Faerie Lord

Twenty-Eight

‘What are you doing here?’ Blue demanded sharply.

‘Nice to see you too,’ Pyrgus told her, and grinned.

But Blue was in no mood to be charmed. She couldn’t believe what Madame Cardui had done, let alone understand it. Henry might be in a hundred sorts of danger, might be injured, might be dead. She had no idea at all what she should do. And Pyrgus picked this very moment to turn up, against everything she’d told him to do – dammit, against everything she’d ordered him to do. The awful thing was he looked so much like their father. She had to keep reminding herself and reminding herself and it was so difficult to be firm. She gritted her teeth. ‘You know you shouldn’t be here!’ she hissed at him fiercely. ‘You know you’re ill! You know it isn’t safe for you to leave the Analogue World!’

He did that thing with his ear that their father used to do. ‘The situation’s changed, Blue,’ he told her soberly.

They were in the Portal Chapel. Blue was going nowhere, but needed desperately to talk to Chief Portal Engineer Peacock, who was not here, could you believe it? Pyrgus had just stepped out of the blue fire, with Nymph behind him. ‘Changed?’ Blue said quickly. Something leaped inside her. Had somebody found a cure?

Pyrgus said, ‘Henry needs me.’

Blue blinked at him. ‘Henry…’ She didn’t know where to begin to tell him what had happened. Eventually she said, ‘Henry’s not here.’

‘I know,’ Pyrgus said.

It was too much. ‘How do you know? How could you know – it’s only just happened! You’ve only just arrived!’ She looked at Nymph, who was hovering silently in the background. ‘What’s going on, Nymph?’

When Nymph said nothing, Blue swung back to Pyrgus. ‘I can’t believe how old you look. You can’t risk another bout of fever.’

‘I don’t feel any different,’ Pyrgus said annoyingly. ‘I feel exactly the same inside.’

There were portal priests gathered in a small, nervous huddle a discreet distance away, pretending not to listen. ‘Bring me Engineer Peacock!’ Blue shouted at them. ‘Find him and bring him here at once!’ The group broke apart as priests scuttled in various directions. To Pyrgus, she snapped, ‘I don’t care how you feel. We’ve had this conversation and I ordered you to stay in the Analogue World and -’

‘And you’re Queen,’ Pyrgus finished, I know. I know.’ He put his arm around her shoulder (the way their father used to do, dammit!) ‘I’m not just trying to be difficult. I have to be here for Henry.’

Blue leaned towards him. ‘Henry isn’t here!’ she hissed angrily. ‘Madame Cardui used a transport spell on him!’

‘I know,’ Pyrgus said infuriatingly.