Herbie Brennan - Faerie Lord

Only minutes passed before he did return.

‘You haven’t found something already?’ Henry asked, pushing himself to his feet. This was incredible, even for Lorquin.

‘Several people have passed this way recently,’ Lorquin said. ‘Regrettably, I cannot say for certain if one of them is your friend.’

‘So we don’t know which way to go?’

‘Oh, yes,’ Lorquin said. ‘All went to the same place.’

‘They did?’ Henry frowned suddenly. Had Blue travelled with an entourage? Or was it a more sinister picture? ‘I don’t suppose you know how many there were?’

‘First many came here in a caravan,’ Lorquin said, ‘but most would not risk the mountain path, so two went ahead alone with a heavy cart. I do not think either of these was your friend because they were both men, although they may have taken her in their cart. Later another came with a charno -’

‘What’s a charno?’ Henry asked. He also wondered how Lorquin knew he was trailing two men. Why not two women, or two boys. Maybe they left footprints and he judged the size of their feet.

‘It is an animal trained to carry the possessions of people who do not know it is better to travel without possessions,’ Lorquin said. ‘The person with the charno was a woman, so it may be your friend.’

‘You can tell all this from the trails?’ Henry said.

‘If you wish, I can teach you, En Ri.’

‘Not just now,’ Henry said. He felt a growing surge of excitement. ‘If Blue really is up there, we may not have much time to lose.’

‘That is wise,’ Lorquin said gravely. He glanced back the way he came. ‘There is something very dangerous in these mountains.’

Madame Cardui stared at the pathetic creature, utterly appalled. ‘You allowed your Queen to enter mountain caverns guarded by the Midgard Serpent?’

Chalkhill looked at his feet and mumbled.

‘Speak up, you wobbling cretin!’ Madame Cardui snapped.

Chalkhill jumped. ‘Yes,’ he said more loudly.

‘And when she entered these mountains, you simply… ran away?’

‘I came here to tell you, Madame Spymaster,’ Chalkhill protested, ‘I came as quickly as I could. I even hired a flyer at my own expense, a highly dangerous flyer in a poor state of repair so that I risked life and li -’

‘Oh, shut up, Chalkhill,’ Madame Cardui told him tiredly. ‘I suppose one can expect nothing from a pig but a grunt.’ She shifted her position on the suspensor cloud so she could glare at him more fiercely. ‘How did the Midgard Serpent find itself in these caverns, Mr Chalkhill? How did the Midgard Serpent happen to enter our reality at all?’

‘Called up,’ muttered Chalkhill. He wondered how she made him feel so ridiculously guilty when none of this was his fault!

‘Called up, Mr Chalkhill? Who could possibly be stupid enough to call up the Midgard Serpent?’

‘Brimstone,’ Chalkhill said without meeting her eyes.

Madame Cardui smiled bleakly. ‘Your old partner,’ she hissed.

‘Yes, well, you can’t hold that against me.’

‘Can’t I?’ asked Madame Cardui. ‘If Queen Blue has been harmed in any way, you’d be surprised what I could hold against you. Mr Chalkhill. So you’d better tell me what else you know.’

Chalkhill licked his lips, wondering how far he should go with the old witch. The situation was grave, very grave, and might easily get worse. But in every crisis there were always men who played clever and refreshed their status, men who kept their nerve and came out on the winning side. The trouble was, it was difficult to decide on the winning side just now. The imbecile girl Queen was probably dead by now, which would normally swing the balance far in favour of Lord Hairstreak, despite his diminished fortunes. But Hairstreak was heavily dependant on Brimstone in this enterprise – solely dependant on Brimstone in fact and Brimstone was mad. He’d been fairly mad to call up the Midgard Serpent in the first place but – Chalkhill swallowed – that rotten stroke of luck in meeting up with a cloud dancer had finished him completely. Where did that leave Lord Hairstreak now?

Chalkhill came to a decision. Wherever the balance of power lay, certain things remained constant. One was that information was valuable. The other was that timing was everything. The trick now would be to tell her Raddled Witchship enough to keep her satisfied, while keeping enough back as a bargaining chip for later. When it was clearer who would eventually come out on top.

He composed his features into an expression of sublime innocence and delivered a concise report.

‘Lorquin, you know you said there was something very dangerous in these mountains?’ Henry asked.

Lorquin was gazing keenly to one side, as if focused on something in the middle distance, but he still said, ‘Yes?’

‘How did you know?’ Henry asked, ‘I mean, did you see it?’

‘I sensed it,’ Lorquin said, as if sensing danger was the most natural thing in the world. He tore his eyes away from whatever he’d been looking at in order to look at Henry. ‘Why do you ask, En Ri?’

‘I wondered if that might be it,’ Henry told him.

Because Lorquin was in the lead while they were following invisible tracks, they had left the main path behind. This was not. Lorquin explained, because those they were following had done the same, but rather because they had not. Lorquin was worried Blue might have been taken captive, so he’d advised Henry to circle, thus avoiding meeting up with Blue’s captors unawares. As a result, they were now on a narrow plateau looking down on a rocky apron that fronted a dark cave mouth. On the apron stood one of the scariest creatures Henry had ever seen.

The thing looked vaguely like a kangaroo, but far larger, with muscular arms and shoulders and quite enormous clawed flat feet. It had a long head with prominent horselike teeth and giant hare’s ears laid flat so they almost reached down to its neck. Strangest of all, it was carrying a substantial canvas pack strapped to its back. It was standing like a guardian by the cave mouth.

Lorquin looked down. ‘No, that’s not it,’ he said.

They were downwind of the creature and speaking quietly so there was no chance of its hearing. After a moment, Henry said, ‘Are you sure?’

‘That is a charno, En Ri,’ Lorquin said, ‘I spoke to you of it before.’

Henry looked at him for a moment, trying to remember, then smiled suddenly. ‘You mean a pack animal!?’ The charno was an unlikely looking pack animal, even though it did have a pack, but it was there by the cavern and the pack was large, which could mean only one thing. ‘Do you think it’s been carrying supplies for…?’ Well, for whoever they were following. Blue’s captors, if she was captive, or Blue herself if she wasn’t. All or any of whom, presumably, were now inside the cave.

‘Let us find out,’ said Lorquin. Before Henry could stop him, he was headed down the slope.

‘Hey, wait a minute!’ Henry shouted without thinking.

Below them, the charno looked up with large brown eyes.

She was still alive. She was still uninjured. Actually she was almost comfortable: the serpent held her gently and the coils of its giant body had a warm, muscular feel, not at all the cold, slimy sensation she’d expected. But she couldn’t move. Her arms were trapped by her sides. The serpent’s grip was firm and utterly unyielding. She had no chance of escape.

Unless she could talk her way out.

From her vantage point in the coils of the serpent, Blue looked down at the clown. ‘You’re not my charno, are you?’