Destroyer of Worlds

5

In the ringing corridors of the palace, a woman staggers, blood streaming from a gash on her temple. Her name is Marie, a scullery girl in a large London house during the Regency period of George IV; ignored by those who believed themselves to be her betters, she gained renown as a brave Sister of Dragons. Here, though, she is disoriented, terrified; the world has shifted beneath her feet.

As Mallory and Decebalus come down from the roof, engaged in deep debate about tactics, she comes to a halt, wide-eyed. Seeing her wound, Mallory and Decebalus rush to her aid, but she only shrieks and presses against the stone wall as if hoping it might swallow her.

An accusing finger points at Mallory. 'Stay back!' she says, and then to Decebalus, 'He tried to kill me!'

'When?' the barbarian asks.

'Not five minutes ago, during the attack.'

'Impossible. Mallory was at my side then, up on the roof.'

Marie wavers, her eyes flashing from side to side. 'He tried to kill me, I tell you!'

Decebalus motions for Mallory to step back as he attends to the young woman. 'This is not the truth, Marie. Either you are mistaken, or it is some kind of magic.'

'Magic, then!' She stares at Mallory accusingly. 'His face, Decebalus. He came at me as the fire rained down, in the dark of the upper floors. Instinct made me turn at the last. Good fortune was all I had, but it was enough. I did not see his weapon, but I felt it as it tore through my flesh. I did see his face.' She points again. 'And I ran… here-'

'Think, Marie,' Decebalus says sharply. 'You ran into us — Mallory was not pursuing you. He was ahead.'

The woman wavers, tries to make sense. 'Then who…?'

'The one who's already killed two Brothers and Sisters of Dragons,' Mallory says. 'The Enemy's sent an assassin to pick us off one by one.'

'If it uses your face, then it attempts to undermine our spirit,' Decebalus says gravely. 'If it can use any face, then who can we trust?'

Troubled, Mallory and Decebalus deliver Marie to a healer and then seek out comfort and the sun in the herb garden, which lies beyond a maze of lavender in a walled area at the rear of the palace. The air is heavy with rich perfumes. Decebalus and Mallory find Aula tending her herbs, as she does at that time every day. At first Mallory does not recognise her. Her blond hair shimmering in the sun, the Roman Briton's face is strikingly peaceful as she immerses herself in the garden's atmosphere, a far cry from the fierce looks that usually accompany her caustic tones. Her mask returns when she sees them both.

'So little to do you must trouble me here?' she says tartly. 'No wonder we face disaster.'

'Your day would be bereft without a visit from the one who gives your life meaning,' Decebalus replies with a broad grin.

Aula snorts unconvincingly then turns to Mallory. 'She plays in the maze,' she says.

Past clouds of honeybees, Mallory weaves through the heavily scented bushes and eventually sees the top of a young girl's head in the centre of the maze. Virginia Dare never smiles. Occasionally, a heartbreaking, haunted look will appear in the depths of her eyes. In that moment it is possible to comprehend the many atrocities she has witnessed since the Army of the Ten Billion Spiders kidnapped her and her fellow settlers from Roanoke in the New World almost five hundred years ago. She has spent her formative years in the heart of horrors, the Void's Fortress on the edge of the Far Lands, until her escape. Though only eight years old, her eyes say she is a hundred.

'Is it time?' She cradles a doll made for her by one of the kitchen staff who had hoped it would bring back some aspect of childhood.

'Not yet. But soon. I need to ask you if you are prepared to do it.'

'You have asked me twice already.'

'Now I'm asking you a third time.'

'Yes,' she says without hesitation. 'I will travel with you to the Enemy Fortress, and show you the secret way I discovered under the walls.'

'You know what it will mean?'

'You want to protect me, Mallory,' she replies in too-old tones, 'but it is too late for that. I am ruined.'

Mallory cannot look in her face; it makes him too desperately sad.

'She'll be fine.'

Frequently, these days, he never hears Caitlin come up on him. She stands at the entrance to the maze's central rest zone, still slick with sweat, holding her axe loosely. Mallory searches her eyes to see who is in control this time. He doesn't know why he tries, for even when he sees the bright innocence of Amy, there is always the dark of the Morrigan just behind.

'It's me, Mallory. Caitlin. The one, the only, the original.' She smiles, kisses him on the cheek.

Virginia hugs Caitlin tightly, the first time she has looked like a little girl. 'Have you come to play with me?'

'I said I would, didn't I?'

With a whisper of desperate thanks, Virginia buries her face in Caitlin's midriff. 'No hide and seek,' she says. 'I don't like that.'

When Virginia has raced away to fetch a board game from her room, Mallory observes, 'She likes you.'

'We have an understanding.'

'I still don't want to take her to that place.'

'She's tougher than you think, Mallory. When it comes down to it, we all are.'

He watches the bees, and the clouds scudding across the blue sky. 'Do you think it's enough?' he enquires. 'Wanting to do the right thing?'

'No, it's not enough,' she replies. 'But we do it anyway.'