The Purple Emperor

CHAPTER NINE

Gatekeeper Fogarty didn't come back in the morning.

Blue found Pyrgus pacing angrily outside the Gatekeeper's lodge. 'Where is he?' he demanded the moment he saw her.

'How should I know?' Blue asked shortly. 'You're the one he talked to. When did he say he would be back?'

'Dawn,' Pyrgus grunted. 'That was hours ago.' There were dark rings under his eyes as if he'd been up all night. Blue wondered if he hadn't slept – he certainly hadn't gone to bed that late.

'Maybe his valet or his housekeeper might know something,' Blue suggested.

'He doesn't have a valet or a housekeeper,' Pyrgus said crossly. 'He doesn't have any servants at all. Won't trust anybody with him in his lodge. You know what he's like. I can't even get in with the Emperor's master key – he's done something to the locks.'

The Gatekeeper's lodge was a tight conglomeration of tiny towers and spires within sight of the Purple Palace, but quite separate from it. It was set in formal gardens against the backdrop of the island forest where their father Apatura Iris, the last Purple Emperor, had once enjoyed hunting boar. Pyrgus stared thoughtfully towards that forest now.

Blue said, 'Perhaps his personal business took him longer than he expected.'

Pyrgus said abruptly, 'Madame Cardui – what exactly did she say to you?'

Frowning, Blue said, 'That there was a plot to kill a member of the royal family.'

'Royal family or royal household?'

Blue hesitated. After a moment she said, 'Household.'

'Are you sure?'

Blue nodded. 'Yes. You're right – she said household. I'm certain.'

Pyrgus dragged his eyes away from the forest. 'You see, if it's royal family, that means you and me and Comma and – well, you know: limited options. But if it's royal household, that includes the noble families in service and dignitaries like Mr Fogarty.'

'I know,' Blue said soberly. She stared at Pyrgus. 'You don't really think -'

She stopped. There was a priest running towards them from the direction of the palace. Running priests spelled trouble, as she knew from long experience. From the corner of her eye she saw small movements in the bushes near the forest's edge – Pyrgus had remembered the heightened security alert all right – but the hidden guards must have recognised the priest since they did not emerge.

Blue recognised him herself now. His name was Thorn, a member of the Dentaria, the Realm's most ancient Funereal Order. He was in charge of the vigil on the body of her father and would pray daily for the late Emperor's soul until Pyrgus was crowned. To her astonishment, he flung himself to his knees before Pyrgus and herself.

Thorn was not a young man and it was a moment before he caught his breath. 'Majesty,' he gasped finally, 'Serene Highness, your father – your father – the Emperor, your father – Majesty, your father's body has disappeared.'