by John Booth
“You have good taste,” Ms Downs told me.
“Have you worked for the Council long?” I asked her as I slipped my panties over my wet skin. The air was warm and I’d soon dry out.
Ms Downs looked embarrassed. “Only for the last ten years. I’m very young, less than a century old.” She made youth sound like a curse.
“Brian’s sixteen, but I suspect he’d make a better councilor than those we’ve got. Refresh my memory, Ms Downs. I haven’t been in contact with the Americas Council for decades.”
The girl blushed. “Call me Cathy. They all know you. The Head of the Council is David Mersey, of course.”
I looked at her blankly as the name meant nothing to me.
“I believe you knew him as Nevin?”
I nodded. Nevin and I met during the early days of the Roman Empire. We’d travelled together for a time. He hadn’t shown any inclination to seek power back then. He hadn’t been a member of the Americas Council at the beginning of the nineteenth century, which was the last time I’d had any dealing with them. I wondered why he’d decided to get involved in Fey politics; I’d have thought he had more sense.
“The other two Councilors are much younger. Greta Hoon and Peter Yorn, but they’ve been on the Council forever.”
“I met them both when this house was being built. It was Greta who persuaded me to get involved at the time, though I dislike all the Councils, whichever continent they’re administrating.”
Greta was a little over a thousand years old and Peter about eight hundred. It wasn’t surprising that I knew all the Council members even though it was well over a hundred years since I’d had any contact. There were very few Fey and I got around.
Cathy looked surprised. “But didn’t you start the Councils back in Ancient Greece?”
I pulled on my trainers and laughed. “The Councils can be useful, but we only need them because the Fey sometimes forget their role. Give anyone power, even the best Fey, and it goes to their heads eventually.”
Brian chose that moment to enter the conversation with a thought of his own. “If you’re the oldest of the Fey, shouldn’t you be in charge?”
“Bite your tongue!” I said, a bit more abruptly than I’d intended.
Cathy giggled at the thought. “Cear Lotha has always refused to serve.”
“I very much doubt they’re going to invite me to take charge of them today,” I said sourly.
As we were ready, Cathy knocked on the cell door and we were let out. Two guards followed a safe distance behind us with their guns aimed at our backs and ready to fire. From the way they behaved my reputation must have preceded me. They looked terrified for all they were the ones carrying the weapons.
The Council sat behind a table on a raised dais. Two wooden chairs faced the table on our side beyond the platform, so we’d have to look up at the Council when we sat down. All three members stood up as I entered the room.
I almost didn’t recognize Nevin. He had allowed himself to age into his forties and he looked wearier than I’d ever seen him. I don’t know why people seek power if that’s what it does to them. Greta and Peter looked much as I had last seen them in 1901, though Peter had dyed his hair black. Fey dye their hair a lot as it makes us look more human.
“Welcome Cear of the Lotha tribe,” Nevin said in perfect Latin.
“English will do fine,” I replied. “I understand you are David Mersey now, or do you prefer Dave?”
He didn’t smile. “David.”
Greta did. “It’s good to see you again, Cear. I’m sure we can soon clear up this little misunderstanding.”
“You could have asked our permission before embarking on this insane mission, killing humans and stealing artworks,” Peter said defensively.
Now that was a stupid thing to say. “I don’t need your permission to do anything, or haven’t you read your charter?” I wrote that particular charter a long time ago.
David thumped his gavel on the table and sat down. “Our charter is irrelevant, Cear. Times have changed. We have more responsibilities now.”
“Powers you’ve taken without consultation? I’d heard a rumor this Council was overreaching itself.”
David banged his gavel again. Much harder than the last time.
“This Council is not on trial, you are.” his spittle flew between us.
“For what? Doing what I always do by stopping a rogue Fey from trying to rule the world? You saw the damage Peleus did to the Britons last time he tried. Should I let that happen again?” My anger was rising and getting difficult to control. “It was the reason the Councils were set up in the first place. It’s your job and you did nothing. You should be disbanded.”
“He was hardly going to rule the world,” Greta said calmly. “A science lab and the theft of an ancient artifact don’t make him a super-villain.”
I glared at her. “Your youth and inexperience are showing. There are powers in the universe you know nothing about. I lived in Atlantis, I know.”
David banged his gavel repeatedly. “So the Krius is in that box, you admit it?”
“Surely the Krius is a myth?” Peter asked. “The issue here is whether Cear Lotha broke our laws.”
“The Thampthis Box belongs to either the Egyptian Government or to me,” I shouted. “It is not the property of Peleus and it does not belong to this Council.”
David banged his gavel so hard he broke it. I ducked as part of it flew passed me. “The Thampthis Box belongs to the Council now, as does the Krius, if it’s inside. Such power needs to be in the hands of those who will use it wisely. Guards, take these two back to their cells.”
“That’s the whole point, you moron,” I shouted as the guards pulled me out of the chamber. “No one is wise enough to use such power, especially not an idiot like you.”
When they flung us back in our cell, Brian turned to me in anger.
“What’s going on, Carlotta? You could have taken those guards easily, Fey or not. Why did you let them drag us back in here where we’re helpless?”
What do you know? The boy has a brain and was using it. I pulled him close and whispered in his ear.
“This cell is bugged. I need to find out what they’re up to before I act.”
Then I spoke loudly for the microphones. “They can’t keep me locked up here. They have no case.”
Brian pulled away from me and thumped the wall in frustration. I knew how he felt. When he turned back to face me, he winked.
Some time later the door opened briefly and Greta entered the room. She passed me a piece of paper on which were written the words, ‘Room bugged, be circumspect.’ I nodded and gave her the paper back. To my surprise she put it into her mouth and ate it. She really was taking no chances.
Greta looked over at Brian and smiled at him. “It was a Council decision to keep you from your heritage, young man. But it seems you have come into it in a manner that will become the stuff of legends. Not many Fey have bedded Cear Lotha, and none of them so young.”
“Brian has proved adequate in all respects,” I said grudgingly. I certainly didn’t want him getting a big head over our relationship.
Greta sat on the side of a bed and sighed.
“These are difficult times. The Fey are constantly aware of the climate changes the humans have caused. They breed and destroy without thought for the consequences. The world may soon descend into chaos and we can feel the forces at work. Some think that the time has come for us to act.”
Greta was right about the feelings of doom. We were born from the magicians’ desire to see the tribes of humanity protected. While we didn’t possess their magic, I could feel the winds shifting, the temperatures rising and the storms brewing. It was a shadow of the power the magicians intended us to possess.
Humanity overran the planet and was destroying its balance. I had seen such things before. The shift in climate in Africa and Egypt a few thousands years ago, the end of the ice age before it drowned both Atlantis and the f
ertile plains between England and the continent. This time the consequences were going to be so much worse. However, that didn’t mean I agreed with Greta’s solution.
“It isn’t our job. We aren’t here to enslave humanity for their own good. And millions of them will die whatever we do. Do you want their blood on your hands?”
“David wants the Krius. Peleus has convinced him that the Krius is in the box. Philips has reinforced that belief with her claims. David will share the Krius with you if you help him to get it. The Fey can work together.” Greta shook her head as she suggested that David would share the Krius, not that I needed to know it was a lie. Anybody who wanted the Krius didn’t deserve to have it and certainly wouldn’t be willing to share it.
“Where is my box now?”
“In the Vault.”
“Is David working with Peleus?”
“Of course not.” Greta shook her head as she spoke.
“What happens now?”
“If you don’t cooperate, David has decided to let the scientist try melting the box using lasers. Legend says the Krius Scepter in indestructible so it shouldn’t be harmed.”
“And what will he do with us?
“I’ve no idea. You’re much too influential to let you go. Many would do anything you asked, if only because of the legends surrounding you.”
As she spoke she drew her index finger across her throat in an unmistakable gesture. As Greta said, I could easily persuade the Fey to turn against the Americas Council if I was free. David couldn’t risk that. He’d have to arrange a fatal accident.
“I think you should cooperate with David. At least that way you’ll be able to moderate his actions should the Krius turn out to be as powerful as legends say.”
She was shaking her head again.
“Thank you for explaining things, Greta. It’s good to see you again after so many years.”
We shook hands and then she shook Brian’s hand. He’d been watching the interplay between us and I wondered how much of it he’d caught. Probably most of it. He was turning out to be bright for a man.
Right, now that I knew what was going on it was time to escape.
26. Escape
I waited till after they fed us. I hate escaping on an empty stomach and, anyway, I knew they’d give us a good meal. And so it proved: steak and jacket potatoes with sour cream washed down with a decent Merlot. Memo to self: teach Brian about wines and educate his palate. I felt embarrassed for him when he asked the guards if they could get him a cola.
After we’d eaten and they’d taken the plates away I put my finger to my lips and pulled Brian over to the corner of the brick wall with the gaslights. I indicated he should put his hands together and boost me up to the top of the wall. He got the idea immediately, the boy is bright. I counted down three bricks and across the same from the lights and pressed hard. The mortar around the brick cracked and it moved inwards a couple of inches.
I tapped Brian on the head and he lowered me to the ground. The bottom of the gas fittings were just within my reach without jumping. The builder and I had an argument about that, I remembered. He said it was suspicious to put them that low on the wall, but I had won him over with a night of dirty sex. He was human, of course; you can’t change the mind of a Fey with sex.
I turned both fittings through ninety degrees clockwise, only possible now they were unlocked. Brian watched with a broad grin on his face. I stepped back and aimed my body at the exact centre of the wall and ran at it. There was a soft whoomth sound and the hidden door broke free of the thin layer of mortar concealing it.
Returning to the centre of the room I said clearly. “I think we should get some sleep, Brian. We’re going to be before the Council again soon and I want to feel refreshed.”
“But I want to do that thing you did with your mouth again,” Brian said in a crestfallen voice while using very rude hand gestures to indicate what he was talking about. It was difficult to avoid laughing and I vowed to get him back for that later.
“Later,” I said and yawned loudly.
We tiptoed out of the cell and into the secret passage beyond. There were candle lanterns and several ancient lighting tools including flint on a stone lintel just inside. Brian didn’t have a clue what to do with them so I lit the kindling with the flint and then the candles. I smiled with satisfaction. My builder friend had wanted to fit gas lights but I’d told him they couldn’t be relied on. Candles never fail and I had left spares in a tin box in case rats got at the ones in the lanterns.
I pushed the door shut with Brian’s help and turned two metal levers so the gaslights on the other side rotated back into position and locked the door with thick iron bolts. It would be obvious how we escaped, but it would take them hours to get the door open again.
“You really think ahead,” Brian whispered as we made our way along the passage.
“Never build a cage you can’t get out of. I think a philosopher told me that once. It might have been Aristotle, my memory is perfect but my cataloguing is not so good.”
“Is there anyone you haven’t met?”
“Millions of them, but I’ve always had a fondness for artists and philosophers.” I smiled as flashes of memories ran through my mind. My life has been very long, but it has rarely been dull.
“Where are we going?”
I laughed. “That you won’t believe until you see it for yourself.”
We were in a maze, created by my builder’s superb imagination. These passages led to almost every room in the house if you could figure out where you were going. I had the plans in my memory but I didn’t need them to find my way around. I’d walked every passage before we’d sealed them up.
There were only a few entrances, though there were places you could listen in to conversations in the room. We’d decided that peep holes might be found and hadn’t drilled any. Several of the entrances were one-use only, like those from the cells. They were much easier to build and had much lower chances of being discovered. However, there were a couple of special entrances that could be reused and I was leading Brian to one of those.
“Here,” I said and knelt down. There was a one-brick-thick niche in the wall that was almost invisible unless you knelt down. It was two and half feet square.
“Help me push.”
The small door disguised as wall took quite a bit of effort to open. My beloved builder’s idea again, who else could have come up with the concept of a secret passage hidden in a secret passage?
“What’s this for?” Brian asked. The tunnel was only six feet long and ended at what looked like a safe door complete with combination tumbler lock and a big handle. The door was only inches smaller than the passage.
“It’s a door. Guess where it goes?”
Brian shook his head as I crawled down to the door and put in the combination. Then I did the one risky thing in my escape plan and opened the door. There was darkness on the other side, a great relief. I crawled through the door using my lantern to light the way.
Brian had only just reached the door when I returned with what I’d been looking for. I shoved the Thampthis Box into his hands and shooed him back down the tunnel.
When I joined Brian back in the original secret passage he was leaning against the wall trying to suppress his laughter.
“You built a secret passage into the Council’s super secret vault?”
“You do need the combination to get in. It’s not like I left it vulnerable to thieves or anything,” I said defensively.
“No, only to you.” Brian’s barely suppressed giggles grew louder.
I thumped him on the shoulder. “Let’s get out of here. We need to get the box as far away from here as possible.”
“Where were you thinking?”
“London would be best. My sword’s in London.”
Boston is a big place. I’ve visited it a couple of times over the last forty years, staying well clear of the Council and its headquarters when I came. It’s a useful city for
certain kinds of illegal products that attract a gal like me. I get around a lot and I never look any older. Identity cards, driving licenses and passports need continual updates. I claim to be a young looking twenty-one in the United States. My United Kingdom documents state I’m eighteen. At the moment, I didn’t have any documents, but that was about to change.
The sun had set by the time we got to the house in the suburbs. I’d never been here, but I keep track of where certain people move to because you never know when that knowledge might come in handy.
I knocked on the door of a typical suburban house with Brian standing a couple of yards back from me as if we were still hitchhiking. The door opened a crack on its security chain.
“It’s me.”
The door closed and opened fully to reveal Gil standing in the doorway. He looked a lot older than I remembered.
“Carlotta. I thought you’d be round today.”
I stepped forward and kissed him passionately. His lips quivered under mine. Brian made some sort of choking sound in the background reminding me he was there.
“Meet my friend Brian, Gil. After fifteen years out of contact you were expecting me today?”
Gil waved us into his house and shut and bolted the door behind us. He picked up a walking stick leaning against the wall and led us into the lounge.
“My leg’s gone, old army wound, but my hands and eyes still work. I’m still in the trade. Word went out about you a couple of hours ago.” Gil sat down on a raised chair with a groan and pressed a control that moved its seat into a lower position.
“I need a passport and one for Brian.”
Gil shook his head. “You’re not listening, Carlotta. The Council have all the airports and rail stations covered. They’ve got the police looking for you. They posted your pictures on the news claiming you’re a couple of youngsters who’ve run away from home. Unless you stole a car, likely someone’s telling them where they dropped you off right now.”
“You know about the Council?” Gil was human and he shouldn’t be aware they existed.
