The Red Queen (103 page)

I opened my eyes to find Maya and the others staring at me intently. ‘Did you use your powers? Did you mindspeak with your friend or the queen?’

I said that I had not found either of them, deciding it was better not to tell her that I would be unable to farseek Dragon even if I located her, unless I battered my way coercively past her natural shields. ‘There is a dog who knows her scent. I have summoned him and he will sniff his way to us and then guide us to where he scented her.’

‘You have Jow’s powers,’ said the boy who had risen from the dust. ‘I hope the queen will give that power to me when she raises her sceptre.’

I was somewhat taken aback at the implication that Dragon would be able to bestow or unlock Misfit powers in anyone, but Maya hushed him and bade him return to Rymer and tell him what had been said, and to explain that we were going to meet Murrim at the Infinity of Blue. The boy nodded and hurried away.

As Maya set off along a street running south, I noted the position of the two towers and realised that we were very close to where Swallow and I had entered the settlement. That made me think of the Long Pier and the emissary’s ship. I suggested to Maya that her father and the other Redland leaders should consider trying to board it if it was still tied up at the end of the Long Pier, as a way of ensuring its weapons could not be turned onto the rebels, and also as a way of preventing the ships outside the bay from attacking the settlement. The weapons could also be turned on the
Black Ship
as a means of staying Salamander’s hand.

‘You think like Rymer,’ Maya laughed softly. ‘It has always been his conviction that the key to a bloodless coup will be to take the ships in the bay before we try to secure the settlement. The problem has always been
how
to take the ships. No one ever imagined that the emissary’s ship and the
Black Ship
would be in port when the Red Queen came. But if you are right about the emissary’s ship being tethered at the Long Pier . . .’

‘It was, earlier today,’ I said. ‘But presumably even if it is not there now, it will come to shore to let the emissary’s women disembark for the masked ball, and remain there, waiting for them to return. If I could get aboard one ship with Matthew . . .’ I stopped, marvelling at how quickly I had taken it for granted that the farseeker had coercive abilities. The truth was that while he had clearly developed his deep probe in that direction, I had no idea how powerful he was.

‘But the masked ball is tomorrow night, and our people will not rise until they have seen the Red Queen,’ Maya said regretfully.

‘It is a pity, but maybe it will not leave Redport immediately after the ball, given that the slave army has to be got aboard,’ I said. I was also convinced the emissary would not leave until Ariel had produced the weaponmachine he had promised in Dragon’s dream.

Maya stopped and gestured for us to flatten ourselves to the wall, and a moment later we heard the sound of marching boots somewhere near. As we waited for it to fade away, Maya said, ‘We must get to the other side of Redport as quickly as possible for my father will be waiting at the Infinity of Blue.’

‘Is it in the south then?’ I asked.

She nodded. ‘It has the best view of the bay in all Redport, and it was once the most lovely of all the infinities, my father says, but now most of it is taken up by the compound of the Chafiri Prime.’

‘The Chafiri Prime,’ I murmured. This was where Ariel was supposed to stay when he was in Redport, and it had been Swallow’s destination when we had parted. I had asked him to try to find out if there was a machine that might be causing the blocking static that prevented me using my powers. It was also where Gilaine and the other slave women who were to be offered to the emissary were being kept until the masked ball, always assuming Gilaine was not already aboard the emissary’s ship.

‘Rymer’s plan calls for us to take the Prime and his wife and daughters hostage, along with the captain of his Ekoni guard,’ Serrik suddenly said.

‘It is true,’ Maya told me. ‘But the plan cannot unfold without the Red Queen. My father has gone to speak with the Landman Vadim, who lives close by. He is the chief of Matthew’s network and I believe that my father means first to find out if he knows what has become of Matthew, and if he does not, to ask his help in seeking him and our queen. That he has asked us to come makes me think he fears the man will refuse us. There has been a lot of bad feeling of late between the Redlanders and the other slaves, because of what is happening to the slave warriors from Quarry. They asked our help to prevent them being taken, but we cannot act without breaking our vow to the Red Queen. If Vadim refuses to help us, I believe my father will ask you to convince him.’

‘Let us go quickly,’ Serrik said. Maya nodded and to my surprise, broke into a soft-footed run. I was startled but set off after her. Maya did not once hesitate as we wove through the tangled lanes between the scythe streets.

Gradually we drew closer to the two towers and when we finally stopped at the side of the nearest scythe street, I realised I could see the Infinity of Dragonstraat. There were many torches and people moving about, but it was too dark and a little too distant for me to see what they were doing.

‘They are preparing for the masked ball,’ Maya said, as we waited for a man leading a mulik pulling a wagon piled high with what looked like boulders to pass. ‘The activity means the city is busier than it would usually be after curfew, which is dangerous in one way, but it also serves us well because most of the Ekoni are here, rather than patrolling other areas.’ She heaved a sigh and said, ‘It is strange but I always imagined the Red Queen would lead us when we broke curfew, not that we would be trying to find her. It is an irony that, because she has not revealed herself, we cannot rouse our own people to search for her.’

Something in her words struck me and, thinking I had misunderstood, I asked her how often she had broken curfew. She answered solemnly that this was the first time she had done so in her life. I looked at Serrik askance, but to my amazement, she nodded as well. ‘That we do so is the sign of how convinced Maginder and my father and Rymer are that the Red Queen has come. But that is not enough. We must know before we can fight. And there are those among our people who would call this a betrayal.’

‘Ssst!’ Serrik hissed, and we all froze. I heard the sound of marching feet, but it faded before we ever saw any marchers.

At last we reached the Infinity of Blue. I would not have known it for an infinity without the Redlanders because most of one side was taken up by a compound. Maya had brought us to a lane that allowed us to see along the front wall of the compound where a group of Ekoni stood stiffly, glaring around, lit by several flickering torches mounted either side of the gate. I thought how rigid the Gadfians were, insisting on creating a square compound in a circular space, but because of it, I could see that the back corner would make a perfect entry point to the compound, being out of sight of the front gate and the sentries, and close enough to a building that one could go up to its second level and drop down onto the wall from a window. Of course the walls had probably been treated to prevent anyone doing that, but if you jumped wide you might avoid touching them. Of course, it would be impossible to return that way, and there was no telling what was inside the walls. Perhaps there were sentries watching the four corners, because if I could identify weaknesses, so could anyone else.

‘Where ith Murrim?’ asked one of the remarkably silent boys, revealing a missing front tooth.

Serrik hushed him but Maya said, ‘He will be here somewhere, watching. We must wait for the signal.’

I was wholly distracted by the nearness of the compound, within which Gilaine and the machine blocking my Talents might both possibly be lodged. I was also uneasily aware that Ariel might be inside the wall, and if so, that he might know I was near. I was still certain he would do nothing to hurt or hinder me until I had played the part he believed I must play in his quest to gain control of Sentinel, but the eerie thought that he might know where I was chilled me. I was anxious, too, because I was doing exactly what I had sworn I would not do, and yet had somehow known I would not be able to avoid, and that was to become enmeshed in Dragon’s quest to claim her kingdom.

‘Come on, Father, we cannot stay here in the open for long,’ Maya muttered.

‘I am not afraid,’ Serrik whispered suddenly, fiercely. ‘I have been waiting to rise against our oppressors since I was born. I have envied the enslaved Landfolk and the others who have been brought here by the slavers, for they might fight, but we must keep faith with our queen. We must live by the oaths of our forebears. I feared that I would grow old like my father then die like my poor grandfather and still my people would be waiting.’

‘We have broken curfew, but we have not broken our oath until we raise our hands to strike down the slavemasters,’ Maya said firmly.

‘Yet Redlanders are obedient,’ Serrik said almost mockingly. ‘And it is important that we continue to be thought so, especially now.’

I wondered exactly when the oath to the Red Queen had first been made, and where, and under what circumstances. It was obvious, too, that many would feel as Serrik did, refusing to act even to save their queen, until Dragon had shown herself to them. And would her resemblance to the first Red Queen truly be enough? Or would she require the sceptre, the whereabouts of which she did not know, to prove herself the queen? And what did raising the dragon mean? Was it merely a poetic statement, or was it the residue of a foretelling of Dragon’s ability to coerce dragonish visions, which the first Red Queen and perhaps all Red Queens had possessed? She would not need a sceptre to use her Talent, but maybe her people thought the sceptre bestowed that ability. Yet she would not be able to coerce dragons unless the block was extinguished.

The more I thought of it, the more vital I felt it was to get rid of the block. Without it I would easily be able to find Dragon, Matthew and Swallow, and I would be able to locate Rushton, for my heart told me I had not been mistaken when I had seen him. And surely this was the moment to attempt it when we were so close.

‘Look,’ said Maya pointing across the infinity.

I turned and saw a light flash.

‘That is my father,’ Maya whispered, sounding relieved. ‘Two flashes mean stay. He will come to us.’

At that moment we heard a shout, stifled. Then silence. Someone called a question from within the compound and two Ekoni hurried from the front of the compound in the direction of the flash of light we had seen. But they soon returned and resumed their places outside the gate.

There was a sound behind us and I whirled to see a small grounp of men approaching stealthily, one carrying a shaded lantern. The man carrying it lifted it and I saw Murrim’s brown face.

‘What happened? Where are the others?’ Maya asked urgently, and only then did I realise there was blood on her father’s face. ‘And who is that!’

‘A Gadfian,’ said one of the men. ‘We had to capture him. He cannot be allowed to report that he saw a group of Redlanders creeping through the city, especially not so near the Prime’s compound. Not with all the unrest in Quarry. There is no telling what the Chafiri would do.’

‘You took a
Gadfian
prisoner?’ Serrik cried in horror. ‘A fullblood Gadfian citizen is a slavemaster, and we have sworn not to raise a hand against them until the coming of the Red Queen. He will not keep silent about this!’

‘Do not be afraid, for I believe our queen has truly come,’ Murrim said.

‘You have seen her?’

‘No, but Matthew has,’ Murrim said, eyes agleam. ‘Vadim said he foresaw her coming and knew that she would be alone and in danger of being captured by the Ekoni. That is why he left Slavetown in haste. I think, though Vadim does not say it, that some plan involving Quarry was brewing and he wanted to try to stop it until he had found the queen. It may be that he wanted to tell us about it – warn us – when he sent for us just before he rushed off. But that last bit is guesswork. Anyway, Vadim said he refused to ask us Redlanders to act until he found her and he asked Vadim and his network for help.’

‘So it was just another of Mad Matthias’s vision?’ Serrik asked.

‘No, Vadim said Matthew found her,’ Murrim said.

My relief was so great at hearing this that I had to exert an effort of will to stay upright. Murrim continued, ‘Vadim did not see her himself, but Matthew called on another of his network and he had her with him. Vadim said the man was all but gibbering when he got to Vadim’s house with the message. He swore that she is so like to the Red Queen on the wall of the Great Hall in the Infinity of Dragonstraat that he thought he was seeing a ghost, save that she was a mere slip of a girl. A girl!’ He shook his head wonderingly. ‘And it was not only the man that saw her. His bondmate and sister and his own and his sister’s sons saw her. Matthew stayed there until the end of curfew tolled then he set off, telling the man to let it be known he had found her and was taking her to Slavetown to us, presumably, by the secret way. The idiotic thing is that we could have bumped into them.’ He shook his head in wonderment. ‘Rymer and Maginder must be telling her our plans even now. It is a pity this ball is looming, for the gates will be left open tomorrow night. A rare occurrence and most inconvenient, because otherwise we would have been able to wait until the gates close tonight at dusk and present the queen at the Infinity of Hope, summoning the whole of Slavetown to see her. But maybe it would have been too soon in any case, and we will do it the very next night. And the activity about the town tomorrow will provide plenty of cover for us to bring in a goodly number of Redlanders who dwell outside Slavetown to meet her during the day. The main thing is for enough of us to meet her that everyone has either done so themselves or knows someone who has.’

‘But aren’t the Quarry slaves to be marched aboard the emissary’s ships the morning after the ball?’ I asked.

Murrim gave me a startled look as if he had for the moment forgotten about me. ‘It was so, but Vadim told me there is a change. The Quarry slaves will be marched to Redport the day after the ball as planned, but they are now to be shackled in groups outside the city until dusk, so that curfew can be imposed before they are brought in. Of course it is the Chafiris’ attempt to stop any resistance. They are not concerned about Redlanders, but I fear they have got wind of some plot and the Ekoni will be out in rabid force. Not just the main body of them, either, but all of the household Ekoni as well. From Vadim’s hints, the Quarry folk will not go quietly and I cannot say I blame them. But it would be a slaughter, unless we are able to aid them. Before we can do that the Red Queen must be revealed to her people and there is so little time.’