‘You can’t seriously be considering this, Anthony,’ the man with the cane said, his voice low but firm. ‘We have her here, in a room where magic cannot be worked. She’s powerless and she’s admitted to being something evil. She’s threatened to take over the world!’
One of the other people, the lone woman, spoke up. ‘It sounded to me as though she were offering considerable social, economic, and scientific benefits if we simply let her get on with doing what would greatly benefit us, Mister Meadows. It would appear to be in our best interests to avoid pushing her into a situation where she succumbs to the temptation of power.’ There was a bitter edge to her voice which suggested she knew or suspected that Meadows had already succumbed.
‘And I said there were two people here who could work magic, Mister Meadows,’ Ceri stated. ‘Forgive me an academic conceit, but I hate poor background research. How do you think I got out of Black Fields? And back in again to rescue their President? You think I seduced a battalion of troops? Sorcerers catalyse T-Null decay. You need an external source of energy, like that cane you’re holding. I don’t. If you actually use whatever that spell is you’re building, I’ll block it and someone will probably shoot you.’
Sachs was on his feet, a pistol levelled at Meadows. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I’d actually take a fair degree of pleasure in killing the Grand Master of the Order of Merlin.’
‘Huh,’ Ceri grunted. ‘Carter said they’d pulled out all the stops. Look, I’m not going to interfere with your stupidity. I’ve told the demons I won’t interfere in their daily business. Personally I think the Lord you’re pacted to doesn’t know what you’re up to, because he knows what I’d do if you fail. I’m not going to stop him pulling your soul out to prove his loyalty to his Overlord either. If you wish, you can try explaining that Ayasha isn’t vindictive, but he probably is so I would get my affairs in order.’
Lorian got to his feet. ‘I need to talk to the Cabinet,’ he said, apparently deciding that he needed to take charge of the meeting again. ‘Mister Sachs, you seem to have a better handle on some of this than my advisors. See to it that Doctor Brent is returned home. Doctor Brent, I would appreciate it if you would stay there for the time being.’
‘Of course,’ Ceri replied.
The Minister nodded. ‘Oh, and I want these widder-damned, pacted idiots in custody at Greycoat Street before sundown. The police can verify their status and deal with them accordingly.’
Meadows surged to his feet and there was an audible click as Sachs pulled back the hammer on his automatic.
‘Just give me a reason,’ Sachs requested. Lorian did not even stop to watch.
Ceri got up from her seat and walked around the table. The two people she moved between to lean over where she could examine the goblet flinched away from her, but she ignored them.
‘Could you make sure this gets to the university?’ she said, her voice soft. ‘The boundary effects between a null-magic zone and normal space are… fascinating. Doctor Tennant could do really amazing things with a portable hole in the Super-magic Field.’
‘It’s ours,’ Meadows growled at her.
‘Not any more it isn’t,’ Sachs replied. He sounded just a little too happy to be saying it.
Kennington, May 3rd.
‘I hope you’re here to talk to Ceri Brent,’ Ceri said, ‘because if you want Lady Ayasha I’ll have to send you to the study.’
Malcolm Charles, Minister for Arcane Affairs, smiled. ‘Technically, the Minister is not here,’ he said. ‘Malcolm Charles is paying an unofficial visit to an acquaintance who has just become hot political property. Ceridwyn Brent will do nicely.’
Ceri was not sure she had seen him smiling quite so genuinely… well, ever. ‘Good. Lily is in the study doing the diplomatic stuff with some Foreign Office people. I’m staying out of it because… Well, I’m the Head of State, I guess, but also because I gave her the job and it seems rude to butt in.’ She waved at the wing-backed chair opposite. ‘Have a seat.’
The slightly portly man opened his jacket and settled into the chair, relaxing and looking quite comfortable. ‘I don’t wish to disparage Miss Carpenter, but isn’t she a little inexperienced for the role?’
‘Yeah, sort of, but then I’ve not got much experience in running a world. She’s got her father and Mei in there in case she needs help, but I’m more worried she’ll end up with us owning Berkshire or something. It’s an all-male Foreign Office team.’
Charles actually laughed. ‘I see your point. They have got one of mine in there for advice on arcane matters. That may help.’
‘You’ve been brought back in on this then? I was more than a little worried when I heard you’d been sidelined again.’
‘Brought back in is something of an understatement.’ He was beaming now. ‘The Cabinet hasn’t a clue what to do with this. The Home Office has been badly embarrassed. Again. The PM instructed me to take the lead on the magical side with the FO handling the diplomatic aspects.’ His smile faded a little. ‘Frankly it’s a bit of a mess. We were not prepared for this and I’m running my staff ragged to catch up on all the implications. Avery has been very helpful and Chief Inspector Barry in the Greycoats has been providing us with all the intelligence he can. I’m glad you thought to tell them what was going on. They’ve both made every preparation they could for this coming out. I take it you’ve known it would for some time?’
‘When I realised how much effort it was going to take to run the Demon Realm, how many people knew about Lady Ayasha, I knew it was going to happen sooner rather than later. I’d have come to you, but…’
‘It would have put me in a very difficult position,’ Charles said, nodding. ‘I’m glad you didn’t.’
There was a rattle from the lounge door and they both looked around to see Petra, Charles’ daughter, walking in with a fairy on each shoulder and a tray with mugs on it in her hands.
‘Ah yes,’ Charles said. ‘Since this isn’t an official visit, Petra decided to tag along and your fairy friends decided to co-opt her to help with drinks.’
The young blonde was looking a little wild-eyed and more nervous than Ceri would have expected. She relaxed a little as Twill and Ishifa took off, one to get a chair for their guest and the other to get a table for the coffee mugs.
‘Hey, Petra,’ Ceri said. ‘I haven’t seen you since the Chinese Embassy ball.’
‘I know, and now you’re… well, really famous.’
‘I’m still just me. I haven’t changed… No, that’s bollocks. I have changed, but inside these walls I’m just me.’
‘You are,’ Twill said as she spirited a mug toward Charles, ‘more confident in yourself, which you have a right to be, and more assertive. You take charge more readily, especially when no one else seems to be doing it.’
‘Well that just makes me sound pushy.’
‘You are, dear, but that’s not always a bad thing.’
‘Huh,’ Ceri grunted, and picked up her coffee. ‘Well, if this is a social visit, how are you two doing? I haven’t seen Petra in the Tir recently so you can’t have annoyed her much.’
‘Dad’s been stressed enough without me adding to it,’ Petra replied. ‘God, that sounded really responsible.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Charles told her, ‘things are looking very much up. I’m sure you’ll be able to go back to sleeping with the wrong people soon. Yes, it’s early days, but I think we’re looking at something of a new dawn. Prosperity and happiness all around, so to speak. Now I sound like a politician. I was trying not to do that. How are you coping with all this, Doctor Brent?’
‘Ceri,’ Ceri said. ‘Didn’t we get over that already? I’m… feeling really good about things myself. The demons haven’t proven as bad as I thought they might be. It looks like the Government is taking this seriously. A lot depends upon what’s going on in the next room, but…’ She turned her head to look at the doorway just as Lily strutted in looking rather proud of herself.
‘Oh…
my… God,’ Petra said when she looked around.
‘You met them in that?!’ Charles asked. His face was doing contortions while it tried to look shocked and extremely amused at the same time.
Lily came to a stop, raising her arms from her sides. ‘I was being the Demon Realm Ambassador, which makes me Lilith at the moment, and this is my official costume as the Lorrshini Dakisho ey Shivika Ayasha.’
Petra and her father just stared. Lily was practically naked, but not quite. There was a skirt, of sorts: a silvery silken waistband, adorned with silver scrollwork and a golden flower at the centre point, hanging on her hips to support two strips of translucent silk at front and back. She was in thigh-high, high-heeled boots of silver leather; the heels pushed her a little closer to Ceri’s height, which Ceri had wanted. And the rest of the outfit was jewelled metal. Her arms were adorned with curling strips of demon silver, separate ornaments around the biceps and forearms, and her expansive bust was held in place by a bra of similar silver bands. All of them had deep red gem stones from the eastern Khedra Range set into the metal at various points. Around her throat was a silver chain, one simple item to suggest her theoretical slavery to the Overlord.
‘Uh… what does the title mean?’ Charles asked, rallying faster than his daughter.
‘It’s roughly “Chief Concubine of Mistress Ayasha,”’ Ceri said, giving Lily an evil look. ‘There’s a whole slew of legends circulating over there about Ayasha and her succubus pet, Lilith, and we’ve found it’s best to keep up appearances.’
‘So you’ve got an outfit like that?’ Petra asked.
‘I’ve got something a little more…’
‘Sexy?’ Lily suggested.
‘Suitable for the Demon Overlord,’ Faran corrected as he followed his daughter into the room. ‘I’m sorry, Ceridwyn, I didn’t realise you had guests.’ Mei was slipping in after him, barely noticed by anyone until she wished to be.
‘I think they’ll be interested,’ Ceri replied. ‘Petra’s almost drooling. Faran, this is Malcolm Charles…’
‘I recognise him from the television,’ Faran said, nodding.
‘Malcolm, this is Faran, Lily’s father.’
‘So you’re…’ Charles began.
‘A Lorril,’ Faran finished for him. ‘An incubus to most humans. I’m also Lady Ayasha’s political advisor so it was appropriate that I attend the meeting. I have to say, I was largely unnecessary.’
‘It went well?’ the Minister asked.
‘There are details to be worked out,’ Mei said. She had worked her way around them to stand beside the fireplace and Charles gave a start at her words. ‘There are also some unknowns. However, in principle, no one can see any difficulty with opening normal diplomatic relations with the Demon Realm, and there are obvious benefits for both sides.’
The Minister smiled. ‘I’m glad to hear it,’ he said before turning to Ceri. ‘I think you can expect someone here later today to officially tell you that your “house arrest” is over.’
‘The Home Office isn’t going to argue with that?’ Ceri asked.
‘Let’s just say that your version of the truth appears to have more validity than the reports they’ve been listening to,’ Charles told her, a little cryptically, but he was still smiling, very broadly.
~~~
They were up on the roof when the Greycoats arrived. Lily had said something about being cooped up in the dark for too long, which meant there was no arguing with her. It was a bright day, warm and sunny. There were still a horde of press people outside the fence, but when Lily wanted sunlight on her skin it took a braver person than Ceri to deny her. Even Twill decided it was best to just let it happen.
‘You don’t think this might be a little unwise?’ Barry asked, though Ceri got the distinct feeling that he was more concerned at having to do something official when his subjects were both naked.
‘No one can see us up here,’ Lily replied, her eyes still closed. ‘Well, if they use a very long lens from the tower blocks, but if they want grainy pictures of us in the nude to print then best of luck to them. And I just entertained a Foreign Office Junior Minister dressed in not much more. He coped. More or less.’
‘After all that surveillance, I tweaked the wards to stop sound travelling over the side,’ Ceri added. ‘Up here is almost as private as downstairs, and if you think you’re getting Lily out of the first sun she’s had this year I suggest you make sure your will is up to date.’
‘Too right,’ Lily muttered.
Barry gave a grunt. His detectives seemed rather more sanguine about it, but then Kate and John had been up there before. They had settled onto the third lounger while Barry paced. Ceri had viewed that as a good sign.
‘Very well,’ Barry said. ‘I think the Arcane Minister alluded to this already, but you’re free to move.’ He settled down on the third lounger beside Kate and unbuttoned his jacket. ‘I’m not sure what you’ll be able to do without a pack of rabid reporters hounding you, but you’re allowed to do it. We’ve examined the men Sachs brought in, all except one. They were, as you said, pacted and Sachs provided evidence linking them to a club in Mayfair which we sent a team into early this morning. I’m not sure you want to know what we found there…’
‘Dungeons, complete with chains,’ Ceri said. ‘Staff under enslavement spells. Maybe a few demons. We’ve been there. Matthew Barnes was a member, so was Desmond Wren, and that man, Tanner, who you fished out of a lake with his heart torn out. Lily was taken there to be brainwashed.’
‘Gashikagig,’ Lily muttered.
‘So this “Order of Merlin” is known to you?’ Barry asked.
‘We had an arrangement: they leave me alone, I leave them alone. They broke it, but I’m still not interested in doing anything drastic about it.’
‘I’m glad to hear you say that because their leader, David Alan Meadows, was found dead in his cell this morning before we could get around to checking him for a pact.’
Ceri sat up, frowning. Even Lily opened her eyes.
‘No marks,’ Barry went on. ‘No indication of what killed him. It’s being put down to heart failure…’
‘But?’ Ceri asked; she could hear the hanging ‘but.’
‘The look on his face,’ Kate said. ‘He looked like he was scared to death.’
‘I’ll make some enquiries,’ Ceri said, lying back on her lounger. ‘He had the worst pact I’ve seen other than Barnes. I told him his demon might be less than pleased that he was trying to usurp the Overlord. I suspect he had his debt called in.’
‘They can do that?’ John asked. ‘I thought you had to die before they could get you.’
‘It’s not easy, but I’d imagine the demon concerned was imagining what I might do to him when I found out who his master was. I did take the most powerful Lord in the Realm, turn him into a runt and teleport him into an icy wasteland.’
‘If he’s over there,’ Barry began and then stopped. ‘Uh… I’m not exactly sure what we can do about that.’
‘We haven’t ratified an extradition treaty yet,’ Lily commented. ‘You can bet the punishment he’s getting is worse than anything he could have done to him here.’
Ceri sighed. ‘Extradition… We might actually have to consider what we’re going to do about that.’
‘And immigration,’ Lily said. ‘Donald said there are some people who might want to go live over there, if we would allow it. And there are going to be demons who would like to move here. I mean, Dad did.’
‘But they can’t stay,’ John said. ‘They snap back after a few days. That’s why Faran has you.’
‘That’s a function of the summoning spells,’ Kate told him. ‘Or it’s believed to be.’
Ceri nodded. ‘It’s something to test, actually, but if they come through a portal they should be more firmly anchored here. They could still be forced back, banished, but the pull should be less significant under normal circumstances. So it’s a possibility. We’re going to need some En
glish teachers. Oh this is going to get complicated. How did I get into this mess?’
‘You put on…’ Lily began.
‘Yeah, yeah. Remind me to just let myself be turned into a mindless sex slave next time.’
Holloway.
Ceri appeared in the middle of the containment circle in the lab and looked around, grinning. Not having to pretend she was anything more than a capable magician had some very significant advantages, including not worrying about anyone seeing her use the teleport spell, but she did not want anyone dying of shock when she appeared.
There was no one there; Cheryl, Gwyn, and Faran were all in Cheryl’s office, hard at work it seemed.
‘They let you out then?’ Faran said as Ceri walked into the room.
‘Uh-huh. The Chief came around to tell us. Lily and I are going to work later, and I came over here to get caught up.’
‘Well,’ Cheryl said, ‘things are going pretty well, but I have these two to thank for that. They’re keeping things organised and people happy.’
‘At your direction, Cheryl,’ Gwyn said. ‘We wouldn’t know who to talk to if it wasn’t for you. Don’t sell yourself short. It’s unbecoming in an intelligent woman.’
‘Pay heed to the lady’s words, Doctor Tennant,’ Faran told her. ‘They are wise.’
‘I thought we’d gone past “Doctor Tennant” when you had me over the desk,’ Cheryl stated wryly.
‘Formality seemed appropriate for the sentiment.’ He was grinning wide enough to show fangs.
‘Before this gets any worse,’ Ceri said, ‘I need to set up a meeting with the Dean. I want to start teaching classes in sorcery. Gwyn, I’ll need you and Ed to help formulate the curriculum.’
Thaumatology 12: Vengeance Page 24