Faerie Wars

Twenty-one

'Did it hurt?' Blue asked curiously. 'The card-in-the-head thing?'

'Not exactly,' Kitterick said. Madame Cardui had insisted he come along with Blue as protection. 'But it makes you feel peculiar.'

'How does she do it? Some sort of spell?'

'Oh no, Serene Highness – I've got a slot.' He parted his hair and bent over so Blue could see. There was a metal-lined slot let into his skull. 'The information is coded on the cards – they're made to look like an ordinary deck so no one will suspect. All I do is read it off them. It requires a little training, but that's mainly so you don't fall over when you have a card in your head.'

'Good grief,' Blue said.

They were walking together in Cheapside, an area of the city Blue hadn't visited before and wasn't sure she wanted to visit again. They made an odd-looking couple. She was still disguised as a boy and Kitterick, with his bright-orange skin and clothing, scarcely came up to her shoulder. Although he was stocky, he seemed far too small to be much of a bodyguard, but Madame Cardui had assured her he was extremely toxic. One bite from Kitterick was usually enough to fell a carthorse, although it might take a little time.

It was very late now, yet Cheapside was just as thronged as Northgate, although Blue suspected the people here were in search of far less innocent pleasures than a trip to the theatre, or even a chaos-horn cafe. The whole area had the rough look of a mugger's paradise. She was pleased she was not on her own, even though Kitterick attracted too much attention for comfort.

'Nearly there,' he said. He pointed. 'That's it.'

He was talking about Seething Lane where Madame Cardui had said Chalkhill and Brimstone had their glue factory. It would be shut at this hour, of course, but the Painted Lady had given her the private addresses of both Jasper Chalkhill and Silas Brimstone. Chalkhill had an estate in Wildmoor Broads somewhere beyond the factory. Brimstone lived even closer. He had rooms in Seething Lane. Blue looked where Kitterick was pointing and saw a narrow, gloomy entrance flanked on one side by a tattoo parlour and on the other by a barber shop, both shut. It looked like the last place in the realm anybody would ever want to go. How on earth had Pyrgus got himself mixed up with these people?

Close up, Seething Lane was even less appealing. It oozed a smell that made her stomach turn. The thoroughfare was narrow and partly cobbled, so poorly served by street lights that substantial stretches were positively dark. Anybody could lurk in the shadows down there, waiting to pounce on the unwary.

As if reading her thoughts, Kitterick produced a flaming torch from his pocket and held it aloft. 'I think it best if I go first, Serenity,' he said quietly. Blue agreed. Even so, she fingered her concealed dagger nervously as she followed him.

The lane was empty of people and, once away from the main Cheapside road, their footsteps echoed eerily on the cobbles. The smell was even stronger here, but she fought down the urge to throw up. After a moment Kitterick said, This is it.' He held up the torch so that its light danced on the number branded into the narrow doorway. 'Eighty-seven. Mr Brimstone's apartments.'

The lane itself was flanked by ancient terraces, some of them with overhanging balconies. Brimstone's place was part of this, but wasn't a complete house. It was difficult to judge in the gloom, but it seemed to be squeezed between two other buildings, as if slipped in as an afterthought to take up unused space. It rose above them for three narrow storeys, none of them showing a single light.

'Looks like no one's at home,' Blue murmured.

'Shall I ascertain if that is indeed the case, Serenity?'

Blue thought for a moment, then nodded. She was in no hurry to meet either Chalkhill or Brimstone. Her plan, insofar as she had one, was to search for evidence of their attempt on her brother's life. Once she had that, she could act. She was prepared to talk to either of these men if she had to, but if Brimstone was not at home, it could be the perfect opportunity to do a little poking around. She wondered if he used security spells.

'Perhaps, Serenity, it would be a good idea if you were to stay out of sight for the moment. The place certainly seems empty, but one can never be certain and we may not wish Mr Brimstone to realise there is royal interest in him just yet.'

She very much doubted Brimstone would see through her disguise, but Kitterick was right. At this stage of the game it might be better not to take the chance. She nodded again and slipped back into the shadows. At once Kitterick set up a thunderous knocking on the door.

After a moment somebody flung open an upstairs window in one of the neighbouring houses and an angry head poked out. 'Stop that racket, you ugly little orange git, or I'll come down there and do you something grievous!'

'I have a delivery for Mr Brimstone,' said Kitterick, not at all put out.

'At this hour? What sort of cretin are you?'

'Special delivery. Something for his glue.'

'Then deliver it to the factory, you cross-eyed imbecile! Don't come round here disturbing people's sleep.'

'I fear, sir, the factory is shut. I thought it best to see Mr Brimstone.'

'Well, Mr Brimstone ain't at home, you bilge-rat. Take yourself on. Go on, piss off!'

'Will Mr Brimstone be home later?' Kitterick asked.

'Later? Later? How should I know if he'll be home later? Do I look like his nanny?'

'No, sir. Thank you, sir. I shall be on my way now. Sorry to disturb you, sir.' Kitterick made a great play of walking up the lane, but returned as soon as the head disappeared. 'Empty house, Serenity. I take it we shall be breaking in?'

'Oh yes,' Blue said. 'We shall indeed.'

Brimstone was security conscious all right. His front door looked as if a baby should be able to blow it down, but it resisted Blue's pickspell and, fifteen minutes into an assault by Kitterick's nimble fingers, it still wasn't open.

'I've never seen locks quite like this before,' Kitterick muttered. 'They're interlinked. Somehow when you open one it makes another close. Very simple idea, but I can't seem to get round it.' He straightened up and turned to Holly Blue. 'I wonder, Serenity, how you would react to a more muscular approach?'

'What are you thinking of?' Blue asked cautiously.

'I was thinking of a stick of dynamite,' Kitterick said. 'I happen to have one about my person.'

Blue frowned. 'Won't the noise attract attention?'

'Not if we use it in conjunction with a silence spell. If there is a drawback it's that we'll leave a gaping hole where the door used to be; and probably part of the wall as well. In other words, if Mr Brimstone does return, he will know at once there's been a break-in.' He hesitated. 'I don't think it will bring the whole house down.' He blinked. 'No, I'm sure it won't – these old places were sturdily built.'

'Do it,' Blue told him.

Kitterick produced a terrifyingly fat dynamite stick from a trouser pocket and lit the trailing wick. With the fuse burning down at a furious rate, he tucked it in against the door, then stood patting his pockets. 'Where did I put that silence spell…?'

Blue watched the sparkling flame race closer to the dynamite. She licked her lips nervously. 'Mr Kitterick – '

'Ah, here it – no, that's not it.'

'Mr Kitterick, don't you think -?'

'Why is it things are never where you put them when you want them, Serenity? It may be we shall have to do without – No, I tell a lie: I've found it!' He drew a small cone from an inside pocket. 'What a relief that is.' He bent down and lit the cone off the fuse, which was now just inches from the dynamite. 'Hopefully our spell will detonate before the explosive.' He turned to Blue and smiled. 'Now, I would suggest we put a little distance between us and the door. If you'll permit me, Serenity -?' He took her arm and together they ran pell-mell down Seething Lane.

They had scarcely gone fifty yards when an immense fireball erupted out of the doorway behind them and an invisible hand slammed into Blue's back as a wave of sudden heat swept over her. She almost tripped, but held her balance, and turned in time to watch a shower of debris. But the silence spell had beaten the dynamite. Not so much as a tinkle reached her ears.

Kitterick grinned. 'Let's see what his fancy locks made of that!' he said.

They walked back to find Brimstone's door had completely disappeared, as had much of the street directly in front of it and parts of the houses on each side. In the gloom behind, they could see a narrow stairway leading upwards.

'I think it best if you stay here, Mr Kitterick,' Blue said. 'That way you can warn me if Brimstone does turn up.'

She hoped he wouldn't argue. If there was any incriminating evidence inside, she preferred to sort through it alone – heaven only knew what Pyrgus might have been up to. But in the event he only said, 'Excellent idea, Serenity. The explosion will have absorbed the spell, so I shall whistle if there's any trouble. I can produce a very piercing whistle when I put my mind to it.'

Blue believed him. She'd formed a high opinion of Kitterick. She climbed over the heap of rubble to find the lower stairs were broken, but she managed to pull herself up without much difficulty and the rest of the staircase seemed sound. It took her to a landing with two doors leading off. The first one she tried opened into a smelly loo, the second into what seemed to be a living room.

She hesitated for a moment, wondering what to do about lights, then decided to risk it. As Kitterick said, if Brimstone came back he'd know there was an intruder anyway – a few lights on upstairs wouldn't make much difference. All the same, she stumbled across the room and pulled the curtains before triggering the glowglobes.

The room was packed untidily with furniture so old that some of it was falling to bits. There was no carpet on the floor and, while a few rugs had been scattered on the wooden boards, they were faded, worn and threadbare. She could see where Brimstone sat when he was in this room. There was an ancient easy chair to one side of the empty fireplace, a couple of dirty cushions fighting the protruding springs. Beside it was a small table with an empty cocoa mug. On the other side of the fireplace was a scuttle with a few pathetic nuggets of coal. To the right was a small wicker basket of kindling. She could imagine the old man on winter nights huddled before a pitiable fire, warming mittened hands on a meagre cup of – Wait a minute. This wasn't adding up. Blue looked around. From the fly-blown glowglobes that didn't seem to give off nearly enough light, to the rubbish furnishings, the whole place reeked of poverty and decay. Yet Brimstone wasn't a poor man. He couldn't be – he owned a glue factory and had interests in several other businesses if Madame Cardui was to be believed. So why would a man of means decide to live like a pauper? Was Brimstone simply a miser? For some reason, Blue didn't think so. This had to be an illusion, maybe something set by Brimstone to protect against thieves. Anybody breaking in here would think at once there was nothing worth stealing. Very cunning.

She assumed the spell had been triggered by her opening the door, although there might have been a pressure pad on the landing outside. In any case the important thing was to find how to switch it off. Blue began, step by step, to examine everything in the room.

If she was right about this being an illusion, it was certainly a good one. Even close up, there was nothing that gave the slightest hint it might not be real. She reached what she thought of as Brimstone's chair and could smell it and touch it as well as see it. When she poked one of the filthy cushions, it gave off a little cloud of dust that made her cough. She was just beginning to wonder if she was wrong, if Brimstone really was a miser, when she reached a little portrait in a standing frame on top of a battered chest. The painting was of a thin old man, possibly Brimstone himself, staring out with a smug expression on his face. As Blue bent forward to examine it, the old man in the picture winked.

She was so startled she jerked back, but when nothing else happened, she bent forward again. The old man gave another wink. She shifted her head back and forward and discovered that, in a certain position, the portrait always seemed to wink. But why? You might attach a wink spell to a child's toy, but it was hardly the sort of novelty that would make anybody money in an adult portrait. So why had a wink spell been attached to this one? A growing suspicion almost made her smile.

Blue moved her head until the portrait winked at her, then winked back. At once there was the distinctive scent of an illusion breaking and the gloomy, fly-specked glowglobes flared into full, bright light. She straightened up and looked around. The room was transformed. The clutter of ancient furniture had disappeared to be replaced by a tasteful selection of stylish – and costly – antiques. The bare floorboards had given way to thick imported carpeting wall to wall. Brimstone's chair had turned into a modern recliner with an extendable tray for cocktails and cushions sculptured to the exact shape of his skinny bottom. But her attention was drawn at once to one of the antiques, a beautifully preserved roll-top desk.

She expected it to be locked, but Brimstone must have relied on his illusion spell for security since she opened it up easily. There were cubbyholes packed with papers, and more papers in the drawers. Blue ransacked them systematically, looking for anything that might provide a clue to what had happened to Pyrgus. Her hopes quickly faded. All the papers referred to Brimstone's business interests, most of them concerned with the Chalkhill and Brimstone company. To her surprise, the papers themselves seemed to be completely in order. There was not the slightest hint of underhand activities or shady deals. There wasn't even a suggestion of anything unethical, let alone illegal.

Blue made a cursory search of the rest of the room, then returned to the stairs. There were two doors on the second-floor landing as well. One led into a neat little kitchen. Since she was determined not to be caught twice by an illusion spell, she inspected it carefully, but after five minutes decided it was exactly what it seemed. She came out again, crossed the landing and opened the second door.

The demons were waiting for her on the other side.

She heard them before she saw them, a distinctive insect-like chittering underlaid with a click-clack of lobster claws. Then the glowglobes flared.

She had the impression of a library, but the place was infested. She saw at least five demons. They were the familiar greys – small and thin with large heads and enormous jet-black eyes. Four were male, one female. All dressed alike in one-piece silver jump-suits and thick-soled silver boots. Blue knew at once what they were – a grouping technically known as a Goblin Guard. You conjured them, then contracted them to guard whatever it was you wanted guarding. It cost you the occasional sacrifice, but they did their job. Goblin Guards were lethal.

Blue jerked her head round – everybody knew you mustn't look a demon in the eye – and slammed the door. It was a reflex action. She knew perfectly well it wouldn't do any good, yet it made her feel safer. But not for long. Within seconds, a beam of blue light penetrated from the inside of the door and the first of the demons slid out along it. Blue ran for the stairs.

She was back on the first landing before she realized the demons weren't following. She stopped, heart pounding, and looked back up the stairs. Nothing there. She caught her breath and chanced climbing a few steps. Still nothing. This was very odd. Once Goblin Guards had their sights on you, they nearly always kept coming until they killed you or something stopped them. But there was nothing to stop them here. The whole Guard should have been tumbling down those stairs like an avalanche. She climbed another step.

By the time she was in sight of the second landing, she knew for sure the demons were no longer there. Where had they gone? This was not usual demon behaviour. Had something frightened them off? After a moment she decided she didn't need to know. If they'd gone, it was all to her advantage – she could search the library room now. She pushed the door open cautiously and discovered to her horror they were all back inside.

This time she didn't even bother to slam the door, simply took off down the stairs as fast as her legs would carry her. She knew she wasn't going to get lucky a second time. She also knew that before demons killed you, they had a very gross habit of carrying out some particularly painful medical experiments on – They weren't following now either! She stopped halfway down the stairs and there was absolutely no doubt about it. The Goblin Guard, which had begun to pour out of the room when she opened the door, had disappeared again.

It hit her like a thunderbolt. It was another illusion! Illusions seemed to be one of Brimstone's magical specialities. It was cheaper than conjuring up a real Goblin Guard and a lot easier on maintenance. You didn't have to sacrifice to an illusion or make sure it wasn't sleeping on the job. You just set it up, switched it on and allowed it to do its work.

She went back very cautiously until she was just a step from the landing, then stopped. She had to be extremely careful here. The library door was still open and, if the Goblin Guard caught sight of her, it would be on to the landing in seconds. An illusion demon could kill you just as dead as a real one. For as long as the illusion lasted, the creature was real enough – it just couldn't step outside the boundaries of the illusion spell. It looked as if Brimstone had set this one to guard the library room and the landing outside, but possibly not the staircase.

With the door open, she daren't step on to the landing. Once the demons saw her they would come after her again. But demons were tricky at the best of times and illusion demons trickiest of all. There was no way of making them intelligent. You set your illusion so they'd attack anything that opened the door but you couldn't set it so they would recognise you and leave you alone – illusion magic just wasn't that good. Which meant there had to be an easy way to switch the illusion off. Brimstone had to be able to get rid of the Goblin Guard before he used his library.

Where was the switch? What was the switch? In the room below, the trigger was the winking picture. That gave some clue to the way Brimstone's mind worked. Not that she thought it was another picture, but she did think he might disguise the switch to make it look like something else.

There were no portraits beside the stairs, no pictures of anything else. The walls were smooth, no ornamentation, no panelling, nothing that looked at all – not looked: sounded! One of the stairs squeaked. She'd noticed it vaguely on the way up and it had squeaked again when she ran down. She'd paid no attention, of course. Lots of stairs and floorboards squeaked, especially in a house this age. But suppose it wasn't a natural squeak? Suppose it was a specially built-in signal?

Blue retraced her steps down the stairs. She was still within sight of the landing when she reached the tread that squeaked. She trod on it a few times and the squeak never failed. It wasn't so loud you'd pay much attention, but loud enough so an old man would hear. Was this the illusion trigger? Did it switch the demons on when you climbed up? Or were the demons always there and the squeak just a way of marking the place to switch them off?

Frowning, Blue tried to work it out logically. If this really was the switch, then it couldn't just be a question of pressure on the tread. She'd made it squeak coming up, which might well have switched on the demons, but she'd made it squeak again running down, which certainly hadn't switched them off. Or had it? Maybe she'd switched them off running down, then switched them on again when she climbed back up?

It didn't seem right somehow. Mainly because it didn't do the job well enough. Brimstone wanted his house secure. He'd want to be sure that his illusions were all working. If this one was just a question of a pressure switch, anybody climbing the stairs two at a time would never trip it at all. She frowned. Couldn't be a simple pressure switch.

She thought of the winking picture. The illusion disappeared when you winked back. Maybe… maybe… maybe the Goblin Guard disappeared when you squeaked back. Blue trod on the step to make it squeak, then imitated the squeak as an answer. She waited, then, when nothing happened, climbed the stairs again. The door on the second landing was still open, but from this angle she couldn't see if there was anything inside. She'd have to take a chance and go right on to the landing.

She did it fast before she lost her courage. The library was empty.

Blue breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was someone she'd never met, she had a very strong picture of Brimstone in her head now. He was a dangerous and crafty old man, somebody who didn't care much what he did to people. Pyrgus was lucky to get away from him with a whole skin.

But she still didn't know what had happened between them. The library was packed with books on sorcery, wizardry, witchcraft, necromancy and magic -some of them rare tomes – but though she searched it thoroughly, there was nothing at all to show how Brimstone might have tried to kill her brother.

She left the library and climbed the stairs to the third floor. This time she listened carefully for squeaks and examined every inch of the way for another illusion trigger. She spotted none, but even so she was caution itself when she reached the final landing. It was laid out exactly like the others and it proved a complete anticlimax. One door led to a bathroom, the other a bedroom. There were no more Goblin Guards, no more illusions of any sort as far as she could discover. It seemed as if Brimstone was happy no intruder was likely to get past the second floor.

But she still hadn't discovered anything about Pyrgus.