Revolting Rose

Chapter 6/Part 1 - Bubbles and Squeak

"Good evening, Mister Nibbs. Is all well with Pagne?" Lord Kabech asked as he made his way down the palace's grand staircase.

Nibbs had hoped to get in and through to his office without meeting the old sod along the way. "You have nothing to worry about, my liege. Pagne's mother is taking good care of him." He whipped his arms behind him to hide the confiscated canvas from Kabech's prying eyes.

"You've left the boy alone with the horned folk?" Kabbech replied with a slow nod.

"They know well not to lead him astray, nor would he let them. I've raised him a good Tyvern lad, my liege." Nibbs tried to sidle around him, but the Lord followed his every step.

"Remind me again who the patrons of the Academy are, if you would. Are they Tyvern or have they expanded their business recently?" Kabech inquired coldly.

"Tyvern, my liege, but Pagne has learnt from the mistakes of those around him."

Kabech gave Nibbs a long, hard stare of disapproval, but let it rest. "What are you hiding back there, Nibbs? Is it a present from Pagne?"

Nibbs shifted away from him, hoping he could keep the Lord's curiosity at bay. "I'm afraid this is not a gift, my liege. It's something that I confiscated from some common girl in town, nothing you need to trouble yourself with. I'll go burn it so that you never have to look upon such distaste."

"I never thought that my own Right Hand would hide things from me," Kabech's eyes sunk to the floor and his sagging face drooped with them. He dragged himself back up the stairs as if he was going to his deathbed, one feeble step at a time. "Oh, woe. It seems Pagne is the only one I can trust in this world, but I was too blind to keep him safe from those birds and now he has left me here, all alone with liars and lewd fellows."

Kabech stopped on the first landing of the stairs and looked up at the stupendously sized portrait of his deceased, Amphelian Queen. He wiped his dribbling nose on his sleeve and stroked the painting, then turned his pathetic, sunken eyes on Nibbs. "I will be in my chambers, waiting for an inevitable betrayal..." he sobbed softly, then continued up the stairs.

"My liege, I have received word that the soldiers will have victory before the week is out. They will soon storm Kyos' lair and slay the dragon!" Nibbs called after him. Much as he did not care for Kabech's exaggerated misery, he had to stay in the fellow's good graces until Pagne's place as heir was secured.

"You're just telling me sweet nothings, Mister Nibbs. How could I ever believe a word you say again?" Kabech said. His steps had become so slow and unsteady that it seemed unlikely he would ever reach the top of the stairs without aid.

Nibbs begrudgingly gave him the support he needed. "It's no lie, my liege. When Kyos and his goblins are cut down, we can finally put an end to that wretched fiend that killed your beloved Athunier," he whispered in the Lord's ear.

"Athunier's secrets led to her death. I would hate for you to meet an untimely end as she did, Nibbs." Kabech trembled and swayed, then lost his footing.

As Nibbs shifted to catch him, he dropped the painting. While he was still reeling around, Kabech had already swooped down on the sketch. It was remarkable how quickly the old sod found his strength again.

"It's not even finished, Mister Nibbs!" exclaimed Kabech. "What would I want an unfinished painting for? Fetch the artist and the girl, and be sure to introduce her to the court. I admire her boldness."

Nibbs could not believe his ears. "Boldness? It's blatant indecency, my liege!"

"Do not lecture me about decency, Mister Nibbs!" Kabech said, pinching his ear like a child's. "I see nothing indecent in this. It is art and she is not showing anything I would not want young Pagne to see." The Lord had passed the painting to a servant girl who had been harassing a potted potato at the bottom of the stairs. "Take that somewhere that I'm likely to find it again." He shooed her without ever casting a single glance at the girl. "Now, Mister Nibbs. You were confident that I will have Kyos' head on a platter to open the Season with?"

"Yes, my liege," Nibbs replied while trying to use frantic hand signals to tell the maid that the painting should be sent to his office. He would have had better luck communicating with the potato. Which, as it happened, had plopped out of its pot and was now crawling in the direction of his office, strolling past them on its roots.

"Then there is no reason to prolong the fiend's life then, is there?" Kabech grinned and erupted with sadistic laughter. "How long has it been since I wanted to drown that vile creature?"

"Twenty years, my liege, and now the time has come. But drowning is hardly worthy. Allow me the pleasure of finding a fitting fate." Nibbs said, leading the way into the dungeons. He was not so keen as the Lord, reluctant to lose the subject of his experiments. He had been on the brink of unravelling the secrets of Nonsense. Fortunately Kyos was still out there, and he would prove much better for study.

"The privilege is all yours, Mister Nibbs. You are the expert in these matters," Kabech said as he went down the dark passage between cells.

Nibbs veered off to his storage closet, but was stunned to find it had been completely cleared out. Then, deeper down in the dungeon, a heavy metallic thunk boomed through the passage. He sprinted to the source to find the Lord heaving with rage.

"Find him, Nibbs! Find that darned fiend!" Kabech grabbed him by the collar of his coat and shook him hysterically. "But bring Pagne back here first. What if it escaped to hunt him?"

"Pagne is hardly alone. He has the Wyverkiiri of the Academy around him," Nibbs replied with a much cooler head.

"The fiend is half one of those. How do you know the other Wyverkiiri won't help it?" Kabech released Nibbs and began to pace anxiously. "I've not heard anything of the King since the fiend's birth. Have the soldiers not seen him?"

"Nobody has seen him for years, my liege. I assumed living in a cave with a dragon did not bode well for the old fellow," Nibbs replied and held Kabech still. "Remember, Pagne is also half Wyverkiiri, and his mother and half-brothers are with him. He should be safe, but I will bring him back."

"Just get out there and find Pagne!" Kabech pushed him down the dungeon path. "And find the Lady in the painting while you're at it. Don't fret too much about the painter. I'm sure we can find a more talented replacement."

"I will try, my liege. But—"

"You will succeed, Mister Nibbs. I'll accept no less."

Kabech gave Nibbs another shove. He departed with only a minor delay, intercepting the maid with the sketch as she attempted to hang it sideways in a hallway. With no time to destroy it, Nibbs brought the sketch with him as he went to find Pagne.