"If you’re planning to run out on the family, why should we
listen to you?" said a female voice in the crowd, only to duck her head down
again as Molly looked at her thoughtfully.
"I’m not leaving the family," I said firmly. "Just going back to
doing what I do best. Kicking the bad guys’ arses, and making them cry like a
baby. Manifest Destiny’s still out there and all the other monsters who’d attack
us in a minute if they thought we were weak."
"We are weak!" said the Matriarch. "You’ve shown them our
defences can be broken!"
"We became weak under you, because you allowed the family to
split into factions," I said, and once again she looked away. "We have to be
strong, united. Shepherds to the flock, not wolves. Hell, if fighting evil was
easy, everyone would be doing it. But don’t worry, Grandmother; from now on
there will be no more fanatics. Just men and women of good will, fighting the
good fight. And anyone who can’t or won’t go along with that can hit the road.
Without torcs."
The Armourer stepped forward. "This is Edwin Drood. He took on
the whole family and won. Who better to lead us? To make us strong again? To
make us what we were always supposed to be? I am the Armourer, and he has my
support."
"And mine," said the ghost of old Jacob.
"And mine," said the Sarjeant-at-Arms.
The crowd looked at the Matriarch. She looked slowly around her,
taking in what she saw in their faces, and finally her proud shoulders slumped,
and she turned away.
"I’m tired," she said. "And Alistair needs me. Do what you want.
You will anyway."
She turned her back on me and walked away through the crowd,
pushing out blindly with her hands, and again the people opened up to let her
pass. No one said anything; no one jeered. She was the Matriarch, after all. And
even after all that had happened, after all she’d done, to me and so many
others, it still hurt me to see her humbled and broken. She was my grandmother,
and she always gave me the best toys at Christmas when I was little, and nursed
me when I was sick.
"Edwin leads us now!" said the Armourer, grabbing my hand and
holding it over my head like a prizefighter. "The greatest field agent of all
time! The truest, bravest son this family ever had! Edwin! Edwin!"
The crowd took up the chant, yelling my name, working themselves
into a frenzy as the great chamber filled with the sound of the family cheering
me, over and over. I found it just a bit scary. I’d never wanted to lead the
family, but it seemed I wasn’t being given any choice. So I’d stick around for a
while. Do what I could. And run away again, first chance I got. I eased my arm
out of the Armourer’s grasp, turned to Molly, and grinned at her.
"It’s been a crazy few days, hasn’t it?" I said. I had to raise
my voice to be heard over the din of the crowd. "Who would have thought we’d end
up here, eh?"
"I’m glad for you, Eddie. But where do I fit into all this?"
"Wherever you want. The family is going to have to reach out to
many of those who were once our enemies. I’ve seen for myself that the distance
between us and the bad guys isn’t as clear and distinct as I was brought up to
believe. We have to learn to work together against the real threats. Like
Manifest Destiny. And who better than you to be our emissary?"
She smiled. "That the only reason you want me to stick around?"
"No," I said. "I need you here because…I need you."
"So," she said. "We are having a relationship, after all?"
"Looks that way," I said.
And that’s how I ended up running the family business. It’s a
strange old world sometimes.