“Why not? They’re hurting us!”
“Because it’s Mr. Darrow’s creation, remember? We can’t damage it—not even one person! Mr. Darrow always used to tell me that even the smallest things matter: you take your attention away for one second, and before you know it, they—”
Max stopped. He had noticed something from the corner of one eye.
Joy and the Sparkle Pony Summer Club were standing at the top of the stairs, staring at them.
“J-Joy!” cried Sasha. “What are you doing up here? I told you not to leave the games room!”
Joy was surprised. “We came to look for you. You said you’d be gone only a little while….”
“Well, we’re done now!” said Sasha. “Get downstairs, before Mr. Pitt—”
“What were you doing in Mr. Darrow’s room?”
Max and Sasha froze.
“Wh-what?” said Max.
“We just saw you come out of Mr. Darrow’s room,” said Joy.
Max and Sasha shared a terrified glance.
“We weren’t doing anything!” said Sasha. “So don’t tell anyone, OK? Especially not Mr. Pitt!”
Max winced—Sasha had already said too much. Joy’s eyes lit up. A smile tweaked at the corner of her mouth.
“Soooo…you’re saying that if Mr. Pitt found out, you two would be in trouble?”
Sasha nodded. “Yes! Lots of trouble!”
Joy walked toward them, playing with her pigtails innocently. “Soooo…if we decided to tell him, then you two would be expelled?”
Sasha’s face turned white as he realized what was happening. All the girls were walking toward them now, smiling.
“Joy, please! This is important—you have to believe me!”
Joy shook her head sadly. “But how can I believe you, Sasha? You said you’d spend the whole day with me, but you didn’t….You said we’d make friendship bracelets and do dance routines and watch The Sparkle Pony Movie, and we haven’t done any of those things….”
“We will!” said Sasha. “Max and I will do anything you want!”
Joy stopped—it was exactly what she had been waiting for. She turned to the girls behind her, and they grinned like a shoal of piranhas. Max suddenly felt very, very frightened.
“Anything?” said Joy.
Luke stood beside the Bed. Ahead of him lay thousands of Red shacks, scattered on the sand like blood drops.
“We did it, Excelsior. We made it!”
The journey across the desert had been long and treacherous. Excelsior could clear whole dunes in a single bound, but with the warflies on the lookout, Luke had had no choice but to hide every few inches to avoid being seen. Once Giant and his friend left for the Bin, the warflies had disappeared—and Luke had taken his chance. He rode like the wind to the Red Kingdom, stopping only to break into some abandoned houses along the way and put together a cunning disguise.
Luke knew he didn’t have much time—once Giant had saved the Blues, the Bin King was sure to attack again. He had to find the Red Queen, explain everything to her and get her on his side—fast.
There was just one problem: he had no idea where she was.
Luke stared hopelessly at the sea of Red shacks. There was nothing that looked even remotely like someplace a queen would live. He needed to ask for directions, but everyone knew the Reds hated the Blues. If anyone found out who he was, they’d beat the living daylights out of him.
He looked at the nearest building: a Red saloon, right on the outskirts of town. It looked…rough. The sort of place whose patrons would happily rip off his arms and legs and hit him with them. But it also looked like the sort of place where people didn’t ask too many questions. Someone in there was bound to tell him where the Red Queen was.
Plus, it smelled like there was food inside.
Luke’s stomach groaned. He’d never gone so long without eating before. In Blue Castle, he had only to snap his fingers and someone would come running with a tray of the finest crumbs. Now he was on a quest to save the whole Floor, and he’d never been so hungry. He tied Excelsior to a post and patted her side.
“Wait here, girl,” he said. “I won’t be long.”
Excelsior chirruped happily. Luke tried to look brave for her, but he knew the truth. If he let his disguise slip for a moment—if anyone suspected he wasn’t a Red—he’d never get out of the saloon alive. He gave his disguise a final tweak, adopted what he thought was a tough stance and strolled through the doors.
It was dark and dingy inside. There was a cluster of tables with some miserable-looking Reds slumped over their drinks. Everyone seemed thin and pale and sick. Luke spotted a man at a table near him, drinking alone. He slapped the man on the back.
“Greetings, fellow Red! I’m trying to find the Red Queen—do you know where she lives?”
The man looked confused. Luke froze—of course the man didn’t understand him. He was supposed to be talking like a Red.
“I mean…all right, mate! I’m trying to find the Red Queen, innit? Any idea where her gaff might be?”
The man stared at Luke for a long time before he answered.
“Are you wearing a bucket on your head?”
Luke’s face drained. He’d had no idea that the thing on his head was a bucket. He’d thought it was some kind of rustic peasant hat.
“Are you all right?” said the man. “You’re sweating a lot. You should probably take off that dressing gown.”
This wasn’t going well. People were beginning to look at him. Luke panicked.
“Er…no thanks, mate! In fact, I just realized I don’t need any more help, mate! Bye! Mate!”
He fled to the bar and sat down with a groan. He had to face facts: he didn’t know what he was doing. If he was going to find the Red Queen, he needed help—and lots of it.
“Can I help you?”
Luke looked up. There was a girl standing on the other side of the bar, polishing a glass. She was about his age, with bright-red eyes and bright-red hair tied in a ponytail and held in place with two small daggers. She also had a large club with a nail sticking out of it strapped to her back.
“Yes!” said Luke. “I’m trying to find the Red Queen. Do you know where she is? It’s kind of a life-and-death situation.”
The girl blinked.
“I just meant, like, a drink or something,” she said.
Luke’s stomach groaned again. “Do you have any food?”
She pointed to a jar on the counter. “I’ve got these old pickled flea eggs, but someone left them out under the Bulb, so I wouldn’t…”
She didn’t bother finishing the sentence. Luke was already swallowing the eggs six at a time.
“Hungry?” the girl asked.
Luke nodded as much as he could while fisting whole eggs into his mouth. The girl snorted.
“Well, you won’t find the Red Queen now! She’s busy preparing the Red Army for war. It’s only a matter of time before the Greens try to attack us…if Demon doesn’t get us first!” The girl shook her head. “Ever since he turned up, the whole Floor’s gone mad. But it’s not all bad, I guess; at least those Blues finally got what was coming to them!”
Luke stopped eating.
“Especially that spoiled wiener, Prince Luke,” the girl continued. “Last thing I heard, he was on the run across the desert! Ha! That puny little sap won’t last ten seconds without a fleet of servants wiping his bum for him!”
Luke chewed for a while before swallowing.
“Maybe he’ll do really well,” he said.
The girl frowned. “What do you care?”
“I—I don’t!” said Luke. “I hate the Blues just as much as anyone else! It’s just, you know, always worth questioning your sources, and so on.” He grabbed another handful of eggs. “Plus, you have to admire Pri
nce Luke’s heroism, don’t you? Going on a quest to single-handedly save the Floor, being the only one who realizes that Gi—I mean, Demon’s not evil and making an alliance with him to save the Blues….Certainly makes you question whether you should be calling him a wiener, doesn’t it?”
The girl was confused. “What do you mean, ‘save the Blues’? The warflies chased Demon and the other monster out of the room before they could even—”
Luke sprayed her with a mouthful of egg.
“They did what?!”
Luke’s mind was reeling. The Greens had defeated Giant—his one and only ally against the Bin King was gone. Now he really did have to find the Red Queen fast, or else…
Luke paused. The girl was glaring at him, covered in egg.
“Sorry,” he said.
“It’s fine,” said the girl, not meaning it. “Spit as much food as you want. You’re paying for it.”
Luke’s face fell. “…Paying?”
“Yes,” said the girl. “This is a bar. We sell food and beverages in exchange for money.”
Luke panicked. He’d never had to pay for anything in his life.
“Oh! Paying! Of course! Er…unfortunately, I’ve left all sacks of gold at home. How much do I owe for the eggs—ten thousand? A hundred thousand?”
The girl gave him a long, hard look.
“You know what—forget it. It’s on me.” She handed him a bottle. “Here, have a drink, too. My name’s Ivy.”
Luke smiled. “Wow, thank you, Ivy!”
“You’re welcome, Prince Luke.”
Luke managed to take a sip before he realized what she’d said. He choked on the drink and tried to run, but Ivy had already whipped one of the daggers out of her hair and pinned him to the bar by his sleeve.
“You know, I thought I recognized you when you walked in,” she said cheerily. “But I never thought you’d be so stupid as to walk into a Red saloon wearing that outfit. A bucket and a dressing gown? What were you thinking?”
“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about!” cried Luke, trying to free himself. “I’m just your average Red, trying to—”
“Give it up,” said Ivy. “I can see your blue hair under the bucket. And—hang on—are you still wearing your crown? Oh, this is priceless!”
Luke leaned close to whisper. “Ivy, please, you have to let me go! I need to find the Red Queen!”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll let you find her!” said Ivy. “Right after I rip off your arms and legs and hit you with them—”
“Ahem.”
The voice came from behind Luke, who had never actually heard someone say Ahem before. Whatever it meant, though, it was highly effective. The entire saloon was silenced. Even Ivy stopped talking. Luke tore his sleeve free, made to run—and stopped.
There were ten Green soldiers in the doorway. A fly rider stood in front of them, smiling at the seated drinkers.
“Greetings.”
All the Reds leapt to their feet at the same time, their chairs scraping across the floor. The fly rider waved his hands.
“Please, sit down,” he said. “We come in peace!”
The Reds stayed on their feet. The fly rider glanced over them.
“Who owns this saloon?”
“I do.”
Luke spun round in surprise—Ivy had her hand up and was meeting the fly rider’s gaze head-on. The fly rider laughed.
“You? You’re barely a week old! Where are your parents, little girl?”
“Dead,” said Ivy. “Starved to death when I was five days old, along with thousands of other Reds after the Bin King raised food prices. What do you want?”
The fly rider’s smile disappeared. He glanced at the other Reds. They looked like they were about to leap on the Greens and pummel them to dust, and the Greens knew it. The tension in the room was unbearable. The fly rider cleared his throat.
“I come with an offer from the Bin King himself.” He started unrolling a poster. “He’s prepared to pay a handsome reward to anyone who finds the cowardly traitor Prince Luke of the Blues!”
Luke nearly choked again. The poster was supposed to be of him, but whoever had drawn it had given him snake eyes and devil horns. He was standing on Giant’s shoulders, controlling him with lightning bolts from his hands.
“He’s the one who summoned Demon to the Floor, using evil Blue magic!” said the fly rider. “He longs to rule the Floor at any price! He even offered Demon his own people as a blood sacrifice, but when the monsters tried to take them from the heroic Greens, the might of the warflies sent them fleeing! The Bin King is determined to bring Luke to justice. Come forward with any information of his whereabouts and you shall be richly rewarded!”
Luke closed his eyes, waiting for the moment when Ivy would hand him over. The fly rider cleared his throat.
“The Bin King has another offer too. An even more generous one.”
He began to stalk between the tables.
“The Green tribe is becoming stronger. The Blues are already defeated, and the age of the Green Floor will soon begin. If any Reds here wish to leave the Bed and join the Green tribe—to work as servants, of course—then the Bing King will guarantee them a life of plenty. They’ll be given their own homes in the Bin, in the up-and-coming Banana Skin District, and provided with all the food they’ll ever need. All you have to do is swear allegiance to the Bin King!”
The saloon was so silent you could hear dust settling on the tables. The Reds glanced at each other—Luke could see that some of them were tempted.
Ivy put a hand on his arm.
“We’ll let you know if we see Prince Luke,” she said to the fly rider. “As for your offer, thanks, but no thanks. The Reds will never bow down to the Bin King. Ever.”
There was a mutter of angry agreement from the Reds, even the ones who’d looked tempted only a moment earlier. The fly rider glanced around the saloon and shrugged.
“Suit yourselves.”
He turned to leave, then stopped.
“But I should point out…the age of the Green Floor is coming. Do you really want to be on the wrong side of history when the inevitable happens? Because when it does, the Bin King will not look kindly on those who refused him.”
“We’ll keep that in mind,” said Ivy.
The fly rider took one last look around the saloon, then stormed out. The Green soldiers followed. One by one, the Reds returned to their seats. But fear had filled the room like hot smoke. No one could doubt the meaning behind the fly rider’s words: the Greens were going to attack. It was only a matter of time.
Luke turned to Ivy, dripping sweat. “Th-thank you.”
“What for?”
“For not handing me over.”
Ivy rolled her eyes. “Please—we Reds hate the Greens even more than we hate the Blues. There’s no way we’d let the Bin King have you! But seeing as I did just save your life, I need a favor.”
“Anything!”
“Turn around for a second.”
Luke turned around. “Why? What’s behind—”
Ivy whacked Luke on the head with her club, knocking him out cold. She slung his unconscious body over her shoulder and carried him out the door as easily as if he were a bag of rubbish.
“Honestly,” she muttered. “What a wiener.”
Luke came to and looked blearily around him.
He was inside a Red shack. There wasn’t much to look at, just a rough wooden table and a bed of rags in the corner.
Except, of course, for the drawings.
They covered the walls from floor to ceiling. They’d been drawn with ashes on cheap paper, but each was even more beautiful, intricate and detailed than the last. Every single one showed something with wings: drawings of flies, drawings of gnats, drawings of mosquitoes…
&
nbsp; And right beside the bed was the biggest drawing of all. It showed a moth in flight, with a red-haired girl on its back. Two adults were holding her lovingly.
“Ah, good. You’re awake.”
Ivy stood behind him, sharpening her daggers.
“Thought you’d be out for a while longer. That crown must have protected your skull.”
She nodded to Luke’s crown, which lay on the floor beside her. It had been severely flattened by the club.
“My crown!” said Luke. “Give it back!”
He tried to grab it…but couldn’t. He was tied to a chair.
“No chance,” said Ivy. “You’re staying right where you are while I put up the rest of these posters.”
Ivy held one up. It was just as beautifully made as the drawings on the wall…but Luke didn’t feel quite so positive about it.
“Like it?” said Ivy. “I wanted to put more decoration round the capitals, really make the letters pop, but I didn’t have enough time.”
Luke squirmed. “No—you have to let me go! I need to find the Red Queen!”
Ivy smiled. “Don’t worry, you’ll see her—right after the first wave of punters. I’ve already sold a hundred tickets!”
She strode out the door. Luke sat up—he had one chance to get the girl’s attention.
“The Greens are going to attack!” he cried. “And when they do, the Reds are done for!”
Ivy stopped and turned round.
“I’m sorry?”
“They defeated the Blue army in seconds,” Luke said. “You don’t stand a chance!”
Ivy snorted. “We Reds are made of stronger stuff than you think. If it comes to war—”
“It might not even come to that,” said Luke. “The Greens attacked the Blues with three dozen warflies and won—there are hundreds more where those came from! There’s only one way to stop the Bin King, and that’s me. Keep me tied up here and the Reds are doomed!”
Ivy looked at him for a moment. She stepped back into the hut, pulled up a box and sat down.
“Tell me everything,” she said.
Luke puffed out his chest. “I won’t tell you a thing until you untie me!”
Max and the Millions Page 8