Robert Charrette - Arthur 01 - A Prince Among Men (33 page)

Were they the elven steeds of legend? If so, to whom did they belong?

His answer came as he saw the stranger. The stranger's lull, slim silhouette couldn't belong to anyone but an elf. And his clothes! They might have been out of a fantasy vid, the way they glimmered and flowed. The effect of the (lagged sleeves and lace and decorative embroidery would have been comic on someone without the elf s air of restrained menace. He was the first to notice John's return and stared at him with cold eyes of silver.

John couldn't match that glare and looked away. Only then did he notice the tense stances of the humans on the hill. Bennett stood at ease, turning to follow his fellow elf s diverted attention. He smiled when he saw John.

"Ah, Jack. I'm glad you're back," he said. "Something has come up and I must leave you all on your own for a while. Certain affairs of my estate here require my attention, but I was hesitant to leave before you returned. It is so easy for newcomers to get lost here." He turned his smile to Faye. "I see my fears were groundless."

"There are two horses," John said, wondering where his was. If his father was going to his estate, shouldn't he be taking his son along?

"Yes. Shahotain was foresightful enough to bring an extra for me."

"What about me?"

"What
about
you?"

"Aren't I going with you?"

Bennett paused for a beat before saying, "I'm afraid not, Jack. It would not be ... appropriate."

So much for being elven royalty together. "Well, you don't have to hang around anymore; I'm back."

"There will be other times, Jack. Better times."

"Yeah, sure."

Bennett clasped John's shoulder in farewell, whispering, "Watch Bear. You've said too much about our relationship already." Louder, he said, "I will return as soon as I may."

The other elf was already astride his mount. With practiced ease, Bennett mounted. Without farther comment, the two of them rode off and soon disappeared into the odd distant haze of the otherworld. John wasn't sure whether he was happy or sad to see Bennett's back. He
was
sure that he was confused. Normally a talk with Faye would be in order, but a look at her told him that he wouldn't get an answer there; she was a large part of his confusion and uncertainty. Bear wouldn't be any help—explaining his troubles would require talking about his elven heritage, and that was something else

John didn't want to face just now. Maybe if he put his mind to less personal matters ...

"What's going on?" Selecting Dr. Spae as the safest person to talk to, John directed his question to her, but Kun answered him.

"That other elf—Shahotain, was it?—came galloping up on a horse—a
horse,
for God's sake—and went into conference with Bennett. Our native guide didn't deign to tell us what the private chat was about, beyond some vague stuff about duties."

"I'm sure it was important," Spae said.

"Who's your friend?" Bear asked.

It took John a moment to realize that none of the others had even acknowledged Faye's existence, let alone seen her. "She's an old friend of mine."

"She's fey," Bear said.

His tone was suspicious, but John was too busy wondering how he knew Faye's name to do more than nod and say, " That's right."

"The invisible friend?" Kun asked.

Did everyone already know about her? If they did, they should have better manners. "You're acting like she was still invisible."

"You haven't been much better," Spae said. "Are you going to introduce us?"

Spae was smiling as though she knew some secret John didn't. His cheeks burned as he went through the introductions, stumbling to a conclusion with, "Faye is an old friend of mine."

"Sorry, Jack," Bear said. He nodded to Faye. "John's friends are my friends. Until they prove themselves other than friends. Well met, girl."

"So we trade one elf for another," Kun said unhappily.

"I am not an elf," Faye said. To the disbelieving faces that turned to her, she added, "Of the prince's kind, anyway."

"Prince?" Kun and Spae said simultaneously.

"So he
is
a prince," John said. He thought he'd spoken to himself, but Kun at least had heard him.

"You knew Bennett was some kind of royalty?"

"He'd said he was, but who could be sure he was telling the truth?" John's response sounded lame even to him.

"You were wise not to trust him," Bear said.

"And bloody stupid not to mention it to us," Spae said.

"What else haven't you told us?" Kun asked. He didn't look at all happy with John.

"Nothing much."

Bear spoke. "I think Jack was wise not to tell us that the elf had said he was a prince. Look at how you react. You allow this Bennett too much power over your thoughts already. How much more under his sway would you be if you thought him royalty? Weren't you listening when I told you how easily elves lie?"

"But Faye has confirmed that he is a prince," Spae said.

"You have seen no proof," Bear said.

"You've got Faye's word," John protested.

Bear looked at John thoughtfully. "So we have."

"Are you saying she's lying?" John asked angrily.

"Do you believe her?"

"Yes!"

"You know her better than I," Bear said. "But Bennett's rank isn't the issue. We haven't come here to visit his court. We gain nothing by remaining here. We should push on."

"Bennett said to wait for him," Spae said.

"All the more reason to move on."

"You heard him. We could easily get lost in this dimension. It's not like our own. Bennett's our only guide."

"Not true. John's friend is a native." Bear pointed at Trashcan Harry. "The goblin belongs here too. He knows this realm."

Trashcan Harry looked nervously back and forth at the others. Bear was calling him a goblin again, and for the first time John thought he could see why. Bennett had said that Harry was one of his agents, brought from the otherworld to watch over John. Here under the starry skies of the other-world he looked the part of an otherworld denizen; it was a difference akin to the transformation Bennett had undergone when he revealed himself as an elf, but less pleasant. Harry looked even uglier than usual now, less human. His skin had a pallor that John somehow knew was not related to his injuries. Harry's teeth looked sharper, his ears more pointed, his skin scabrous. The change must have occurred when they crossed the boundary between the dimensions, but everyone had been so intent on their surroundings that no one had noticed. But then, everyone pretty much avoided looking at Harry unless they had to.

"Shit, another one!" Kun exclaimed.

"Behave yourself, Mr. Kun," Spae said. To Harry: "Why didn't you tell us sooner, Mr. Black? I have a lot of questions—"

"They can wait, Doctor," Bear said. "We waste time here."

"Bennett said to wait," she shot back.

Trashcan nodded vigorously. "Yeah. We gotta wait. We need his protection."

'Protection?" Kun took a steo toward Harry. "From what?"

"Things," Harry said timorously.

Spae stepped between them. "Don't let him intimidate you, Mr. Black. What sort of things? Come, now. You're not going to be as uninformative as Mr. Bennett, are you?"

"You
are
supposed to help, aren't you?" John asked.

"Uh-huh." Harry looked miserable.

"Then talk to us," Kun snapped. "What sort of things?"

"There's all kinds of things," Harry said.

"He's not trying to be difficult, Mr. Kun," Faye said in a placating tone. "It is hard to be specific about these things. You wouldn't know the names we use for dangers that we know, and there are dangers for which even we have no names."

"We should go back. Get reinforcements," Kun said to Spae.

"Better to push on. We have no guarantee that we will get another chance," Bear said. "Bennett is only trustworthy as

long as his goals are the same as ours. I mislike the way he abandoned us; I fear that he plans some treachery."

"You're being paranoid," Spae said. "Bennett said to wait for him."

The argument went on without reaching a conclusion. Finally, Spae made the suggestion that they take a vote.

"But the creatures get no say," Kun amended.

"They are as much a part of this expedition as you are," Spae said.

"They are creatures of Faery," Bear said.

"And can't be trusted," Kun finished. They both nodded solemnly at Spae.

"All right. All right. Just humans vote," Spae agreed. She mumbled something under her breath, but John didn't catch it. "I say we wait for Mr. Bennett."

"We go on," Bear said.

"We go back," Kun said.

John quailed when they turned to him; he didn't want to make the decision for himself, let alone the rest of them. He felt a strong urge to do anything contrary to what Bennett wanted. What did he owe the guy, after all? Bennett had ridden off to his Faery princedom alone, despite all his speeches about parental concern and the importance of John's elven heritage. Right now, John would be happy to see
him
disappointed big time. The best way to do that would be to go with Kun's plan and go home, TTiat'd throw all of Bennett's plans into the trash. But going home might mean leaving Faye behind. Or the corporeal Faye, anyway. That thought was very bothersome.

"Jack?" Bear prompted.

Bear was the only one of the three who really cared about John. Maybe if John went with him, it'd be easier for Bear to take it when he learned John was an elf. He could prove to Bear that all elves weren't bad. John didn't feel like the sort of guy Bear seemed to think that all elves had to be. Bear needed to know that, and John could prove it to him. He'd start by helping him here. Still, John was a little bothered that Bear seemed to be expecting John to side with him just because of the
comes
thing. If Bear had such expectations, they'd straighten that out later. Bear would be a lot easier to deal with once he got what he was looking for.

"I don't think we should sit here," John said. "The point of this whole trip was to help Bear get Caliburn. Let's do it."

Bear slapped him on the back, staggering him. "Well said."

The decision made, the group set out again with Bear leading, striding confidently down the knoll. Dr. Spae did not give up her position gracefully and grumbled as they marched along. "How will Mr. Bennett know where we've gone?" she asked Bear's back. He ignored her question, but Faye assured her, "He will be able to follow us." The doctor grumbled some more, and Kun looked decidedly upset. The agent began to check his weapon with a compulsive regularity.

Although he had stood with Bear, John didn't understand how Bear intended to find what he sought. He stretched his legs to catch up with their leader, who was striding confidently across the countryside. Bear acknowledged him with a nod and they walked along quietly for a quarter mile or so before John worked up his nerve to question Bear.

"You sounded pretty confident that you knew how to find Caliburn, but how are you going to do it? Neither Faye nor Trashcan Harry knows where it is, so we really haven't got a guide. Maybe if we had a map."

"We need neither map nor guide. We have what we need. You must have faith, Jack."

Faith made a lousy compass and a worse map. From what John had learned of the otherworld, they had some serious obstacles in front of them. "Didn't you go to sleep in England?"

"Yes."

Bear's blunt answer suggested he didn't see the problem. "Bennett said that Faery reflects the real world. Won't there be an ocean between us and England?"

"I expect so."

"You don't know?"

"No."

"You don't know! How in hell are you going to find
anything
when you don't even know if there's an ocean between us and England?"

Bear seemed unperturbed by John's strident tone, but he stopped and stared dreamily into the distance. "Have you ever touched Caliburn, Jack?"

"What kind of a question is that? Of course I haven't."

"I have."

"But—"

"Don't question me," Bear ordered. More kindly he added, "Have faith."

Bear started on again, leaving John staring after him.

CHAPTER
21

Holger knew the decision to press on was wrong. He knew it. He thought again about heading back to where they'd crossed over into this place; but even if he found it again, he wasn't sure he'd be able to make the crossing without either Spae or Bennett. More important, if he made it back he'd have to explain why he had abandoned Spae. Headquarters wouldn't like any answer he gave them.

Artos was leading them across
a
countryside that the foolish might think placid and innocent. Placid it might be, for
the
moment, but Holger had heard the alien sounds and
seen the
furtive motions of the things that followed them
from
time to time, and he knew that their surroundings were anything but innocent.