The Princelings of the East

by Jemima Pett

  ***

  He woke with an irresistible urge to scratch his leg. He pushed the covers back and found the barkeeper tickling his leg with a feather.

  “Sorry,” he said. “Thought we should talk. Is it ok now? Brought beer!” and he gestured towards four bottles labelled Vex in green writing. He passed one to George, and settled down in a corner with another.

  “What time is it?” asked George, although he didn’t mind and was quite awake.

  “About 4,” replied the barkeeper. “Still dark.”

  “You knew my name. You met my brother,” George said, thinking as he said it that this style of speech could be catching.

  “Fred said your name. Left with Baden. Honourable man. Not Hugo he came with. Nice man, never been sure whether honourable,” and he frowned and took a swig from his bottle.

  George tasted the contents and found it very pleasing. “Was Fred ok? And what’s your name?”

  “Fred fine, well, safe. I’m Victor. Run this place for my dad. His dad before him. My step-grand-dad.”

  “What happened to your dad?”

  “Lost looking for Energy Drain.”

  “When does the Energy Drain happen, Victor?”

  “Always when we’re low on stocks. Expecting more. Hugo usually knows. Arrives to check orders. Always that tunnel. Only him. And now you. Only ones to use that tunnel. Ever. Since early days.”

  George pondered that. He felt sure that their long trek from Castle in the Marsh to the zigzag where they first saw the light was the first use of that tunnel, and in response to Fred’s request. But only this Hugo guy using it? Well, that was wrong as he’d seen Mariusz use it, hadn’t he? Well, he wasn’t entirely sure. But if Mariusz hadn’t emerged in that corridor from the time tunnel, where else could he have gone? Two exits from a time tunnel sounded highly dubious. This Hugo chap could be Mariusz’s local agent. Maybe Mariusz had to set up a meeting with him in one of those alcoves.

  “Where are Hugo and Fred now, Victor?”

  “Castle Buckmore.”

  George remembered seeing the pictures of it on the postcards. Should he follow? What did he actually want to do now? Victor interrupted his thoughts.

  “My dad took different tunnel. Castle Vexstein. Where this beer’s made. Heard of bad Energy Drain there. First castle affected. Started with inns, later castles.”

  “What’s your dad’s name?”

  “Argon. Stepson of Neon. Established the inn twenty years ago. But his real father was a mad scientist who fled to the west.”

  George’s blood ran cold. Here it was 2009 and in Hattan it was 2021. In Hattan it would be thirty-two years since the inn was established, and Saku had said he had left over thirty years ago. It wasn’t important if he was talking to Saku’s long-lost grandson. But if he was it was yet another co-incidence. Could they really use those co-incidences about the time tunnel and the invention of Diet Wozna without testing their theory? Was he just jumping to conclusions? He drank his ale and accepted the second bottle that Victor offered him.

  “When did you first start getting Diet Wozna here, Victor?”

  “Maybe ten years ago, less. Hugo came with samples. Tasted good. People liked the change. Modern flavour like Vex. More choice.”

  “Did you have ordinary Wozna before that?”

  “No. Hugo brought both. We stock both. Most prefer Original. Funny idea Diet.”

  George smiled. He agreed but he understood the Hattanites’ concern with size having seen them going about their business in their native city. But it was another coincidence. There was no Wozna here before Diet was invented. Perhaps there was no route here. But then he thought again. Wozna had been invented long before 1999. Mariusz had talked about the drought of ’55.

  “Had you heard of Wozna before Hugo came with it?”

  “Oh, no. We were honoured. First to import it. From the West. Big success. New trade route, Hugo said.”

  Well, George thought. If my theory is right, it wasn’t here before ten years ago simply because no one had shipped it here. George was very hazy about international trade, but he imagined moving tons of bottles around would be expensive, and probably hazardous. Did Mariusz shift them all through the tunnel? Maybe there was another route?

  “And Castle Vexstein was the first outside the inns to be affected?” he confirmed. Victor nodded. “I think I’d better go there,” George said.

  “Me too,” replied Victor, giving George a surprise. “Only two hours. Back for evening. Dad started that way.”

  George smiled again. The company would be nice, especially the grandson of Saku who might have hidden talents. But why was Victor so sure he would be back for supper, if his Dad had never returned?

  He turned in again, and was asleep in moments.