CHAPTER FIFTY SEVEN

A moment later there came the oiled purr of a key slipping into the door and the mechanism inside the door snaked open.

‘They can’t get in,’ said Trinket, and she laughed with a harsh sound. ‘The foot lock is in place.’

Andrew must have thought that the person on the other side of the door was there for him because he rushed to the door, wearing an expression of righteous outrage at how atrociously he was being treated. His shirt hung from his pants and his hair flipped up and down.

‘Just wait,’ he shouted. ‘The door has been locked from the inside.’

He stooped to where the small black contraption had released the locking pin into the floor and he got two fat fingers to the base of the contraption, ready to lift. Trinket. took two steps and spun on the ball of her left foot. Her right heel arched through the air like a cricket bat and thwacked the side of Andrew’s face. It was an ugly move, like the sudden limb-flay of an insect.

Andrew fell sideways and thrust out a hand, and when he bounced against the ground his hand bent back at the wrist and made a crack. He brought his hand up and let out a cry of pain.

‘Stay away from the door,’ Trinket hissed at him.

From the other side of the door came a hollow voice, like a deep-voiced woman speaking into an empty soup can.

‘Princess Trinket … I recognise that voice.’

Trinket put her hands against the door and leaned in aggressively, like she was a vicious dog pounding itself against a locked gate to get to an intruder. She snarled:

‘The great Emperor.’

After a moment the Emperor spoke in his hollow voice.

‘As I suspected. A scurry into the sanctum of the machine. Exactly where a treacherous Thrip would run.’

‘Is Elion with you?’ said Trinket.

‘I’m here,’ said Andrew from the floor where he sat with a hand up to his cheek. He was working his mouth open and closed. His eyes were red. ‘I’m here and I am being assaulted.’

‘Shut your muck, you little swamper,’ Trinket hissed through clenched teeth.

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‘Elion is with me,’ said the Emperor.

Jane moved up beside Trinket and spoke through the door.

‘Is he okay? Is he harmed?’

‘I do not recognise this voice.’

‘This is Jane,’ said Trinket. ‘She is also from Earth … like Elion … like you.’

‘I am here for the Wyld Book of Secrets’ said Jane, then immediately regretted the words.

The Emperor ignored her. He spoke to Trinket.

‘Elion is safe. Elion is also far more reasonable than I remember him. He and I have come to an agreement.’

‘What agreement?’ asked Trinket, suddenly suspicious.

‘Have you got the dwarf king’s key?’

Trinket’s jaw clenched. ‘What is the agreement you think you have made with Elion.’

‘I will discuss it once I am inside with you.’

‘Will that discussion happen before or after your assassin kills me?’

‘You don’t have to die. I am not here to challenge you for the key. I don’t care if you access the tower.’

This surprised Trinket and she stood still for a moment, staring at the door. She suddenly stood up straight, and thrust her chin up to a royal degree, and she said:

‘You must know, or at least suspect, that I intend to become Empress of Coronet, and that I will eventually become Empress of all of Paris.’

‘I gathered that from our last meeting.’

‘But I was only young at our last meeting.’

‘Not so young that you didn’t have a look of lust for power in your little green eyes.’

‘What do you want?’ said Jane through the door. Her eyes were filled with suspicion. Her mouth had a rigid anger running through. ‘If you don’t want to be Emperor, then what do you want?’

‘I don’t want to be the Emperor … I am the Emperor.’

‘You are an Emperor that hasn’t been verified by Elion,’ said Jane. ‘I understand that now. Paris is run under the legal authority of Elion, and the proclamations he makes in the machine.’

‘I just told you that,’ said Trinket, scowling at Jane. ‘You make out as though you understand things when all you have is information that I have just given you.’

This was true. While Trinket and Jane had made their way from the side of White mountain to the machine inside the tower, Trinket had explained to Jane the role of Elion in the workings of political power throughout Paris. She explained how Elion provided the legal authority for Kings and Emperors to assume government.

‘The point is,’ said Jane, breathing heavily, talking through the door. ‘You are willing to allow Trinket to become Empress of Paris, which leads to the question … what do you want from Elion and the machine?’

‘I want the Wyld Book of Secrets.’

Now the silence became densely woven and dark.

‘What will you do with the book,’ said Trinket. ‘It has no value in this world.’

‘I have already made an agreement with Elion. He will take his seat in the machine, and he will unlock the book for me to take back to Earth. The book is powerful on Earth. That is where I will rule.’