Hour of Need tlom-6 Page 23

  Aubrey’s curiosity jabbed him. ‘The Gallian state silver is missing?’

  ‘Stolen, someone said, but the president told me that it had been sold. Silver prices have been going through the roof. He’d ordered that the state silver be sold and the proceeds put into the war effort, to show that the government was serious about sacrifice.’

  ‘Of course,’ Aubrey said, but another item was nagging at him. ‘And His Majesty, the King? What does he think of these developments?’

  ‘It was Father, of course, who thought this was the best course of action. He wanted to go with me, but the Privy Council advised against that in the strongest terms. When his doctors also spoke out, he subsided, reluctantly, and agreed when I said that I’d do it by myself. After he made up his mind, he was firm on it. Even when he took a turn for the worse, he insisted that I go.’

  The state of King William’s health was of great concern to every Albionite – and every Albionite with close knowledge of his illness was always concerned with how much to tell the public. The war was an additional complicating factor. A strong leader was an advantage in wartime; a gravely ill one a handicap.

  ‘Prime Minister Giraud would have been happy at your announcement,’ Sophie said carefully. ‘He is a staunch republican.’

  ‘Indeed he is, Miss Delroy. His glee at my announcement was palpable.’

  ‘But what about the royalists who’ve been coming out of the woodwork?’ George said. ‘Sophie, you said your father was concerned about them.’

  ‘He was,’ she said. ‘Some of them have made troubles.’

  ‘As you say,’ Prince Albert said, ‘Gallia is accustomed to a level of unrest. I believe, and Prime Minister Giraud agrees, that the war against Holmland and its allies is far more important than a long-ago claim to a vanished throne. The royalists are patriots, after all. They will support the government in this time of crisis.’

  ‘Wait,’ Aubrey said. ‘You said something about the Gallian Crown Jewels. I’ve never heard about Gallian Crown Jewels.’

  ‘You’re not the only one who does research, Aubrey. I’ve been busy ever since your discovery of that awkward document suggesting my claim to the Gallian throne. After Dr Tremaine’s orchestrated announcement in Fisherberg, I’ve redoubled my efforts.’

  ‘And given employment to many researchers, no doubt.’

  ‘Hardly.’ Prince Albert drew himself up, mock seriously. ‘I rummaged about myself. Too sensitive, all this. I didn’t want people talking. No matter how loyal they may have been, a horde of researchers would, simply by their presence, cause gossip.’

  ‘Dusty work, researching,’ George said.

  ‘As I found, but I also found some interesting old books in libraries in various palaces about the country.’

  ‘Bertie, you do understand that you’re one of the few people in the world who can talk about more than one palace, don’t you?’

  ‘I’m aware of my position, Aubrey. It sometimes has benefits.’ The prince shrugged. ‘I’m sure that no-one has opened most of these books for years, centuries even, tucked away as they are.’

  ‘You could donate them to a library,’ Caroline suggested.

  ‘Or build a new one,’ George added.

  ‘A new library?’ Prince Albert considered this. ‘A capital thought. I’ll look into it, when this war is over.’

  Aubrey wondered how many plans were now being appended with ‘when this war is over’. Normal lives were suspended, human trajectories interrupted. He could see this conflict affecting a generation – more than a generation. It would be a marker for decades to come.

  ‘I’m guessing,’ he said, ‘that one of these old tomes pointed you toward the possibility of the Gallian Crown Jewels.’

  ‘Very mysteriously,’ Prince Albert said. ‘You would have loved these books, Aubrey. Full of magical stuff.’

  ‘I was wondering about that.’

  ‘It became a sort of leapfrogging that would have been vastly enjoyable if it weren’t for the war. This book pointed to another book, which led to another document and so on. Eventually I found a chest right at the back of a shabby strongroom up north, in Reesdale Castle.’

  ‘The Gallian Crown Jewels?’

  ‘The Gallian Crown Jewels,’ Prince Albert affirmed. ‘Apparently they were whisked away during the Gallian Revolution, for safety’s sake, and ended up there.’

  ‘Whisked away a bit more successfully than the Gallian king was,’ George said.

  ‘Quite.’

  Aubrey had, of course, seen the Albion Crown Jewels many times and accepted that kings, by and large, were very serious about their treasures. A substantial collection was a concrete display of how great and powerful they were. Whenever it was hauled out, for one ceremony or other, it was a very deliberate reminder to the population that the holder of such whopping great lumps of gold and gemstones wasn’t someone to be trifled with.

  ‘The usual assortment, Bertie?’ he asked. ‘Crown, sceptre, that sort of thing?’

  Prince Albert essayed a small laugh. ‘The Gallian Crown Jewels indeed includes a crown. A modest one, compared to the great heavy thing that’s in the Albionite collection, but the star sapphire it sports is quite immense. There’s also an orb, a mace, a few rings and a rather ancient jewelled seal. The whole collection was in a bad way, but the crown confirmed what it was.’ He glanced at Aubrey. ‘I would have appreciated your being around, Aubrey, after I found it. Magical whatnot and all.’

  ‘Ah.’

  ‘I had to approach Commander Craddock, there being a marked shortage of experienced, trustworthy magicians at the moment. After some consultation with his research department, Craddock confirmed that the collection was imbued with magic that was slumbering.’

  ‘Slumbering?’

  ‘That’s how he put it. When I mentioned the Gallian Heart of Gold, he became very excited.’

  ‘I’ve never seen Commander Craddock excited,’ Caroline said. ‘How did he show this?’

  ‘His nostrils flared.’

  ‘Very excited,’ Aubrey said. ‘I’m surprised he didn’t collapse after that.’

  ‘He consulted some of his magical theoreticians again and confirmed my suspicions that reuniting the Crown Jewels with the Heart of Gold could be very useful for Gallia.’

  ‘This reunification, Bertie,’ Aubrey said urgently. ‘It worked?’

  ‘I have no idea. The sisters who take care of the Heart of Gold weren’t surprised when I arrived with the jewels, which is really quite startling in itself. When they lay the items on a ledge in the back of the niche where they guard the heart, I’m sure it began to glow more brightly, but I could be imagining things.’

  ‘I doubt it.’ Aubrey looked around. ‘Is that a wardrobe? And, if so, is my uniform in it?’

  The cabinet he was indicating was decorated in high Gallian mode, pale blue, with gilt curlicues surrounding enough mirrors to make Aubrey fear for his life if the sun caught them directly. An elaborate panorama of a unicorn frolicking with a bevy of milkmaids stretched across the top. The unicorn looked decidedly nervous about whatever the milkmaids had in mind.

  While Caroline was taking some time to distinguish the actual door knob from the countless silver buttons, handles and projections doubtless designed to suspend periwigs or recalcitrant servants from, Sophie turned to the prince. ‘Do you think it will help, this magical bringing together?’

  ‘Commander Craddock was anxious that it take place, which I take as a sign of its importance.’

  Aubrey grimaced. ‘I don’t think, however, we should be looking for an army of spectral warriors to suddenly start charging across the sky, wiping the Holmlanders from the map. The Heart of Gold’s magic is more of a preserving kind, building on what’s already there. When it was stolen, Lutetia literally began falling apart.’

  Sophie shook her head. ‘I remember. Earthquakes, buildings falling down.’

  ‘That sort of thing was the effect of its loss,’ Aubrey said. �
�I think that we can look to these artefacts to help once the war is over.’ There it goes again. ‘Some of the hurts may be healed. The nation might right itself more quickly, that sort of thing.’

  A discreet, but insistent, knock sounded on the door. Aubrey was interested to see Bertie’s reaction: it was both irritated and understanding, a blend that Aubrey didn’t think was possible – but perhaps it came with being the heir to the throne. ‘Enter,’ Prince Albert said.

  An aide in the same uniform as the prince hurried into the room. He tried to bow and salute at the same time and made a mess of the whole lot. His urgency made Aubrey uneasy. ‘Your highness! Sir! It’s

  …’ He worked his mouth for a moment, then snatched a leather satchel from under his arm and thrust it at the prince. ‘Sir!’

  Prince Albert studied the satchel for some time before opening it and Aubrey’s unease grew. A muffled commotion came from the open doorway, where wagonloads of brass glinted from the shoulders of officers who were gathering at the door the aide had neglected to close behind him. The officers were muttering ominously. In the distance Aubrey was sure he could hear shouting.

  He glanced at his friends to see that they, too, were alarmed. Caroline, holding his jacket on a coat hanger, looked out of the window then turned, open-mouthed, toward him.

  I really don’t want to be lounging around right now, Aubrey thought, but decided that it would be poor timing to fling back his bedclothes while Bertie was reading a letter that made him frown so deeply.

  The prince folded the letter and replaced it in its envelope. For a moment, he looked into the middle distance, then he glanced at the envelope again before slipping it into the satchel, which he gave back to the aide, who was quivering at attention.

  The prince stood. Carefully, he shook out the creases in his trousers and straightened his jacket. He placed his cap on his head and spent a moment making sure that it was neatly settled. He cleared his throat. ‘I regret to have to tell you, but His Majesty passed away this morning.’

  Inevitably, one of the generals at the door said it: ‘The King is dead!’

  The response came loud and clear from the others. ‘Long live the King!’

  They took this as permission to pour into the room, a horde of brass-laden officers, all wanting to get close to the new monarch.

  The prince took this calmly. He nodded, then saluted. A score of arms snapped back a salute. ‘Gentlemen,’ he said. ‘We have much to do. Albion has lost a great king.’

  Aubrey saw it all. It was an impressive display of self-control from someone who had been taught, ever since he was old enough to understand, about the importance of duty. Bertie had known that this day would come, the day where an ancient tradition would swing into action and sweep him away, turning him from what he was into something else. The prince was thoughtful, grave, but very much in command. A young man, but one who was ready for this moment.

  Despite this, Aubrey wanted to reach out to his friend, to acknowledge that there was something personal in this moment, something that was being lost in the overwhelmingly public ritual.

  We may have lost a king, Aubrey thought, but you’ve lost a father.

  58

  Aubrey darted behind a screen to change as the prince was whisked away by the generals, colonels and other nabobs who had congregated, aware of the significance of the moment.

  Aubrey’s head popped up and down as he grappled with trousers and boots, providing a series of glimpses of the hullaballoo as he bent and straightened, so that Bertie’s progress stuttered along, shuffling across the room only to become bogged at the door by a crowd that was managing the difficult task of cheering solemnly.

  A familiar figure detached himself from the flotilla around the ex-prince and strode toward them, moustache a-bristle. ‘Fitzwilliam?’ General Apsley said. ‘You’re up and about? Good. Planning meeting in the conference room on the ground floor. Five minutes.’

  59

  The conference room had probably been a dining room when the chateau was new. It overlooked the remains of gardens that, on this side of the estate, now seemed to be growing sandbags and tents as the chateau continued its transformation into a regional headquarters. An extensive hospital had been set up with a summer house as its central building and Aubrey wondered how this new location signalled a shift in the ebb and flow of the war. It was certainly a move up from the farmhouse that General Apsley had been using, but Aubrey wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

  With lunchtime approaching, George volunteered to reconnoitre the chateau, taking Sophie to help in case he ran into anyone who didn’t speak Albionish. Aubrey was about to suggest that Caroline go with them, but her stern expression hinted that she wasn’t about to be left out of what promised to be a top-level planning meeting.

  Bertie was at the head of the table, looking – understandably to Aubrey’s way of thinking – somewhat distracted. General Apsley was at the new King’s right hand. He conducted the meeting while aides scurried about adjusting charts and maps on the easels that stood on the dais at the end of the room.

  ‘The Holmland build-up is in disarray,’ General Apsley announced to the assembly of field commanders, intelligence operatives, Directorate agents, deputy quartermasters-general and one young King. ‘Their army is holding the line at Fremont, but their recent reinforcements have been pulled back instead of pressing forward.’

  Ex-Prince Albert looked over his hands, steepled in front of his chin. ‘I think you’ll find that this is the result of Fitzwilliam’s work.’

  As every gaze around the table swivelled around and locked on him, Aubrey felt as he imagined a small patch of ground in no-man’s-land would, the patch of ground that happened to be the centre of the coordinates of a massed artillery bombardment.

  ‘Fitzwilliam?’ General Apsley said. ‘Your friends declined to say much about your doings until you were with us again. Best if you report now, I’d say.’

  Aubrey took a deep breath. ‘Yes, sir,’ he said and outlined the events at Fremont before finishing with: ‘and I’m hoping that’s why the troops have pulled back. To escort the Chancellor and the others away from the front.’

  General Apsley stared at him, mouth half-open, and he wasn’t the only one in the room to adopt such a pose. ‘My sainted aunt,’ the general said eventually. ‘You magicked the Chancellor and all of his crew into the middle of a battleground? Astonishing.’

  ‘Fitzwilliam here is regularly astonishing,’ Bertie said. ‘We’re lucky to have him on our side.’

  Aubrey blushed. ‘Just doing my duty, your highness. Your majesty.’

  ‘At any rate, Fitzwilliam, you’ve struck a fine blow. Good show.’ General Apsley glanced at a map of the battlelines behind him and beamed. ‘The Chancellor and the others are bound to fall back to Stalsfrieden, where they can join the train. You’ve bought us some time, but I’m afraid they’re not giving up. We have reports that more reinforcements are coming from the Central European Empire and from the eastern front. The Holmland generals aren’t going to leave anything to chance, this time.’ He glowered at the map before brightening. ‘But we have some news of our own, let me tell you. Our reinforcements have arrived.’

  Spontaneous cheering greeted this, most emphatic from the weariest, least well groomed of those present, the ones who Aubrey assumed had been spending time at the front.

  General Apsley patted down this applause. ‘We should have the last of ten thousand fresh men here by nightfall, including regiments from Antipodea and the subcontinent.’

  This was greeted with murmurs of approval. The reputation of the Antipodeans had preceded them, while the sub-continental regiments were experienced and deadly.

  The talk soon veered around to matters of supply and deployment. Aubrey’s attention began to wander, but he snapped to alertness when two black-uniformed operatives slipped into the room. One took a satchel straight to General Apsley. The other, after looking about for a moment, made a
bee-line for Aubrey.

  ‘Fitzwilliam?’ he whispered once he’d made his way close enough.

  Aubrey indicated that he was, indeed, of that name, and in return received a message satchel.

  ‘I’ve come straight from Darnleigh House,’ the operative said. ‘Orders were to get this to you post-haste.’

  Aubrey looked for, and found, the tell-tale callus on the inside of the man’s left forefinger, and confirmed his guess by the marks on either side of the man’s chin where the straps of his flying helmet rested. ‘What model ornithopter were you flying?’

  The man blinked. ‘A new model. The 780 Gannet. Special long-range capability.’

  Some stern looks from nearby hushed Aubrey. He signed his thanks to the operative, who withdrew.

  While a lieutenant-colonel delivered a paper about the possibility of a temporary rail bridge to replace the one lost at Divodorum, General Apsley was scanning the documents in the satchel he’d been delivered. Aubrey thought it best that he do the same.

  One document confirmed Aubrey’s speculation about the magnitude of the disappearance of magicians in Albion. It also summarised findings from their Gallian intelligence colleagues, who also noted that magicians had been vanishing.

  Another document was a report from the remote sensing department. While Aubrey had had some contact with the field operatives who had the rare skill of being able to sense magic at vast distances, the bulk of these operatives worked from the basement of Darnleigh House. Commander Craddock’s note, appended to the report, suggested that Aubrey might be interested in the activity report compiled by the sensers.