The Radiant War

Chapter 15b

      Malone had stopped listening, though, his heart pounding with excitement. Carrow’s entire army, camped close around Marboll! Well, not their entire army, but the bulk of it. He remembered something the Brigadier had said once, during their journey to Mekrol in search of a cure for the Princess. They'd been sitting around a campfire, the Brigadier had been talking to Sergeant Blane. They'd been talking about the likelihood of another war with Carrow and the Brigadier had said that their best chance would be to lure Carrow’s army into a trap. Something about the way he’d said it had suggested to Malone that he had a very good idea what kind of trap it would be. That's what was happening now, he was suddenly certain? The Brigadier had told Leothan his idea, and the King was putting it into action. Leothan was luring Carrow into a trap!

     Don’t say anything! he thought in near terror. Don't even think it! But if Benjamin cursed him, stripped away some of his humanity, he would eventually lose the ability to know what he should say and what he shouldn't. He would tell Benjamin all about the trap, smiling happily while he did it, no longer capable of knowing what he was doing. Benjamin would tell the Carrowmen and they would avoid the trap. Helberion would be lost. Maybe all human civilisation would be lost, and all because of him. Because of Malone.

     He mustn't curse me, he thought, but the only way to stop him was to give him no reason to. When Benjamin questioned him about the Brigadier, he would have to tell him everything. Try to give the impression that he was completely broken, that he lacked the will to hold anything back. If he did that, maybe he'd be able to hold back this one thing, avoid betraying Helberion completely. So when he starts asking questions, answer them! Answer them fully and completely, and pray to Those Above that Benjamin doesn't figure out what he was doing.

      Benjamin stood and picked up his top hat. “But not today,” he said. “I have an appointment at the opera with a couple of friends and their wives. High ranking guardsmen whom I think I can persuade to press the Emperor for martial law for the duration of this emergency, even despite the more conciliatory attitude he seems to have adopted since the Brigadier's visit. Something else for the poor, oppressed working man to react to.” He stood for a moment, examining the former batman. “When you think of the sheer magnitude of the violence soon to engulf this country... It's quite exhilarating, don't you think? Should make quite a spectacle. I hope I get a chance to see it before the Radiants take me away.”

     “How sure are you that they're going to keep their promise?” asked Malone. “Maybe they’re just using you, like King Nilon, and when they're finished with you they'll just cast you aside like a worn out sock. Do you really think they want a traitorous bastard like you living among them? How will they ever be able to trust you when you betrayed us so easily?”

     He'd been hoping that the aristocrat’s reply would reveal whether King Nilon really was working with the Radiants to help destroy civilisation, or whether the King was just an unwitting stooge. Part of him still held on to the idea that he might somehow be able to escape and carry the information back to Helberion. He was surprised, therefore, so see the man react just a little before he could regain control of himself, as if he’d hit a nerve. He decided to dig a little deeper. “After all,” he ventured, therefore. “You wouldn't be the first to be dropped by the Radiants like a hot potato.”

     Benjamin stared at him, as if trying to decide if there was any way he could know... Something. He looked for a moment as if he might be about to speak, but then he just swept out of the room without a word, leaving the former batman staring after him in wonderment, his head buzzing with possibilities. He knew about something that had happened to another adoptee! Something the Radiants were responsible for, and he was worried that the same thing might happen to him! Malone found himself smiling, and he was still grinning as Dennis and Sid returned to take him back to his cell.