Faerie Wars 02 - The Purple Emperor (30 page)

He asked the question of Nymph, but Ziczac answered directly. 'Not exactly.'

'What do you mean, not exactly}' Blue demanded.

The wizard grinned benignly. 'We can only penetrate thick surfaces. A thin wall or door will stop us dead.'

'That doesn't make sense,' Pyrgus frowned.

'No, it doesn't, does it?' Ziczac agreed. 'I've never really followed it myself, but that's the way the magic works. You need to move inside something that's bigger than you are. The outer walls are enormous: the old cultures always built that way. But inside walls could be a different matter. I suppose we might risk it in an emergency, but ...'

'There's a chance of getting stuck,' Nymph said.

'Which usually proves lethal,' Ziczac frowned. 'In fact, I've never heard of anyone who survived it.'

In the event, they managed quite well. The different levels were confusing and there were times when Pyrgus was a lot less certain than he tried to appear, but the lock spells recognised him without a problem so that they passed quickly through door after door. They reached an archway that looked decidedly familiar.

Pyrgus released a sigh of relief. 'That's it,' he said, pointing to the corridor beyond. 'That will take us into the lower reaches of the palace.' He stepped through the arch and Hairstreak's guards fell on him like an avalanche.

Stupidly, all he could think of was that he didn't have a weapon ready. He was armed with a short sword and fire wand supplied by the Forest Queen and his own Halek blade, overlooked by Hairstreak's men when they set him on the ouklo into exile. But the sword was in its scabbard, the wand in his belt and the Halek blade hidden in his boot. In short, he was helpless as an idiot. He spun and drove his elbow into the stomach of the nearest attacker and had the satisfaction of seeing the man double up and drop his sword. But there were others grinning evilly and they hadn't forgotten their weapons. He would be dead in seconds.

Then Nymph was at his side and she was utterly amazing. She moved faster than he would have believed possible, sometimes even blurring. She was carrying some sort of forest weapon, a triangular blade that was too short for a sword, too long for a dagger and left a silver energy-trail much like a Halek knife. She kicked the guard nearest him and killed him when he doubled up. Then she moved protectively in front of Pyrgus and launched herself savagely at two of the dead man's companions.

Pyrgus drew his own sword and spun to face another of their attackers. From the corner of his eye, he could see the forest soldiers hurl themselves into the fray. They had abandoned their bows for hand weapons, presumably to avoid injuring their own people in the close-pressed combat, but they moved almost as quickly as Nymph. As he parried a thrust from his opponent, Pyrgus realised suddenly how lucky he had been when he faced Nymph himself. The kick to the groin was obviously a favourite move, but at least in his case she'd not followed it up by cutting his throat.

It was over in minutes. Two of the guards were dead, the remaining three dying from multiple wounds. Now the heat of battle was over and he had a chance to remove the guards' dark glasses, Pyrgus could see from their eyes they were all Nighters - Hairstreak's men without a doubt. Even the black uniforms carried the House Hairstreak crest. Clearly Hairstreak did not trust the existing palace military, however firmly Comma was under his thumb; he had lost no time in moving in his own people.

'A thought occurs to me,' said Ziczac, staring at the bodies. 'If we wore black uniforms and glasses, we may find ourselves less liable to attack. At least if you wore black uniforms - most of these are too big for me.'

For a moment Pyrgus didn't follow, then it hit him. 'Great idea, Ziczac! Doesn't matter about your uniform. If anybody asks we'll just say... well ...'

'Say I'm your prisoner. Say I'm personal wizard to Lord Hairstreak. Say -'

But Pyrgus was already stripping the nearest body.

Ziczac's ruse worked well. As a disciplined party of House Hairstreak guards, they entered the main body of the palace and passed two black-uniformed sentry posts unchallenged. As they marched along a gloomy corridor, Pyrgus took the opportunity to say quietly to Nymph, 'I think you saved my life back there.'

'I think perhaps you were not ready for the attack.'

Pyrgus suppressed a grin. 'Definitely not.' He stared into her eyes. 'I want to thank you.'

To his surprise she blushed, then covered her embarrassment by shrugging. 'It is nothing.'

It was the first sign of weakness he'd seen in her. 'You think saving my life is nothing?' He let the tease show in his voice.

Her colour rose another notch. 'I didn't mean that,' she said hurriedly. 'I -'

But he never found out what she did mean because suddenly they were under attack again. An arm circled his neck and a slim, stiletto blade plunged towards his heart. Before he had time to react, the blade stopped short of his skin and his assailant gasped. He twisted and found he had been seized by a woman. She stared at him open-mouthed. Pyrgus hesitated for a fraction of a second, then kicked out to sweep her feet from under her. She went down badly and struck her head against the wall. Her eyes rolled back, then slowly closed.

There were others attacking, all of them women and two of them almost as fast in their movements as Nymph and her companions. But their weapons were no match for those of Pyrgus's party. The Forest Faeries pointed fire wands.

'No!' Pyrgus shouted.

Nymph glanced at him in surprise.

'No killing!' Pyrgus screamed. These were Faeries of the Light - his own people. They'd attacked what they thought to be a party of Hairstreak's guards. There was resistance in the palace, maybe even an early revolt. These women were on his side! 'Don't you know me?' he called to them.

But the women had seen the wands now and were already running down the corridor. 'Leave them!' Blue shouted, having obviously reached the same conclusion as Pyrgus. Both calls came too late. The Forest Faeries were already racing after them. Even Ziczac joined the chase. 'Your new girlfriend is a menace!' Blue hissed as she ran to follow.

Pyrgus thundered after her, screaming 'Stop!' The women went through a doorway. Ziczac hurled some sort of fireball after them. Then Pyrgus caught up and fought his way through his own party. 'Leave them! Leave them!' He grabbed Nymph's arm as she was about to stab -

To one side came Blue's shocked whisper: 'My God, it's the Silk Mistresses!' Then she shouted, 'Stop it, all of you!'

Nymph pulled back, but in the general melee Pyrgus couldn't see what was happening with the others. He pushed forward frantically. They mustn't harm their own people.

Beyond the group of women, there was a body crumpled on the floor. Blue was right behind him now and she saw it a split second after he did. He heard her gasp, then she pushed him aside and ran forward wailing, 'Henry! Noooo!'

'Are you sure you know what you're doing?' Chalkhill asked nervously. He was back at Hairstreak's mansion in the forest after an even more nerve-wracking trip than the last time. Cyril had guided him through an ill-marked winding trail that smelled of sliths and now they'd emerged between some densely-planted rose bushes on the edge of that palatial lawn.

Chalkhill stared across the vast expanse of green, very well aware that crossing it would leave him totally exposed every inch of the way. He looked round for haniels in the surrounding trees, but his real worry was Hairstreak's guards, who had a well-deserved reputation of shooting first and asking questions afterwards. He could be a pin-cushion of arrows before he took three steps.

'Of course I know what I'm doing,' the wyrm said testily. 'Cossus Cossus is expecting you.'

'Yes, you said that. But what happens if Hair streak sees me?'

The wangaramas gave the mental equivalent of an impatient grunt. 'What do you think happens if Lord Hair streak sees you? He doesn't know what we're planning, does he? As far as he's concerned, you're still a loyal servant. If you do bump into him - which you won't - you can simply say you came back for fresh instructions.'

It made sense, but Chalkhill was still terrified of Lord Hairstreak. In desperation he went back to an argument he'd already lost several times. 'Why can't we just go somewhere else? All I have to do is wait until Comma's Coronation.'

Cyril gave the mental equivalent of an exhausted sigh. 'That isn't all you have to do. I've told you ten thousand times already: you have to be able to pass for Lord Hairstreak. You weren't exactly a star pupil when he sent you to the Facemaster, were you?'

'It was just the walk,' said Chalkhill testily. 'But I've got you to help me with that now. That's why we were introduced in the first place.'

T can only help you with the walk,' Cyril said. 'There are all sorts of other things. You have to know the people he knows, greet them by name. This isn't like it was before. Hairstreak attending Pyrgus's Coronation could have got away with being introverted and grumpy - people would expect that since he didn't like Pyrgus. But everybody knows Comma is just a figurehead. They'll expect Lord Hairstreak to be strutting round like a turkey-cock. And don't forget you'll still be playing Hairstreak afterwards. This isn't a few hours with a Facemaster - you're going to need every minute we have left to prepare you for the part. Cossus himself will be coaching you. You'll need practice. Ordering servants around, that sort of thing.'

T know how to order servants around,' Chalkhill said sourly.

'And you'll be dealing with high-class demons,' the wyrm said, ignoring him. 'I know the portals are shut just now, but Hairstreak has his demon pits so you can get used to whipping the silly creatures before the portals open again. Then there's the question of -

Chalkhill felt worn out, as he always did by this stage of the mental conversation. 'All right,' he said aloud. 'You win.'

If a haniel ate him on his way across the lawn, it would be a blessed relief.

Henry's head hurt, but not half as much as his hands and chest. He had trouble focusing his eyes, but even so he could see his upturned palms had turned to raw meat. He tried to move and his body protested with a howl of agony.

Henry groaned but no sound came.

There were people around him, but he couldn't remember who they were. They swam into his field of vision, then out again, their voices rising and falling, approaching and fading. One of them looked like Blue. He hoped it was Blue because that would mean she wasn't dead in the forest. He couldn't see whether she was cross with him for being late.

'He's still alive. I think he's still alive.'

'Can you see breathing?'

'No.'

T thought I saw him open his eyes.'

'Reflex. You often get that with a fireball.'

'The body reacts for hours after the heart stops. Energies keep working on the nerves.'

T saw one walk five paces once, dead as a coffin nail'

'He's alive, you stupid cow!' This from Blue. He was sure he recognised her voice.

Henry tried to say 'Hello, Blue', but no sound came. His eyes were closing again, all of their own accord, so that he lay in the red, pain-filled darkness. It occurred to him that he was dying and he didn't care.

'He's alive!' Blue said again. 'He's breathing!'

'I can't see him breathing.'

Somebody was taking his shirt off, the one the Silk Mistresses had given him. He heard a gasp of shock.

'It always does that,' said a cool female voice. 'If he hadn't been wearing spinner silk it would have burned through to remove his heart.'

'It's bubbling ... Yuk, it's oozing blood.'

'Blisters. The skin is just blistering.'