Ruler of the Realm fw-3

by Herbie Brennan

‘You’re Queen,’ Henry said, a bit too quickly. ‘If you had a demon child, it would automatically be in a position of power. When it grew up.’

  He was hiding something. ‘Why you?’ Blue asked. ‘Why not -’ she thought of Black John with his fur and his tail and his clawed hand in hers, ‘- a real demon?’

  ‘I am a real demon when they activate that thing. It’s just my shape that stays the same. They thought you wouldn’t… accept… something in demon form. Actually, they thought you might know it was a demon in my form. That’s why they deactivated my implant.’

  ‘They could have forced me,’ Blue said coldly.

  ‘No, they couldn’t,’ Henry said earnestly. ‘Not something like that. The implants don’t work on faeries.’

  That was a bit of interesting information. But they wouldn’t have used an implant on her anyway – they wanted a faerie mother, not some demon who looked like one. All the same, the demons could get into your mind, whether you were human or faerie. Why couldn’t they control her that way?

  Hesitantly she asked, ‘What about… possession?’

  ‘Possession won’t let them push faeries to do something against your deepest moral principles,’ Henry said. ‘They can only hold you still and make you walk and things like that. It’s different with humans – they can make us do anything they want.’

  Mr Fogarty was possessed by a demon when he killed her father. They could make humans do anything they wanted. Up to and including murder. Blue shifted uneasily. She still had the feeling Henry was holding something back.

  ‘Why did they pick you, Henry?’ she asked again.

  Henry’s face flared bright scarlet. His eyes went down to the floor and he drew away from her stiffly. For a moment she thought he wasn’t going to answer, but then he mumbled quietly, ‘They think you might be in love with me…’

  Blue wanted to hold him then, but it clearly wasn’t the time. Besides which, her fury at the demons was consuming her.

  ‘They think all they have to do is put us in a room together and we’ll make a child just because I’m in love with you?’

  Henry glanced at her strangely. After a moment he said, ‘They don’t really understand people.’

  ‘No, they don’t.’ It was almost laughable.

  ‘Of course -’ Henry began, then stopped.

  Something in his tone alerted her at once. ‘What? Come on, Henry, I need to know everything before they turn you back into a demon. It’s the only way we can survive this.’

  Henry said slowly, ‘If we don’t… if we don’t… you know… if we don’t, I mean of our own accord, they’ll… they’ll…’ He swallowed. ‘They’ll force you. They’ll hold you down.’

  It took her a second to realise what he was saying. ‘And you would

  …?’ she asked, outraged.

  ‘They’ll change me back into a demon!’ Henry wailed.

  Suddenly, in the middle of it all, she realised what he must be going through. She softened her tone. ‘So they’ll try that anyway, if we don’t… of our own accord?’ She almost added, Because I love you.

  Henry nodded. ‘Yes.’

  She sighed, stood up and walked across the room to the viewscreen. ‘That’s what this thing’s for, isn’t it?’ she said, stroking the screen. ‘To see what we do.’

  ‘Yes.’

  She was holding herself together with a massive effort, exhibiting a calm she didn’t feel because she had to be strong enough for the two of them.

  ‘What happens if I don’t conceive?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ Henry said. ‘They’ll know that right away – they have some sort of probe that tells them. If you aren’t pregnant, they’ll invade the Realm.’

  Blue stared at him. ‘The portals are all closed,’ she said foolishly.

  ‘They’ve opened new ones,’ Henry said.

  Sixty-six

  The approach to the suspensor shaft involved a series of heavily guarded checkpoints. Fogarty, Madame Cardui and Pyrgus were all known by sight, so formalities were minimal, but it still meant their conversation went in fits and starts.

  ‘The thing is,’ Fogarty was saying to Madame Cardui, ‘with the Forest Faeries’ spell technology, we could get into the Ogyris Estate undetected. I think they can travel direct from tree to tree. Are there any trees near your crystal flowers?’ he asked Pyrgus.

  ‘It makes sense for me to lead the raid,’ Pyrgus said. ‘I know the estate. I’ve been there. And I know where the flowers are. They’re very difficult to find, you know.’

  ‘And even if they can’t,’ Fogarty said stonily, ‘we know they can pass through solid surfaces far better than we can. More men, less danger.’

  ‘It certainly makes sense, deeah,’ Madame Cardui said uncertainly. ‘It’s just that Cleo may not agree.’

  ‘And I’m the only one who’s actually touched a time flower,’ Pyrgus said. Apart from Henry, who wasn’t here and anyway was the cause of half the trouble in the first place.

  ‘She’ll agree all right,’ said Fogarty with utter certainty. He lowered his voice as they passed through yet another checkpoint.

  ‘And I’m the only one who knows how to destroy them,’ Pyrgus said, wondering if they would fall for it.

  ‘What are you going to do?’ Madame Cardui asked Fogarty suspiciously.

  ‘Charm her,’ Fogarty said shortly.

  They emerged from the checkpoint corridor into the vast basement suite that abutted it. Madame Cardui gave him an endearing smile.

  ‘Well, you could certainly do that to any woman, dahling, but apart from charm…?’

  Fogarty said, ‘I thought of pointing out it’s hardly in her interests if they win – which they will if we don’t find Blue and destroy the time flowers. Hairstreak has already brought demons to the forest once. He could easily do it again, once he gets the upper hand. The Hell portals won’t stay closed for ever, you can be sure of that.’ He sighed. ‘I could also promise to leave them in peace if we win – that seems to be the one thing that really interests them. We could offer a treaty that guarantees it, both from us and the Faeries of the Night.’

  ‘Do you think the Nighters would agree?’

  ‘They will if we win – what’s left of them.’

  ‘You see,’ said Pyrgus, ‘you can’t just smash them up. I mean, I only crushed one flower and that stopped time for -’ he didn’t actually know how long it had stopped time for, but pressed on anyway, ‘- hours. If you smash up hundreds of them, there’s no way of telling how long time would stop for. You might stop it for ever. You might interfere with the very fabric of our univer-’

  Men in black appeared by the far entrance of the huge chamber. They assumed an arrow pattern and took up a fighting stance.

  ‘What are those yo-yos up to?’ Fogarty asked.

  Madame Cardui peered at them a little shortsightedly. ‘They look like Assassins’ Guild, deeah. I expect they’ve come to kill you and Pyrgus.’

  A large group of swordsmen appeared and hurled themselves on the intruders.

  ‘Think so?’ asked Fogarty.

  ‘Oh, I would imagine so, deeah. One tried to kill me yesterday.’

  ‘Really?’ said Fogarty, concerned. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ said Madame Cardui. ‘I had Lanceline with me.’

  The clash at the far side of the room was turning into something of a Battle Royal. Pyrgus noticed the swordsmen were concentrating on capturing the assassins rather than killing them – not altogether successfully, since the assassins themselves fought with suicidal intensity.

  ‘Who hired them?’

  ‘Lord Hairstreak’s man, the Duke of Burgundy, according to the one who attacked me.’

  Fogarty frowned slightly. ‘I thought you said Lanceline killed him.’

  ‘I interrogated the corpse.’

  Fogarty tore his eyes away from the fight. ‘I didn’t know you could interrogate a corpse.’

  ‘You can if it’s fresh.’
/>   ‘Oh,’ said Fogarty. He frowned again. ‘You should have told me you were attacked.’

  ‘I didn’t want to worry you, deeah. Besides, what more could you do? I ordered an immediate alert throughout the entire Espionage Service. We knew the Guild’s plans for you and Pyrgus and the Generals. As you can see.’ She waved her hand vaguely towards the mass of struggling men.

  The fight was almost over, its result a foregone conclusion. Madame Cardui’s men far outnumbered the assassins and were, in their own way, just as skilled. One or two bodies were dragged out. The remaining men in black were overpowered and led away.

  ‘You can see the logic of my position on this raid,’ Pyrgus said. He took a deep breath. ‘And besides which I outrank you, Gatekeeper.’

  ‘Do you indeed?’ muttered Fogarty.

  They had reached the bottom of the broad stone stairway that led to the upper levels of the palace.

  ‘You know I do,’ Pyrgus said impatiently. ‘I’m still Crown Prince. Sort of.’

  ‘And I’m still Acting Emperor. Sort of,’ growled Fogarty. His voice softened. ‘But you’re right. You found those damn flowers and you know where they are and you know more about them than anybody else, so it makes sense for you to take part in the raid.’

  ‘Lead the raid,’ Pyrgus said quickly.

  ‘All right – lead the raid,’ Fogarty said irritably. He glanced across at Madame Cardui. ‘We can send some of your people to keep him safe, can’t we? If they can sort out assassins, they shouldn’t have much trouble with Ogyris’s guards. I’ll try to get the Forest Faerie involved. Queen Cleopatra won’t begrudge us a small contingent. Might even send -’ He stopped.

  Madame Cardui was looking at Pyrgus. ‘What is it, deeah?’ she asked. ‘What’s the matter?’

  Pyrgus was looking up the stairs, his jaw slack with astonishment.

  Sixty-seven

  Blue sat beside Henry, put her arms around him and kissed him.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Henry gasped. He jerked away and stared at her in astonishment.

  Blue pulled him close again, but this time whispered in his ear. ‘They’re watching us. We need to make them think something’s going to happen.’

  ‘Why?’ Henry’s mouth was muffled by her hair.

  ‘To play for time, you idiot!’ Blue said in exasperation and kissed him again. After a moment he began to react as if he might be enjoying it. As they drew apart she murmured, ‘OK, let’s not overdo it.’ She manoeuvred so her body was between him and the screen. ‘Turn out your pockets.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Turn out your pockets!’ Blue hissed. ‘We have to get out of here and I want to see if you have anything that might help.’ A thought occurred to her. ‘Where is here, anyway? Do you know?’

  ‘We’re in one of the demon ships. A transport. On Earth we call them flying saucers.’ He began obediently to turn out his pockets.

  ‘Was that funny square room part of it?’

  Henry shook his head. ‘That was a storage cube in limbo,’ he said incomprehensibly. ‘The saucer picked us up from there.’

  Blue stared at him with a sinking heart. ‘Where is the saucer now – in space?’

  Henry nodded. ‘Yes, probably.’ He caught her expression. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘If we’re in space, we can’t escape. Unless you can fly a saucer.’

  ‘No, I can’t,’ Henry said. ‘But I remember how to work the blue light.’ He saw her blank look and added, ‘The light that pulled us out of the cube.’

  ‘We don’t want to go back to the cube!’ Blue hissed. Then, in a moment of uncertainty, ‘Do we?’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Henry said. ‘But the light will send us anywhere, if I can figure the coordinates. There…’ He looked up at her and gave a little smile. He’d finished emptying his pockets.

  Blue stared at the little heap on the bed. There were several unfamiliar coins, a piece of paper with writing on it, a small white packet of something that might have been a snack and several pieces of string. Not exactly commando gear to break out of – what did he call it? – a flying saucer.

  She forced herself to think. The limbo cube place had been packed with demons, but she could only remember seeing three in the saucer – the two that accompanied Henry and the Black John creature. There were probably others – how many demons did it take to crew a saucer? She needed to know what she was up against.

  ‘What have you got?’ Henry asked in a whisper. He glanced around him. ‘You don’t think we should go back to… you know… kissing?’

  ‘What have I got what?’ Blue asked crossly, ignoring his second question. ‘Look, do you know how many demons are on this ship? Twenty? Thirty? A hundred? What?’

  ‘In your pockets,’ Henry said. ‘You might have something useful too. There’s just three.’

  Did he mean what she thought he meant? ‘Just three of a crew?’

  ‘It’s all you need. Most of the ship is automatic. And, of course, they have me when the implant’s activated.’ He shifted to block the viewscreen. ‘Go on, you must have something.’

  ‘I have this,’ Blue said; and showed him the slim, sleek shape of the stimlus half concealed in her hand. She was feeling suddenly elated. Just three. There was a chance they might get out of this yet.

  Sixty-eight

  ‘What is it?’ Henry asked.

  Stimlus, Blue mouthed. It suddenly occurred to her that even whispers might be overheard. There was no way she wanted to throw away the element of surprise.

  Stimlus? Henry mouthed back, frowning.

  Oh, for Light’s sake, Blue thought. She scrabbled in the pocket of her tunic for a writing tablet and found the ornate purple thing she was supposed to carry at all times as Queen. She held it away from the viewscreen and stroked the spell coating. Words began to crawl across the surface.

  Kills on contact.

  Henry looked at the writing, then at her. ‘The stimlus kills on contact?’ he asked.

  ‘Kills on contact’ disappeared and was immediately replaced by glowing red capitals: DON’T SPEAK ALOUD. IF YOU WANT TO SAY SOMETHING, PLACE YOUR THUMB ON THE SURFACE OF THE TABLET AND THINK CLEARLY.

  ‘Cool!’ Henry murmured. He got the hang of it at once, for the tablet cleared, then showed the words, Will it kill them all?

  Blue pushed his thumb to one side with hers. Kills one only. Single charge. Must have contact.

  Henry moved her thumb aside. Better than a kick in the teeth from a wet haddock.

  Blue looked at him in bewilderment.

  ‘It’s all right,’ Henry said sheepishly. He put his thumb back on the pad. What’s the plan?

  Sometimes, Blue thought, it would be nice if someone else took charge. She shifted his thumb and her words began to fill the pad again. Stand by the door. We lure them in, then attack. Take them by surprise. Kill them.

  ‘Kill?’ Henry mouthed. His eyes were wide.

  ‘Oh, for heaven’s sake!’ Blue exclaimed aloud. ‘What did you expect to do – invite them to a ball?’

  Henry gripped the tablet. There are three of them and only two of us.

  They’re little skinny things.

  I’ve never killed anything before.

  You’ll be fine if you don’t look in their eyes.

  Henry stared at her as if trying to make up his mind. After a while he nodded suddenly and moved beside the door. Blue walked over to the viewscreen and shattered the fragile glass with a single kick. The spell coating turned magenta and howled. She spun round and raced to join Henry at the door.

  The plan unravelled at once. The demons burst in at a run, but only Black John was in his original form. The other two had transformed themselves into creatures from a nightmare, muscular and huge.

  ‘Yikes!’ Henry exclaimed.

  He has no weapon, Blue thought. That was stupid. I should never have started this until he had a weapon. But there was no weapon for him, nothing in the room that might even have served as a club. Sh
e stepped forward and pressed the stimlus into the side of the nearest demon. There was a loud hiss and the smell of burning flesh, then the creature toppled, its eyes blank.

  Blue spun round and saw to her surprised delight that Henry was clinging to the second nightmare demon, apparently trying to strangle it. The creature was threshing to and fro, trying to dislodge him. She winced as Henry’s knee cracked against the wall, but noted he never slackened his grip. Blue flung herself at the demon.

  The stimlus was useless now, burned out after its single discharge. She knew she didn’t have the strength to kill the brute, not even with Henry hanging on to it, so she went for its eyes, the most vulnerable point.

  The demon jerked upright and roared, scrabbling for her hands. ‘Good girl, Blue,’ Henry murmured. There was sweat beading on his forehead as he fought to increase the stranglehold. There was no way he could kill the thing like that, of course, but he might manage to distract it until she blinded it. A blind demon was almost as helpless as a dead one.

  She reached for the eyes again, then there was a demon on her back, the furred imp with budding horns and pointed ears. Black John clutched her shoulders with slim, taloned fingers. ‘No more, Majesty,’ he hissed malevolently into her ear.

  Blue flung herself backwards at once. They rolled together across the floor, Black John still clinging to her back. She could feel his claws shredding her clothing, then the sharp pain as they reached her flesh. She jerked her head back in the hope of connecting with his face, but missed. One of his slender arms went round her throat and tightened.

  Almost at once, her vision began to darken. His other hand came round and raked her face. Blood spurted, half blinding her. In desperation she hurled herself backwards against the nearest wall. There was a sickening thud, the grip on her throat loosened and she felt Black John slide off her back. Blue stumbled and fell, then picked herself up. The black demon lay on the floor beside her. He was still breathing but looked dazed from his fall. Blue reached down and took his head and broke his scrawny neck. Then her knees began to give way.