“Hey,” said Valkyrie, and before she knew what she was doing she was halfway across the road.
“Please!” the woman cried. “Please help me!”
The man cursed her, raised a hand to hit her and Valkyrie clicked her fingers. The fireball flared and the man recoiled, turned and ran. She let the flames go out, fully aware that the street had practically emptied and that her reflection was shaking its head. The woman was on her knees, and she clutched Valkyrie’s leg.
“Please help me.”
“Here,” Valkyrie said, “stand up. Stop crying. What’s wrong?”
The woman allowed herself to be pulled up, but she transferred her hold from Valkyrie’s leg to her wrist. “Please. My son. They took my son.”
“What happened?”
“He was talking with his friends, just talking. It wasn’t anything more than that. There was nothing about the Resistance or about fighting, it was just... He didn’t mean anything by it. He wasn’t complaining. But the Sense-Wardens came out of nowhere, and before he could explain himself they arrested him.”
Valkyrie went cold. “Sense-Wardens patrol out here?”
“They patrol everywhere,” said the woman. “They arrested him. Just him, not any of his friends. It’s all a mistake. He would never have had anti-Mevolent thoughts. Please. Please, if you could talk to them, make them understand that my son isn’t a threat...”
“I’m sorry, I can’t talk to anyone. I don’t know them.”
“But you’re a sorcerer, aren’t you? You’re...” The woman’s eyes widened. “You’re part of the Resistance.”
“I’m not part of anything.”
The woman tightened her hold. “Could you help him? Could you rescue him?”
“I can’t,” said Valkyrie. “Sorry. I’m not even from here.”
“They have my son. Please. They might execute him. You have to help me. Nobody else will.”
“If they’ve brought him beyond the wall, then there’s nothing I can do.”
“But they haven’t,” the woman said. “The Barge doesn’t return to the Palace for another three hours.”
Stay out of trouble, Ravel had said, and it had seemed so easy at the time.
“The Barge,” Valkyrie said. “Where is it?”
“It leaves here in a few minutes, then joins the other Barges and they all return to the City. Please. There isn’t much time.”
Valkyrie sighed. “Wait here.”
“Please don’t leave me!”
“I’m going to talk to my sister, OK? Just stay here for a moment.”
She pulled her wrist free, and hurried over to the reflection, which stood in the shade with its head down.
“I’m going to see if I can help this woman,” she said.
“Skulduggery told you—”
“I know what he told me. I want you to follow. Wherever I go and whatever I do, you follow. You don’t interfere unless it looks like I’m about to be killed or something.”
“I thought we were supposed to stay within reach.”
“Plans change.”
The reflection looked up. “I really don’t want to be left here alone if you return without me.”
Valkyrie hesitated. “I know. Listen to me, if that happens, go back to Haggard, where we arrived. I’ll come back for you.”
The reflection nodded, then said, “Please don’t get killed.”
Valkyrie gave it a shaky grin. “No promises.”
Valkyrie allowed the woman to guide her to a field that ran along the outskirts of town. Parked in this field was a vessel roughly the size of a jumbo jet. In fact, if someone had taken a jumbo jet made of black metal, torn the wings off, flattened it till the cylinder shape became rectangular, then that’s what the Barge looked like. Minus wheels or windows or any obvious way in.
“You seriously want me to break into that thing?”
“Can you do it?”
“I don’t see how. I don’t even know how it works. Where does it open? Where’s the door?”
The woman looked at her. “You’ve really never seen a Barge before? Where are you from?”
“Not here.”
The woman bit her lip, then nodded. “I can show you the door. When it starts to leave, if we hurry, we can get to it without being seen.”
“No, you should stay out of sight.”
“You won’t find it without me. I can be quick when I need to be.” The woman picked up a rock. “And if the Redhoods come, I’ll fight them with you.”
“We don’t fight Redhoods if we can help it,” said Valkyrie. “If you see them, you run, OK? Leave any fighting to me.”
The woman nodded, but didn’t drop the rock.
They ducked down as a small squad of Redhoods returned to the field. They disappeared round the other side of the Barge, and a few minutes later, a massive engine started rumbling.
“Get ready,” said the woman.
The Barge shook a little, then slowly lifted up off the ground.
“It flies?” Valkyrie said. “You didn’t tell me it flies!”
“Come on,” said the woman, hurrying out from cover into the wide-open space of the field. Against every instinct she possessed, Valkyrie followed. They passed into the shadow of the Barge, and when they were directly underneath, the woman stopped and pointed.
“See? Right there. See that hatch?”
Valkyrie frowned. The underside of the Barge was completely flat, with nothing to hang on to should she propel herself upwards. “That’s the only door? There isn’t one on top?”
“That’s the only one I know of.”
“Then we’re in trouble,” said Valkyrie. “I can probably get up there, but I’ve got no way of opening—”
The woman swung and the rock cracked against Valkyrie’s skull. She wasn’t even aware of her body falling. She just lay on her back, her thoughts congealing into something slow and thick as she watched the hatch open, high above. A hovering platform lowered itself to the ground, and a man stepped off. He was familiar, but Valkyrie’s muddled thoughts couldn’t place him. He was tall and broad-shouldered. Grey hair. A strong jawline. The woman spoke to him, her hands clasped like she was begging. The man didn’t even look at her. His eyes were on Valkyrie, as her mind struggled towards clarity.
“—brought her to you,” said the woman. “Let my son go. Please. He made a mistake. He’ll never do it again. Take her instead. I know you’ve been looking for her.”
“Your son will be questioned,” the man said. He had a deep voice, rich with authority. “If he has committed no serious crime, he’ll be returned to you as a reward for your service.”
The woman broke down crying. “Thank you, oh, thank you. When will he be released?”
But the man had wasted enough time on this mortal woman, and instead stood over Valkyrie, shackles in hand. Using his