Faerie Lord

Thirty-Seven

‘You can’t come with me,’ Pyrgus hissed. ‘You can’t! You can’t!’

‘Where are you going?’ Blue hissed back fiercely.

‘I can’t tell you,’ Pyrgus wailed.

‘ Why can’t you tell me?’ Blue demanded.

‘Because it mightn’t work out right if I do,’ said Pyrgus desperately.

Blue was on it like a mosquito. She stared at Pyrgus soberly. ‘What mightn’t work out right?’ she asked. Then, before he could answer, she said, ‘Look, Pyrgus, don’t you think it’s time you told me what’s going on? I don’t care if you don’t want to. I don’t care if you think you shouldn’t for some stupid reason. Because let me tell you this: if you don’t tell me now – tell me everything – about Henry and where he is and why Madame Cardui did what she did and what you’re up to and how it is that I’m the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on – ’ She drew in a shuddering breath. ‘If you don’t tell me all of it, right now, Pyrgus, you aren’t going anywhere!’

She was only his little sister. ‘Like you’re going to stop me!’ he snapped back. The minute he spoke, he realised it was a mistake.

Blue smiled. ‘Oh, I can stop you all right,’ she said sweetly. ‘You always forget you made me Queen because you were too chicken to be Emperor -’

‘I wasn’t too – ’ Pyrgus shouted, outraged.

But Blue was in full swing. ‘And as Queen,’ she said firmly, ‘I can call the guards and have you put in jail. Or I can trigger the Palace securities so any flyer that takes off is blown out of the sky.’

‘That won’t do you any good,’ Pyrgus told her furiously, ‘I can take off before the guards get here and the Palace securities won’t blow this flyer out of the sky because you’ll be on board – ’ he made a sarcastic mimic of a high-pitched voice ’ – and you’re Queen.’

Blue tilted her head upwards and continued calmly. ‘But the real reason I can stop you, the real reason this flyer will not take off until you tell me… is this!’ She opened one slim hand. An obsidian disc the size of a seven-groat piece was nestling in her palm. It writhed and sparkled with spell charges.

Pyrgus’s jaw dropped. ‘That’s the flyer’s power-pack! How did you get it out?’

Blue glared at him fiercely, ‘I came here with a wrench!’

‘Give it here!’ Pyrgus shouted.

Blue’s jaw jutted. ‘No!’ she shouted back.

He hurled himself at her and they wrestled on the floor. He tried to pin her down, but couldn’t. Despite his greater strength, it was like trying to hold an eel. Then she got a hand free and tickled him so he had to hug her arms to make her stop. And after that they rolled about a little more, giggling.

‘We haven’t done that since we were children,’ Blue said as he relaxed his grip.

‘No, we haven’t,’ Pyrgus said a little breathlessly. He smiled down at her.

‘It was like wrestling with Daddy,’ Blue said. ‘You look just like him now.’

For some reason, it sobered them both and they climbed back to their feet. Blue said, ‘I’m worried about your time fever thing.’

‘I know,’ Pyrgus said. He dusted himself down, it’s not fair. I know it’s not fair. Look, I’ll tell you as much as I can – as much as I know. If I do that, will you give me back the power-pack?’

‘Yes,’ Blue said.

‘And will you let me get on with things without interfering anymore?’

‘It depends what you tell me,’ Blue said in the sort of tone that promised nothing.

‘All right,’ Pyrgus said. ‘That’s fair enough. When you know what’s going on, you’ll know how important it is that we do things my way.’

Then he told her.