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“Could this new structure be in any way connected with the ancient lines on the plain?” said Penny. “And the unexpected heat?”

“Damned if I know,” said Callan. “Nothing obvious, anyway.”

“The lines are thousands of years old,” said Penny, frowning seriously. “Laid out in their gigantic patterns so long ago that no one now remembers who did it, or why. They’re even older than our family.”

“There may be something in the old library,” said the Armourer.

“The location can’t be just a coincidence,” said the Sarjeant-at-Arms. “Callan, are you sure there isn’t any connection?”

“Look, I’m just telling you what I see. And I am not getting any closer for a better look. The Loathly Ones have been attacking anyone or anything that shows up on the plain, and I like my soul where it is, thank you very much. If you want to know more about the lines, read your von Daniken.”

“Don’t say you read him too,” said Molly.

“Of course. He has a lot of good insights. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was one of us.”

“Thank you, Callan,” I said quickly. “Keep an eye on things till we get there, and report any new activity.”

“Remember the cold drinks.”

I gestured for the communications people to shut down the display screen, and then I looked round at the rest of my Inner Circle. “This is it. The opportunity we’ve been waiting for. The Loathly Ones getting together in unprecedented numbers, and maybe building a new super-weapon? We can’t allow this to continue.”

“I don’t know about unprecedented,” the Armourer said thoughtfully. “I seem to recall something similar, back in my grandfather’s day…I’ll have to look it up in the family records.”

“They don’t normally take over anything bigger than a small town,” said Penny. “And even then, they go to great pains to hide it from the rest of the world. This kind of public display is out of character.”

“You mean it could be a trap?” said Molly.

“I don’t see how,” I said. “They’re right out in the open. And that thing they’re building worries me. No, we’ve found our first target. Taking out a major gathering of the Loathly Ones is the best way to announce to the world that we’re still in business.”

“But we don’t know enough about the situation,” Penny said stubbornly. “We have no idea what it is they’re building, or the dangers involved in destroying it. We don’t even know for sure what defences the Loathly Ones have put in place around it. We need more information, before we commit ourselves to a main assault.”

“The only way we’ll get more information is to go down there and kick the Loathly Ones around till they tell us what they’re doing,” said the Sarjeant.

“Exactly,” I said. “We need to move now, before they finish whatever it is they’re doing, and before they realise we know about it. So we take in a strike force, led by our new torcs, destroy as many of the Loathly Ones as possible, and tear down whatever we find there. I said we were going to war against the Loathly Ones, and this will be a great beginning. Penny, tell the family that we’re ready to hand out the first fifty torcs. We’ll make a whole ceremony out of it. The new knights in armour of the Drood family.”

“Don’t you want to check the names?” said Penny.

“No,” I said. “I trust your judgement. Why, is there someone on the list you think I might object to?”

“Just the one,” said Molly. “Harry.”

“I’d have been surprised if he wasn’t on the list,” I said. “He’s an experienced field agent. And James’s son.”

“But you don’t trust him,” said Penny.

“Of course not,” I said. “He’s James’s son.”

We held the great torc-giving ceremony in the Sanctity, celebrating the bestowing of fifty new torcs on deserving members of the family. The Sanctity was packed from wall to wall with excited family, standing shoulder to shoulder. More filled the corridor outside. We had to set up vid screens, all through the Hall, so everyone in the family could see. This was the start of a new era for the Droods, and I wanted everyone to feel a part of it. Even the Matriarch and her supporters were looking in, from her suite. I checked. Strange shed his beneficent light over all of us, and even broadcast some suitable music, complete with trumpets and fanfares in all the right places.

One by one they came forward and knelt before the crimson glow, the fifty, the chosen few, the new knights of the family, and out of nowhere silver torcs appeared around their necks. A great cheer went up for each of the fifty names, and the family applauded them all till everyone’s hands ached. There were smiles and tears everywhere, and much stamping of feet. There was a common feeling that these torcs were special, and these fifty men and women were special, because they had earned their torcs.

At the end, the Inner Circle pushed me forward to say a few words. I didn’t particularly want to, but everyone there seemed to expect it of me. I got a pretty good cheer as I stepped forward, though perhaps not as good a cheer as the fifty chosen ones got, and it quickly died away as I raised my hands for quiet.

“This is the start of a new day,” I said. “For the family, and for the world. No more sitting around waiting for threats, and then reacting to them. We’re going to take the fight to the enemy. And we’re going to start by bringing down the Loathly Ones! I shall lead a strike force against their new base of operations: fifty torced men and women, and two hundred volunteers, armed with all the very best toys the Armoury can supply. Salute these warriors! The Droods are going to war, and the Loathly Ones are going down! Mark this day, my family, my friends. It’s time to show the world that the Droods are back in town!”

Afterwards, Molly said to me, “Whoever told you that you know how to make a speech?”

“It’s a dirty job,” I said. “But someone’s got to do it.”

We flew down to South America in the family’s private fleet of Blackhawke aircraft. Great big black beasts of the sky, smooth and sleek and driven by powerful engines we reverse engineered from an alien starship that crash-landed in a Wiltshire field in 1947. Five planes, carrying fifty men and women with their new torcs, two hundred heavily armed volunteers, myself and Molly, Janissary Jane and Mr. Stab, and Harry and Roger Morningstar. I could have done without that last addition, but Harry wouldn’t go without him. Molly and I were there because it was my plan, Janissary Jane because she’d trained these people and knew more about fighting demons than all the rest of us put together, and Mr. Stab because…well, basically because I wanted a vicious supernatural serial killer on my side, just in case anything went wrong.

And I wanted to keep him close, where I could keep a watchful eye on him.

Mr. Stab hadn’t joined the rest of us in the Sanctity for the bestowing of the torcs, but then I hadn’t expected him to. He wasn’t what you’d call a social animal. So afterwards I sent Penny to look for him, to tell him about the forthcoming attack on the Loathly Ones. When she didn’t report back after a reasonable time, I got just a little worried. I found a private place, locked the door, tuned the Merlin Glass to the present, and ordered it to look in on Penny and Mr. Stab, wherever they might be. My reflection vanished from the mirror, replaced by a view of the two of them, walking together on the grounds. Just walking, and chatting. Penny seemed completely at ease in Mr. Stab’s company, even after I’d gone out of my way to warn her about what he was, and what he’d done. Their voices came to me quite clearly.

“I wouldn’t have thought you were the fresh air and wide-open spaces type,” said Penny. “I had you marked down as a town mouse.”

“I prefer it out here,” said Mr. Stab.

“Is the room we’ve given you not comfortable enough?”

“I’ve known many rooms, down the years,” said Mr. Stab. He kept his gaze straight ahead, not looking at Penny. “All pretty much the same. Just places to stay, for a while, before I’m forced to move on again. These days I carry a little notebook, to remind me of where I’m staying and what name I’m currently using. No home for me; not anymore. Just another of the many human things I had to give up, to be what I am. My room here is perfectly adequate. Even luxurious. But no; I’m not comfortable here, in the Hall. I’m not allowed to murder, you see, and I find that very trying. It goes against my nature. It grinds against my soul, until I can’t see anything but blood. And that’s why I spend as much time as possible on your extensive grounds, away from…temptation.”