A Tangle of Gold

by Jaclyn Moriarty

  The figure looked up.

  It was the King.

  His eyes were bloodshot. His mouth sagged.

  ‘Keira,’ he said, dragging the mouth into a smile that closed his eyes. He left the eyes closed, then opened them. ‘Did you know I spent a year in the World?’

  ‘Sure.’ She looked towards Gabe, but he was making coffee, his back to her.

  ‘While I was in the World, I talked my way into an executive position in an advertising agency,’ the King said. ‘Did you know that? It helped that I speak Jarmian—what they call French in the World—I lived in a city called Montreal and that was—where? Canada? Well, who cares. My Jarmian helped, but I had zero experience in advertising. Still got the job cause I knew how to talk myself up.’

  Keira sat down at the table.

  ‘I gave myself a backstory as a rockstar,’ the King continued, laughing. ‘I mean, my mind gave me that backstory. But that’s how much I believed in myself. Rockstar!’ He strummed an invisible guitar, mimicked a crowd cheering, then rested his head on the table and closed his eyes.

  Gabe brought coffee over.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Keira mouthed at Gabe over the King’s head.

  The King straightened. ‘Absolutely nothing,’ he said, reaching for the whisky bottle, ‘is happening.’

  There was a silence.

  ‘He says there are no plans to rescue Princess Ko,’ Gabe told Keira. ‘He says nobody’s on their way to help. The people who were going to do it have all backed out, or maybe weren’t in, in the first place. He’s not clear which.’ Gabe paused to narrow his eyes at the King. ‘He also tells me nobody’s bringing the Royals from the World. Turns out, the agent who promised to get the crack detector never really promised. She just said she’d think about it. Now she’s decided against it. Nobody has bribed or blackmailed any guards to abandon their posts. There was talk that people might, but they’ve all had second thoughts. Or maybe they were only joking. What else? Oh yeah, there’s no Royal Pilot with a superspeed chopper.’

  ‘I don’t believe you,’ Keira said.

  ‘Don’t look at me,’ Gabe said. ‘This is his show.’

  Keira turned to the King. ‘None of this is true, is it? You’re just being funny, right?’

  The King winked. ‘I’m a very funny guy.’

  Keira looked back at Gabe. ‘Is this for real?’

  ‘Seems to be.’

  ‘Where are Abel and Petra?’

  ‘Asleep,’ the King said, closing his eyes again. His hand tilted and so did the whisky glass. Keira grabbed it, set it right and slid it away from the King’s reach.

  ‘What are they doing, sleeping?’

  ‘He says he was too embarrassed to wake them and tell them,’ Gabe said. ‘He came here. He wanted to see you. He thinks you can solve everything.’

  ‘Me? What does that even . . .? But is he saying he was lying all along?’

  The King stretched out to reach the whisky glass, tipping it back and forth so it sloshed and splashed. ‘No,’ he said. ‘No. I never lie.’

  ‘He thought he could make it work,’ Gabe explained. ‘He says he thought if he kept talking and being his usual charming self, it’d all fall into place. That’s what usually happens, apparently. Those were his words: His usual charming self.’

  Gabe’s face was rigid with fury, but then the King pressed his palms to his eyes and cried out in a terrible voice, ‘Oh, my little girl, they’re going to kill my little girl,’ and the fury fell right away.

  4

  On the night of the Cat Walk, Elliot and Chime returned to find the compound still in uproar. Nobody noticed their arrival.

  Elliot slipped back to his room, where Ming-Sun waited in his usual chair.

  ‘They’re still in a state?’ Elliot said. ‘It’s that big a deal, the Director being out of prison?’

  ‘It’s a big thing,’ Ming-Sun said. ‘For certain people.’

  Elliot sat on the edge of his bed, thinking. ‘The Assistant,’ he said eventually. ‘He was angling for top position.’

  Ming-Sun’s expression did not change. ‘You see much,’ he said, and then: ‘You went to the Cat Walk tonight?’

  Elliot nodded.

  ‘And yet, here you are, back again.’

  ‘I’ve decided to become a Hostile.’

  Ming-Sun studied Elliot. Unexpectedly, he yawned. It was a yawn that consumed his entire face. It concluded with a languorous hum.

  ‘So you have,’ he said, and yawned again. ‘Well, let us see if the Assistant believes you. By the way, these yawns do not signify disrespect, nor boredom at your news. They signify fatigue.’

  ‘I’m beat myself,’ Elliot said, lying down.

  ‘So. Let us sleep. Tomorrow will be another day of commotion, for tomorrow they execute the Princess Ko.’

  Elliot had already closed his eyes. He opened them again.

  5

  Keira and Gabe sat in silence at the kitchen table.

  The King was passed out on the floor.

  They had contacted Tovey and Kim, using the transponder rings, and the agents had been grave but unsurprised. ‘Suspected something like this,’ Tovey said. ‘None of the leads he gave us ever worked out.’

  ‘Only, he’s so compelling,’ Kim put in, ‘so we believed he was getting somewhere even though we weren’t,’ and Tovey’s image nodded.

  The agents promised they’d do what they could to rescue the Princess on their own. ‘But it’s not likely,’ they added, their voices layering.

  ‘Not just the Princess,’ Keira interrupted. ‘Sergio and Samuel as well.’

  ‘Who?’

  Static ruffled the agents’ faces and voices.

  ‘Sergio and Samuel! You have to get them as well. Not just Princess Ko.’ She was almost shouting, and Gabe touched her shoulderblade.

  ‘Of course,’ Tovey said, once the static calmed. ‘If we can. Which, like we said, doesn’t seem . . .’

  The connection had broken.

  Next, they’d phoned Abel and Petra and told them the news. Abel had been appalled, but Petra’s voice had a sad resignation.

  ‘They’re all going to be lost,’ she’d whispered. ‘That entire family.’

  Abel had promised to try to find Loyalist connections who might help with the transfers from the World.

  ‘But none of the names he gave me have been much help so far,’ he added. ‘So it doesn’t seem very . . .’

  ‘I know,’ Gabe had said. ‘It’s not likely.’

  Now they sat and stared at each other across the kitchen table.

  ‘Should we try to call Hector and Jimmy?’ Keira asked.

  Gabe shrugged. ‘Don’t know what they could do. Let them sleep. We should go to bed ourselves.’

  They both looked down at the King’s form.

  ‘What do we do? Just leave him here?’

  ‘Absolutely,’ Gabe said.

  Keira carried the coffee mugs to the sink. ‘Why’d he think I could help?’ she complained. She was trying not to cry, or to care. The Royals meant nothing. Who cared if they were trapped in the World? Who cared if they stood about on street corners waiting, and the Girl-in-the-World went wild about it? As for Princess Ko, she was a tyrant. Go ahead and execute her!

  Keira felt a rush of dizziness.

  Gabe was talking. ‘You helped bring the King across from the World. And Abel and Elliot. Maybe he thought you’d somehow bring the other Royals too?’

  They stepped out of the kitchen into the dark hallway.

  ‘I’m too tired to remember where the light switch is,’ Gabe said. ‘I’ll just sleep right on the floor.’

  ‘Here.’ Keira pulled him back to his feet. ‘Take my hand. I’ll lead you.’

  Their fingers entwined. ‘Something weird’s going on there,’ Gabe observed. ‘You’re sort of twitching.’

  Keira withdrew her hand.

  ‘It’s my ring. Someone’s contacting me.’ She flicked the light switch.

&
nbsp; ‘Ah, now it’s too bright.’ Gabe leaned against the wall, closing his eyes. ‘Tell them to wait until morning.’

  An image hovered at the foot of the stairs. A girl with long dark hair.

  ‘It’s me,’ said the image.

  Keira stared.

  ‘It’s me. Princess Ko.’

  ‘No, it’s not. Your hair’s wrong.’

  ‘This is not currently relevant but I haven’t been able to dye my hair in prison. This is its real colour. You know it’s me, Keira.’

  Keira slapped her own cheeks, trying to wake up. ‘Are you okay?’ she whispered. ‘Is it safe for you to be calling me? What’s that behind you?’

  ‘I don’t know. A bicycle, I think. We’re in some kind of a shed. In the Farms. We escaped.’

  ‘She what?’ Gabe’s eyes flew open. He stepped close to Keira, watching the image.

  ‘Yes, I had Sergio work on his flight without pause, and now he can do it at will. Rather than awaiting the mood. I had Samuel forego his pain medication so we could accumulate a hidden stash. We used it to knock out the prison guards. Samuel has suffered, of course, and so has Sergio. But here we are.’

  ‘She brings out the best in people,’ Keira told Gabe drily.

  ‘Sergio flew us here,’ Ko continued. ‘We’re hiding. The boys are sleeping. They’re exhausted. I’ll wake them soon though, so we can complete our journey before daylight. If we come to you, can you hide us?’

  Keira and Gabe found themselves, unexpectedly, laughing. They were sinking to the floor with the laughter, falling against each other.

  ‘Yeah, you can come here,’ Gabe told her eventually, breathless. ‘I’m Gabe,’ he added.

  ‘That’s Gabe,’ Keira confirmed, and she fell into another laughing fit. ‘You escaped. I can’t believe that you escaped. You just went ahead and escaped.’

  ‘It’s a whirlshine of relief,’ Ko agreed. ‘More so when we reach you. We have a map so I think Sergio will be able to fly us to Bonfire, but where do we go once we get there?’

  Gabe explained the directions then said, ‘You took a huge risk, escaping on your own. Why didn’t you wait? You got the message that the King was organising a rescue, right?’

  In the image, Ko’s head dipped. ‘I did,’ she said. ‘But you are referring to my father, and I know him.’

  6

  Elliot woke early to slamming doors and voices raised and rushing.

  ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘Still? How much can they have to say about the Director being free?’

  Another door slammed, close by. Ming-Sun, in his usual chair, curled his mouth with irritation. ‘Wait,’ he said, and left the room.

  A few minutes later, he returned, resuming his position.

  ‘All across the Kingdom,’ he said, ‘prisoners are fleeing.’

  ‘What? Seriously?’

  Ming-Sun shook his head. ‘No. I am jesting. The Director was released last night, as you know, and now it seems the Princess Ko has escaped. Quick!’ He clicked his fingers before Elliot’s eyes. ‘How do you feel about this?’

  Elliot swiped the clicking hand away. ‘What is that, some magic thing? Cut it out.’

  Ming-Sun chuckled. ‘No. I can just imagine the Assistant doing it. But seriously, what do you think? The Princess was your friend. She was to be executed today. Now she has escaped. And so?’

  ‘What about the others? Are they out too?’

  ‘Samuel and Sergio. Yes, them too. But I am asking how you feel about Princess Ko’s escape.’

  Elliot frowned. The truth was, his first reaction was huge relief. But now he didn’t know how he felt. He tried to get a hold of that sense he’d had last night, of being inside his own skin.

  ‘Well, it’s bad news,’ he tried.

  Ming-Sun brayed. ‘This is not a job interview! And if it was, you would not get the job. You lie badly, Elliot. Tell me your truth. And its colour! How does it smell? Describe its appearance! Rate your truth for me.’

  ‘Seriously?’

  Ming-Sun drew out a handkerchief, blew his nose, then bellowed with laughter. ‘No,’ he said eventually. ‘I am joking.’

  ‘You sure are in a strange mood today, Ming-Sun.’

  Ming-Sun smiled. ‘I did not want you to die at the hands of the Assistant, nor did I want Chime punished for your escape. My secret hope was that you would be truly converted. It has happened. My relief makes me both joyful and extremely tired. Of course, we have yet to convince the Assistant of your conversion. Which brings me back to my question: how do you feel about Princess Ko’s escape?’

  Elliot tried again. He closed his eyes and visualised himself as a lion, but that only confused him. He looked stupid with a mane.

  He thought of the Princess Ko that Chime had described, and then he thought of the Ko he had seen in conference rooms, in the tent by the Lake of Spells, in a boat at Olde Quainte—missing her sister, desperate for her family, demanding they get her little brother first, because he was alone and he didn’t have his blankie—stamping her foot, holding brainstorming sessions, ruthless, callous, selfish as heck.

  ‘I’m glad she’s not going to be killed,’ he admitted in the end. ‘I don’t want anyone killed, and she’s young, and she did her best, and I liked her, even though she made me crazy. But I hate the idea of her and her family ever being back in charge. That’d be bad news.’

  Ming-Sun stretched and yawned. ‘Better,’ he said. ‘Now I will go back to sleep.’ He bowed his head to his chin and closed his eyes.

  7

  Keira and Gabe returned to the kitchen. The adrenaline and laughter had woken them. They looked at the King’s sleeping form.

  ‘Your daughter’s okay!’ they said to him.

  He continued sleeping.

  They looked at each other.

  ‘You know,’ Keira said, ‘if Princess Ko can get herself out, couldn’t we figure out—’

  ‘I was thinking the same thing.’

  ‘I could open the cracks,’ Keira said, ‘but we’d need to get around the guards first.’

  ‘Drug them?’

  ‘How?’

  Gabe thought. ‘Barrington root. You grate it the right way, it’ll knock you out just about instantly.’

  ‘Where’d we get that from?’

  ‘Nikki grows it on her farm.’

  ‘Okay,’ Keira said. ‘But how do we get the guards to—what? Inhale it? Inject it?’

  ‘Eat it. We’ll bake it into something. Cody can do his profiteroles.’

  They smiled at each other, then Keira dropped her smile.

  ‘But we need to get Princess Jupiter and the Queen from Golden Coast, and then Prince Chyba up in Nature Strip. We haven’t got a high-speed chopper.’

  ‘We haven’t,’ Gabe agreed.

  They held each other’s gaze, breathing fast.

  After a moment, Keira said, ‘Doesn’t Shelby fly a plane?’

  They started making calls.

  *

  Two hours later, Shelby was flying her crop-duster to Ducale, Golden Coast.

  She was cranky at 5 am. She had half-closed eyes, a thermos of coffee and a scowl. She wore trackpants tucked into rubber boots and a faded t-shirt.

  She didn’t say a word for the first hour. Then she seemed to notice Keira beside her. At the same time, she became aware of the frayed edges of her own sleeves.

  ‘You know anything about Royals?’ Shelby said into the mike attached to her earphones.

  ‘Not a thing,’ Keira replied.

  ‘You think I’m dressed okay?’ Shelby frowned at the t-shirt sleeves again, and then at her rubber boots. ‘And what, are we supposed to bow and call them Majesty or something?’

  ‘No idea,’ Keira said. ‘I don’t read Royal magazines.’

  ‘Me neither.’ Shelby’s frown deepened.

  ‘We’re rescuing them,’ Keira said. ‘What are they going to do, start complaining about fashion and protocol?’

  Shelby flashed her a look that was maybe a twist
of the lip or maybe a smile. Then she glanced around her plane. She’d taken out the hopper to make room for an extra fuel tank and for passengers.

  ‘My favourite thing to do is fly a plane,’ she said.

  Keira smiled.

  Shelby didn’t speak again until they landed in a field outside Ducale. ‘We’re here,’ she said then.

  *

  There was a moment when this seemed a glitch in the plan, this field. Because where exactly were they?

  But they walked across the grass to a highway, and a bus approached. They flagged it down and hitched a ride to the city.

  Again, there was a moment of doubt on a street corner. But Keira asked a passerby how to reach the Harrington Hotel. The man was enthused to be asked. He described the route in detail, even advising them to take Third rather than Fourth Avenue, because the lights were out on Fourth, so crossing was a nightmare.

  Shelby looked at Keira. ‘What’s crossing?’ she said. ‘Why’s it a nightmare?’

  Keira felt suddenly calm. Shelby, with her broad shoulders and studded armbands and tattoos, had never seen a real city. Keira took her hand as they crossed the first major road, and felt the warmth and the tension in Shelby, and this made her feel even calmer.

  At the Harrington Hotel they walked right into the employees’ wing, borrowed a couple of uniforms and a cart, wheeled this into the lift and up to the penthouse suite.

  Two W.S.U. guards were seated outside the suite. They didn’t even blink when the girls offered them fresh profiteroles. They just went ahead, ate them and sank down to the floor.

  Shelby kept watch while Keira went inside the suite, found the crack, unsealed it and held up a flashlight and hand mirror.

  There was a kerfuffle of darkness, lights, sounds. A street corner. A girl wearing huge sunglasses, an overcoat and a black woollen hat.

  ‘Are you here for me?’ the girl said.

  Keira took her hand. The kerfuffle repeated.

  She was back in the penthouse suite. The girl stood beside her swaying. Her neck was scrawny. The overcoat was more frayed than Shelby’s t-shirt.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Keira asked her.

  The girl stared. She held out a hand, skinny wrist emerging from the sleeve. ‘I’m Princess Jupiter,’ she said. ‘Pleased to meet you.’