The Four Realms (45 page)

The Prime Minister considered this for a moment, stroking the ends of his moustache between his thumb and forefinger.
 
"Maybe, but this is where King Ambrosius comes in.
 
His human weaponry will give us a technological edge."

"Still buying second hand tanks off the humans, your Majesty?" Rofen asked.

Ambrosius nodded.
 
"And air-to-surface missiles, armoured personal carriers and whatever else the Russians have to offer."

 
"Unfortunately we're too short to operate aircraft," The King turned to Maureen, "or I'd have my own air force by now."

"There we go," said the Prime Minister.
 
"You supply the wizards, the dwarves will supply the tanks."

The King held up his hands in protest.
 
"I never said I wanted to start a war."

The Prime Minister laughed.
 
"Really?
 
So all that expensive weaponry is just for show?"

"It's for defence, not offense.
 
I have no intention for my legacy to be one of an aggressor."

"But your Majesty, this woman has been victim to elven aggression.
 
Surely they are the aggressor?"

King Ambrosius looked at Maureen.
 
"I'm very sorry," he said.
 
"But the death of one man, no matter how great, does not justify risking millions more in an act of petty revenge."

Maureen thought about this for a second.
 
She'd been pro-action, had wanted there to be some retribution for Ernest's death, but the King was right.

"Trust me, when I say, those responsible should be brought to justice," he continued.
 
"But only those directly responsible."

Ernest would have agreed.
 
So would Joseph.
 
No matter how great her anger, how great her sadness, a war was not the answer.
 
That was not what Ernest would have wanted.

Maureen nodded at the King and his hard exterior broke into a sympathetic smile.
 
"I'm sorry for your loss," he said.
 
"Truly I am."

It seemed strange after all that had happened over the last few days, but the King's words made her realise Ernest was gone.
 
He wasn't coming back, and she had to move on.
 
Not forget him, nor rage over the circumstances surrounding his death.
   
He was gone, and for the first time, Maureen felt at peace with that, as if she had finally accepted it.

And with that realisation came a calmness, a sense of peace that told her she could be whoever she wanted to be.
 
She wasn't just a gatekeeper.
 
She didn't have to be tied to that for the rest of her life.
 
It was just a job.
 
She had a talent, could do magic and if she wanted could live out the rest of her days following that.
 
She'd never realised until that moment just how obligated she felt to her job.
 
Why should there have been any conflict inside her with wanting to investigate her friend's murder?
 
It had felt like she had been doing something wrong at the time, but no, it was the right thing to do.
 
And she'd, more or less, solved the crime.
 
She didn't have the details, but she knew enough that she felt she could put Ernest's death behind her.
 
Start looking to the future
, she thought to herself,
stop feeling so tied to the house
.

"King Ambrosius is right," she said.
 
"It's not worth going to war over."

Rofen rolled his eyes skyward.
 
"A moment ago you were practically ready to lead the armies yourself?"
 

She thought he might be happy she'd changed her mind.
 
Apparently not.

"I want justice for Ernest, not needless bloodshed."

"But the elves..." protested the Prime Minister.

"I have every faith, Abbott Rofen will find and deal with them," she said.
 
She wasn't sure that she totally believed that, but she at least hoped he would.

"Then that's settled, Prime Minister," Ambrosius said.
 
"There shall be no war."

"You can't be sure of that," the Prime Minister protested as the King turned to leave.
 
"It'll happen, mark my words.
 
Maybe not this time, but they're plotting and one day they will attack."

"Well until that day, let us enjoy the peace we have.
 
Rofen, Maureen."
 
Ambrosius nodded at each of them in turn, before stopping and adding.
 
"That troll.
 
The one with Maureen."

"Yes," Rofen said.
 
"What about him?"

"See to it that he gets the best medical care.
 
I know you humans aren't fond of Venefasia's native races, and it would displease me greatly should I happen to find out that you cast him out of hospital just because his wellbeing is no longer of interest."

"Your Majesty," the Prime Minister laughed nervously.
 
"He's just a troll.
 
Our medical facilities are designed for humans."

"And I am just a dwarf, who, if you are to be believed, owns a lot of weapons you might want to make use of one day."

"Of course, your Highness,” the Prime Minister replied.
 
"I understand."

Ambrosius stared at him for a second to ensure the seriousness of his request was understood before breaking into a much warmer tone.
 

"Good," he said clamping an arm round the Prime Minister's shoulder like an old friend.
 
"Now Prime Minister, I hear there is a very good club in New Salisbury called Larry McNally's..."

The two of them left, leaving Maureen and Rofen alone.
 
There was an uneasy silence between them, before Rofen leaned forward and knitted his fingers together.

"You do realise that you illegally entering Venefasia was a gross breach of protocol?"

"I do realise that.
 
I can only apologise."
 
She felt she owed Rofen that.
 
There was no denying that what she'd done was improper, to argue otherwise would just be stupid.
 
"And thank you for coming to Joseph’s and my aid."

"You're a problem, Maureen. A loose cannon."

"I'd just lost someone dear to me.
 
I was a little unbalanced."
 
She didn't want to sound pleading but that's how it came across.

"If it happened again, would you do the same?"

"It's not going to happen..."

Rofen cut her off.
 
"Would you, though?"
 
His voice was slightly raised.

"Probably.
 
I don't regret what I've done."

Rofen sighed.
 
"You're not helping me, Maureen."

He sat tapping his fingers together for a minute before saying.
 
"I've decided it'll be best if we close your gateway down."

For all her earlier resolve about not being tied to her job, it still felt as if she'd been shot by an arrow.

"It gets hardly any traffic these days.
 
Most people use Luton.
 
And... well... you're a risk Maureen.
 
I can't have gatekeepers running off every time the feeling takes them."

Maureen was silent.
 
She wanted to believe that this was a release, that this somehow freed her to go and make up for all those wasted years, all that sacrifice.
 
But for it to be for nothing?
 
That hurt.
 
That really hurt.
 
She'd wasted her life, had forgone relationships and a family to do her duty.
 
And whatever people may say about what she had done, it had never been done for anything less than the belief in the Friary and its members.

"So you're letting me go?
 
Just like that."

"Yes.
 
I've made up my mind."

Where would she go?
 
She was about to ask Rofen but stopped herself.
 
Don't ask him for help
, she told herself.
 
She'd even considered telling him about her magical abilities, but not now.
 
The less people that knew the better.
 
This is the start of your new life, she told herself, but she couldn't help but be afraid.

"Fine," she said.

"I'll give you a week to move out," Rofen said.
 
"After that I'll send the Inquisitor around."

"Right."
 
Maureen stood fighting off the overwhelming urge to cry.
 
No
, she thought to herself,
this is what you wanted.
 
Don't be scared
.
 
"I'll be off then."

Rofen didn't look up from the pile of paperwork that now held his interest.
 
"Shut the door on your way out," he said without as much as a glance.

Maureen tried to remain composed on the walk back to her gateway.
 
No-one guided her, and for a second she thought she could slip off right now.
 
But she needed to get some things first, plus the cats would be missing her dreadfully.
 

She made it to a lone corridor before the first tear appeared. By the time she was at the cloister, she was openly sobbing.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE - A Hero’s Welcome

By the time Darwin, Cassidy and D'Toeni found the minibus, it was long past dusk.
 
They'd taken some time to try and find something solid enough to hook through a loop on the hatch, ensuring that if North or Magellan did somehow manage to climb up, they'd find the exit blocked.

From there they had to find their way back to the Minibus.
 
The mental reminders Darwin had made on the way in had either been forgotten or looked different in the dark.
 
Consequently there were many instances of following animal tracks only to turn around when Darwin felt "this was the wrong way."

"Ingenious," mocked D'Toeni.
 
"The last place they'd look for us is twenty feet from the hatch."

Darwin ignored him.

Cassidy was still upset, though for the most part, she kept the tears to herself, and then when she didn't, it was little more than a sniff.
 
It's no use asking her anything right now
, Darwin thought.

Which meant it was down to him to get them out the wood.
 
This resulted in finding a boundary fence, and then following it round, bushwhacking where needed to find the spot they could climb through.
 
Evidently there were two or more of these, as when they emerged from the wood, they could see no sign of the earlier sheep.

"Well this will go down in the annuals of vampire history as one of the best rescues ever," D'Toeni quipped.

By this time, Darwin was getting a little fed up with D'Toeni's constant sniping.

"Seriously," he told the vampire, "use those big vampire eyes of yours to look for a minibus or some sheep, or anything."

It was Cassidy who spotted the sheep field in the end after they had decided to walk out to the road and walk along it.
 
Even so, they were at least half a mile away.
 
That final walk under moonlight was done in silence, Darwin steeling himself for a comment from D'Toeni.

"You got the keys?"
 
Darwin asked Cassidy.
 
The way this day was going, he wouldn't be surprised if they were laying down in the tunnel somewhere.
 
So it was no small relief, when Cassidy reached into her pockets and pulled them out, jangling them in front of him.

The drive back was sombre and long.
 
Darwin insisted they stay off the motorways and kept to back roads.
 
That would make it easier to know if they were being followed.
 
He found an old AA Map book under a seat and did his best to give Cassidy directions.

D'Toeni huffed.
 
"You realise that if they decide to head us off, by the time we get there, I may actually be the last vampire, left."

"Shut up, D'Toeni," Darwin told him.
 
There was truth to the vampire's words though.
 
What if the aliens knew where they were all gathering?
 
What if they'd headed there after they'd locked the hatch?

He still wasn't sure why he'd brought D'Toeni along.
 
After all, he was the person responsible for his face looking like it did.
 
One of the vampire traits he'd been blessed with was accelerated healing, but that didn't change the fact that he felt like shit.
 
He started pulling at a scab.

"Don't pick at it," Cassidy told him, the first thing she'd muttered other than grunts for a couple of hours.

"How you doing?"
 
Darwin asked.

She looked over the tops of her glasses at him. "How do you think I'm doing?"

"You know, those feelings... they're not yours.
 
They're just leftovers."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better, is it?"
 
There was an iciness to her voice that Darwin had never heard before.

"No but... I didn't mean..."

She said nothing, ignored him to focus on her driving.

Can't do right, can't do wrong
, Darwin thought.
 
If he acted human, he had the likes of D'Toeni mocking him and his compassion, but if he wanted to feed, he had Cassidy moaning that he had to eat rats.
 
He was in no mood to start an argument, he'd had enough drama in the last few days without adding to it, but he did wonder if it was impossible to make either side truly happy.
 
Never mind I rescued you from the tentacles, never mind that I grabbed the notebook, or grabbed your hand when you were going to be pulled back down into the tunnel, or gave you a second chance when you don't deserve one.
 
Don't bother to even thank me
.