'But they must know you couldn't put me before the welfare of the Empire,' Pyrgus protested.
'Of course I could,' his father said. 'I love you.'
They walked together along the broad corridor that was the spine of the Imperial palace. For the first time in his life, Pyrgus noticed the maroon carpet underfoot was a little threadbare in places. 'What -?' He hesitated. He'd been about to ask, What are you going to do to me?, but decided to phrase it differently. 'What do you want me to do?'
Servants bowed as they passed, like waves on a beach. 'I want you to go away for a little while,' his father said.
'I understand,' Pyrgus said.
They turned off into the private quarters. A permanent spell of silence meant they could talk freely without risk of being overheard. 'There's nowhere really safe for you within the kingdom,' Pyrgus's father said.
Pyrgus said nothing.
'I've made arrangements for you to translate,' his father said.
'The Analogue World?' Pyrgus had suspected as much.
The Emperor nodded. 'Of course you won't be going alone. Tithonus is too old, but Lulworth and Ringlet will be with you as servants and bodyguards. Blue wanted to go as well, but I told her it was out of the question: I expect you're quite relieved. We're targeting a remote Pacific island with no other inhabitants. Good climate, quite a few exotic fruits, although we've laid in our own stores, of course.' He smiled wanly. 'Lots of wildlife – you'll feel right at home. Once the negotiations are over, you can come back. Should be no more than a month at most. You can look on it as a little holiday.'
After a moment, Pyrgus said, 'When do I go?'
His father put a hand upon his shoulder. 'Lulworth and Ringlet have already translated. They're waiting for you on the island. The portal's been established in the chapel. I'd like you to go at once.'
'For a month?'
His father nodded.
Pyrgus took a deep breath. 'Don't get angry, but there's something I really have to do…' His father waited, watching him. Pyrgus swallowed. 'There's a factory – '
The Emperor nodded again. 'Chalkhill and Brimstone. I wondered how long it would take you to discover it.'
Pyrgus felt his anger rising again, but for once it wasn't directed at his father. 'They're killing animals! They're killing – '
His father held up a hand. 'We know about it. We're trying to do something about it. The trouble is, what they're doing isn't strictly against the law. Glue has been made from slaughtered animals for generations.'
'But – '
T know, I know. This goes beyond humane slaughter. Our problem is proving it.'
'I can prove it!' Pyrgus said. 'I saw it! I saw what goes on!'
'Your word against theirs, I'm afraid. But don't worry, we will do something about it. I have lawyers working hard to find a way to close the factory down. That's the only real solution. I know how you feel, Pyrgus, but you're going to have to leave this one to me. Will you trust me to do the job?'
'Yes, of course,' said Pyrgus quietly. He felt a great deal older than he had that morning.
His sister Blue and stepbrother Comma were already in the chapel. She ran across to fling herself into his arms. 'I thought that dreadful Hairstreak must have killed you! It was nearly three days before I could get any word of you at all!'
Pyrgus disentangled himself gently. 'Hairstreak never got near me. It was someone else who nearly killed me.' He regretted the words the moment they were out of his mouth.
His father fortunately hadn't heard – he was engaged in conversation with the technician priest who worked the portal. But Blue picked it up at once. 'Who nearly killed you?' she asked fiercely. 'If you don't want to tell Father, I can do something about it, you know.'
He didn't doubt she could. Not for the first time he wondered what his little sister would be like when she grew up. Already she was one of the most formidable people he knew. Even Tithonus treated her with respect. He shook his head. 'It's nothing, Blue. Just a joke.'
She stared at him suspiciously and he knew as soon as he was on his way she would be putting out feelers about where he'd been and what he'd done before his father's guards caught up with him. But Comma broke the moment. 'Our brother likes his little jokes, Blue -don't you, Brother?' he said with his sly twisted smile. 'But now perhaps we should let him get on with his trip. The sooner he goes, the sooner he'll be safe…' His eyes sparkled like Jasper Chalkhill's teeth.
The portal had already been established between the pillars by the altar, for all the world like a raging blue fire. If Pyrgus hadn't known better, he'd never have believed anyone could step into that fire and live. But despite appearances, the flames were not really there. If they existed at all – and philosophers were far from sure about that – they had their being between the worlds. As such, they were nothing more than a visible separator, a demarcation line that indicated the transition between one dimension and the next. The real power of the portal lay in its enhancements by the hideously expensive machines that distorted space and time in this one spot. Everyone in the Faerie Empire knew this technology existed – it had been the stuff of legend for centuries – but only the Imperial Family could afford it. Thus the Analogue World, where the portal led, was the ultimate escape route for threatened royals. No one could find them there.
The Emperor joined them in time to catch the last remark. 'Comma's right,' he said. 'The sooner you go, the sooner I'll know you're safe. Have you had your vaccines?'
One of the medical priests bustled over with a hypodermic needle. 'We're ready for that now, Majesty.' Pyrgus pushed back one sleeve and looked away as the needle slid underneath his skin. It stung slightly, then subsided.
'Ready to go?' his father asked.
T think so,' Pyrgus said.
'There's nothing you need to take,' his father reassured him. 'We've equipped the island with everything you're likely to want and Lulworth and Ringlet will have it all set up and ready waiting for you.'
'Thank you, Father.'
Blue threw her arms around him and kissed him soundly on the cheek. 'I shall so miss you!' she whispered. 'Be safe.'
Pyrgus grinned weakly and gave her a brief peck in return.
'Aren't you going to kiss your little brother too?' Comma said. 'It could be such a long time before we see each other again.'
Pyrgus ignored him and stepped into the portal.
Eight
For a moment Henry Atherton just stood there, mouth open, eyes blinking furiously, as he tried to decide what he was looking at. Hodge had caught a butterfly, of course, but it wasn't a butterfly Henry was seeing. He was seeing a tiny winged figure. The wings were like butterfly wings, but the figure…
Henry shook his head. He was looking at a fairy!
The trouble was he didn't believe in fairies. He didn't even know anybody who believed in fairies. Except, a voice said in his head, Mr Fogarty. Mr Fogarty believes in fairies! For some reason it brought him up short. Mr Fogarty believed in fairies. Along with ghosts and flying saucers. Mr Fogarty believed the world was run by a secret conspiracy of bankers based in Zurich, Switzerland. Just because Mr Fogarty believed in something didn't make it real.
But Henry was looking at a fairy. In a lunatic moment he wondered if Mr Fogarty had somehow created it. Then his paralysis broke.
'Hodge, you idiot!' he screamed. He threw himself on the tomcat and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, the way mother cats do with kittens. Hodge howled in protest and dropped the… dropped the… Hodge dropped whatever it was he'd had in his mouth.
Then Henry dropped him. He glared at Henry accusingly and stalked off no more than a yard or two before stopping to sit down. Henry snatched the fairy between cupped hands, taking care not to crush the wings.