s they approached Benissimo and Mr Fox, the enormous figure of Mavis came into view, a set of freshly brewed teapots at her fingers. Scurrying through her legs were the other Mavii doppelgängers and there was a fast-growing queue of folk falling in line for her teas.
“Ha-har!” she roared, her giant pearl necklace swinging about her neck like a mace. “Come on, you lot, try my Fight-tea – it’ll put hairs on your chests, all right!”
There was a tap on Ned’s shoulder. He turned round to find one of the Mavii standing behind him, with a tray of china and cucumber sandwiches.
“I told you, didn’t I? You’ve more friends than you know!” she smiled.
“Number Six?”
“At your service. And we’ve brought more than tea. Half our patrons have answered the call, or at least they did when Mavis told them to, and you won’t find a tougher bunch from here to Timbuktu.”
As far as the eye could see, there were tents and makeshift housing spilling out away from the forest with hundreds more popping up by the minute. Coming out of one of the larger tents, Ned saw the distinctive sight of Longhorn’s Rodeo, one of the Twelve’s most gifted circuses, and beside them the Jade Dragons from China.
“Bene, I thought Longhorn was with the Twelve?!”
“The Twelve are finished, pup – as of last night. My brother’s smart, cunning even, but he didn’t think things through. After his attacks, there was a backlash. St Albertsburg was the last straw, and it didn’t take the fair-folk long to realise that Fife must be working for my brother. Six of the Twelve’s circuses have already joined, with more on the way.”
But as he said it, Ned noticed that Benissimo was not his usual self. There was a something behind his eyes, and when he saw Ned staring he looked away.
Mr Fox reached into his breast pocket for his packet of soft mints. “It’s been a logistical nightmare. We’ve had to tell the press that there’s been a system crash at every major airport. The entire continent’s airspace has been shut down to let this lot in.”
Benissimo clapped Mr Fox on the back. “Do you know, Mr Fox, I have no idea what anything you’ve just said means, but I’m beginning to rather like you.”
But there was a tremor to the Ringmaster’s voice, despite his attempt at bravado.
A sudden cheer rose up from the staging grounds. Ever competitive, Longhorn’s Rodeo had challenged the Jade Dragons to a race, and a stream of horse-riding circus folk had darted towards the trees that barred their way to Barbarossa’s fortress, to see who could get there first. Ten horsemen galloped ahead, the Longhorns like thieving rustlers from an old western in red, white and blue; the Jade Dragons with flowing green scarves about their heads. The fair-folk laughed even as their tents were flattened and their cauldrons knocked from their fires. Two of the best riders jumped their horses over a pile of supply crates and careered ahead and into the lead, and the crowd cheered them on. The Hidden weren’t hiding any more, no matter how deep the forest or how deadly Barba’s minions. Every one of the assembled had stopped what they were doing to watch, cheering at the riders’ bravery as they bolted for the forest.
For a second, Ned saw, or at least thought he saw, something move in its wooded darkness, but a blink later and it was still again.
Horns were blown and drums beaten and a mighty cheer erupted from the entire crowd. The horsemen were almost there now, speeding closer and closer, moments from the forest’s edge.
And that was when both Ned and Lucy heard it.
“YeSsSs.”
“NO!” screamed Lucy. “Turn back!”
But her voice was a single raindrop in a deluge of others, and as the winning riders stopped triumphantly by the forest’s edge, its branches reached out to ensnare them, great knotted sinews of slick, sickened wood erupting from the trees. What had been a great rousing cheer from the crowd turned to a choral scream. The poor brave men on their mounts could only look back in terror as they were clutched in the forest’s embrace, vines about their arms and necks. In a heartbeat, every rider and horse was no more, swallowed whole by the forest and the master that it served.
All along the wall of trees, a thousand thousand Darkling eyes blinked open and bright, as if the forest had been lit up with stars.
The voice of the Darkening King boomed across the taiga, till the earth shook and every man, woman and beast heard its call.
“ComMeEe.”