It must be love, Pyrgus thought. That was the only thing could have changed Henry from the quiet, reserved boy Pyrgus knew to this take-charge character who snapped out crisp orders and wouldn’t take no for an answer. It was Henry who organised the mission, Henry who drew up the plan, Henry who commandeered transport, Henry who led the three of them – Madame Cardui had insisted Kitterick go too – out of the Purple Palace.
‘What do we do now?’ Pyrgus asked.
They were hidden in some bushes, staring at the gateway to Lord Hairstreak’s estate, which, surprisingly, was standing open and unguarded. Their transport, an unmarked delivery cart souped up with a turbo-charged spell drive, was parked around the corner looking innocent. A far cry from a personal flyer, Pyrgus thought sourly.
‘May I suggest, gentlemen,’ Kitterick put in, ‘that it might be prudent to spend a moment reviewing the situation.’
Pyrgus glanced at the Trinian. It was probably good advice. ‘All right by me,’ he said, then glanced warily at Henry.
Henry seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. His face had taken on that granite cast you saw in Mr Fogarty. ‘We know Blue was headed towards Lord Hairstreak’s mansion,’ he said quietly, ‘but we don’t know whether she’s got there.’
‘Although it would seem very likely,’ Pyrgus said, then added, ‘Especially since she’s travelling in a personal flyer.’
‘If I might express an opinion, Crown Prince, Iron Prominent,’ Kitterick said, ‘I think we may take it that Her Majesty has arrived, for good or ill, at Lord Hairstreak’s residence.’
‘Our job is to save her,’ Henry said.
‘Our job’s nothing of the sort,’ Pyrgus said. ‘At least not yet.’ What was wrong with Henry? Blue – or anything to do with Blue – seemed to unhinge him completely. ‘Our job’s to make sure she’s all right, hopefully without causing a diplomatic incident. And if she’s all right, we leave her to it.’
‘Our job is to save her,’ Henry repeated as if Pyrgus hadn’t spoken.
‘Well, possibly,’ Pyrgus said irritably. He was all for saving his sister, but since his father died he was beginning to appreciate that life wasn’t all black and white. In the old days, he would have stormed in, just like the new, improved Henry. Now he could see that it wouldn’t do anybody any good if they stormed in and Hairstreak killed them. Or, maybe even worse for the Realm, captured them. But it wasn’t just a question of calling in the troops either – that would probably result in the civil war everybody was trying to avoid. On balance he favoured caution, combined with a sneaky approach.
‘I note, sirs, that the gate is wide open and the estate appears to be unguarded,’ Kitterick said.
Pyrgus turned to him frowning. ‘What would you deduce from that, Kitterick?’
‘From our knowledge of Lord Hairstreak, I would say that appearances may be deceptive.’
‘There’ll be guards,’ Henry predicted grimly. ‘Just maybe not at the gate.’
‘So do we go in or what?’ asked Pyrgus.
‘We go in,’ said Henry firmly. ‘Cautiously and stealthily, hiding in the bushes. We creep up to the house and peer through the windows until we find Blue. If there’s the slightest hint of danger, we attack. We will succeed due to the element of surprise. Once we have her safe, you can flatten the whole place the way you flattened that glue factory. Spell bombs or whatever it was.’
‘Alternatively, sir, we could simply walk down the avenue.’
They both turned to look at him.
Kitterick said, ‘It might be argued that we are all here in a precautionary capacity. On the face of things, Her Majesty seems to have embarked on a diplomatic mission. We have – as yet – no reason to believe she is in any degree of personal peril. Should we approach covertly, and be discovered, Lord Hairstreak might appear justified in claiming we were engaged in espionage. On the other hand, an open approach has the benefit of complete transparency. If we are halted by guards – as I assume we will be at some point – we simply say we are a part of Her Majesty’s retinue. We will then be escorted to the mansion where we can easily determine Lord Hairstreak’s attitude towards the whole business. If we are not – halted by guards, that is – then we present ourselves at the front door and request audience with His Lordship and Her Majesty. Either way, we avoid all possibility of a diplomatic incident, show solidarity with Her Majesty, remain on hand to protect her physically, should that need arise, and simultaneously send a clear message to Lord Hairstreak that Her Majesty’s whereabouts are known and any action he might be tempted to take against her would have… consequences. Thus it would seem that walking down the avenue appears to be the most fruitful course of action.’
After a moment, Pyrgus shook his head. ‘Oh, no, that’s rubbish.’
Henry said, ‘Complete nonsense. Wouldn’t entertain it.’
They were creeping through the bushes when the first of Hairstreak’s trackers took out Pyrgus.