e had great plumes of wild red hair shimmering with what looked like spun gold, and eyes of brightest green and blue, with flecks of burning violet right at their centres. He was a strange mix, with a kind fatherly look about him and thick untameable eyebrows that gave him an almost severe expression, all framed round a long hooked nose. His clothes were all in red and from another era entirely, though completely untouched by age. He looked like a rich courtier in braiding and sequins, luscious silks and scarves. But beneath it all was mischief, as clear and as bright as day. He bowed dramatically again, waving a small lace handkerchief as he did so, and eyed Mr Fox’s party of three carefully.
“An honour, sirs and lady.”
Ned watched as the odd creature sniffed at the air inquisitively and his eyes narrowed to the ground by Ned’s feet.
“A familiar? Welcome, little cousin.”
There was an oozing and apprehensive “Arr”, as Gorrn shrank further into Ned’s shadow till there was very little of him left at all.
Behind Lemnus’s smile and theatrical gesturing, Ned sensed a power that frightened him. A bolt of lightning was only a thing of wonder so long as it didn’t strike you.
“Mr Gemfeather, I am Mr Fox. My associates here are—”
“Call me Lemnus, please,” cut in the fairy. “I like your name, I do, I like it very much. Fox in name and nature indeed. Quite so, quite so, though of course your usefulness remains to be seen.”
From the twitch of Mr Fox’s eye, Ned guessed he didn’t know what to make of the man, but decades of training took over and he simply smiled politely.
Lemnus turned to Ned next and stared into his eyes till he was close enough to touch. His expression changed for a moment, all the pomp and show quite drained out of him.
“The Engineer. It’s true then: quite ordinary to look at, yet extraordinary to behold.”
Ned wasn’t sure whether the creature was being kind or rude, but either way, far more pressing matters were on his mind.
“Lemnus, my parents and Benissimo – are they safe?”
“Undeniably, dear child, sleeping like babes in a wood.”
“Why? Why were they taken prisoner? They only came to ask for help.”
Lemnus’s features grew dark and he spoke in hushed tones. “To even know of the Heart Stone’s existence and not to be one of the Fey is a heinous crime in our realm. The greatest of crimes … But to ask to have it? For use in battle?! Only a fool or madman would request such a thing! Prince Aurelin did not take kindly to it.”
Ned suddenly found himself stricken with worry. Were his parents really safe? He’d met Prince Aurelin and as far as Ned could tell, the creature was devoid of any compassion, at least for those who weren’t from his realm.
The fairy’s eyes warmed and his face softened to a grandfatherly glow.
“Fear not, boy. I have seen them and they are well.”
Ned could feel his entire body physically unwind, and with that Lemnus turned his attentions to Lucy, who gave him a piercing look. The fairy stiffened, before his face broke into an uncontainable smile.
“Pretty and true,” he mumbled. “A firecracker, a spark of a thing you are, you are! A spark of a thing you are!”
Despite being relieved that his parents were safe, Ned couldn’t help wishing that the creature had seen some kind of spark in him. Was he disappointed in Ned? Had he picked up on the truth that the dragon had missed?
“Come along, my brave knights, let us enter the fray!” said Lemnus excitedly before turning away from them all and approaching a door at the end of the alley. Ned could have sworn it wasn’t there a moment ago.
“Ahem, Mr Gemfeather—” began Mr Fox.
“Lemnus, please,” said the red-haired fairy, looking back.
“Mr Gemfeather will do for now,” replied Mr Fox, and he reached to his side and placed his hand on a carefully concealed pistol. “These children are under my protection. I have somewhere in the region of three hundred operatives patrolling the street beyond this alley. Live satellite uplinks, radio and, well, a lot of eyes with which to watch – we’re not going anywhere unless Lucy tells me that she likes you.”
Lemnus turned to Lucy, raised both eyebrows and waited for her verdict.
Lucy’s mind was already somewhere else and, for an unbearable minute, no one said anything. Finally, she came out of her trance and smiled.
“Well, Lucy?” asked Mr Fox, eyeing the fairy threateningly, hand firm on his pistol. And not for the first time, Ned saw that the man’s words held true: he would do anything to keep them safe.
“Well, I’ve never ‘seen’ anything like it. But then I’ve never tried reading the Fey. His brain’s like a box full of frogs. It’s noisy, jumpy, and it feels like it could tear open at any minute. But …”
Ned held his breath.
“Deep down inside, at his core, he’s kind of … funny.”
Mr Fox pursed his lips and frowned. He looked to Lucy, then to Ned, and finally back to Lemnus.
“Funny?”
“Funny peculiar, and just plain old fun, I think – at least he seems to be,” said Lucy rather brightly. “And bad people, truly bad people, are rarely any fun.”
Mr Fox chuckled – actually chuckled – before whistling softly, in less of a tune and more of a “think”.
“Ned, Lucy, we appear to be at a crossroads,” he said. “Your parents are prisoners, Ned, and Benissimo, the only man who knows who all our allies are, or how to contact them, is with them. As if that weren’t enough, the one weapon we hope will be capable of bringing down the Darkening King is also with them. If Mr Gemfeather can be trusted, we have a chance, albeit a statistically minute one, of walking away from this alive with what we want. If we don’t, the entire planet will perish. Do we follow on the basis that this man is ‘fun’ or don’t we?”
Ned didn’t need to be asked. Lucy was all right with him and Lemnus knew where his parents were being held. Nothing else mattered.
He and his friend spoke as one. “We do.”
Mr Fox nodded. “Right then, Mr Gemfeather. Please lead the way, but do so knowing that if you try anything, anything at all, there is a giant ape not far from here that will make finding you and causing you pain his life’s work.”
“Quite so,” smiled Lemnus and waved a hand.
The door in front of him opened.
The party of three could not have been less prepared. They looked through its arch and one by one their mouths fell open.