“Do you truly not know?” said Mak Genggang, eyeing him with misgiving. “This evening an attack was mounted upon my women in Janda Baik. They looked to the east, and saw ranks of British soldiers, fearfully armed and ferocious. They looked to the west, and saw British ships lining the harbour, ready to fire broadsides upon their houses. The British demanded that my women surrender and leave the island peaceably, but I am proud to say they took the British representative captive and beat him for his impertinence.”
“Good God!” said Zacharias.
“Oh yes! The women of Janda Baik are not mild. Blood, and not milk, flows in our veins,” said Mak Genggang. “My women were shot at for their noble response, but that did not deter them. They are not sopoor-spirited! They barricaded themselves within their huts and cast spells for truth-telling and the finding of lost objects, until finally the guns were silenced, and they emerged to see the illusions dispelled—no ships, and scarcely any soldiers. My women have captured all ten men, and I believe your soldiers are being taught a salutary lesson. It was foolish of your King to have sent so few to take the witches of Janda Baik, but not nearly so foolish as seeking to overbear my women with trumpery illusions.”
“Our sovereign is no magician,” said Zacharias slowly.
Edgeworth must have found a thaumaturge to provide his knockdown spell. A thaumaturge who required assistance, perhaps; who desired the Government’s prompt attention to a minor matter—the mere adjustment of a provision in the Charter incorporating the Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers.
But Midsomer had miscalculated badly. He could not have dreamt that this play would result in British subjects being held hostage by a foreign power—a power admittedly small, but confoundedly magical, and now extremely angry. Why should Midsomer or Edgeworth have suspected that the witches of Janda Baik would see through Midsomer’s illusions? Neither had seen Mak Genggang amble out of Fairyland as though she were taking an evening stroll, nor felt the virulence of her curse.
But what could have possessed Midsomer to do what was sure to vex the Fairy Court, given its sentiments towards Janda Baik’s lamiae? Zacharias no longer doubted that Midsomer knew of the block upon England’s magic: if his familiar had not told him, he must have discovered it himself during his sojourn in Fairyland, and he must be aware of the Court’s reason for withholding its magic.
Still, Midsomer had shown himself willing enough to risk the good of the nation in pursuit of his own interest. He had already put at naught the Court’s prohibition on the summoning of familiars, though he knew Fairyland was likely to include the whole of England in itsresentment of any offence. It was the Society’s opinion he cared for, for it was only the Society that could help him to the staff of the Sorcerer Royal.
It would be an unattractive office by the time he came to fill it, but what cared Midsomer for that? Perhaps he believed he might do anything with such a convenient scapegoat as Zacharias to hand.
“I think I know who your enemy is, who has made such trouble for you,” said Zacharias. “I will put a stop to his schemes directly—if you will have the goodness to do me a favour in return.”
Mak Genggang bristled up. “You dare make demands, when your nation has acted so shamefully towards my people? If you think I will grovel to your sovereign, or permit Raja Ahmad to run roughshod over my women—!”
“I think you know, ma’am, that your people have not been altogether just to us,” said Zacharias.
“I am sure I do not know what you mean,” said Mak Genggang. The lie was so transparent Zacharias almost laughed.
“Why did not you tell me our magic had been stopped at your countrywomen’s request?” he said. “If I had known it before, I could have advised you on how best to make your case to our King. Your enemy might never have had the opportunity to ingratiate himself with our Government—might never have been granted the licence to attack your island.”
Mak Genggang glared. Zacharias answered this with an unflinching gaze, though he was by no means as calm as he hoped he looked.
To his relief, after a moment Mak Genggang said pettishly:
“It is hardly to the purpose to lament your ignorance now! I did not know anything of it myself till my women told me of the attack. It was only then that they confessed they had been inciting the spirits against the British. They feared they had overreached themselves—that their ploy was discovered, and instead of agreeing to their demands, the English King had responded by this attack. They were reassured when Itold them that it was Raja Ahmad’s wicked influence that had moved the British to act against them. But perhaps I spoke amiss. Perhaps, indeed, the attack was in revenge for my women’s dealings with the spirits?”
Her dark eyes gleamed with suspicion.
“Perhaps,” said Zacharias. When Mak Genggang looked outraged, he added:
“I do not know for sure. But you must see that your lamiae’s scheme would scarcely have increased my Government’s good will towards you. I cannot make out why they did not tell you earlier, so that you could convey the message to us. How could they hope to blackmail Britain if Britain knew nothing of their threat?”
“Of course they did not tell me,” said Mak Genggang. “I should never have permitted it if I had known what they planned. Such a small nation as ours cannot afford to offend others, and nothing would be likelier to bring the wrath of the British down upon our heads than stopping their magic.”
“Did they tell no one, then?”
Mak Genggang eyed Zacharias, as if she were wondering how much he knew, and considering how much she could tell him. Finally she said:
“It seems there was an acquaintance of theirs in the spirit world, who planned to remove to Britain. She was going to live with a great magician, who had many powerful acquaintances. She promised he would convey the message to the King. That was my women’s mistake, of course. They should have known better than to put any stock in an English magician’s word.”
“It is necessary to choose the right English magician for the purpose,” said Zacharias ruefully. “I wish I had known of this sooner.”
“Oh, I do not deny my vampiresses have mishandled the affair,” said Mak Genggang. “They feared I should tell them to go to their relations if they confessed to any. Absurd creatures! As if I did not know one might disagree with one’s relations, and wish to live apartfrom them! They are my women, however. I am bound to defend them, however stupid they are. Any offence to them must be furiously resented!”
Mak Genggang was well on the way to working herself back up into a passion. Zacharias saw he must intervene if he were to avoid another curse.
“I am not proud of my nation’s conduct towards yours, if your account is true,” he said. “But I am bound to defend it, as you are bound to defend yours. If the block placed upon our magic could be removed, I might see my way to helping your people, and perhaps we would not need to quarrel. For my veins do not contain milk either, Mak Genggang, and we have still sufficient magic in England for my staff to draw upon.”
The matriarch was angry, but she was a leader as well as a witch, and she understood power. Zacharias saw a grudging esteem in her eyes.
“My women would happily persuade their cousins to let the British have their magic, if they could be sure they would not be injured by it,” said Mak Genggang. She rose and went to the window, the wings unfurling from her back. “But if, in a week’s time, the erring magician has not been found and punished, and assurances of our security given, I shall return.Myarmy will not be an illusion, and it will not be easily overcome. We may be mere women, but the dead walk with us. We will give you a week, Mr. Wythe.”
