The King of Plagues

“Did I? Mm. Maybe I was caught up in the moment,” Toys said. “I thought you were, too.”

Gault snorted. “This isn’t just a ‘moment,’ Toys. This is our life now. Why is that so hard to grasp?”

“Sebastian, we’ve been on the run for months. You were betrayed and nearly killed. After all these weeks of surgery and pain, you should be careful. Take things slow.”

“Oh, sod that. This situation is tailor-made for me.”

Toys noticed that Gault had changed his reference from “us” to “me.” It confirmed his fears. “Tailor-made? Really? Sebastian, we narrowly—narrowly—avoided being killed during your last ‘can’t fail’ master plan.” He paused and took a breath. “Look, we have money, and we still have youth and strength. We don’t need this. Let’s face it, we are not cut out to be evil geniuses. We never were. Let’s take the money and bloody well run.”

“Not a chance. We already ran. Now we’ve arrived.”

“Christ.” Toys flapped an arm. “And of course the fact that there’s a woman involved has nothing to do with your wanting to stay. You already have that look in your eyes.”

“What look?” Gault’s voice was suddenly cool.

“You know what I mean.”

“No, why don’t you tell me?”

Toys sighed. “Don’t start a fight, Sebastian. It’s just that when there’s a woman involved you—”

“I what?” interrupted Gault sharply. He slapped down his martini glass hard enough to slosh the contents onto the wet bar and crossed the room to stand uncomfortably close to Toys. “I what, Toys? Are you saying that if I become interested in a woman I lose control? Or perspective?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Then what are you saying? You’re comparing the Goddess to Amirah and—”

“Whoa, Sebastian, let’s have a little effing perspective. We’re not in the Chamber now and Eris is not a goddess.”

“Perspective?” Gault murmured. He edged closer still, so that his breath was hot on Toys’ face. “Yes, let’s both have a perspective check. When things went wrong in Afghanistan I had a moment of weakness. I won’t deny it, Toys, and I needed you. I really did.”

“Yes,” Toys said in a hoarse whisper.

“But … what happened when I called out for your help? Do you remember?”

“Sebastian, I—”

“Do you fucking remember?” Gault snarled.

Toys tried to meet Gault’s fierce glare, but he felt his own eyes growing moist and weak. He turned his face away.

“You slapped me, Toys. I was in pain, I was desperate and your response was to attack me.”

“It wasn’t an attack, Sebastian, and you damn well know it. You were sinking and I needed to snap you out of it.” Toys suddenly threw his drink against the wall and wheeled on Gault, his own anger finally rising. “If I hadn’t, then that fucking whore Amirah would have released a doomsday plague. A doomsday plague. How can you of all people not grasp what that means? If you want a perspective check, then embrace that for a moment. Christ, you’re lucky I didn’t put a bullet into you right there and then, because I bloody warned you about her. I warned you over and over that she couldn’t be trusted, and each time you ignored me.”

“She was my—”

“What? Your ‘lover’? Get a sodding grip, Sebastian! She was playing you. She played you all the way and then she turned into a goddamn zombie and tried to eat you. I mean … how thick are you that you can’t see that you were wrong?” He jabbed Gault in the chest with the tip of his finger. Gault flinched but held his ground. “Or have you become so bitter and arrogant that you can’t admit that you made a misstep? You want to get mad at me for hitting you? Go ahead!”

“I’m warning you, Toys—”

“No! You don’t warn me.” Toys jabbed his finger again, much harder this time. “If we’re going to be part of this bullshit, then while you go and play King I’ll be the Conscience I’m supposed to be. If there are no lies and no secrets in this absurd secret bloody society, then let that start right here and now. I love you, Sebastian. Like a brother. More than a brother, but I will not take your shit. Not now, and not ever. And I will not let you make another mistake.”

Gault looked down at the finger that was still pressed into his chest right above his heart. He slowly, gently reached up and pushed it away.

“Listen to me, Toys,” he said softly. “Don’t think I’m unaware and ungrateful for what you’ve done for me over the years. You’ve been closer to me than family. You are my family. I’ve never had secrets from you. But don’t forget who you were before I found you. A minimum-wage laborer in one of my plants. I was the one who saw something special in you, the potential. I paid for your education; I put you in that posh flat; I let you buy whatever you wanted.”

“And I earned those things a thousand times over.”

Gault gave a single stubborn shake of his head. “When I found you, you were nothing.”

“Maybe,” hissed Toys, “but a few months ago this ‘nothing’ kept you from destroying ‘everything,’ so don’t be all high-and-mighty with me.”

Gault’s mouth opened and closed. He turned and began striding away, but within a few steps he slowed and stopped. His rigid shoulders slumped, and in a gentler voice he said, “The world has changed, Toys. It started when Amirah betrayed me. I feel … I feel like the fires that burned my flesh also burned away something else.” He turned. “It burned away my weakness, my doubt. I can look back at the Seif Al Din project and I can see where I went wrong, just as I can see how I would do it all differently. Life usually doesn’t give you a chance to start over, to do it the right way … and yet here we are. Not only is this a second chance; it’s a chance at something greater, grander, than anything we imagined. All of those wild, mad dreams we had, they’re nothing compared to this. We passed through fire, Toys—you and me—and we emerged as changed beings. Purified. No longer ordinary men. The universe has opened the door to greatness. Don’t you understand? To greatness.”

The moment held and stretched.

Toys wiped tears from his eyes. “Is this what you want, Sebastian?” he asked quietly. “Look me in the eye and tell me, brother to brother, that this—the Seven Kings, the path to domination, all this death and destruction— is what you truly want.”

Gault crossed the room and placed his hands on Toys’ cheeks, framing his face. He bent and kissed Toys on the forehead. Gault’s eyes burned like candles.

“Yes,” he said. “This isn’t just what I want, Toys. This is what I will have.”

Toys searched Gault’s face, looked deep into his friend’s eyes. He shivered. If eyes were the windows of the soul, then …

God save my soul, he thought.

“Okay,” he said softly. “Okay.”

Interlude Twenty-five

The Seven Kings

Four Months Ago

The American sipped his whiskey as he watched the replay of the argument between Toys and Sebastian Gault. It was the fourth time he had viewed it. During each viewing he focused on a different aspect of the spat. This last time he had zoomed in to watch the expressions on Toys’ face. He found them very interesting.

He swirled the whiskey, enjoying the tinkle of ice cubes.

“Okay,” said Toys. “Okay.”

The American played that back with the sound up, listening for subtleties of intent and meaning in the young Englishman’s voice.

The King of Fear smiled.