The guests stared in dismay, unwilling to believe Lord Felph would throw them out.
Felph hunched, alone in the spotlight. All around the room, it began to grow ominously dark as lights dimmed, so that only the old man could be seen. He eyed the guests, chin thrust out, glaring as if in mute rage, till at last he could hold still no longer.
He stomped his foot on the floor with all his might, so that the sound of it rang out. Then he bent forward and began howling, a strange, inhuman shout that sounded of genuine pain. “Noowwwww!” he cried, stomping again. “Get out nowwww! I can’t bear your presence any longer. I can’t tolerate it! Get out while you still can! Nowwwww!”
As the old man bent low, his face twisted in pain, his eyes stared out accusingly on the people of Ruin.
Maggie’s heart began pounding in fear. Lord Felph panted, and slobber dripped down his chin.
“Careful, careful,” someone whispered in the crowd behind Maggie, “he’s in one of ‘is moods!”
Those closest to Felph began backing away slowly, raising their hands as if to prove that they weren’t armed. Perhaps they imagined he had a weapon and would begin shooting. Those near the tables of food each grabbed plates, while some of those closest to the doors actually took off sprinting for the terrace. One woman fell and shrieked as a heavy man trampled her, then several other people began screaming, perhaps believing that Felph had unleashed some security droids on the crowd with orders to shoot.
In moments the room emptied of all but Maggie, Gallen, the bears, and Felph’s children. Even of Felph’s servants, only the faithful Dooring remained, smiling broadly.
In the sudden silence, Felph began chuckling under his breath, the sound reverberating from the high walls. He then stared at the retreating figures, who turned to shadows out on the veranda.
He eyed them not with the lack of composure typical of madness, but instead with the steady and calculating gaze of a stage performer gauging his audience.
He glanced at the tables filled with refreshments tumbled in disarray. Then he gazed back at the fleeing people and murmured, “So go the gray masses, marshaled alternately by gluttony and terror. Pity the weak.”
Chapter 5
Felph turned back to Gallen and Maggie, marched boldly up to them, and bowed so low his wispy hair nearly scraped the floor. Gallen had thought he would wear a crown of some type, a Controller to order the Guides his children wore, but he wore only a small device mounted into his skull, behind his right ear.
“I’m very pleased to make your acquaintance, Gallen, Maggie,” Felph said, nodding to each in turn, smiling pleasantly. “May I introduce you to my beloved children-Arachne, Hera, Zeus, Hermes, and little Athena.”
Felph’s children each bowed in turn, none of them speaking a word. Apparently Felph had forbidden them to speak.
And yet, and yet, can eyes not sometimes speak as loudly as words?
Gallen knew how much wearing a Guide, even for a few days, had pained Maggie. Now he looked into the eyes of Felph’s creations. The oldest, Arachne, smiled weakly; everything about her posture, her trembling smile, begged. “Please, free us.”
The children-for though some were older than Gallen, he still saw them as children-hovered behind Felph, bright, intelligent, eager for attention.
Lord Felph finished his introductions, and said, “I hope you enjoy my hospitality.”
“As do I,” Gallen said, cautiously. “Are you certain you want us to stay the evening?”
“Indeed, of course.” Felph chuckled. “Don’t fear. I play the eccentric only for the sake of the locals. It keeps them away. So you see, there is nothing to worry about, really. Besides, we haven’t had dinner yet, nor have we discussed my proposed terms of employment. I’m very wealthy. I’m sure you’ll find the terms … fascinating.”
Felph stood taller, then gazed fixedly at the bears. “I see you also brought your pets?”
“Orick and Tallea are my friends, not my pets,” Gallen said. “They do talk.”
“Talking pets?” Felph murmured, intrigued. “Like parrots and macaws and whatnot?”
“I’m very pleased to make your acquaintance,” Orick blurted, rising on his hind legs, trying to ease Gallen’s obvious distress at Felph’s comments. “Your palace is remarkable!”
“Well, yes, thank you,” Felph said, somehow delighted that the bear would speak to him. He reached out and pinched the fur above Orick’s left paw. “Isn’t it a bit warm in there?”
“Only when I build a fire,” Orick jested, then laughed, as did Lord Felph.
“Well, I’m very happy to meet you,” Felph told Orick once again, and Felph graciously took both of Orick’s paws in his hand at once, then shook lightly, as if with a dear friend. Felph glanced at Gallen. “Charming bear-a talking bear, really. Now, to dinner.”
As the people of Ruin mounted the florafeems outside, Felph led Maggie and the others through the great hall to a wide corridor that opened into a spacious formal dining room. An enormous table carved of a single slab of white marble sat in the center of the room. The walls had been covered in dark rosewood and inlaid with gold. A single chandelier lit the center of the room, a chandelier with tiny glow globes hidden in a golden net, hung with huge cut diamonds that glittered brilliantly.
Twenty server droids lined the walls. A sumptuous feast was set, with six main meat dishes, several types of bread and rolls, and a dozen dishes of vegetables and fruits, not to mention desserts and liqueurs. Maggie had dined at state banquets on half a dozen worlds, but nothing compared to Lord Felph’s table.
The servant Dooring went to the table, pulled out Felph’s chair, then seated the others in turn. Orick and Tallea could not properly sit at a table, so Dooring removed the chairs, letting the bears stand.
Felph let his guests eat their repast in silence, careful to avoid any talk of business, for to do so was taboo in many cultures. It was an odd and eerie meal, for Felph talked casually of many things-the great drought which would end in a few weeks as Ruin neared Brightstar and the polar caps began to melt, the commercial value of various relics found on Ruin, the outrageous excesses of the governor in a nearby star system who wanted to annex Ruin, and so on. But it was not Felph’s choice of topics that Gallen found to be eerie, it was simply that his children did not speak. Obviously, Lord Felph had forbidden them.
Gallen felt suspicious of his motives.
When the last dessert was finished an hour later, Felph pushed his chair from the table a foot, a formal sign that dinner had ended. Gallen did the same.
“Now to business,” Felph said, folding his hands over his belly, “unless you are still hungry?”
“No,” everyone said in unison, including Orick. It was a rare meal that served enough even for that bear.
“Good, good.” Felph nodded thoughtfully. He stared at Gallen. “As you may have noticed, I keep very few human retainers. My droids handle the vast bulk of my work-cultivating the fields, mining the hills. They work as technicians and factory workers, servants and cleaners-all here in the depths, under the palace. I reserve humans only because of their versatility. It is rare that I seek to hire a human. The palace is self-sufficient. I even export some small items. Yet-I need your services, Gallen O’Day.”
Gallen nodded. “Is it a criminal you want to apprehend? If so, this fine dinner, thought much appreciated, was hardly necessary. Tracking criminals is what I do.”
Felph smiled and shook his head. “It is not a criminal I seek. It is a deed I want done, an artifact-an ancient Qualeewooh artifact-that I would like you to acquire.” Felph folded his hands and raised them to his chin, watching Gallen’s face. “You have seen the jungles of Ruin from space? We call them the tangles, for the trees of Ruin become tangled together into such strange and impenetrable masses, that the word `jungle’ somehow does not do them justice. At the base of every tangle is a lake or sea, and the native dew trees float on these waters, spreading broad floating leaves that cover the water completely. The dew trees themselves are enormous, sometimes fifty meters wide, and their roots may anchor a thousand meters deep into the ocean, while the trunks rise fifteen hundred meters in the air. On these dew trees, parasitic plants grow-ribbon trees and fire brush and a thousand forms of fungus, until all of them twist into an impenetrable mass.”