, spy.”

Eleanor blinked a few times, standing still. “What about the man who came with me?”

“He's a troublemaker, and it was his dog who ran off. He can rot in prison. But the King hasn't met you yet, and he might fancy you. Behave yourself, and you might stay alive.” He laughed.

Eleanor muttered, “Oh. Thanks.”

They walked between tents made from emergency parachutes, most of which smelled like stale laundry, and men stared at Eleanor as they passed. She doubted that new people came here very often.

They reached the grounded airship, a much larger craft than the flyer which had launched the spiders. A gangplank led up to an open door-sized hatch on the ship's side.

“Up you go,” said the guard. “I'll wait here.”

Eleanor glanced nervously at the hatch. “Why aren't you coming with me?”

“I'm a City guard, not a King's guard. And it's safer to avoid these fancy people. But you have to see the King. So go.”

Eleanor nodded, and walked up the gangplank alone.

Inside the hatch, Minnie waited with a relaxed female pirate.

Minnie studied Eleanor as if she had never seen her before. “Aw, this grimy girl would look much better with some meat on her bones. Here, miss, have a sandwich.” She held out a mushroom sandwich, swaying slightly.

Eleanor took the sandwich, wondering if Minnie was drunk or only pretending to be.

The pirate woman said, “Don't waste food on the prisoners. The King won't like it.”

Eleanor shoved the sandwich into her pocket.

Minnie said, “So we'll never tell the King, right, Tania? I'll take her up to the King's cabin. I'm going there anyhow, for more grog. I'll bring you some.”

“Mmm. Thanks.” Tania sat down on a crate, watching the open hatch.

Minnie said, “This way,” and led Eleanor through a dark, empty room to a wood-panelled hallway lit by a glowing energy ball like the one inside Jeanne's machine. Minnie stopped, and whispered, “Are you alright?”

“So far, yes. Do you have a plan?”

“I'm making friends, and I hope to start a mutiny soon. And I volunteered to fly for the next mission to make a hole in the sky, so I can make sure it doesn't work. What are you doing? Is prison unbearable?”

“I'm mostly waiting. Prison is weird but not too bad.” Eleanor stopped whispering as a huge man entered the hallway from a cabin door.

Minnie said, “Come on, spy.” She took a few steps, and told the man, “I'll get you some more chocolates, Lee. I didn't give Blodger all of them.”

The man smiled, and said, “Later, Minnie. I have guard duty on deck soon.”

Minnie said, “I'll find you.” She led Eleanor down the hall to a circular stairway of wide, boxy steps that led downward or upward. They climbed up to the open upper deck.

A slight breeze carried the sound of somebody playing a fiddle in the camp, and distant shouting, perhaps a fight breaking out. Eleanor looked over the ship's rail and saw brightly lit tents behind the airship. “What's that?”

Minnie whispered, “Inventors' camp,” and said out loud, “No questions, spy.”

Minnie led Eleanor to a cabin with glowing windows which perched on top of the deck at the far end. Minnie opened the door without knocking, and gently pushed Eleanor inside.

Two men with swords stood at attention near the door.  A tall, thin man wearing a golden crown and a black suit was writing something on a map that covered one wall. He said, “You should knock, Minnie. Everyone else does.”

Minnie said, “Oh, sorry. I was distracted by this fine visitor who has come to see you.”

King Blodger drew a large X on the map before turning and looking at Eleanor. “You're the spy?”

“I'm not a spy, your Majesty. The charges are false.”

Minnie grinned. “That's what I always say too. Blodger, do you mind if I take some more of your grog?”

King Blodger said, “Sit down and wait, Minnie. These are serious allegations. We can't allow spies in the kingdom. She'll have to be killed if she's truly a spy.”

Eleanor said, “I'm not, your Majesty.”

Minnie sat down on a large treasure chest, and leaned on the wall behind her. “This girl did rescue one of your subjects after the sky cannon disaster.”

King Blodger sighed. “One of my worthless, useless subjects who I can no longer afford to feed. Better if she hadn't been rescued.”

Eleanor tried to think of a polite way to say something good about Miss Locke, but nothing useful occurred to her.

Minnie said, “You won't have a kingdom if you kill everyone.”

King Blodger set his pen carefully on a small table. “And you, Minnie, won't have a place in my court if you keep criticizing me. My prison has plenty of room for dissidents.” He looked at Eleanor. “Speaking of prison, how is my captive Greenie doing? Did you meet him?”

Eleanor cringed, trying to appear afraid of Mr. Thowulle. “Yes, your Majesty.”

“Has he changed his mind yet? Will he send us back where we belong, or are we forever trapped in this hellhole?”

Eleanor looked down at a grimy carpet. “I fear, your Majesty, that he says he is powerless to return us. And I believe him, sir.”

“Well I don't believe him. The Greenies are all tricky liars, worse than the old nobility and all the oppressors we used to struggle against. He simply hasn't suffered enough yet to change his mind.”

Minnie said, “Have you tried getting him drunk? I could bring some wine to him and try to get him to trust me.”

“You're not leaving this airship until the flyer is ready. And you'd better stay sober enough to pilot it.”

Minnie gazed at Eleanor. “How about you, miss? Have you ever been a copilot?"

Eleanor smiled and tried to look helpful. "Oh, yes, ma'am."

King Blodger said, "Absolutely not. You're flying alone. And since you seem to like this girl so much, I'm going to keep her in prison for you until you return. And if anything goes wrong with your mission, I'll make you watch her die horribly."

Eleanor shuddered. He seemed so calm, but she completely believed his threats. She looked at Minnie, and realized that the guards by the door were also watching Minnie.

Minnie shrugged. "My mission will go perfectly, Blodger. I'm an ace with flyers and weapons. You know that. Quit worrying."

"Ever since I became King, all I can do is worry. We need water. We need food. We need to keep order. We need to take everything that we can get from the sky, and we need to go home. This is like keeping control of a crew of thousands, Minnie."

He stopped and listened to noise outside, shouts approaching the cabin door. A voice yelled, "Attackers from the sky. We're under attack!"

King Blodger told the guards, "If those are enemies outside, kill them all."

A knocking pounded the door.

"Spy, open the door."

Eleanor curtseyed to him, muttered, "Yes, your Majesty," went to the door and pushed it open.

King Blodger yelled, “What's that ruckus out there?"

A man yelled, "It's under control, sir, but the City might be under attack. May we come inside?"

“Enter, but if you make trouble, my guards will kill you. Now what is going on?”

Nine men crowded into the cabin. Eleanor recognized the city guard with the spiked club, who led the group. The heavy pirate, Lee, shoved her young cousin Charlie, who stumbled because his hands were tied behind his back. Four other men wore military uniforms, and also had bound wrists. The last two men wore the ragged clothing of the city dwellers, and they both clutched broken knives.

Charlie said, ”Elle, I'm so happy to see you. This is all a misunderstanding. Can your friends here help us?“

The guard said, "Silence! Intruders, your Majesty. They landed an airship near the City, and they injured two of the city guards."

The King looked at Eleanor. "Do you know this boy?"

Eleanor considered lying, but then she pictured Charlie alone in the prison among strangers. She said, “Yes, your Majesty. He's my cousin. But I don't know the rest of these men.”

“So you are a spy, and colluding with the enemy besides. Back to prison with her."

Charlie looked pale, and murmured, "I'm sorry."

King Blodger continued, "Now is the City under attack, or is everything under control? Which is it?”

The guard said, “Well, I'm saying we might be under attack, maybe soon. So far there's only the one airship, and we did capture them. But more might be coming. We should be ready.”

King Blodger frowned at him. “I will make suitable plans, and post sentries. You will take all these people to prison, and let them starve.”

Minnie said, “Now really, Captain-"

"Enough, Menace. I should confine you in prison also, for all your sneaking around and ingratiating yourself with my crew. Don't think I don't have loyal people watching you. And Scurvy Zeek was supposed to send me a certain device which I never received. Do you know anything about that?"

Minnie looked puzzled. "I know only what Zeek told me, and I brought you everything he sent."

"I think you're lying. Take her to prison as well."

"Wait, wait. Maybe it's this." Minnie reached for her pocket, but Blodger lunged forward and grabbed her arm. They struggled, but King Blodger was stronger and probably more sober. He grabbed both her wrists and held her still.

"City guard," he commanded, "Empty her pockets."

Minnie glared at the guard, who hesitantly put his hand into her front pants pocket. He pulled out her pistol and held it up. He said, "A gun? I heard a gunshot before the inventors' airship came down. I'll bet it was her."

King Blodger said, "Off to prison, Menace. I'll miss you, but you're a threat to me and my kingdom."

Minnie scowled. "I'm a threat to every kingdom, Blodger. And so are you."

"Enough. Haul them all away."