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Nora hurries off to tell the staff about King Lloyd’s command to leave. While she’s gone, we help the elderly king prepare for his departure.
“Will my suit find favour in the Born?” he asks as we enter a huge walk-in wardrobe.
“I think so,” I tell him, though I don’t know much about fashion.
He heads to a shelved area lined with shoes and boots. He casts an eye over them, then says, “Master Lox, could you suggest a pair?”
I randomly choose a pair of black brogues.
“An excellent choice,” the king says, and sits down to kick off his slippers and pull on socks.
“They’re impressive,” Inez says, nodding at the clothes on the racks. “It’s rare to find clothing that looks so much like what people wear in the Born.”
“Why don’t you import their clothes?” I ask.
Inez looks at me with surprise. “They don’t last.”
“What do you mean?”
“Anything from the Born breaks down into dust within hours.”
“No it doesn’t.” I pinch the arm of my school uniform. “I’d be naked if that was the case.”
“Clothes last while you’re wearing them,” Inez says, “but they unravel when you discard them.”
“How do I look?” King Lloyd asks, standing to test his shoes.
“Like a successful businessman,” Inez says.
“They feel tight after the slippers,” he grumbles, then putters round the room, pulling at old suits and admiring clothes he hasn’t worn in a very long time.
“What will he do there?” I whisper, watching as he tries on a hat.
“Live,” Inez says simply.
“And when he dies, this realm will fall?”
“Yes, but at least, with his order to evacuate, there won’t be many caught when it does.”
“I’m not sure Cal will leave,” I say. “He won’t want to desert his statues.”
As if that acts as a summons, the huge guard comes striding through the open doors of the walk-in wardrobe. Nora is hurrying along behind him, trying to pull him back.
“Your highness!” Cal bellows. “King Lloyd!”
The king looks up, blinking with surprise. “Yes, my good man?” he quavers. Then he smiles. “I remember that moustache. Cal Riser, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Cal says, stopping in front of the king and bowing his head. “Nora says you’re returning to the Born and have told us all to leave.”
“That’s right,” the king says.
Cal looks affronted. “What about the statues? I’ve been guarding them for you.”
“I appreciate that,” King Lloyd says, “but when Diamond falls, the statues will vanish with it. If stray wanderers wish to make off with them before that happens, all the better. It would be nice if some of them survived.”
Cal pulls at his thick ginger moustache, clearly distressed. “But what will I do? I need something to keep me distracted. I don’t want to just wander the realms.” He squeezes his massive fingers together, looking at his king with a pained expression.
King Lloyd studies Cal thoughtfully. “Have you been happy as a guard?”
Cal nods vigorously.
“Then resume those duties elsewhere,” the king says. “Find someone worthy of your support, and tell them I most highly recommended you.” He slips off a ring. It features a tiny engraving of a gargoyle’s face. “This recorder refreshes itself every ten minutes, deletes what’s there and starts recording again.” He breathes on the ring, then taps it three times. “Now it will record no more. Tap it three times when you deliver it, and it will play back everything I’ve said over the last few minutes.”
“Thank you,” Cal croaks as he takes the ring. “But I know nothing of the other realms. I’m worried I’ll misplace my trust.”
Inez clears her throat and says, “I’m bound for Sapphire. Have you heard about its troubles?” The men and Nora shake their heads. “Well, I won’t go into that, but there’s a princess who needs all the help she can get. She’d be worthy of your loyalty. If you don’t mind a few detours, you can accompany me and I’ll make an introduction when the time is right.”
“There,” King Lloyd beams. “How does that sound?”
“Promising,” Cal says shyly. “But what can I do for you in return?” he asks Inez.
“You can be my bodyguard along the way,” Inez says, then raises a finger. “But certain enemies are hounding me and you might be called upon to fight if they catch up.”
“These hounds,” Cal growls. “Are they SubMerged?”
“Yes.”
“Then fighting won’t be a problem,” he says with fiery gusto.
“Splendid,” King Lloyd booms. “Nora, have you told the others that their time here is up?”
“The word is spreading even as we speak,” Nora replies.
“In that case...”
The king leads us back into the room of gargoyles. He makes his way to a corner, moving faster now. When we get to the corner we find a throne tucked under a sheet.
“Move that into the middle of the room,” the king tells Cal, then whispers to me and Inez, “I hate that throne. So uncomfortable.” When the throne’s in position, King Lloyd tells Nora to remove the sheet. He scowls at the revealed throne, as if greeting an old foe, then tells Cal to pick up a gargoyle and set it on the seat.
“How’s that?” Cal asks, making sure the gargoyle is secure.
“Fine,” King Lloyd says, shuffling forward to face the gargoyle directly. He presses his palms against the gargoyle’s ears, then puts a thumb to its lips.
“He’s setting it to record a message,” Inez says, “so if anyone comes before the realm falls, they’ll be able to play it back and find out what has happened to the king and his people.”
King Lloyd thinks hard, the rest of us silent, appreciating the solemnity of the moment, the dying lord of a realm leaving his farewell message. I wouldn’t know what to say in such a situation. Something grand and memorable, I suppose.
Then, with a snort, he taps the gargoyle’s head and says bluntly, “King Lloyd has left the building!”