Ruler of the Realm

Forty-two

Kitterick’s head was rattling alarmingly, but Madame Cardui ignored it. The re-run in the reality globe was set to close-up and slow motion with the result that the figures looked like exhausted giants.

‘What’s that?’ Fogarty asked suddenly.

‘What’s what?’ Cynthia asked him, frowning.

‘That sparkle effect.’ It was difficult to see because of the angle. ‘And doesn’t Henry have something in his hand?’

Cynthia leaned forward. ‘Freeze it!’ she told Kitterick. Then, ‘Oh, yes, I think you’re right…’

‘Can we run it again – just that segment?’

‘Kitterick!’ said Madame Cardui.

There was an unpleasant scraping sound from inside Kitterick’s head, then the action in the reality globe repeated.

‘You see?’ Fogarty said. The problem was the relative positions of the people involved. Kitterick could only record what he saw, and sometimes bodies or furnishings got in the way. It looked as if Henry had taken something from his pocket, but he was sideways on so you couldn’t see exactly what. And then there was the sparkle, for all the world like the edge of a trail of fairy dust in a Walt Disney movie.

‘Yes,’ Cynthia confirmed. ‘Yes, there’s something there…’

‘Spell cone?’ Fogarty asked. He didn’t know of a spell that would let you walk out of a room while everybody in it thought you’d disappeared, but they were bringing new spell cones on to the market all the time.

Cynthia frowned. ‘I don’t think so, Alan. It seems a bit big for a spell cone. And what are those particles – the glitter? You don’t get glitter from a spell cone.’

‘New type?’

‘Don’t know.’

‘Can you go to extreme close-up, Kitterick?’ Fogarty asked. Kitterick gave a strangled gasp, but the reality globe filled with a section of Henry’s body. ‘Do you think that could be the edge of a goblet, Cynthia?’

‘Could be. A crystal goblet.’ She hesitated thoughtfully. ‘Or a Halek blade? It has the same sheen.’

‘Where would Henry get a Halek blade? They don’t make them in the Analogue World.’ Fogarty straightened his back. ‘Certainly looks like crystal, though.’ He glanced across the room. ‘OK, Kitterick, you can switch off now. Pyrgus, pull that thing out of his head before he croaks.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ Kitterick croaked.

As the scene faded to black and the reality globe collapsed, Fogarty said, ‘The follower you had on Blue…?’

‘It lost them.’

‘I thought that wasn’t possible.’

‘It isn’t, but it happened, deeah.’

‘Where did it lose them?’ Fogarty asked.

‘In the grounds of Hairstreak’s mansion.’

‘He has a vicious security system,’ Pyrgus put in. ‘Trackers that take you down, inject you with stuff that knocks you out.’

‘You think they didn’t get far?’ Fogarty asked him.

‘ We didn’t,’ Pyrgus said.

‘Interesting point,’ Madame Cardui remarked. ‘So you think it’s possible Hairstreak may have them both now?’

Pyrgus licked his lips nervously. ‘No, Henry was definitely up to something. I don’t understand it and I don’t understand how he did it, or why, but he definitely took Blue.’

‘Yes, I know,’ Madame Cardui persisted, ‘but whatever he did, whatever he planned, is it possible that Hairstreak’s security system trapped them when they left the mansion?’

‘It’s possible,’ Pyrgus said reluctantly, ‘but Henry knew about the security system. It got him as well as me and Kitterick.’

Fogarty cut across them both. ‘This follower, Cynthia – could I talk to it?’

‘It’s a demon, Alan – you realise that?’

‘Yes, I know. Presumably there are safeguards you can take…’

‘Oh, yes,’ Madame Cardui said. ‘When…?’

Fogarty shrugged. ‘Now. Can we do it now?’

Pyrgus said, ‘I’ll just go and -’

Fogarty said sharply, ‘I want you with us.’