Luke came to and looked blearily around him.
He was inside a Red shack. There wasn’t much to look at, just a rough wooden table and a bed of rags in the corner.
Except, of course, for the drawings.
They covered the walls from floor to ceiling. They’d been drawn with ashes on cheap paper, but each was even more beautiful, intricate and detailed than the last. Every single one showed something with wings: drawings of flies, drawings of gnats, drawings of mosquitoes…
And right beside the bed was the biggest drawing of all. It showed a moth in flight, with a red-haired girl on its back. Two adults were holding her lovingly.
“Ah, good. You’re awake.”
Ivy stood behind him, sharpening her daggers.
“Thought you’d be out for a while longer. That crown must have protected your skull.”
She nodded to Luke’s crown, which lay on the floor beside her. It had been severely flattened by the club.
“My crown!” said Luke. “Give it back!”
He tried to grab it…but couldn’t. He was tied to a chair.
“No chance,” said Ivy. “You’re staying right where you are while I put up the rest of these posters.”
Ivy held one up. It was just as beautifully made as the drawings on the wall…but Luke didn’t feel quite so positive about it.
“Like it?” said Ivy. “I wanted to put more decoration round the capitals, really make the letters pop, but I didn’t have enough time.”
Luke squirmed. “No—you have to let me go! I need to find the Red Queen!”
Ivy smiled. “Don’t worry, you’ll see her—right after the first wave of punters. I’ve already sold a hundred tickets!”
She strode out the door. Luke sat up—he had one chance to get the girl’s attention.
“The Greens are going to attack!” he cried. “And when they do, the Reds are done for!”
Ivy stopped and turned round.
“I’m sorry?”
“They defeated the Blue army in seconds,” Luke said. “You don’t stand a chance!”
Ivy snorted. “We Reds are made of stronger stuff than you think. If it comes to war—”
“It might not even come to that,” said Luke. “The Greens attacked the Blues with three dozen warflies and won—there are hundreds more where those came from! There’s only one way to stop the Bin King, and that’s me. Keep me tied up here and the Reds are doomed!”
Ivy looked at him for a moment. She stepped back into the hut, pulled up a box and sat down.
“Tell me everything,” she said.
Luke puffed out his chest. “I won’t tell you a thing until you untie me!”
Ivy picked up her club.
“Tell me everything,” she repeated.
“Of course,” Luke squeaked.
He told her the whole story—how Giant and his friend had first appeared, how Luke had fled and the Greens had attacked, how Giant had offered to help him save the Blues. Ivy listened carefully.
“Everything that fly rider told you was a lie,” Luke explained. “The Giant isn’t Demon, and I don’t control him with magic—the Bin King’s just saying whatever he can to frighten the Reds into surrendering. I swear on my life, Ivy, I’m not lying to you!”
Ivy nodded. “I believe you.”
Luke sighed with relief. “Thank you.”
“You’re not clever enough to lie,” she said. “What I really want to know is this—if the Bin King’s going to attack again, then what difference will it make for you to talk to the Red Queen?”
“We have to reunite the tribes,” said Luke. “Like we were in the beginning, before everyone spread across the desert! It’s the only way to stop the fighting. It won’t be easy, but if the Red Queen and I can meet with the Bin King, then maybe we can both…”
He stopped. Ivy was cackling with laughter.
“What’s so funny?”
“Reunite the tribes?” said Ivy. “Luke, the Bin King’s not going to listen to peace now! And even if you had a whole week, you’d never persuade the Reds to forgive the Blues for what they’ve done to us!”
Luke’s face fell. “What have the Blues ever done to you?”
Ivy stared at him, shocked.
“Luke—look around. The Reds live in complete poverty. We give everything we have to the Greens in exchange for a morsel of rancid food. Did King Adam step in to help us when the Reds were starving to death? No, he just built walls around Blue Castle to keep us out. He’s got blood on his hands—and that means you do, too.”
Luke shifted on the chair. He hadn’t known anything about that. He really wished he’d read more of those library books instead of falling asleep.
“Look,” he said. “I don’t blame you for hating the Blues—I would, too. But I’m not my father. And believe me, I’m not keen to make peace either. You really think I want to shake hands with the Bin King? He destroyed my kingdom and enslaved my people! He tried to have me killed!”
Ivy frowned. “Then why are you doing this?”
Luke sighed. “Because this is about saving the whole Floor. Everyone, even the people we don’t want to. And besides, Giant says we should.”
Ivy raised an eyebrow. “What is it with you and Giant?”
“He listens.” Luke shifted on the chair again. “And ever since he spoke to me, I’ve been thinking about what reuniting the tribes would actually mean. The Bin King wouldn’t control the food anymore. Everything would belong to everyone. There’d be no more fighting, no more starvation…no more kings. Just one Floor, helping each other to survive. Doesn’t that sound like something worth taking a risk for?”
Ivy’s eyes flickered between Luke and her club.
“You really believe that could happen?”
“I do.”
“It’s completely mad.”
“I know.”
Ivy looked at him for some time, her eyes weighing it all. Finally she put down the club.
“Fine, you win. I’ll help you stop the war.”
Luke’s heart filled with relief. “Really? You mean it?”
“Trust me, you need all the help you can get.” She untied him. “But there’s no point looking for the Red Queen. She’s not going to listen to a word you say, and neither is the Bin King. You might have had a chance when everyone thought you controlled two huge monsters, but now that they’re gone, you’re about as scary as my grandmother.”
Luke didn’t know anything about Ivy’s grandmother, but he imagined she was pretty terrifying.
“But there is someone who might listen to you,” said Ivy. “Someone whose opinion people care about. And with him behind you, then who knows…you might just have half a chance!”
“Who?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” said Ivy. “The Wise Man!”
Luke gawped. “The one from the Book of the Floor? Why?”
Ivy gave him a look. “You have read the Book of the Floor, haven’t you?”
“Er…yeah, most of it,” Luke lied.
Ivy walked to the shelves beside the bed and picked out a copy of the Book. It was very different from Luke’s: while his had been made from the finest moth wings and bound with rare curtain fibers, Ivy’s was cheap paper and had been opened and closed so many times that it barely held together.
“Here.” She flipped to a page and handed the book to Luke. “Read that.”