he River Liffey flowed right through the centre of Dublin. Red-brick and brightly painted buildings lined its edges, and so did the undercover operatives placed there by Mr Fox. Beyond the river was a city teeming with busy Dubliners marching to work. Ned might have enjoyed taking it in – the cobblestones, the old parts, the new – but today, like every day stretching back for months, he was a ghost of sorts. Buildings, places of interest, whole cities had lost their meaning in the wake of the Darkening King. They were now just facades hiding older truths – tinpot men with living souls, or here and now, somewhere beneath their feet, a Seelie Court that held both Benissimo and his parents.
To an untrained eye, it might have been hard to spot, but Ned could see plain-clothed BBB operatives everywhere. In the coffee shops, begging on the streets, reading papers, or simply ambling down the road by the Liffey, Mr Fox’s agents watched and waited. Not long ago they had been looking for Ned. Now they were trying to help him, or at least keep him safe enough for long enough to carry out his mission.
George had bellowed at having to go on to the Nest and neither Ned nor Lucy relished the idea of their mission without him. But Mr Fox’s contact had been clear: he would only see the Engineer and the Medic.
“While you’re in there, keep your wits about you, old bean, and if you can’t keep yours – hang on to Lucy’s.”
Lucy had had to prise the gorilla’s fingers from Ned’s back and they were quite sure that they heard a stifled sob as the Chinook’s blades spun for the next leg of its flight. Mr Fox led the way while his seemingly mute number two, Mr Badger, covered their rear. Ned made sure he was a good distance away from either of them so that he could talk to Lucy in private.
“Do you think George is all right, Lucy?”
“I don’t think anyone’s all right, Ned. You’ve been gone a long time and I know it’s been bad for you, but George and I – we’ve seen the other side. The Hidden are divided and terrified and no one knows who to trust or what they should do. We all know what’s coming and I think protecting us, in George’s own sweet way, is the best thing he can think of to make sense of it all. We’re his family, Ned – you, me and the troupe.”
“Dear old George.”
“Don’t worry, he’s as strong as he is soft,” said Lucy. “It’s you I’m worried about.”
Ned sighed. “It was close back there, like, really close. I tried to fire it and—”
“And it fizzled. Till you saw the Guardian grab George’s throat.”
“Lucy?”
“Yes?”
“Stop doing that.”
“Stop doing what?”
“Stop reading my mind and finishing my sentences. It’s really annoying.”
“Sorry.”
Lucy blushed very slightly, though there was a mischievous sparkle in her eye that suggested she only “might” stop.
“We could have all been killed. What if the Fey put up a fight? How am I supposed to help get us all out of there if my ring won’t even listen to me?”
“You’ve got me and Mr Fox too, remember. He might be just a josser, but he’s good at what he does and I trust him. If this Lemnus character is true to his word, we’ll get your parents and Benissimo and the Heart Stone out before anyone notices.”
Ned’s heart sank even further. “And what if we are successful … If I can’t rely on my powers then how am I supposed to even use this Heart Stone when we get it?”
Lucy’s face soured. Ned hated it when it did that, because even though he wasn’t a mind reader, he knew enough to know that it usually meant an outburst was coming. Lucy bit her lip and checked that Mr Fox wasn’t listening.
“You really are the most self-centred boy I have ever met.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, Ned!” And at this point, her proud, pretty blue eyes seemed to blaze. “You don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?”
“You’re not supposed to do anything – we are.”
“But Tiamat …”
Lucy was in no mood for “buts”.
“You met an old dragon, a really really powerful old dragon, but that doesn’t mean he knows everything, does it? Sure, he knows about the Heart Stone – it was his, after all. But he didn’t know you were having trouble, did he?”
“No,” said Ned a little sheepishly.
“Well, I did, before I even saw you, Ned. We’re linked and that link can’t be broken. You and I are in this together because of our gifts, because of our rings, and our rings will end this together. Just as soon as you work out how to use yours again.”
And at last, Lucy smiled.
“Well, whatever I have to work out, it needs to happen quickly. I can’t wait for everyone to nearly die every time I need to use it!”
“I should hope not! Something’s holding you back, Ned. We just need to figure out what it is.”
“What about his voice, Lucy – why haven’t we heard it?”
Lucy stopped walking.
“The Darkening King is rebuilding his strength, that’s all. Trust me, when we get close, if we ever get close, we’ll do more than hear him.”
Up ahead Mr Fox stopped and signalled for Mr Badger to wait. Mr Badger nodded and then placed himself by a shop window, blending in, Ned thought, with as much subtlety as a pillar in a pond.
Mr Fox led them on, down a narrow alley where a fairy was waiting for them. The strange creature bowed and as his lips parted, Ned could have sworn he heard distant bells as old as churches along with the smell of blackberries and sage.
“Lemnus Gemfeather, at your service.”