The Purple Emperor

The cloaked figure behind him took three steps forward and threw back his hood.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

'That wasn't Daddy!' Blue said wildly.

Pyrgus said nothing.

'It can't have been Daddy – Daddy's dead! I saw him dead!' She couldn't stand still. She paced the length of the private antechamber, then paced back again. There were tears in her eyes. 'It wasn't Daddy! It wasn't! It wasn't!' She hesitated. 'It wasn't, was it, Pyrgus?'

'It looked like Daddy,' Pyrgus told her dully.

She could still see every movement of the hood, the fold of the cloth as it slipped back. She could see her father's eyes turning towards her. She could see the hasty repairs done to the ravages the Analogue World weapon had wrought on his face.

'It could be a double,' she said. She was aware of her hands trembling. 'Just somebody who looks like him. Or a magical illusion. Something Hairstreak and Hamearis arranged between them. They'd do that, you know. Hairstreak would stop at nothing to -'

'I don't think it was a double,' Pyrgus said. 'I don't think it was an illusion either.'

Neither did Blue, not really. The moment the figure uncloaked, she'd known. It was all there, in the shape of his body, the tilt of his head, even that curious open way he held his left hand. Besides, while an illusion or a double might pass muster for an hour or two, maybe even a day, Hairstreak knew there would be no question of pacts or changes in the way the Realm was run. No fake could possibly stand up to the sort of scrutiny that would bring. What she'd seen had to be real.

The emotion hit her like a tidal wave. Her father was alive again! She could see his face, hear his voice. She could feel the touch of his hand on her cheek. They could walk together, talk together as they once had. It could be as it was before!

Then, as suddenly as it came, the wave ebbed. It was not as it had been before. Their father had refused to talk to them, to approach them, refused even to stay in the throne room. He had showed his face, woodenly confirmed the agreement with Lord Hairstreak, then walked out. It wasn't right. Nothing was right. Softly, without warning, Blue began to cry.

Pyrgus was by her side at once, his arm about her shoulders. 'It's all right, Blue. Everything's going to be all right.'

Empty words, and they both knew it. 'Do you believe Hamearis?' Pyrgus looked at her blankly. Blue blinked back her tears. 'He said Daddy was never really killed, never really dead. He was only in a coma and when Hairstreak took him out of stasis he… he just sort of woke up. Do you believe that?'

Pyrgus said very carefully, 'I suppose that's possible. I mean, people do go into comas. Sometimes. I mean -'

Blue seized him by the shoulders and shook him. 'Do you believe it, Pyrgus? Do you believe that's what happened?'

Miserably, Pyrgus shook his head. 'No.'

Blue stared at him bleakly. 'They must have brought him back,' she said. Her words were scarcely more than a whisper. They hung in the chamber like a sentinel of doom.

Pyrgus said nothing.

With a huge effort Blue stopped crying and used a corner of her gown to dry her eyes. She shook her head. 'Nothing. Nothing.' For a second she thought the tears might start again, but she forced them back and said briskly, 'Have someone fetch the Gatekeeper.' As an afterthought she added, 'And Madame Cardui. I think we're going to need all the advice we can get.'

Although Madame Cardui was staying at the palace, she was not in her quarters according to the servant sent to fetch her. Fortunately Gatekeeper Fogarty found her somewhere. At least, the two of them arrived together. Blue thought they looked smug about something, but had too much on her mind to find out what. She told them what had happened.

'Hairstreak can resurrect the dead?' Mr Fogarty put in the moment she drew breath.

'Necromancers can,' Pyrgus said. He had a shamed look, as if he was talking about an obscenity. 'Some of them. A few of them. Most of them can only talk to the… to the… '

'But some of them can?' Fogarty pressed him. 'Some of them can actually do it?' From the intensity of his expression, he seemed to have a personal interest.

'If… you know, if the… if the… if things haven't too far gone.'

'You mean if the corpse hasn't started to rot?'

Pyrgus swallowed painfully. 'Yes.'

'Why didn't you do this right away?' Fogarty asked.

Pyrgus stared at him in astonishment. 'Me?'

'You and Blue. Yes.'

'Resurrect Daddy?' Blue was looking at him wide-eyed. She seemed stunned by his question.

'You liked him, didn't you?' said Fogarty. He looked from one to the other, clearly bewildered by their reactions. 'Come to that, how come everybody isn't resurrected? After battles and so forth?'

After a long moment, Blue said gently, 'It's forbidden, Mr Fogarty.'

'Forbidden by who, for God's sake?'

Blue swallowed. 'Law,' she said. The distress was evident on her face. 'And the Church of Light.'

Frowning, Fogarty asked, 'Is that the only reason?' He sounded incredulous.

Pyrgus was staring at the floor. He looked as if he was going to be sick. Blue shuddered. 'It's just wrong, Mr Fogarty!' she blurted.

But Fogarty wouldn't leave it alone. 'Suppose I died and you put me in stasis, would you be able to have me resurrected then?'

'It's forbidden,' Blue said again.

'By your religion? I'm a Presbyterian.'

Long seconds ticked away. Fogarty thought Blue might be going to cry, but eventually she said almost crisply, 'Gatekeeper, the necromancer would have control of you.'

So that was it! That was why they were so upset. Fogarty leaned forward. 'So it's a zombie deal?' They thought their father had been raised from the dead and now he was some sort of shell commanded by Hairstreak. 'Let me get this straight,' he said. 'Lord Hairstreak stole your father's corpse, then animated it?

And now it's his slave? Doing anything he tells it?'

'Not Hairstreak personally,' Blue said. 'It would have to be a necromancer. Somebody who knows how to do it. But he'd have been working on Hairstreak's orders. Or maybe -' she swallowed again and closed her eyes briefly,'- maybe it was somebody who… who just did it and sold Daddy to Lord Hairstreak afterwards. That's happened sometimes: I read about it in the history books. But it doesn't matter what exactly happened. The thing is, Daddy's soul is trapped and he has to do what Lord Hairstreak tells him. That's why he signed the pact. That's the only way he would have signed that pact.'

Mr Fogarty was frowning fiercely. 'If it's a zombie deal, people will know he didn't sign of his own free will. Nobody will take the pact seriously.'

'Ah,' Pyrgus said, but then looked too close to tears to continue.

'That's why Lord Hairstreak is claiming Daddy was only in a coma,' Blue said. 'If there was no death, there was no resurrection. Hairstreak will say Daddy is acting of his own free will.'

'Is he still here?' Mr Fogarty asked suddenly.

'Who?'

'Your father.'

Blue shook her head. 'No. I don't think so. I don't know. He came with Duke Hamearis, but left after he told us to honour the pact.'

'What about Hairstreak's sidekick? This Duke person?'

Blue glanced at Pyrgus, who shook his head. Pyrgus said, 'He went off half an hour ago.'

'Pity,' Fogarty said. 'We might have kidnapped him. We need a little leverage over Hairstreak.'

Madame Cardui spoke for the first time. 'I'm afraid this has gone beyond simple solutions, Alan.' Blue glanced at her in surprise. She'd never heard anyone call Mr Fogarty 'Alan' before. 'This is a very emotive issue, my deeahs, and a truly dreadful situation. How long before that wretched little man makes the pact public?'

The wretched little man was clearly Lord Hairstreak. Pyrgus said, 'He wants me to step down as Emperor Elect. The pact will be published as soon as I do so.' 'How long can you stall him?' Fogarty asked. 'It will have to happen before my Coronation.' Madame Cardui said, 'Then we must draw up our plans without delay.'