Three Kings

After dropping Jasper off at school, Noel had paused for breakfast and a chance to peruse the papers. Richard’s remarks regarding his brother had been met with a stiff and very British response from the Palace, a response so polite it could rip skin from the body.

Not so from the howling pack of tabloids. The Daily Mail and the Daily Express came baying after the Duke of York with unflattering photographs, suggestions that his and Diana’s marriage was on the rocks, and veiled claims about Richard’s sexual proclivities. Not so the Sun . Vitriol poured off the page and in the letters column an irate citizen called the Duke of York ‘an arse bandit’. Only the Guardian offered full-throated support of the Duke’s criticisms of his brother.

Noel knew the kind of people who read the tabloids. Less educated, struggling in an increasingly unequal society, ready to blame others for their troubles: immigrants, jokers or gays. And despite the British reputation for decorum you had only to witness a football mob to realize that one’s kinsmen were as capable of violence as any other member of the human species.

Judith concluded, thanked the judge, and sat down. Niobe’s barrister rose to his feet. In his black robe and with his bulk he was reminiscent of a breaching whale. ‘Your Honour, I find my learned friend’s argument to be vastly creative, appropriate when she really had no basis in law with which to support this manifest injustice.’

The judge waved a hand wearily at him. ‘Yes, yes, Mr Ramsey, but spare me your oratorical gifts today. If you have a point kindly get to it.’

He bowed his head in graceful acquiescence. ‘Of course, ma’am. The child is nine and he has been ripped away from his mother on the pretext that his status as an ace means that his mother, who is a joker, is unable to prepare him adequately for the world as a wild carder. The argument is that his father, who is also an ace, but has declined to use his powers and abilities, is a far better choice to raise the child than a loving mother. To rule in favour of this man would create a pernicious precedent—’

‘Getting a bit florid there, Ram,’ Judith drawled.

The judge snapped, ‘I’ll decide when it’s too purple, Mr Ramsey.’

‘As I was saying, it could set a precedent that jokers are inherently inferior to aces rather than treating all people, whether afflicted by this virus or not, as equal before the law. Besides which, the court has always taken the presumption that a child is in most circumstances better off with its mother.’

The judge cocked an eyebrow at Noel’s barrister. ‘I’m unconvinced that a parent should receive full custody merely on the basis of their wild card status. Therefore—’

‘Your Honour, may we have a postponement in order to gather expert opinion on the subject of families raising an ace child?’

‘Your Honour—’ Ramsey began.

‘No, I think that’s reasonable. It’s rare for two wild cards to produce a viable child. We want to give this one the best chance in life. You have five days, Ms von Bredow: make the most of them. We’ll resume at,’ she checked her diary, ‘nine a.m. on Monday March 9th. Court is adjourned.’

Wayfarer’s knock made Green Man look up. He’d been reading the papers, trying to gauge how much support King Henry was getting now the initial story had broken. This was more difficult than it used to be. Even supposedly sensible news outlets like the BBC had fallen prey to the ridiculous idea of always presenting both sides of an argument, no matter how nonsensical or irrelevant the counterargument might be.

As a result he knew that some people agreed with Henry’s bigoted statements, and that some did not. However, he’d known this before he’d read a single one of today’s articles, and couldn’t help feeling that he was wasting his time.

The papers were put aside, and the mask slipped into place.

‘Come in,’ he said, and Wayfarer stepped inside. He didn’t need to say anything more; they’d worked together long enough that she could practically read his mind these days, even when he wished she couldn’t.

‘Seizer’s been quiet since the meeting,’ she said.

‘It’s clear he’s not quite ready to strike yet. I imagine he’s waiting for me to slip.’

‘I agree.’ She absently scanned a story that mentioned Henry’s new, much younger fiancée only in terms of what she was wearing and her current hairstyle, and swept it neatly into the bin. ‘What are you going to do about him?’

‘Nothing, unless he causes trouble.’

‘Which he will.’

‘When that happens … if that happens, I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.’

Wayfarer nodded. ‘I’m no fan of unnecessary violence, but just this once I think prevention really would be better than the cure.’

‘It’s a bit late for that, I’m afraid. Seizer is one of the old guard and not without allies. If I go after him without good reason, I’ll shatter the Fists into pieces when we need to be unified.’ He looked up at her. ‘I assume we have more interesting things to discuss than internal politics.’

‘There’s a young man outside who has a story I think you should hear. His grandmother worked at the Palace back in ’48.’

‘He has something we can use against Henry?’

‘No, but I think you’ll want to hear what he’s got to say.’

‘All right, send him in.’

She opened the door again. ‘Theo, the Green Man will see you now.’ She gestured for him to enter as she stepped out.

Green Man stifled a chortle when the ‘young man’ appeared. He was well into his thirties and looked as if he’d crammed a lot of living into those years. Leathery skin and blunt nails suggested a lot of outdoor work, probably shifting heavy materials of some kind. There wasn’t much to love about the man’s face, but he had a vitality to him and the kind of thick hair that Green Man would have envied even before his card turned. Theo’s mutation had done something to his right leg, though exactly what was hidden under flared trousers that brushed the floor.

Green Man gestured to the only other chair in the room and Theo moved towards it awkwardly, swinging one leg forward and letting its weight drag the rest of him after. He gave a happy sigh as he flopped down into the leather.

‘I understand your grandmother used to work for the Palace.’

‘Yeah.’

‘But not recently?’

‘Nah, but she used to talk to me about it.’

‘Go on.’

‘Well, when you put out the word to find out about that royal cunt – pardon my French.’

‘No pardon required in this case.’

‘Right. So I remember me nan used to work there and so I popped over and asked her about the old days.’ He leaned forward. ‘And she tells me that back in ’48, the Princess had this baby, right.’

Green Man nodded. ‘Yes, that sounds familiar. A stillborn boy as I recall. Terrible tragedy.’

‘Yeah, that’s what I thought. Except me nan says all them stories were lies. The baby was alive. She saw him.’

It was Green Man’s turn to lean forward. ‘But why pretend the child was dead? It makes no sense.’

Theo nodded, looking pleased. ‘That’s exactly what I said, boss. Anyway, she tells me that there was something up with the baby, and that’s why they got rid of him.’

‘Something up?’

‘Yeah, with his skin. It wasn’t right. She said it weren’t normal.’

On the outside, he appeared as calm as ever, but inside his thoughts were whirling. It could just be a skin condition, but what if it’s more? What if there was a joker prince? And what if they’d had him disposed of? The implications were staggering. If they’d killed a royal baby for the sake of appearances, it would send shockwaves around the world, and that was before the Green Man had arranged a very special revenge strike. And even that is nothing compared to what could happen if the child is still alive!