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.Madame Cardui smiled.'Just a story they implanted in Blue's head and yours to distract us fromthe invasion.''None of it really happened?' Henry asked.But Mr Fogarty was right.He was beginning to getlittle flashes now.'I wasn't put in a bedroom with Blue?''No.'400'I didn't kill a demon?'Mr Fogarty snorted.'Thought that was a bit farfetched from the start.'Madame Cardui said kindly, 'I expect you could easily have killed a demon, deeah, but none of itactually happened.Blue didn't kill hers either - she didn't have her stimlus with her.Those wereall false memories.''So I didn't kidnap Blue?''You kidnapped Blue all right,' Mr Fogarty said.'The way it worked was Beleth had youkidnapped and implanted.Then they programmed you to kidnap Blue and implanted her as well.The business about the demons breeding half-human babies is true enough, but it won't work inthe Realm - the DNA is too dissimilar.But they gave you and Blue the same false memories andsent you back as a distraction from their real plans.Cunning little ploy.'It was coming back to him now, exactly as Mr Fogarty said.He could remember the implant andthe creepy, slimy feeling as black-eyed demons in white lab coats carefully layered the falsememories into his brain.He started to feel guilty about the kidnap all over again.Because of him,Blue's brain had been tinkered with as well.The thought of it left him agitated.Actually quite alot agitated.'You have to get that thing removed,' he said.'My deeah, it's already been removed.That's why you lost your memory completely.''Not me,' Henry said urgently.'Blue.You have to take the thing out of her head.''Blue's asleep now,' Madame Cardui told him.'I shall make arrangements to have her implantremoved first401thing in the morning when she's rested.Then Alan can hypnotise her too and restore her propermemories.''No, now!' Henry insisted.He wasn't quite sure why, but it was vital they removed the implant atonce.'Henry, deeah, what's wrong?'He didn't know what was wrong, but he could feel the panic with a vengeance.They couldn'twait until morning because if they waited until morning -He didn't know what would happen if they waited until morning.Something bad would happen,but he didn't know what.Something bad would happen to Blue.Something bad would happen tothe Realm.The panic was so strong now he could no longer sit still.He pushed himself out of thechair.'Henry -' Mr Fogarty said.'Something bad -' Henry began.Then the memories flooded back and he stopped, his eyes wide.'Oh my God!' he said.He launched himself abruptly through the door.'Henry, what's wrong?' Madame Cardui called after him.But Henry was already outside, running full tilt towards the Purple Palace.402One hundred and threeOne of the best things Pyrgus ever did was to appoint Henry a Knight Commander of the GreyDagger.It allowed him to pass freely through the Purple Palace and often earned him salutesfrom guards.He crashed down the corridor of the imperial quarters and gasped breathlessly, 'I must see QueenBlue at once!'The guards saluted to a man, but their Captain said apologetically, 'Afraid she's not in her rooms,sir.''Where is she?' He had a horrified feeling he already knew the answer.'Couldn't say, sir.She refused an escort.''When did she leave her quarters?''Little while ago.'It had to be! It had to be! 'How was she dressed?'The Captain blinked.'Dressed, sir?''Dressed, man - dressed!' Henry shouted into his face.'What was she wearing?'The Captain looked at him in bewilderment.'Nice-looking gown, sir.Like she was off to a party.Not the sort of thing she usually wears.'Dear God, he was too late! He'd remembered too late!The Captain frowned.'Is something wrong, sir? Sir -'403But Henry was already racing back down the corridor.How could this have happened? Howcould he have let this happen? Why hadn't he remembered sooner? Blue could be lost by now -lost for ever.And it was all his fault!Savagely, Henry pushed the guilt and self-pity out of his mind.There might still be time.But heneeded a clear head.If he managed to catch up with her in time, he could stop the whole disaster,even if he had to force her.He'd kidnapped her before.He could do it again.Once they got theimplant out, she'd be fine.And she'd understand.He was moving by instinct now, twisting and turning through palace passageways he'd neverseen before.Except it wasn't really instinct, however it felt.He knew he had to be following thememory of the instructions the demons had planted in his head [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]