fine,” he assured her, though tears streamed down his face. He fished around in his pocket and extracted a thick strip of plastic, which I realised, upon getting a closer look, was some sort of improvised tie, which tightened as Asher wrapped it around Flaire's wrists behind his back.
“Thanks, mate.”
“What is that?” I demanded.
“It's something Juliana and I fashioned to hold bits of material together. It should hold, as long as Asher's man does not, in fact, possess any particular magical abilities.”
Asher patted Flaire's pockets, removing packets of powder and the like. “Not anymore he doesn't. I am afraid, Master Flaire, that you will be unable to escape this particular net.”
Flaire lifted his chin. He smiled. “We will see about that, Agent Key.”
I rolled my eyes. “Pietro!” Elodie Allard exclaimed, reminding us of her presence. Eitenne rushed forwards to catch her shoulders, but she shrugged him off.
“Elodie!” he cried.
I stepped towards the young lady, but she stopped abruptly with merely a glance from Flaire. “Fear not, my love,” he said in a low, intimate voice. “I will be back with you in no time.”
“I would not count so much on that,” I told him and seized Elodie's arm. She did not fight me, though I suspected she could easily throw me off. Though it would be useless for quite some time until it recharged, I aimed my pistol at her chest. I glanced at my erstwhile client. “I am sorry, Eitenne, but I am afraid your sister will be coming with us.”
“But she—but he is controlling her! I saw what he did to those people!” Eitenne protested.
Asher shook his head. “I think not, Eitenne. Your sister has made her own decisions. When the chamber smashed, she was still fighting you.”
Eitenne's face fell into an expression of deepest despair. “Elodie.”
She glanced at him. Her features were glacial. “Elodie has nothing to do with this,” Flaire said. “She is innocent.”
“Do not lie for me, my love! I will not allow you to take the blame.” She turned plaintively towards Asher. “It was my idea. All of this.”
“Elodie, no!” Eitenne cried.
“It is a lie.” Flaire's voice was flat. “I built the machine. Elodie has no expertise or experience in the field.”
“This is genuinely touching,” Asher said dryly. “But I am afraid the chore of sorting it all out falls to our great justice system. You may feel free to regale the magistrate with what I am sure will be a most poignant tale. Juliana, if you would be so kind as to direct my mother and any stragglers back to their beds, I would be quite grateful.”
Juliana stepped away from Xander. “Of course. But how shall I explain it?”
“I am not certain you will be required to do so,” I remarked. “They seem to have all wandered away when the chamber shattered. I suspect they will awaken in the morning believing it all to be a hallucination brought on by excessive drink and the allure of the show.”
“Xander, are you quite well?”
He nodded, though his eyes still streamed. “I shall be quite right soon enough.”
“I believe Eitenne might appreciate a few moments with his sister before she faces the might of the Ministry,” I told Asher.
“Yes. Indeed. Eitenne, we require the use of your room to confine the prisoners until the pilot may bring down the ship to the nearest port,” Asher told him in an inarguable voice. “You may spend these last few hours with her.”
Eitenne's eyes streamed with tears that smeared his makeup. “I am very grateful, Agent Key.”
Asher reached into a pocket of his fine black vest and extracted his badge. He tossed it to Xander. “Instruct the pilot to land as soon as possible, please, Xander.”
Xander grinned down at the badge as though it was a great prize. “Of course, Ash.”
“And I will be wanting that back.”
“Oh, all right.” He caught Juliana's hand, and the two hurried from the room to carry out Asher's orders.
“Come, Astrid. Eitenne, if you would lead the way, please.”
I smiled at Asher's back as we frog-marched the prisoners through the corridor. The evidence of the attack still littered the passage. Bits of smashed lanterns, broken glass, toiletries and the other improvised weapons the automatons had wielded were scattered across the floor, as though they had dropped them carelessly and trampled them underfoot as they returned to their beds or the lounge to puzzle over the strange hallucinations. We kicked aside the debris as we rounded a corner towards Eitenne's room. It was not much larger than the one I shared with Xander and Juliana, but it appeared as though a wardrobe had exploded and spray the room with its contents.
Eitenne ignored the disarray. He watched as Asher and I led the diabolical ringmaster and his devoted servant to sit upon the bed. Asher moved about the room, picking up scattered garments from the floor, which he used to bind Flaire firmly to the bedpost in the centre of the room. Flaire did not look at all troubled by this. In fact, he looked quite arrogant, as though he expected to be free to roam the ship in no time at all. He would be disappointed; I had seen Asher tie knots which even the most seasoned of sailors could neither unwind nor duplicate. Flaire would be quite secure.
As Asher similarly bound the young lady to a chair in the corner of the room, where she might experience some privacy with her brother, I faced my former client. He watched his sister with a terrible, forlorn expression. “I am sorry the successful fulfilment of my obligation to you did not bring you the peace you expected, Eitenne.”
His shoulders slumped. “No. It did not bring me what I wished. It did not bring Elodie back to me.”
“It was an outcome impossibly avoided. It is not in our power to change certain circumstances.” I gave him a bracing smile. “I must say, however, your performance was quite brilliant. Most impressive indeed. You are a true artist.”
His mouth wavered as though in an effort to smile. Instead, he grimaced. “Thank you. But it is a small comfort.”
“Perhaps, on balance, it is the best outcome. You sister will soon come back to you. I have found, in the matter of family, even the most grievous of slights can be forgotten once they are forgiven.”
This did not cheer him. “Well. Thank you for taking my case, Mrs Darby. Though I shan't say I should wish to enlist your assistance again.”
I was not offended by this. It was not the first time I had received such a performance review. “Let us both hope, for yours and your sister's sake, you will not require it.”
I watched him join his sister in the corner of the room. They murmured quietly to each other, and in moments, they were both in tears. I turned away respectfully and met Asher as he peered down at Pietro Augustus Flaire.
Flaire lifted his chin with a hauteur I thought inappropriate in his present circumstances. “I will find a way to escape, you know.”
“I do expect you will try your best and will be most impressive,” I replied, smiling at him.
“We will not stop until we have you behind bars,” Asher promised him. “It was my mother, you know, whom you directed to attack me and my associates. It is an offence I will not readily forget.”
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” I added.
Flaire chuckled dryly. Then he closed his eyes and leaned back against the headboard. He did not open them again, and finally, his breathing slowed and steadied until he appeared to be asleep. I suspected he was faking it. It hardly mattered. Neither Asher nor I was going anywhere. I met his gaze and we turned together to sit side by side against the chamber door where we could watch over our prisoners through the night.
“It is a dreadful shame,” I mused after several moments.
Asher did not take his eyes from his apparently slumbering prisoner. “What is?”
“Well, it was a most delightful show, wasn't it? The bits without the clowns, anyway.”
He chuckled. “It was. Despite the part where the audience was hypnotised, had their emotions stolen
from them and were subsequently employed as an army to assail us.”
I laughed. “It was certainly unique in that regard. It was a bit exciting, wasn't it?”
“It was rather exhilarating, I must admit. Particularly the risk of death or grievous bodily harm. It has been some time since I had to battle an entire army.”
“Since Jordan, I expect?”
“Oh, no. There's been a number of times since then. But none nearly as fun.” He sighed. “It is somewhat troubling to be compelled to subdue one's own mother.”
“She will be none the worse for it. I am sure you treated her with the utmost care. But I do wonder if the Cirque du Flaire will be forever grounded after this.”
He considered. “It needn't be. Perhaps someone else will swoop in to take the helm of the great circus in the sky.”
From the bed, Pietro Augustus Flaire opened his eyes and glared at us. “Never! The Cirque du Flaire is my pride and joy. I would rather see it rot on the ground than allow some amateur to bumble inelegantly in my rightful place as master of this ring.”
“Well,” I continued as though Flaire had not spoken at all. “It will serve as a most interesting and engaging anecdote, do you not think? The tale of the final performance of Cirque du Flaire, the famous circus in the sky. It was, as promised, most memorable, indeed.”
THE END
Astrid Darby and the Circus in the Sky Page 18
