The Future King: Logres (15 page)

‘I shouldn’t have shouted at you either,’ he added. She slapped the
heatproof mat onto the table, and then slammed the Bunsen burner on top. ‘I’m
sorry.’

‘Where does this go?’ The rubber tube from the apparatus was choked
in her hand. Arthur took it off her.

‘Even if you had kissed Hector, that would have been up to you, and I
had no right to treat you the way I did.’ Gwenhwyfar remained still, listening,
but not looking. ‘I was just under the wrong impression.’

‘I was under the same impression as you,’ Gwenhwyfar responded. ‘And
I didn’t kiss Hector. I would have told you, if you had let me. He kissed me.’

She sat down and tried to light the Bunsen burner. Arthur turned it
on.

‘I know, I’m sorry. I was just… upset. I was stupid, really stupid. I
didn’t mean to hurt you, Gwen.’

Gwenhwyfar heard the sincerity in his words. As she glanced across to
him, she saw it in his eyes, too.

‘And… and I’m really sorry about… when I shut the door, I had no
idea. Had I known what was going on, I would’ve… would’ve…’

How did he know about that? Scowling, she blinked back tears and
stared at the dancing flame. ‘You weren’t to know.’

‘I should have known that Emily and Charlotte would do something like
this. I just didn’t know they were that evil. I hope they get expelled.’

‘They won’t. Their parents give too much to the school. I don’t know
about Hector, though. He might go.’ Gwenhwyfar finally felt sturdy enough to
look his way. He still seemed troubled, but sent her a tentative smile. She
turned back to their work, donning the oversized goggles that were much too big
for her head. Arthur did the same.

‘I like you, you know,’ he ventured. She jerked her dark eyes to his.
‘I do.’

‘And what about Morgan? She fancies you, you must know that.’

‘Don’t be silly.’

‘She does,’ she insisted. ‘It’s obvious. Even Bedivere knows. She wouldn’t
stop blithering on about your little lunch date.’

‘It wasn’t
a date!’

She sent him a narrowed stare. ‘Does she know that?’

‘Look, I’ve just spent the past half hour talking to her about how I
should apologise to you. She even knows I like you. I
told
her.’

She stopped what she was doing. ‘You told Morgan about this?’

‘It won’t be long until the whole school knows, Gwen. Marvin
overheard Mr Hall talking to Mrs Brolstone in the corridors about it. He
suspects that he’s been discussing it more carelessly than he should.’

The temperature of her face seemed to skyrocket and suddenly she was
rendered speechless. It was as if a noose had tightened around her throat. ‘He
does?’

‘I’m sorry.’

She felt a sickening twist of rage and mortification. ‘Bydd fy'n nhad
yn wallgo,’
my father will be furious
,
she hissed.

Arthur gazed at her anxiously. ‘Gwen, I really am sorry.’

‘I know, I know you are.’ She adjusted the flame to make it hotter,
and then recorded the reaction of carbon with iron oxide in her exercise book.
‘I’m just angry. I can be angry, can’t I?’

‘Of course you can.’ He watched her for a while as she worked in
silence, and then began to write some of their findings down.

‘You should talk to Bedivere, you know,’ she said after a while. ‘Emily
took advantage of him to get to you. He had no idea what was going on.’

‘I’m going to talk to him about it this weekend.’ There was a
moment’s silence. ‘What are your plans?’

‘Viola’s got a photo shoot. I might be going with her to that,’ she
lied.

‘A photo shoot?’

‘Yes. You can’t tell anyone, though. She doesn’t want people knowing.
She might become a model.’

‘A model?’ He shrugged. ‘Good for her. You’ll have to tell me how it
goes. I can’t say I agree with the whole thing, though.’

‘No?’

‘My grandmother’s always going on about it. Every time she sees an
advert or a fashion spread, she says:
They
should have used me! It would have been more of a challenge for them to make me
look vapid.
’

‘She sounds interesting, your grandmother,’ Gwenhwyfar observed,
amused by his impression.

‘She is. I think she’d like you. Maybe you should come and meet her,
sometime.’

Gwenhwyfar offered him a growing smile. ‘I’d like that.’

He grinned at her, and for a moment she forgot they’d ever fallen out
at all.

Free Countries

‘
Gwen? Is that you
?’

Her mother spied her from the kitchen, and resumed the preparations
for supper. The smell of home cooking filled the house, and as Gwenhwyfar
closed the door she realised that she was standing on the day’s post. She
stooped to gather it up as Llew whined her a welcome, padding up to her side.
After an affectionate hello to her old friend, Gwenhwyfar sorted through the
letters. Nothing much of interest or import was posted anymore, yet despite
this they still received a New National leaflet detailing what had been done
for their local community each week.

‘What are you making?’ she called to her mother, as she kicked off
her shoes and dumped her bag.

‘Apple crumble!’ Eve exclaimed. Gwenhwyfar paused at a flyer that had
been wedged between two envelopes. It was ripped. ‘How was school?’

‘Fine,’ she replied, scanning the flyer. It read:
Do you dream of a free Britain?
She
wandered through to the kitchen, where her mother’s hands were buried in a bowl
of flour. ‘I think I’ll go and get changed.’

Eve seemed distracted. ‘We’ll be eating a bit later tonight. We have
to go and pick the car up from the garage. You don’t mind keeping an eye on the
supper, do you?’

‘Just let me know when.’ Gwenhwyfar vanished up the stairs.

Once she’d changed into something more comfortable, she settled down
on her bed. Her room was beginning to feel a little more homely now that some
of the boxes were gone and all her furniture was in place. It wasn’t as big as
her old bedroom, but it was definitely cosier, and she had a nice view of their
small garden and the large townhouses beyond.

She examined the flyer again.

Thoughtfully, Gwenhwyfar booted up her computer. The small device
activated just as her phone beeped at her, presenting a message from Viola.

Feel like going to the cinema on Sunday night?

She tapped her thumb quickly over the touch-screen and messaged back,
sure, what time?
, then sat down. The
torn flyer lay before her. She accessed the Internet, typing in a few key words
to examine the results. The first page rendered little. The second, too, had
nothing of interest, and so she tried again but with different words.
Free Countries
brought up scarcely
anything, and
Revolutionary Cause
produced too much. Eventually, she tried typing each word with
Rebels
. This time she had some success.

The fourth website down on the second page seemed like a promising
source. Curiosity caused her to click. When she did, the entire text from the
flyer flashed up on screen. It was a simple site, with black font on a white
background. Gwenhwyfar scrolled down until she no longer recognised it.

What do we believe?

We at
Free Countries
believe in the
right to choose our leaders, the right to freedom of speech, and in the
importance of protecting human rights.

We at
Free Countries
believe in
independence from a no-longer-united Kingdom.

We at
Free Countries
believe that the
New Nationals are abusing their governmental powers, and that George Milton has
no intention of ever holding his long-overdue elections.

We believe in a free Britain.

How do I join
Free Countries
?

If you complete the security
check,
Free Countries
will contact you anonymously with further details.

This website is a smart site and
only appears to non-governmental, safe networks.

Please don’t forget to click the
‘erase’ button at the bottom of this page to wipe your browser history and
evidence of your visit to
Free Countries.

Thank you for your interest in
our cause.

Alarmed, Gwenhwyfar pressed the button immediately. The page
vanished. She checked her browser history; it wasn’t there. Neither was any
indication that her computer had been connected to the address at all.
Curiously, and with
Free Countries
’
promise in mind, she checked her email, but there was nothing new. By the time
her parents left for the garage she was shopping online, and had to force
herself to complete some homework. The rest of the evening passed by quickly,
her mind preoccupied with the words of the website. Before bed she realised
that she’d left the flyer out on her desk, so she ripped it up into small
pieces, and then flushed it down the toilet.

‘Garan! Gwenhwyfar! Good to see you.’

It was Saturday afternoon. Gwenhwyfar’s uncle came into the room, his
arms stretched wide. Garan caught him in a firm handshake.

‘Hello George,’ he said, his claim that their relatives were causing
him a great inconvenience by visiting forgotten. ‘Glad you could make it.’

They released one another, and then Gwenhwyfar was engulfed in a
padded, affectionate hug. The moment she was free her aunt had taken hold of
her.

‘Aunt Melissa,’ she said, with due enthusiasm. ‘It’s so good to see
you. What do you think of the house?’

‘It is lovely, isn’t it?’ Melissa replied, admiring the furnishings
and then the high ceiling. ‘It’s a great space. Lots of light.’

‘I love the front,’ George told them, hovering in the middle of the
kitchen. ‘The brickwork is very handsome. What’s the neighbourhood like?’

‘Good. So far the neighbours seem friendly enough. Most people keep
themselves to themselves,’ Eve told him, moving in for a kiss on the cheek.

‘It was like that when we first moved in too,’ Melissa told them.
‘People will warm to you, once they realise you’re here to stay.’

‘So are you all settled in?’ asked George.

‘Basically. There’s still a few boxes of old stuff in the attic that
I need to go through, but everything else is unpacked.’ Eve sat down. ‘Would
either of you like a drink?’

‘Tea would be lovely.’ Melissa joined her sister at the kitchen
table. ‘George?’

‘Coffee for me, thank you.’

Garan, still at the counter, went to boil the kettle.

‘So where’s Grace?’ Eve asked. ‘At home?’

‘No, she’s here.’ Melissa turned in her seat, and frowned at the
door. ‘Grace?’

‘She said she was getting something from the boot,’ George explained
.

‘She was supposed to be going out with her friends this afternoon. I
said she could postpone it, this once.’ Melissa sighed. ‘Grace!’

‘I’m
coming
!’

The front door slammed, and soon Gwenhwyfar’s cousin was in the room,
observing them all resentfully.

Gwenhwyfar hadn’t seen her since Grace was about eight. Her last
memory of her younger cousin was the impressive waterworks she had displayed
whilst out on a hack in the Welsh countryside, after being told that she
couldn’t ride Eve’s horse. Worn down by the screaming, Eve had allowed her to
sit up front with her on her eighteen-hander with the pony tethered close; only
for Grace to kick the poor beast in the shoulders, spooking the Shire and
sending her spurned ride galloping off across the hillside. It was later found
wandering alongside a motorway after a long hunt to track it down.

Grace was thirteen now, and could still be mistaken for Gwenhwyfar’s
sister. Her hair was auburn and her chin was squarer, but it was the freckles
she had inherited from George that really marked the two cousins apart—her
face was peppered with them.

‘Hello Grace,’ Garan said, much too sweetly. ‘Would you like a
drink?’

‘No.’ Adding a quick ‘thank you’ as an afterthought, Grace went to
sit at the end of the kitchen table, away from her parents. Gwenhwyfar sat at
the breakfast bar and observed as Grace produced her phone and scrolled through
it.

‘We meant to come by sooner, but things have been so busy at the
firm,’ Melissa said, taking the hot tea off Garan. ‘We’re working on a new
case. Tell them about Roehill, George.’

‘We’re trying to claim compensation and a better settle price for
houses that are no longer habitable due to repeated flooding along the Thames,’
George explained as Garan handed him his coffee. ‘The argument is that the
government hasn’t done enough to prevent flooding in the area. The clients and
property owners are hoping to claim under negligence.’

‘And would that be the New Nationals you’re suing, then?’ Garan asked
with interest. Eve shot him a look.

‘No, it’s the Department for Environment and the Ministry of
Defence,’ George explained. ‘It’s a big case. We’re only involved with the
property side. They have others working on it too. They’re going all out.’

‘None of this would be happening if the area wasn’t largely owned by
property developers. Many of the houses are rentals, but at least this way the
independent homeowners might see some compensation.’ Melissa sipped at her tea.
‘There’s a chance the court may just grant an injunction, which wouldn’t be a
bad thing either.’

‘What’s an injunction?’ Gwenhwyfar asked.

‘An injunction means they’d have to intervene to prevent the problem
from happening in the future,’ she explained.

‘I thought the New Nationals were supposed to have a good hold on
climate change?’ Eve frowned.

‘You can’t control the weather,’ George disputed, ‘but you can cause
over-saturation through poor land management. And it’s a historical case. Yes,
the New Nationals are supposedly getting a handle on climate change now, but
previous governments didn’t do enough.’

‘I’m surprised this isn’t a problem elsewhere in the country,’
Gwenhwyfar remarked.

‘Oh, it is. Cities have taken the right precautions, but in many
cases that means dams upstream which flood rural areas. It’s the coastal towns
that are the problem. Many are now below sea level and are relying on dykes. I
rather feel they should just relocate further inland, if possible. Or look at
some of these land-reclaiming projects they have going, you know, like they
used to do in Singapore.’

‘Except then you leave massive holes in the earth elsewhere,’ Melissa
pointed out, looking to George. ‘Really, I don’t know why anyone would buy on
anything other than a very high hill these days. Can you imagine what would
happen if the dams and dykes in London failed?’

There was a moment’s
silence. Gwenhwyfar could tell that her father was holding his tongue.

‘I’m making tortillas tonight,’ Eve announced. She turned to her
sister. ‘Would you like to stay for dinner?’

‘That would be nice, wouldn’t it?’ Melissa beamed. ‘Grace? What do
you think?’

Grace pouted. ‘But I said I’d meet Josey at six.’

‘You can always see her tomorrow,’ George suggested.

‘I already had to change my plans once today,’ Grace huffed. She
turned to her mother. ‘Can’t Dad just drive me home? You can have dinner here,
if you want.’

‘Grace, I don’t think that’s entirely practical,’ Melissa started,
her voice low.

‘You don’t have to stay. Some other time, maybe?’ interjected Garan.

‘No, we’d love to stay for dinner,’ George said firmly. He looked to
Grace. ‘Wouldn’t we?’ Grace said nothing. ‘Grace?’

‘
Fine
,’ she muttered.

‘Shall we do a tour?’ Gwenhwyfar stood up, and the tension in the
room dissolved. George and Melissa were keen, so she led the Swan family
upstairs to explore the rest of the house, showing them everything but Garan’s
office.