Страница 37 из 52
"Then there are but the two doors," Magnus said, gri
"They come!" Cordelia cried.
The door slammed open and the men came ru
Then up to the front doorway strode the High Warlock.
Higher than usual—he was nine feet tall if he was an inch, crowned with flames where he should have had hair, and his eyes were glowing coals.
The chief agent stared up at him in horror. "But you were kidnapped!"
"Didst thou truly think any trap could hold me?" the High Warlock boomed.
The agent plucked up his nerve. "One of our traps might have—but what can you expect of an anarchist? Of course their trap didn't hold!"
In the gully, Cordelia read the man's mind, and whispered to Magnus, "He doth speak truth—he knoweth not how Mama and Papa were captured."
The High Warlock boomed, "Yet thou didst collaborate with them! Even now, thine agent doth seek to seize power!"
"None of our men are trying a damn thing," the captain yelled, and the agent said, "Go talk to SPITE about it."
"They lie," Cordelia said. "Their thoughts leapt to the Shire-Reeve; he hath been their man for many years, and they have told him exactly what they wished him to do when the chance came."
"As it hath." Geoffrey frowned. "But that chance was not of their making?"
"Nay," Cordelia answered.
Magnus was silent, face screwed up in concentration, staring over the rim of the gully at the house and the nearest bagful of agents, into whose minds he was casting the simulacrum of his father.
"Who doth support thy Shire-Reeve in the other counties?" the High Warlock boomed.
"How the hell did you know about…" the captain burst
out; but the agent silenced him with a gesture. "We aren't supporting any locals.''
"Yet a dozen came to his mind," Cordelia reported, "faces, and some names, one for each dukedom and earldom. And the Shire-Reeve is above all of them."
"Thou dost lie poorly," the High Warlock sneered, "yet thou wilt be in no further danger this night. Farewell." He turned, and stalked away into the darkness.
The VETO agents watched him go, stupefied.
After awhile, the captain looked up at the house. "Everything seems quiet."
The agent shook his head. "That doesn't matter. The High Warlock knows about this HQ. We'll have to abandon it and build another one."
"Sir!" the sergeant hollered. "The net's loose!"
"Loose?"
"Let me see!"
"Let me out!"
"Rank!" the agent bawled. "Squirm aside! Out in order of seniority."
He scrambled out of the bag with the captain right behind him. The agent stood, dusting himself off, but the captain looked up at the house, frowning.
"Don't get ideas," the agent growled. "We can't stay here."
"Y'know," the captain said, "that guy was awfully big, even for the High Warlock."
"What are you saying?" the agent asked.
"And his voice was kind of low-pitched for a human being, you know?"
"Yes, sir, now that you mention it." The sergeant stood up beside him.
"And come to think of it," said one of the junior agents, "the High Warlock speaks modern English, not Elizabethan."
A mile away, the children sat down with Puck, Kelly, and Fess to try to make sense out of the new information.
"'Tis not our VETO enemies who did kidnap them," Magnus stated.
Cordelia nodded. "That much is clear. Therefore we must seek elsewhere for them."
"But what will happen an we do not find them before Groghat and the barons have brought down Their Majesties?" Geoffrey asked, frowning. "Or the Shire-Reeve hath taken the throne?"
The children were silent for a moment.
Then Gregory said, "We must prevent that."
"Nay!" Puck cried. "There be some matters that be too dangerous even for witch-children!"
"But we ca
"You ca
"Heed him," Kelly advised.
They were silent for a moment. Cordelia rose and went to her unicorn, hugging it for comfort.
Then Geoffrey rose too, dusting off his hands. "Well, then! If we ca
"Aye," Magnus looked up, his eyes kindling. "And we may begin by seeking out Papa's enemies from SPITE."
"There is none," said Summer, "not in all this forest, nay, nor any of the farmlands about."
"Truly," Fall agreed, "not in all this earldom of Tudor— neither a great house, nor a warren of caves."
"Sure, and 'tis as they say," Kelly agreed. "In all the King's lands, 'tis the same—in all of Ru
"Nor is there one in any county in Gramarye," Puck added. "I, too, have called for word from all fairies, aye, and elves, too, and nixies, and pixies, and pookas and sprites; from bu-chawns and kobolds, from gnomes and from goblins…"
"We do believe thee," Magnus said hastily, to cut off Puck's listing of spirits. "Yet surely these 'anarchists' do coordinate actions. Must they, therefore, not have a center?"
"A geographical center is not necessary," Fess reminded them, "any more than it is for the witches and warlocks. Just as any of you can communicate with a leader, no matter where he is, so can the anarchists, with their transceivers and view-screens."
"Yet the folk of VETO could have done so, too!"
"True," Fess admitted, "but a central administrative base is more in keeping with their pattern of thought. SPITE's anar-chists have the goal of destroying central coordination, so they are much more likely to manage without its physical symbol."
"Yet they must have a leader," Geoffrey insisted, "a commander! No action can be taken in concert without one!"
"It is theoretically possible," Fess demurred, "though it has never occurred."
"What ma
Fess tactfully forebore to mention that she was not the first to have had that particular insight.
"An they have a commander," Geoffrey said stoutly, "we have someone to question. How can we find him, Fess?"
"That will be extremely difficult," Fess admitted. "In fact, if they adhere to their usual pattern, they will have several commanders, each of whom has all the data that the others have, and any one of whom is capable of coordinating the entire operation."
"They are nonetheless commanders," Geoffrey said staunchly.
"'Tis their pattern in all things," Fall said. "Fairies from other counties have told us of plowboys and shepherds who go to join the forces of bandits; and of giants and ogres, who have begun to wreak terror, but do not leash outlaws; of sorcerers who do seek to seize power, and counts who do battle one another, but never the bandits. Each county seems to have one of each of these, and a monster, too. If 'tis not a dragon, then 'tis a manticore or a cockatrice."
Geoffrey reddened with anger. "Commander or not, they have been well enough guided to unleash this chaos on our land in a day!"
"'Tis horrible," Cordelia stated, pale and trembling. "Oh! The poor peasant folk, who must suffer the woes these evil ones do inflict!"
Gregory clung to her waist, round-eyed with horror.
"And we can do nothing," Magnus breathed, "for this is beyond what four small children can do."