The rest of the day passed without incident. Bianka had recovered a bit, but she remained in a state of semi-drowsiness. Kristofferson had done some scouting, and determined where he and his cronies would station themselves the next day, during the War Council.
While waiting for supper time, Heike, Bianka, Isolde and the Prince were taking a rest in the small music room. Steiner had brought his harpsichord there at great cost. He regularly happened to strike out some melody between two capital affairs. The tune he was playing that night was sweet and melancholy at the same time. The music was only drowned out by the irregular crackling of the fire in the small fireplace.
Sitting in a large soft armchair, Heike listened to her eldest daughter.
- I am progressing little by little on the Girotti fund, but it is dragging on. The more I feel like I'm progressing, the more I discover complications that will add work to me!
- Maybe you could ask someone to help you? Don't you have to do it all on your own?
- Hum... I hadn't thought of that.
- Maybe this is the kind of thing you should think of more often? Heavy work can be done faster if it is done by more than one person, provided they are capable of doing it.
The ratgirl didn't answer, but she felt a grain of truth in her mother's words. The latter got up and stretched. Even with a dress with loose fabrics, her condition could no longer go unnoticed.
- Father, if you allow me, I would like to go to bed. I don't have the strength to spend an entire meal at the table.
- Oh… as you wish, but I shall still ask Magdalena to bring you something. You shouldn't go to sleep on an empty stomach.
- Could you ask her to provide Isolde's meal, too? We will eat it in my apartments.
- So be it.
Heike turned to the High Archivist.
- Bianka, darling, would you be kind enough to water the flowers in the greenhouse before eating?
- Of course, Mother, whatever you want.
Without another word, but with a smile, the ratmother took the key to the glass building from a pocket in her dress and put it on the table. She kissed her daughter, her father, then she mechanically headed for the door. Once she was out, Bianka scratched the back of her neck and whispered, her throat tight:
- I wish I could do more...
She still had on her heart the violent exchange she had heard in the park.
But I must not say anything before the end of the investigation, it could confuse things! Come on, tough gal, be courageous, tomorrow night, the trap closes!
She turned to her grandfather.
- Opa, do you know how I could ease her grief?
- You're already doing everything you can for that, honey. Your mother doesn't lack in resources, but in these terrible times, the support of all of you is essential.
- Still burns me her future child will never know its dad, murmured the young ratgirl. It is not fair!
The Prince hugged his granddaughter.
- Life isn't always fair. I know it very well. But I also know that misfortune never lasts forever. Let's keep our heads on our shoulders, find the Purple Hand conspirators, and we can come to terms with the situation. In the meantime, I have to get ready, a long day awaits us tomorrow. When you've finished taking care of your mother's flowers, join us quickly for supper. The sooner we get out of the table, the sooner we can go to sleep, and Verena knows how much strength we'll need!
She gave him a little kiss.
- I love you.
The huge Human raised his index finger and pointed to the hearth where the log was consuming.
- I will throw my crown in the fire if that is the price to pay to keep your love. Never forget that.
The blonde Skaven left the music room in turn, leaving the Prince alone.
Gabriel woke up with a start. He looked around him, and had to spend a handful of seconds thinking to understand how and why he was where he was.
Did I… fall… asleep?
He was actually sitting on the grass, under a tree, near one of the paths that crossed the grounds of the Steiner estate. He sighed in sorrow. Ordinarily, it was already not easy for him to fall asleep. However, since the awful evening when his father had collapsed in front of him, he had not managed to spend a peaceful night. Fear, sadness, guilt acted together to prevent him from resting.
And so, sleep had surprised him when he wanted to lie down for a few minutes under the tree.
With terror, the little light grey Skaven noticed the sun had set.
It's dark, and I'm outside! I am in danger! I must not be out at night!
Distraught, he jumped to his feet and rushed towards the mansion. He ran breathlessly, cursing himself for having strayed so far from his shelter. All around him, the trees and bushes were nothing more than dark masses, behind which a ready to pounce Feral Skaven could easily lurk. The wind whistling in his ears hissed like the sneer of a monster. Although he could see relatively clearly through the light of the stars and moons, he felt panic grip his heart and lungs. Danger could come from anywhere. Including from the decorative well or the basin.
Finally, Gabriel reached the section of the park near the houses. Ahead of him was the mansion itself. The lights of candles and chandeliers twinkled behind the many panes of glass. A neigh behind him, on his right, in the distance, reminded him of the presence of the stables in that direction. He glanced over, and spotted Kristofferson grooming Weissherz. And to his left, a few dozen yards away, stood the dark shape of the greenhouse.
The little ratboy spotted the glow of a lantern through the curved glass walls of the building that housed his mother's vegetable garden, flowers and fruit trees. Squinting, he guessed the silhouette of Bianka.
Usually, it is Mother who takes care of her plants? Bah…
He looked carefully all around him… there was nothing suspicious. He was in a field far too open and too close to the house to see a Feral Skaven throwing himself on him. So he allowed himself to catch his breath. Gradually, the rhythm of his breathing returned to normal.
There was only the sound of nocturnal insects, accompanied by the faint whistle of the night wind. After the morning storm, the clouds had dissipated, leaving a sky studded with myriads of stars. Now that he was in a more secure setting, Gabriel was surprised when he realized he was enjoying the surroundings.
I shouldn't hang around anyway, Mother forbade me to stay out at night.
The young ratboy's ear suddenly twirled, attracted to something.
It was a small noise, very brief, but very recognizable: the grinding of the greenhouse door.
Has Bianka finished?
He looked in the direction of the large building. His muzzle wrinkled. Normally, he should have seen his big sister, lit by her lantern, locking the building. But there was no light. Instead, he saw a shadow of a tall, thin individual, who ran silently and gracefully to a thick bush and disappeared into it.
Who was that? Certainly not Bianka!
He could again distinguish the light from Bianka's lamp through the panes of the greenhouse. His instinct made him think of something that instantly flooded him with sweat.
An intruder!
He decided to join the blonde Skaven as soon as possible.
Bianka was finishing watering the tulips. Once the last furrow had been watered, she looked around the whole greenhouse, satisfied to see her work done. She went to put the watering can in the tool corner when she felt her whiskers vibrate. She stopped.
What's that?
She listened carefully, and heard a very slight hiss. She frowned and turned on her heels.
The next moment, she dropped her lantern, which fell loudly onto the path, and jumped back with a cry of panic. Answered by a much louder and more strident squeal.
An indescribable creature stood before Bianka. It was not possible for the young ratgirl to qualify it other than "pink-coloured filthy bundle of flesh, tendons and cartilage". Six feet tall, it had half a dozen tentacles. A mouth full of sharp fangs opened like a gaping wound in its front, another smaller snapped on its left side. A lighter coloured ball emerged from its top like a sickening cyst on which half a dozen eyes were planted chaotically. A slew of little three-inch-long maggot-like pseudopodia served as its legs.
The thing slid slowly towards the ratgirl, its locomotion appendages crawling like a carpet of vermin. As it passed, it crushed the lantern without slowing its pace. It snarled, and its eyes sparkling with wickedness blinked at full speed, in a hypnotic way. Bianka tore herself from her stupor, and decided to defend herself. Not far from her, she saw a shovel stuck in the ground. She grabbed it, and threw herself on the creature with a howl of defiance. She gave a first blow, then a second, on the pink flesh pillar.
The horrible thing, surprised by such resistance, recoiled under the assaults, and protected itself with its tentacles. Its big mouth gurgled furiously. Bianka was about to hit it a third time. Suddenly, two of the creature's appendages stretched forward, wrapping themselves around the handle of the young girl's improvised weapon. She let go of it hastily, and was glad when she saw the thing shove the garden tool into its mouth and swallow it in a couple of bites.
Bianka gritted her teeth. Without weapons, the fight promised to be more difficult than it already was. A positive point, all the same: this hideous apparition didn't seem to be animated by any intelligence, only instinctive reflexes. She quickly thought to find something to rebalance the chances...
Suddenly, the creature squealed in pain, and shook itself. Bianka gasped when she saw her little brother clinging to the monster's back by a small sickle he had stuck in his skin. The creature yelped in pain, swept its misshapen arms, and jerked around so violently that Gabriel was catapulted into a rosebush.
- GAB!
The monster spun towards the shrub, and slowly approached it, roaring in anger. Gabriel realized this. Terrified, he screamed and squealed three times louder. Very upset, the young ratgirl didn't lose her means. She spotted a small axe stored on the rack. Taking advantage of the diversion created by Gabriel, she dashed towards the gardening tool, grabbed it, and jumped towards the apparition, shouting in turn. When she saw the monster face her, the High Archivist brought her weapon down directly on its head, right in the middle. The axe sank into the flesh like into a lump of butter. Not a drop of blood flowed from the wound. Instead, the creature groaned in astonishment, almost comically, while all its eyes focused on the weapon stuck inside it. Then, suddenly, its body ripped loudly up and down. The two halves of the creature changed into two twinned swirls of golden sparks that crackled like fireworks. And in a few seconds, the whirlpools took shape, to reveal two creatures as hideous as the first, except that they were half the size, and entirely blue.
The two creatures remained a few seconds to jump on the spot, squeaking, then they separated and spun each on their side. The girl's first reflex was to lock the door. Then she realized what a predicament her little brother was in when she saw the rosebush moving furiously. Gabriel, tangled in the brambles, couldn't speak. He only managed to emit high-pitched squeaks of panic and pain.
- Gab! Calm down!
- Help! That hurts!
- Stop moving, Gab! By the Libra of Verena, calm down, I say!
The poor little ratboy stopped fidgeting, but continued to cry.
- I'll get you out of here!
She fixed her gaze on the tool rack again, and spotted a pair of shears. But as she approached it, she distinguished something above her that dropped from a sapling. She jumped back, and narrowly avoided the small tentacles of the blue aberration.
She hesitated a little. Fighting such a disturbing-looking being was much more difficult than facing a disreputable district thug. She had won the first assault anyway... What if it was more dangerous than it looked? What if it was able to vomit acid? What if it could break her in half?
The High Archivist remembered that she hadn't hesitated in the face of the original thing, twice as big and menacing. She stopped thinking, and swung her hatchet forward. The creature dodged the blow with a mocking hiss, and unfurled a tentacle like a long whip of flesh. The ratgirl had the reflex to extend her left arm forward. She winced at the contact with the pustular skin of the little blue horror, but didn't lose her means. She pulled the beast towards her, and slammed her axe into its side.
The creature yelped in pain and released its grip. It stepped back, the axe still planted in its body. Bianka groaned in frustration as she felt her weapon slip away from her, when she saw a small decorative statuette not far from her. She grabbed it, leapt towards the creature, and smashed the statuette on its head. The thing fell. Bianka freed the axe, and furiously banged the apparition, which eventually came to a standstill.
To the utter amazement of the ratgirl, it crystallized, and exploded with a sound of broken crystal in a cloud of small golden sparks. She held her breath and walked away, fearful of inhaling one or more particles.
- Bianka, help!
Bianka came out of her torpor, and remembered the unpleasant position of the young light grey Skaven. She rushed back to the rack, grabbed the shears, and joined Gabriel.
- Don't move, I'm going to cut the brambles.
Mother isn't going to be happy at all, she thought. But wasn't it an emergency, was it? She cut off one by one the branches that bruised the little ratboy. She hugged him tight and rubbed him.
- It's fine, more fear than pain.
A grotesque chirping sounded under the glazed vault. The High Archivist suddenly remembered the presence of the second creature.
- What was that?
- The other one.
- What other one? There's... another one?!
- There is.
She grabbed her brother's shoulders and looked at him intently.
- Gab, listen very carefully and do what I tell you: you are going to get out of this greenhouse and get help.
- But… what about you?
- I stay here, this thing must not escape. You will lock the door behind you.
- You… lock you up alone with a monster?!
- Don't worry, if I was less strong than it, it would already be throwing himself at me. It's afraid of me, it's hiding, I'm going to flush it out. Now, go!
She pushed him towards the exit door, and brandished her small axe firmly, determined to get rid of the vile entity.
She almost found herself cursing the landscaper who had drawn the plans of the place. The greenhouse was very large, and the bushes formed a labyrinth in which it was easy to hide. Besides, and she was well aware of it, she had lied to Gabriel, in order to not to frighten him more than he already was. The creature could very well lurk in a corner, throw itself on her, and bite her snout with its gaping mouth lined with sharp fangs. The light from outside barely passed through the windows, even her Skaven eyes accustomed to the darkness had trouble clearly distinguishing the surroundings without her lantern. Her breath hoarse, her arm raised, she walked on tiptoe, watching for the slightest movement. Suddenly, at a crossroads, she saw a blue shape on her left. She spun around and struck with all her might... a cluster of hydrangeas.
- By the Sword of Verena! she yelped.
Suddenly, the monstrosity shot out from behind her and rolled to the ground. Bianka turned on herself to try to stop it in its tracks, in vain. Fortunately, the aberration had decided to flee before the fighting spirit of the blonde Skaven girl, instead of attacking her. The High Archivist ran after it. Soon, the little blue horror found itself in front of the closed door of the greenhouse.
- You're mine!
When it saw that lowering the handle wasn't efficient, the creature curled into a ball, compacting its muscles, forming a much harder little ball, and threw itself against the door. The lower glass block shattered, and the creature left the building.
- No!
Bianka spat in anger as she saw the little blue thing take its former shape back and walk away, giggling. But her heart leapt in her chest when she saw the hay pitchfork from the stable nail it to the lawn.
- Sis!
Kristofferson came, running as fast as he could, a wooden mallet in his hand. The small demonic entity was screaming so loudly that the brown Skaven felt a pain bruising his eardrums. He gripped the pitchfork handle tightly, drove it deeper into the blue thing, and smashed the mallet onto its jaw half a dozen times. Eventually the screams died down, the horror ceased to stir. Like the other, it quickly crumbled into golden dust.
Bianka put her hand through the hole in the glass to retrieve the key that Gabriel had left on the lock, unlocked the door, and left the greenhouse as well.
- Bianka! Are you safe?
- Don't worry, I'm fine. Thank you for your help!
Gabriel joined them running awkwardly. The danger was averted, the pressure dropped. The young girl hugged the teenager to her. The latter couldn't say a word, and cried again.
- Gab! Holy shit, you're bleeding!
- It's nothing, Kit, just a few small scratches, but above all a big scare.
- What happened? What was that?
- A small Demon affiliated with Tzeentch.
- Tzeentch, again and again… Are you sure?
- I read it in one of the books I consulted earlier: it is a ball of raw energy that has vaguely taken shape. When you hurt it seriously, it splits in two.
- I killed one. And the other?
- I already have dealt with. But… Oh!
The ratgirl pulled away from Gabriel, then looked nervously at her arms, legs, and tail. She presented her back to Kristofferson.
- Do you see anything, Kit?
- Hmm… No, nothing.
She heaved a small sigh of relief.
- Phew, that thing didn't bleed on me, it seems.
- So what?
- From what I know, it is better to avoid touching Demon's blood, it can create Mutations. Especially Tzeentch's.
Kristofferson looked at the mallet he still had in his hand.
- Looks like those creatures can't bleed anyway… Maybe because they're made of raw energy, like you said?
Gab was sobbing less loudly. Kristofferson allowed himself a smile.
- You've been wonderful, sis.
- You may not believe it, but Gab fought, too! He helped me a lot!
- It's fantastic! Gab, you can be proud of yourself!
The little light grey Skaven stopped crying, and looked at his big brother, surprised.
- You… you really think so?
- Yes, I'm even sure of it!
- I'll take you to see Romulus, added his sister with a little kiss on his forehead.
The three Skaven then saw six guards who had been attracted by the cries of the thing coming running.
- Let me take care of them, whispered the brown Skaven.
The ratgirl immediately felt the storm rising in her big brother's voice. She took Gabriel by his hand, and the two walked away quickly.
- What's happening, Sir Steiner?
- It happens that my family was attacked by a Demon! Who let him in, you bunch of incompetents?
No one dared to answer or protest. Eyes red with anger, young Steiner looked at the soldiers.
- May I know what you were doing, exactly?
- Our job, Sir! awkwardly retorted the most senior officer, a corporal. This Demon came out of nowhere, no one could have seen it coming!
- Oh yeah?
Kristofferson then thought of something. He waved his hand and ordered:
- Follow me!
Everyone entered the greenhouse. The young ratman opened his eyes wide, searching for the little detail he was hoping to find. His hopes weren't disappointed.
- Take a good look here!
He pointed to a small puddle of pinkish liquid spilled on the cobblestones of the little path.
- Demon blood, or some such crap.
- Where can it come from? one of the guards stammered.
- From a vial, a bottle or something like that. Take a closer look, you will see shards of glass.
Sure enough, several small shiny shards were sliding across the surface of the liquid.
- An intruder came and threw a glass container here. It spawned a Demon that attacked my sister.
When he saw the incredulous and contrite look of the Humans and Skaven facing him, Kristofferson burst out.
- First, someone murdered my father, and now someone else comes in to summon a Demon! And all this without the slightest reaction! You are as bad as each other! So what? Are you incapable? Or morons? Or… traitors?
Kristofferson shouted those last words. The soldiers jumped.
When Bianka and Gabriel were about to enter the house, they were almost knocked down by the Prince who ran out.
- Children! What happened?
Bianka coughed several times before answering:
- The Purple Hand attacked, Opa!
- The Purple Hand? repeated the Human.
- They… they brought a Demon! Gabriel cried.
- What?
For the first time since Vellux had abducted Heike and then burned down his Altdorf estate before his eyes, Ludwig Steiner felt he threatened to lose control of his emotions. He spotted the guards and Kristofferson coming out of the greenhouse.
- All right! Come on out of there!
The seven men found themselves in front of the Prince in a few strides.
- Report back, soldiers!
- Sir Kristofferson spotted the origin of the aggression, your Majesty, answered the corporal. Traces of a pinkish liquid with shards of glass.
- It is probably a potion contained in a vial that someone would have thrown on the ground, which would have made this creature appear.
- Right. So can someone explain to me who did this, and how he was able to enter and leave without being seen?
Bianka coughed several times, the last one was so strong that her ribs hurt. Gabriel, overwhelmed with emotion, rolled over and passed out. Kristofferson narrowly caught him.
A few minutes earlier, Heike and Isolde were in the master bedroom.
- I've never been so scared in my life at that time. I was trapped, and this dreadful Feral Skaven wanted to kidnap me. Romulus had done everything to defend me, but the killer was stronger.
- But… Romulus is not dead! Why didn't this Feral Skaven kill him, since it's a killer?
- The Feral Skaven didn't pay attention. It had poison on its knife, but it didn't take the time to check, and when it left to catch me, Romulus quickly took an antidote. And so, this scoundrel was about to take me away from Gottliebschloss, when suddenly something incredible happened.
- What, Mother?
Isolde was so eager to hear what happened next that she stood still, her eyes wide open, waiting for the smallest syllable. Heike couldn't suppress a small sigh of nostalgia, followed by a sad smile.
- The sun appeared in the sky in the middle of the night. Its beneficent rays burned the Demons who were fighting in the courtyard. The Feral Skaven were so scared that they all fled, including the assassin of Clan Eshin. You would have laughed if you had seen it, Soso. It was so threatening in front of a woman who didn't know how to defend herself, but it was so frightened its black eyes almost turned white! It left so fast that I couldn't follow it with my eyes! But anyway, I was too much in contemplation in front of the sun... or rather, no. It was not the sun that dazzled me, it was the person who was illuminated by the sun.
- Who was it, Mother? Who was it? asked the child impatiently.
The ratmother took her time before answering:
- It was your father, Soso. He wore the magical mask of Cuelepok, a gift from the Slann Priest-Mage he had met in Lustria. Through the power of this golden mask, he called upon the sun, which lent him some of its strength. Enough to drive out all the Feral Skaven and reduce the Demons to ashes.
The little one didn't say a word. Heike concluded her story.
- If I hadn't already fallen in love with him, it probably would have happened that night, Isolde. He was so handsome! Dignified, calm, strong and powerful all at the same time. Like an Angel. I loved him already, but I loved him twice as much that day… and I always will.
Much to Heike's relief, Isolde didn't prolong the discussion with questions like, "Are you getting married again?", "will you love someone else?". On the contrary, she remained silent. Heike remembered what time it was.
- Well, now, it's bedtime.
- Yes, Mo…
The abominable screech of the creature skewered by Kristofferson suddenly reached the window. Isolde threw herself into her mother's arms. The latter hurried away from the window. They left the bedroom.
- What's happening? What's happening? groaned the little ratgirl, distraught.
- I don't know!
Heike descended the stairs, her daughter still in her arms. On the previous floor, she crossed Magdalena who was running in the opposite direction.
- Magdalena! Please stay with Isolde!
- All right, but don't be reckless!
The ratmother put the little one on the ground, and continued to descend. She barely heard Isolde's voice above her pleading:
- Don't leave me!
Without slowing down, she continued her frantic race to the outside. Her condition prevented her from going as fast as she wanted, which didn't fail to upset her. She swore between her teeth, while asking forgiveness for the child to come in her womb. After a time that seemed far too long, she finally joined her father and the three Skaven. Her heart stopped dead when she saw her youngest son in the arms of the eldest.
- Gabriel!
She almost threw herself on Kristofferson. Steiner hastened to reassure her.
- It's nothing, just a few scratches.
- What happened?!
- We were attacked by a Chaos creature.
The poor ratmother nearly ran out of air.
- How is it possible, by Shallya's Mercy?
- That's what I asked people whose job it is, retorted the Prince. You say you didn't see anything suspicious?
- Negative, your Highness. It was the noises emitted by the thing described by Sir Kristofferson that alerted us.
- The silhouette!
Everyone fell silent. Gabriel had opened his eyes. Aware that he had a crucial clue to reveal, he gathered his strength and moaned:
- The silhouette… I saw a tall silhouette.
The Prince leaned towards him.
- A silhouette? What silhouette? Tell us, big boy, please.
- Very tall… very thin… very graceful. Like a dancer.
Bianka felt her nose wrinkle. She scratched furiously between her ears.
Again this graceful silhouette! Well, it's worth asking for something.
- Did you hear it laugh?
- Uh…
- Didn't your silhouette have a beautiful voice?
- I didn't hear anything. But I saw it leaving the greenhouse! That's why I wanted to join... Bianka!
- And you did very well, little brother, Bianka reassured him. You may have saved my life! But we need to get you to the temple of Shallya right now.
- Is it necessary?
- I believe so, Opa. He may not have been scratched only by the brambles of the rosebush.
Fortunately, the little light grey Skaven had not heard this hypothesis.
- So, take a small carriage, it will be safer!
- Yes, Opa!
In truth, it was better to avoid taking the risk of seeing Gabriel fainting and falling off a horse. Heike came forward:
- I'm coming with you!
- Are you sure, darling? asked the Prince.
- I can't leave Gab alone in the temple!
- But Isolde? You can't leave her alone either, can you?
- Oh, no, you're right!
Bianka laid a kind hand on her mother's arm.
- You better stay with her. She's smaller than Gabriel, she needs you more. I will stay at the temple tonight.
- Will you do that?
- He's my little brother! she replied with a knowing smile. I'll go home with him tomorrow morning.
Heike painfully managed to smile.
- How lucky I am to have children like you! Come on, hurry up!
Kristofferson and Bianka hurried towards the entrance to the Steiner estate, Gabriel still in the brown Skaven's arms.
Once her children were away, Heike allowed herself to express her anguish.
- An assassin tried to kill my daughter by calling a Demon into my greenhouse!
She clenched her fists, and let her tears flow.
- Father… I don't know how much more of this I can bear! I can't stand it anymore!
Ludwig Steiner hugged his daughter.
- I too am getting tired of it. I promise you that we'll soon see the end of it. Go find Soso quickly.
The ratmother waddled as fast as she could toward the house. The Prince turned towards the guards, who had not moved, and tell them in an icy voice:
- As for you, I promise you that you'll never see the light of day again if you do not find the culprit in the next twenty-four hours!
- Your Maj…
- Execution!
As one man, the six guards took to their heels and cleared off without asking for more.