Household Guard he formed an elite unit under the direct control of your Dr Tremaine.’
‘You haven’t mentioned this before.’
‘If I tried to tell you everything I’ve heard of Dr Tremaine doing, we’d be here until doomsday.’
The awkwardness of that figure of speech struck both of them at the same time. Von Stralick shrugged in apology before going on. ‘Kirchoff’s unit has undertaken a number of tasks for Dr Tremaine. Unpleasant tasks. Unsavoury tasks.’
‘It must be useful, having a special unit you can order around when you need it.’
‘Exactly. Where a spot of violence was needed, or someone needed to disappear, Kirchoff and his boys were the ones to do it.’ Von Stralick grimaced. ‘I suspect something dire is going to happen here.’
‘When?’
‘Soon, to judge from the way Kirchoff is checking his watch.’
‘He was doing that yesterday.’
‘He is a patient man, from all accounts. Not a lot of imagination, which is a blessing considering some of the things he’s reputed to have done, but patient.’
Aubrey scratched at a patch of dirt on his cheek. ‘Is he disciplined?’
‘He is the model of Holmland military discipline. There are no distasteful orders, as far as Kirchoff is concerned.’
‘So he won’t argue when you and I go down there and tell him to take his troops and leave?’
Von Stralick didn’t reply. For some time, he didn’t even move. He kept the binoculars trained on the spare figure of Colonel Kirchoff, standing with his hands behind his back in the middle of the road, in exactly the same place Aubrey had seen him the previous day.
‘Fitzwilliam, this is a bad plan.’ Von Stralick put down the binoculars. ‘Kirchoff won’t take orders from a traitorous ex-Holmland spy and the traitorous son of the Albion Prime Minister.’
‘True, but will he take orders from Dr Mordecai Tremaine?’
A UBREY HAD LEFT C AROLINE , G EORGE AND S OPHIE WITH instructions on what to do if his plan failed. They were vague instructions, because he didn’t like to think too much about what a failed plan would mean for him. They mostly suggested asking Madame Zelinka for help in getting away alive.
‘Look, Hugo,’ Aubrey said as their lorry approached the roadblock. Von Stralick battled the large steering wheel as if he were trying to propel an elderly and well-fed aunt around a dance floor. ‘Kirchoff is waiting for someone or something. If Dr Tremaine arrives with orders, I’m sure the good colonel will be receptive.’
Von Stralick spared a glance at Aubrey. ‘You’ve managed to impress me, Fitzwilliam, as well as make me extremely nervous. You look and sound just like him.’
Aubrey hoped so. It was the only way he could see of avoiding a messy end, and while an end came to everyone, he wasn’t happy about the prospect of a messy one.
He had taken on Dr Tremaine’s appearance before, in order to deceive a guardian spell the rogue magician had left on the Banford Park research facility. That spell had only required a physical resemblance, not a vocal one, and still it had strained his abilities. Thus he was grateful to have Sophie’s assistance with the illusion spell. Her natural talent and her recent instruction helped enormously, and he was able to add some solidity to her spellwork in a neat piece of magical collaboration.
‘I won’t speak,’ Aubrey said to von Stralick. ‘Not at first, anyway.’
‘Just like Dr Tremaine.’
‘Exactly. I can’t just look and sound like him – I must act like him.’
Which means swagger , he thought, and arrogance, and absolute certainty about everything.
This was the challenge, of course. Appearance was one thing, but behaving like the rogue sorcerer, the man who moved whole countries about to achieve his ends, that was another.
He wiped his sweaty palms on trousers that were now black and immaculately pressed and then stared at the glistening perspiration that immediately sprang back. Impossible. Dr
‘You haven’t mentioned this before.’
‘If I tried to tell you everything I’ve heard of Dr Tremaine doing, we’d be here until doomsday.’
The awkwardness of that figure of speech struck both of them at the same time. Von Stralick shrugged in apology before going on. ‘Kirchoff’s unit has undertaken a number of tasks for Dr Tremaine. Unpleasant tasks. Unsavoury tasks.’
‘It must be useful, having a special unit you can order around when you need it.’
‘Exactly. Where a spot of violence was needed, or someone needed to disappear, Kirchoff and his boys were the ones to do it.’ Von Stralick grimaced. ‘I suspect something dire is going to happen here.’
‘When?’
‘Soon, to judge from the way Kirchoff is checking his watch.’
‘He was doing that yesterday.’
‘He is a patient man, from all accounts. Not a lot of imagination, which is a blessing considering some of the things he’s reputed to have done, but patient.’
Aubrey scratched at a patch of dirt on his cheek. ‘Is he disciplined?’
‘He is the model of Holmland military discipline. There are no distasteful orders, as far as Kirchoff is concerned.’
‘So he won’t argue when you and I go down there and tell him to take his troops and leave?’
Von Stralick didn’t reply. For some time, he didn’t even move. He kept the binoculars trained on the spare figure of Colonel Kirchoff, standing with his hands behind his back in the middle of the road, in exactly the same place Aubrey had seen him the previous day.
‘Fitzwilliam, this is a bad plan.’ Von Stralick put down the binoculars. ‘Kirchoff won’t take orders from a traitorous ex-Holmland spy and the traitorous son of the Albion Prime Minister.’
‘True, but will he take orders from Dr Mordecai Tremaine?’
A UBREY HAD LEFT C AROLINE , G EORGE AND S OPHIE WITH instructions on what to do if his plan failed. They were vague instructions, because he didn’t like to think too much about what a failed plan would mean for him. They mostly suggested asking Madame Zelinka for help in getting away alive.
‘Look, Hugo,’ Aubrey said as their lorry approached the roadblock. Von Stralick battled the large steering wheel as if he were trying to propel an elderly and well-fed aunt around a dance floor. ‘Kirchoff is waiting for someone or something. If Dr Tremaine arrives with orders, I’m sure the good colonel will be receptive.’
Von Stralick spared a glance at Aubrey. ‘You’ve managed to impress me, Fitzwilliam, as well as make me extremely nervous. You look and sound just like him.’
Aubrey hoped so. It was the only way he could see of avoiding a messy end, and while an end came to everyone, he wasn’t happy about the prospect of a messy one.
He had taken on Dr Tremaine’s appearance before, in order to deceive a guardian spell the rogue magician had left on the Banford Park research facility. That spell had only required a physical resemblance, not a vocal one, and still it had strained his abilities. Thus he was grateful to have Sophie’s assistance with the illusion spell. Her natural talent and her recent instruction helped enormously, and he was able to add some solidity to her spellwork in a neat piece of magical collaboration.
‘I won’t speak,’ Aubrey said to von Stralick. ‘Not at first, anyway.’
‘Just like Dr Tremaine.’
‘Exactly. I can’t just look and sound like him – I must act like him.’
Which means swagger , he thought, and arrogance, and absolute certainty about everything.
This was the challenge, of course. Appearance was one thing, but behaving like the rogue sorcerer, the man who moved whole countries about to achieve his ends, that was another.
He wiped his sweaty palms on trousers that were now black and immaculately pressed and then stared at the glistening perspiration that immediately sprang back. Impossible. Dr
Similar Books
