Herbie Brennan - Faerie Lord

He was negotiating stairways now, some of them so narrow they posed real difficulties for someone of his bulk – the original keep seemed to have been built by dwarves, and skinny dwarves at that. When he delivered the news to Madame Cardui, he planned to complain and complain bitterly – about her choice of office. What was the point of it? he wondered. What was the point of making a difficult situation just that little bit worse?

He met up with guards at the end of the corridor, but fortunately they recognised him and let him pass. All the same, he wondered. It did seem strange that Madame Cardui would post guards at the approach to her office. Or perhaps it didn’t. If the truth be told, Madame Cardui had always been a little… paranoid. Such conditions tended to get worse with age.

He reached the door and pushed it open without knocking. When on an urgent mission it was always as well to emphasise the urgency right from the outset, otherwise people wasted time on inconsequentialities. Burst in, state the problem, make an impact, that was the way to…

Madame Cardui was lying on the floor. A black-garbed figure was kneeling over her. It turned as Danaus entered and for just the barest instant he did not realise who it was. Then, ‘Lord Hairstreak – what has happened?’

Hairstreak pushed something into the folds of his jacket. ‘Your appearance is timely, Chief Wizard Healer,’ he said sharply. ‘Madame Cardui has collapsed.’

Danaus knelt quickly beside him. ‘What exactly happened, Your Lordship?’

‘We were discussing matters of state. The Spymaster was reclining on a suspensor cloud when she… lost consciousness. The cloud collapsed, but broke her fall – it’s dissipated now.’

‘When did this happen?’ Danaus asked. He reached out to place a hand on her forehead.

‘Just now. Moments ago – less than a minute, I think. I was about to raise the alarm when you arrived. Is she dead?’

Danaus shook his head. Her breathing was shallow, her colour bad, but she was definitely alive. For the moment.

‘I was not sure what to do,’ Hairstreak said.

‘There was nothing you could do, Your Lordship,’ Danaus told him. ‘Madame Cardui is in the grip of temporal fever.’

And a stasis chamber would no longer halt its ravages.

‘Well,’ said Loki cheerfully, ‘can’t stand here all day gossiping. I have to get this place prepared.’

He had subtly altered his appearance again: no longer the darkly attractive young man and not quite the clown, but something between the two that was far more disturbing than either. Still wrapped in the serpent’s coils, Blue turned her head away and tried to think. To make sure all goes well for you and Henry. What did he mean by that? What did he know of Henry? What was he really doing here? She swallowed. ‘This thing is hurting me,’ she said.

Loki looked up at her and grinned. ‘No, he’s not. Gentle as a lamb, my boy. You just want him to put you down so you can escape.’

‘I give you my word I won’t,’ Blue said. It was half true. She desperately needed to find out about Henry.

‘Of course you will,’ Loki said, ‘I certainly would in your situation. But never fear. I’ll have my Jorm set you down in a moment.’ He smiled fondly at the massive serpent. ‘That’s what I call him, you know. My Jorm. So much more friendly than Jormungand, don’t you think? His mother picked that name because of its size. She likes big names on account of being a giant herself.’

This was driving her out of her mind. Straightforward villains she could deal with – she’d been doing that all her life – but this absurd creature was so frustrating she would cheerfully have strangled him had her arms been free. But the serpent itself tolerated him and he even seemed to have control over it. The question was, how did she get control over him? How to trick the Trickster?

Loki said, ‘Just let me make sure you keep your word…’

The cavern was immense with many exit passageways leading out of it. Loki gestured. One by one the passageways sealed themselves like sphincters, then smoothed into blank cave walls. Blue watched, astonished. There was no smell of magic, no fizzle of a spell cone: it simply happened. Escape route after escape route was cut off until only two were left – the archway into the cavern that contained the blazing light and a narrow passage a little to her right. But even as she watched, an iron grille slid down to seal the archway. Blue shuddered. The metal was lethal to faeries.

Loki glanced at the one remaining open passage. ‘For poor, dear Henry,’ he said, smiling.

Blue snapped. ‘What do you know about Henry?’ she demanded. ‘What are you doing here? Tell this brute to put me down!’

‘Put her down, Jorm,’ Loki said obediently.

To Blue’s surprise, the serpent released her at once. She slid down its body to the floor while the creature itself uncoiled and relaxed. She half imagined she could hear it grunt. ‘Thank you,’ Blue said tightly. She brushed at her clothing to give herself something to do and time to think. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the Halek knife where she dropped it. The blade was clear again and had begun to sparkle. The weapon had recharged itself.

‘Well now,’ said Loki, ‘time to get this place prepared. Dusting, cleaning, rearranging the ornaments – a Trickster’s work is never done!’ He stretched both arms towards the ceiling of the cavern and released a curious howling sigh. The contours of the cavern began to change.

‘What are you doing?’ Blue asked in sudden alarm. She was a little stiff from being held, but she calculated she could reach the knife in three, four steps. This time she wouldn’t try to use it on the serpent.

‘Creating a worthy setting,’ Loki said benignly. ‘Wouldn’t want Henry to be disappointed when he gets here.’

He kept talking about Henry. The knife could wait. No more beating about the bush. Blue said, ‘Henry is coming here?’

‘Yes.’

‘Why?’

Loki smiled charmingly. ‘To rescue you.’ He turned his back to her. ‘Now, don’t disturb me for a moment miracles require concentration.’ He spread his arms in an inverted V, hunched his shoulders and bowed his head. There was a curious, grating rumble as the rock of the cavern floor began to rearrange itself. In a moment, a granite platform appeared, which extruded a natural pillar about eight feet tall.

The massive serpent had withdrawn its coils. Loki was immobile, his attention firmly focused elsewhere. She was perhaps three quick paces from the knife. She could grab it and plunge the blade into his back before he realised what was happening.

She hesitated. The blade had not worked on the serpent. Would it fail on Loki too? If it did, her attempt on his life would achieve nothing and anger him. Would it perhaps be best to wait, to look for a better opportunity? A part of her was aware her inner dialogue was no more than a rationalisation. What was really staying her hand was something far more powerful than fear of failure. What was staying her hand was curiosity.

Heavy chains and manacles had appeared on the pillar. With a report like a thunderclap, a massive crack appeared in the cavern floor and lava oozed to form a sluggish, glowing stream that circled the entire platform.

Loki glanced over his shoulder, impressive, would you not say?’

Blue said nothing. What was he doing? This was an entity with godlike powers and she had not the slightest idea why he was using them.

‘Need to do something about the lighting,’ Loki murmured. ‘Not nearly dramatic enough.’ He tipped his head backwards, directing his gaze towards the roof. A heavy curtain swung across the archway with the metal grille, cutting off the blaze of light and plunging the cavern into a deep gloom reddened by the glow of the lava stream.