Faerie Wars fw-1

by Herbie Brennan

  Pyrgus smiled despite himself and shook his head.

  'What did you do with the bird?' Tithonus asked.

  'Released it in the wild. I fed it first.'

  Tithonus stared at him, then shook his head slowly. 'You fed it first. Pyrgus, do you even know what it costs to trap a golden phoenix?'

  'No.'

  'I thought not. But you do know Hairstreak is a powerful man?'

  'That doesn't mean he's entitled to mistreat – '

  'Spare me the lecture,' Tithonus cut in with a sigh. 'I happen to agree with you, but that's hardly the point. The point is that Hairstreak is a member of a Noble House – '

  'He's a Faerie of the Night!'

  'He's a noble Faerie of the Night. He has considerable political connections and even greater political ambitions. He's already the major spokesperson for that whole unruly breed.'

  'How is Comma, by the way?' Pyrgus asked. He grinned. 'Speaking of unruly.'

  'Please don't try to divert me,' Tithonus said coldly. 'And especially not so crudely. Comma is Comma. Your stepbrother has no terminal illness so far as I am aware and beyond that I care very little. We were discussing Hairstreak. You should not have taken his bird. He is in the process of making mischief for you.'

  'I can handle myself,' Pyrgus said confidently.

  'Doubtless you will tell that to his Imperial Majesty.' Tithonus sighed. 'Pyrgus, I think the time may have come for you to realise who you are. You are not a young soldier of fortune. You are not some merchant's son or artisan, however much you like to disguise yourself. You are His Highness the Crown Prince. That carries certain responsibilities even if you no longer live at the palace.'

  'It's serious, isn't it?'

  Tithonus nodded. 'This business between you and Lord Hairstreak has disrupted some very delicate political negotiations. Most people may not recognise the Crown Prince without his finery, but Hairstreak's men had no problem at all. He had a full report inside the hour. He may not treat his phoenix very well, but he knows its value. He is making demands that will be hard to meet. Meanwhile, he has men searching for you. In the circumstances he is quite entitled to seize you if he finds you – seize and hold you. Can you imagine the scandal that would cause? The Crown Prince in the custody of a Faerie of the Night? It doesn't bear thinking about. Your father is very, very angry.'

  Pyrgus felt his heart sink as it often did when his father was the subject of discussion. 'What's he going to do with me?' he asked.

  'I prefer he tell you that himself,' Tithonus said. 'Indeed, I have explicit instructions to that effect. But I can give you one piece of advice. Don't lose your temper with your father. Whatever happens.'

  Pyrgus lost his temper with his father. 'I didn't flounce out of my home!' he shouted furiously. 'I didn't walk away from my responsibilities! I didn't abandon my sister, not that she needs me to look after her. You forced me to leave! I can't believe you still hunt animals. I can't believe you keep a zoo. I can't believe you still cling to medieval – '

  'You seem to care far more about animals than you do about people,' his father said coldly. 'But this isn't about animals, Pyrgus, however much you'd like to think it is. This is about the future of the Empire.'

  'Oh, don't be so melodramatic,' Pyrgus sniffed in just the tone of voice he knew would infuriate his father most.

  They were together in the conservatory behind the throne room, breathing in the heady scent of orchids. The Purple Emperor was not a tall man, but he was broad: Pyrgus seemed to be taking after him in that respect. His head was shaved in the papal tonsure – as Emperor he also led the worldwide Church of Light -and he was wearing an open shirt that showed off his official butterfly tattoos. They seemed almost to flutter as he fought to control his temper.

  For once he succeeded rather better than Pyrgus. His voice was almost calm as he said, 'This is no melodrama, Pyrgus. This is real life – your life as well as mine. I expect Tithonus reminded you of who you are.'

  'I expect you told him to.'

  'Yes, I did. I'm aware you're far more likely to listen to him than you are to me. I had hoped he might get you in a reasonable mood before we talked, but I can see now that was far too much to hope for. Pyrgus – '

  'Did you know there's a factory in Seething Lane that makes glue from live kittens?' Pyrgus asked him furiously. 'Did you know there are Faeries of the Night who call up major demons? Did you know one of them almost killed me? Did you know Black Hairstreak goes into his phoenix cages three times a week and – '

  'We all know Faeries of the Night leave a lot to be desired when it comes to their behaviour, but – '

  'A lot to be desired?' echoed Pyrgus. 'A lot to be desired? Father, you're negotiating with these people! You're treating them as equals!''

  'I'm treating them as subjects of the Empire, which they are. Whether you like it or not. They're difficult, it's true – '

  'Difficult?' Pyrgus exploded. 'They're trying to overthrow everything we stand for!'

  'Yes, they are,' his father agreed. 'Indeed they are. And that is exactly why they need careful handling. I have been in negotiation with Night leaders – including Lord Hairstreak – for several months. Those negotiations have reached a critical stage. The last thing I need is my idiot son blundering in where he isn't wanted and handing them new leverage on a plate!'

  'My mother would never have agreed with what you're doing!' Pyrgus hissed.

  His father swung round furiously. 'You leave your mother out of this! You've no idea what she would or wouldn't have agreed with. You don't even know what's going on! I've tried to make you take an interest in politics, but all you ever think of is your damned animals and yourself! Oh, you're so sensitive, Pyrgus, so sensitive to birds and little creatures. But if we don't reach an accommodation, it won't just be birds and little creatures they'll be killing – it will be people!'

  'The Nighters are killing people anyway,' Pyrgus said, deliberately using the insulting term.

  His father looked briefly apoplectic, then managed at last to get his temper under control. 'Enough,' he said. 'I've had enough of this. I didn't get you here to discuss politics or explain my decisions. I am Emperor and that must be enough. When you take the throne, you can set up sanctuaries for every stray cat and dog in the kingdom, but until – '

  'I don't want to – '

  'Be quiet!' his father thundered. 'Just listen for once! This is your future I'm about to talk about – yours! Now, will you do me the courtesy of listening?'

  Pyrgus glowered at him sullenly, but said nothing.

  His father stared down at his hands which had somehow shredded a precious orchid. He dropped the remnants on the floor and looked up again at Pyrgus. 'You are in peril,' he said softly.

  'Blue doesn't know what – '

  'You're supposed to be listening,' his father said quietly.

  'Sorry,' Pyrgus said.

  'This isn't Blue's information. Oh, she told me about your escapade with Hairstreak, but this comes straight from the Espionage Service. Double-checked and copper-fastened. Apparently you've been a target ever since you left the palace.' He held up a hand to stop Pyrgus interrupting. 'I know you've been keeping your identity a secret. I know you've been living like…' he gave Pyrgus's clothes a look of sheer disgust '… some sort of ballad singer. I appreciate your face isn't particularly well known. But we're not the only ones with spies. It would be naive to imagine our friends on the Nightside didn't know all about our… differences. Even more so to imagine they didn't know you'd left. Our information is they've been systematically hunting for you. The plan was – the plan is – to kidnap you and hold you to ransom. Not for money, of course, but to make sure I agree to their political demands. Your little raid on Hairstreak's phoenix – '

  'Father – ' Pyrgus began, distraught for the first time in their conversation.

  His father's voice remained soft. Tm not really blaming you,' he sighed. 'The man is a reptile. He treats everyone abominably, servants, an
imals, followers – it doesn't matter. I expect at your age I'd have done exactly what you did. But the fact is, you've rather handed them your head on a plate. They don't have to kidnap you now -Hairstreak can hold you legally. And if you think he treated his golden phoenix badly…' The Emperor paused briefly, then continued, 'He knows I know this. He will use it to try to wring concessions.'

  'But they must know you couldn't put me before the welfare of the Empire,' Pyrgus protested.

  'Of course I could,' his father said. 'I love you.'

  They walked together along the broad corridor that was the spine of the Imperial palace. For the first time in his life, Pyrgus noticed the maroon carpet underfoot was a little threadbare in places. 'What -?' He hesitated. He'd been about to ask, What are you going to do to me?, but decided to phrase it differently. 'What do you want me to do?'

  Servants bowed as they passed, like waves on a beach. 'I want you to go away for a little while,' his father said.

  'I understand,' Pyrgus said.

  They turned off into the private quarters. A permanent spell of silence meant they could talk freely without risk of being overheard. 'There's nowhere really safe for you within the kingdom,' Pyrgus's father said.

  Pyrgus said nothing.

  'I've made arrangements for you to translate,' his father said.

  'The Analogue World?' Pyrgus had suspected as much.

  The Emperor nodded. 'Of course you won't be going alone. Tithonus is too old, but Lulworth and Ringlet will be with you as servants and bodyguards. Blue wanted to go as well, but I told her it was out of the question: I expect you're quite relieved. We're targeting a remote Pacific island with no other inhabitants. Good climate, quite a few exotic fruits, although we've laid in our own stores, of course.' He smiled wanly. 'Lots of wildlife – you'll feel right at home. Once the negotiations are over, you can come back. Should be no more than a month at most. You can look on it as a little holiday.'

  After a moment, Pyrgus said, 'When do I go?'

  His father put a hand upon his shoulder. 'Lulworth and Ringlet have already translated. They're waiting for you on the island. The portal's been established in the chapel. I'd like you to go at once.'

  'For a month?'

  His father nodded.

  Pyrgus took a deep breath. 'Don't get angry, but there's something I really have to do…' His father waited, watching him. Pyrgus swallowed. 'There's a factory – '

  The Emperor nodded again. 'Chalkhill and Brimstone. I wondered how long it would take you to discover it.'

  Pyrgus felt his anger rising again, but for once it wasn't directed at his father. 'They're killing animals! They're killing – '

  His father held up a hand. 'We know about it. We're trying to do something about it. The trouble is, what they're doing isn't strictly against the law. Glue has been made from slaughtered animals for generations.'

  'But – '

  T know, I know. This goes beyond humane slaughter. Our problem is proving it.'

  'I can prove it!' Pyrgus said. 'I saw it! I saw what goes on!'

  'Your word against theirs, I'm afraid. But don't worry, we will do something about it. I have lawyers working hard to find a way to close the factory down. That's the only real solution. I know how you feel, Pyrgus, but you're going to have to leave this one to me. Will you trust me to do the job?'

  'Yes, of course,' said Pyrgus quietly. He felt a great deal older than he had that morning.

  His sister Blue and stepbrother Comma were already in the chapel. She ran across to fling herself into his arms. 'I thought that dreadful Hairstreak must have killed you! It was nearly three days before I could get any word of you at all!'

  Pyrgus disentangled himself gently. 'Hairstreak never got near me. It was someone else who nearly killed me.' He regretted the words the moment they were out of his mouth.

  His father fortunately hadn't heard – he was engaged in conversation with the technician priest who worked the portal. But Blue picked it up at once. 'Who nearly killed you?' she asked fiercely. 'If you don't want to tell Father, I can do something about it, you know.'

  He didn't doubt she could. Not for the first time he wondered what his little sister would be like when she grew up. Already she was one of the most formidable people he knew. Even Tithonus treated her with respect. He shook his head. 'It's nothing, Blue. Just a joke.'

  She stared at him suspiciously and he knew as soon as he was on his way she would be putting out feelers about where he'd been and what he'd done before his father's guards caught up with him. But Comma broke the moment. 'Our brother likes his little jokes, Blue -don't you, Brother?' he said with his sly twisted smile. 'But now perhaps we should let him get on with his trip. The sooner he goes, the sooner he'll be safe…' His eyes sparkled like Jasper Chalkhill's teeth.

  The portal had already been established between the pillars by the altar, for all the world like a raging blue fire. If Pyrgus hadn't known better, he'd never have believed anyone could step into that fire and live. But despite appearances, the flames were not really there. If they existed at all – and philosophers were far from sure about that – they had their being between the worlds. As such, they were nothing more than a visible separator, a demarcation line that indicated the transition between one dimension and the next. The real power of the portal lay in its enhancements by the hideously expensive machines that distorted space and time in this one spot. Everyone in the Faerie Empire knew this technology existed – it had been the stuff of legend for centuries – but only the Imperial Family could afford it. Thus the Analogue World, where the portal led, was the ultimate escape route for threatened royals. No one could find them there.

  The Emperor joined them in time to catch the last remark. 'Comma's right,' he said. 'The sooner you go, the sooner I'll know you're safe. Have you had your vaccines?'

  One of the medical priests bustled over with a hypodermic needle. 'We're ready for that now, Majesty.' Pyrgus pushed back one sleeve and looked away as the needle slid underneath his skin. It stung slightly, then subsided.

  'Ready to go?' his father asked.

  T think so,' Pyrgus said.

  'There's nothing you need to take,' his father reassured him. 'We've equipped the island with everything you're likely to want and Lulworth and Ringlet will have it all set up and ready waiting for you.'

  'Thank you, Father.'

  Blue threw her arms around him and kissed him soundly on the cheek. 'I shall so miss you!' she whispered. 'Be safe.'

  Pyrgus grinned weakly and gave her a brief peck in return.

  'Aren't you going to kiss your little brother too?' Comma said. 'It could be such a long time before we see each other again.'

  Pyrgus ignored him and stepped into the portal.

  Eight

  For a moment Henry Atherton just stood there, mouth open, eyes blinking furiously, as he tried to decide what he was looking at. Hodge had caught a butterfly, of course, but it wasn't a butterfly Henry was seeing. He was seeing a tiny winged figure. The wings were like butterfly wings, but the figure…

  Henry shook his head. He was looking at a fairy!

  The trouble was he didn't believe in fairies. He didn't even know anybody who believed in fairies. Except, a voice said in his head, Mr Fogarty. Mr Fogarty believes in fairies! For some reason it brought him up short. Mr Fogarty believed in fairies. Along with ghosts and flying saucers. Mr Fogarty believed the world was run by a secret conspiracy of bankers based in Zurich, Switzerland. Just because Mr Fogarty believed in something didn't make it real.

  But Henry was looking at a fairy. In a lunatic moment he wondered if Mr Fogarty had somehow created it. Then his paralysis broke.

  'Hodge, you idiot!' he screamed. He threw himself on the tomcat and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, the way mother cats do with kittens. Hodge howled in protest and dropped the… dropped the… Hodge dropped whatever it was he'd had in his mouth.

  Then Henry dropped him. He glared at Henry accusingly and stalked off
no more than a yard or two before stopping to sit down. Henry snatched the fairy between cupped hands, taking care not to crush the wings.

  As Hodge washed himself to regain his dignity, Henry cautiously opened his hands to take another peek. The creature looked dazed. Its head was twisted to one side, possibly as a result of being chewed by Hodge. There might have been blood on one shoulder, but it was difficult to tell.

  Henry forced himself to consider what he was holding, even though he knew it was more or less impossible. It was a little winged man of sorts. Well, actually a little boy. Or not a little boy exactly – he looked somewhere around Henry's own age – more of a young man, but tiny. He was wearing clothes: a jacket and breeches that might be dark green – the actual colour was difficult to tell. The wings were dun, marked like a grizzled skipper butterfly.

  Henry swallowed. 'Who are you?'

  The fairy – it had to be a fairy – clapped his hands to his ears and tried to launch himself out of Henry's grasp. Henry slid his thumbs across quickly to block the exit. He opened them again a slit and asked again more softly, 'Who are you?'

  It occurred to him suddenly that he was assuming an awful lot. In all the storybooks, fairies could talk. But what happened in real life? What was a fairy anyway? It looked like a little person, but since it clearly wasn't human, maybe it was some sort of animal. It was weird thinking of fairies as animals – or insects, an errant thought intruded: they had wings like insects – but maybe that's what they were. Just poor dumb creatures. Very rare poor dumb creatures…

  And if they weren't, who said they spoke English?

  It was kind of dark inside his cupped hands, but he thought he saw the fairy's mouth move. No sound came out. Henry decided to assume it understood English and said very softly this time, 'I'm not going to hurt you. I rescued you from the cat.' He had a sudden inspiration and added, 'Nod your head if you understand me.'

  The fairy's head poked out between Henry's hands and nodded.