slowly, revealing a handful of yellowed teeth, then she turned to look at the slave who'd called her out of the alcove. He turned and ran, but he was a grease spot on the floor before he'd made half a dozen steps.
The witch raised her clawed hands and howled a ululating shriek of triumph and vengeance long desired. Vicious spells detonated on the air all around her, blasting holes in the walls and floor. Armed men came running from all directions, and the witch turned to face them with vindictive glee on her shrivelled face. Fires started, gale winds blew, and the armed men started exploding, blowing apart in showers of bloody gobbets.
'Happy now you've done something?' said Suzie.
'Very,' I said.
Unnoticed in the general chaos, we strolled across the lobby and let ourselves into the dining room. We shut the door firmly behind us, and the din of the pandemonium shut off immediately. No-one looked up as we came in. Whatever the noise was, that was slaves' business and nothing to do with the Members. Most of them were reclining on couches to eat, in the old Roman style, giving their full attention to excellent food and drink, and good company. And probably paying more for that one meal than most people in the sixth century made in their entire lives.
Some of the diners still wore the old-fashioned Roman toga, but most wore simple tunics, with or without leather armour and trappings. The majority of the diners were human, but there were also quite a few elves, looking studiedly disdainful of their surroundings even as they gorged themselves on human delicacies, and a handful of gargoyles eating live mice and playing with their food in a quite distressing manner. The diners were being served by male and female slaves, some barely more than children, all of them wearing fixed, empty expressions. They were naked save for the iron collars round their throats, and all of them carried scars and whip marks.
'Slavery,' said Tommy, his voice full of revulsion. 'I knew about it, knew there were slaves even in King Arthur's time, but I never really ... some of them are just kids!'
'This is the way things were,' I said. 'And will be, for centuries after. And get that look out of your eye, Tommy. I only freed that witch to provide a distraction. We start freeing slaves on a grand scale, and you can bet all the Powers here will rise up against us. We can't change a whole culture. That's not why we're here. And besides, we don't dare make any big changes if we want to return to our own Present, remember?'
'I remember,' said Tommy. 'But I don't have to like it.'
There was an edge in his voice, a cold anger that hadn't been there before. I liked him better for it.
'Join the club,' I said.
'I don't see any sign of Merlin,' said Suzie, all business as usual. 'And I'm pretty sure he'd stand out, even in this crowd. Want me to grab somebody and shake some answers out of them?'
'I think it might be better if I was to ask a few polite questions,' I said. 'On the grounds that I have at least heard of diplomacy.'
A tall, elegant, and distinctly supercilious type was already heading in our direction, threading his way gracefully between the couches, bestowing smiles and sweet nothings on the people he passed. He wore a blindingly white tunic and no iron collar. He came to a halt before me, dismissing Suzie and Tommy with a mere flick of the eyes, and raised a painted eyebrow a carefully calculated fraction of an inch.
'I am the Steward,' he said. 'And you are very definitely not Members. Not ever likely to be. I don't know how you got in here, but you will have to leave immediately.'
I smiled at him. 'You know all that chaos and destruction that's currently going on in your lobby? All the fires and explosions and parts of deceased security people flying through the air? I did that.'
'Take a couch,' the Steward said resignedly. 'I suppose you'll be wanting something to eat, before security
can put together a big enough force to restore order and throw the three of you out of here? Today's specials are larks' tongues in aspic and baby mice stuffed with hummingbird tongues.'
Tommy winced. 'Do you have anything that doesn't involve tongues?'
'Don't sit down, Suzie,' I said. 'We're not staying for dinner.'
'You might not be,' said Suzie. She'd already snatched a breaded drumstick from a nearby diner and was chewing it with a thoughtful look on her face. The diner sensibly decided not to make a fuss.
'We're looking for the sorcerer Merlin,' I said to the Steward. 'Merlin Satanspawn. He is a Member here, isn't he?'
'Only because nobody dared blackball him,' said the Steward, his lip curling. 'But even so, he doesn't dare show his face here any more. Not since the King and most of his knights fell in battle, in the last great contest against the bastard Mordred's forces; and all because Merlin wasn't there to support his King. The pretender died, too, his forces scattered, but still the age of Logres is over. Camelot is simply a castle now, with an empty Throne and a broken Table, and the ideals of the Court are already falling apart. The end of an age; and all because one man wasn't where . he should have been. You want Merlin Satanspawn? Try a tavern. Any tavern.'
There was just enough bitterness in his voice to make him convincing. I gathered Suzie and Tommy up with my eyes and led them back out of the dining room. And as I left I raised my gift, found the spell that held the iron collars around the slaves' throats, and undid it. The collars sprang open, and the magic that had kept the slaves docile fell away in a moment. Some of the slaves attacked the diners, while others ran for their lives and their freedom. The dining room quickly descended into chaos.
'You big softie,' said Suzie.
'There's some shit I just will not put up with,' I admitted.
We strolled back through the lobby, most of which was on fire. There was no sign of the witch anywhere, but a great crevice had opened up in the middle of the floor, belching out soot and cinders and smoke that smelled strongly of brimstone. My work here is done, I thought, a little smugly. We nodded cheerfully to the Doorman as we passed him, then stood together in the street wondering where we should try next. God alone knew how many taverns, inns, and hole-in-the-wall drinking dives there were in the sixth-century Nightside, and I really didn't feel like searching them all. On the other hand, I also didn't feel like using my gift again. I'd been using it far too often, almost casually, and that was dangerous. Flare up often enough in the dark, and my Enemies would be bound to notice me, no matter how far I was in the Past. From their future vantage point, I was always in the Past.
'Strangefellows,' I said suddenly. 'That's where Merlin will be. Or whatever the oldest bar in the world is currently called. I remember the Merlin of our time telling me that he often drank there, to get away from the overbearing niceness of Camelot. That's probably why he chose to be buried in the bar's cellars, after he was killed. Yes. That's where we'll find him.' I looked at Suzie. 'You're frowning. Why are you frowning, Suzie?'
'Lilith brought us here, right?' said Suzie. 'Had to be a reason. Could be because she wanted us to meet with Merlin. He is the leading major player in this Nightside. And if that's so, do we want to do what she wants us to do?'
'I'm past caring,' I said. 'All this guessing and double-guessing. I want to get this over with and get out of here. I want to witness the creation of the Nightside, so I can get my answers, so I can finally be rid of Lilith's influence in my life. I want this to be over!'
'Easy, John, easy,' said Tommy, and it was only then that I realized my voice had risen to a shout.
'It'll never be over, John,' said Suzie, as kindly as she could. 'You know that.'
'I can't believe that,' I said. 'I can't afford to believe that.'
There was a long pause, then Tommy said, 'If we can't find Merlin here in the Nightside ... could we please try Camelot? I've always dreamed of visiting that legendary Castle, seeing the famous Round Table, and-'
'You heard the Steward,' I said, perhaps a little roughly. 'It's a mess there right now. All the heroes are dead, and the dream's over. We'll find Merlin in Strangefellows. Where else could such a disgraced man go to drown his sorrows in peace?'
'All right,' said Tommy, resignedly. 'Fire up your gift and point us in the right direction.'
'There's an easier way,' I said. I looked back at the Doorman. 'The oldest bar in the world. What's it called, and where is it?'
He gave me a withering look. 'Give me one good reason why I should assist you?'
'Because,' I said, 'if you don't, my companions and I will hang around here for hours and hours, acting cranky and lowering the tone.'
'The bar you're looking for is called Avalon,' said the Doorman. And he provided us with very clear and distinct directions, just to be sure we wouldn't have to come back and ask him again.
