Faerie Lord

Seventy-Two

Blue came to a decision, ‘I’m going in,’ she said.

It occurred to her that she’d been caught up in a myth. She’d cast herself (or perhaps the Purlisa had subtly cast her) as a heroic figure off to slay the monster. Or else, she realised, as a tragic figure about to be captured by the monster. Until now, she’d never thought of looking beyond the two great mythic roles: conquering hero or captive princess. But the fact was she didn’t have to accept either of these roles. There was a third way. She could creep into the cavern, avoid the serpent if there really was a serpent and find out whether Henry was inside. If he wasn’t, she could then creep out again. If he was, she’d try to figure out a way to rescue him, preferably one that didn’t involve her slaying a great monster.

‘I’ll come with you,’ said the charno.

‘No need,’ Blue said. The charno might be working on the orders of the Abbot for all she knew. But it didn’t matter. Now she’d stopped thinking the way they wanted her to think, she was back in control.

‘Who’ll carry the hammer?’

The hammer was a joke. The only weapon that could kill the Midgard Serpent according to the Purlisa and it was too heavy for her to carry. So why had they bothered to send it? They must have known it was something she could never use.

‘The hammer doesn’t matter,’ Blue said.

She expected an argument, but the charno said nothing, simply watched her with his great brown eyes. Despite her suspicions, she felt sorry for him. Even if he was a creature of the Abbot and Purlisa, he was only doing his job.

‘You can go home now,’ she said. ‘I’ll be all right on my own.’

‘I’ll wait,’ said the charno. ‘I can carry you back afterwards. You and Henry.’

She had a sudden ridiculous picture of herself clinging to the back of this giant hare as it plodded through the wasteland. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how it would carry Henry as well. The charno was a pack animal, pure and simple, totally unsuited to carrying a passenger. Unless – despite everything she had to suppress a smile – he put them both in his backpack.

Blue shrugged. ‘As you wish.’ She turned and walked with great deliberation towards the entrance of the cavern.

‘Wait!’

She sighed and turned again. ‘What is it now?’ she asked the charno.

‘That wasn’t me,’ the charno said.

Blue started violently as something moved behind the charno. The man was so dusty, battered, tattered and thin that for a moment she failed to recognise him. There was dried blood on his face. ‘Chalkhill?’ Blue gasped. What on earth was Chalkhill doing here? She narrowed her eyes. Was it really Chalkhill?

Chalkhill took a step forward, then sat down abruptly on the ground. ‘Sorry,’ he murmured. Then, more loudly, ‘Forgive me. Your Majesty.’

Blue stared, completely at a loss. Chalkhill was an old enemy – he’d once tried to kill her and his involvement in various plots against the Realm was well known – but she’d heard nothing of him for more than a year. Now here he was in the Buthner wilderness, halfway up the Mountains of Madness, beside the entrance to a cavern that supposedly contained the Midgard Serpent. This could not be a coincidence, But for the life of her she could not imagine what it meant.

It was the charno who made the next move. ‘Water?’ he asked, handing Chalkhill a flask from his backpack.

Chalkhill drank greedily and the water seemed to revive him. He struggled to his feet. ‘Excuse my appearance,’ he said, still with difficulty, as if his appearance made any difference about anything. ‘But you must not go in there.’

Blue found her voice, if only just. ‘Really?’ she said coldly. She half turned back towards the cavern entrance.

‘You don’t know what’s in there!’ Chalkhill shouted in something close to panic.

The last time she faced Chalkhill directly, she’d had a company of Palace commandoes at her back. She doubted she would need them now. Chalkhill looked as weak as a kitten. In truth he looked half dead. She opened her mouth to reply, then shut it again. Brimstone in the cage at the monastery! Chalkhill and Brimstone, the two old partners! They’d been working together again. They had to be. And now Brimstone was mad.

‘The Midgard Serpent?’ Blue asked innocently, staring directly at Chalkhill.

Chalkhill’s mouth dropped open. ‘How did you know?’

This was getting her nowhere. Or perhaps it was getting her somewhere, but she just didn’t know how. What did it matter if Chalkhill and Brimstone were up to their old tricks? What did it matter whether or not she could trust the Purlisa? What did it even matter if they were all telling the truth and there really was some sort of monster in there? The only thing that mattered was Henry. She made another move towards the entrance.

‘Please…’ Chalkhill said.

Something in his voice stopped her short. She looked at him again. ‘Why don’t you want me to go in there?’

‘You’ll be killed,’ Chalkhill whispered.

‘Why would you care?’ Blue asked him coldly.

‘I’m working for Madame Cardui,’ said Chalkhill.

It was so utterly outlandish that it might actually be true. Blue felt her own jaw drop and quickly closed her mouth. Chalkhill was tricky enough without letting him see he’d surprised her. She needed time to think. Madame Cardui had never mentioned Chalkhill, but that was completely in character. As the Realm’s Spy-master she engaged in all sorts of activities she told no one about. Not even her Queen. Sometimes, Blue had long noted, especially not her Queen. And Chalkhill had a background in espionage. He’d spied for Lord Hairstreak. Dammit, he was Lord Hairstreak’s Spymaster in the bad old days when her uncle was a real threat to the Realm. So it could be that Chalkhill was now working for Madame Cardui. He wouldn’t be the first of Hairstreak’s agents she’d turned for her own advantage. The question was, in what capacity?

‘She asked you to look out for me?’ Blue ventured, frowning. It was by way of a testing question. If Chalkhill was lying – and Blue very much suspected he might bethen he would seize the suggestion, unaware that until just days ago, Madame Cardui had accompanied Blue personally and only left her due to a wholly unexpected development. In such circumstances, Madame Cynthia would never have allocated an agent to follow Blue.

But Chalkhill shook his head. ‘She asked me to spy on Silas Brimstone.’

That made sense, some sort of sense at least. As an old partner, Chalkhill would be a logical choice to spy on Brimstone. So Chalkhill might be telling the truth. Time to push him. ‘Was it Brimstone who called up the serpent in this cave?’

‘Yes.’

Which was what the Purlisa claimed. ‘That’s what the Purlisa said,’ Blue murmured, echoing her thought.

‘Who?’ asked Chalkhill.

The question sounded genuine, which meant he didn’t know the Purlisa. Or the Abbot presumably. Blue said, ‘Why?’

‘Why what?’

‘Why did Brimstone call up the serpent?’

‘I don’t know,’ Chalkhill said. ‘But if you go in there, you’re dead. I only just managed to escape.’

He was lying about something. Blue was sure of it. But what? ‘You were in the cavern?’

‘When he called it up? Yes. It was the most frightening thing I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t go in there without an army backing me and even then I’d think twice.’ He looked at her pleadingly, as if willing her to stay out of the cavern.

Blue said, ‘Is Henry in there?’

Chalkhill blinked. ‘Henry?’ He shook his head. ‘No…’ She could almost hear him thinking, Who’s Henry? as if Henry was the last thing on his mind.

This time he sounded genuine, but she was far from sure. All the same, if Henry wasn’t in the cave, there was no need for her to face the serpent. (If there was a serpent.) There was no need for her to go in there at all.

Which was what Chalkhill wanted.

How could you trust Chalkhill? The man was a toad and always had been. Why would he want her to stay out of the cave? The idea that he was concerned about her safety was nonsense, even if he was working for Madame Cardui.

Blue decided to stop speculating and concentrate on simple facts.

Fact one: she had no idea whether Henry was in the cave or not.

Fact two: the Purlisa and his Abbot both wanted her to go into the cave.

Fact three: Chalkhill clearly didn’t.

She looked at the charno, but couldn’t think of any facts about him, except he had big feet.

Blue turned on her heel, ‘I’m going in,’ she said a second time.