The War Apiary

Chapter 13 Hero (In Paris)

Hero listened to the boy's account of the destruction that the Rebellion evoked on Britannia. How was it possible that the Queens Council could have had Chelmsford received the same treatment as Prata only hours after each other? He glanced at his wristwatch. The day had slipped passed noon and he wanted to show Feng Mian the views from top tier before dinner and the show that night.

The two children were tired and needed rest. Mrs Charlotte offered them both separate bedrooms with views and told them that she would have her butler bring up some suitable change of clothes for them both before dinner, and demanded that both of them come to her show that night. To which they did not decline, and if they had wanted to, they were too tired.

Hero shook his head as both of them were led away by the butler to their rooms. He was angry and saddened at the account he had heard. Looking over at Feng, who looked back at him with her grey aged eyes that were on the edge of spilling tears.

"Would you like to be shown around the top tier of Paris?" He asked.

She hesitated and quickly glanced in the direction that the two young adults had been led away, before nodding and got up from the chair she had been sitting in.

Once outside in the streets, Hero stopped and took a breath of the fresh air. The breeze up there was cold and fresh. It made him forget his age and joint pains. He thought of his younger days and the many weeks he had spent upon this city hight when he was still an agent in the field for the Underground. It felt so many years ago when he had been removed from the field into forced retirement. So much had changed since then.

"Are you ok?" Feng asked.

"Yes." Hero opened his eyes. He offered a hooked elbow to Feng and they both walked down the street together. "How about yourself?" He asked with a light smile.

She sighed. "I don't know. I worry about my granddaughter. Where is she? Is she safe?" They both pulled to a stop in front of a window full of fresh pastries and bread. "Who was that man last night? Why did he worry that my daughter was not safe with the Queen's Council's guards?"

They both slowly started to walk again under the shop's awnings, passing shop windows filled with dresses, and another with books.

"The Queen's Counsel isn't what most think it is." Hero said after a while. "They are a corrupt power for a lot of dark reasons."

The sky was clear and it's deep blue depths enveloped the heavens. Many who were out walking made sure to walk under the side shops awnings out of the heat of the sun. Some pushed perambulators, while others walked dogs. The fashion of the top tier was somewhere between a mix of the late twentieth century and the 1800s. As the hours passed and Hero had shown many of the sights that a tourist would see on the top tier to Feng, they finally sat in the Nitchibotsu Park and watched as the sun sank below the horizon. Its orange-pink rays reflected off of the canals and boggy puddles of the Paris Plain.

After the sun had sunk below the edge of the world, Hero and Feng walked back to Charlotte's house. The white pearls on castiron lampposts had all been lit. On arrival at the house, they found the front door wide open and sounds of arguing coming from the main living room.

"You must leave at once, Charlotte!" A man said hurriedly. He wore a white lab coat and right away Hero recognized him to be a high ranking Scientist from the QC.

"What do you mean we have to leave right away?" Charlotte asked with a fluster. She had half of her make up done when the man had arrived. She stood looking much like a clown with her hair tied up in a net ready to receive a wig.

"There is going to be an explosion, I can't really explain Charlotte." The man said hurriedly, he turned around when he saw that Charlotte had turned her attention to something behind him. A startled look flashed across his face. "You have guests?" He asked when he saw both of them.

"Yes, they are staying with me, as well as a young man and a girl that managed to escape from Prata last night." She said turning her attention back to the mirror on the wall and continued to work on her makeup.

"Escape Prata? Last night?" He turned back to Charlotte, his face drained of all colour. "What happened there?"

"Have you not read the news, Dr. Arkin?" Charlotte asked. "The Rebellion attacked Prata and Chelmsford last night after the vote came in for Brittania to become independent from the QC."

"Jack..." the man muttered.

"Yes," Charlotte said, not taking any notice of the man's sunken appearance at the news. "And his friend Nelly."

Hero frowned at Charlotte's low level of being able to communicate and had obviously not understood the scientist mutter of remorse, not understanding that that was what the young man's name who had arrived that afternoon.

"Nelly?"

Charlotte put her makeup down and turned away from the mirror to look at all of them. "Yes, Jack and Nelly showed up here, saying something about how Lodovico had sent them to me. I presume you know that and that is why you are here. Yes?"

"They are here?" The man asked. He stood up straight and life seemed to fill his face.

"Yes, well, they have gone out to explore the nightlife of top tier before the show that starts in an hour."

"No, no, no, no!" He cried. "Out of the fire and into the frying pan! They are not supposed to be here! We must find them and then you must get away from Paris before Eleven PM." He said hurriedly. He was noticeable sweating despite it not being very warm in the house.

"What do mean Arkin Jones! Why must we leave? That is when my ends." Charlotte asked alarmed and her white makeup face took on a cooked lobster appearance.

"They are planning on blowing this whole city up! Ok! That's why you must leave, and now I have to find Jack and Nelly before then!" He shouted.

"Oh my." Feng gasped.

"Who is?" Hero asked. His curiosity spiked at why this scientist knowing such information. Did he really know what the QC was and that he had proof?

"The Rebellion!" The Man screamed at them.