by John Booth
“Lady Ilarna is on Earth?” Peter asked in astonishment.
“Who do you think’s driving the ambulance?”
“She has a driving licence?”
“She learns fast and insisted on doing it. They know what I look like, Peter. We couldn’t risk me being seen driving the ambulance and there was no one else.”
“Solly, have you seen Sal?” Peter asked. It was the question that had been on the tip of his tongue since the moment he had first seen his friend.
Solly’s face fell. He was silent for a moment. “She came back to Castle Cragus looking for you the day after your meeting with Han No. Word of the seriousness of your injuries got back to the castle and everybody was waiting for news. When she found out how injured you were, she ran from the castle and disappeared. We don’t know if she went through a portal or is still in Hellogon. No one has seen her or heard anything of her.”
The two sat in silence until the ambulance came to a stop. The back doors were flung open and a girl Peter didn’t recognise shouted “Well come on then, before somebody notices us.”
The voice was the giveaway. The girl was Ilarna, and she was stunningly beautiful as a human female. However, the blonde hair and blue eyes took some getting used to.
As they were about to step through the portal to Castle Cragus, Peter remembered he had to tell Solly something. He took Solly a little way down the corridor so Ilarna couldn’t hear them. “The Establishment has defused the bombs in this shop. You can bring your females through to Hellogon. If I were you, I’d do it quickly. Do you want me to send any help from Castle Cragus?”
Solly smiled at Peter and clasped him tight. “You are just like your father, always making my life better. There’s a hidden gate in the store room. I can get the crates through it in a couple of hours. Thank you Peter, you’ve saved my species from certain extinction.”
“Not yet Solly, but it’s a start.”
Chapter Thirty One
Pandemonium
Peter and Ilarna snuck back to Castle Cragus trying to avoid creating a fuss. No one saw them enter apart from the guards at the gate whom they swore to secrecy. The two entered Peter’s office and lit the lamps.
“It is good to have you back on Hellogon, Lord Cragus. You have been missed.” Ilarna stood facing Peter. It seemed to Peter she was acting nervously. He put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her lightly on the cheek. She exhaled deeply, almost a gasp, then snuggled into him for a couple of seconds before drawing away.
“Thank you, Ilarna. The Establishment was trying to stop me coming back to Hellogon and I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Peter might have gone on to say more but his office door burst open. Lords Baldan and Drogwar pushed into the room, barely managing to halt before running into Lady Ilarna.
Ilarna’s face stiffened and she gave Peter a formal bow. “Now the Lord Cragus is returned to his proper domain, I shall return to my duties and bid the noble lords goodnight.” Ilarna walked out of the office as though she had only been in the room to enquire where the brooms were.
Baldan and Drogwar stepped forward and crushed Peter in their efforts to hug him. After a few seconds, they thought their behaviour somewhat unseemly and stepped back to dust themselves down.
“It is good to gave you back in Hellogon, Lord Cragus,” Baldan said, his voice gruff as though coming down with a cold.
“Indeed it is,” Drogwar agreed, “and the course notes you provided have almost reached their end and I was wondering if you could find the time to write…”
“Damn the course notes, Drogwar!” Baldan interrupted. “We have Peter back with us and that’s the main thing.”
“I apologise, my Lord Cragus,” Drogwar said a little uncertainly. Peter smiled at him and put a hand on Drogwar’s broad shoulders.
“I’m glad the course has been going so well. I’ll discuss the next stage with you soon, but perhaps the students could do with a few days rest from their learning…?”
“Of course, you are right, my Lord,” Lord Drogwar agreed sounding more than a little downcast.
“And it will give you and me more time to plan.” Peter concluded cheerfully.
“Yes, my Lord Cragus,” Lord Drogwar replied enthusiastically.
“Lord Baldan, have you any intelligence on what’s going on in Zandar?” Lord Baldan smiled and moved closer to Peter.
“We think the Warlocks are planning something big. This has been the longest time without an attack on us in living memory and there are signs of increased activity in Zandar. What they plan to do I cannot say, but we should be on our guard. I’ve increased the number of men on the battlements. I’ve also had the women and children practising getting to the shelters.”
“That’s good strategy, Lord Baldan. It’s possible though that we are no longer regarded as the primary enemy by the Warlocks,” Peter explained. “The Dragons and the free Warlocks may now be close to war.”
“But the Dragons have supported the Warlocks against us for centuries,” Lord Baldan protested. “Why would Han No change allegiance now?”
“Han No sought the destruction of us all. That may be about to change, but I can assure you the Warlocks are more in his sights than we are.”
“I will have to consider what you say, my lord,” Lord Baldan said. “Are you certain of this information?”
“Absolutely, it came from the Dragon’s mouth, as it were. We are on shifting ground, Baldan, and we need to think more imaginatively. Don’t rely on the Grimms either, they’re about to receive a shock that’ll take them some time to get over. They may not be able to assist us for a while.”
Lord Baldan face went rigid. He bowed to Peter and made his excuses to leave, dragging a reluctant Lord Drogwar behind him.
“Peace at last,” Peter said to the air and poured himself a large glass.
“Its okay, Mary. What can I do for you?” he said to the girl he sensed her enter the room. Peter wondered how the slaves managed to pop up so unexpectedly. He would have to search the castle for secret passages when he got the time.
“About Saloni, my lord…”
“You know where she is?” Peter asked sharply. Mary stepped back as if he was about to hit her.
“No, my Lord, but it was I that told her of your state of health. She did not mean to hurt you so badly, my Lord. You should have seen the look of horror in her eyes. Please don’t kill her. I know you have good reason, but she didn’t mean to hurt you. She loves you!” Mary wrung her hands together.
Peter moved close and Mary flinched. He looked into her eyes and spoke calmly to her, as if calming a frightened horse.
“I know she didn’t mean it and I’m certainly not going to kill her. I love her, Mary, and I need to find her. My enemies will use her against me if they can and neither of us wants that. Now, do you have any idea where she is?”
Mary shook. “I thought she had gone to Tallus, my Lord. But no one has seen her there and castle slaves have good contacts with the slaves in Tallus. You don’t think she has done anything stupid, do you?”
Peter sighed. “Saloni, more than any person I’ve ever known, is capable of doing something stupid. However, she won’t have harmed herself so you can put that out of your mind. Wherever she is and whatever she’s doing, you can bet the person who ends up being harmed by it will be me.”
Peter needed little sleep, which was fortunate as it was five o’clock in the morning when he went to bed. He was up again a little after seven feeling refreshed. He no sooner finished breakfast than Jenkins entered to inform him that Solly and some other Grimms were waiting to see him.
Peter found the room filled with Grimms. They had pushed all the furniture against the wall to make room. The oestrogen in the room’s air almost knocked Peter to the floor and brought a physical reaction, which had the amassed gaggle of female Grimms giggling. Peter had forgotten how often he ended up blushing in Hellogon. Fortunately, the red light from the sun made it difficult for peop
le to see.
“Peter, my boy. It’s good to see you again. Out of the way, girls, give me a chance to talk to the Lord Cragus. Come on… shoo, shoo.”
Solly appeared from behind a couple of the females. They giggled as he slapped their rumps playfully. These were young female Grimms, and different in nature from Lady Geldar. They looked more like the kind of girls you’d want to take with you if you were going to a party.
“They all recovered?” Peter asked. He was surprised two hundred and fifty years of erosion hadn’t injured them.
“It must be a magic of the portals. Perhaps you would have recovered straight away had we carried you through a portal.”
“I would find it helpful if Han No didn’t discover what you’ve been up to, but I don’t see how we can keep these girls locked up.” Peter said, more thinking out loud than because he thought Solly would offer a solution.
“Well, Peter my boy,” Solly sounded embarrassed and shuffled his feet on the floor, “as it happens, me and the girls are going away as we have some people to visit.”
“You do? What people, and where are they?”
“You remember I told you I brought one of the girls through a portal years ago?”
Peter nodded as he remembered the conversation. It seemed to have taken place an age ago.
“That was fifteen years ago. Han No threatened that if anybody found out about her he would destroy the others. Denri, that’s her name, agreed to hide to protect them. Well, I regularly meet her to give her supplies, a place a day’s flying from here. Those meetings kept her from going insane in the first year, while she was all on her own.”
“She isn’t on her own now?” Peter asked.
Solly shuffled his feet. “You have to understand a female Grimm has certain needs and I was the only male she could use …”
“Ah,” Peter said as the light began to dawn. “You’ve had children together. That’s wonderful, Solly. How many, if I may ask?”
“Ninety five,” Solly said in a whisper, and continued quickly, “so we have to be off. The girls are going to give us a hand to get them back to the mountains. It will take us several days to get there and longer to get back.”
“Congratulations, Solly, you sly old dog. You must be the first male Grimm ever to be certain the children are his.” Peter clapped his friend on the back.
One of the young women grabbed Peter and whispered in his ear. “As a reward for saving us, we are going to make sure he is the only male we mate with this year. That’s going to be difficult for us, but he deserves his reward.”
“Just don’t kill him with your desire, girls,” Peter cautioned with a smile.
Peter felt exhausted when the females finally left and he sat down in a leather sofa. He hoped no one else spotted the girls leaving. He needed to keep their existence a secret for a while.
He heard a curt knock at the door and Ilarna walked in. She sniffed the air curiously and then shook her head, dismissing whatever it was she thought she had detected. She approached Peter warily, and kept a good six feet between them.
“There are reports of disturbances in Tallus. A servant has returned reporting seeing houses burning. He wisely chose to return when he saw the flames.”
“Thank you, Ilarna.”
Peter wondered what it meant. Tallus was neutral ground. Perhaps it was simply a house fire, but somehow he doubted it. He decided to take a horse and look for himself, perhaps with a few other Vampires.
There was a knock at the door.
Ilarna opened the door and to a guard. She encouraged him into the room, as he seemed to be frightened to do so.
“If it pleases my Lord Cragus, there’s a Warlock at the gate,” the guard finally stuttered out.
Peter’s first thought was that it was Sal, but that was a stupid thought because she could come and go as she liked. Perhaps it was Jorge?
“Did the Warlock give a name?”
Peter could understand the guard’s problem. The only way Warlocks came to the gate of Castle Cragus was as part of a raiding party. Politely knocking and asking to see someone wasn’t normal behaviour.
“He said his name is Grant Dark, my Lord. He says he has come with a message for you from the Dragon Han No.”
“Well you’d better bring him up to my office, hadn’t you?” Peter got off the sofa. “Lady Ilarna, can you prepare my horse and advise Baldan and Drogwar I’d like them to accompany me to Tallus. Tell them they should bring a cohort with us, just in case.”
“My Lord…,” Ilarna said. He turned towards her and waited for her to ask the inevitable question. “Would it be acceptable if I accompany you and their Lords to Tallus?”
“Why not?” Peter grinned at her. “If I’m going to get killed, it’s only right and proper that I should take as many of my friends with me as possible.”
Chapter Thirty Two
Dark
Peter barely reached his office before the guard turned up, bringing Grant Dark along with him. Peter invited Dark into the office and offered him a drink. This was the first time Peter had a chance to observe Saloni’s father up close and he didn’t like what he saw.
Dark’s skin was sallow and his face badly shaven. He was at least four inches taller than Peter, possibly six or eight, but he stooped so much the two of them appeared to be the same height. Dark had brown eyes and the pupils of his eyes were unnaturally small, which Peter took as a sign he had recently shot up with heroin. Sal certainly gets her looks from her mother, Peter thought as he encouraged the man to sit and sat behind his desk.
“Han No usually sends Solly,” Peter remarked. “You’re bringing me a message from Han No, I understand?”
“Soluman isn’t available, so I’ve been asked to bring this message in his place.” Dark said gloomily. It was clear he wasn’t happy about it.
Dark took out a piece of paper from deep inside his trouser pocket and for a second Peter thought he planned to hand it over to him, but it was some kind of aide mémoire. Dark composed himself and began to read.
“Dragon Han No sends his felicitous greetings to the Lord Cragus. He hopes you have fully recovered from your recent indisposition and the culprit involved has been suitably punished. Han No would like you to know that is happy to provide you with a specialist he employs for such things. He has reason to believe the culpable one has already had the pleasure of meeting this particular employee and has reason to fear him.”
Peter broke in on Dark’s recitation, “Tell Han No thanks, but no thanks. I can deal with my own problems. Is this all you came to tell me?”
Dark scanned further down the page, “The Dragon Han No would like to thank the Lord Cragus for the removal of the irksome humans from his business operations.”
“It was exactly what I promised him, no more and no less.”
“Dragon Han No has noticed he is no longer alone in seeking the eggs. It appears Lord Cragus’ human operatives are sweeping the Earth with a thoroughness far beyond the meagre resources he is able to bring to bear. The Dragon Han No would enquire as to the purpose of this search and your long-term intentions towards the eggs. He has attempted to talk to your agents, but they have rebuffed him.”
That would be the Establishment, waiting until they have at least a thousand Dragons’ Eggs, Peter thought. Less than that wouldn’t give them the absolute bargaining position they sought. When you have a captive market, don’t be too quick to start the negotiations. It wasn’t one of the special rules, but it had been stated often in economics classes.
“My agents were waiting for my complete recovery,” Peter said airily. “They have permission to start negotiations with Han No when they acquire one thousand eggs, and not before. Inform Han No that if he tells me when they begin to negotiate with him, I may choose to instruct them to be more generous with him than is set out in my initial orders. He may negotiate with them as though he was dealing with me.”
Dark wrote what Peter said on the back of the piece of paper before
turning it over and looking for further instructions.
“Dragon Han No wishes me to ask if the Vampires would be prepared to join forces with him in destroying the free Warlocks. He’s decided honour will be satisfied by the destruction of those Warlocks who haven’t sworn loyalty to him.”
“You realise that would include your own daughter, don’t you, Dark?” Peter asked, wondering if Dark had sunk so low Sal meant nothing to him.
Grant Dark ran his tongue over his lips as if they were too dry for him to speak. For the first time since he began reading the paper, he looked Peter in the eyes.
“She’s a bad one, Saloni is. Screwing around since she was a little girl. Her own mother would disown her. She’s a tart, a trollop and worse than a common prostitute.” To emphasise his opinion, Grant Dark spat on the carpet.
“Perhaps having a drug addict and traitor for a father made her seek love beyond the family home.”
“She’d spread her legs for a tramp to piss on.” Grant Dark retorted. “She’s bad all the way through and she deserves what she gets”
“Get out!” Peter stood his arm pointing to the door.
“She nearly killed you for sheltering her. I disown her. She ain’t a daughter of mine and she’s not fit to be a Warlock!”
Peter calmed down with a stupendous effort that would have made his yoga teacher proud.
“Tell the Dragon Han No that I’d rather stand for protecting life than taking it. If he attacks the free Warlocks, we will come to their aid. Remind him my staff have access to rock crushes and at my command they’ll destroy the lot of them. And tell him if he sends you to me again, I’ll send my reply cut into your skin. Leave Castle Cragus while you can.”
Dark stood and gave a mocking bow. The guard, who waited outside the door, looked to Peter who ordered him to escort Dark to the portals outside the castle.
