by Robin Jarvis
“Korean People’s Army!” Eun-mi yelled, raising the Kalashnikov she carried.
The Punchinellos gaped when they saw the General’s daughter. Cursing their primitive, medieval weapons, furious they didn’t have their own firearms that night, they rushed forward, slashing with their swords.
Eun-mi opened fire and Evelyn reached for the assault rifle that had been slung discreetly over her own shoulder. Standing side by side, they mowed the guards down. The two muzzles spat light and noisy death and the Punchinellos jumped and jittered as bullets pumped into them. Before the two jackals could turn to run, Eun-mi riddled them with holes too.
It was over in moments. The AK-47s ceased firing and the courtyard in front of the postern gate was littered with bodies and spent cartridges.
“A most disagreeable instrument,” Evelyn observed with a wry twist of her lip. “But highly efficient nevertheless.”
Charm’s girls cheered with joy.
“Nice one, whoever you are,” Emma said, looking the pair of them up and down with a grimace and wondering which of them was the carer of the other.
“You really brought an army with you?” Conor asked, peering through the broken doorway.
“No, dear,” Evelyn told him. “There’s just a full car park out there, with a side order of orchestra pit.”
“What, so there’s just you two?”
“As you can see.”
“No tanks, heavy artillery? No back-up?”
“Not so you’d notice, no. And I do so apologise for my tardiness. It’s entirely Gerald’s fault. Of all the vehicles he could have stolen, he selected one not worth the scrap value. We broke down twice getting here. If it wasn’t for Eun-mi’s mechanical expertise, we wouldn’t have made it at all. I sincerely hope we’re not too late!”
“Oh, brilliant,” Emma snorted. “We’ve been rescued by some tacky Eurovision tribute act. This is not gonna end well.”
“Now,” Evelyn continued, “some of you will recognise this remarkable person from your time in North Korea. For the benefit of those who weren’t there, this is Chung Eun-mi and I am Evelyn Hole, professor of music.”
“Why’d she bleach her hair?” asked Blueberry Muffin.
“That’s rather a protracted story.”
“It looks better now.”
“I like it too,” added Chocolate Mousse.
“It’s manga-ish.”
“Why we wait here?” Eun-mi demanded, uncomfortable with the attention her abnormal hair was attracting. “We must complete mission.”
“Look at the cranes!” Sandra cried, pointing up at the steel masts that were crackling with electricity. “What’s happening?”
“Time for you to go!” Evelyn said sharply. “Get out of this terrible place. Take the little ones and get as far away from here as you can. The service roads are clear for the moment, but that could change at any time. Can any of you drive a motor car?”
“I can!” Lukas said, along with three of the shepherds.
“Splendid! Each of you take one of those vehicles out there and go.”
“What’ll you be doing?” Conor asked. “What’s this mission?”
“Best leave that to Miss Chung and myself. Now hurry along. Don’t worry about the lightning; a car is the safest place to be during a storm.”
“I’ll stop and help you if I can,” the boy volunteered. “Got any spare guns?”
“Certainly not!”
“What’s in that then?” Conor asked, nodding at the rolled-up blanket strapped to Eun-mi’s back.“Looks like another rifle to me.”
“He no come with us,” Eun-mi said tersely. “He will get in way.”
“Go protect the girls,” Evelyn told him.
“I want to stay too,” Maggie said quickly.
“Nooo!” the little sheep protested. “Come with us, Maggie! Come, be safe.”
“Yes, you all go,” Evelyn urged. “Leave it up to Eun-mi and I.”
It was then the giant Christmas tree burst into flames. They saw its topmost branches burning behind the two inner walls, then flinched in fear as a glowing shape scaled the Keep beyond.
The children uttered shrieks of terror and their knees buckled. Shuddering, they fell to the ground. The many horrors they’d witnessed since Dancing Jax ruined their lives were as nothing compared to this. The mere sight of that bright figure filled them with a blind panic they’d never known before. Even Eun-mi felt her courage falter and, though she clenched her teeth and reproached herself, she could not bear to gaze on that evil vision and looked away sharply.
“What is that?” Emma cried, shaking her head, aghast.
“The Dawn Prince is here,” Maggie whispered.
Ruddy light filled the courtyard, flaring over the dark pools of the Punchinellos’ blood. Where it touched Conor’s skin, it stung and his flesh crawled and pricked with sweat. It made him feel sick and he wanted to scrape it off or cut it away.
Only Evelyn could withstand the unholy glare of the power that ascended the throne without averting her eyes. The force that flowed from it made her gasp and catch her breath, but she was tough and stronger than Gerald would have been. Marshalling that strength, she passed among the petrified youngsters and gently encouraged them towards the gateway.
“Keep your heads down and don’t look at that up there,” she warned. “Get going. Now!”
Emma didn’t need telling again.
“Be lucky, yeah,” she said, running out of the postern gate.
Sandra thanked the two strangers for saving their lives and followed her.
“Lord be with you,” Lukas told them, his head bowed, too afraid to raise his face.
“I’m not going,” Maggie said stubbornly. “I’m coming with you. I can help!”
“So can I!” Conor insisted. “You don’t know the layout of this place. It’s enormous. Where are you even trying to get to?”
“Best you don’t know,” Evelyn said. “And those young girls need you far more than us. Keep them safe and, if we somehow get out of this alive, we’ll all have some of Gerald’s chocolate mincies.”
“His what?” Maggie asked with impatience.
Blueberry Muffin grabbed her hand to pull her towards the doorway.
“Eew – you’re cold and clammy!” she cried.
Evelyn glanced again at the terrifying form upon the Waiting Throne. Closing her eyes, an expression of extreme sorrow passed over her face. Then she collected herself and tapped the fake magic wand on the ground decisively.
“Actually,” she declared, “perhaps it would be best if Maggie were to come along. Now no argument, girls. You go with the others and no squabbling about who sits in what car. No, there isn’t time to hug her. Be off with you! At once!”
The girls only obeyed because they knew it was Gerald under that get-up. Tearfully they ran into the car park, and the ones who were left heard car doors slamming.
“Now we go,” Eun-mi said.
“And I’m coming as well,” Conor told them. “You can’t stop me. What you going to do, shoot me?”
“Shoot him in legs,” Eun-mi suggested in irritation.
“What?” the boy cried.
“You might wish we had,” Evelyn said gravely. “This is a one-way mission. We’re not anticipating getting out alive.”
Conor managed a grim smile. “I know. I might be blond, but I’m not dumb. If I can help stop this, it’ll be worth it.”
“We aren’t even hoping we can achieve that,” Evelyn told him. “It’s just a little idea, but finding the lot of you has already made everything worthwhile. You really should go with the rest, while there’s time.”
“Why’s it OK for her to stay?” he asked, meaning Maggie. “If she’s stopping then so am I.”
“Very well,” Evelyn accepted. “Make yourself useful; can you show us the quickest way to the main gate?”
“But… that’s where the Ismus is.”
“Quite.”
Conor shook his head
. “Weapons won’t work on him. You’re wasting your time.”
“If you’re going to be this argumentative the whole way, I may very well shoot you after all.”
“You’re crazy.”
“About many things, dear boy.”
They heard engines starting in the car park and the vehicles pulled away, crunching over the gravel and up the service road.
Conor gave a grunt of resignation. “OK. This way.”
Pausing to pick up his sword, he led them alongside the second curtain wall, then through an inner gate and on to the common lawn beyond. All the while they were acutely aware of the hellish light that shone on the roof of the Keep and tried to keep out of the glare as much as possible.
Keeping the safety catch of her rifle off, Eun-mi’s eyes were constantly roving over the enclosing walls, searching and keeping lookout. Finally she found what she’d been seeking.
“Stop!” she shouted suddenly.
“What is it?” Evelyn asked.
“Listen to that,” Conor said.
Outside the castle was a new and different sound – more chilling than any they had heard so far. The huge crowd was stirring, emerging from the dreadful nightmare of Fighting Pax. Their distraught wails and cries were heartbreaking. Beyond the moat a world in pain was awakening.
But that was not why Eun-mi had halted.
Gradually the others realised she had her Kalashnikov trained on them and was reaching into her holster for the pistol.
“This time I check it loaded,” she told Evelyn as she pointed it at her head. “Put down rifle, please.”
“What are you doing?” Evelyn asked in bewilderment.
“Rifle on ground, please. Do not force me to shoot. I am grateful for what you did, setting me free of… of that.”
“It’s all right to say her name. Estelle Winyard won’t come back. You’re rid of her now. If you want to talk about—”
“Rifle!” Eun-mi repeated more forcefully.
Evelyn placed the weapon down.
“I don’t understand why you’re doing this,” she said. “You know what we must do.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Conor blurted, glaring at Eun-mi with contempt. “She’s selling you out.”
“Eun-mi?” Evelyn asked in disbelief. “Is this true?”
“Stand over there, please,” the Korean girl ordered.
Evelyn, Conor and Maggie obeyed and they finally saw what she’d been looking for: a remote camera fixed to the wall.
“Ismus!” Eun-mi yelled. “Ismus! I must speak with you. I want to do exchange.”
“Don’t do this,” Evelyn pleaded. “Don’t betray us, don’t betray me.”
The gun in Eun-mi’s hand was trembling. The conflicting emotions were almost overwhelming and Evelyn couldn’t help pitying her.
“I do not want to hurt you,” Eun-mi said unhappily. “You kind, good person – man and lady.”
“Then don’t.”
“But I made promise, to protect sister. Nabi more important. Forgive me.”
A soft hiss issued from a speaker hidden somewhere above them, and then the Ismus spoke.
“What do you all look like?” his voice floated down. “A very odd assortment indeed. Just what were you hoping to achieve, sneaking about the castle like the noisiest burglars ever? Did you think I couldn’t hear you? Assault rifles aren’t renowned for their discretion. Poor Swazzle and his crew. An ignoble end, but there’s always more vicious and deformed homunculi where they came from – plenty more. You’ve spoiled my Nativity scene though; where are all my shepherds and wise men and little sheep?”
“Ismus!” Eun-mi called to the camera. “I bring you gift and ask for bargain.”
“A gift, for me? You really shouldn’t have.”
“This person has plan to destroy your machine,” she said, waving her pistol at Evelyn. “I have stopped plan – and there is more…”
Evelyn hung her head and callous laughter sounded from the speaker.
“Do you honestly believe you could have got anywhere near me and my master console?” he asked. “There are cameras all over this castle. You’ve already passed seven of them.”
“My gift is…”
“I don’t need your pathetic little act of treachery as an offering. Cast your eyes up to He who sits upon the Waiting Throne and see how insignificant you truly are. We are at the beginning of a new era – an age of despair and suffering and His Glorious Majesty shall dominate and rule every desolate thought, every tormented breath.”
“My sister! A bargain – for my sister, I will give to you…”
“Chung Nabi?” the Ismus scoffed. “That adorable little Five of Spades? Why, she’s probably dead already, throttled by someone who caught her spying once too often in Fighting Pax.”
“No!”
“If only you’d been here half an hour earlier, you might have saved her.”
Eun-mi stumbled back. “Is not true!” she said.
“But then it wouldn’t be the first time you were too late to save a family member, would it? I’ve learned all about you. What a fascinating subject for study you are. You’d keep teams of psychiatrists tied up for years. Tell me, was that piano ever properly in tune after your mother put a razor to her wrists and leaked all over it? How did Chopsticks sound? A bit sploshy?”
“Stop!” she cried.
“If you’d returned from school a little earlier that day, if you hadn’t dawdled, looking at the beauty of the sunlight on the stream, listened to the birds in the trees, watched the insects on the flowers, perhaps you even made eyes at a boy, do you think you could have prevented it?”
Eun-mi covered her face. “Yes,” she murmured. “It was my fault. I was not there.”
The girl lowered the rifle and dropped the pistol.
The camera lens zoomed in on her anguish and the Ismus drank it in.
After some moments, he said, “But the blame wasn’t yours. Did you never question why she did it? Did your father, General Chung Kang-dae, never speak of it to you?”
Eun-mi shook her head.
“Of course he wouldn’t. It was the great family shame. But the real reason is because he was the one who drove her to it.”
“That is lie!” she shouted. “She loved him. My father was very great General. He was important man – much respect!”
“And how quickly he rocketed up the ranks,” the Ismus chuckled coldly. “Why do you think that was? Not because of his abilities; he was a bit of a plodder from all accounts. No, he hopped up those rungs so fast because he made an… arrangement with the Chief of the General Staff.”
“Arrangement? What is this?”
“Imagine, if you will, a private library with only one rare, beautiful and delicate book. Is it just coincidence that every time the book was borrowed, your father was promoted?”
Eun-mi took up the rifle once more and shot at the wall, in the direction of that filthy voice. The speaker squealed and was silenced. The girl sank to her knees in the grass, shaking.
“It was an arrangement your mother could not live with.” The voice came drifting from another speaker some distance away. There was a slight echo to it now, making it worse somehow, more disembodied and insidious. Then it said, “And, of course, little Nabi is not the daughter of General Chung Kang-dae at all.”
Eun-mi whirled about. “Is not true!” she wept. “My father, he loved Nabi!”
“Guilt works at a man in the strangest ways. He lavished on Nabi the pure, unselfish love he should have always given your mother. Whereas you… you looked back at him with her eyes, the eyes that accused and were full of the hurt he put there – or so he thought. You see, he was never sure what you knew. He suspected your mother spoke to you before she died, telling you what he had done, how dishonourably he had used her. He feared you and hated you for that. Everything you ever did, to try and impress him, only inflated his distrust and horror of you. You constantly reminded him exactly what he was.”
&nbs
p; Weeping helplessly, Eun-mi doubled over. The echoing laughter ricocheted around the walls, then was cut off as the Ismus’s attention was drawn elsewhere. Outside the castle, the wretched sounds of awakening were changing to murderous shouts of hate and screams of pain as the killings began.
Evelyn crouched at Eun-mi’s side. The Korean girl was inconsolable.
“Eun-mi,” she said compassionately. “Remember, the Ismus lies.”
The girl could not answer. Many things were beginning to make sense. She recalled how her grandfather had rowed with his son-in-law and was later taken to a labour camp. Now she knew what the argument had been about. Everything she had ever believed about the proud General Chung Kang-dae had been exploded. Her revered image of him was blown to atoms. The shock of the revelation left her breathless and reeling.
“Nabi may still be alive,” Evelyn told her. “Do not give up hope.”
“We should move,” Conor said, glancing around cautiously. “He’ll be sending something to get us. We don’t have much time.”
“Eun-mi,” Evelyn tried again.
It was no use. Eun-mi could not even hear her.
Evelyn thought quickly. The boy was right; remaining here was insanely dangerous, but the necessary alternative was undoubtedly worse, on so many levels. Her face grew stern and resolute. Gerald might have wavered, but she had always been made of sterner stuff. That’s why she was here. To perform the hardest tasks that he could not, to be tough and unyielding and not let judgement be clouded by sentiment. It had to be done, for everyone’s sake.
“Stay with her,” she told Conor. “Keep the rifle. Maggie and I will go on. We’ll finish what we set out to do.”
“What?” he cried. “You’re still making for the gatehouse? But he knows that’s where you were going! It was a crazy plan before, but now you’re just being bloody stupid.”
“It’s still our only hope.”
“Then I’ll go with you. Don’t make her go – it’s certain death that way.”
“I know I can trust Maggie,” Evelyn said adamantly. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know you.”
Conor turned to Maggie. “Tell her I’m OK, she can trust me. You know I’m OK!”