The Purple Emperor

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

Henry fell into light.

It was an incredible sensation. As he touched the spider with his mind it scuttled forward and embraced him. That should have been terrifying, but somehow wasn't, partly because everything happened so suddenly. The effect was almost indescribable. A window opened and pure, dazzling light flooded through to swallow him.

Henry gasped as his perceptions expanded. He was aware of his physical body fluttering down to land beside the physical spider, but he knew now he was in no danger. As his body slumped, his mind enlarged. He was aware of the whole of Blue's bedroom, then the suite of rooms that composed her quarters, then the corridors outside and the whole upper storey of the palace, then the entire palace.

But it didn't end there. His perceptions continued to expand to take in the river island where the palace stood, then the river, then, incredibly, the city beyond. It was so weird, so cool. He saw busy thoroughfares. He saw a dimly-lit simbala parlour and tasted the music writhing in it. He saw a strolling player strumming on a lute. He saw an alley cat chewing on a mouse.

Henry continued to expand and the sensation was pure ecstasy. Tendrils of his mind reached out to every corner of the Realm. He felt the pulsing heart of reality itself and saw the filaments that joined all things. He wanted to expand until he ate up the whole world and worlds beyond. He thought he might reach out and take in the entire universe. It occurred to him that he was God.

It occurred to him he could find Blue.

The thought halted his expansion, gave him focus. He saw Blue at once, but in a strange way. He saw the winding pathway of her life, moving through Space and Time, visiting differing locations of her Realm and once, disturbingly, penetrating the very fabric of reality as she disappeared from the Realm altogether. But she returned again, close to the point of exit, and continued as before.

Where was she now? It was difficult to see, yet the very question helped him. It was as if he stepped out of his body and stepped into a forest glade. Blue was there, and Pyrgus too, and, a little beyond them both, Mr Fogarty in dirty, crumpled formal robes. All three were lying on the forest floor.

All three seemed to be dead.

'Blue!!' Henry shouted in sudden agony. He lost focus, then control. His mind expanded to infinity and his consciousness exploded.

Henry felt as if somebody had put his head through a mincer, then followed up by crushing his whole body in a vice. Every limb ached and he felt weak as a lamb. Movement seemed impossible. Even opening his eyes was an effort and the lids scratched his eyeballs like coarse sandpaper.

He was lying on a floor somewhere, curled into a foetal position, both hands between his knees.

He was not sure who he was.

Or where.

The inside of his mouth tasted like a sewer and his tongue seemed swollen to twice its normal size. There was a distant ringing in his ears.

He moved cautiously. The aches throughout his body peaked, then died a little. He'd had the feeling before when he got a leg cramp playing football. But now the cramps were in every muscle. All the same, they might be bearable. He moved again and this time the pain didn't peak as high. Gradually he straightened out and clambered slowly to his feet.

There was something wrong with the room. He tried to figure what it was, but his head wouldn't function right.

He felt dizzy and reached out for a nearby chair.

That's what it was! Blue's room was its normal size. He was his normal size. And there was something wrong with his back. It felt… it felt… this was stupid, but it felt sort of empty.

His wings were gone!

As he stood there, unsteadily holding the chair, it occurred to him that this was what had happened to Pyrgus. When the House Iris portal had been sabotaged and Pyrgus had become a tiny fairy figure with butterfly wings, the effect had worn off completely and his wings had disappeared. But it had only happened after several days. Had Henry been unconscious that long? His heart dropped to his boots. How was he going to explain all this to Blue? How could he explain losing his portal control and turning up so late? The emergency was probably over by now and he'd done nothing at all to help. It was mortifying.

What was it she'd said? Her father's body had disappeared and there was some plot to assassinate Pyrgus? A horrid thought struck him. What if the plot had succeeded? What if Pyrgus was dead now? Henry would never forgive himself and he didn't think Blue would either.

He was feeling stronger by the minute, but as his brain began to focus he was certainly not feeling any better. Suddenly, out of nowhere, came a mental picture of Pyrgus, Blue and Mr Fogarty lying dead on a forest floor. He'd seen that. He knew he'd seen that. But where?

He tried to tell himself the whole thing was no more important than a dream. For heaven's sake, it probably just was a dream! Except he didn't believe that, not for a minute. He had to find out what had happened to Pyrgus and Blue. He had to find out this minute!

Henry began to stumble from the room. As he reached the door he realised there was someone watching him.