The Purple Emperor

CHAPTER EIGHTY EIGHT

It was incredible. There were Forest Faerie everywhere, swarming in the branches, squeezing in endless files of two or three from the boles of the larger trees. You could hear the tramp of their feet on the overhead roadways.

There were hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands, ranging across the forest floor, arranging themselves rank on rank in clearings. All of them were armed: with bows, with javelins, with swords, with their ubiquitous, lethal little elf-bolts and, to Fogarty's great surprise, with ice cannon, disruptors, stone crackers and other heavy magical ordnance he didn't even recognise. It reminded him of the milling crowds at Dunkirk, except the faerie were less noisy. All the same, there was a steady hum throughout the forest, like a giant hive of bees.

'She did this because I told her I had a feeling about Pyrgus,' Fogarty whispered, bemused. There was an army massing in the forest, one big enough to overthrow a kingdom. If these people ever decided to leave their beloved forest, no throne would be safe.

'Don't flatter yourself, my deeah,' said Madame Cardui kindly. 'Queen Cleo has been teetering on the brink of attacking Hairstreak for weeks now. The only thing that's really held her back was the old worry about attracting attention. I expect she hoped Pyrgus might sort things out without any major forest involvement, but she never had much faith in the commando raid. All you did was tip the balance – it would never have taken much. I'm surprised she's held back so long.'

'I'm not,' Fogarty sniffed. 'Her trees are safe unless the Hael portals open again. That may never happen.'

'Oh, it's not just demons that worry her, Alan, whatever she said. She was never happy about Hairstreak building in the forest. He simply commandeered land and cut down trees. She was afraid it might start a fashion – others seizing land and building. She asked my advice about it at the time.'

'What advice did you give her?' Fogarty asked curiously.

'To wait and see.'

Fogarty stared at the massing troops. 'Looks like she got tired of waiting.'