“You might not
care about what happens here but I do. Connor has always been good
to me. The people here are kind and decent. Just because their
politicians did something you don’t agree with doesn’t mean they
are the same. Edward killed more than twelve thousand people the
last time he set foot in Marrich.” She shook her head. “I can’t let
something similar happen because of me.”
A contingent of
guards came running from three directions, filing out from the
Ministers Hall, and from doors to their left and the right. Seeing
that the two were not making any attempt to dash the dozen men
stopped, standing at a respectful distance; but they continued to
watch with wary eyes, their guns never far away. They may be royal
guests, but in the eyes of the Senate Terry was still a criminal
and would be treated as such. That much their presence reminded
her. Though truth told, their bullets would not have left a scratch
on her if she had decided to attack them. She would have torn them
to pieces; there were not enough of them.
Fallo cast a
resentful look at the semi-circle of men who now surrounded them.
He moved closer to his daughter and lowered his voice, so only she
could hear. “We should continue this in private.” Terry nodded,
following him. The guard moved aside to let the King pass, but they
followed closely.
Terry went
straight to the primeval form of her father when they entered the
King’s quarters. His human incarnation closed the doors on the
guard. Fallo lifted his head as she approached – a murderous glint
in his eyes. He was sitting but had clearly being disturbed from
his slumber. No doubt from what the minsters had told his human
form.
Terry cuddled his
head as he drew close. Fallo shut his eyes for a long moment,
humming deeply with content. Opening them again he gazed at her
with baleful eyes.
“At least we’re
here together.” She said, gazing back. He hummed again, forcing his
head against her.
Fallo smiled. “At
least that it one positive consequence of all this.” He sat down on
a small dais. He stared off into the distance, troubled.
Terry looked to
him. “Even if they don’t listen, we have to at least buy Connor and
Darius enough time to find Lord Rilario and get back. I hope
they’re having more luck than we are.”
“What do you hope
to find out from this minister? Even if he has been framed by this
Phantom, he still may not have seen them.”
“Why would Edward
frame a random minister?”
Her father
dismissed the question with a flick of the hand. “He could have
created the same turmoil by framing any of them in the Senate. This
Lord Rilario simply may have been the one who was unfortunate
enough to get chosen.”
Patting primeval
Fallo’s head one last time, she walked over to his human form.
“Possibly, but it just seems too...I don’t know...Edward never did
anything on a whim. He might be mad but everything he did was
always calculated.”
Fallo stared at
her.
“What?”
“We should return
to Earth and hunt this Phantom down.” He gazed in direction of the
door. “To hell with the Senate and their politics, I should deal
with this directly instead of wasting my time here.”
“Dad, no.”
“Why not?”
Terry hesitated.
“Dad don’t take this the wrong way but you’d end up causing a lot
of damage before you caught this Phantom.”
He leaned forward,
his gaze stern. “What are you suggesting child?” Seeing her
reluctance it became clear to him what she meant.
“If
they
get in my way then I will deal
with the humans the same way I deal with any of my enemies. Why
should they be any exception?”
“Killing everyone
who gets underfoot is not the answer! How does that make you any
better than he is?”
Her father
straightened, angered by the remark. His tone became brittle.
“There are always casualties in a fight. I do not go out of my way
to harm the humans or any race, only those who wrong me.
That’s
the difference.” He sat back
in his chair. “Besides, I’ve met plenty of those blundering apes
before and they have always attacked
me
, often with bullets and their other primitive
and destructive weapons. It’s amazing they’ve not killed themselves
yet.”
“Well of
course they’ll attack you if you go looking like
that
.” She pointed to the white
elephant in the corner of the room. Fallo growled from behind
barred teeth.
“Do not
speak of me as if I were a freak. You look exactly the same! We may
have evolved into several different sub species and we may be able
to re-write our DNA thanks to the metal in our blood but we are
still born like
that
.” he
nodded toward his original form. He inclined his head. “Why should
we have to hide our true identities just because the humans are
panicky and ignorant? They kill anything that looks different to
them regardless of how harmless they might be.”
“They’ve always
been like that.”
“That’s not my
problem nor is it yours.”
Terry closed her
eyes, sighing. “Father, please. Can we please try again with the
Senate? Politics is never straight forward. It always takes time
for things to be worked out. Can you please at least try
again?”
He regarded her.
“I will consider it.” He said flatly.
Terry smiled she
knew that was his way of saying yes. She ran up to him and kissed
him on the forehead. “Thanks dad.” She whispered.
He couldn’t help
but smile despite still feeling angry. “Don’t push your luck little
one.”
“Shall I tell them
that you’ll be willing to talk to them again later?”
His smile
vanished. It struck Terry how tired he was. “Yes...” he said
resentfully. “But please say I will be a few hours. I need to have
something to eat and gather my thoughts together.”
“Do you want me to
get Lyle to sit in with you?”
He looked up at
her. “I would appreciate your presence again as well.”
She smiled. “Okay.
I will see you later.” Turning her back she rolled her eyes. She
was just as fed up with politics as he was.
The Pub
The Grove
was one of the worst public houses Connor had ever had the
misfortune to set foot in. A drunken, overweight, middle-aged man
suddenly spewed at his feet. Ok, it
was
the worst pub he had ever been too, he
decided.
Side stepping the
foul smelling puddle of puke, Connor and Darius found themselves an
empty table at the back of the pub. The nearby tables were
deserted, so there was no risk of anyone overhearing them.
Connor glanced
about, taking in his surroundings. Fortunately, the common room was
open plan, with nothing, bar two pillars toward the centre of the
room blocking his view of the entire foul-stinking watering
hole.
The place was
dead. There were only seven other people in besides Connor and
Darius and one of those was the voluminous land lady. She was
currently cursing the man who had thrown up. From the way she spoke
to him Connor figured he was a regular.
Two of the others
sitting at the bar laughed at the sickly fellow, while the other
remaining man, an Alchemist by his appearance, kept himself to
himself at the far end. The other two people in the bar, an older
man and woman, sat at a nearby table eating the meagre food the
place had to offer. They both looked disappointed. Connor figured
they must have come in expecting it to be a quaint, upmarket pub to
have a nice meal with such a name like The Grove. He too had been
fooled.
“What time is it?”
asked Darius, keeping his voice low.
Connor checked his
watch. “About ten to one.” He replied, his gaze shifting over to
the door.
Darius followed
his gaze. “What if they don’t show up?”
“Don’t keep
staring at the door.”
Darius averted his
gaze.
“If they don’t
show, they don’t show. There’s nothing else we can really do.”
Connor looked about. The pub was poorly lit and the plaster was
crumbling from the walls. He also noticed that the table was still
covered in crumbs from the meal of a previous customer...although
how long ago they had eaten was anyone’s guess.
“Should I go get
us a couple of drinks?”
“I was just about
to ask you the same thing. I was going to get a cider, what do you
want?”
Darius shrugged.
“I’m not bothered. I’ll just have the same as you are.”
“Okay.” Connor got
up and moved to the bar, returning a minute later with the two
drinks in hand.
The two of them
sat quietly, occasionally sipping their drinks and casting timely
glances at the door. The minutes seemed to drag by.
Finally, Darius
nodded at Connor’s watch again. Connor glanced at it. “It’s twenty
past.”
“I don’t think
they’re coming.”
“We should wait a
little longer, just in case they do turn up. Lyle said that he was
reliable.”
Darius shot him a
nervous glance. “What is they’ve been caught?”
“Excuse me.”
The two of them
sat back, turning their gaze to the person who approached. It was
the Alchemist from the bar. He was rolling a cigarette as they
approached. “Do you have a light?”
“I don’t smoke,
sorry.” Connor apologised.
The man stared at
him with a thin smile. “That doesn’t really make a difference does
it? I mean, you are a fire elemental, right?”
The comment
irritated him but he kept his cool. “I am...but...”
The Alchemist
threw up his hands in supplication. “I’m sorry, that was a bit
blunt. I didn’t mean to sound cheeky, sorry. I just thought I’d ask
you for a light but thinking about it that were quite stupid how I
said that.” By the time he had finished speaking, he had seated
himself beside Darius. He lowered his voice and leant across the
table. “And you must be Connor.”
Connor looked at
him guardedly. “And you are?”
“A friend. I saw
the two of you come in a while ago and thought you were the ones I
was after but I wasn’t sure. Then I heard you mention Lyle.” He
licked the cigarette paper and sealed the edges. “You shouldn’t
really say his name. Alchemists have great ears.”
“Lots of people
have that name.” Connor offered but he knew no-one else who went by
it.
The Alchemist shot
him a knowing glance. There was no doubt in his expression as to
who they had been talking about. “If you don’t want to speak to my
friend then that’s fine, I can go.” He said, making to leave.
Connor held up a
hand, inviting the man to remain.
Sitting back down,
the Alchemist gave the fire-starter a respectful nod in thanks.
Then he held out his cigarette and said, “So what about that
light?”
Grudgingly Connor
lit it with a finger tip.
Taking a long draw
the newcomer sat back, blowing out a bluish plume of smoke.
“Cheers.”
Connor cut to the
chase. “Can we meet him?”
Taking another
draw the man shook his head. “No. It’s nothing personal. I don’t
think you need to be told how much trouble he is in.”
Connor nodded
understandingly. “How much do you know?”
“About what
happened to him?”
Connor nodded.
“Lots, but not
everything, you know what politicians are like.”
“We think he was
framed.”
“He was but
without any evidence to prove it everyone is going to keep coming
after him.” He tapped the end of his cigarette into an ash tray. “I
know you weren’t sent all this way just to ask me that.”
“I thought we had
been sent all this way to discuss meeting him, it would make things
a lot easier for both of us.”
“Ask me what you
want to know and I’ll try my best to answer.”
Connor leant
forward, folding his arms on the table. “Who framed him?” He asked,
cutting to the chase.
The Alchemist drew
on his cigarette but never took his eyes from the Pyrovite. They
both knew exactly who Connor was referring too. Blowing a trail of
smoke he said, “Your old friend Ed, yes.”
Darius’s eyes grew
as wide as saucers. He looked at Connor, who was just as surprised,
despite having expected it.
“How?”
The Alchemist
glanced about before leaning closer across the table. He tapped his
cigarette again. “I don’t know but it was him, I can guarantee you
that much.”
“Why was he set-up
by him then?”
The Alchemist
shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Did he know
him?”
The stranger
shrugged. “I don’t know. My friend knows a lot of people and I
don’t see him all the time. To be honest we are more acquaintances
than anything else. He may have done he may have not.”
Connor sighed.
“You’re not being much help.”
The man shrugged.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know everything. Maybe you need to ask better
questions.”
Connor narrowed
his gaze. “I was led to belief that you were a very close friend of
his. Yet you seem to know hardly anything at all.”
He took another
draw of his cigarette but said nothing.
Then Connor knew.
“You know a lot more than you are telling me.”
“I don’t
need to tell you anything. I do not know you,
friend
.”
“You either tell
me what you know or you’ll have to speak to my friend. Then you
really will have to tell them everything whether you like it or
not.”
The Alchemist cast
a dubious look at Darius. “What? Him? What’s he going to do?”
The corner of
Connor’s lip curled up. “Not him.”
“Me,” said a woman
as she sat down beside him.
His eyes
widened.