From a Drood to a Kill by Simon R. Green

Author:Simon R. Green [Green, Simon R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thrillers, Espionage, Contemporary, Action & Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Magic, Paranormal, Urban
ISBN: 9780451414342
Google: VnD9DAAAQBAJ
Amazon: 0451414349
Publisher: Ace
Published: 2016-06-06T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

A Knight to Remember. And an Owl.

I arrived in a simple bedroom, just big enough to hold an old-fashioned four-poster bed and some elegant if rather battered furniture. The well-used kind, with scratches in the veneer and the sheen worn off, that usually gets handed down as heirlooms because you can’t find anyone to buy it. There were no windows in the bare stone walls, and the warm, cheerful butterscotch light came from a single lamp.

There’s always a certain element of surprise the first time you enter someone else’s bedroom. In this case, the surprised party was the Castle’s Seneschal. Sir Perryvale sat on the edge of his bed in his long nightie and floppy nightcap and stared back at me with studied dignity. Defying me to make any remark concerning his choice of nightwear. I just nodded respectfully to him, as befitted his station, and reduced the Merlin Glass down to hand-mirror size, then put it away.

“So,” said Sir Perryvale, “the legendary Merlin Glass in action . . . Brought you straight here, without setting off a single alarm. Incredible.”

I looked at him sharply. “You didn’t shut down the Castle’s security systems to let me in?”

“Hardly, old boy. Can’t have the Castle left vulnerable, not even for a moment. The London Knights have far too many enemies just waiting for us to put a foot wrong. Besides, I wanted to see what would happen. Don’t worry—no one’s going to bother us if we take a swift walk round the Castle. Not tonight. But we’d better be quick about our business. We have our very own top-rank telepath in residence, the Lady Vivienne de Tourney. I have reason to believe she’s . . . somewhat occupied just at the moment, but that won’t last. You need to be done with your business and gone before she notices you.”

“You let me in,” I said. “Just like that. I’m grateful, of course, but . . . how can you trust me? You don’t know me.”

“I knew Jack,” Sir Perryvale said simply. “He often talked about you. He believed in you. I don’t suppose he ever told you that . . . No. He wouldn’t. For all his many admirable qualities, he was still a Drood. Emotionally constipated, just like the rest of you.”

“But . . .”

“It’s not like I’m going to be allowing you access to any of our forbidden areas,” he said, riding right over me. “All right, yes, technically speaking, access to our oracle is forbidden to outsiders, but only technically. If the oracle doesn’t trust you, you won’t be getting any answers, so . . . Don’t worry, though. I’m sure you’ll find out everything you need to know.”

“But . . .”

“Look, you don’t mean any harm to Castle Inconnu, do you?”

“No!”

“Well, then! I am the Seneschal. I have every right to decide who is and who is not a threat to the London Knights. So there. If I want to bring in a guest, that’s my business. Pardon me a moment.

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