Molly Metcalf?”
“Forever and a day,” I said.
I meant it, and I could see he knew I meant it.
“That’s my boy!” he said genially.
To my surprise, he seemed genuinely pleased with my response. As though that was the answer he’d been hoping for. He came out from behind the Somnambulist and leaned companionably against her, shoulder to shoulder, as he smiled at me.
“You need to come along with me now,” he said. “So you can meet the other players in the current Big Game. Before everything kicks off and it all gets a bit rowdy.”
He turned abruptly and walked away, striding out across the open grassy lawns. The Somnambulist turned and followed him, ignoring me. I hesitated, and looked around me. There was nothing to keep me here, and nowhere else for me to go. Nothing else to do. At least Walker seemed to have some idea of what was going on. So I just shrugged, and went after him.
* * *
The three of us strode along together, across the Drood grounds that weren’t really Drood grounds. The Somnambulist quickly took up a position between Walker and me, keeping us apart even though she was still clearly fast asleep. I wondered how she could see where she was going with her eyes closed. But then, there was a lot about her I didn’t understand. So I ignored her, if only because her presence up close was creeping the hell out of me.
“In the Winter Hall,” I said finally to Walker, “back when I was floating between Life and Death; that was you, wasn’t it? Why did you interrogate me there? Why were you so determined to get answers out of me, to learn my secrets and those of my family? Who sent you there, and who told you to ask those questions?”
“The Powers That Be,” said Walker, not looking round.
“Getting really tired of that answer,” I said. “Who are they? What are they?”
“I would have thought that much was obvious,” said Walker. “Just from the title they’ve given themselves.”
And the really annoying thing was, Walker really did seem to feel I should be able to guess, from the clues available. I frowned fiercely as we walked along, considering the matter, though Walker seemed quite unconcerned. Was he hinting at something, or trying to distract me, keep me pointed in the wrong direction? I’ve never been good at puzzles. When you wear a suit of armour that can punch holes through the world, mostly you don’t have to be. Other people will normally fall all over themselves to tell you everything you need to know. The Somnambulist started to snore quietly. Walker elbowed her discreetly in the ribs, and she stopped.
The Drood grounds seemed to just go on and on forever, much farther than they ever could have in the real world. Nothing but empty open lawns, stretching away into the distance. No landmarks anywhere; no trees or lakes or flower gardens. Nothing to help me judge distances. Nothing living moved anywhere in the grounds, apart from the three of us. I wondered whether this was a living world, or just an artificial construct. Time didn’t seem to change either. When I first arrived here, through the Departure Lounge Door, it had felt like midday, and it still did. Even though we seemed to have been walking for ages. I wanted to ask Walker if he felt the same way, but I knew he’d only say something evasive and deeply irritating, and I was damned if I’d give him the satisfaction.
And then change did set in, quite suddenly, almost as though I’d triggered it by noticing its lack. The green lawns lost all their colour, all their detail, everything just dropping away until the three of us were walking across endless grey dust plains. Still no landmarks, still no sign of where we were, or where we were going. Great plumes of dust rose with every step we took, then fell slowly back to the ground again. Our footsteps made no sound at all, as though we weren’t really there. Just ghosts, passing through. It wasn’t hot or cold or anything much. I glanced back, and saw that the lawns we’d been walking through had vanished, replaced by endless plains of grey dust that looked like they’d always been there. A world of nothing but dust, because everything else had died long ago. The sky was full of static. And then the world changed again; and again; and again.
Walker took it all