Archibald Lox and the Bridge Between Worlds Page 9

  22

  Nora is sitting on the floor, talking with King Lloyd, who is looking less puzzled all the time.

  “I don’t understand,” I whisper to Inez. “What just happened?”

  “That was a scrambling device,” Inez says, nodding at the shattered cylinder. “Someone hid it inside the gargoyle. It was built to emit a noise that only the king would hear. In fact, I doubt he heard it either — he was simply affected by it.”

  “Are you saying the noise drove him mad?” I ask, horrified.

  “No,” Inez says. “His mind slipped a long time ago, but this was devised to speed up the process.”

  “Why?” I frown.

  Inez sighs. “King Lloyd can’t die of natural causes as long as he remains in the Merge, but if a Family member descends fully into madness, we return them to the Born, so they can be released from their suffering. His enemies hoped to ensure his death – and the fall of Diamond – by chipping away at his crumbling senses.”

  My mouth tightens into a grim line. “Did the SubMerged do this?”

  “We’ll never be able to prove it,” Inez says, “but you can chalk it down. Anyway, we’ve brought him back from the brink, and his servants will be on guard against similar ploys in the future. You’ve done a good thing today, Archie.”

  “Me?” I blush. “You put two and two together. All I did was hear a noise.”

  “But only you could have heard it,” she says. “That device was hidden behind a special lock, and its vibrations were making the lock buzz. Only a skilled locksmith could have detected the noise.”

  King Lloyd has stopped talking and is back on his feet. He still looks fragile but he moves more confidently now and waves us toward a circle of chairs in one area of the room. We walk over – Nora taking the king’s arm to support him – and sit.

  “Nora tells me I owe the pair of you a great debt,” King Lloyd smiles.

  “You owe us nothing, sire,” Inez says. “We’re honoured to have been of service.”

  “Can I at least have a feast fixed for you?” he asks. “The larders aren’t as full as they once were, but I’m sure we can rustle up something splendid.”

  “I’m not so sure of that,” Nora mutters, but low enough so that he can’t hear.

  “Thank you,” Inez says, “but we’re not hungry.”

  “Are you certain? The boy looks like he could eat an elephant.” The king laughs, then leans forward to squeeze my knee. “Do you remember elephants?”

  “Of course,” I reply.

  “Elephants never forget. I wish I had that problem.” He taps his head. “The old brain doesn’t work as well as it used to, does it, Nora?”

  “It will work better now,” she says, a catch in her throat.

  “So you explained. But I doubt I’ll ever be entirely rid of the ringing inside my brain. And things don’t quite link up. When I look at Inez, I keep thinking of a...” He frowns, and it’s as if all the wrinkles in the universe have gathered in the centre of his forehead. Then they clear as he realises it’s not madness but a recollection. “...camel,” he hoots.

  Inez smiles and Nora yelps with joy. I think it’s been a long time since her king remembered as much as this.

  “It’s lovely to see you again after all these years,” King Lloyd says. His smile falters. “It has been a long time, hasn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Inez says. “Decades.”

  He beams. “How have you been, dear girl?”

  “Much the same,” Inez says. “Crossing the realms, working away, trying to stay out of trouble.”

  “And is my new friend Archie a camel too?” the king asks.

  “No,” Inez says. “Archie’s a locksmith.”

  “That’s why he was able to hear the noise,” Nora reminds him.

  “Oh yes.” He smiles warmly at me. “So you’re a Lox?”

  “A what?” I ask.

  Inez whispers, “A Lox is a locksmith.”

  “And Archie must be short for Archibald,” King Lloyd continues. “I had a great friend called Archibald. Do you mind if I refer to you by your full name?”

  “If you want,” I grin.

  “Archibald Lox,” King Lloyd says firmly. “A fine name for a fine young man. If there’s ever anything I can do for you, Archibald, please ask.”

  Inez clears her throat. “Now that you mention it...”

  “Go ahead,” the king urges.

  “There’s a borehole in one of the rooms higher up,” Inez says. “I used it once, and with your permission I’d like to use it again.”

  King Lloyd frowns, thinking back. Then he clicks his fingers. “I know the one. Yes, access is granted.”

  “Thank –” Inez starts to say, but he interrupts.

  “But I must insist on a condition,” the king says firmly, then leans forward again, this time to squeeze Inez’s knee. “I want to come with you.”

  “What are you talking about?” Nora exclaims as King Lloyd hops to his feet and rubs his hands together.

  “I fancy one last trip to the Born,” the king cackles.

  Nora’s flabbergasted. “But... you can’t just... you’re needed here.”

  “For what?” the old king snorts. “To waste my final days listening to a bunch of gargoyles? I’ve spent enough time cooped up in these rooms.”

  “But... my king... you’re not well,” Nora cries.

  “I know,” King Lloyd says softly. “I feel better today, thanks to Archibald and Inez, but I’m in bad shape, with no hope of truly improving.”

  “Then you must know that going to the Born is out of the question,” Nora huffs. “You should stay here and –”

  “– wait for madness to claim me completely?” the king growls. He shakes his head. “That’s not the ending I crave.”

  “Ending?” Nora wheezes, her hands trembling.

  The king nods. “I’m clear-headed enough to know I won’t last long if I return to the Born, and I also know that will mean the collapse of this realm, but it’s time. As hard as we’ve searched, we haven’t found an inheritor. There’s no point dragging things out any longer. I need to find peace and move on.”

  “My king,” Nora moans, but nods obediently. “If that’s your wish, we’ll honour it, but let me send Cal with you, to guard you in the Born.”

  “Cal?” King Lloyd asks blankly.

  “He keeps an eye on the statues in the lobby,” I pipe up. Then, remembering the giant’s request, I add, “He asked me to tell you that the glass plane is fine.”

  “The plane,” King Lloyd murmurs. “I flew in one the last time I visited the Born. A thrilling sensation. I remember Cal too. He was a Riser. He’s still here?”

  “Yes,” I answer. “He looks after the statues, makes sure no one steals them.”

  “As if I’d be bothered by the theft of a few statues,” King Lloyd grunts.

  “You’ll let Cal go with you?” Nora asks.

  “No,” the king says.

  “But you need someone to help,” Nora scowls. “It’s been a long time since you lived in the Born. Things have changed. Someone will have to find rooms where you can board, clothes that will allow you to blend in.”

  “A good suit never goes out of fashion,” he chuckles. Then he looks down at his feet. “Though I’ll need a pair of shoes.”

  “I won’t let you go by yourself,” Nora insists.

  King Lloyd smiles. “You can’t stop me. As king, I can do whatever I want.” As Nora opens her mouth to argue, he waves a hand to calm her. “It’s alright. I don’t intend to travel alone. But Cal wouldn’t be good at arranging meetings with lawyers, withdrawing funds from old bank accounts and securing lodgings.”

  “So what’s your plan?” Nora asks. “Will you ask the children to chaperone you?”

  “They’d do a fine job,” King Lloyd says, tipping us a wink, “but I’m sure they have places to be. No, Nora, I was hoping you would come with me.”

  “Me?” Nora gasps.

  �
�What better person? You’ve taken care of me these long decades. I’m sure you’ll make my last few weeks or months as easy for me as they can be.”

  Nora’s features soften and she stretches out a hand to him. Then she stops. “But I’m needed here. The staff look to me for direction.”

  “Dismiss the staff,” King Lloyd says. “Tell them to get out of Diamond and spread the word that everyone else should leave too.”

  “Are you sure?” Nora asks softly.

  “Yes,” the king says. “This is a doomed realm. There’s no reason why my servants should go down with it. Tell them... what’s that phrase I once heard? Oh yes.” He smiles and his glass teeth gleam in the light. “Tell them we’re blowing this joint!”

  23

  Nora hurries off to tell the staff about King Lloyd’s command to leave. While she’s gone, we help the elderly king prepare for his departure.

  “Will my suit find favour in the Born?” he asks as we enter a huge walk-in wardrobe.

  “I think so,” I tell him, though I don’t know much about fashion.

  He heads to a shelved area lined with shoes and boots. He casts an eye over them, then says, “Master Lox, could you suggest a pair?”

  I randomly choose a pair of black brogues.

  “An excellent choice,” the king says, and sits down to kick off his slippers and pull on socks.

  “They’re impressive,” Inez says, nodding at the clothes on the racks. “It’s rare to find clothing that looks so much like what people wear in the Born.”

  “Why don’t you import their clothes?” I ask.

  Inez looks at me with surprise. “They don’t last.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Anything from the Born breaks down into dust within hours.”

  “No it doesn’t.” I pinch the arm of my school uniform. “I’d be naked if that was the case.”

  “Clothes last while you’re wearing them,” Inez says, “but they unravel when you discard them.”

  “How do I look?” King Lloyd asks, standing to test his shoes.

  “Like a successful businessman,” Inez says.

  “They feel tight after the slippers,” he grumbles, then putters round the room, pulling at old suits and admiring clothes he hasn’t worn in a very long time.

  “What will he do there?” I whisper, watching as he tries on a hat.

  “Live,” Inez says simply.

  “And when he dies, this realm will fall?”

  “Yes, but at least, with his order to evacuate, there won’t be many caught when it does.”

  “I’m not sure Cal will leave,” I say. “He won’t want to desert his statues.”

  As if that acts as a summons, the huge guard comes striding through the open doors of the walk-in wardrobe. Nora is hurrying along behind him, trying to pull him back.

  “Your highness!” Cal bellows. “King Lloyd!”

  The king looks up, blinking with surprise. “Yes, my good man?” he quavers. Then he smiles. “I remember that moustache. Cal Riser, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Cal says, stopping in front of the king and bowing his head. “Nora says you’re returning to the Born and have told us all to leave.”

  “That’s right,” the king says.

  Cal looks affronted. “What about the statues? I’ve been guarding them for you.”

  “I appreciate that,” King Lloyd says, “but when Diamond falls, the statues will vanish with it. If stray wanderers wish to make off with them before that happens, all the better. It would be nice if some of them survived.”

  Cal pulls at his thick ginger moustache, clearly distressed. “But what will I do? I need something to keep me distracted. I don’t want to just wander the realms.” He squeezes his massive fingers together, looking at his king with a pained expression.

  King Lloyd studies Cal thoughtfully. “Have you been happy as a guard?”

  Cal nods vigorously.

  “Then resume those duties elsewhere,” the king says. “Find someone worthy of your support, and tell them I most highly recommended you.” He slips off a ring. It features a tiny engraving of a gargoyle’s face. “This recorder refreshes itself every ten minutes, deletes what’s there and starts recording again.” He breathes on the ring, then taps it three times. “Now it will record no more. Tap it three times when you deliver it, and it will play back everything I’ve said over the last few minutes.”

  “Thank you,” Cal croaks as he takes the ring. “But I know nothing of the other realms. I’m worried I’ll misplace my trust.”

  Inez clears her throat and says, “I’m bound for Sapphire. Have you heard about its troubles?” The men and Nora shake their heads. “Well, I won’t go into that, but there’s a princess who needs all the help she can get. She’d be worthy of your loyalty. If you don’t mind a few detours, you can accompany me and I’ll make an introduction when the time is right.”

  “There,” King Lloyd beams. “How does that sound?”

  “Promising,” Cal says shyly. “But what can I do for you in return?” he asks Inez.

  “You can be my bodyguard along the way,” Inez says, then raises a finger. “But certain enemies are hounding me and you might be called upon to fight if they catch up.”

  “These hounds,” Cal growls. “Are they SubMerged?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then fighting won’t be a problem,” he says with fiery gusto.

  “Splendid,” King Lloyd booms. “Nora, have you told the others that their time here is up?”

  “The word is spreading even as we speak,” Nora replies.

  “In that case...”

  The king leads us back into the room of gargoyles. He makes his way to a corner, moving faster now. When we get to the corner we find a throne tucked under a sheet.

  “Move that into the middle of the room,” the king tells Cal, then whispers to me and Inez, “I hate that throne. So uncomfortable.” When the throne’s in position, King Lloyd tells Nora to remove the sheet. He scowls at the revealed throne, as if greeting an old foe, then tells Cal to pick up a gargoyle and set it on the seat.

  “How’s that?” Cal asks, making sure the gargoyle is secure.

  “Fine,” King Lloyd says, shuffling forward to face the gargoyle directly. He presses his palms against the gargoyle’s ears, then puts a thumb to its lips.

  “He’s setting it to record a message,” Inez says, “so if anyone comes before the realm falls, they’ll be able to play it back and find out what has happened to the king and his people.”

  King Lloyd thinks hard, the rest of us silent, appreciating the solemnity of the moment, the dying lord of a realm leaving his farewell message. I wouldn’t know what to say in such a situation. Something grand and memorable, I suppose.

  Then, with a snort, he taps the gargoyle’s head and says bluntly, “King Lloyd has left the building!”

  EIGHT — THE BOY

  24

  We wind our way through a series of rooms and corridors, then climb a set of stairs to a floor four levels up. It’s a dark, dusty room near the top of the palace. No furniture or ornaments, just several oval boreholes set into the walls or hanging on strands from the ceiling.

  Inez heads for a silver borehole near the back of the room and says to me as we approach, “This links to a city in the Born. I used it before, on a job for King Lloyd.”

  “Is that our destination?” I ask.

  “No,” she says, “but I know of another crossing point there that will lead us to where I was headed when you first saw me on the bridge.” She stops before the borehole and gestures to the king. “After you.”

  “Please,” he winces, “let’s not stand on ceremony. Nora, you first.”

  “As it should be,” Nora says cheekily, then steps through and disappears. King Lloyd goes next, whistling happily, and is swiftly followed by Cal.

  “Then there were two,” Inez says.

  “Are you sure this borehole is safe?” I ask.

  She nods
. “One hundred percent.”

  “Then why do I feel anxious?” I whisper.

  “Because we’re about to cross back into the Born,” she says. “No matter how many times we do that, it never feels natural, not for the likes of us.”

  “But I’m not one of –” I start to say.

  Inez steps through the borehole.

  “– you,” I finish hollowly.

  I stare at the borehole glumly, but since the alternative is staying here by myself, to wait for the realm to fall, I’ve no real choice. With a sigh, I square my shoulders, flex my fingers, then step through the borehole... and into the heart of Times Square.

  I’ve never been to New York but I recognise it instantly, having seen it in so many films and TV shows, and I come to a stunned halt. It’s so loud and busy after the Merge, horns honking, crowds flooding the streets like swarms of bees, everyone talking, shouting, laughing.

  A policeman on a horse trots by. There’s a guy in a cowboy hat and boots, wearing boxer shorts but no other clothes, playing a guitar and singing. Lots of billboards advertising shows and musicals. Famous stores and restaurants. Scores of yellow taxis. Smoke rising from street vents. A series of red glass steps in the middle of the Square (which isn’t square at all) for people to sit and stand on.

  “This is fun, isn’t it?” King Lloyd exclaims. He’s trembling even more than usual, but with delight. “It’s changed so much since I was last here. I can’t wait to explore.”

  “Are there always this many people?” Nora asks disapprovingly.

  “Yes,” Inez says.

  “How does anyone sleep with all that noise?”

  “You’ll get used to it,” Inez says. “You coped when you were Born.”

  “I never lived in a city,” Nora says.

  “You can buy ear plugs,” I tell her.

  Cal says nothing. He looks uneasy. Maybe he’s never seen a modern city either.

  I smile at the ginger behemoth. “It sounds scarier than it is.”