Ruler of the Realm fw-3

by Herbie Brennan

  Fogarty said, ‘Guards…’

  Madame Cardui said, ‘You got into trouble with Merchant Ogyris’s guards?’ She looked away from him towards the window and smiled. They were in a private room of the palace, overlooking the rose garden.

  ‘Another diplomatic mess,’ said Mr Fogarty dryly, although he didn’t look displeased either.

  Madame Cardui turned to Pyrgus. ‘By the bye, deeah, what did you do with Kitterick?’

  ‘Ah,’ said Pyrgus, suddenly embarrassed.

  ‘Ah?’ asked Madame Cardui, one eyebrow raised.

  ‘I sort of… left him,’ Pyrgus said.

  ‘Was that because he was outside your time?’

  Pyrgus wasn’t at all sure how he should put this. Eventually he said, ‘No, actually, Madame Cardui. I mean, he probably was – outside my time – I didn’t check. I just…’ this was definitely the tricky bit, ‘… sort of forgot about him.’ It was hideously embarrassing, but no more than the truth. He’d had a lot of things on his mind when he left the Ogyris Estate. He looked sheepishly at Madame Cardui, waiting for the outburst.

  But all she said was, ‘Will he be all right?’

  He will if Merchant Ogyris doesn’t come home unexpectedly, Pyrgus thought. Aloud, he said, ‘He’s probably on his way back now. Kitterick can look after himself.’

  ‘Well, yes, that’s certainly true.’

  ‘How long does it last?’ Fogarty asked suddenly. He was looking at Pyrgus.

  Pyrgus looked at him blankly. ‘What?’

  ‘The time-stop,’ Fogarty said impatiently. ‘That’s what we’re talking about, isn’t it? How long? A minute? Five minutes? A couple of hours?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Pyrgus said. ‘From my point of view it wasn’t any time at all.’

  ‘How many of these flowers were there?’

  ‘Oh, dozens,’ Pyrgus said. ‘Hundreds. Maybe a thousand.’

  ‘I don’t suppose you brought any back with you?’

  Pyrgus shook his head. ‘No, Mr Fogarty.’

  ‘I don’t suppose you destroyed the rest?’

  Pyrgus thought of the wreckage of the great glasshouse. ‘I… sort of broke the place they were growing in, so I don’t think Merchant Ogyris can grow any more until he fixes it. But the flowers didn’t wilt or anything. I think the worst it would do is stop them growing. I’m sure they won’t really die, at least not quickly – they’re made from rock crystal.’

  Mr Fogarty didn’t seem to be really listening. ‘I don’t suppose you found out where Blue is?’

  Pyrgus said eagerly, ‘Not exactly, but now we know how Henry took her away. He must have crushed one of those flowers and the bubble must have taken in Blue as well as him. Once you’re in the bubble, you can go anywhere, do anything. Nobody can stop you.’

  ‘Why would he have taken Blue?’ Madame Cardui mused. ‘I’m sure he wouldn’t harm her. Don’t you think so, deeah?’

  Fogarty stood up abruptly. ‘OK, you two, come with me.’

  ‘Where are we going, dahling?’

  Fogarty’s face looked grim. ‘I want you with me as Head of the Espionage Service, Cynthia. And you, Pyrgus, as Crown Prince or the Queen’s Brother or whatever your official title is now. We’re going to see the Generals and try to talk them into stopping the Countdown. If the Faeries of the Night have flowers that stop time, it would be suicide to attack them tomorrow. Our forces would be wiped out to the last man.’ He strode towards the door.

  ‘Alan…’ said Madame Cardui gently.

  ‘What?’ Fogarty growled impatiently.

  Her eyes travelled over his nightgown and bedsocks. ‘I think you might be more impressive if you changed into your Emperor’s robes, deeah.’

  Sixty-one

  All three Imperial Generals – Creerful, Vanelke and Ovard – were in the Situation Room deep beneath the bedrock of the palace. Their uniforms were immaculate, but they looked as if they hadn’t slept in days. The place was a hive of activity. Messengers scurried to and fro carrying documents and updates. Military wizards crouched over concave mirrors. Soldiers in full combat gear guarded every door. They snapped to attention as Gatekeeper Fogarty entered.

  He glanced around curiously. This was his first visit to the Situation Room and the twenty-minute descent by suspensor shaft had left him nauseous. But that did nothing to dull his interest. In the centre of the room was a huge Operations Table that somehow managed to display the entire geographical landscape of the Realm. The illusion was remarkable – clearly the very latest spell technology. It looked exactly like a model railway layout Fogarty had had as a child, right down to details like miniature buildings, roads and bridges, but impossibly larger. When your eye went in a particular direction, the landscape unfolded as if the Table somehow read your mind. Which it probably did. He found that simply thinking of a place brought it into focus. There were animated troop movements on many of the roads.

  Fogarty tore his eyes away to look at the banks of crystal viewing globes. Most of them were focused on Yammeth Cretch, the heartland of the Faeries of the Night. About a third seemed to be trained on Yammeth City.

  ‘Notice the globes on the bank to your left,’ murmured Madame Cardui at his side.

  Fogarty followed her gaze. Three globes showed alternate views of a vast subterranean cavern. Nighter soldiers were stocking it with munitions.

  ‘It’s directly underneath Yammeth City,’ Madame Cardui told him. ‘We only managed to smuggle three sensors inside.’

  ‘Looks as if they’re preparing for our attack,’ Fogarty said.

  She nodded. ‘They know about the Countdown.’

  ‘We have to stop this,’ Fogarty said. ‘It’s madness.’

  General Creerful detached himself from a tight group of uniformed women and walked towards them. He had the look of a man with scant time for interruptions, but he nodded politely enough.

  ‘Crown Prince. Gatekeeper.’ His face softened just a little. ‘Painted Lady.’

  ‘Get the other two over here,’ said Fogarty shortly.

  Creerful blinked. ‘Pardon?’

  ‘Vanelke and Ovard. Get them over. We have to talk.’ Fogarty glared at him. In his experience, the only thing military men respected was toughness and in a situation like this he was prepared to give it to them in spades.

  Creerful’s eyes flashed angrily, but his gaze broke after a tense moment and he turned on his heel. In a moment more he was back with his fellow Generals. Ovard was the one who decided to push his luck.

  ‘There’s a lot to do, Gatekeeper. I hope this is important.’

  ‘We can have a pissing contest next week, Ovard,’ said Fogarty shortly. ‘Right now I don’t have the time. I want you to stop the Countdown.’

  If Ovard was taken aback, he didn’t show it. ‘You know we can’t do that, Gatekeeper.’

  ‘You can and you will,’ Fogarty told him firmly. ‘I’m ordering you to stand down all Lighter forces. I’m ordering you in my official capacity as Acting Emperor. And that order is confirmed by Crown Prince Pyrgus and Madame Cardui, as Head of the Imperial Espionage Service.’ He looked at the other two, who nodded confirmation.

  Ovard sighed and allowed the tiredness to show in his voice for the first time. ‘You can wheel in the whole royal family if you want, Gatekeeper. It doesn’t change the law. The only faerie on the planet who can cancel an active Countdown is the reigning monarch. The last time I looked that was Queen Holly Blue.’

  ‘Queen Blue is in no position to cancel it,’ Fogarty said.

  Creerful pushed forward slightly. ‘Which is the whole point of a Countdown, Your Acting Majesty – you know that. Or you should.’

  ‘I’ve discussed the situation with Madame Cardui,’ Fogarty said grimly. ‘Unless you comply with our demands, she will order her Service to withdraw all reconnaissance information.’

  Creerful sighed. ‘I’m sure Madame Cardui will do nothing of the sort,’ he said, not looking at her. ‘But if she did, we would be forc
ed to arrest her for treason.’

  Another bluff called. ‘All right,’ Fogarty said. He glanced around to make sure there was no one else within earshot, then locked eyes with Ovard again. ‘Try this for size. The Faeries of the Night have a secret weapon, details on request from Prince Pyrgus, that means our people will be slaughtered to the last man before they can lift a finger to defend themselves.’

  He waited, fully expecting arguments, doubts, demands for details. Instead, all three Generals looked at him with the eyes of old men who have seen far too much war and suffering. It was Vanelke who said softly, ‘You’re not of the Realm, Alan. We can’t expect you to understand. It’s a question of law and tradition. It doesn’t matter if we’re all wiped out.’ He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. ‘Unless Queen Blue returns to countermand her order, the Countdown must continue. At sunset tomorrow the war will begin.’

  Sixty-two

  Blue stared at him. ‘With you?’

  Henry looked hideously embarrassed. ‘It’s a bit complicated,’ he said.

  ‘Then you’d better explain,’ Blue told him.

  Henry went across to sit on the bed, then jumped up again as if he’d been stung. ‘Sorry,’ he said, without making clear what for. He glanced at Blue and licked his lips. ‘They put a thing in my face.’

  Blue waited. She wanted to put her arms round Henry and comfort him again, but she had to know what was happening and know it fast.

  ‘Go on,’ she said.

  ‘They pushed it through the side of my eye.’ He caught her expression and added quickly, ‘It’s like the way they can take you through walls with that blue light. It doesn’t damage your eye or anything, but it’s still jolly sore. And scary.’

  ‘Go on,’ Blue said again.

  ‘It’s a thing that links you with the Hellmind.’

  She’d never heard the term before. ‘What’s the Haelmind?’

  ‘It’s the demon’s Internet.’ He caught her blank expression and said quickly, ‘It’s a sort of mental broadcast thing that lets their leader tell them what to do.’

  Blue frowned. ‘You mean Beleth?’

  Henry nodded. ‘Yes, Beleth. The Hellmind is his communications network.’

  ‘I don’t understand this,’ Blue said. She wasn’t sure if she should be feeling impatient. Henry could sometimes be very roundabout when he tried to tell you anything.

  ‘I’m not sure I do either,’ Henry said. ‘Not exactly, anyway. I think it’s some sort of mental network. I don’t know if it’s natural or something they invented. But it lets Beleth pass on orders very quickly.’ He hesitated, then added, ‘And makes sure you obey them.’

  There was a long silence. Blue was wondering why nobody had told her about the Haelmind before. But perhaps nobody knew. Faeries of the Light avoided contact with demons and even the Nighters didn’t understand them entirely. Everybody knew demons were basically evil, but far more than that, they were different. Maybe faeries had never realised how different. Or maybe it was some new technology they’d invented, as Henry said.

  Eventually she asked, ‘They put something in your brain that links you to this thing?’

  ‘They can activate it at a distance. It’s off now.’ He hesitated. ‘When it’s on, I’m a demon too.’

  ‘You mean you’re possessed?’ She remembered the horrid sensation of Black John crawling inside her skull.

  ‘It’s worse than that,’ Henry whispered. ‘I get changed completely.’

  It was beginning to sink in, and making Blue afraid. ‘You become a demon?’

  Henry nodded. ‘Yes.’

  Sixty-three

  They were sitting together side by side on the hideous red bed. Henry held himself rigid, taking great care not to touch her. ‘There’s stuff you need to know,’ he said.

  Blue watched him and waited.

  ‘I can only tell you while my implant’s deactivated. I’m me now, but the thing is I remember. I know what the demons are doing. I know what Beleth has been planning.’

  ‘What?’ Blue asked.

  ‘Total conquest,’ Henry said. ‘They’re going to take over your whole world and mine.’

  The plan had been in place for years, Henry said. The aim was demon mastery of both the Faerie Realm and its analogue, the human world. The means was to be a breeding programme. Beleth decided it should be tested first in the human world. Up to that time, there had been sporadic attacks by demons on humans. But the new plan meant an end to overt action. Demons no longer harassed humans openly, but concentrated instead on kidnapping selected individuals and breeding with them. It was a difficult process. The offspring were often sickly and many died. But enough survived to be infiltrated into positions of power in the human world.

  ‘They started off with tribal chiefs and witch doctors in Africa,’ Henry said. ‘Then later it was European kings and their advisors, popes and priests and people like that. Recently it’s been politicians and dictators. They’re not all bad, of course, but some of them are demon children linked to the Hellmind by blood. They’ve been nudging humanity towards Hell for ages now.’

  ‘Didn’t anybody notice?’

  ‘That was the really clever part,’ Henry told her tiredly. ‘As soon as they started infiltrating, they all worked hard to convince people demons didn’t actually exist.’

  ‘That’s ridiculous,’ Blue said.

  ‘I know,’ Henry nodded. ‘Beleth didn’t think even humans could be that stupid, but one of his advisors drew up a strategy. Instead of hiding, demons kept appearing to humans, but in silly forms. Leprechauns and boggarts and stuff like that. Anything that sounded dim. Lately it’s been little green men from outer space. Nobody takes them seriously.’

  ‘Wait a minute,’ Blue interrupted. Something he’d said earlier was niggling her. ‘If breeding with humans was so tricky, why didn’t they just implant people the way they did with you?’

  ‘New technology,’ Henry said. ‘They simply didn’t have it when Beleth drew up his plan. They’ve started using implants now, of course. The British Prime Minister and the American President both have one. But the demons have to be careful. These things show up under X-rays. If humans found out what was really happening, it could sink the whole plan. Beleth doesn’t want that – it’s been working far too well already. So you see,’ Henry added.

  After a moment, Blue said, ‘See what?’

  ‘Why we’re here,’ said Henry.

  Blue saw nothing of the sort. She wanted to take Henry and shake him, but she controlled herself.

  ‘Why are we here, Henry?’ she asked quietly.

  ‘Infiltration,’ Henry said. ‘It’s worked so well in my world, they want to try it in the Faerie Realm.’ He hesitated, turned his head away from her and murmured, ‘Starting with our child.’

  Sixty-four

  Travelling up in a suspensor shaft was a lot less intimidating than travelling down. You didn’t have to step into space at the beginning of the trip for one thing.

  As they floated side by side, Pyrgus said uncertainly, ‘Do you think the Generals mean it?’

  ‘They mean it,’ Fogarty told him. He turned to Madame Cardui. ‘Have you contacted the Ferals?’

  ‘I do wish you wouldn’t call them that, dahling.’

  ‘Have you contacted the Forest Faerie?’ Fogarty said tiredly.

  ‘You really think it will come to war?’

  ‘You heard the boys in uniform. We’ll be at war from sunset tomorrow. We’ve tried to avoid it, Cynthia. The trick now is to win it. You’ve been in touch with Cleopatra, haven’t you?’

  Madame Cardui lowered her eyes and nodded. ‘I got a message to her in the night. She was kind enough to send an immediate response.’

  ‘Which you didn’t tell me about.’

  ‘My deeah, when did I have the opportunity? You were still in bed when Pyrgus arrived with his news and then we went directly to the Situation Room.’ She shrugged. ‘In any case, it gets us no further. Q
ueen Cleopatra sends her profound regrets, but believes the present situation is a matter for the Faeries of the Light and the Faeries of the Night. It has no bearing on or relevance to the Forest Faerie and consequently she has formally declined to put her forces at our disposal.’

  Fogarty snorted. ‘Can you arrange for me to meet Queen Cleopatra later today?’

  ‘You won’t change her mind, Alan: I know her very well.’

  ‘I’m not trying to change her mind,’ Fogarty said. ‘If she won’t join us, she won’t join us. But she might have some ideas where Blue has gone – the foresters know a lot about hiding places. And she might help us capture the time flowers. Or destroy them.’

  They arrived at the surface and stepped out of the suspensor shaft. Pyrgus was suddenly animated.

  ‘You mean a commando raid, Mr Fogarty?’

  ‘Something like that.’ Fogarty caught Madame Cardui’s expression and added, ‘Look, we’ll be at war tomorrow. We need to start thinking about ways to win it.’

  ‘That’s a brilliant idea!’ Pyrgus told him enthusiastically. ‘I’ll lead the raid!’

  ‘No you won’t!’ said Fogarty and Madame Cardui together.

  Sixty-five

  ‘They want us to have a child?’

  Henry nodded miserably.

  Blue stared at him for a long, long time. There were so many questions boiling in her mind, but at the end of it all she simply asked, ‘Why us?’