And the petals will fall to the ground like snow.
As soon as the door closed Keiro said, ‘I don’t get it.’
‘She tried to preserve her youth.’ Jared sat, as if the moment had weakened him. ‘They called her a witch, but she almost certainly used skinwands and some sort of ongoing genetic implants. Now all her stolen years have come crashing down on her at once.’
‘It sounds like one of Rix’s fairtytales,’ Keiro said calmly.
‘So she’ll die?’
‘Very soon.’
‘Fine. That just leaves him.’ Keiro jabbed his injured hand at the Pretender.
Finn lifted his head and he and the Pretender gazed at each other. ‘You don’t look so much like me now,’ Finn said.
The boy’s appearance had altered too, his lips thinner, nose longer, hair too dark. There was still a resemblance but it had no real substance any more. It had died with the Era.
‘Look,’ the Pretender said. ‘It wasn’t my idea. They found me. They offered me a kingdom! You would have done it — anyone would! They promised my family enough gold to keep my six brothers fed for years. I had no choice.’ He drew himself up. ‘And I was good, Finn. You have to admit it. I had everyone fooled. Maybe I even fooled you.’ He glanced down at his wrist, where the eagle tattoo had vanished. ‘Another piece of Protocol,’ he murmured.
Keiro found a chair and lounged in it. ‘I think we should put him in that tiny cube you call the Prison.’
‘No. He writes a confession and admits publicly that he was an imposter. That the Queen and Caspar were behind a plot to place a false Giles on the throne. And then we let him go Finn looked at Jared. ‘He’s no threat to us now’ Jared nodded. ‘I agree.’ Keiro looked less than convinced, but Finn stood. ‘Take him away.’ But as the Pretender reached the door Finn said softly, ‘Claudia never believed in you.’ The Pretender stopped and laughed. ‘No?’ he whispered.
He turned his head and gazed back at Finn. ‘I think she believed in me more than she ever believed in you.’ The words stabbed Finn; a breathtaking pain. He whipped his sword out and advanced on the Pretender, wanting only to run him through, to destroy this venomous infuriating image of all he had never been. But Jared was in his way, and the Sapient’s green gaze held him still.
Without turning, Jared said, ‘Get him out,’ and the guards hustled the Pretender away.
Finn threw the sword down on the wrecked floor.
‘So we’ve won.’ Keiro picked it up and examined the blade.
‘A ruined kingdom, maybe, but all ours. We’re Winglords at last, brother.’
‘There’s a greater enemy than the Queen.’ Finn stared at Jared, still sore. ‘There always was. We have to save ourselves and Claudia from the Prison.’
‘And Attia.’ Keiro looked up. ‘Don’t forget your little dog-slave.’
‘You mean you’re concerned about her?’ Keiro shrugged. ‘She was a pain. But I got used to her.’
‘Where’s the Glove?’ Finn snapped.
Jared drew it from his coat. ‘But I told you, Finn, I don’t understand. . .‘ Finn came and took it. ‘This hasn’t changed.’ His fingers crumpled the soft skin. ‘Not at all, while everything around falls into dust. It brought Keiro Out and Incarceron wants it more than anything in the Realm. It’s our only hope now.’
‘Sire Finn turned. He had forgotten Medlicote was there. The thin man had stood just inside the door all this time, his slightly stooping posture more obvious in his faded coat.
‘Might I suggest that it is also our only danger?’
‘What do you mean?’ The secretary came forward, hesitant. ‘It’s clear the Prison will destroy us all if it can’t have this object. And if we hand it over then Incarceron will leave its Prison and all the Inmates will be left to die. It is a terrible choice you face.’ Finn frowned.
Jared said, ‘But you have a suggestion?’
‘I do. A radical one, but it might work. Destroy the Glove.’
‘No.’ Finn and Keiro said it together.
‘Sirs, listen to me.’ He seemed scared, Finn thought, and not of them. ‘Master Jared admits he is puzzled by this device. And have you thought, that it might be the very presence of the Glove here that is draining the Realm of its power? You only believe that to be caused by the Prison’s malice. You do not truly know’ Finn frowned. He turned the Glove over, then glanced at Jared. ‘Do you think he’s right?’
‘No, I don’t. We need the Glove.’
‘But you said—’
‘Give me time.’ Jared rose and came over. ‘Give me time and I’ll work it out.’
‘We don’t have time.’ Finn looked at the Sapient’s frail face.
‘You don’t, and neither do those in the Prison.’ Medlicote said, ‘You are the King, sire. No one — not even the Privy Council — will doubt that now. Destroy it. This is what the Warden would want us to do.’ Jared said sharply, ‘You can’t know that.’
‘I know the Warden. And do you think, sir, that the Steel Wolves will stand by and allow this new danger, now that Protocol is gone?’ As the candle guttered Finn said, ‘Are you threatening me?’
‘How could I, sire?’ Medlicote kept one eye on Keiro, but his voice was meek and anxious. ‘You must decide. Destroy it, and the Prison is trapped for ever in its self. Allow it access to Sapphique’s power, and you will unleash its horrors on us. Where do you think Incarceron will come, when it is free? What sort of tyrant will it become Out here?
Will you allow it to make us all its slaves?’ Finn was silent. He glanced at Keiro, who just gazed back.
More than ever he wished that Claudia would open the door and stalk in. She knew her father. She would know if this was what they should do.
In the shattered room a broken casement banged in the wind. A gale was howling around the house, and rain began to patter hard against the cracked glass. ‘Jared?’
‘Don’t destroy it. It’s our last weapon.’
‘But if he’s right, if—’
‘Trust me, Finn. I have an idea.’ Thunder rumbled. Medlicote shrugged. ‘I am loathe to say this, sire, but Master Jared may not be the one to listen to.
Perhaps his reasons are not ours.’ Finn said, ‘What do you mean?’
‘Master Jared is a sick man. Perhaps he feels such an object of power could be his cure.’ They stared at him.
Jared was pale; he seemed both astonished and confused.
‘Finn...’ Finn held up a hand. ‘You don’t have to justify yourself to me, Master.’ He advanced on Medlicote as if his anger had found its outlet. ‘I would never, never believe that you would put your own life before the safety of millions.’ Medlicote knew he had gone too far. He stepped back. ‘A man’s life is everything to him.’ A great crash echoed in the house, as if some part of the structure had fallen. ‘We should get out.’ Keiro stood, restless. ‘This place is a deathtrap.’ Jared had not taken his gaze from Finn. ‘We need to find Claudia. The Glove will help us. Destroy it and the Prison has no reason to keep her alive:
‘If they are still alive.’ Jared glanced at Medlicote. ‘I would suggest that the Warden certainly is.’ Finn took a moment to understand. Then with a speed that made Keiro turn, he threw Medlicote back against the wall, one arm jammed under his throat. ‘You’ve spoken with him, haven’t you?’
‘Sire . . .’
‘Haven’t you!’ The secretary gasped for breath. Then he nodded.
Claudia said, ‘Who were you talking to?’
‘Medlicote.’ Her father turned to face the door. ‘One of the Steel Wolves. A good man. He’ll deal with the Glove. Now we’ll see who commands here.’ But the roar of the angry Prisoners almost drowned his words. Claudia glared at him, infuriated by his pride and his stubbornness. Then she said, ‘They’ll trample you down. But there’s another thing we can do to stop Incarceron. We can burn the statue.’ Her father stared. ‘It will never allow us.’