The Golden Portifor - 26. Chapter 26

As the triumphant retinue of Prince Henry jogged its way up the Starel valley and reentered Ruritania, all was not quite at ease in the minds of several of its members. As Serge tried to put together the fragments of memory of his life-and-death struggle on the field of Basovizza there were things that did not add up, principally the astonishing prowess of young Andreas Wittig in his defence.

Although his memories might well have been disordered by physical pain and his expectation and fear of imminent death, they did not match Andreas’s bland account of how he captured the Pasha Mehmed. He remembered more adversaries than Andreas had admitted and then there was that sword the boy had used, which did not remotely match in memory the short and battered blade hanging at Andreas’s saddle. There had to be a rational explanation, and the only one that occurred to him was a mental disorder caused by the extreme stress of the battlefield. But to admit that was to admit the uncomfortable possibility that the rationality on which he so prided himself was not the sovereign power of his brain.

As he rode behind his master, Karl Wollherz too was uneasy in his mind. Though many things had so far worked out and Andreas and he would still occupy the same house and indeed bed, the boy now lived in a different sphere from him. That gave him a sense of loss and worry for his emotional future, because more and more he knew that his body wanted him to be more than a simple friend to Andreas.

He mused on his lord Serge as he studied the man’s broad back in front of him, and took some comfort from the close friendship Serge had with Master Jan Lisku. True, the two young men were not and never had been lovers so far as he could work out, but there was no doubt how deeply attached they were to each other. So a relationship between two boys of different classes and differing desires was not impossible, but what about the joining of bodies? The sooner he talked to Jonas the better, as far as he was concerned.

Karl looked up from the road and realised he knew this land. To the right of the cavalcade’s route was a familiar group of great hills and taller mountains beyond. It was the same view he used to stare out on from the garret of his old home in the city of Ostberg, which lay behind the road the column was taking. It was part of a life now fading in his memory, before his parents moved the family to Strelsau in search of better opportunities, not knowing that it would be their death they would find there.

This glimpse of his past brought no solace to Karl, just the sadness of a loss that had not healed despite all that life had since brought him in friendship and wonder. The road took them northward towards Wendel along the river Radeln, and that night the prince’s entourage lodged in a market town by the lowest bridge on the river before it met the Starel. Having been discharged by his master and seen to Brunhild and their other horses in the cavalry pickets on the town common, Karl walked alone down to the river.

It was still light, and he made his way to the river bank under the bridge. The arch nearest the town did not have a water channel and was just a sand-floored, empty tunnel. Karl sat there wrapped in his travel cloak listening to the distant sound of the Prinzengarde enjoying the facilities of the town’s inns, and the gurgle of the slow waters of the nearby river. ‘Jonas Niemand! Jonas Niemand! JONAS NIEMAND!’ he called out in the echoing tunnel.

There was a pause in the world and then sitting cross-legged opposite him was the elf, familiar grin in place, and with his horns back on his forehead. ‘Oh Jonas! I’m so glad to see yer,’ Karl cried and knelt up to embrace the eldritch boy hard. ‘Are you going to bring Wilchin back? How were yer adventures?’

The elf gave no reply. He just sat grinning. ‘Is everything alright?’ Karl asked. Again, no reply.

‘Are yer alright?’

‘Yeah, fine mate. No problems,’ came the reply in a familiar voice, though it wasn’t Jonas’s.

‘Wilchin? That’s you!’

The image of the elf shifted and a different boy sat opposite him. ‘Bugger it. Jonas said the voice’d give me away. Turns out images are easy. It’s voices that’ll take the work.’

‘Where is he!’

‘Disappointed to see me?’

‘No, of course not. It’s just that we needs Jonas’s advice, bad. And what’s this? Yer can appear and disappear just like him? How’d that happen? Are yer still mortal?’

Wilchin stretched out his legs and leaned back on his elbows. The street boy was no more mature in his genitals than he had been when he left the world, but to Karl he looked very different from the boy that went off with Jonas six weeks before, and it was more than just that Wilchin was now a flawless bronze all over and that his mane of blond hair had grown half way down his back, as well as being thicker and richer. His grey-blue eyes were bright with a new sort of mischief, fierce and free, and deep with knowledge denied to living humans.

‘Well I think I am mortal ... mostly,’ he replied after some thought, ‘but not exactly. Jonas says drinking from the river and playing in the light of Faërie as long as I did changes yer. He reckons I’m a sorta half-elf now. We wuz working on me growing wings like he has, but so far no luck. He reckons I might be able to fly with some more effort. He thought it was dead important for some reason. And no, I can’t disappear and appear like Jonas does, he sent me to yer to tell yer if yer wants to see him, to come to Faërie yerself.’

‘What? How does I do that?’

‘That’s a gift yer has, Karlo. Iss not just talking to horses. That’s only a small part of it. Jonas told yer that yer could do it, well now yer needs to take us both back there. Should be safe, maybe.’

‘What does yer mean, “safe” and “maybe”?’

Wilchin beamed, then frowned. ‘How long I been gone from the world?’

‘Er ... you left after the first battle, so that’s ... um ... month and a half. It’s nearly Pentecost.’

‘Really? Seems like much, much longer to me. But it’s hard to tell in Faërie, since there’s no nights and the sun never shifts in the sky. But the things me and Jonas did there an’ after! Wiv me in Faërie wiv him he said it was his golden opportunity to take control of the place for his people, once and for all.’

Karl leaned forward, arms wrapped round his legs. ‘Sounds like it’s not just me and Ando who’ve been to war. Want to borrow me cloak? You’ll get cold.’

‘Nah. I’ve forgotten I’m wearing nuffing, I haven’t worn clothes for so long. Juss don’t need ‘em any more and they gets in yer way if yer magical like we are. You better strip off yerself, Karlo. How’s Ando? And “first battle” means yer must have had more. Tell us about it.’

‘Just one more, an’ Ando’s an officer in the Prinzengarde now. He captured the Turkish prince at this big battle we had outside Trieste. He’s famous and he’s got way more money now even than Lord Serge.’

‘Wow! I wanna hear all of that story. Later, right? But first, Faërie. Seems we’re caught up in a bigger business than juss Boro and them people who want to steal his blood for their magic. Like you thought, Jonas is more than just any elf. He’s the Elven Prince and rules them all – me too now I s’pose, since he’s taken me into his kingdom and adopted me into his clan. Now the thing is, he reckons Faërie is part of his kingdom, but there’s annuver clan of elves who think Faërie belongs to them. They’re in alliance with them Elementals you met.

‘So, my lord Prince Jonas has begun a war on the Elementals and that’s because of Ando being able to defeat one of them, the first time any of ‘em has been bested. Mortal humans may not have the power of elves, but mastering Elementals is one thing we can do ... since we created them, Prince Jonas said. So it’s only fair we should destroy them too, he says. But he never explained to me exactly how mortals did that, just that he and I were going to go hunting them and test out my power.’

‘Seems to me this’d be better coming from Jonas,’ Karl remarked. He stood and began stripping, making a neat pile of his clothes. Once naked he sat cross-legged opposite Wilchin. Beyond the bridge arch, dusk had fallen. ‘So what now?’

‘Prince Jonas says yer can do it. Didn’t tell me exactly how, other than yer can think yer way there, same way as yer thinks into horse’s minds from miles away. Just think yer way into Faërie. Here, hold me hand. I’ll think about Jonas too. Maybe it’ll help.’

Wilchin moved to sit right next to Karl, their warm flanks touching as he gripped Karl’s right hand in his left one. Startled, Karl caught Wilchin’s smell. It was no longer the odour of sweat, urine and unwashed Wilchin. Wilchin now radiated the unnameable and gorgeous scent of Jonas, the scent of Faërie. It washed through Karl’s mind. He closed his eyes and opened them hand in hand with his friend on a green lawn under a crystal sky, with jewel-like birds above them singing the songs of Paradise.

***

With an internal groan, Serge decided that he had better seek out his new lodger, although he rather suspected the interview would not give him much pleasure. He found Mehmed in one of the town inns, quite unsupervised now he had given his parole under oath. He was wearing some of his oriental gear: loose shirt and trousers under a long, richly embroidered waistcoat and pointed boots of felt. With the cloud of dark hair about his handsome, fine-boned face as much as his clothing, he had drawn attention. The bench he was occupying was shared with two young women of the town, his arms around their waists as they giggled and hung on his every word.

‘Hah! Le Seigneur de Tarlenheim!’ he hailed Serge, keeping carefully to French. ‘Come take a drink! Though you’ll have to pay for it as I’m penniless. In fact I’ve run up quite a bill at the counter. These two ladies are going to be disappointed financially, though not before I’ve pleased them in many other ways. Perhaps you can oblige? The bill I mean, not the ladies. You fuck men I hear.’

Serge gritted his teeth. ‘Not every man I meet, your excellency. You seem less particular.’

‘Hah! Well answered!’ came the delighted reply. ‘I left a haremlik behind me in Antivari: two young concubines. It was my delight to make them perform for me, as these two Frankish ladies will soon be doing. Fear not, we are alike. I fuck boys too if they’re pretty enough. Maybe we can come to an arrangement about that groom of yours, a blond more beautiful in his quiet grace than any I’ve ever seen. Have you sampled him?’

‘Try sampling Karl and you’ll find his friend Ensign Wittig’s blade at your testicles, so I’d advise against it. You’ll be sharing a house with both of them for a while at least, so I ask you to restrain yourself under my roof, for I too might take it into my mind to castrate you if you disturb its peace.’

The pasha relaxed a little and quirked a rather more attractive smile than he previously had betrayed. ‘What sir? Here I am without a penny to my name and deprived of my rule over men, and you would deny me what few pleasures I may yet find. So says the Prophet, peace be upon his name: For them will be a home of peace in the presence of their Lord, he will be their friend because they practised righteousness. Under your roof, sir, my behaviour shall respect your peace as it must.’

Serge’s intellectual curiosity was stirred despite himself. ‘Do you know all of your holy book by heart, then? I have heard that those of your faith sometimes do.’

‘It is true, and yes, like my father, I am hafiz. I recited the entirety of the Holy Qu’ran in the presence of the Emperor Suleiman at Edirne at the age of twelve, for which he gave me a carriage clock of French make. I still have it somewhere.’

‘Maybe we can talk more of this before your much-to-be-desired departure from Strelsau. Good evening, excellency. I shall leave a purse behind the counter, and add the sum to the account you owe me.’

***

With a surge of great happiness Karl looked around the familiar lawn and basked in the glorious light of Faërie. Maybe he could stay here a while and let its golden glory soak into his pale body as it had into Wilchin’s. Then with wonder he realised that Faërie was now open to him at any time he might wish to come here, or so it seemed.

Wilchin was dancing around on the grass and punching the air. ‘Yer did it, Karlo! Yer totally brilliant! I’m gonna try transforming again after that. Think me wiv wings, big blue ones.’

The boy stood still, concentrated and tensed his body, staring intently at an invisible point in the cloudless sky above him. Then he yelled and with an audible flap great azure and gold wings burst from his shoulders and flexed.

Breathing heavily, he stared bewildered at his friend. ‘This is ... wow! It’s not how I thought it’d be. Makes me brain weird. Giss a moment. Why doan yer try it?’

‘Me? No chance. You look beautiful Willem, like a glorious angel in a church window wivout the petticoat. I think you’re elf now, through and through. But somefink warns me against trying it. Where’s Jonas?’

‘He disappears to other places.’ Wilchin flexed his wings, seemingly eager to take to the air, but he curbed himself, folded his pinions and sat next to his friend. ‘I didn’t finish telling yer my adventures wiv him. We spent ages making a map of Faërie, and spying on the Elementals, giving them funny names in a sorta competition.’ Wilchin convulsed. ‘Gotta tell yer, the ugliest of the fuckers is Lust. Jonas calls ‘im Duckhead. ‘cos when yer makes him visible, it’s like he’s waddling his cock’s so huge, his horn bobbing around for feet in front of ‘im.’

Both boys fell about for a while, before Wilchin sobered up again. ‘Jonas won that one,’ he admitted. ‘There’s hundreds of the buggers. We wuz ages making a list and working out where they wuz in Faërie. Skulking in caves, haunting woods and lakes; some of ’em fly.’

‘You can’t write, Wilchin.’

‘Aw, come on Karlo, when would I ever have learned? But Jonas can. He made a file, he said. Anyway, then we had a conference wiv the other elves.’

‘What, his clan or the other one?’

‘His o’course. To keep it secret, we had it on a hilltop covered in woods way over that way. He calls it the Unlikely Forest and it goes on for ever.’ He pointed in the direction opposite from where the sun hung in the sky. ‘Iss “Unlikely” ‘cos it’s full of beasts that never existed but people thought they might or should. Most of ‘em is friendly, but shy like.

‘The conference wuzn’t what I expected. The other elves is not like Jonas. They don’t have bodies really. They’re sorta made of light and they came floating down from the sky on sunbeams. It was beautiful. If you don’t look straight at them you can just catch a sorta hint of a body and a face, but thass all.’

‘Did they talk?’

‘Oh yeah. You could hear them, just not quite wiv yer ears, if yer knows what I mean. Them and Jonas got quite chatty, and yer could tell why he’s their prince. They sorta dithered, but he wuz direct and right on the line. So they agreed there should be a war against the Elementals, and guess who’re his secret weapons?’

‘The Conduit kids.’

‘Zactly, Karlo. Me, yer, Ando and maybe Boro too. Though I thought the idea wuz to keep him outta Faërie.’

‘So when’s this war gonna be, Wilchin?’

‘Ah, difficult question that. There’s no time here. I coulda been here for years for all I knows, though yer says it wuz only six weeks. I only got back into the stream of time maybe a week ago, though that’s just a guess, ‘cos I dunno if it really was. Anyways, Jonas said he had errands he wuz neglecting, and had to get busy on them but I could come too if I liked. So I did.’

‘Where did he take yer?’

‘Now there’s a difficult question. Nowhere in Faërie thass for sure, and nowhere I’ve heard of in our world. So I ‘spect they were other worlds far away from our own. The stars in their skies were all wrong, one of ‘em had three moons up there. Some had marvellous cities with strange people who weren’t people at all, and we walked bare-arsed and unseen right through the middle of them. Others just had these really strange beasts, like nuffink you ever dreamed of. Some were gigantic, like leathery cows only bigger than houses, knocking down trees as they went.

‘There wuz a nice one which had lovely green plains on which huge tribes of beasts walked in their thousands, their little ones trotting along wiv them. I thought they wuz like cattle, but turns out that all their minds in their world were linked into one giant one, which Jonas wanted to try to see if he could talk to, ‘cos it wuz making worlds outside time, bit like Faërie, and starting other universes leaking into ours, which he says was mucking up that corner of Creation. I liked that place. It was friendly and quiet while he was busy telling off the Mind. I used me magic to make me look like one of their calves, and joined them sucking on the cow tits and eating the grubs they dug up. It was the first food and drink I’d had after we left Faërie and I’d got hungry and thirsty. It sounds awful, but the taste was great. I had a pee and a poo on that world. Jonas wuz fascinated wiv me taking a dump. He made me put my bum up so he could see it come out. Strange kid in some ways. Now iss time I took to the air. Watch me go!’

And at that Wilchin leaped into the air, to be borne high up by the beating of his wings. ‘Look at me, Karlo!’ he yelled down. ‘Wilchin the elf-boy!’

***

Serge relaxed into the arms of Willi, reflecting that it had been quite a while since he’d had the leisure and the bed to do it in. Willi was snickering at his account of his interview with Mehmed at the inn.

‘The man is intriguing, though not quite the pasha I was expecting. Doesn’t seem he would be interested in my skinny arse. Blond northerners are his thing, so he must have hopes of you, Phoebus. He made sure you knew he knew about your predilections.’

‘Preparing the ground for a seduction, you think? Then he has a problem. He does not attract me in the least.’

‘He is gorgeous, Phoebus. But it’s the moral thing isn’t it. Always you’re as much interested in people’s minds as what’s between their legs. I admire it, but it leaves me wondering what you see in poor me.’

Serge struggled up on his left elbow and kissed the face beneath him. ‘You really don’t know yourself at all do you, Willi. You’re imaginative, perceptive, brave, kind, gloriously honest about yourself and your feelings, and incredibly hard working. Also you don’t let me get away with any nonsense. Then there’s your magnificent little bum and your perpetual desire to have my cock inside it and the way you behave when I do it.’

Willi laughed. ‘Carry on, darling, you almost convince me. We’re in for an interesting time when we get back to Engelngasse, with a much fuller house for one thing. Had you thought about a page for our involuntary guest?’

‘Oh bugger. Can’t have him attended to by our Karl can I? Not that Karl can’t look after himself I think, but why should he have to?’

‘My thoughts too. But I have a solution.’

‘Really? What?’

‘I have a perfect match for him. Wait till we get back to Strelsau.’

‘Fine. Be mysterious. First we have to get past the Field of Wendel and the feud between Kronos and Zeus.’

Willi shook his head. ‘You don’t get Henry really, do you Phoebus. There’s no feud. He doesn’t hate his father, so your Classical allusion does not at all work. My uncle hopelessly indulged Henry as a boy, but fortunately failed to spoil him. Anything Henry wanted he got, including me. I was destined for a cell in the Jesuit convent, but Henry stamped his foot and I was given a place at court, though the place in my arse for his cock was not quite in the deal with his father I think. But nevertheless, Henry did not think it right that his breastmate and cousin should not be part of the family, and he made sure his father did the right thing by me. And he succeeded, not just for my sake but also, as I now see, for his father’s. Oh, I know he can be controlling, but he’s one of those rare princes who should be conceded the right to control. Deep down you must see it, that’s why you love him so, as we all do.’

Serge pondered this and asked ‘So why all his anger directed at the Hofburg?’

‘He was indulged as a boy, and being checked by his father it a new thing which he does not like. But he’s too great a soul to respond with anything as base as hatred. He’s determined to get his way and, knowing him, he probably will in time. But the two are fencing, that’s all, and looking for a way to adjust their relationship. Henry has to realise he’s not yet king and cannot act as if he is, much though it would suit him. His Majesty has to realise that Henry’s not a boy any more to be distracted with toys. The glorious victory of Basovizza may have done the trick. I just hope it hasn’t made my uncle envious of Henry. That would not be healthy. He must be proud of him.’

***

Karl gazed up admiring as the winged elf-boy who had once been Wilchin of the Conduit dived, swooped and whooped above him. He was a delight to watch, and Karl was a little awed that he had played a part in the boy’s final metamorphosis.

Then the joy increased as another winged boy dived down on Wilchin from out of the clear sky, grabbing his leg as he passed and tussling with him in the air. Then they were both off low over the trees, racing and chasing each other, screaming and whooping as they went. Karl wondered if the Elementals were hard of hearing; he hoped so. Eventually they came back and both alighted in front of him, breathing heavily and eyes bright with fun.

Karl went for a hug with Jonas, suddenly struck by how much smaller than him the elf now was. He only came up to Karl’s chin these days. Jonas neatly folded away his dark wings, which was not something Wilchin had yet mastered, and he began to panic.

‘How does I do it, Jonas? Gissa hand! I’ll be stuck like this.’

The elf rolled his eyes. ‘It was you that wanted them, so you’ll have to sort it out. Think inside. Strain like you’re doing one of those poos of yours. And don’t you dare do a poo here. It’s not allowed. There. Said you could do it.’

Wilchin’s wings folded away, and when Karl went around to look where they had sprouted he found only the usual two sharp shoulder blades. He sat down and got to business.

‘You wuz right about what a stay here would do to Wilchin. He’s not a boy any more.’

‘Oh, he is,’ Jonas disagreed. ‘He’s just like no boy that ever has been. In fact, he’s the perfect boy, a creature of fun, love, mischief and laughter with not a care in the world. My people are fascinated by him. The wings surprised even me. I think it was your magic and love of him that triggered that. I didn’t think it was possible, but I underestimated what Wilchin could become and the power you have, Karlo. But soon he’ll change.’

‘How’s that?’ asked Wilchin.

Jonas gave him an unhappy look. ‘Look at the way Karl is now, elf-boy. Your body’s aching to change like his has and the next time you leave Faërie it’ll begin. Your balls are already swelling and soon hair will appear above your cock and it’ll be big and hard all the time, like Karl’s is. You’re right on the edge of turning into a man, Wilchin, and you’ll leave me behind.’ Jonas seemed deeply sad at the thought.

‘But ... I want to be like this forever!’ The elf-boy was suddenly distraught.

‘There’s not much to be done about it,’ Jonas said. ‘I’ve kept you here for ages so we can have fun such as no boys ever have had and explore what can happen to humans in the light of this land. But the only way for you to stay like this is never to leave Faërie, and that can’t be allowed. You must go back and explore what you can be in the world ruled by Time, and whether an elf-boy can become an elf-man.’

Karl caught the anguish on Wilchin’s face. ‘But can’t She do something?’ he protested.

Jonas sighed. ‘She won’t help. She and They want all humans to grow up and come to Them in the end.’

‘Who are They?’ Karl finally asked, and he was answered.

‘They are you. Humans who have passed through death into what comes after. They used to be quiet beyond the Final Sea, but now They’re coming back. Something’s summoning them. They’ve built their tower on the Blessed Isles and there’s traffic going on between worlds, which my people have begun to notice. She is Their leader, or at least Their leader in affairs to deal with the Living. That may be my fault. I loved Her when she was alive and we had a lot of fun, but She got to know me better than any other human ever has ... till now. So She went beyond Death with knowledge none should have, and They’re using it.

‘So that is why I’ve found the Conduit boys, all four of you very special humans wide open to magic, even Boro in his way for there’s magic bred into his family. If She has a secret army, I must have my agents too. I have to find out what They’re up to. Problem is other clans of my people think it’s a fuss about nothing and those ... er, elves ... are much more powerful than me. They think the world can look after itself and it’s none of my concern. But I don’t agree.

‘Your world is changing faster and faster and in ways it never has before. Maybe humans are doing it themselves or maybe not. I’d like to find out. Your Lord Serge interests me a lot. He’s a new type of human. He thinks differently and wants to know how the world works, and he intends to find out by exercise of his Reason. Our ancient world of spirits and magic is just fantasy to him. And there’s more and more people like him, and they’re making new rules. Where it’ll go, I have no idea, but because She’s also watching Lord Serge it tells me that They are keeping an eye on what’s happening, and They know it’s important. Then there’s you, Karl Wollherz.’

‘Me?’

‘There’s been no human with powers quite like yours, ever. But now there is. I’m beginning to wonder why. I think you always had the potential because there’s something about your soul that is between worlds, of which ... y’know ... is another symptom. Maybe it was those days of horror trapped with the dead in the plague house. Don’t forget your parents went to Them and had to leave you in that place, but they still loved you and feared for you. The Dead may have listened to them and granted you something in compensation for the loss; they’ve done it before to others like you. That was what drew me to you. But if I had to guess I think that She poured yet more power into you that day you met Her on Earth at that abbey. She and They want you as Their agent in the world as much as I want you as mine. And they’re magical enough to endow you with great powers. They’re even more magical than my rivals in the other elven clans.’

‘But why? What are They wanting from me?’ Karl asked.

Jonas shrugged. ‘No idea. They may never tell you and they certainly won’t tell me. But what I’m saying is that She’s as interested in you and Wilchin as She is in Lord Serge. She knows something of the future, and She may have known Wilchin would mutate into an elf-boy once he ended up in Faërie. So it’s likely to be part of Their plan that he should. But once it’s happened, they’ll want him back in the world so he can complete his human destiny and come to Them. So you can’t expect Her to help you stay here, Wilchin.’

The boy looked devastated. Jonas got up, and sat behind him, snuggling against his back and embracing his brown body, kissing his shoulders, whispering loving words into his ear, as tears ran down Wilchin’s cheeks. It was a while before the boy’s sobs died down. Karl was thinking hard all the while.

‘One thing, Jonas. She went to the Dead with all Her knowledge of you. Won’t I be taking Them even more power and knowledge when my time comes to cross that Sea?’

Jonas shot him a sharp look. ‘Clever Karlo. Yes you will, and I’m happy for it to happen. I don’t know if They want the same things as me, and I’m pretty sure I won’t like what they do have in mind. But because of Her, I know that one day I’ll be allowed to cross the divide Wilchin’s about to and become a man, and that They want that to happen as much as I do. It may even be in Their plan. So I don’t want to be Their enemy even if I don’t trust Them enough to be their ally. When the day comes that you go to join them, I want you to be my ambassador to Them.’

Karl considered that while contemplating Wilchin’s tear-stained face. ‘I understand. I’m so sorry Wilchin, but there is at least one thing that’ll help you when yer returns to the world.’

‘What’s that?’ queried Jonas.

Karl looked him straight in the eye. ‘You’re coming back to Earth wiv us, elf. I got a job for yer.’

***

The cavalcade of Prince Henry clattered into the town of Wendel as evening fell on the eve of Pentecost. Despatch riders had alerted the town, which was now the centre of a royal encampment. The thunder of twenty-one guns opened up from the saluting battery stationed on a hill just outside the town, as the prince put foot to ground. The lord chamberlain of Ruritania was there to hold his stirrup, and a line of a dozen Ruritanian generals doffed their plumed hats and bowed low to the victor of Basovizza.

Two companies of the Prinzengarde took up the captured Turkish standards and the other great trophies of the campaign and processed behind Willi von Strelsau to the Radhaus of Wendel, where the court resided. They found King Rudolf enthroned in the illuminated great hall, his court lined along the walls. Applause broke out as the prince entered the hall. He looked around and bowed low to the throne. Then fanfares sounded as the king rose and walked down the hall to meet his son, and they embraced long and hard as they met. Applause became great cheers. ‘Long live King Rudolf!’ and from the prince’s guard and the members of his court, ‘Long live Henry the Lion!’ King Rudolf led his son back to the dais and placed him in a chair set beside his own, and only slightly lower. It took a while for the acclaim to die down.

Serge and the rest of the princely household found themselves conceded a place to the left of the royal throne.

‘This is an improvement at least,’ Serge murmured to Willi. ‘Never happened in the old Hofburg days.’

‘It could be promising,’ Willi admitted, then said, ‘Watch out. Old Kronos speaks.’

Serge, who had never heard King Rudolf speak at any length in public, was more than a little impressed at the measured and well-chosen words from the throne, and the evident sincerity with which they were spoken.

‘Reverend sirs, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen of Ruritania, ambassadors and honoured guests, we are glad that you are present to witness the return of our beloved son, the duke of Mittenheim and crown prince of our realm. He returns in great honour and with glory, the defender of Christendom and conqueror of the Turk. There is no happier father than us nor ever has been. All our hopes are fulfilled in our son. What honour more could be bestowed on this our son than the full and public acknowledgement of our pride in him.

‘No better time could there then be than this to welcome another son into our family, with the betrothal of the Hereditary Prince of Glottenburg to our daughter Dorothea Sophia, princess royal of Ruritania. He will claim her as his bride tomorrow, and we are heartily pleased with the alliance.

‘After our son’s long journey home we do not propose any great banquet at this point, especially in view of tomorrow’s celebrations. We shall therefore dine privily this evening with our family alone: our queen, our son, our eldest daughter and our nephew, the Count of Strelsau.’

Serge’s head whipped round to see a slack-jawed Willi, his eyes wide. ‘I think he meant you, Willi. He’s a one for surprises, is Kronos.’

***

‘You gotta wear clothes, Jonas. There’s no excuse.’ Karl sighed with frustration. ‘Look! Wilchin’s put his on.’

‘Argh, hates ‘em, all scratchy,’ said Wilchin.

‘Thank you for your help, Willem,’ Karl retorted frostily. ‘Jonas, yer always goes on about the effort you need to make them. It’s gotta be easier if you just put these on, they’re ready made. They’re mine. They’re a bit big for yer but it’s only till we get yer back to Engelngasse. Please put ‘em on, we’ll never pull this off if yer doesn’t. Yer promised.’

Grumbling, Jonas hauled on the clothing provided: shirts, drawers, breeches and a waistcoat, but he’d have to remain barelegged and barefoot for the present, as his feet were too small to fit any of the shoes Karl had access to and Karl vetoed any magical creations.

‘Right, that’s it, great. Wilchin, go off and see if yer can find Boro and Ando. Give them the message that Jonas is here, and we needs to have a conference. So no excuses. Boro’s in the Leibgarde these days. Uniform’s like the Prinzengarde, but white coat with red and gold waistcoat, not blue and gold. He’s a senior captain, so he’ll have a gold fringe on his waist sash and a gold gorget.’

Wilchin scampered off, once more the urchin, though the elfin mane of golden hair he had grown on his travels would need to be got under control soon.

Karl looked Jonas over. ‘You alright? Yer looks worried. What yer got to worry about? Nuffink can harm yer.’

Jonas frowned. ‘Who says so?’ he retorted. ‘Wilchin was affected by staying so long in Faërie. Well, if I stay too long in this world, the same applies. I’ve never been here longer than a day at most. But this is going to be weeks, months maybe. I don’t know what it’ll do to my elfin body. It may start deciding it wants to be human. Next thing I’ll be pooing and peeing. Urgh!’

‘And getting the horn. That I’d like to see. Can you eat or drink?’

‘Dunno, never tried. I’ve got insides just like any other boy. But this body doesn’t need any nourishment to keep going. There’s no acid and bile in my digestive organs, and no …, well, never mind. So food’ll just sit in my tummy and rot. Horrible.’

‘Does yer have blood and a pulse?’

‘Yes, or the illusion wouldn’t be complete. But it doesn’t do what your blood does. My heart just pumps it round so I look lifelike. And in answer to your question, I can make blood go to my cock and make it stand up if I want it to, but I don’t think that’s something I’d like to try, thank you very much.’

Karl shrugged. ‘It might be important when you’re around other boys wiv nothing on. Mine’s always up and down. Most other kids are too. Yer doesn’t want to stick out.’ He paused expectantly. ‘That was a joke, Jonas.’

Jonas thought about it, unsmiling. ‘I beg to disagree,’ he grunted. There was a heavy, jingling tread on the stair of the lodging.

‘Here we go,’ Karl said, ‘Iss my lord Serge.’

The young man looked down at the two boys waiting within the door. ‘Karl, who’s this?’

‘You asked about a new page for the house, sir. Ando and I tracked Jonas down. He’s a Conduit boy, and very reliable, sir. He’s eleven sir, and looking for preferment. He took service in the drum corps of the musketeer regiment of Sudmesten but has been discharged with the end of the campaign. He’s very willing to serve and me and Ando vouch for him.’

Serge pondered the child. His dark beauty was utter perfection from his curling hair to his small, bare toes, and there was something familiar about the wide mouth, its carmine lips and white teeth grinning nervously at him. ‘Don’t I know you from somewhere, young man?’

***

Dinner was laid in the Burgomeister’s chambers in the Radhaus of Wendel. Five places were set at a small table, and when the king took the head the queen took the opposite end, Henry sitting at one side and Willi and Dodie the other. King Rudolf rang a handbell by his place setting and servants in royal livery appeared with fresh bread and wine. All sat silent until they departed.

Henry looked across at Willi, gave a small shrug and began. ‘May I say, father, that those were very fine words you gave from the throne, and I and Willi both thank you for them.’

The king nodded and since he didn’t seem about to reply, Willi jumped in. ‘The grant of a title was ... unexpected, uncle. I don’t know what brought it on, but I thank you from my heart.’

The king took a sip of wine, and commenced in his grating voice ‘Henry, it seemed to me the time has come when I have to come to terms with the past and the future. First the past. You badgered me into bringing Wilhelm into the court, and to please you I did. You perhaps did not know that seeing his face around the court would give me no little pain from past remembrances, on which I will say no more. But as you both grew and became brothers rather than cousins, different though you are, I could not be other than glad I had given you your way on this.

‘And Wilhelm, you have neither your mother nor father’s face, so their remembrance was perhaps not as painful as I had feared it would be. I have a debt to both your parents, but the way you’ve grown and the man you’ve become has by itself earned you the right to sit at my table, and your rank must now reflect it. So you will be Graf and Freiherr of Strelsau and a suitable estate will be annexed to your title. There is a modest remaining royal estate on the Altstadt at the site of the old castle where you may build a hôtel of your own. You may, if you choose, take the name of Elphberg, and an act will be passed to that effect in the Assembly.

‘And now the future. Dodie here is to be betrothed to young Willem Stanislas tomorrow before both courts, and you’ll ride back to Glottenburg with the boy, Dodie my dear. Your mother and four attendant young ladies of your choice will accompany you. The marriage will take place on Midsummer Day in the cathedral of St Boniface, and I will be represented by Henry and Wilhelm.’

The king took another sip of wine and paused before continuing. ‘There is also the question of your marriage, Henry. The Council of State has pondered long in your absence and a number of possibilities have been considered. Our choice has fallen on Leopoldine Eleanora, sister of the Elector Palatine Johann Wilhelm. She is just short of thirteen years of age, in fact her birthday is next week and an appropriate gift has already been dispatched in your name. Although she suffered a serious bout of illness last year she seems now sound, and I’m told she is an attractive child, lively and witty. As her eldest sister is the Empress and among her other sisters are the Queens of Spain and Portugal, her birth and breeding certainly cannot be quibbled with.’

The king paused before recommencing in a heavy emphasis. ‘Obviously, there can be no immediate marriage, which will be several years yet in the future. In the meantime, your relationship with the Countess of Vesterborg may proceed and she will be received at court, though only as one amongst its noble ladies. Should there be children, you may acknowledge and provide for them, but unlike Wilhelm they may not ever take the name of Elphberg. They will be von Vesterborgs. The reasons you may imagine. I will provide an estate in the Wenzlerwald, with which you may endow the countess, as your joint place of resort and the place where your children can grow and out of which they may be provided for. I will receive them as my grandchildren. I trust this arrangement will be acceptable to all?’

Henry stared. ‘Yes father, it’s all I could have hoped for. Thank you.’

‘Uncle?’ Willi interjected, as was now his right since he had been received within the royal family. ‘Without intruding on your goodwill, so generously demonstrated, why all these arrangements? It looks to me as if something’s up.’

At last, the king smiled at his nephew. ‘Yes, Willi, something is. Despite my best efforts Louis of France has decided that Ruritania is an obstacle to his plans for the Empire. Coded correspondence removed for copying from the post bag of the Duc de Meulan has told us precisely how he intends to dispose of the house of Elphberg, and that there are foul traitors in our realm.’