back, but he seems quite attached to us.” A question occurred to me. “Can I just ask: is it true that the London Knights had the Merlin Glass in their keeping for years?”
“Oh yes,” said the Seneschal, quite off-handedly. “For centuries, I think.”
“The Glass was given to my family, originally, by Merlin himself,” I said carefully. “For . . . services rendered. How did the Glass end up in your hands?”
“I’m sure I don’t know,” said Sir Perryvale. “Ancient history, I’m afraid. Not really my field. We do have a great many items in our vaults, things that originally belonged to Merlin. King Arthur felt it important that we keep them, in case the old sorcerer ever came back to us.”
“You think that’s likely?” I said. “After all this time?”
“Why not?” the Seneschal said simply. “Arthur did. Our King came back to us, for a time. And what a glorious time that was.”
“King Arthur . . . ,” I said. There are some names that just give you goose pimples. “What was he like?”
“Everything they said he was,” said Sir Perryvale. “And so much more, besides.”
“Where is he now?”
“Gone back to his sleep. Somewhere safe. Until he’s needed again, for the Final Battle.”
“Why did you give the Merlin Glass back to us?” I said bluntly.
“Because your uncle Jack asked for it,” said Sir Perryvale. “And no, he didn’t say why.”
“And you just gave it to him? Didn’t that get you into trouble?”
The Seneschal shrugged briefly. “I’m not the only one here who owes a lot to Jack Drood.”
“Didn’t any of the Knights object?”
“Ah,” said Sir Perryvale. “I may not have actually got around to informing all of the rank and file, so to speak.”
I gave him a hard look. “Hasn’t anyone noticed it’s missing?”
“The only way we can all rub along together here, in such a confined space, is for all of us to allow each other our little secrets,” Sir Perryvale said sternly. “I’m sure there are things being kept from me . . . Now, let’s go see the oracle!”
* * *
He led me up a steep stairway, and on through a series of open stone galleries, all of them decorated with impeccable style and taste. Our footsteps sounded ominously loud and carried to me in the constant quiet.
“Is everybody gone from the Castle?” I said finally.
“No, just the Knights. Our wives and families are all gathered safely together in the Great Redoubt, at the heart of the Castle, behind all kinds of protections. They’re safe there until the Knights return. Strictly speaking, I should be in the Redoubt with them, but I was damned if I was going to miss Jack’s wake. And besides, I can never get to sleep in a strange bed. Not at my age.”
“Wives and families . . . ,” I said. “Aren’t there any female Knights?”
“Not yet,” said Sir Perryvale. “Though it is an idea whose time has pretty much come. We do change, Eddie, but only slowly. Is it really very different with the Droods? I mean, how many female field agents do you have?”
“Quite a few,” I said. “And my family is led by a Matriarch.”
“The London Knights are still mainly a religious order,” said Sir Perryvale. “And that kind of organisation is always going to be the slowest to change. By long tradition, the Knights fight, and the women provide necessary backup, here in the Castle. As doctors, teachers, historians, librarians, armourers, and spiritual councillors . . .”
“Servants?” I said.
“What? Our Ladies?” said Sir Perryvale, openly amused. “Hardly! Perish the thought . . . No, no; Castle Inconnu is full of airy spirits that take care of all the everyday, necessary things.”
We came to the Hall of Forgotten Beasts. An extremely long hall, whose walls were decorated with the stuffed and mounted heads of all kinds of fantastical creatures, many of whom were no longer part of recorded history. The only remaining examples, in some cases, of hundreds and hundreds of exotic beasts. I slowed down, despite myself, to take a better look. Sir Perryvale slowed too, reluctantly. He looked at me and didn’t like what he saw in my face.
“You have to understand,” he said as we passed slowly between the two opposing rows of preserved heads on plaques, “that for a long time, hunting was an important part of our Knightly duties. Wiping out creatures whose very existence was considered a real and present threat to Humanity’s survival. It is possible that perhaps some of those early