Lammas Night (41 page)

“What did I tell you was the significance of that act, in esoteric terms?”

William leaned his head against the back of the chair, kneading at his eyes with the heels of his hands.

“Do you really want me to remember that far back?” he muttered. “Let's see. He—ah—had taken on the official protectorship of the old religion.”

“That was the lesser possibility,” Graham agreed. “What was the greater?”

“That he—ah—assumed the position of god incarnate for his people and actual head of the—” William sat bolt upright with a start. “Bloody hell, Gray, I didn't do
that
, did I?”

Graham smiled bleakly. “I certainly hope not. I can't say how they all construed it, but I'd be willing to bet you that at least some of them read it that way. You
certainly
assumed a kind of protectorship. That was inevitable, I suppose.”

“But that's an entirely different—”

“Yes, it is. But don't you remember the look on Conwy's face? He said, ‘In my religion we do not kneel to any man.' But he'll kneel to a god, Will. So would a lot of the others.”

After a short, strained silence, William cleared his throat.

“That's—ridiculous. I'm not their god—and I don't know the first thing about magic so far as practice is concerned.”

“I know that. Let's hope I'm wrong. Anyway, it isn't something we'll resolve by further discussion tonight.” He glanced at his watch again. “You really should try to get some sleep. The others will be back soon, and then I'll have to get back to London. Mr. Wells has given us a lot of work tonight.”

“You go ahead when you have to,” William murmured. “I really don't feel like sleeping.”

Graham gazed at him compassionately, then stood and moved his chair around so he could sit on it straight on, knees nearly touching William's. He did not really want to pull out the last item in his reserve where William was concerned, but perhaps it was time. The prince definitely should be asleep when the authorities arrived. As William looked up at him quizzically, Graham sat forward a little, fingers lightly intertwined, elbows resting on his knees.

“If you want, I can help you to sleep,” he said softly.

“With something from your black bag over there?” William shook his head quickly. “No, thank you.”

“Actually, that isn't what I had in mind at all. You don't remember because I asked you not to, but that night at Oakwood, after we talked to Alix, you gave me a very special gift. You gave me your trust,” he added at William's look of question. “That trust is a very powerful tool. If you want to learn, I can teach you how to use it now, to help you to sleep.”

William stared at him incredulously. Graham could almost hear the thoughts racing by as the prince reviewed that other night and could find no hint of what Graham was talking about. As William shook his head, still obviously unable to remember, Graham knew that the trigger he had set would work. The memory block would not be so complete if that were not so.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” William said. “Where were we?”

“In your bedroom. I won't go into details because you'll remember them yourself soon enough, but you went into a hypnotic trance for me. You can do it again if you want to and remember everything that happened that night.”

William squeezed his eyes shut for several seconds, then opened them, still staring at Graham blankly. “I don't think you're lying, but I honestly don't remember what you're talking about. I went into a trance?”

Graham nodded slowly.

“What—” William swallowed audibly. “What did I say?”

“Nothing incriminating,” Graham replied with a reassuring smile. “I think you may have said ‘yes' once or twice. Alix had asked me to give you a sedative so she and I could work undisturbed. I put it in your nightcap, but I wouldn't give it to you without telling you first. Even after I persuaded you to drink it, you were fighting it. Then you went into a trance, just to show me that
you
trusted
me
, I suppose—even if you weren't sure we trusted you.”

“Why don't I remember, then?”

“I felt it was better you
not
remember just then. I did leave you with a posthypnotic trigger like you saw me use with Michael, however. The very fact that you can't remember is proof positive that it took. Would you care to try it?”

A tiny smile was playing at the corners of William's mouth, as if he could not quite make up his mind whether Graham was serious, but the trust was there, too.

“All right,” he said simply. “What do I have to do?”

“Just close your eyes for now,” Graham said. “In a moment, I'll ask you to open them again, while you're in trance, because I want you to realize that you can. For now, just close them and take a deep breath.”

As William obeyed, Graham leaned forward slightly and laid his hand across the prince's forehead.

“Let it out now and let go. Remember.”

Immediately, Graham felt the initial rigidity dissolve. He let himself relax a little as he took his hand away, sitting back in his chair. A slow, lazy smile was spreading across William's face.

“It feels a little strange, doesn't it?” Graham said conversationally. “But I can see that you remember now. Stay in trance, but you can open your eyes if you want to. Tell me how you feel.”

William opened his eyes and blinked several times, slowly. “I thought I'd feel groggy or something.”

“No. You did the first time, but that was because of the drug. Right now, you probably feel—ummmm—perhaps a bit lethargic, like you haven't much inertia of your own. If I were to stop talking and leave you alone, with nothing to think about, you'd probably drift back into a sort of floating state. You might even go to sleep.”

William seemed to digest that information, but he did not volunteer any comment. Graham knew that he was in deep.

“Do you remember that night now?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Good. In the morning, you'll find that you still remember it. For now, though, you expressed a doubt earlier that you'd be able to sleep. That's understandable, but I think sleep would be a good idea. It's been a very long day. Are you willing to let me arrange things so you'll be able to relax and get some rest when you go upstairs?”

William nodded slightly. “I don't want to forget, though.”

“I understand, and I agree,” Graham said. “Taking life should never be easy. We have to live with our responsibilities. Still, I think you can let your unconscious work on putting things in their proper perspective while you sleep, so that your nerves don't interfere with the other things you have to do. Would that be all right?”

“Yes.”

“Fine. Why don't you close your eyes again, and in a little while I'll ask you to come out of trance. Before that, I want you to know that when you go upstairs and lie down on your bed, you're going to find it very easy to fall asleep. In fact, as soon as your head touches the pillow, you'll find yourself slipping into a deep, refreshing sleep. You'll sleep soundly until you're awakened. While you sleep, your mind will do whatever is necessary to sort out the many things that have happened tonight so that you can deal with them effectively. You'll probably find that you've achieved some distance and perspective when you wake up. That can help to sustain you through the difficult times which may lie ahead. Do you understand?”

“Yes, came the whispered reply.

“Is that all right?”

William nodded slightly.

“Very good. Take another nice deep breath, then, and let it out slowly. On the count of three, I want you to come out of trance, pleasantly drowsy and ready to go to bed but remembering everything. One … two … three.”

William opened his eyes on “three” and looked at Graham, blinked, then grinned in spite of himself as he had to cover a wide, uncontrollable yawn.

“Remind me never to doubt you again,” the prince said, stretching and shaking his head around another, lesser yawn. “That was very odd. Are you
sure
it wasn't magic?”

“Afraid not,” Graham said with a smile. “It's useful in magic, but it's only a tool.” He rose and gestured toward the door as William also stood. “On up to bed with you now. It really
has
been a long day. I'll look in on you in a few minutes, but I fully expect you to be oblivious. We'll talk more in the next day or two.”

He saw the prince to the door and watched him disappear down the hallway, then went back to gather up the contents of his medical kit. He was nearly finished when the brigadier joined him.

“How's he doing?” the older man asked.

“Well enough,” Graham replied, snapping shut the lock on the bag. “He didn't think he'd be able to sleep, so we worked in trance for a few minutes. What an incredible subject.”

“That doesn't suprise me in the least,” Ellis said with a gentle smile. “He's turning out to be an incredible man.”

“Yes, you know, you're quite right,” Graham murmured, resting both hands on the bag. “If I'd said a thing like that before this evening, I would have suspected my own bias in his behalf, but he really did do an incredible job. And the part with Wells—” He glanced distastefully at the empty swivel chair and fought down a shiver. “I didn't want him to have to do that, on top of everything else.”

“He has a very strong sense of duty,” the brigadier said, moving toward the door as Graham shook off the memory and joined him. “By the way, Michael and Denton got back a few minutes ago. They're waiting in your car.”

“I assume everything went all right?”

“As planned. With the full moon, no one even noticed the fire. However, you may want to jog someone at the Admiralty about Wells being overdue, when you get back to London. That Rolls is altogether too distinctive. We shouldn't want some local to stumble on it in the morning who doesn't know William was staying with me and start a panic about
him
being the victim.”

“Good Lord, no! That's the last thing we need.” He paused just inside the door. “Incidentally, you'd better suggest that William try to arrange a sea burial or cremation as soon as is decently possible—and no inquest. I don't know what family Wells had, but I shouldn't imagine they'd object to a royal duke making the arrangements. Hard to refuse, in any case, and a gracious gesture on William's part.”

“So long as they're not in on Wells's extracurricular activities, I should think you're right,” the brigadier agreed. “If they are, perhaps I can bring additional pressure to bear. Don't worry about a thing. By the way, I dismissed your other two men before Michael and Denton left—sent them off by another road. No point chancing they'd see the Rolls leaving again and wonder later on. Flynn will stay the night just in case I need someone. You know, it's occurred to me that he might prove an ideal replacement for Wells eventually—provided he vets out suitably in other ways, of course, and that William agrees. What do you think?”

Graham nodded wearily. “I think it's a little premature, but it's possible—if Dame Emma doesn't hex us all for taking him away,” he added with a grin. “At least he's one of us. I'll have Denny work up a dossier. Oh, and tell William that as soon as I receive official notification of Wells's death, I intend to send Michael over on loan. Hopefully, Mr. Wells's little Thulist cronies won't be able to prove a thing, but I won't have them taking potshots at William in retaliation, whether figurative or literal.” He sighed. “Why do I have this sudden, awful feeling that Sturm is laughing right now?”

“Odd, I was thinking about him myself,” Ellis replied, “but I hadn't pictured him laughing. Rather the reverse, in fact. I was thinking about Cousin Dieter, too.”

“Dieter?”

As Graham stared at him in surprise, Ellis fished a pipe out of an inside pocket and sucked on it experimentally, one eyebrow raised.

“Oh, I know we'd agreed to break off relations with him,” the old man continued, “but I wonder whether it might not be valuable to send a message, anyway, just to test how far back the ripples extend from tonight's piece of work. The Thulists aren't going to take Wells's death kindly.”

“I don't take Wells's betrayal kindly, either,” Graham said coolly. “I think I'll want to consider very carefully before I let on that I know anything about it.” He glanced down at his feet, then back at the brigadier. “Am I being too rigid, Wes? Do you think it's possible to be as far into the dark as Dieter is and still retain a spark of light? I keep seeing those photos.…”

The brigadier fiddled with his pipe for a few seconds, then sighed and touched Graham's arm reassuringly.

“Let me put it this way, son. I'm not saying that what he's done is right—God knows. But if I were in your place, I believe I'd try very hard to imagine why he would have sent those photos in the first place, unless it was an expression of total honesty. Sometimes men have to do things they really don't want to do and which seem very wrong to those around them. Sometimes those things
do
turn out to be wrong—but not always, perhaps. I'm not saying that's necessarily the case with Dieter, but—Well, you're the only one who can decide how
you
feel about him, aren't you?”

Graham considered for a moment, then gave the brigadier a bleak smile.

“I'll think about it, Wesley.” He paused just a beat, then went on. “I don't suppose you'd consider coming up to London for a few days until things settle down? I could use your advice.”

“Why not?” Ellis grinned as he chewed on his pipe again. “I'll need to drive William and his valet back to the Palace in the morning, anyway, since you sacrificed his beautiful Rolls-Royce. I can see about that code book for starters, too.”