by Claire Buss
'I dunno. I got here and it's all dark and empty and stuff. I saw the rose on the floor and thought I don't want to be anywhere near that thing. I started walking. I walked for days and days and days. How long have I been here?'
'Couple of hours.'
'Oh. Well, felt a lot longer.' Brogan picked up a handful of sand and let it trickle back down through his fingers. 'I decided to sit down. And I thought about everyone I was going to miss.' He pointed at the pond of tears as if seeing it for the first time. 'Did I do that?'
'Yep.'
'Huh. I miss her, you know? And she sent me away.' Another wail this time but not quite as loud or as wretched as the one before. Ned and Jenni waited patiently for it to subside. 'What am I going to do?'
'The first thing we're going to do is find that bloody flower and then we're getting the hell out of here.' Ned sounded far more confident than he felt.
'Slight problem, tho', Boss.'
'What is that Jenni?'
'We don't know where the rose is.'
'Yes I'm aware of that. We'll just have to pool our collective talents and find it eh? Between the three of us – shouldn't be a problem.'
Chapter 20
It had been hours. Or minutes. Or days. The difficulty was that they had no frame of reference, no distinguishing mark to try and orientate themselves upon. They were literally nowhere, plus everything looked the same. Every time they tried to separate and cover more ground Brogan and Ned soon became overwhelmed with grief, unable to do anything other than weep. There were now three pools of tears in the sand which might have been a useful point of reference except for the fact that once you had walked away from the pool it ceased to glimmer and was absolutely no help whatsoever. They had to walk along in a line, holding hands.
'Anything?' Ned glanced along the line. Jenni scowled and Brogan shook his head. It all looked the same. Ned stopped walking. 'There has to be a better way. We must be missing something. Jenni – any ideas? Please tell me there's a magical solution.'
Jenni was drawing shapes in the sand with her toes, she shrugged, paused then snapped her fingers and looked up with a grin. 'Yeah! Boss – I got it. We've gotta find luv.'
'Isn't that what we're trying to do already?' Brogan looked confused. More so than usual.
'Yeah, but no. We gotta find our luv. Wo's inside us. Wot we luv the most.'
The two men stared at the sprite. She bristled under their scrutiny. 'Wot?'
'Find our love?' Ned was incredulous. 'I thought love was lost. I thought that was why we were in this whole mess in the first place.'
Jenni kicked piles of sand, trying to find the right words. 'Yeah, but it's your own luv you've gotta find, not everyone else's. That will lead us to the rose, I fink.'
'Can you show us what you mean, little sprite?' Brogan asked.
Jenni nodded and motioned the two men to come and stand closer to her. When they were within touching distance she stood one foot on one of theirs and let go of their hands. Sadness washed over the men but it was manageable, they didn't feel the need to dissolve fully into sobs, yet. Jenni closed her eyes and concentrated, her brow furrowed, whispering words under her breath. She cupped her hands in front of her as if she was holding a ball. Nothing happened. Ned's nose started to itch and Brogan began picking his teeth. Minutes ticked by and still nothing happened. Then Ned noticed there was a faint pinkish glow emanating from Jenni's hands, it got brighter and brighter until there was a glowing pink ball of energy fizzing slightly in her palms. She grinned up at them.
'I found mine – watch.' And she threw the ball out into the nothingness. It arced up and gradually disappeared from view.
'What's supposed to happen next?' Brogan looked wistfully into the distance at the pink glow that was gradually fading.
'Wait for it.' Jenni had puffed out her chest in pride.
They waited. Still nothing. Minutes ticked by and the silence grew more and more uncomfortable. Jenni started biting her nails. Gradually they became aware that there were small pink globules twinkling in the black sand, stretched out in a line in front of them.
'C'mon. Let's go.' She grabbed their hands and stopped standing on their feet, tugging them forward. The heavy sadness lifted somewhat and they all followed the pink blobs that stretched into the distance.
'Will these take us all the way to the rose?' Brogan sounded out of breath. Barbarians clearly were not as fit as they would like people to believe. That muscular body was probably achieved with magical potions, stinky herbs and prayers to backwater gods. None of this working out lark that was sweeping the play centres at the moment. Personally Ned didn't see the point of paying to stand in a room and lift heavy things when you could quite as easily go get a job and do the same for free - not even for free - you would be getting paid. And those people who liked the track were just as bonkers. People actually paid money to spend time walking the indoor track that snaked the length of the largest play centre in Roshaven. It was about a mile long and could fit three people abreast comfortably provided you had worked out a who-went-first order when going through doorways. And a slipstream option for people who wanted to run past. When the track had first opened it was a total free for all, but after several nasty collisions and one rather heated bout of fisticuffs, the play centre owners had decided to make the track one way. They ended up reversing it on Tuesdays and Thursdays because people like a change. Ned didn't get it. Walk around Roshaven. It had miles and miles of well worn streets that could tell a tale or two. In fact some of the older streets did speak, late at night to those whose boots could read cobble. Ned had liked spending his night shift hitting the streets. Only very, very occasionally did they hit back.
'Nah.' Jenni pointed to where the blobs seemed to end. 'They'll take us this far, rest is up to youse two. You gotta find your luv.'
Looking behind him, Ned couldn't see any pink blobs at all, apparently once they passed one, it lost its usefulness and disappeared back to wherever it had come from in the first place. Unless of course the whole thing was one of Jenni's pranks. She was a sprite, after all.
'Do you have a way out of here when we find the rose, Jenni?' asked Ned.
'Nope.' She still sounded cheerful.
'Well, I'm not going next. Brogan – where's your love?'
Brogan looked down at the rapidly disappearing pink blob at his feet and cracked his knuckles. 'I don't know how to do visual... visual... looking.'
'Just fink 'bout wot luv means to you, the rest will take care of itself,' Jenni explained.
'K.' Brogan seemed to have shrunk into himself, he looked less bulky and more squat as if the weight of the entire world was pressing down upon him. 'I guess I love wine and women. More wine than women. Truth be told there's only ever been one woman for me. I don't know why I ever messed things up as much as I did. I guess I was frightened.' He looked to Jenni for reassurance. She squeezed his hand encouragingly. 'I was scared she would leave me. Why would someone like that want to have anything to do with someone like me? I'm not a clever man. I've magically enhanced myself to keep up with the pack. It's a risk, I know, but the ladies seem to like it so you think it's worth it in the end.'
I knew it, thought Ned to himself. Next thing you know he'll be admitting to never having heroed anything before.
'I'm only a barbarian by look. Never done me own quest or nothing. Too nervous to take on the big stuff and no-one will touch me with the little stuff cos I look too imposing. Probably should've held back on the enhancements but what are you going to do? It was after I did them that I met Mia. She was wonderful, she glowed with life. I didn't think I stood a chance but she noticed me at a party and spoke to me. I'll never forget her first words to me. She said, 'Oi lump – move out of the way.' Such a beautiful voice, like honey mixed with treacle or something.'
Ned stopped listening. Brogan went on and on extolling his beloveds' virtues until a tiny pink ball started to form in the air in front of him. At first he didn't notice, he went on de
scribing Mia's perfect fingernails and the delightful way she would clip him round the ear when he forgot to put the milk in her tea before the hot water. He had to remember so much to be with her it was hard work at times but in the end, completely worth it. As he finally stopped speaking, the pink ball had fully formed and was pulsing gently in the air.
'Frow it,' urged Jenni. 'Not too 'ard, you don't wanna shatter it.'
Brogan gently cupped his hands around the ball and executed a textbook underarm lob. The orb sailed through the air, weeping droplets as it flew out of sight.
'C'mon. Let's follow 'em. S'your turn next, Boss.' But Jenni didn't take their hands this time. In fact she had not been holding them since they stopped for Brogan to find his love. Ned realised he didn't feel so sad, a measure of contentment had come back into his life. He still felt as though he could quite happily bawl his eyes out but at least now he knew he was not going to dissolve into tears right this instant and he was quite looking forward to getting one step closer to home. They all jogged along, lost in their own personal thought clouds. They did not notice the gathering storm behind them. To be fair it is hard to notice anything when you are not actually looking at it but at least one of them should have taken note of the prickling feeling between their shoulder blades and then glanced round to look. They all thought it was sand.
Like before, the pink globules stretched out over the black sand, lighting the way. Without any change in the landscape it was difficult to tell whether they were actually making any headway or whether they were going round in circles. One rock would be nice, a small change in the flatness and a distance gauge. Ned was beginning to feel concerned. It was his turn next to let the love in. But that story happened a long time ago and he had absolutely no desire to re-hash those painful memories and anyway, that was a love lost, not a current love, so surely it wouldn't do any good. Besides, no-one likes to dwell. It's one of the major evolutionary leaps mankind has made. Dwarves, elves, pixies and the like, they cling on to the past, always moaning about how much better it was and the fact that our ancestors still owe them fourteen silver bits from that time when they needed help. Fae-folk. Ned realised he was feeling angry, he looked across at Brogan. No, he still had that stupid lovesick look on his face and his globules were still going strong. Jenni was looking at Ned out the corner of her eye as if she knew something was wrong but had no inclination to get involved. He scowled at them both and hunched his shoulders. Stupid bloody place to end up chasing a stupid bloody flower for a stupid bloody emotion. Love – ha! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.
The storm whipped itself into a wild frenzy in appreciation of Ned's black mood. Still no-one had noticed the towering inferno building behind them but the sand had. It was trying to run away. Finally Jenni realised that the sand was undulating under her feet, making walking a little easier as each footstep glided a little further. It was a bit like skating. Brogan hadn't noticed anything, he was still intent on his blobs and Ned, well he was in a black mood. It matched the cloud behind them. Jenni stopped and turned slowly around. She gulped at the huge storm brewing. It was rage and hurt and pain and probably certain death. What was Ned carrying with him?
'Er, Boss? I fink we need to get a move on.'
'You don't say?' snapped Ned.
'Boss! Look behind ya.'
Ned turned and shrugged indifferently. 'It's a cloud, Jenni. They happen.'
'Can't you feel it, Boss? S'like anger and pain and 'urt all rolled up. S'not happy. I fink we should run.'
'Why bother, we're all going to die here anyway. Have you seen any drinking water or food? This is hell and we are stuck here.'
'Boss – you don't believe that?'
Brogan had stopped walking, he had come to his last globule. It was pulsing paler and paler. He looked up at the other two in concern. 'I think it's going out. What do we do now?'
'Boss – you gotta find your luv,' urged Jenni.
'It's overrated,' snarled Ned. That's when the storm hit. A blanket of pitch fell over them as the enormous cloud rolled carelessly onwards. Ned could not see anything. Not even his hand in front of his face. Finally something that matched his mood. He sat down. There was no point in moving, this was it. This was the end. He could hear the others shouting for him in the storm. Let them waste their energy. They were never getting out of here. Never getting back to Roshaven.
At the thought of his city Ned's heart panged. He thought of his battered old chair in his rickety office at the top of those death trap stairs. People didn't make workspaces like that anymore. It was the type of place that built real job commitment. And The Noose. Oh The Noose was a rare hostelry indeed. Reg might pretend he was indifferent to everyone and everything but Ned knew how much those monosyllables cost him and how much he had paid the Guilds in order to stay at the top of the Black Narrows. It was home. The blackness around Ned lightened slightly, becoming midnight black instead of pitch. It was subtle but if you knew what to look for you would see it. Jenni and Brogan missed it and continued to stumble through the darkness.
Ned thought about his favourite loop of the city. He started at The Noose of course, heart of the place. A brisk hike through the Black Narrows – you didn't want to go too slowly otherwise you would get mugged, but you also didn't want to go too fast, otherwise you risked getting shot at for acting suspicious. It was a react first, ask questions later kind of place. But it had real character, it had nuance. Some of the Narrows had not had a murder for nearly a week and you could still get a cuppa from some of the older residents. They appreciated the concept of thief-catchers even if they were most likely on the list of wanted thieves. Once you exited the Narrows on the West side it was a slow loop round Piss-Eyed Nellie's lake. If you could ignore her, which to be fair, most people could, it was an enjoyable walk with a bit of nature sprinkled here and there. A lot of woodland folk who had moved to the big city liked to live round the lake. You had to be mindful of where you stepped – it could be someone's house in that toadstool. Momma K had extended a little protection over the community, but it still came under city rule and Ned liked to make sure everyone was getting along. Pixie fights could be catastrophic.
Ned didn't feel quite so angry anymore. He thought about the trolls that lived down Quarry, they carved out their homes and shared what limestone they didn't eat with the masons of the city. Luckily the seam was deep, or so Ned had been told and the troll population was small. Reproduction was a highly complicated affair involving a lot of igneous. Hard to find this far from the volcanic region of the South. Trolls were lazy and on the brink of extinction but Ned knew that Calcite and Magnetite were thinking of making the pilgrimage. There was even talk of twins. That would be interesting. Then of course there was Momma K's small grove slap bang in the middle of the city and the Druid Grove further East. It was funny, so many different races and religions in one small place. Roshaven should have been a powder keg ready to explode, but everyone sort of rubbed along together.
Jenni and Brogan could see Ned now - the blackness had begun to lift. The huge cloud was breaking up and drifting apart. They hung back, something telling them both that now would be the wrong time to speak. Ned had his eyes closed and his fist clenched, tears rolling down his face but that wasn't what kept them back. He was glowing bright pink. All over. Jenni had never seen anything like it. She had not realised her boss had so much love inside him.
Ned's mind swept on, taking in all the twists and turns of his city walking past the Emperor's Palace and even feeling a stab of fondness for Her Imperialness. It was his city and it was suffering with the Great Sadness. No-one cared anymore. He couldn't leave it like that - he had to do something. Ned opened his eyes and jumped to his feet. Without knowing how he scooped all the pink energy from his body into his hands, making a huge ball and then he flung it into the distance as far and as hard as he could. The orb didn't travel far, instead it hung in the air and grew and grew and grew until it became a love portal.
'Shall
we?' Ned extended his hand to Jenni who curtseyed, badly, grabbed Brogan's codpiece and together they all walked out of nowhere.
The rose of love remained behind in the black sands. Its magical power spent.
Chapter 21
The throne room was dark and cold, fake Emperor Mia nowhere to be found. Brogan dropped to his knees and dry heaved. Thankfully they had had nothing to eat in the middle of nowhere otherwise it would have sounded and smelled a lot worse. Ned felt queasy watching him.
'Let's check out the fourth floor, that's where everyone else was last time I was here.' Ned swallowed a few times to settle his stomach and led the way. The corridors were still deserted, still looking forlorn. There were dust balls gathering along the skirtings and the mirrors were dulled, silver was tarnished and lights dimmed. No-one had been doing the housekeeping. Their footsteps rang loudly and echoed through the hallways. Ned let out a sigh of relief when they reached the fourth floor, lights were still blazing through the cracks of the doors and the go-away spell was still repelling although not as powerfully as it had been. They walked through the doors into a wall of sadness.
No-one was actually weeping, they had already passed through that stage. Everyone was sitting still, stuck in a funk, indifferent as to what was happening or what would happen to them. People were not eating or drinking, talking or interacting in any way. The trio walked to the side reception room, Ned hoping that the Upper Circle had stayed put. He didn't fancy trying to look for her while everyone was so miserable and unhelpful. He had to get Brogan to help him push the door open, it felt like there was something in the way. It was the High Right – or possibly the Left. Ned always had trouble telling them apart when they were not wearing their ceremonial robes and even then he often needed a clue. The other High direction was slumped in a chair by the fireplace. There was no immediate sign of the Upper Circle but there was a heap of blankets in the corner that appeared to be breathing. Ned walked over and nudged it with his toe. It groaned.