The Devil in Green (81 page)

Despite the warmth of the fire and the calm atmosphere, the Caretaker
put Mallory on edge; though the giant appeared human, an alien aspect lay
just beneath the surface that made him unpredictable.

Mallory decided it was time to go. He rose, choosing his words
carefully. 'Thank you for your hospitality, but we have to return to our
own kind.' Miller jumped to his feet eagerly.

The Caretaker nodded slowly, watching Mallory so intently with those

glimmering eyes that it felt as though he was seeing right into Mallory's
head. 'I am not your enemy, Brother of Dragons,' he said. 'In other times
we could stand together in this place and look into the infinite with open
hearts.' His eyes narrowed as if he were squinting to see further. 'But there
is something broken inside you and Existence will not open up until you
mend yourself.'

Mallory shifted uncomfortably. 'Is there a way back so we don't have to
go through the vault?'

'There is.' The Caretaker pulled himself to his full height. 'You must be
careful if you venture into this place again. For the terrible crime that has
been committed, there is a desire that you be punished fully. You will
never be allowed to leave your refuge, I fear. Even here, powers circle to
keep you contained.'

'We've done nothing wrong. Really,' Miller pleaded. 'There's no reason
why we're being made to suffer.'

'There is always a reason,' the Caretaker replied, 'even if you cannot see

it.'

'What is the crime?' Mallory asked.

'The crime is against Existence.'

For the first time the conversation brought some emotion to the
Caretaker's face and it looked very much like distaste; Mallory did not
pursue it further.

The Caretaker took them to the doorway through which he had entered.
'Follow this way. Do not deviate from the path,' he said, holding the
tapestry back. 'It will return you to your home.'

They hurried away, but as the Caretaker faded from view, his voice
floated after them. 'Cure yourself, Brother of Dragons. Existence and all
its wonders await you.'

They emerged in the cloisters soon after. Snowflakes shimmered against
the night sky, the stonework glittering with a coating of frost. When they
glanced back, the doorway through which they had emerged was no longer
there.

'So we know something happened in the cathedral to make the earth
energy stronger, and that surge of power brought this place here,' Mallory
mused. 'And I reckon it manifested so forcefully that it changed everyone
who was here . . . made them think it had always been this way.'

'But because we weren't around, we weren't affected,' Miller said.

'You know what?' Mallory continued thoughtfully. 'I think all the new
buildings that appeared are frightening and oppressive because they're
reflecting the mood in the cathedral.'
'Because everyone's hungry and trapped?'

Mallory looked at the innocent hope in Miller's face and caught the
words he was about to say. 'If everything was right here, maybe we'd see
some kind of shining palace. The Jerusalem that everyone wanted to build
on England's green and pleasant land.'

'That would be wonderful.'

'We all get what we wish for, maybe. So even our secret thoughts have
repercussions.' That thought frightened him immensely.

They found Daniels and Gardener perched on pews in the nave looking
weary and worried. 'We thought you were done for,' Gardener said.

'Where's Hipgrave?' Miller asked.

'He's lost it,' Gardener replied. He looked away uncomfortably.

'You saw what state he was in,' Daniels said. 'After we got him out of
that vault he was nearly catatonic. Trying to get him through those
tunnels
. .
.' He shook his head. 'Suddenly he came out of it like a wild
man. Nearly tore my good eye out. It took both of us to pin him down. In
the end, Gardener had to knock him flat.' He looked towards the altar.
'The things he was saying . . .'

'Where is he now?' Mallory asked.

'We got him to the infirmary. Warwick's given him a sedative, but
I don't reckon it'll do much good. He's completely gone. There was
nothing in his eyes at all. It must have got to him, everything we've
seen
.
. .'

'He was never too stable anyway,' Mallory said. 'So Blaine's lost one of
his captains. What's he going to do now?'

Daniels shrugged. 'We briefed him about what happened, but he wasn't
really interested. Something else is going on, I think. I heard the Blues had
to sort out some kind of fight in the kitchens. Some idiots trying to get
food . . .'

'This place is ready to blow,' Mallory said. 'God knows what's going to
happen when they find out about Julian.'

'So what happened to you two?' Gardener asked.

Miller told them excitedly about the Caretaker and what he had said
about the new buildings.

'You don't want to be consorting with the Devil,' Gardener said
disparagingly when Miller had finished.

Miller began to protest. 'He wasn't—'

'The Devil always lies.' Gardener's eyes were steely and uncompromising. 'The Bible doesn't have any room for things like that. So it's the work
of the Devil.'

'You can't beat logic like that,' Mallory said sardonically.

There was a flash like a drawn blade in Gardener's face. 'You can stand
there being smart, lad, but the way things are going there's only two sides
and you'll have to be on one or the other. And I'm starting to have my
doubts about you.'

'Oh, I'm wounded.'

Gardener held his eye for a moment, then began to clean the mud from
his boots with a dagger.

Miller looked to Mallory uncertainly. 'So we can't trust anything he
said?'

'We trust ourselves,' Mallory said. 'That's all we can do.'

Mallory spent the rest of the night and half the next day pondering the
Caretaker's enigmatic comments, before his thoughts turned to Rhiannon.
In the Court of Peaceful Days, she, too, had made obtuse comments that
had appeared meaningless at the time. Were they both trying to help him
in an oblique way, so that they did not feel they were breaking some kind
of agreement that their kind didn't assist Fragile Creatures? The more he
considered it, the more he thought it was probably true. Her words were
lodged clearly in his mind:
Look to learning to understand the conflict.
He
considered this until, in a flash of inspiration, he had an inkling of what she
had been advising.

Mallory feigned illness to avoid going to Peter's Christian philosophy
class, knowing it would earn him the wrath of Blaine, but it was the only
way he could guarantee that the rest of the knights would be occupied.
With all the other brothers dealing with the rigorous day-to-day routine of
the cathedral, he would be free to investigate unseen.