Faerie Wars 01 - Faerie Wars (28 page)

But most extraordinary of all was Madame Cardui herself. The Painted Lady reclined in a black lace peignoir on a pile of cushions, attended by her orange dwarf and translucent Persian cat. Miniature mechanicals chattered busily on the table beside her, manufacturing exotic bonbons and sachets of strange powders. She was slim as a reed, except for her bust which retained the vast enhancements of her theatre days. The skin beneath the heavy make-up was veined and networked with fine wrinkles, but her eyes were dark and bright and liquid as they'd ever been.

She smiled to show her scarlet teeth. 'Boy Blue,' she greeted Blue warmly, 'what a delight to see you again so soon.' She patted a place beside her. 'Here. You must sit here, by me.' Her dwarf scuttled to arrange the cushions as Blue sat.

'Are we alone, madame?' asked Blue casually.

The Painted Lady drew a deep breath through her nose, as if sampling the heavy incense smell. 'Alone, but perhaps not yet entirely private,' she said grandly. She waved a languid hand. 'See to it, Kitterick.'

The orange dwarf grinned broadly as he hurried to a table near the door. He took a small brown cone from a cedar casket and held it to a nearby glowglobe until the tip began to smoulder, then set it down on a shallow metal incense dish. As he scurried back to his mistress, the cone erupted like a firework, scattering an ornate silence spell across the room.

'There!' the Painted Lady said, and sighed. She pushed herself into a sitting position and stretched. 'Well, Highness,' she said briskly, 'this will be about the Crown Prince, I suspect.'

Blue nodded. 'Yes, Madame Cynthia.'

T thought he was back safely.'

'He was,' Blue said. 'My father decided to translate him to the Analogue World.'

Madame Cardui pursed her lips. 'Probably the safest place until things settle.'

'Unfortunately,' said Blue, 'someone sabotaged the portal.'

'Ah,' said Madame Cardui. She looked at Blue thoughtfully. 'An attempt on his life, do we suspect, or simply someone making mischief?'

'An attempt on his life,' Blue told her. She decided not to mention the poison. She trusted the Painted Lady as much as, if not more than, any of her informants, but experience had taught her information was best dispensed on a need-to-know basis. 'The thing is, I think someone also tried to kill him before he returned to the palace.'

'We're not talking of Hairstreak?'

'No, someone else.'

'And you believe it may have been the same person who arranged to sabotage the portal?'

'I think it's possible,' Blue said.

'Do we know who it was tried to kill him while he was on his little adventure in the outside world?'

'I don't,' Blue said soberly. 'I was hoping you might.'

'I see,' said the Painted Lady.

The translucent cat climbed on to Blue's knee, curled up and went to sleep. She stroked it absently. Underneath the fur, she could just make out its swiftly beating heart, the shadow of its twined intestines and the outline of a half-digested mouse. 'You managed to track him down for me,' Blue said. 'At that time I wasn't interested in where he'd been. Now I am. Do you know?'

Madame Cardui pushed herself painfully to her feet.

'Have you realised even you must grow old one day?' Before Blue could reply, she waved a hand grandly and went on, 'No, of course not, my deeah. Why should you dwell on such things? You are scarcely a woman yet, for all your birthright and intelligence. Why think of winter when you have only just begun to enjoy the spring?' She sighed. 'Shall I tell you the worst thing about growing old -- worse even than the pains and aches and loss of looks? Your memory wizens. Oh, the unimportant parts remain. You can still remember vividly some stupid boy you kissed when you were five. But you forget what you did last week. Such a bore. I believe I may be able to help you, but I shall have to check.'

The orange dwarf took her elbow solicitously as she walked to a section of the wall that transformed itself into a chaotic hypnopattern at her approach. 'Be still,' she murmured and the wall settled down at the sound of her voice. She placed the flat of one palm on the surface and a deep cavity appeared. From it she extracted a deck of playing cards. 'My marvellous deck,' she said. 'Did I ever tell you I was once a conjurer's assistant? The Great Mephisto. Such a handsome man and so skilled with his hands. But he never had a pack like this.' She riffled through it until she found the Jack of Hearts. 'Hold still, Kitterick,' she said and pushed the card into Kitterick's head.

Kitterick froze and his face took on a vacant look. 'Crown Prince Pyrgus Malvae,' he said woodenly. 'Son of Apatura Iris the Purple Emperor, heir to the Peacock Throne, colour of hair red, colour of eyes brown, height five feet and -- '

She cut him off with a wave of her hand. 'Scroll to Search Node Seven. Query all antagonistic encounters within a six-week -- ' She hesitated and looked at Blue. 'Is six weeks enough?'

'Perhaps two months,' Blue said. 'To be on the safe side.'

'Within an
eight-week
period,' Madame Cardui told her dwarf.

'Lord Hairstreak,' Kitterick said promptly. 'Crown Prince Pyrgus broke into his manor and stole his golden phoenix after which Hairstreak ordered his immediate detention. Huntsmen -- '

'It wasn't Hairstreak,' Blue said. 'Pyrgus told me that himself.'
Hairstreak never got near me. It was someone else who nearly killed me.
'But I think it may have been after he took the phoenix,' she added.

'Scroll forward,' Madame Cardui ordered.

'Groumu,' Kitterick intoned.

'What?' Blue frowned.

'I think it may be a name,' Madame Cardui suggested. 'Is it a name, Kitterick?'

'Yes.'

'Who is this Groumu?' Blue asked.

'Continue listed enquiries, Kitterick,' Madame Cardui ordered.

'Groumu, Security Guard Sergeant, black hair, brown eyes, height six feet one inch, age forty years and four months, assaulted Crown Prince Pyrgus on the first day of the second moon. Jocurm, Security Guard, hair brown, eyes blue, height five feet ten and a half inches, age twenty-nine years and one month, assaulted Crown Prince Pyrgus on the first day of the second moon. Praneworf, Security Guard, hair brown, eyes blue-grey, height five feet eleven, age thirty-three years and seven months, assaulted Crown Prince Pyrgus on the first day of the second moon -- '

'Busy day,' the Painted Lady murmured.

'Batches, Security Guard -- '

'What did these guards do?' Blue asked quickly.

'Assault with grievous bodily harm,' said Kitterick. 'Attempted murder, level eight.'

Attempted murder!
Blue felt her stomach tighten. Was this what Pyrgus meant? An attack by somebody's security guards?
It was someone else who nearly killed me.
That didn't sound like a bunch of guards. It sounded more like a single person. Unless Pyrgus meant whoever it was set the guards on him. But even then, it was only a level-eight assault, which was technically attempted murder, but actually only meant they'd beaten him unconscious. A serious assassination attempt would have to be at least a --

'Level nine,' Madame Cardui commanded Kitterick. 'Examine level-nine encounters.'

Kitterick clicked audibly and jerked his head. 'Pratellus,' he said. 'Crambus, Security Guard Captain, hair black streaked grey, eyes brown, age forty-four -- '

Blue cut him short. 'What did he do to Pyrgus?'

Kitterick's face became immobile except for his eyes which began to circle in a clockwise direction. An odd sound emerged from his mouth, rather like a stuck ratchet.

'Probably this Pratellus did nothing himself,' Madame Cardui explained. 'A level-nine encounter carries the
potential
of serious harm, even death, but the person encountered may not be the one who does the deed.'

Blue frowned. 'I don't understand.'

'Well, for example, Pratellus might have held your brother's arms while someone else stabbed him. Or he might have handed someone a scimitar to decapitate him. Or he might have led him to the gallows or some other place of execution. Or -- oh, please don't distress yourself, my deeah: I am speaking
hypothetically.
All we can say is that the brave captain was
involved
in an attempt on your brother's life, not that he was directly responsible.'

'How do we find out who
was
directly responsible?' Blue asked a little crossly. It was sometimes difficult dealing with people of Madame Cardui's age. They had a set way of doing things that wasn't always fast enough.

'Kitterick, move to level ten!' Madame Cardui said imperiously.

Kitterick clicked again. 'Chalkhill, Jasper,' he said loudly. 'Hair dyed, eyes baby blue, height five feet seven inches, age deleted from official records following substantial bribes. Brimstone, Silas, hair gone, eyes bloodshot blue, height five feet and ten inches, age ninety-eight years and ten months.'

'Chalkhill and Brimstone!' Madame Cardui breathed. 'It seems we have found who tried to kill your brother.'

'Who are Chalkhill and Brimstone, Madame Cynthia?' asked Holly Blue. The names rang a bell from somewhere, but they certainly weren't members of any of the Noble Houses and if they were in politics they didn't hold important offices.

'They are in
trade?
said Madame Cardui, somehow managing to make it sound like a disease. 'Faeries of the Night, of course.'

'In trade?'

Madame Cardui allowed her eyes to flicker upwards. 'My deeah, they sell pots of glue.'

That was where she'd heard the name. Chalkhill and Brimstone Miracle Glue -- she'd seen it in the servants' quarters. 'They manufacture it as well, don't they?'

'I suppose so,' Madame Cardui said dismissively. ' Chalkhill's background is moderately interesting. He had something of a reputation as a hairdresser. Then he became an interior decorator. Distinctive style, but a little too flamboyant for my taste. He was brought up by an aunt. Quite a decent woman, by all accounts, but one understands Jasper poisoned her for her money.'

Blue was alert at once. 'Poisoned? He didn't use triptium, by any chance?'

'I've no idea. It was merely a rumour -- nothing was ever proven. But he did inherit her entire estate which he sold off for a substantial sum. He was in the process of squandering it when he met Brimstone.'

'What's Brimstone's background?' Blue asked.

'Sorcery,' said Madame Cardui promptly. 'Necromancy and demonology of the very lowest kind. He even makes his fellow Nighters nervous.' She removed the card from Kitterick's head and he escorted her back to her cushions where she lay down again. 'No doubt about it, Your Highness -- either or both of those two are quite capable of an attempt on your brother's life.'

Blue looked at her. 'Better tell me where to find them,' she said grimly.

'Did it hurt?' Blue asked curiously. 'The card-in-the-head thing?'

'Not exactly,' Kitterick said. Madame Cardui had insisted he come along with Blue as protection. 'But it makes you feel peculiar.'

'How does she do it? Some sort of spell?'

'Oh no, Serene Highness -- I've got a slot.' He parted his hair and bent over so Blue could see. There was a metal-lined slot let into his skull. 'The information is coded on the cards -- they're made to look like an ordinary deck so no one will suspect. All I do is read it off them. It requires a little training, but that's mainly so you don't fall over when you have a card in your head.'

'Good grief,' Blue said.