‘Are you all right?’ Blue asked.
‘Yes, fine.’
‘I think you may have slipped down.’
‘Sorry.’
She felt him climb back. He had very soft, warm little feet, several hundred of them. Somehow they clung to her skin without hurting her at all.
‘It’s just that if you slip too far, it looks as if I’m wearing a bustle.’
‘Sorry,’ Flapwazzle repeated.
He felt more comfortable than some of her official garments, a little like a heat pad in the middle of her back. She was wearing a loose white shirt over him, which looked fine so long as he didn’t move. But when she put on the tight-fitting jacket that went with her skirt – she twisted to see herself in the mirror of her bedroom – she looked as if she’d developed a hump.
‘How is it with the coat?’ Flapwazzle asked.
‘Bit peculiar,’ Blue said.
‘Do I show?’
‘Sort of…’ She twisted again.
‘Maybe I could breathe out. Endolgs can go quite a long time without oxygen…’
‘Try it.’
‘How’s that?’
Blue frowned and shook her head. ‘No… it’s not you – it’s this jacket. I think I’ll leave it off.’ She peeled off the jacket and examined herself again. She was a bit underdressed for visiting. Would her uncle notice? Hairstreak noticed everything, but what was he going to do? He couldn’t have her searched, not now she was Queen. Besides which, he’d never imagine she had an endolg clinging to her back, not in a thousand years. ‘You can start breathing again, Flapwazzle…’ Yes, that looked all right. Just so long as he didn’t slip down. ‘You sure you can hold on? We’ll be like this for a long time…’
‘No problem,’ Flapwazzle said. ‘It’s an evolutionary trait. My ancestors clung to cliffs.’
This was so risky. If Lord Hairstreak discovered what she was up to, Flapwazzle was dead for sure. And Hairstreak might even be mad enough to kill her, especially if he thought he could make it look like an accident. Assuming he wasn’t genuine about making peace. But that was what they were about to find out.
All the same, they were going to be entirely on their own. No back-up. No bodyguards. She wondered briefly if she should tell somebody what she was doing. But if she did, there’d be such a fuss she couldn’t bear it. There was always a fuss about everything since she’d become Queen. You’d think becoming Queen would give you more freedom, but she’d found she actually had less. That’s why she went to see the oracle alone. And that had turned out all right, hadn’t it?
She straightened her back and Flapwazzle stayed stubbornly in place. She could order the Countdown to begin before she left the palace.
‘OK,’ Blue said. ‘Off we go!’