Property of a Lady Faire (A Secret Histories Novel) by Simon R. Green Page A

parents on his own,” I said carefully. “Someone ordered him to do it. Some specific person, inside my family, condemned your parents to death, for reasons of their own.”
    “The Matriarch,” said Molly.
    “Not necessarily,” I said. “There have always been advisers and Councils and powers behind the throne, in the Droods. Not to mention wheels within wheels, and departments that don’t officially exist. In a family as big as mine there’s room for pretty much everything. And the Droods have a long history of using outside agents to do the really dirty and deniable stuff.”
    Molly shot me a look. “So whoever made the decision, and gave the Regent his orders, might still be a person of importance in your family? And not necessarily one of the obvious ones?”
    “Could be,” I said.
    “I will have my revenge on someone,” said Molly.
    “It could be any number of people!” I said. “That’s the point! That’s why we need to talk to the Regent, to get the full story. He was just the weapon; someone else pointed him at your parents.”
    “They’re just as guilty,” said Molly.
    “I know,” I said. “I’m just trying to say . . . it’s complicated.”
    “You want it to be complicated, so I won’t kill your grandfather,” said Molly. “I’ll listen, if he’s ready to talk. I want to know everything. But what if he doesn’t want to talk?”
    “I won’t let you kill him,” I said carefully. “I can’t let you do that. But I think we are quite definitely entitled to intimidate the hell out of him, should it prove necessary.”
    “You think it won’t?” said Molly.
    “He sent us to Trammell Island, expecting the truth to come out,” I said. “He wanted us to know. He just couldn’t bring himself to tell us in person. Now we know . . . I think he’ll tell us the rest. I think he wants to.”
    “But if he doesn’t?” insisted Molly.
    “Look, we can’t hurt him anyway!” I said. “He’s got Kayleigh’s Eye, remember? As long as he’s wearing that amulet he’s invulnerable to all forms of attack. And that very definitely includes your magic, and my armour.”
    Molly started to say something, and then stopped, and looked at me. “What, or who, is Kayleigh? Do you know?”
    “Beats the hell out of me,” I said. “I’ve heard of it, because . . . well, I’ve at least heard of most things. Comes with the job, and the territory. But I haven’t a clue where the Eye comes from.”
    “God, demon, alien?” said Molly.
    “Almost certainly in there somewhere,” I said.
    “I can always threaten to blow up the whole building,” said Molly.
    I looked at her. “For you, restraint is just something other people do, isn’t it?”
    She smiled at me dazzlingly. “I have always believed in extremes and excesses. Why settle for less?”
    I took the Merlin Glass out again, and muttered the proper activating words to establish communication with the Department of Uncanny. Molly clapped a hand on my arm.
    “Hold it! Are you really going to tell them we’re coming? And throw away the whole element-of-surprise bit?”
    “We need to be sure he’s at home,” I said. “I don’t want to turn up there and find him gone. I don’t think he’d make us chase him, but . . . I think his first reactions will tell us a lot about how this is going to go.”
    “Good point,” said Molly. “Go on, then. Get on with it.”
    But when I looked into the hand mirror, no one was there. No reflection, no contact; the Glass was just full of an endless, buzzing static. Which was . . . unusual. I lowered the Glass, and looked at Molly.
    “That’s never happened before.”
    “Could they be blocking us?” said Molly. “If the Regent has decided he’s not going to talk to us, and that as far as he’s concerned we’re now both persona non grata . . . the whole Department could be hiding behind heavy-duty security shields.”
    “The Regent wouldn’t hide behind his own people,” I said. “At the