CHAPTER FIFTY NINE


    Jane shook her head at Andrew, and she shooed him away by waving her hand.


    ’Get out of the way.’


    ‘Make me.’


    ‘A minute ago you wanted to open the door to let in your ‘supposed’ friends. Now you are blocking that very same door.’


    Andrew opened his mouth and it hung slack as though the rubbery substance that supported his mouth shape had collapsed. He made a fist with his right hand.


    ‘You open the door,’ he snarled.


    ‘With pleasure.’


    ’Once the door is open, I am leaving.’


    Andrew stepped away and positioned himself so that the moment the door opened he could bound through. He obviously thought the Emperor would look after him, which seemed delusionally optimistic. His belly wobbled over his embossed private school belt.


    Jane pulled up the black contraption that released the spike from the stone floor. The door opened.


    Immediately, through the door, an arrow flew and struck Andrew, just above the left knee. The arrow burrowed through the muscle and emerged from the back of the leg. Blood poured around the arrow shaft and ran in a rivulet down Andrew’s leg.


    A moment of silence followed. Then there came a cry so high and lonely it was like the call of a llama lost in the wilderness. The howl filled the room and held, then stopped, replaced by a whistling sound of drawing breath.


    The howl came again.


    Andrew, mouth wide open in the god-awful scream, wobbled on his feet. A second later he crashed to the ground.


    Jane stepped back and was about to drive her body into the door to shut it, only the palace guard (the Emperor’s assassin) stepped through the door. He had another arrow loaded.


    The assassin released the arrow, just as the body of Tom flung against the assassin’s arm. The arrow leapt away, just off its mark. It seared past Jane’s right hip.


    Tom had saved Jane from being pierced by an arrow, and now he was all tangled up with the assassin. The assassin twisted and beat down with his right arm, so that Tom was flung away.


    The assassin drew another arrow.


    Tom jumped and put himself between the arrow and Jane. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    He yelled to the Emperor who was out of sight behind the door.


    ‘Call back your killer.’


    The assassin sighted down the shaft of the arrow and slowly raised it, trying to find a shot over Tom’s shoulder.


    Then the assassin brought his head up, and his eyes opened from the concentrated squint. Something behind Tom had caught the assassin’s attention. A moment later the assassin lowered his weapon.


    ‘What is it,’ Jane said, and she turned.


    Trinket stood, legs apart, on the bridge over the moat. Her robe flapped in a burst of wind that curled over the stone walls. She had her bow raised, with an arrow strung and aimed at the assassin.


    The voice of the Emperor came from behind the door. A squeaky voice that sounded like the voice of the fellow that Jane had seen last year, who had been nicked by the police for loitering outside the girls toilets at ‘Our Lady of Mercy’ school. The Emperor was talking to Tom.


    ‘The girl must be hurt so that she cannot move on us.’


    Tom spoke back through the door.


    ‘Our deal is off if the girl gets hurt.’


    ‘But the deal is done and has been sealed.’


    ‘I am adding a clause.’


    The assassin had backed out of the room, and out of sight of Trinket’s carefully aimed arrow.


    Jane now heard the Emperor murmuring to his assassin, and she heard the assassin answer in a growling voice.


    Meanwhile Andrew howled and held his hand around the shaft of the arrow embedded in his thigh. Blood was now running down his leg and dripping onto the floor. There was a lot of blood and Jane sensed that Andrew could be in a bit of trouble with this injury, although she had other priorities than Andrew’s plight. She spoke to Tom.


    ‘What is the deal you have made with the Emperor?’


    ‘Trust me.’


    ‘I need to get the book, so please tell me the deal.’


    Tom whispered, ‘No time … just trust me.’


    Now Tom called to Trinket, ‘The Emperor won’t enter the room until you have put away your weapon.’


    Trinket smiled in a weird way, ‘This weapon will remain lifted until the assassin has departed, and I am given assurances of such.’


    Tom turned to Jane.


    ‘Accompany the assassin to a distance of one hundred feet away from this chamber. I will then have Trinket lower her weapon.’


    ‘Is this part of your deal?’ Jane’s tone dripped with sarcasm.


    Tom shook his head.


    For a long moment Jane stood and stared at Tom. She tried to see through his eerily powerful expression. She tried to see through to his thoughts, and his intentions, but she couldn’t tell exactly what he had in mind. He was now firmly in control.


    Jane sighed.


    She moved through the door, out into the corridor, and saw the Emperor for the first time.


    The Emperor was shorter than Jane. His face was round. He wore a funny hat that looked like a high-ended sailing ship. He was dressed completely in blue.


    He looked up at Jane and snorted, like he didn’t think much of girls:


    ‘You are nothing to fear.’


    Jane said, ‘Can you have your assassin follow me to the end of the corridor?’


    The Emperor smirked, and at first Jane thought he was going to refuse her request. Then he made a gesture with a white gloved hand, and the assassin nodded. The assassin walked away, down the corridor, his shoulders rising and falling, his boots drumming the stones.


    Jane hesitated, before following.


    ‘Now,’ said the Emperor, speaking into the chamber. ‘I need the Princess to surrender her weapon.’


    ‘Not likely,’ came Trinket’s reply.