“What can even a warrior such as I do against the mighty Arthur and his sword?” asked Ugham. “I think you have little to fear, Lord Arthur.”
“Let him come,” said Suzy. “He’s just a turnip farmer underneath.”
“It does not become you to make jest of my ambition, Miss Suzy,” said Ugham.
Arthur looked at Fred questioningly.
“I reckon he’s more help than hindrance,” said Fred. “And now that Suzy and I don’t have to obey, the odds are better.”
“You’d still answer to the Piper’s pipe,” said Arthur. He bit his lower lip, unconsciously flicking it under his front teeth several times. “Oh, all right. Ugham can come too. Four of us, then.”
One Who Survived the Darkness nodded and made arm signals to the Servants above, who immediately began to descend. The first two landed next to Cool of the Evening, and one of them took out a pair of wings that might have suited a doll, being no more than six inches long. But as the Servant shook them, they grew, and a few seconds later both Servants were helping Cool of the Evening detach her old wings and put on new ones.
“Hey,” said Suzy. “If they’ve got wings, they can just give us some. Beats being carried.”
One Who Survived the Darkness made an emphatic sign. “Ah, that’s ‘No’!” said Fred. “Guess they haven’t got enough.”
“Or they don’t want us flying around,” said Arthur. “Never mind. As long as we get up to the Top Shelf faster than on this raft.”
“It was good enough for you before!” protested a voice from below. The Servants jumped at the sound of it, wings flapping and hands going to weapons.
“First it’s ‘Give us a ride even if it’s against the rules,’” Pirkin continued. “Now, it’s ‘Your raft’s too slow.’ There’ll be a minute of protest issued by the next meeting of the Association, I can tell you!”
“We’re very grateful, Pirkin,” said Arthur. “For the clothes, the hot water, the ride on the raft. Everything. I shall personally see to it that you and your crew are commended if ... when ... I take over the Middle House.”
“Those clothes are property of the Assoc-” Pirkin started to say. “Commended? What, with a certificate and all?”
“A big framed certificate,” Arthur promised. “With all my seals on it, for all the demesnes from the Lower House on up.”
“Well, that’s handsome,” said Pirkin. “And if the Noble and Exalted Association of Waterway Motivators can ever be of help to you, you know where to find us. On the canal!”
Pirkin’s skinny arm reached up out of the gap in the reeds. Arthur shook the Denizen’s hand, then it was withdrawn and a moment later the gap closed. Pirkin, however pleased he was with a potential commendation, was not going to risk coming out.
“We need to go, Arthur,” said Fred. “The Servants hold the skylock above but there is the risk of a counterattack. And they need to be back in their eyrie before dawn.”
“Where is that?” asked Arthur.
All three Servants hissed and made the “no” sign, then One Who Survived the Darkness made a few more. The three launched themselves into the air and other Servants joined them to flutter a dozen feet above the heads of Arthur and his friends.
“It’s a secret,” said Fred. “Up anyway. Oh, they want us to lie on our stomachs and hold up our legs and arms. Easier for them to pick us up that way.”
“Or kill us,” muttered Suzy, very quietly. “Not that I s’pose they’re going to.”
“I think we can trust them,” Arthur whispered back. He put away the Fourth Key and checked to make sure it was securely on his belt, and that the crystal with the speck of the Architect’s gold leaf was secure in an inside pocket. “They could have attacked us straight away. And Fred wanted to be one, so they can’t be all bad.”
“I wanted to be a Nithling with three heads once, so that’s no guarantee,” whispered Suzy as she lay down and raised her arms and feet. “What’s more, after a washing between the ears I thought it was possible.”
Arthur smiled but the smile only lasted a moment as he caught sight of the four dead Artful Loungers. Though they were Denizens and stranger-than-usual ones at that, and enemies, he still felt bad that they were dead, at his hand.
All this fighting is so unnecessary, he thought as he lay down and put up his hands and feet. I guess the sooner I have the Fifth Key, the better, so I can try to stop it. Not that I’ve managed to completely stop the fighting with the Piper’s Newniths in the Great Maze. I just wish the Trustees would give up and hand over the Keys, like they were supposed to do in the first place. Then I could ...
Arthur’s thoughts were distracted as he felt the rush of air from four sets of Servant wings. Four pairs of Servants’ hands carefully grabbed his wrists and ankles, their claws withdrawn. Then, with an even greater downdraft from the beating wings, he was airborne.
Arthur did not want to pick up his train of thought, at least in part because he was uncomfortable about where it was going. But he couldn’t help but linger on it for a moment longer.
What am I going to do if I somehow do manage to defeat the last three Morrow Days and get all the Keys? If I can just get home ... keep the family safe ... stay human ...
Chapter Seventeen
“My arms and legs are going to come out and my body is going to drop like a horrible lump if we don’t land soon!” shouted Suzy.
“It can’t be too long,” Arthur shouted back, though he actually had no idea how long it would be. His shoulders and hips hurt terribly too, but there wasn’t much point in complaining about it.
They’d passed the first skylock fairly quickly after leaving the raft, witnessing a brief skirmish between twenty or thirty winged Artful Loungers and an unclear number of Winged Servants, who they only saw in the flashes of fire-wash from their projectors or when they tussled hand to hand with the more illuminated enemy.
It was much warmer in the Middle of the Middle, which was a relief to Arthur. Being frozen as well as having your arms and legs pulled out by the joints had nothing to recommend it.
Not that they stayed in the Middle of the Middle for long. The Servants had kept climbing at a steady rate and they had gone through the second skylock an hour after the first. This passage was not marked by any combat, and indeed Arthur might not even have known they’d gone through it if it hadn’t been for Suzy calling out that she could see the hole in the sky.
The Top Shelf was warmer still, almost tropical. Arthur would have found it unpleasant, save that he had been so cold before, he welcomed any heat. But given that it was still night, he figured it must get very warm during its day, depending on what kind of sun or suns it had.
“I hope it’s soon,” shouted Suzy. “Can you see anything below?”
Since passing through the second skylock, the Servants had levelled off, lending hope that their destination was close.
“I espy campfires below,” called out Ugham. Arthur couldn’t see the Newnith or the Servants who carried him, but he sounded quite close. Craning his neck, Arthur looked around to see if he could pick up the campfires too, though all he’d previously spotted were a few stars high above. He’d watched them for a while to see if they moved, but they hadn’t.
“I see them!” shouted Fred. “Guess that’s Friday’s Dawn and the Gilded Youths.”
Arthur turned to where he thought Fred was flying and caught sight of a whole bunch of tiny twinkling orange-red lights below them and a mile or more ahead.
“What do they need campfires for?” shouted Arthur. “It’s hot up here and they don’t need to eat!”
“Tradition!” yelled Suzy. “Or tea, maybe. What’s a camp without a fire anyhow? Oh, I see other lights.”
Arthur squinted ahead. There were pallid white dots beyond and above the crescent-shape of the campfires.
“That must be Binding Junction,” called out Fred. “The High Guild’s headquarters.”