Faerie Lord

by Herbie Brennan

  ‘Do I what?’

  ‘Still want to marry me?’

  Blue turned to look at him directly. ‘Are you asking me to marry you, Henry Atherton?’

  ‘Yes,’ Henry said impatiently. ‘Yes, I am.’

  ‘Why?’ Blue asked.

  ‘Because I love you,’ Henry said.

  Blue looked away again, ‘I can’t marry a commoner.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I can’t marry a commoner,’ Blue said again, ‘I’m Queen of Faerie, Queen of Hael. I can’t marry a commoner.’ She turned back to him and now she was smiling broadly. ‘I’ll have to make you a Faerie Lord.’

  Henry was staring at her in disbelief. ‘You mean you will marry me?’

  ‘In a heartbeat, Henry,’ Blue said softly.

  He kissed her after that.

  One Hundred and Two

  There was fresh gravel on the streets and banners hung from every house. Henry couldn’t believe the crowds that lined the streets. He waved through the window of the ouklo, the way the Queen did in London on a State occasion. The cheering never stopped, not for an instant, as the carriage carried him towards the great cathedral. His heart was thumping so hard he wondered if it would survive the ceremony.

  The carriage sank down slowly onto the cathedral courtyard, a footman opened the door with a flourish and Henry stepped out. He’d been here once before, for Pyrgus’s coronation, and the scene wasn’t all that different. The cathedral itself towered above the soldiers on parade, the courtiers, the waiting crowds. It was a gigantic building, much larger than anything he’d ever seen at home, yet the architecture was a lacelike filigree that could be supported only by magic. Or perhaps divine intervention. Henry thought in passing. Now he’d seen an angel with his own two eyes, he was prepared to believe anything was possible.

  Pyrgus was walking towards him, grinning broadly. He was dressed in some elaborate naval uniform that presumably went with one of his titles. He shook Henry’s hand, then hugged him, patting his back furiously. ‘You dog,’ Pyrgus murmured. ‘You old dog.’

  ‘Is she here?’ Henry whispered. There was a part of him that knew this simply wasn’t happening, or if it was, it was too good to be true. He wished Lorquin was with him for moral support, but Lorquin was back with his tribe now and would have been totally bewildered by what was happening here anyway. So Henry had to face this all alone, afraid Blue wouldn’t turn up, or she’d turn out to be already married, or something else would go wrong. There was no way Henry would actually get married, not to a Faerie Princess, not to Blue.

  ‘Not yet,’ Pyrgus whispered back. ‘She mustn’t come until you’re in your place. The Royal Barge is moored at Cheapside, but they’ll send off a signal now you’re here.’

  If it hadn’t been for Pyrgus, Henry would never have found his way into the cathedral. As it was, he had only a confused impression of military salutes and cheering crowds and a soft pinkish snowfall he finally discovered was rose petals.

  It was even worse inside. The cathedral was a confusion of colour and incense smells. There were at least a hundred Priests of Light in startling golden robes and rank upon rank of the nobility, each vying with the others in the elaborate structures of their costumes. In the centre of the cathedral floor was an enormous fire that sparked and crackled, yet somehow failed to give out too much heat.

  The waiting was terrible.

  Every few seconds Henry kept asking Pyrgus, ‘Is she here yet?’ Every few seconds Pyrgus grinned and shook his head and told him, ‘No.’ Henry craned his head to watch the doors until his neck ached. She wasn’t coming. She’d had second thoughts. She’d run off with someone who was better looking.

  ‘How long does it take the Royal Barge –?’ Henry began. Then he heard a commotion behind him and knew she must be there. He turned and she was there, standing alone without servants or retinue and so beautiful he nearly cried.

  The whole proceedings went by in a daze. There was a thorny branch, symbolic of God-knew-what, and a spreading tree that actually appeared to be growing inside the cathedral, and they had to walk around the fire a lot. (He’d caught a glimpse of Nymph’s face in the crowd while they were doing that. She was smiling broadly, but seemed to be weeping too.)

  The ceremony was conducted by Archimandrake Podalirius, an almost overpowering bearded figure with a voice that rumbled up like thunder from his boots. ‘Do you pledge yourself to Henry?’ he asked Blue at last. ‘Do you promise the great Lords of Light that you will hold to him and love him, here, now and in worlds beyond? Do you agree, before the Realm and those who gather here, to marry him?’

  And Blue, quite clearly, said, ‘I do.’

  Epilogue

  The Portal Temple was packed with revellers, but they fell silent at once when the great portal itself flared into life.

  ‘Is everything ready at … you know … the other side?’ asked Henry in a whisper. This wasn’t quite the most exciting part of an exciting day, but it came close. His eyes were locked on the cold blue flames.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ grinned Chief Portal Engineer Peacock.

  ‘He’s talked about this far more than he ever talked about marrying me,’ Blue said, smiling broadly.

  ‘I can attest to that,’ Pyrgus confirmed. He was colourfully dressed for the occasion and smelling of some particularly odious aftershave.

  Henry licked his lips. ‘What do you do now?’ he asked the engineer. ‘Throw a switch or something?’

  ‘I thought you might like to do that, sir.’ Peacock indicated a red button.

  Henry reached out, then hesitated. ‘You’re sure he’s there? At the other end? I mean, he hasn’t wandered off or anything. He wanders off a lot.’

  ‘We’ve modified the portal in accordance with the principles Gatekeeper Fogarty discovered,’ Peacock said. ‘There’s a lock on. All you have to do is press the button.’

  Henry fought the lump in his throat. If there was anything that could have made this day more perfect, it would have been to have Mr Fogarty here. But this was next best thing in a funny way. Henry pressed the button.

  The blue flames flickered as Hodge stepped through, his tail curled high. He stopped and looked around the assembled wedding guests. Then he sat down, placed one leg behind his ear and began to wash his parts.

  Glossary

  Key:

  FOL: Faerie of the Light

  FON: Faerie of the Night

  HMN: Human

  Analogue World. Names used in the Faerie Realm to denote the mundane world of school and spots and parents who look like they might end up getting divorced.

  Angel. A messenger from God.

  Antiopa, Nymphalis (Nymph). Daughter of Queen Cleopatra, Princess of the Forest Faerie.

  Apatura Iris. (FOL) Father of Prince Pyrgus and Queen Blue. Was Purple Emperor for more than twenty years.

  Arcond. The ruler of Hass-Verbim.

  Atherton, Aisling. (HMN) Henry Atherton’s younger sister and pain in the ass.

  Atherton, Henry. (HMN) A young teenage boy living in England’s Home Counties who first made contact with the Faerie Realm when he rescued the faerie prince, Pyrgus Mal-vae, from a cat.

  Atherton, Martha. (HMN) Headmistress of a girl’s school in the south of England. Former wife of Tim Atherton, mother of Henry and Aisling.

  Atherton, Tim. (HMN) Successful business executive. Husband of Martha Atherton, father of Henry and Aisling.

  Bartzabel. A demon guardian.

  Beleth (a.k.a, the Infernal Prince; the Prince of Darkness). Prince of Hael, an alternative dimension of reality inhabited by demons.

  Blue, Queen Holly. (FOL) Younger sister of Prince Pyrgus Malvae and daughter of the late Purple Emperor Apatura Iris.

  Brenthis. Tribal historian of the Luchti.

  Brimstone, Silas. (FON) Elderly demonologist and former glue factory owner.

  Brotherhood, The. A magical Lodge of FONs which isn’t nearly as powerful as it used to be.

  Buthner. One
of the countries that make up the Faerie Realm.

  Callophrys Avis. (FON) A member of the Brotherhood.

  Cardui, Madame Cynthia (a.k.a, the Painted Lady). (FOL) An elderly eccentric whose extensive contacts have made her one of Queen Blue’s most valued agents.

  Catsite. A toxic crystal that, taken in small doses, enables you to see in the dark.

  Chalkhill, Jasper. (FON) Business partner of Silas Brimstone and, secretly, former head of Lord Hairstreak’s intelligence service.

  Charaxes. Luchti ancestors.

  Charno. An intelligent and (somewhat) articulate pack animal that looks like a giant hare.

  Cheapside. An area of the FOL capital.

  Coffee. A bitter drink that leaves humans wired and gives faeries a psychedelic experience.

  Comma, Prince. (FOL/FON) Half-brother of Prince Pyrgus and Queen Blue. (Same father, different mothers.)

  Cripple’s Gate. An entrance to the FOL capital.

  Danaus. Chief Wizard Surgeon Healer of the Faerie Realm.

  Demon. Form frequently taken by the shape-shifting alien species inhabiting the Hael Realm when in contact with faeries or humans.

  Doppleganger. A freeze-dried replica that can replace a person in a location while the real person escapes. Much used by spies and adventurers.

  Draugr. The vaettirs’ mother.

  D’Urville. (FON) A confused butler who looks after the headquarters of the secret Brotherhood.

  En Ri. How the Luchti pronounce ‘Henry’.

  Euphrosyne. The discoverer of the Ark in Luchti mythology.

  Faerie of the Light (Lighter). One of the two main faerie types, culturally averse to the use of demons in any circumstances and usually members of the Church of Light.

  Faerie of the Night (Nighter). One of the two main faerie types, physically distinguished from Faeries of the Light by light-sensitive catlike eyes. Made use of demonic servants.

  Faerie Realm. A parallel aspect of reality inhabited by various alien species, including Faeries of the Light and Faeries of the Night.

  Faerie Standard. The lingua franca of the Faerie Realm.

  Flyer, personal. A Realm aircraft roughly equivalent to a flying sports car.

  Fogarty, Alan. (HMN) Paranoid ex-physicist and bank robber with an extraordinary talent for engineering gadgets. Fogarty was recently made Gatekeeper of House Iris in recognition of the help he gave to Prince Pyrgus, even though it was Fogarty’s cat who nearly ate Prince Pyrgus in the first place.

  Fogarty, Angela (a.k.a. Mrs Barenbohm). (HMN) Alan Fogarty’s daughter.

  Forest Faerie. The way you refer to a Feral Faerie if you don’t want to give offence.

  Gatekeeper. Ancient title used to describe the chief advisor of a Noble House.

  Gravistat. Faerie preserving fluid that petrifies corpses.

  Great Myphisto, The. Madame Cardui’s late husband.

  Guardian. Spell-driven security hologram.

  Hael. Faerie name for Hell.

  Hairstreak, Lord Black. (FON) Noble head of House Hairstreak and leader of the Faeries of the Night.

  Halek knife (or blade). A rock crystal weapon which releases magical energies to kill anything it pierces. Halek knives are prone to shattering occasionally, in which event the energies will kill the person using them.

  Haleklind. Homeland of the Halek wizards.

  Haniel. Winged lion inhabiting forest areas of the Faerie Realm.

  Hass-Verbim. One of the countries that make up the Faerie Realm. Hass-Verbim borders on Buthner.

  Highgrove. An area of the FOL capital.

  Hodge. Mr Fogarty’s tomcat.

  Horse-sniffles. A common (and not very serious) childhood illness in the Faerie Realm.

  Imperial Island. The island where the Purple Palace is located.

  Ino. Tribal shaman of the Luchti.

  Iron Prominent. Henry’s honorary title in the Faerie Realm.

  Jalindra. (FOL) First victim of Temporal Fever.

  Jamides. Abbot of the desert monastery in Buthner.

  Jormungand. A serpent big enough to crush reality if it got a chance.

  Kitterick. An Orange Trinian in the service of Madame Cardui.

  Krantas. A vampire who terrorised the Realm several centuries ago.

  Lamen. A magical breastplate, generally used only in ceremonies.

  Lanceline. Madame Cardui’s translucent cat.

  Loki. One of the Old Gods of the Faerie Realm, a Trickster who also figures in Norse mythology for some reason.

  Loman Bridge. The main bridge spanning the river that flows through the FOL capital.

  Lorquin (Lorquinianus). A young member of Tribe Luchti and Henry’s Companion.

  Luchti. A desert tribe in Buthner.

  Lucina, Hamearis, Duke of Burgundy. (FON) War hero and close ally of Lord Hairstreak.

  Malvae, Crown Prince Pyrgus. (FOL) Brother of Queen Holly Blue. Pyrgus likes animals a lot more than politics and at one time actually ran away from home to live as a commoner because of disagreements with his father.

  Melor. A type of distilled cider much enjoyed by the Luchti people.

  Midgard. A distant level of reality that embraces both the Faerie Realm and the Analogue World.

  Mind-bender. A spell that influences the way you think.

  Mount Pleasant. A district of the FOL capital.

  Nant. An edible insect.

  Nightwent. A desert bird.

  Ouklo. Levitating, spell-driven carriage.

  Peacock. Chief Portal Engineer of House Iris.

  Portal. Interdimensional energy gateway, either naturally occurring, modified or engineered.

  Prince of Darkness. Title often used to describe Beleth.

  Psychotronics. An obscure branch of Earth Realm science which studies the interaction of the human mind with physical reality. The practical application of psychotronics seems indistinguishable from some forms of Faerie Realm magic.

  Purlisa. An honorific term used in monastic communities to denote a person of high spiritual evolution. Equivalent to an Analogue World saint, but nicer.

  Purple Emperor. Ruler of the Faerie Empire.

  Severs, Charlotte (Charlie). (HMN) Henry Atherton’s closest friend in the Earth Realm.

  Simbala. An addictive form of liquid music sold legally in licensed outlets and illegally elsewhere.

  Slith. Dangerous grey reptile inhabiting forest areas of the Faerie Realm. Sliths secrete a highly toxic acid, which they can spit across considerable distances.

  Spell cone. Pocket-sized cones, no more than an inch or so in height, imbued with magical energies directed towards a specific result. The old-style cone had to be lit. The more modern version is self-igniting and is "cracked" with a fingernail. Both types discharge like fireworks.

  Stasis spell. A spell that freezes something into immobility, preserving it intact for as long as the spell lasts.

  Stimlus. A personal energy weapon.

  Temporal fever (a.k.a. TF). A mysterious illness plaguing the Faerie Realm.

  Tort-feasor. One who feases torts.

  Transporter. Mr Fogarty’s hand-held version of a portal, based on the thing they use in Star Trek.

  Trinian. Non-human, non-faerie dwarven race living in the Faerie Realm. Orange Trinians are a breed that dedicates itself to service. Violet Trinians tend to be warriors, while Green Trinians specialise in biological nanotechnology and consequently can create living machines.

  Tulpa. An intelligent, automatous thought-form.

  Vaettir. Faerie name for the skinny, fanged, lethal tomb-dwelling thing Professor Tolkien called a barrow-wight.

  Ward, Anais. (HMN) Henry’s mother’s lover.

  Weiskei. The Brotherhood sentinel.

  Whitewell. A district of the FOL capital.

  Wildmoor Broads. A flat area of thorny shrubland north of the faerie capital much favoured by the wealthy of the Realm for their estates, since the difficulties of travelling through the area go a long way towards ensuring the
ir privacy. The only really viable means of transport is by levitating carriage. Ground transport is attacked by prickleweed, a semi-sentient plant that will typically swarm over any vehicle and bring it to a halt in minutes. Crossing the area on foot is impossible – the prickleweed paralyses pedestrians, then rips them apart for their nutrients.

  Yammeth Cretch. Heartland of the Faeries of the Night.

  Yidam. One of the Old Gods who walked the Realm before the coming of the Light.

  THE FAERIE WARS CHRONICLES

  Faerie Wars

  The Purple Emperor

  Ruler of the Realm

  Faerie Lord

  Copyright © 2007 by Herbie Brennan

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner

  whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief

  quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  First published in the United States of America in January 2008

  by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers

  E-book edition published in December 2008

  www.bloomsburyteens.com

  For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to

  Permissions, Bloomsbury BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

  Brennan, Herbie.

  Faerie Lord / by Herbie Brennan.—1st U.S. ed.

  p. cm.

  “Book four in the Faerie Wars Chronicles.”

  Summary: When a terrible plague takes over the faerie realm and causes its inhabitants to

  age unnaturally quickly, Henry and Blue must find a cure in order to save the realm.

  ISBN-13: 978-1-59990-120-6 • ISBN-10: 1-59990-120-X (hardcover)

  [1. Fairies—Fiction. 2. Aging—Fiction. 3. Supernatural—Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.B75153Fa 2007 [Fie]—dc22 2006102610

  ISBN 978-1-59990-406-1 (e-book)