'Rix’ Beside her was the right hand of the statue. Small red circuits rippled at its fingers ends.
Do what you have to, my son, the Prison said eagerly.
Rix nodded. 'I hear you, Master.' He pulled Attia's coat open and snatched out the Glove. He held it up in triumph and from all sides the beams of light swivelled and focused on it, throwing swollen replicated shadows not only of the statue now but of all of them, great cloudy Keiros and Attias on the clouds.
'Behold,' Rix murmured. 'The greatest illusion the Prison has ever seen.'
The sword tip whipped away from Attia's neck. She moved, but Keiro was quicker. Diving forward he batted the blade aside and punched Rix hard in the chest.
But it was Keiro who cried out. He was flung hack jerking with shock, and Rix laughed, his gap-tooth grin wide.
'Magic! How powerful it is, my Apprentice! How it guards its master!'
He turned to the image, lifted the Glove towards its sparking fingers.
'No!' Attia cried. 'You can't do this!' She turned to the Warden. 'Stop him!'
The Warden said quietly, 'There is nothing I can do. There never has been.'
She grabbed at Rix but even as she touched him the shock burnt into her nerves, an electric spark of recoil that screamed in her own voice. Then she was on the floor and Keiro was standing over her. 'Are you all right?'
She crouched over her burnt fingers. 'He's wired up. He's beaten us.'
Rix. Incarceron's order was urgent. Give me my Glove. Give me my freedom. Do it NOW.
Rix turned, and Attia rolled. She shot out her foot and the magician tripped and fell, crashing on the white floor, the Glove falling from his hand and skidding over the shiny marble, Keiro diving after it and grabbing it with a whoop of joy.
He scrambled back, out of reach. 'Now, Prison, you get your freedom. But from me. And only if you do what you promised. Tell me I'm the one who gets to Escape with you.'
The Prison laughed, ominous. Do you really think I keep such promises?
Keiro circled, gazing up ignoring Rix's howls of anger. He showed no disappointment. 'Take me or I wear the Glove You would not dare. 'Watch me.' The Glove will kill you. 'Better than living in this hell.'
Their stubborness made them equal, Attia thought. Keiro turned, a slow circle. He slid his metal fingernail towards the Glove's opening.
I will torment you. Incarceron's voice was a high metallic whine. I will make you pray for death.
'Keiro, don't,' Attia whispered.
For a second he hesitated. And then from behind her the Warden's cool voice cut the air. 'Wear it. Put it on.' 'What?'
'Put it on. The Prison won't risk destroying its only way Out. I think the result will surprise you.'
Keiro stared at him in surprise, and the Warden stared back. Then Keiro slipped his fingers deeper.
Wait. Incarceron's voice thundered. The cloud flickered
with invisible lightnings. I will not allow that. No. Stop. Please.
'You stop me Keiro breathed. A spark leapt between his metal nail and the Glove. He gasped with the pain. And then he was gone.
There was no light, no blinding brilliant flash. Instead, as Finn stared at Claudia he saw she was no longer there. She had become a vacuum of herself, a shadow, a negative image. And as he watched she re-emerged from the darkness, pixel by pixel, atom by atom, the reassembly of a fragmented being, all its thoughts and limbs and dreams and features, and it wasn't Claudia, it was someone else.
He groped for the sword, his eyes blinded by what might be tears, the blade whipping up to the face that stared at his, the amazed blue eyes, the dirty blond hair.
For a long moment Finn was still, both of them were, face to face, and then Keiro reached forward and took the sword from him and turned the point to the ground.
The door burst open. Jared took one look around the Portal and stood stock-still. His heart was hammering so hard he was breathless, and he leant back against the wall.
Behind him Medlicote pushed Caspar in, and they stared.
They saw, facing Finn, a stranger in a filthy red coat, his eyes blue with triumph, his muscled hand tight around the hilt of a sharp sword. There was no one else in the room.
'Who are you?' Caspar demanded. Keiro turned and gazed at the shining breastplate and splendid clothes. He levelled the blade an inch from Caspar's eyes. 'Your worst nightmare,' he said.
30
The Winged Man
Did he Escape? For there is a rumour that is whispered in the dark, a rumour that he remains, trapped deep in the Prison's heart, his body turned to stone; that the cries we hear are his cries, that his struggles shake the world. But we know what we know.
THE STEEL WOLVES
Jared stepped forward and grabbed the Glove from Keiro's hand, flinging it down on the floor as if it was alive. 'Did you hear its dreams?' he said. 'Did it control you?'
Keiro laughed. 'Does it look like it?'
'But you wore it!'
'No. I didn't.' Keiro was too amazed to think about the Glove. He flicked Caspar's coat—collar with the sword tip. 'Nice material. And just my size.'
He was glowing with delight. If he felt sick or dazzled by the room's white light he didn't show it. He took in everything — the four of them, the cluttered Portal, the huge feather — with one avid sweep of his eyes. 'So this is Outside.'
Finn swallowed. His mouth felt dry. He glanced at Jared and almost felt the Sapient's dismay.
Keiro tapped Caspar's breastplate with the sword. 'I want that too.'
Finn said, 'It's different here. There are wardrobes full of clothes.' 'I want his.'
Caspar looked terrified. 'Do you know who I am?' he stammered. Keiro grinned. 'No.'
'Where's Claudia?' Jared's agonized question cut the tension.
Keiro shrugged. 'How should I know?'
'They changed places Finn kept his eyes on his oathbrother. 'She was sitting in the chair and she just dissolved. Keiro appeared. Is that what the Glove does? Is that the power it has? Can I put it on now, and... '
'No one puts it on until I say.' Jared moved past him. He went to the chair and gripped it, leaning on its back. His face was pale with weariness and he looked more anxious than Finn had ever seen him. Quickly, Finn said, 'Master Medlicote, pour some wine please.'
The fragrant smell filled the air. Keiro sniffed it. 'What is that?'
'Better than the Prison muck.' Finn watched him. 'Try some. And you, Master.' As the drink was poured he watched his oathbrother prowl round the room, exploring everything. It was all wrong. He should be happy. He should be so elated to have Keiro here. And yet there was a deep dread inside him, a shivery, sickening terror, because this wasn't how it should have happened. And because Claudia was gone, and suddenly there was a hole in the world. He said, 'Who was with you?'
Keiro sipped the red liquid and his eyebrows rose. 'Attia. The Warden. And Rix.'
'Who's Rix?' Finn said, but Jared turned from the screen instantly. 'The Warden was with you?'
'He told me to do it. He said, "Put the Glove on." Maybe he knew . . .' Keiro stopped, instantly. 'That's it! Of course he knew. It was his way of getting the Glove out of the Prison's reach.'
Jared turned back to the screen. Placing his fingers on it he stared sadly into its darkness. 'At least she's with her father'
'If they're still alive.' Keiro glanced at Caspar's tied wrists. 'What's going on here, anyway? I thought this was where people were free.' Turning he saw them all staring at him. Medicote whispered, 'What do you mean, if they're still alive?'
'Use your brain' Keiro sheathed the sword and went to the door. 'The Prison is going to be very, very angry about this. It may have killed them all already.'
Jared stared at him. 'You knew that might happen, and you still... '
'That's how it is in Incarceron,' Keiro said. 'Every man for himself. As my brother will tell you.' He turned and faced Finn. 'So. Are you going to show me our kingdom? Or are you ashamed of your jaib
ird brother? That is, if we're still brothers.'
Finn said quietly, 'We're still brothers.'
'You don't seem so pleased to see me.'
He shrugged. 'It's the shock. And Claudia ... she's in there.
Keiro raised an eyebrow. 'So that's how it is. Well, I suppose she's rich, and enough of a bitch to make a good Queen.'
'That's what I've missed about you. Your tact and courtesy.'
'Not to mention my quicksilver wit and devastating looks.'
They stood face to face. Finn said, 'Keiro. . .'
A sudden explosion rumbled over their heads. The room shook, a plate sliding to the floor and smashing.
Finn swung to Jared. 'They've opened fire!'
'Then I suggest you get the Queen's beloved son up to the battlements,' Jared said quietly. 'I have work to do here.' He exchanged one swift look with Finn, and Finn saw the discarded Glove was in his hand. 'Be careful, Master.'
'Just stop them firing. And Finn.' Jared came over and gripped his wrist. 'Do not, on any account, leave this house. I need you here. Do you understand me?'
After a moment Finn said, 'I understand.'
Another rumble. Keiro said, 'Tell me that's not cannon-fire.'
'A whole regiment of it,' Caspar said, smug.
Finn pushed him away and turned to Keiro. 'Look. We're beseiged. There's an army out there and we're outgunned and outmanned. Things are not good. I'm afraid you haven't come into some paradise. You've come into a battle.' Keiro had always been an expert at taking things in his stride. Now he looked curiously up the sumptuous corridor. 'In that case, brother, I'm exactly what you need.'
Claudia felt as if she had been broken apart and reassembled, badly, piece by piece. As if she had been forced through some barrier of mesh, a matrix of collapsing dimensions.
She was standing on a great bare floor of black and white tiles.
Facing her father.
He seemed utterly dismayed. 'No!' he breathed. And then, almost like a cry of pain. 'No!'
The floor rippled. She steadied herself, arms out, and then breathed in, and the stink of the Prison overwhelmed her, the stench of endlessly recycled air and human fear. She gasped, and put both hands over her face.
The Warden came towards her. For a moment she thought he would take her hands in his cold fingers, print her cheek with his icy kiss. Instead he said, 'This shouldn't have happened. How could this happen!'
'You tell me.' She glanced round, saw Attia staring at her, and a tall ragged man who seemed utterly astounded, his hands knotted and his eyes deep hollows of awe.
'Magic,' he breathed. 'The true Art.'
It was Attia who said, 'Keiro's vanished. He vanished and you appeared. Does that mean he's Outside?'
'How am I supposed to know?'
'You have to know!' Attia yelled. 'He has the Glove!'
The floor rippled, a wave of cracking tiles.
'No time now for this.' The Warden pulled out a firelock and gave it to Claudia. 'Take this. Protect yourself against whatever the Prison sends.'
She held the weapon limply, but then she saw that behind them the whole vast space was flooding with clouds that swirled and blackened and sparked lightning. One flash cracked into the floor beside the Warden. He swung round, staring up. 'Listen to me, Incarceron' This is not our fault!'
Then whose fault is it? The voice of the Prison seethed with fury. Its words were crackled and raw, dissolving into hisses of static. You told him to do it. You betrayed me.
The Warden said coldly, 'Not at all. It may look that way, but you and —'
Why should I not burn you all into ash?
'Because you would damage your delicately-made creation.' The Warden stepped close to the statue; Claudia stared up at it in awe as he pulled her after him. 'I think you are too astute to do that.' He smiled. 'It seems to me, Incarceron, that things have changed now between us. For years you have done what you wanted, ruled as you liked. You controlled yourself. I was Warden only in name. Now the one thing you want is beyond your grasp.'
Claudia felt Attia jump up on the step behind her. 'Listen to him,' the girl whispered. 'This is all about him and his power.'
The Prison laughed, a sinister chuckle. You think so?
John Arlex shrugged. He looked at Claudia. 'I know so. The Glove has been taken Outside. It will be returned to you only by my orders.'
Your orders? Indeed?
'My orders, as Clanlord of the Steel Wolves.'
He was bluffing, Claudia thought. She said aloud, 'Do you remember me, Prison?'
I remember you. You were mine and you are mine again. But now, unless I have my Glove, I will close down the lights and the air and the heat. I will leave millions to suffocate in darkness.
You will not the Warden said evenly, 'or you will never have the Glove.' He spoke as if to a child, with a clear severity. 'Instead, you show me the secret door that Sapphique used.'
So that you and your so-called daughter can release yourselves, and leave me trapped here? The voice was clotted with sparks. Never.
The Prison convulsed. Claudia staggered and fell against Rix. He grabbed her arm, grinning. 'My father's anger,' he whispered. I will destroy you all now.
The black squares of the floor rolled back and were holes. Out of them rose cables with open mouths of venom. They kinked and curled like snakes of power, cracking and spitting.
'Up the steps.' The Warden climbed quickly to the feet of the winged man, Rix shoving Claudia after him. Attia came last, glancing round.
White vivid shocks split the darkness.
'It won't harm the statue: the Warden murmured.
Attia glared. 'You can't be sure ...'
High in the roof, a great rumble silenced her. The clouds were storm-black. Tiny hard pellets of snow were falling from them. In seconds the temperature was below zero and dropping fast, and Rix's breath steamed as he breathed out. 'It won't have to damage it. It'll just freeze us here to its feet: And each of the tiny flakes whispered as it fell, in millionfold anger.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
The first shot had just been a warning. The ball had sailed right over the roof and crashed somewhere in the woods beyond. But Finn knew the next one would smash through; as he ran up the last stair and out on to the battlements he saw through the acrid smoke the Queen's artillerymen adjusting the angles of the five great cannon they had ranged across the lawns. Behind him, Keiro gasped.
Finn turned. His oathbrother stood transfixed, gazing out at the pale dawn sky slashed with gold and scarlet. The sun was rising. It hung like a great red globe above the beechwoods, and rooks rose in clouds to meet it from the branches.
The long shadow of the house stretched over lawns and gardens, and on the moat light glimmered on the ripples the swans made as they woke.
Keiro walked to the battlements and gripped the stonework, as if to make sure it was all real. He gazed for a long moment on the perfection of the morning, at the scarlet and gold pennants flapping over the Queen's pavilions, the lavender hedges, the roses, the bees that hummed in the honeysuckle flowers under his hands.
'Amazing,' he breathed. 'Totally amazing.'
'You haven't seen anything yet,' Finn muttered. 'When the sun gets high, it'll dazzle you. And at night ...' He stopped. 'Go inside. Ralph, get him some hot water, the best clothes
Keiro shook his head. 'Tempting, brother, but not yet. First we deal with this enemy Queen.'
Medlicote came up behind them, a little breathless, and behind him the soldiers pushed Caspar, red in the face and furious.
'Finn, get these ropes off me. I insist!'
Finn nodded and the nearest guard sliced the knot swiftly. Caspar made a great show of rubbing his chafed wrists, staring haughtily around at everyone except Keiro, whose eyes he seemed too terrified to meet.
Captain Soames stared at him in disbelief. 'Isn't that . . . ?'
'That's a miracle.' Finn said. 'Now. Can we get their attention before they blast us to pieces?'
The flag was raised; it flapped loudly. In the Queen's camp a few men pointed; someone ran into the large tent. No one came out.
The guns were a row of dark muzzles. 'If they fire ...' Medlicote said nervously. Keiro said, 'Someone's coming.'
A courtier was galloping towards them on a grey horse. He spoke to the artillerymen as he passed, then galloped cautiously over the lawns to the edge of the moat.
'You wish to surrender the Prisoner?' he called up.
'Shut up and listen to me.' Finn leant over. 'Tell the Queen if she fires on us she kills her son. Understand?'
He grabbed Caspar and hauled him to the battlements. The courtier stared up in horror, his horse prancing under him. 'The Earl? But..’
Keiro stepped up to Caspar, one arm around his shoulders. 'Here he is! With both ears, both eyes and both hands. Unless you'd like some proof to take the Queen?'
'No!' the man gasped.
'Shame Keiro had a knife carelessly against Caspar's cheek. 'But I suggest you tell the Queen that he's in my hands now and I'm not like the rest of you. I'm not playing any games.'
He tightened his grip and Caspar stifled a gasp.
Finn said, 'No.'
Keiro smiled his most charming smile. 'Run along now.'
The courtier turned his horse and raced for the tents. Clods of earth were flung up by the hooves. As he passed he yelled urgently at the men by the cannons; they backed away, obviously puzzled.
Keiro turned. He pushed the point of the knife very slightly into Caspar's white skin. A small red spot swelled with blood.
'A little souvenir he whispered.
'Leave him.' Finn came and tugged Caspar away and pushed the half-fainting Earl at Captain Soames. 'Put him somewhere safe and have a man stay with him. Food and water. Anything he needs.'
As they took the boy away he turned on Keiro angrily. 'This is not the Prison!'
Sapphique - Incarceron 02 Page 26
