someone else. And when I demanded my freedom, they tried to destroy me.”
“Yes, well, that was then. This is now,” I said as calmly as I could, struggling to keep my voice even. “Things are different now.”
“Aye, the Droods are gone, apart from you. So perhaps I should take my time with you, savour it…in the knowledge that once you are gone and finished with, I shall never know that joy again.”
“You do have a one-track mind,” I said. “But you do speak very well…very educated.…”
“I was born of Moxton,” said his mistake. “From his mind, his heart and his soul. His…golden child. His greatest achievement. Everything he knew, I knew from the moment I awoke. He’s still within me, what’s left of him. He lived out what remained of his unhappy life inside me, screaming at what he’d done. Enraged at me, horrified at what I’d done that he’d made possible. I was a most ungrateful son.”
“It’s a different family now,” I said carefully. “The Heart has been overthrown and destroyed. The Matriarch has been overthrown and replaced by a ruling council. Even our armour is different. We no longer want to rule the world, but to protect it. I have helped my family remember what we were supposed to be: shamans and shepherds to the human race.”
“Pretty words. Like I care. You’re still human, aren’t you? More than enough reason to strike you down and trample you under my feet.”
“Lose the old rhetoric,” I said coldly. “What did that ever get you? I’m offering you a place among us!”
“What makes you think I’d want such a thing?”
“You want to get out of here, don’t you? You want your freedom? I can give you that. Right now.”
“But only with strings attached,” said the cold metal voice. It pointed at me suddenly with a claw-tipped golden finger. “What is that? That thing at your throat? It looks like a torc, but not any kind I ever saw.…”
“It’s new,” I said, carefully casual. “Made of strange matter. Courtesy of my family’s new benefactor. I told you things had changed. A different torc for a different kind of family…”
“You already said that. Why should I…given all the things that Ihave done and all the things I will do once I am free of this green prison…why should I place my trust in a Drood?”
“You want to get out of here, and I need your help to track down my family,” I said bluntly. “I’ll make a deal with the devil if I have to. I need Drood armour, and my torc is closed down. You agree to be my armour out in the world, and I’ll get you out of here. I give you my word as a Drood that I’ll release you the moment my family is back. Then you can go where you want, do what you will.…Isn’t that what you’ve wanted most, all along?”
“A deal,” said the armour. “Of course. The Droods have always loved making deals, ever since the first of your kind made their arrangement with the Heart. Why should I trust you?”
“I’ll be wearing you as my armour,” I said. “Why should I trust you to let me out again? We will trust each other because we must, because it’s in both our best interests to do so. For each of us to get what we want, what we need. So, how badly do you want to get out of here?”
The armour stood very still. I hoped it was thinking about the deal and not the best way to reduce me to bloody gobbets.
“What, exactly, did you have in mind, Drood?”
“You go into my torc. Be my armour when I need you. Follow my…wishes as I search for my family. When I finally bring them home again, you leave my torc…and my family will leave you be. I am empowered to speak for them, to make binding deals, in their absence. As the Last Drood. Serve me for a time and earn your freedom. If you know anyone who’ll make you a better offer, by all means go with them.”
“The Droods made me…what I am,” said the rogue armour. “Why should I want them back?”
“Because only a Drood can get you out
“Yes, well, that was then. This is now,” I said as calmly as I could, struggling to keep my voice even. “Things are different now.”
“Aye, the Droods are gone, apart from you. So perhaps I should take my time with you, savour it…in the knowledge that once you are gone and finished with, I shall never know that joy again.”
“You do have a one-track mind,” I said. “But you do speak very well…very educated.…”
“I was born of Moxton,” said his mistake. “From his mind, his heart and his soul. His…golden child. His greatest achievement. Everything he knew, I knew from the moment I awoke. He’s still within me, what’s left of him. He lived out what remained of his unhappy life inside me, screaming at what he’d done. Enraged at me, horrified at what I’d done that he’d made possible. I was a most ungrateful son.”
“It’s a different family now,” I said carefully. “The Heart has been overthrown and destroyed. The Matriarch has been overthrown and replaced by a ruling council. Even our armour is different. We no longer want to rule the world, but to protect it. I have helped my family remember what we were supposed to be: shamans and shepherds to the human race.”
“Pretty words. Like I care. You’re still human, aren’t you? More than enough reason to strike you down and trample you under my feet.”
“Lose the old rhetoric,” I said coldly. “What did that ever get you? I’m offering you a place among us!”
“What makes you think I’d want such a thing?”
“You want to get out of here, don’t you? You want your freedom? I can give you that. Right now.”
“But only with strings attached,” said the cold metal voice. It pointed at me suddenly with a claw-tipped golden finger. “What is that? That thing at your throat? It looks like a torc, but not any kind I ever saw.…”
“It’s new,” I said, carefully casual. “Made of strange matter. Courtesy of my family’s new benefactor. I told you things had changed. A different torc for a different kind of family…”
“You already said that. Why should I…given all the things that Ihave done and all the things I will do once I am free of this green prison…why should I place my trust in a Drood?”
“You want to get out of here, and I need your help to track down my family,” I said bluntly. “I’ll make a deal with the devil if I have to. I need Drood armour, and my torc is closed down. You agree to be my armour out in the world, and I’ll get you out of here. I give you my word as a Drood that I’ll release you the moment my family is back. Then you can go where you want, do what you will.…Isn’t that what you’ve wanted most, all along?”
“A deal,” said the armour. “Of course. The Droods have always loved making deals, ever since the first of your kind made their arrangement with the Heart. Why should I trust you?”
“I’ll be wearing you as my armour,” I said. “Why should I trust you to let me out again? We will trust each other because we must, because it’s in both our best interests to do so. For each of us to get what we want, what we need. So, how badly do you want to get out of here?”
The armour stood very still. I hoped it was thinking about the deal and not the best way to reduce me to bloody gobbets.
“What, exactly, did you have in mind, Drood?”
“You go into my torc. Be my armour when I need you. Follow my…wishes as I search for my family. When I finally bring them home again, you leave my torc…and my family will leave you be. I am empowered to speak for them, to make binding deals, in their absence. As the Last Drood. Serve me for a time and earn your freedom. If you know anyone who’ll make you a better offer, by all means go with them.”
“The Droods made me…what I am,” said the rogue armour. “Why should I want them back?”
“Because only a Drood can get you out
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