Live and Let Drood

Watched your back as much as I dared. You’ve achieved so much.…I have always been so very proud of you, Eddie.”
    “Then why didn’t you come back!” I couldn’t keep all the anger out of my voice. “After I destroyed the Heart and overthrew the Matriarch…”
    “I had responsibilities here,” said the Regent. I still found it easier to think of him that way. He met my gaze steadily. “I had my organisation, all my shadow agents, to consider, and…I’d built a new life here. A new family. I couldn’t just walk out on them, could I? I wasn’t even a proper Drood anymore.…Martha couldn’t take my torc from me, but she did persuade the Heart to seal me off from my armour. I haven’t been able to call on it since I left the Hall.
    “I did mean to reach out to Martha, at least, but I always thought there would be time later. We always think that, until it’s too late. And to be honest, I wanted to wait and see if your changes would last. You’re not the first angry young Drood to try to reform the family by force, you know. Were you really surprised, Eddie, when they took the democracy you gave them and used it to vote you out?”
    “Not really,” I said. “No…”
    “I almost came back,” said the Regent. “When word reached me that Martha had been murdered. Right there, in her own bed, in her own quarters, in the Hall. I never really thought she’d agree to see me again, even after everything had changed, but I always thought that, perhaps…someday…right up till I heard she was dead. I realised then I could never go back to the Hall. No one remembered me, so my turning up would only have muddied the waters. And I didn’t want todo anything that would interfere with finding Martha’s killer. I did hear…you killed the man who murdered her, Eddie.”
    “Yes,” I said. “I’ll tell you the whole story someday. Some other time. It was the least I could do for her.”
    “Thank you for that,” said the Regent. “I have to ask: I did hear that you’d been killed.…”
    “Not permanently,” I said. “Molly saved me.”
    The Regent smiled at her. “Thank you for that, Molly Metcalf.”
    She just nodded stiffly. I didn’t quite understand then that she thought she was still looking out for me. That she didn’t trust anyone else to have my best interests at heart. I looked at the Regent.
    “So, you knew all about me? When I was a field agent here?”
    “Of course,” said the Regent. “Why do you think James and Jack worked so hard to get you posted here?”
    “All those years,” I said. “You were so close, but you never once reached out to me! Never told me the truth! Why not, Grandfather? How could you leave me on my own for so long?”
    “I had my reasons,” the Regent said steadily. “I couldn’t contact you. Martha would have named you rogue, just for knowing about me.”
    “She did that, anyway, eventually,” I said.
    “I know. Martha never was the kind to let sentiment get in the way of what she believed needed doing. The job, the never-ending duties and responsibilities, they just ground all the softer emotions out of her. I saw it happening even while I was still there, but there was nothing I could do. I could protect her from everyone but herself. It was never safe, for either of us, for me to reach out to you. If any of our enemies had discovered the true nature of our relationship, you can be sure they would have found some way to use it against us. I did what I could to watch over you from the shadows. But now…you and I are the only family we have left. Apart from the other rogues, of course. Is the Hall really completely destroyed, Eddie? Nothing left but ruins?”
    I was about to tell him the truth, when Molly stopped me with a sharp look. She didn’t trust the Regent. I could tell.
    “Eddie,” she said, “I’m glad you’ve found your grandfather after allthis time. Really, I am. But some secrets should stay secrets. Until we’re sure of…the situation.”
    I just scowled at her, resentful that she couldn’t share my happiness. But the Regent was already nodding his head solemnly.
    “Spoken like a true agent, Molly. Your secrets can wait, whatever they are.” He turned back to me. “Tell me what it is you need right now, Eddie. Why have you come here, to the Regent of Shadows, to the Department of the Uncanny?”
    Despite myself, I forced my emotions down and put on my professional persona. I wanted to believe in the Regent, but I