Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle

Gil spoke equally softly. “They give me lip, but they’re loyal.”

Zola looked back again. “I don’t know…that green-haired girl seems…possessive.” She regarded Gil coyly. “You and she aren’t—?”

“No!” Gil didn’t have to pretend to find the idea disturbing. “Absolutely not. I’m keeping things professional.”

Zola smiled at him a touch wistfully and gently patted his cheek.

“Oh Gil, you never change.” The look she gave Zeetha had a touch of sympathy to it. “And I’ll bet you’re just as clueless.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” She raised her voice. “Monsieur Zero?” One of her assistants raised his head. “Please allow us a bit of discretionary space?”

The tall man nodded and brought the rest of the group to a halt while Gil and Zola moved forward a few paces, then allowed them to move again.

“Everything is all very hush-hush, you know,” Zola confided.

“You mean that this is information you don’t want getting back to the Baron.” Gil looked skeptical. “Which is foolish. It’s going to get back eventually, and if it’s that fragile…”

“If I can convince you, would you consider joining me?”

Gil was silent for a few moments. “Maybe.” He raised an admonitory finger. “But I’ll take a great deal of convincing. I like living here.”

Zola nodded. “I trust your judgment. Gil.” She collected her thoughts. “I’m the Heterodyne…”

Gil started a mental list: Flaw Number One.

“And I’m allied with…the Storm King!” When this had no obvious effect upon Gil, she continued. “A direct descendent of Andronicus Valois!”

Gil prepared to throw his list away. “Zola, if the stories about Andronicus are true,⁶⁶ half of Europa…”

“One that the Fifty Families will recognize.”

Gil nodded. “Because he’ll restore their full royal power, no doubt.”

“Of course! The restoration of their traditional rights—”

Gil made a show of losing patience. “Please. They’re fit to rule because their great-grandfathers chopped off more heads than anyone else did?”

“Oh? And how is the Baron any different?”

“Well…for starters, he doesn’t chop off a lot of heads.”

Zola rolled her eyes. “Ha, ha. But what happens when he dies?”

This was unexpected. “Um…”

“His son takes over. So tell me how that’s any different from the Fifty Families, Mister High and Mighty?”

Gil waved his hands. “Wait—this is about the Baron’s son?”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t heard about him?”

“I know he’s got the same first name as me, which has made things awkward once or twice… But other than that? Not much, no.”

Zola shook her head. “Where have you been? Yes, the Baron has a son. He’s kept him hidden away and no one knows who the mother is. The Baron has said that he’ll hand him the Empire when he dies. So what do you think will happen then?”

Gil thought about this. “I don’t know. What do people say will happen?”

“It could be the reign of a Neo Caligula!”

Gil frowned. “Oh, come on. Surely it couldn’t be that bad?”

Zola shrugged. “Well that’s the point. No one knows. He’s an enigma. He was revealed four months ago—and then nothing until Beetleburg.”

“Beetleburg?”

“Surely you heard about that. The tyrant of Beetleburg was messing around with a Hive Engine, so the Baron shut him down. Well, this Gilgamesh was there, and by all accounts, he was a complete lunatic. According to witnesses, he killed Beetle by throwing a bomb at him, and Klaus had to chase him down through the streets of the town with clanks and Jägermonsters no less. They say he was practically chewing the furniture.”

Gil listened to this with growing horror. This was an understandable interpretation of that day’s events. “No,” he admitted. “That doesn’t sound good.”

Zola nodded triumphantly, “And the Baron’s had him locked away on board Castle Wulfenbach ever since.”

Gil looked at her bleakly. “There’s got to be more to it than that.”

Zola shrugged. “Perhaps, but that’s what people have seen and heard. The Baron has never cared excessively what people thought about him; he was so powerful that he could just ignore them. That might have worked if he had heirs that were more like him, or even better, no heirs at all. But now that people think that the Empire is going to be given to a crazy person…”

“All right! I see your point.” Gil thought quickly. “So, this plan of yours… Let’s see if I can work out the basics. We have a Heterodyne girl…”

Zola preened. “That’s me!”

“And then…a Storm King shows up.” He smacked his head. “The old prophecy! Sure! They get married! Peace and free beer for everybody.”

Zola clapped her hands. “Oh, I knew you’d see it! You were always so smart.”

Gil didn’t feel particularly smart at the moment. “But… You can’t really think the Baron will allow you to just waltz in and do this?”