Hunting For The Sun

CHAPTER FORTY NINE

'Well, frankly I'm not too happy, but I see that it would be hard to win them all over.'

'Well, yeah. I think she did a great job considering how long it's taken her to get this far.'

'Half is still more than nothing, sir.'

'Well, we'll certainly stick around; we know that she knows what she's doing. We have to trust her.'

'What about Salime?'

'She'll need to talk to him.'

'Yeah, so we'll need to get into London for her. There's no way he's going to say "Sure, come around and we'll have canapés!" is there?'

'We'd have to sneak her in. It's a bloody complicated system, so we'd need someone on the inside.'

'Does anyone know someone in London who might be able to help?'

'I know some people in there, but they're not exactly influential.'

'Who's that, Seth? Lysander's lot?'

'Yes sir. I could contact Lysander and arrange for Rae and her ... escort to stay with him inside the City, but I can't get them in there.'

'I can.'

'Mr Malfoy?'

'Yes, Mr Kelwaedd; that is my name. I can get someone to let Rae into the City.'

'Who's that?'

'I'm not feeling generous enough to tell you.'

'Oh that's hardly the spirit! We're on the same side!'

'Oh calm down, Rhodry. He's helping us and that's all that matters.'

'Draco, nose out.'

'I was defending you, father.'

'It doesn't matter that you won't tell me who this contact is, I suppose. How quickly can you get in touch with him or her?'

'As quickly as it suits me, Rhodry.'

'Lucius!'

'Father!'

'Sir!'

'Oh shut up all of you. I'll talk to my friend the moment I leave this meeting.'

'General Seth, could you please escort Mr Malfoy to a Floo booth?'

'Yes, sir.'

I sat listening intently as the words washed around my skull like a mini waterfall. My father, my future husband, his father and my father's favourite general, Seth, had been chatting away all morning. Seth and Lucius left the room quietly and Draco's chair creaked as he leaned back, crossing his ankles on the boardroom table. I glanced up with a smirk to see the pained look on father's face as he looked at the mud-caked soles of Draco's boots resting on the ash table.

'Rae? Did you catch all that?' Rhodry said, desperate to retain some sense of authority.

'Yeah.'

'Tell me what was said.' He leaned forward intently as Draco grinned languidly, linking his fingers behind his head, the light slanting into his eyes making them look like quartz.

'Draco said that I'm not going for canapés with Salime. Seth said I'm going to stay with Lysander. Lucius took the piss out of you and Draco told you off.'

Rhodry took a deep breath through long, flaring nostrils.

'What was the point of this discussion?'

'Is Lysander cute?'

'What was the point of this discussion?' Rhodry hissed, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

'That I'm back on my feet again,' I snarled. 'Back out saving the world.'

'By doing what?'

'This is like you trying to teach me my spellings before you ran out on me,' I said coldly, deliberately filling my glass-green eyes with malice and glaring at him.

The crows' feet around his eyes tightened as he scowled furiously. 'By doing what?'

'By opening the door and walking out whilst telling me to stay put,' I clarified loudly.

'You are saving the world by doing WHAT?'

'Talking to some crackpot dictator in the Ministry who has the job you long for. Wouldn't it be such a kick to walk out on an entire country instead of just your seven-year-old daughter?' I could feel boiling liquid scorching my lungs and my muscles trembled with the will to stand up and hit him. Why did he never listen? Why couldn't he trust me, even now? 'Feel the rush of forcing me to do your bidding with threats and kicks and punches and then steal the throne from out under my worthy backside. Go on, close your eyes and imagine how wonderful that would feel. Steal something away from me again. Hey, why not kill Draco, or Raven, or Skye, or any of them, and steal the people I love too? Hell, you had no problem before when you KILLED MY MOTHER.'

I stood up and hooked my hands under the table. Draco wisely took his feet off the desk and stood up as I gave a huge heave and upturned my father's precious ash boardroom table then stormed out and slammed the door.

I continued to storm until I reached the empty courtyard, where I sat on a bench and burst into tears. I felt Draco's arms around me and buried my face in the solid muscle of his shoulder.

'There, there. Don't worry about your father. He's a bastard, and once we're married you won't have to use his name anymore. You can disown him.'

'I always looked up to him but I n-n-never liked him,' I sobbed, taking huge gasping breaths. 'He's always treated me like a toy that he can update every now and again, and when I stop working he can give me a good kick or bang me against the desk and I'll buzz back into life again but I'm not taking it anymore! I'm not his bloody executive toy.' I gasped for breath for a minute, shuddering with the effort. 'He thinks that no matter what he does he'll always have me there to bully and shout at and blame for my mother's death. It w-was him! I've seen her and if it wasn't for him going and getting stuck she wouldn't have come to find me and then she wouldn't have been killed when I was caught by your l-lot.'

'My father had always been the same as yours,' Draco said, once he was sure that I'd finished. 'He decided that I would simply be a prize to show to his friends. Since he vanished, I guess things changed. Don't worry about it. He's fine now and once it's hit home for Rhodry how much you mean to him it'll all sort out for you too. Rhodry has thought you were dead for years, so I guess it's his way of checking that you're still here and you're still his little girl. He'll get over it.'

I nodded unable to speak with my throat so tight with tears of anger.

'Let's get you back to our rooms so you can calm down until my father's contact comes through and we can get you into the city, okay?'

'As long as you stay with me,' I mumbled, fingering my ring.

'I wouldn't dream of going anywhere else.'

~~

'Draco, Rae.'

I got up and crossed the room to answer the door.

'Hey Lucius,' I yawned, stepping aside. 'What time is it?'

'Six thirty in the morning almost precisely.'

I gaped and yawned by accident. How did his long blond hair get so perfect and in-place at this time of morning? Hell, this was almost night time!

'And may I ask why you're a-knocking at our door at this unearthly hour?' I enquired sleepily.

Draco was still asleep, the covers wrapped around his waist and his back to us. I lifted a leg and prodded him in the shoulder with my toe from where I stood.

'Buggroff.'

'Well that answers that, then,' I laughed.

'I spoke to my friend in a high place yesterday and arranged to meet him at seven thirty this morning. All of your entourage are welcome. General Seth is coming with you to take you to his friend Lysander once you get inside. I think that's your entire prophetic posse.'

I laughed. 'Yes, sir.'

He smiled with an air of superiority. 'I look forward to having you in our family. You'll fit in very well.'

I flushed with pleasure. 'Thank you.'

'Meet me at the gate at seven. Everyone else should be there too by about seven fifteen, allowing for a bit of lateness. After that, you're into the City and there's very little turning back.'

'Thanks for arranging this.'

'No problem.'

He saluted me ironically and turned to walk out. I shut the door behind him and turned to Draco.

'Are you going to get up or do I have to make you?' I asked, putting my hands on my hips.

'Are you going to beat me like you did the last time?' he asked in a muffled voice, not rolling over.

'I can think of something much more unpleasant,' I laughed, stroking a nail up the middle of his spine. 'I need you to come with me. Get up and we're going to London.'

He struggled out of bed and wandered over to the wardrobe, stark naked. I grinned and reached around him to pull the curtains to.

Draco raised an eyebrow at me.

'I didn't think we had time for hanky-panky,' he said lightly.

'The window opens onto a street,' I said reasonably. 'We're only a few floors up, so they could still see you.'

'I don't mind...'

'I do. You're mine now.'

'Fine,' he grinned, pulling a T-shirt over his head. 'Get dressed, darling. Chop chop.'

I head-butted him insincerely, pulling my leather trousers on and belting them up securely. He ruffled my hair lovingly and handed my tank top to me then buttoning up his jeans.

'Would you like me to avoid mentioning anything about this being the climax of everything we've done?' he smirked.

'Preferably, yes,' I said, throwing a few things into my pack and pulling it on over my flying jacket. 'Although I doubt that would stop you,' I added absently.

'If you have the right to talk about it, and what's yours is mine then so do I,' he reasoned, kissing my forehead.

'Not until you say, "I do",' I reminded him, buckling up my boots and standing up.

'I do,' he grinned. 'Now let's discuss this; does it mean that your underwear now belongs to me? 'Cause I've always been curious about thongs...'

'Draco!' I snapped, laughing. 'If you want everything of mine, you can have PMS as well.'

'Maybe not, then, unless you'd like testosterone. Healthy bit of hair on your chest...'

'Yuck!' I cried, pushing him out of the way. 'Come on. We've got to get down to the gate.'

'Shame...'

~~

Adam, in jeans and a thick, woolen blue shirt; Skye, in fitted black leather trousers and a trench coat; Persephone in her hooded cloak; Ori, in black jeans and a grey T-shirt; General Seth, a tanned man of about, I guessed, Draco's age, with spiky blue hair; Adura, dressed all in white; Cloud, his hair ruffled by the breeze and looking very distant; Raven, dark and beautiful; Neit, in a white trench coat that scraped the ground when she turned; Rhodry in a black suit over a pale blue shirt and navy tie, hands in pockets, and Lucius, in a beautifully tailored black woolen overcoat with the collar turned up against the stiff morning breeze, awaited us at the Gate of EK. I smiled proudly at them as Draco and I joined the group lined in front of Rhodry and Lucius. Rhodry coldly avoided my gaze.

'Everyone,' Lucius greeted us once everyone was silent and paying attention. 'They're expecting you, however, they are expecting twelve of you. Thus, I shall accompany you to make up numbers.'

I certainly wasn't the only one who grinned in genuine pleasure at this statement. He may have been a bit of a battle-axe, but I did like the guy. I certainly preferred him to my own father.

'Rae, do you have anything to say?' he asked. I blanched.

'Oh, sure...' I walked up to the front of the semicircle. 'Everyone, you know that this is what this has all been building to. It's likely that Salime won't listen to a word we say and we'll enter another Great War. I know you're all fabulous people and you can do wonders between us. This is a challenge, like a mountain, and we will climb over it. I know it sounds cheesy, but the world is relying on us to win this. If this country goes to pot then it'll spread to other country, and eventually the world. It's happened before and it may happen again, but not this time. I'm not going to let it happen and I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you. I need you to trust me and I need to know I can trust you. We're going to have to rely on each other a lot during the close future. Let's go on to what's probably going to be the biggest thing to happen to any of us.' I turned to Lucius. 'Let's get in that City.'

He nodded and smiled to me. Turning, he put a hand against the gate and looked up. 'Lysander! You there?'

A tall, thin silhouette appeared on the top of the wall. A smaller, equally skinny figure popped up beside him. The two scaled down the wall and dropped to their feet by us. The taller was a black man with his long hair tied in dreadlocks at the back of his head. The smaller was a thin, grubby, pale kid of about ten or so. Both had the deadened look I remembered from the City.

'Lucius,' the black man said gravely.

'Lysander,' Lucius nodded.

'This is Tero,' Lysander told us, putting a long hand on the shoulder of the evil-looking child. 'He's going to be our watch on the way back.'

'Great. Is everyone ready?' Lucius asked, glancing at us. We all nodded. I swallowed a lump in my throat.

We slipped through a door at the bottom of the gate, invisible from the outside. Lysander and Tero moved silently, feet barely touching the floor, as we crept through the rubble at the edge of the cleared avenue towards London. I found myself scrambling along next to Lysander. I guess I was in pretty good shape then.

'How are we going to get in?' I asked.

'There's another concealed gateway, Miss,' he answered solemnly. 'We'll alert the people behind it to our presence and they'll say the spell to reveal it to us. It's in a blind spot beneath a sensor, you see.'

'That's brilliant!' I enthused quietly. 'Really clever.'

'You have to be quiet,' he hissed. I flushed indignantly, slowing down a bit to fall in next to Draco.

'Moody git, isn't he?' I murmured.

'Yeah,' Draco agreed quietly. 'Dad doesn't like him either. I don't think he likes dad. They have a conflict of interests, shall we say.'

'You mean Lysander's gay?' I asked grumpily. Draco chuckled and kissed my temple.

'Not exactly. We're nearly there.'

And he said nothing else until we were facing a four hundred yard run from here to the wall.

'Well, is everyone up for a good long sprint?' Draco laughed quietly.

'You're kidding,' Neit snapped.

'No,' Lysander said sharply.

I fought with myself trying not to say, "You don't have enough of a sense of humour to laugh".

'We run as fast and hard as we can to the walls. We mustn't stop. If someone falls down they will be caught. This isn't a game,' he added, just as I said:

'Think of it as a game. It'll help you get there.'

He glared at me. 'This is serious. If they stop, they will be caught and cursed to death with no questions asked.'

Still staring at him, I said firmly, 'Imagine your worst teacher chasing you, or that you're playing Tag or Stuck In The Mud.'

He glared furiously at me. 'You must go as fast as you can and keep going even when you think you're going to collapse.'

'As fast as you can,' I snapped.

'Ooh, a power-struggle. How exciting!' Tero snickered. 'The girl's right, Lice. Don't listen to him,' he said to me. 'He's a crabby git, aren't you, Lice?'

I laughed. 'Is everyone ready?'

Everyone nodded, looking out over the cleared plain.

'It's such a bloody long way,' I heard Skye mutter. 'Cut it in half and there's no problem, but...'

'I know, I don't think I'll make it,' Cloud replied. 'It's insane. This Lysander bloke must be mad.'

'How are they going to fail to notice fourteen people sprinting that far?'

'Just go for it,' Lucius said. 'I'm more worried about myself.'

'There's no way we're going to leave anyone here,' I said firmly. 'If someone falls down, pick him or her up. No one is going to be left.'

Lysander fumed madly, but didn't say anything. I looked at him flatly, daring him to object.

'Let's go, then,' I said. 'Shouldn't we go in pairs, so we're harder to notice?'

'Yes, we'll go in pairs. There is a place roughly in the middle where a rock still protrudes, which is too deeply bedded to be removed. Run to there and get your breath. Only once the pair before reach that can the next pair leave,' Lysander answered.

'So go like shit off a hot spoon and don't stop until your balls are cracking against your knees,' Tero smiled.

'Find someone who matches your speed,' I recommended. Everyone started shuffling around, asking questions and assessing each other. Adam paired off with Lucius; Ori with Cloud, both of a muscular build; Adura with Neit, as neither particularly enjoyed running; Skye with Persephone, as it seemed that they did everything together; Seth, being the new guy, was dumped with Lysander; Raven and Draco, both very fast runners, paired up, leaving me with Tero.

'Don't worry,' the boy grinned. 'I won't run too fast.'

'I'll try not to lose you,' I replied.

'I'm fast,' he warned me.

'So am I,' I said. 'But don't hold me to that, otherwise I'll be useless.'

He laughed and looked to 'Lice' for orders.

'Lucius and you there go first,' he ordered. The two jumped down the side of the rubble and broke into a sprint, looking like ants going for a jog, as they got further out onto the plain, eventually ducking into the shadow of a huge rock.

'You,' Lysander snapped at Adura and Neit. They slithered down and set off running. It felt like one of those relay races at school. As those two vanished, Lysander pointed imperiously at Ori and Cloud, who set off distinctly faster, taking only twenty-five seconds or so to vanish.

'You two,' Lysander said, nodding to Tero and I.

I threw myself down the side of the rubble, skidding and only saved from grazing the skin off all the way up my legs by my leather garments. As soon as I hit the ground and my knees buckled, I ran. I drew myself totally upright and put everything I had into running faster and faster. I was losing control of my legs as I thundered across the dry earth and took a diving roll into the shade of the rock, rotating across my right arm and skidding backwards on my knees a short way. Tero dropped somewhat less professionally to a halt with me.

'You're not too bad,' he said deprecatingly, looking me up and down. 'For a wrinkly.'

I laughed indignantly, taking deep, slow breaths. 'A wrinkly? I'm only eighteen!'

'That's almost twice my age,' he pointed out. 'Are you ready to go again?'

I took another few breaths, seeing Skye and Perse hurtling towards us, then nodded, putting a hand on the ground and swinging around it and into a run straight off.

I could certainly feel the previous run this time. My lungs burned in the dry air and my heart raced. Tero was a foot behind me, but going exactly the same pace. I was mollified to see that he was looking just as tired out as I felt. I hurled myself under the dusk that reigned under the enormous London Wall.

'You all right?' Neit asked, putting an arm around my shoulders.

'Yeah, a bit exhausted,' I panted. Tero nodded.

'It's a long way. He should have found somewhere closer to the walls to make us run.'

Skye and Perse crashed into the shade as Lysander and Seth vanished behind the rock.

'Did anyone see us?' Lucius asked.

'Did you get burnt, Perse?' Skye asked, lifting Perse's hood slightly.

'No, I'm fine,' she said hoarsely. 'Coo, I'm tired.'

'Dead on your feet?' Ori asked slyly.

I laughed as I watched Draco and Raven set off.

'I wonder why there are so many people in this prophecy,' I said aloud.

'I always wanted to know that. I guess it's like with Ori; to cover if anyone dies,' Neit suggested.

'I can't help thinking that there are meant to be rifts between us. We're meant to form alliances and fight between us, we've got eleven of us; there are usually only nine in these fellowship things.'

'You know, I never noticed that,' Cloud said. 'But you're right.'

'I don't think there are meant to be fights,' Adura said doubtfully. 'I mean, we'd be so much better off with about nine people. I wonder why both teams had to get together this time. I read about it before, and usually the two groups of six just work separately until they meet at the end.'

'If the Light hadn't been so incredibly offensive, I think it would work out like that,' Skye said. 'As it is, they imprisoned their own people so they wouldn't come to us and they're nasty bastards. No one wanted to work with them so it went over to Raven being so damn nice.' She laughed.

'I think it all works out fine,' Adam shrugged. 'It musts just be hard to manage us all,' he said, looking at me.

'Yeah, I feel sorry for Rae, Draco and Raven. They seem to be in charge of all this,' Perse said, leaning in the darkness right up against the wall.

Seth and Lysander arrived, very closely followed by Raven and Draco.

'I feel sorry for me too,' Raven said. 'What for?'

'Being in charge of us lot,' Seth answered, sitting down against the wall.

'Because of course, you're such a desperately difficult bunch,' Draco smirked.

'Oh we're nightmares of the civilized world,' I laughed.

'Of course.'

'I'll just call them,' Lysander said darkly, flipping a phone out of his pocket and walking a short way away to talk.

'What bit him?' Ori asked me blankly. I suppressed a shot of delight burning down my throat that he was talking to me again.

'I think he got a bit nibbled by his own sense of status,' I replied.

'Ignore him,' Tero recommended. 'He's a dickhead.'

'One can never have too much confirmation of one's own genius,' Draco grinned.

'You knew he was a tit, you mean,' Raven suggested.

'Of course. My fiancé knows everything,' I grinned.

'Then you're perfect for each other,' Cloud laughed.

I gasped indignantly and planted my hands on my hips.

'It was close to a compliment,' Skye said reasonably, an evil smirk on her face.

'Just alter a few words and he wouldn't be taking the piss,' Perse added.

'Yeah, try every single word he said,' I giggled. 'Change it all to, my god you're beautiful, or, wow, you're so very clever it blows me over.'

'Or, "Like your arse in those trousers",' Ori suggested.

'"But I'd prefer if it was in my hands,"' Neit laughed.

'Can you all just shut up?' Lysander shouted.

Once he'd turned back, everyone made a face at his back. I was crying with the effort of not laughing.

'Right,' Lysander said, turning back to the rest of us who were shaking with suppressed laughter. 'We're in.'