"She’s with me," I said.
The Armourer smiled suddenly. "Oh, it’s like that, is it? Well, it’s about time." He grinned charmingly at Molly. "Delighted to meet you, my dear. I’m afraid I only know you by reputation, and quite a fearsome reputation it is."
"I earned it," said Molly. "Though I’ve always preferred to think of myself as a fun person."
"Did you really turn the whole Berkshire Hunt into foxes for forty-eight hours?"
"Of course," said Molly. "I thought it might give them a little insight."
"Good for you, girl," said the Armourer. "Never did approve of foxhunting. Barbarous sport, mostly followed these days by inbred aristos and nouveau riche arriviste arseholes. So, Eddie…you finally brought a girlfriend home to meet the family. I was beginning to worry about you."
"She is not my…well…" I said. "We’re still working on what we are."
"Right," said Molly. "It’s…complicated."
"How do you feel about him, Molly?" said the Armourer, leaning forward.
"I’m fond of him," she said thoughtfully. "Like a big shaggy dog that no one wants, that’s come in out of the rain, and you haven’t the heart to drive out again."
The Armourer winked at me. "She’s crazy about you, kid."
"Woof woof," I said.
"Now then, lad," said the Armourer, briskly back to business. "What the hell are you doing here? And whatever possessed you to phone ahead? The Matriarch went mad. She’s been beside herself, issuing orders for you to be killed on sight. I’m committing treason against the family just for talking to you like this." He sniffed loudly. "Like that’s going to stop me. I’ve never needed someone else to tell me what’s in the family’s best interests. If you ask me, Mother’s not all there, these days. But even so, you can’t expect me to actually assist you in…whatever you came here for. You should never have come back, Eddie. What did you think you’d find here, for God’s sake?"
"Armourer," I said, "I came here looking for the truth. Just like you always taught me, Uncle Jack."
He sighed heavily and clicked his green frog again. "Oh, all right; there’s your armour back again. I just know I’m going to regret this…I always was too softhearted for my own good. Why did you come down here, Eddie? What do you want from me?"
"I need to discover the real reason why I was made rogue," I said slowly. "I was never a traitor to the family, Uncle Jack. You know that."
"Yes," the Armourer admitted. "I know that. Anyone else I might have believed, but not you, Eddie. You were always so honest and open about your doubts…I couldn’t believe it when they told me. Wouldn’t believe it, till they told me to shut up and do as I was told. Something’s happening in the family, Eddie, that I don’t understand. Factions, infighting, deep divisions over arguments I can’t even follow…And now different parts of the family are actually keeping secrets from each other. I’m being deliberately kept out of the loop, as well, and that’s never happened before. Mother would never have permitted it…She always used to trust my judgement. But things have changed dramatically in the years since you left, Eddie, and not for the better. Do I really need to tell you that stepping down as Armourer in favour of dear little Alexandra wasn’t my idea? Thought not."
"I need your help, Uncle Jack," I said. "I need you to trust me."
"I’m really not going to like this, am I?" He rose to his feet and clapped me on the shoulder. "You’ll probably do less damage if I help you. Look, if you want answers, you need the library. Everything’s in there, somewhere." He fished a key ring out of his pocket, and took off one small key. He handed it to me. "The library will have gone into automatic shutdown once the alarms started, but that key will open all the doors for you. Take good care of that key, Eddie; I want it back. Now get the hell out of here before someone comes in and catches me talking to you."
"Thanks for the key," I said. "But I need something else from you."
"Oh, yes; of course! Molly’s a delightful young lady, Eddie. You have my blessing."
"Not that! Well, thanks for that, but…I need something from the armoury. To be exact, I need something from the Armageddon Codex."
The Armourer stopped smiling. "You want me to give you one of the forbidden weapons?"
"Yes. I need Oath Breaker."
He looked at me for a long moment, and his gaze was very cold.
"Why in the name of the good God would you want that awful thing?"
"There’s something rotten at the heart of the family," I said, meeting his gaze steadily. "You know that as well as I do. I need the one weapon no member of the family can hope to stand against. The one weapon they won’t even think of challenging. It’s the only way I can be sure of avoiding bloodshed, Uncle Jack."
"No, boy," the Armourer said flatly. "You’re asking too much."
"He has to," said Molly. "He doesn’t have time to be subtle. He was shot with an arrow made of strange matter. It’s still in his system, poisoning him."
The Armourer looked at me sharply. "Is this true, Eddie?"
I nodded stiffly. "Punched right through my armour. I thought I’d healed the wound with a med blob, but the strange matter’s still in me. And it’s spreading."
"Dear God…How long have you got, Eddie?"
"Three days," I said. "Maybe less."
"Oh, my dear boy…I heard about the arrow, but I never knew…Strange matter. Cursed stuff. I destroyed the only samples I had. Let me call up some old notes, see what I can do…There must be something I can do…"
"I don’t have the time, Uncle Jack," I said. "That’s why I have to do this quickly, and that’s why I need Oath Breaker. You have my word I won’t do anything with it that would hurt the family."
"I don’t know…" said the Armourer.
"I do," said a harsh, cold, and very familiar voice behind me. "You get nothing, traitor, except what’s coming to you."
We all looked around, and there stood Alexandra, tall and proud as ever. She was dressed all in black and carrying something awful in her hands. Molly started towards her, and I grabbed her arm and held her back. The Armourer grabbed her other arm.
"Don’t move, Molly," he said quietly. "She’s holding one of our most dangerous weapons. She’s holding Torc Cutter."
"What the hell’s that?" said Molly, but she didn’t try to fight us.
"Just what it sounds like," I said. "Hello, Alexandra. You’re looking…very yourself. What are you doing with Torc Cutter?"
"I took it out of the security locker just for you, Eddie," she said. Her voice was almost teasing, but she wasn’t smiling, and her eyes were very cold. "Time’s up, Eddie. Game over."
"Would someone please tell me why everyone’s acting so dramatic?" said Molly.
"The shears she’s holding are the only thing that can sever a Drood’s torc," the Armourer said. "It breaks the lifelong connection between a Drood and his armour. The operation is always fatal. Torc Cutter is a very ancient weapon, older than family history. It’s only ever supposed to be used as a last resort, to bring down a rogue who threatens the whole family, when all else has failed. It hasn’t been used in centuries."
"They look like gardening shears," said Molly, and she had a point. The shears were made of black iron, not steel, and looked like what they were: a simple cutting tool. Bleak and functional, but to the eyes of any Drood they were ugly with vicious significance. One of the few things absolutely guaranteed to kill a Drood. I stood very still and made sure Molly did too. Alexandra wouldn’t hesitate to use Torc Cutter. It occurred to me that I wasn’t entirely sure why she hadn’t already used them. I would have. Perhaps…there was just a chance that part of her wanted me to talk her out of using them. We had been close, once.