Just its presence in the Old Library worried the Droods greatly, but none of them had any idea how to get rid of it.
“I think it’s probably wisest not to disturb the Pook unless we absolutely have to,” William said carefully. “It doesn’t like being bothered. And, it keeps stealing my socks.”
Eddie and Molly turned to Ioreth, who shrugged. “Well, somebody is, and it’s not me.”
Molly turned back to William. “You don’t think the whole family’s going to war qualifies as an emergency?”
William gestured for all of them to lean in close, so he could lower his voice. “How could we be sure which side the Pook would choose?”
They all straightened up, thought about that, then looked around the Library again. The endless rows of books stared silently back, and nothing moved in the shadows between them. As far as they could tell. Molly gestured vaguely at the shelves.
“Are you sure there isn’t a book here somewhere that could tell us how to stop the Nightside expanding?”
William nodded judiciously, acknowledging the point. “There are indeed any number of books about the Nightside. Its nature, its history, and everything and everyone who’s ever been connected with it. But most of what’s in those works is blatantly contradictory and no use whatsoever when it comes to trying to understand what makes the long night work. We have no idea how it maintains itself or what its capabilities or restrictions might be. There are lots of theories, and even more guesses, but nothing in the way of hard evidence. The long night is big enough and dark enough to conceal a great many mysteries. We only recently discovered that Lilith was responsible for its creation.”
“So that there would always be one place on Earth free from the tyranny of Good and Evil,” said Molly.
“Why would God allow that?” said Eddie.
“Mysterious ways, remember?” said Molly.
“Gaea has gone on record, more than once,” Ioreth said diffidently, “insisting that the Nightside serves a necessary purpose.” He looked quickly around him. “I keep worrying she’ll turn up suddenly and tell us to knock it off or else. And given that this is Mother Earth we’re talking about, the or else could cover a lot of really unpleasant ground.”
William shook his head firmly. “No. Gaea has made it extremely clear she has no intention of being Mother Earth again.”
“Do you know why?” said Molly.
The Librarian was suddenly evasive. “There are a great many books on the subject, but since none of the authors have ever spoken to Gaea herself, I don’t think we can accept any of them as definitive. The consensus seems to be she just got really fed up one day, threw her hands in the air, and said All right then, have it your own way! And walked off the job forever.” William stopped for a moment, to think about it. “There have been a great many suggestions as to what the last straw might have been. I tend to favour the fall of Camelot, but that could just be me being romantic.”
“How could she walk out on us?” said Eddie.
The Librarian raised an eyebrow. “It’s not as though there was anyone around powerful enough to tell her not to.”
“Why didn’t she go to Shadows Fall?” said Molly.
“Because that’s where you go when the world stops believing in you,” said William. “And lots of people still believe in Gaea. Much to her annoyance.”
“Have you talked to her recently?” said Eddie.
William became even more evasive, avoiding everyone’s eye. “I may have. My memory isn’t what it was. If it ever was.”
“She lives in that small country town these days,” said Molly. “Would it do any good to send her a message?”
“I’ve no doubt she already knows,” said William. “She knows everything. She just doesn’t care any more.”
Eddie wasn’t so sure about that. The Gaea he’d met at Castle Inconnu hadn’t acted as though she’d given up on Humanity. He suddenly realised he’d been quiet for so long, the others were staring at him.
“Sorry. Just thinking. Go on.”
“Go on with what?” said William.
“Nothing good will come of this invasion into the Nightside,” said Ioreth. “Even if Gaea doesn’t punish us, there are any number of powers and forces in the long night who’d be only too willing to take up the slack.”
“Does that mean you won’t go?” Molly enquired.
“Of course I’m going,” said Ioreth. “I’m a Drood.”
William nodded slowly. “Anything, for the family.”
“Even when it’s madness?” said Molly.
William smiled sadly. “Perhaps especially then. And who knows madness better than me?”
“It’s still not too late to find a way to stop this,” said Eddie.
They all looked around sharply as a bell started tolling. A slow, implacable, foreboding sound, full of terrible significance. Like an iron bell in a cemetery at midnight. Eddie and Ioreth looked at each other, and Molly couldn’t read the expressions on their faces. William slammed the book shut and rose to his feet, all the usual vagueness gone from his face. Something was happening, but Molly didn’t know what.
“Eddie?” she said.
“We have to go,” he said flatly, not looking at her.
Molly grabbed hold of his arm. “What is it, Eddie? Some kind of warning? I’ve never heard anything like that before. What does it mean?”
“The cloister bell isn’t there to warn us of bad things coming,” said William. “It tells us that the worst has already happened.”
“It means a Drood has been murdered,” said Eddie. “And that the whole family is under threat.” He turned to William. “You stay here. Ioreth, look after him.”
“No,” William said flatly. “This could be connected with what’s happening in the Nightside. You and Molly go on ahead. Ioreth and I will catch up.”
Eddie didn’t even pause to nod in agreement; he was already off and running. Plunging back through the stacks, heading for the painting and the exit, with Molly right behind him.
They raced through the Hall, and everywhere they went, more Droods came running. Men and women with fear and panic in their faces, and a grim determination. No one seemed to know who it was that had been murdered, but apparently a body had turned up in the entrance-hall. So that was where everyone was going.
“Does this mean there’s a killer inside the Hall?” said Molly, already fighting for breath but refusing to be left behind.
“No,” said Eddie. “There’s a different alarm for that.”
They ran through the corridors and down the long stairways, until finally they reached the entrance-hall and had to force their way through the packed crowd that had already gathered. Raised voices filled the air, some of them almost hysterical. Eddie took the lead, shouldering people aside when they didn’t move fast enough, and Molly stuck close behind him. When Eddie finally reached the front of the crowd, the Matriarch and the Sarjeant-at-Arms were kneeling beside the unmoving body of a Drood in his armour, with as much anger as sorrow in their faces. Eddie knelt beside them. Molly hung back. This was a family thing, and she could tell her presence would be an intrusion. Eddie stared at the dead Drood, lying face-down with jagged holes in his armoured back.
“What happened?” said Eddie.
“He just appeared here,” the Sarjeant said heavily. “Teleported in. There was a transfer parasite on his back. I crushed it.”
Eddie looked at him sharply. “Why did you do that? It could have told us something.”
“It was a Nightside thing,” said the Sarjeant.
Eddie looked back at the body. “Is that where he died? What was he doing there?”
“Someone in the long night has murdered one of us,” said the Matriarch.
“Do we at least know who this is?” said Eddie.
“We can’t know that till we
lower his armour,” said the Sarjeant. He indicated the ragged holes with an entirely steady hand. “They shot him in the back. Typical Nightside tactics. The only way they could bring down a Drood.”
The Matriarch raised her voice. “Ethel!”
“I’m here,” said Ethel, her disembodied voice calm and comforting. “It’s all right. I know what needs doing.”
The golden armour streamed back into the torc around the dead man’s neck. The Sarjeant took hold of the body and turned it over, revealing Luther’s face. There was blood all over his mouth and chin, and his eyes stared blankly, as though he couldn’t understand how such a thing could have happened to him. The Matriarch made a low, pained sound.
“But . . . I was only just talking to him, earlier!” said Eddie. “How is this possible?”
“It’s my fault,” said the Matriarch. “I sent him to the Nightside. To talk to the Authorities. And this is what they did!”
She broke off and looked away. Eddie thought he understood. The Matriarch believed she’d sent Luther to his death.
“It’s not your fault,” said Eddie. “You couldn’t have known this would happen.”
“I should have known,” said the Matriarch. “It’s the Nightside. This is what they do.”
She rose to her feet. Her face was cold and set, masking the conflicting emotions raging within her. The crowd watched and said nothing. Waiting to be told what to do. The Sarjeant and Eddie got to their feet. They looked at each other, then the Sarjeant moved over to stand with the Matriarch.
“What are your orders?” he said quietly. “You are the Matriarch; you must decide what is to be done about this.”
While the two of them were talking, Molly seized the opportunity to move in beside Eddie and talk quietly to him.
“Eddie, you must know this isn’t right! The Authorities wouldn’t just murder a Drood in cold blood, then dump his body here. They’d have to know an insult like this would mean war!”
“Not now, Molly,” said Eddie, still looking at Luther.
“Yes, now!” Molly positioned herself between Eddie and the dead body, forcing him to look at her. “We have to talk about this, before hysteria sets in and no one wants to talk sense. Before this all gets out of hand!”
“Too late,” said Eddie. “We’re at war now. We always avenge our fallen dead.” His gaze as he looked at Molly was cold and inflexible. “Sending his body back to us like this was an act of contempt. Saying to the Matriarch, to the family, Look what we can do. We can kill a Drood, in his armour. The Authorities will pay for this; and God help anyone who gets in our way.”
“We don’t know the Authorities are responsible for this!” said Molly.
“Who else could it be?”
Molly looked away. She didn’t have an answer.
The Sarjeant called for someone to take the body to the hospital Wards. Two Droods armoured up and carried Luther away with as much dignity as possible. The Sarjeant yelled after them.
“Tell them I want a full autopsy! I want to know everything about how Luther died. And especially how the bastards were able to get through his armour.”
Eddie watched the body disappear into the crowd. No one said anything. At some point, the cloister bell had stopped tolling. Molly watched Eddie carefully and stayed close to him, trying to be supportive.
“I think what makes it worse,” said Eddie, “is that I never really liked the man. He was a pain in the arse to work with, in LA. A real holier-than-thou type. He made no secret of the fact that he didn’t approve of me. Luther was old-school Drood, unflinching in his morality. Saw any form of compromise as weakness. And yet he had contacts everywhere in Los Angeles; they said no one could work a crowd like Luther. I never liked him, but to see him like that, shot in the back just for doing his duty . . . He was our last chance to stop this war, Molly, and the Authorities threw it back in our faces.”
“You have to get to the bottom of this, Eddie,” said Molly. “Find out what really happened . . .”
“Too late,” said Eddie. “All that matters now . . . is revenge.”
The Matriarch raised her voice so everyone could hear her. “Sarjeant-at-Arms, prepare the family for war. We will begin our invasion of the Nightside in one hour.”
No one in the crowd said anything. They just quickly moved away, heading for their designated posts. The Matriarch and the Sarjeant went to leave, but Eddie put himself in their way. He addressed the Matriarch in his most reasonable tone, ignoring the Sarjeant.
“We can’t be ready in one hour. We just can’t. I know you’re upset about Luther, but we can’t afford to rush things. We have to plan this properly.”
“The standing arrangements have already been distributed to the Heads of all Departments,” the Matriarch said tonelessly. “I did that before I sent Luther into the Nightside. There’s no point in holding back any longer. We have nothing more to say to the Authorities except Surrender or die. Everyone in the family knows what they have to do. And we have to go now, before the Authorities can properly prepare their defences.” She smiled humourlessly. “They may think they can intimidate us into backing down, but they should have remembered, we’re Droods. We don’t get scared; we scare everyone else.”
Eddie started to answer her, but the Sarjeant cut bluntly across him. “Either you’re with us, or you’re not. Which is it, Eddie?”
“I know my duty,” said Eddie. “Anything, for the family.”
The Matriarch turned away from him to face the Sarjeant. “Do whatever you have to, but I want the whole family mobilised and ready to leave in one hour. No excuses. Anyone gives you any trouble, tell them you speak in my name. If they still give you trouble, you are authorised to strike them down and put someone else in their place. And I want a report from the Armourer, right now, as to whether they’re ready with Alpha Red Alpha, and God help them if they’re not. Go!”
The Sarjeant nodded quickly and hurried away. The entrance-hall was suddenly very empty and very quiet. Eddie looked at the Matriarch, and she stared steadily back at him. Molly stayed back, not wanting to distract Eddie from saying what he needed to. The Matriarch looked at Eddie, almost pityingly.
“I know you didn’t want this. Do you think I did?”
“I don’t know what to think,” said Eddie.
“You still have doubts.”
“I worked with Luther,” said Eddie. “He was an experienced field agent. He would never have allowed anyone to sneak up behind him.”
“Unless he was distracted,” said the Matriarch. “He must have been talking to the Authorities, and they held his attention while John Taylor got into position. And shot Luther in the back.”
“You think Taylor did this?” said Eddie.
“Who else would the Authorities trust with something this important?” said the Matriarch.
That was too much for Molly. She came striding forward, raising her voice, even though she knew she shouldn’t.
“There’s no way John would do something like this!”
Eddie tensed, expecting the Matriarch to order Molly to be silent or even banish her from the Hall. He was ready to defend Molly, and to hell with the consequences, when the Matriarch surprised him by answering Molly quietly and calmly.
“Taylor has no choice but to do what he’s told, now he’s Walker. If it makes any difference, I doubt he shot Luther himself. Guns have never been Taylor’s style. More likely, he had his woman do it. The bounty-hunter. Or are you saying Shotgun Suzie would never shoot a man in the back?”
Molly didn’t say that. She couldn’t. The Matriarch nodded understandingly.
“This is all part of the Authorities’ plan. To make clear their defiance. Do you really believe the Nightside could enlarge its territory without the Authorities knowing? They wanted this war, for their own reasons. We’ll ask them why when we have them kneeling an
d beaten before us. Eddie, Molly, prepare yourselves for the invasion.”
She walked away, her back straight and her head held high. Leaving Eddie and Molly standing alone in the middle of an empty hall. Molly turned desperately to Eddie.
“This doesn’t make any sense! Why would the Authorities do this?”
“It’s the Nightside,” said Eddie. “They must see a profit in it somewhere.”
“I could go to the Nightside, alone,” said Molly. “Separate from the Droods. I could talk to John privately, find out exactly how Luther died.”
“You don’t have enough time to get there by any of the traditional routes,” said Eddie. “And you can be sure they’ve got shields in place to stop anyone teleporting in.”
“Then give me the Merlin Glass!”
“The Authorities will be looking for that,” said Eddie. “They’ll have people waiting for you the moment you step through.”
“I can take anything they can throw at me!”
“Probably,” said Eddie. “But what if you can’t? If the Authorities take you prisoner, they won’t hesitate to threaten you, to pressure me.”
“Are you saying you won’t give me the Glass?”
“I’m saying I can’t!”
Molly shook her head, scowling hard. Not angry at him but at the situation. She could feel the walls closing in around her and all the ways out disappearing. “There must be something we can do to stop this madness before it starts.”
“It’s too late,” said Eddie. “It was too late the moment a Drood was murdered. Nothing can stop the war now.” He looked carefully at Molly. “I don’t have any choice in this, but you do. I have to go, but you don’t. If you have any doubts as to where your sympathies lie, go to your wood between the worlds, lock all the doors, and stay there. I’ll send word once it’s over, and it’s safe for you to come out again.”