were you thinking? You should never have let him in!”
“That was my decision to make,” Sir Perryvale said coldly. “My prerogative as Seneschal. My guest is here because he needs to consult the oracle . . .”
“Not going to happen,” Sir Bors said immediately. “You know that’s strictly forbidden to outsiders. And we definitely don’t do Droods any favours.”
“Why are you here, Sir Bors?” said Sir Perryvale.
“I’m going to take this Drood away, lock him up somewhere secure, and leave him there,” said Sir Bors, “until the army and the Grand Commander return. Sir Kae can make the decision of what should be done with this . . . intruder. And then I’ll see you prosecuted for dereliction of duty, Seneschal! I’ll see you relieved of your position! You let the wolf in at the gate . . .”
“Just because you’re humping the Lady Vivienne,” Sir Perryvale said calmly, “don’t think for a moment that means you share her exalted station. You weren’t her first, and you won’t be her last. I’ll set my decades of service to the Castle against your calculated outrage any day.”
“Excuse me,” I said, “but how long before Sir Kae returns?”
“Weeks,” said Sir Bors. “Maybe months.”
“I can’t wait that long,” I said. “Molly Metcalf has been kidnapped, and I need access to your oracle to find out where she’s been taken. Just let me ask my questions, and I’ll be on my way . . .”
“You don’t get to make conditions, Drood,” Sir Bors said loudly. “Everyone knows you can’t trust a Drood! And if your notorious witch has gone missing, good riddance to bad rubbish.”
“Please don’t kill him,” Sir Perryvale said quickly to me. “He’s young, and he means well.”
“You’re right,” I said to Sir Perryvale. “He is going to be awkward. And I don’t have the time or the inclination to be diplomatic about this.”
I armoured up, and Sir Bors fell back a step as my strange matter armour wrapped around me in a moment. Even when you think you know what to expect, your first sight of a Drood in his golden armour is always going to be a heart-stopping experience. Armour supple as flesh, openly unnatural, impossibly strong and fast, and a mask with no features. Not even any eyes. That always upsets people; which is why we do it. I grew a long golden sword out of my armoured right glove, and Sir Bors immediately dropped into a fighter’s crouch, his sword extended before him. At least he looked like he knew what he was doing. I didn’t want this to be over too quickly. Not after what he’d said about Molly.
I moved forward, and his sword leapt for my throat. I parried it easily with my golden blade. The two swords slammed together in a shower of sparks, and I think both of us were a little surprised that neither blade shattered. We circled each other slowly, studying each other’s form.
“Merlin gave your family a Glass,” said Sir Bors. “He gave us enchanted swords and armour!”
I cut at his head with my sword, and he parried at the last moment. Our blades flashed back and forth, as we went round and round in the limited space available to us in the gap between the well and the door. Sir Perryvale retreated quickly, out of the way. Sir Bors was a lot more experienced at sword-fighting than I was. I blocked most of his attacks easily enough, but a swift feint caught me off guard, and his sword-point slammed into my ribs. The strange matter held against his enchanted steel, and while he hesitated for a moment, surprised, I stuck my blade into his ribs. His spelled armour held off my strange matter sword in its turn. I swore under my breath. This was going to complicate things.
I looked him over carefully, searching out the weak spots in his armour. The elbows and the knees and the groin, obviously; and the Y-shaped slot at the front of his helmet. But most of those were killing blows, and I really didn’t want to do that. Sir Bors was just defending his home.
And I had meant it when I swore I didn’t want to kill again.
We circled each other, looking for weaknesses in each other’s stance. This was all taking far too long. Taking up time I needed to locate and rescue Molly. So when in doubt, cheat. My first thought was to use the Merlin Glass. Take it out, slap it