Oh. She rallied. 'That still doesn't explain what you're doing here.'
'He promised me he wouldn't do another one and he's a man of his word,' said Markham. He looked worried. 'Gerald must've been under duress.' 'Duress? From who?'
Markham and Reg exchanged cryptic glances. 'We're not sure,' he said, cautiously. Then he held up the nondescript rock. 'But it's why I risked using this.' 'And what is that, exactly?' i call it a Stealth Stone. It's a kind of portable portal. You can use it to go pretty much wherever you like without needing any physical apparatus or a destination module, and nobody at the other end is any the wiser when you get there.'
'A portable portal?' she said, peering suspiciously. 'I've never heard of such a thing.'
He cleared his throat. 'That's because I only just invented it. This is a prototype.'
'You invented it?' Despite herself she was impressed. 'How?'
Markham shrugged, it just sort of happened while I was mucking about with transdimensional keys.'
Reg eyed him with proprietal favour. 'He's a bit of a genius himself, is our Markham.'
He slipped the rock back in his pocket. 'Anyway. I haven't told my bosses about it yet. I wasn't even sure it would work. But when the thaumatograph spiked and the Department brass launched into hysterics I thought it was as good a time as any to try it.'
'So that explains how you got into the country. But I'm still waiting to hear how Reg got outV Reg sniffed, i flew.' 'To Ottosland? In what, a week?'
'Four days. It was supposed to be two,' said Reg. 'Only the accelerando wore off prematurely. I had to hitch till my wings worked again.' 'And why did you have to go at all?'
'To find Markham, of course,' said Reg, rolling her eyes. 'And raise the alarm. He'd just finished finding out what happened to all of Lional's other wizards when I reached him, but then he had to convince those idiots he works for he wasn't making it up! I was just about to start cracking some heads myself when the thaumatograph went haywire and they finally took him seriously. Except then they had to form a committee to investigate and we didn't have time to hang about. So here we are.'
She was feeling bewildered, which always made her cross. 'Reg, this is nonsense. Nothing happened to Lional's other wizards. They quit or he fired them. I told you that already'
Markham shook his head. 'I know that's what your brother said, Your Highness, but… he lied.'
Shaken, she shoved a couple of hairpins back into her lopsided bun. 'Nonsense. I've got three letters of resignation in my office. I'll show them to you, assuming I ever get out of this stupid suite.' 'Did the wizards hand them to you in person?'
'Not to me. To Lional. He's the king and they were his court wizards.'
'Fair enough,' said Markham. 'But did you see them afterwards? See them leave, wave them goodbye? Any of them? Or did your brother just tell you they'd gone?'
No. No. No. 'This is ridiculous,' she said automatically. 'What are you suggesting, that Lional — ' The words died in her throat. 'No. You're wrong. He wouldn't — '
'What?' Reg said brutally. 'Make five wizards disappear? Kill them? Why not? He tried to kill Gerald.' 'Kill Gerald? Are you crazy?'
'No, but your pretty brother is,' Reg retorted. 'That riding accident wasn't an accident, ducky. And those other wizards didn't resign or get fired. Lional retired them. Permanently'
'The thing is,' Markham added, 'after they arrived in New Ottosland nobody who knew them — family, friends, colleagues — ever saw or heard from them again. I'm sorry. It's pretty obvious they met with foul play'
'What you're suggesting is ludicrous!' she shouted, and pushed away from the bedpost. 'Lional's not some common criminal, he's a kingl'
Reg snorted. 'Often as not it's one and the same thing. If you'd known the kings I've known, ducky — '
'And he's my brother. Do you think I wouldn't notice a little detail like being related to a homicidal maniac?'
'Trust me,' said Reg. 'Family's usually the last to know.'
'No. This is ridiculous. What possible reason could he have for killing them?'
Reg flapped her wings tiredly. i don't know. Yet. But it won't be good, whatever it is. Face it, dearie. Your brother's demented. Markham checked with the Department's chief Etheretic Weather monitor. As I suspected there's no such thing as polarised lightning. Whatever's wrong with the etheretic transductors around here is wizard-made.' Reg scowled. 'By Lional, I'm guessing, since he's the one who invented that poppycock story.'
She stared. 'Lional can't do magic. It was probably Gerald. Now that he's on Lional's side.' Reg's beak fell open.'He is not]'
'Really? Then who hexed my door? I suppose you're going to tell me that was Lional too?'
'Of course it was! Anybody who'd kill five innocent wizards wouldn't hesitate to hex a door!'
'Stop calling Lional a murderer! You don't know he killed anybody] Former witch queen or not you don't know anything]'
'This isn't getting us anywhere,' said Markham, and headed for the door. 'There's only one way to tell if it's Gerald's hex.'
'Not so fast!' said Melissande, and blocked his path. 'You're Gerald's friend which means you're biased. There'll be no reading of anything without an independent witness!'
She led him out of the bedroom, her insides clenched and trembling.
'Excuse me!' Reg bellowed behind them. 'I'm still recovering from a flight to Ottosland and I'm feeling a little fatigued, if anybody's interested!'
She stopped. 'Wait here,' she ordered Markham, marched back into her bedroom, scooped Reg into the crook of one arm and marched back out again to find that Gerald's disreputable friend had paid no attention to her. She found him in the study, staring at her books.
'You have an… unusual… library for a princess,' he commented, one eyebrow raised.
'So now you're the book police?' she said, and resisted the urge to kick him. 'Let's just concentrate on my front doors. Because if you don't remove that hex we'll all be stuck in here for the forseeable future.'
'Don't just stand there, Markham,' said Reg. 'Run!'
She shoved Reg at him and stalked into the foyer. Markham followed, parked Reg on a handy pile of books and moved to consider the suite's front doors.
'They melted my incanted keys and ruined my screwdriver,' she said, glaring ferociously sideways. 'So don't try and tell me they're not hexed, Mr Markham.'
'Call me Monk,' he said, then laid his right palm against the carved wood and closed his eyes. A moment later he snatched it away again and shook it, hard. 'Ouch! No, they're hexed all right. One hex, very powerful.' 'See?' she said triumphantly.'I told you.'
'It's the strongest barrier hex I've ever come across. But it's not Gerald's.' 'It has to be.' Markham sighed. 'I'm sorry, Your Highness. I'd know his thaumic signature anywhere.' 'Then whose is it?'
'I don't know. But it's a weird one.' He pressed both palms to the wooden doors and shivered. 'More than weird. It's horrible! Reg clacked her beak. 'Horrible how?'
Markham pulled his hands free and wiped them on his trousers, his mouth pruned with distaste. 'I've got an idea but… it's crazy.'
Reg rolled her eyes. 'Then it's probably right. Everything in this cockeyed kingdom is crazy' 'Thank you,' Melissande said coldly.
Reg shrugged. 'No point plucking the messenger, ducky. I just call 'em as I see 'em.'
Ignoring the bird she turned to Markham. 'Explain.'
Markham chewed his bottom lip. 'Every incant has a unique signature. Like — a thaumaturgical fingerprint of the person who placed it.' 'I know that,' she snapped.'So?'
'So this hex hasn't got one fingerprint. It's got lots. As though a whole bunch of wizards performed it simultaneously' 'You're right. That's crazy' it's worse than crazy,' replied Markham. His expression was strained, it's hex soup. I mean, I'm good. I'm really good. And I've neutralised a bunch of hexes in my time. But I don't think I can do this one.'
There was a moment of shared and silent panic. Then she slapped her forehead, i'm an idiot. And so are you. We don't need the doors, we can use your portable portal to escape.'
He hesitated. 'Not necessarily. I haven't had a chance to fine-tune it for short distances. We may end up in
