The Purple Emperor

'Yes,' said Henry promptly. 'I'm an expert.'

They were moving fast through the palace corridors without, as yet, any opposition. Several Sisters of the Silk Guild had joined with Pyrgus's small party. None of them was carrying any obvious weapons, but Henry had learned not to underestimate the Mistresses.

Blue said, 'Henry, I think -' Then stopped. They had turned a corner. Walking towards them, flanked by an escort of seven tall guards, was Comma.

Both parties stopped abruptly. Pyrgus moved his hand in a subtle hold-back signal to Nymph. Apart from the Silk Mistresses, who were supposed to be in the palace anyway, they were all in Hairstreak uniforms. There was a faint chance they might not be recognised, at least not right away, which could be to their advantage.

Comma looked right at him without a flicker of recognition. Pyrgus felt, rather than saw, Nymph move defensively closer. He had a slight advantage in numbers, but he didn't want Comma hurt. For all his faults, the boy was still his half-brother.

One of Comma's guards leaned down to whisper in his ear. Something in the man's expression told Pyrgus this was it – they'd been recognised and any decision that might avoid a fight was about to be taken from him. The guard straightened and snapped an order to his colleagues: 'To arms!' Blue stepped in front of Henry. The Forest Faeries reached for their weapons.

Comma shouted firmly, 'No!'

The guard beside him looked astonished. 'Sire?'

Comma said, 'At ease, men!'

'Sire, this is Prince -'

'Shut up!' Comma said petulantly. 'Shut up! Shut up! You men, you take your orders from me, and I say stand at ease! He looked across, still with the same half-frozen expression on his face. 'Pyrgus, tell your people not to attack us.'

Pyrgus looked at Blue, who shrugged, watching Comma intently. 'Hold fast,' Pyrgus said quietly.

'Are those really Lord Hairstreak's soldiers with you?' Comma asked, frowning.

'Of course they are,' Pyrgus said, his eyes on his half-brother.

Comma turned to his guards. 'You see?' he said. He turned back to Pyrgus, who caught a pleading look of desperation in his eyes. T want you and your people to come with me.' He licked his lips. 'To our father's quarters.'

Blue said, 'We're not going any-'

Pyrgus interrupted her. There was something about Comma's look, his whole stance. 'We'll come,' Pyrgus said.

Blue shot him a sharp glance. 'Pyrgus -'

'Trust me, Blue,' Pyrgus whispered. But he made the old superstitious Sign of the Light behind his back. He wasn't at all sure he trusted himself.

The Emperor's quarters were only minutes away.

Black-uniformed guards stood on either side of the door. Comma walked up to them without hesitation. 'Open the doors for us!' he ordered shrilly. 'You know who I am.' He turned to his personal escort. 'You stay here and guard the doors. All of you. No slacking, mind. Make sure nobody comes in or goes out. Nobody. Without my orders, of course. You understand that?'

It occurred to Pyrgus they might all be a lot safer with Hairstreak's men out of the way completely. 'Dismiss them, Comma.'

Comma rounded on him. 'You be quiet, Pyrgus. My men must guard the door!'

It was back down or fight. Pyrgus said, 'Whatever.' He gave Comma an intense stare. 'But my people come inside with me.'

To his surprise, Comma said, 'Yes, Pyrgus. Yes, they must.'

The Emperor's main living quarters were surprisingly modest in size, so that it felt almost crowded when the whole party moved inside. Pyrgus noted the sudden stiffness in Blue's body. This was where she'd seen their father's body less than an hour after he'd been murdered. Pyrgus wanted to slip his arm around her shoulder to comfort her, but the beastly Comma was actually tugging at his sleeve.

'Pyrgus, I daren't send them away. The Captain knew who you were – you and Blue. If I send them away, they'll get word to Lord Hairstreak. But they aren't allowed to disobey a direct order.' He caught Pyrgus's expression. 'My guards,' he said. 'If they all stay at the door we know where they are.'

'Oh yes,' Pyrgus said vaguely. 'Listen, Comma -'

But Comma, still clinging to his arm, began to burble. 'Besides, I've told them to let nobody in. They'll keep my mother out.'

It hit Pyrgus like a douse of iced water. 'Your mother?'

'Your mother?' Blue echoed.

'They let her out,' Comma said. 'Just after you left. She's – you know, she's free.'' He blinked. 'In the palace… somewhere.'

' Wh let her out?' Blue demanded.

Comma looked at her, then looked at Pyrgus, then looked down at his feet. 'I.'

'Are you out of your mind?' Blue exploded.

Ididn't know… I didn't know she'd be -'

'Of course you knew!' Blue snapped. 'We all knew!'

Henry, who was always uncomfortable in the middle of a family row, asked, 'Is this Quercusia?' He thought the question might somehow calm them down.

Blue rounded on him, surprised. 'How do you know about Quercusia?'

Imet her,' Henry said. I… you know… talked to her.'

Blue closed her eyes. 'My God, and you survived!?'

'Well, sort of,' Henry said. 'She had me thrown into a dungeon.' He remembered Flapwazzle suddenly with a huge pang of guilty sorrow.

But Comma ignored them both. He was still clinging to Pyrgus's sleeve. 'I'm so sorry, Pyrgus. I never thought it would turn out like this. Uncle Hairstreak said I should be Emperor, but he promised he wouldn't hurt you. He said he would give you a new house and you didn't want to be Emperor anyway and we all knew that and he said I could do anything I wanted and give orders and people would have to do what I said. But then when I sent you and Blue away, it was all different. He -'

Pyrgus cut him short. 'Comma, you know our father is alive again.'

Comma blinked. 'Yes.'

'Is he still here? Can you take us to him?'

Comma shook his head. 'No.'

'Where is he?' Blue put in.

'Uncle Hairstreak took him away.'

Blue looked exasperated, so Pyrgus said quickly, 'Where did he take him, Comma?'

'To Uncle Hairstreak's new mansion in the forest.'

Pyrgus looked at Nymph, then Blue. 'Back where we came from!' He turned to Comma. 'You'll have to call your guards off the door.'

But Comma shook his head. 'If I send them away they'll know you've gone and they'll probably guess where you've gone and then they'll send word to Lord Hairstreak.'

'But if you don't send them away, we're stuck here,' Blue said patiently.

'No you're not!' said Comma quickly. 'You can leave by the secret passage.'

Pyrgus blinked. 'Secret passage? There's no secret passage here.' He'd been using the Emperor's quarters for weeks now and thought he knew every inch of it.

'Oh yes there is!' Comma told him smugly. 'Look -' He ran over to the mantle and twisted an inlaid decoration. The whole fireplace moved to one side with a slight grinding sound. Behind it was a small chamber with stone steps leading downwards. 'There's a passage at the end of the stairs. It comes out on the edge of the woods at the far end of the island. There's even an old rowboat if you want it.'

Pyrgus looked at Comma with new eyes. The obnoxious little toad had come up trumps for once. 'This is brilliant, Comma,' he said sincerely. 'If you close the entrance after us and keep quiet, we can be off the island before the guards know we're even missing.'

'We'll close the entrance from the inside,' Comma said. 'I'm coming with you.'

CHAPTER SIXTY NINE

Somebody had snapped the hinges of the door to Brimstone's old lodgings in Seething Lane. Brimstone kicked aside the charred remains as he mounted the stairs, making a mental note to have the door repaired as soon as possible. His magical securities would keep out intruders, of course, but a damaged door was an open invitation.