The Purple Emperor

'Ah, Colias,' Hairstreak said. 'So glad you could make it.'

A look of panic flitted across Colias's face. 'I'm sorry, Your Lordship – I forgot what day it was.' He forced a smile that showed rotted teeth and waved one trembling hand in the air. 'But I'm ready now, Your Lord… ah… Your Lord… ah… Your Lord…'

'Ship,' said Hairstreak.

'Ship,' said Colias. 'Ready now, Your Ship. Oh yes indeed.'

'This is your anaesthetist, Jasper,' Hairstreak said.

Chalkhill stared at the walking wreck in horror. The man's eyes were streaming so badly it was odds on he could hardly see. A drop hung at the end of his nose, which probably meant he was suffering from some disease. The tremors in his hands extended to his body at regular intervals, so that he shook uncontrollably all over. His filthy robe hung on his wasted frame like a rag thrown over a tent-pole. This was the anaesthetist} He couldn't remember what day it was and his magical skills didn't even extend to preserving his own teeth.

'Oh no,' Chalkhill said and tried to sit up. At once the leather straps on the operating table snapped around him in a series of audible slaps. 'Yipes!' He struggled wildly, but was firmly held.

'They're for your own good, Jasper,' Hairstreak told him, grinning. 'Can't have you moving when the surgeon gets to work, can we?'

'This will kill you,' said Cyril smugly. 'I told you so, but would you listen?'

Chalkhill didn't even bother to tell him to shut up.

Hairstreak looked at Mountain Clouded Yellow. 'Are you ready to begin, Mountain?'

The shaman nodded.

With a sinking sensation, Chalkhill realised he was supremely expendable in this whole ghastly affair. What mattered was Cyril, who would survive since nobody was messing with his innards, and the Purple Emperor who, let's face it, was dead already and couldn't be killed a second time unless Mountain Clouded Yellow accidentally staked him through the heart or cut his head off.

Hairstreak turned to the supine Apatura Iris. 'Are you ready, Your Majesty?' he asked with mock deference.

The Purple Emperor said nothing. Chalkhill noticed that while his eyes moved slightly, he did not breathe at all.

Black Hairstreak smiled broadly. 'In that case,' he said, 'we'll begin.'

CHAPTER EIGHTY SIX

'What?' asked Brimstone irritably. 'What? What's not quits? I've opened you a portal into the Analogue World. It works. You've arrived. There are demons heading for New York. You can do anything you want now – idiots here don't believe you exist any more. You could have yourself elected President and three-quarters of them wouldn't know the difference.'

'Don't be a fool!' Beleth bellowed. 'Why would I want to waste time in this miserable little world? Oh, no, it's the Faerie Realm I'm after. Several scores to settle that require full portal access.'

'The portals aren't working any more,' said Brimstone, not without a hint of malice. 'I expect you'd have fixed them by now if you could.'

'The direct portals aren't working any more,' Beleth corrected him. 'Demons can no longer reach the Faerie Realm – you're quite correct in that. But what's to stop a two-stage journey?'

It hit Brimstone all at once. Beleth wanted him to open up a second portal! Not between Hael and the Analogue World, but between the Analogue World and the Faerie Realm. Or maybe more than one. Maybe dozens – scores – of portals between the Analogue World and the Faerie Realm; and probably a few more between the Analogue World and Hael.

It was so simple! That way Beleth could invade the Faerie Realm any time he wanted to. All he had to do was send his troops via the Analogue World. And since nobody would suspect the existence of the new portals until they were actually used, Beleth and his demons could lay to waste the entire Realm before anybody even realised what was happening. It would be a disaster of the first magnitude. It would mean the end of the Faerie Realm as they knew it.

'What's in it for me?' Brimstone asked.

CHAPTER EIGHTY SEVEN

They stared down at the body.

'We can't just leave him here,' Pyrgus said.

'Yes, we can,' Nymph said firmly. 'Ochlodes was forest-born and soldier-trained. Any soldier who dies in the forest expects to be left where he fell. The trees take care of the body. That way his soul becomes part of the forest itself.'

Henry chewed his upper lip. 'There aren't any trees down here,' he said. He was feeling ill. Ochlodes's death had been his fault.

Nymph glared at him. 'It's still Ochlodes's belief.'

Blue looked at Pyrgus. 'It's not as if we have any option.'

Pyrgus moved away from her and turned to take in his surroundings. 'Is this the second level? Does anybody know how we got here? Did we fall into a trap?'

Henry's mouth had gone dry. 'I think I -' He swallowed.

Blue moved beside her brother and followed his gaze. She shook her head. 'This isn't the second level. It isn't any level.' She blinked. 'At least it doesn't look like a level to me.'

'It's a service tunnel,' Comma said.

They turned to stare at him.

'Well, just look at it,' Comma said defensively. 'Look at the heating pipes on the walls. I bet if we follow this corridor, we'll find machinery that runs bits of the maze. Uncle Hairstreak would do it that way – it's cheaper than using spells all the time.'

Blue glanced at Pyrgus. 'What do you think?' she asked quietly.

'Why aren't there lights?' Pyrgus demanded aggressively. 'You wouldn't have a service tunnel without lights – it doesn't make sense.'

'How should I know?' Comma muttered. 'Maybe this isn't the main service area. Maybe it's just a connecting passage. You wouldn't need lights in a connecting passage.'

'What do you think, Nymph?' Pyrgus asked.

'Does anyone know how we got here?' Nymph asked in her turn.

'I did it,' Henry blurted.

'Henry,' Blue said, 'I don't -'

But Henry was sick to his heart with the need to confess. 'I did it,' he repeated. 'One of the torches – I was fiddling with a lev-Look, when we were coming down the stairs I noticed the torches were fake. I mean, I don't know about this stuff, but I was fiddling with one of them and it turned out to be a lever and I pulled it and the stairs opened up and we all fell through and I killed Ochlodes.' He finished close to tears.

To his astonishment, nobody started shouting blame. Pyrgus said, 'A lever?'

Henry nodded. He was watching Blue out of the corner of his eye, but she didn't seem upset by what he'd done.

Pyrgus said, 'This must be a service tunnel. The engineers would know about the lever, but they wouldn't use it without a ladder or a portable suspensor spell.'

'And a light,' Comma put in brightly.

'But I ki-' Henry bit back the rest. He was learning that life and death were treated very differently in the Faerie Realm to the way they were at home. Ochlodes was just one more bit of guilt to add to his personal store. He thought briefly of Flapwazzle and shuddered.

'OK,' Pyrgus said, 'let's see if Comma's right and this corridor leads to a machinery bay. But be careful. We don't know for sure yet. There could still be traps, so keep your eyes open.' He hesitated. 'But if this really is a service corridor then we've survived the maze and that's something we have Henry to thank for.'

Henry blinked. He'd killed Ochlodes, and Pyrgus was saying he'd saved them all. In the turmoil of his emotions he found himself thinking he didn't belong here, in this Realm. He didn't have the courage or the toughness, or -

Comma said, 'If it's a service tunnel there'll be a way out.' He grinned, happily.

They began to move as a group down the corridor. Without any further discussion, they left Ochlodes's body where it lay.