Eighth Circle

'Yes, my lord.'

'And where is this gateway of which you speak?'

'It's out there at the end of the island, my lord. It's where you sent the orcas to fetch me ... I thought you knew.'

'At the end of the island, Professor?'

'Yes, my lord. It's one of those whirlpools ...'

A cackle of laughter rang around the table. It started slowly and grew to a crescendo as more and more ancient voices joined in. Peter turned to Crispin in alarm.

'They don't believe him.'

'No,' Crispin nodded. 'But it might not be as bad as you think.'

'You mean they don't think he's that Tom Carter but that doesn't mean they think he's the Lord of Light?'

'Ssh!'

The chancellor was speaking again.

'You might have fooled some naive young people with your ridiculous tale about realms, Professor. You do not fool us. We know you are a traitor and a rebel who belongs to the self-styled Plaid Koerno Liberation Army. You can answer our questions here or submit to a more demanding examination in another place. One thing I promise ... you will tell us all you know before this night is out.'

The Lord of Light was unruffled. He continued to insist that he was a fellow called Tom Carter and that he had found out about the realms when he was a professor of archaeology in the Sixth Realm.

'I can prove they exist,' he shouted. 'A new realm is born when an old realm divides and the two parts go their separate ways. The realms share a common past ...'

That started the heads wagging. Some of the guardians seemed to know what he was talking about. Others thought it was nonsense. Arguments broke out and were brought to a halt by the chancellor.

'Order!'

That silenced the guardians but not the Lord of Light.

'Think what it would be like to invade another realm,' he shouted. 'Other realms are not devastated like yours. Their people have not yet achieved your level of technical sophistication. You could subdue them and bend them to your will.'

That set the tongues wagging.

Peter was aghast.

'He's saying he can help them invade other realms. That's just awful. He can't possibly mean it. The Lord of Light would never do a terrible thing like that.'

'He's just playing for time,' Crispin said.

'Are you sure?'

'Ssh!'

The chancellor was wielding his baton of command and calling for order. A blue beam shot from the baton and whirled around the circle of guardians before settling on the podium. It bore into the Lord of Light and he put his hand to his face to ward off the glare.