Word of Honour (38 page)

'Precarious. Unstable. Fragile.' He sighed. 'No change,
in other words.'

'And what are you doing about it?'

Aubrey would have appreciated some sympathy, but
Caroline's matter-of-fact confidence that he would have
matters in hand – or at least have some sort of plan – was
oddly cheering. 'Well, the Rashid Stone and the Roman
fragment look promising. I'm hoping that when
Professor Mansfield gets back we can really start to crack
that ancient script. It might hold some clues.'

'Or it might not.'

Aubrey glanced sharply at her, but she touched him on
the arm. 'I don't mean to be harsh. But your state is too
serious not to have an alternative plan, just in case your
first is fruitless.'

'I'm in the right place for research. An answer could be
waiting for me in a book, on a parchment, something.

I just have to find it.'

'If it's there at all,' Caroline said and once again she
touched his arm to remove the sting from her words.

Aubrey didn't mind. The balm was worth the hurt.

'Or there is Dr Tremaine,' Aubrey said cautiously.

'He might know something.'

Caroline's face set hard. They walked in silence past
the red brick of the Music Faculty and turned a corner
toward the centre of town.

'Then you want to find Tremaine as much as I do,' she
said eventually.

'Oh yes. As well as his knowledge, there is a matter of
the Brayshire Ruby. I haven't told Father yet . . .'

'As you thought you'd get it back before he noticed it
was gone.'

'Yes.' Aubrey shrugged. 'He's dangerous, Tremaine.'

'Which is why he should be found.'

'And brought to justice.'

'Anything to stop him.'

Aubrey bought ice-cream for them from a roadside
vendor, even though he wasn't hungry. It dripped, and
he imagined someone following his vanilla trail along
the street.

He hadn't yet made a fool of himself so, according to
precedent, he was about to. Rather than leave it to
happen haphazardly, he decided to take matters into his
own hands. 'And what about us, then?'

Caroline's face clouded. 'I don't know.'

'That's unusual. You're usually quite certain about
things.'

'Yes. It's important to be certain.'

She finished her ice-cream, thoughtfully. To Aubrey,
she looked unbearably sweet and impossible. At that
moment, with her as perfectly charming, wise, fascinating
and lovely as she was, he realised how things were,
and how things had to be.

He cleared his throat and gave the last of his ice-cream
to a hungry-looking dog that was waiting outside a pub.

'I was thinking that things were going well,' he said, every
word a stab in his heart. 'I mean, going well as they are.

I enjoy your company, and you're more than handy,
adventure-wise. Vital, even, when it comes to saving
the country. Not that anyone would know because our
exploits are secret. But there you have it.'

What have I done
? he thought, but he knew. He'd made
sure that any hopes he'd had were dashed.

'Babbling, Aubrey,' she said. This time she glanced at
him. 'And babbling very kindly.' It was her time to clear
her throat. Aubrey had enough perspicacity to look away
when she touched the corner of her eyes with a knuckle.

'I won't be so ungrateful, so gauche as to contradict you,
dear Aubrey. So I'll agree. Yes, I think things have been
going well between us.'

'Perfectly manageable,' his traitor mouth said as they
walked side by side, not looking at each other.

'Perfectly manageable,' she repeated softly.

A
UBREY AND
C
AROLINE WANDERED BACK TO THE GALLERY
through an evening that was warm and drowsy.
Honeysuckle scented the air.

George dashed down the gallery stairs, towing Sophie
and waving a newspaper. 'Look! I'm in
Luna
!'

He thrust it in front of Aubrey and Caroline.
Submersibles. Stage magic. Underground tunnels. Traitors.
Exploding thunderclouds.

'I don't remember any bronze giants,' Aubrey said.

'Nor armies of giant sloths,' Caroline added.

George beamed. 'I had to fiddle with the details a
little.'

'A little? What's this about a hot air balloon in an
underground chamber?'

'License, license.' George waved a hand. 'It's the sort of
thing my readers love. Brave John Hope, useful Arthur
St Clair and the lovely Charlotte Henderson. The
Adventurers Three.'

Caroline raised an eyebrow. 'Lovely Charlotte
Henderson?'

Aubrey opened and closed his mouth a few times.
'
Useful
Arthur St Clair?'

'Imagination is a wonderful tool, isn't it?'

'But it's not true.'

'Fiction isn't meant to be true.' George grinned at their
expressions. 'Since all this is secret, I had to say it was all
made up. They loved it.'

Aubrey, Caroline and Sophie laughed. George looked
offended for a moment, but couldn't keep it up. He
joined in, until people looked out of windows to
see what all the jollity was about.

Michael Pryor has published more than a dozen fantasy
books and over forty short stories, from literary fiction
to science fiction to slapstick humour. Michael has
been shortlisted six times for the Aurealis Awards,
has been nominated for a Ditmar Award, and three of his
books have been Children's Book Council of Australia
Notable Books. Michael co-created (with Paul Collins)
the highly successful Quentaris Chronicles. He is currently
writing
Time of Trial: The Fourth Volume of The Laws
of Magic
, as well as further books in the Chronicles of
Krangor series.

For more information about Michael and his books,
visit www.michaelpryor.com.au
.

And visit
www.HouseofLegends.com.au
for news
about upcoming books, plus competitions, book trailers,
and an exclusive Laws of Magic short story!