The Bride Wore Black Leather

work in an office. Mr. Nine to Five. Like all the other spineless drones.”
    “I woke up,” Julien said steadily. “I stopped indulging myself, playing hero for the applause of the crowds, and changed tactics. So I could achieve more.”
    “You got old!” said the Sun King. “Work from within, to change the system? That was a specious argument, even in my day. You can’t work within the system without supporting the system; and whatever small changes you do achieve will inevitably be cancelled out by everyone else.”
    “I wanted to change the Nightside in useful ways!” Julien said stubbornly. “Ways that would last!”
    “And have you? All these years you’ve been trying to save and redeem the Nightside, and what have you actually achieved? What’s really changed?”
    “I am part of the new Authorities,” said Julien. “The old order is dead and gone, and their way of doing things. Your way only worked because of you! And you weren’t there any more. I had to find a new, practical way. And I did.”
    “Dreams aren’t supposed to be practical,” said the Sun King. “All these years you wasted your life, Julien. The Nightside is the way it is because it likes it that way. And because vested interests make a lot of money out of keeping it that way. From squeezing dirty profits out of all the sad, pathetic losers who come here, to do the things they wouldn’t be allowed to do anywhere else. How can you defeat that? It’s only night here so people can hide what they’re doing.”
    “It’s not as simple as that,” said Julien.
    “Yes, well, you would say that, wouldn’t you?” said the Sun King. “I don’t see any of the things you say you see here.”
    “Doesn’t mean they aren’t there,” I said.
    I was confused by the Sun King. He was everything Julien had said, and more, and yet . . . there was something off about him. A living god, but with strangely limited perspective. He could only see what he wanted to see, only think in terms of the man he used to be, forty-odd years ago. It was as though he wanted to be a good man . . . if only he could remember how. If only he could concentrate.
    I’m not sure he really heard what we were saying. There was something . . . out of focus about him, for all his blazing presence. I have met living gods, and men who were so much more than human; and none of them had ever seemed as dangerous as this man because he gave every impression of being someone who might sweep the whole world away with a gesture, in a moment, on a whim. Because he couldn’t think of anything better to do.
    “I’m going to bring it all down,” the Sun King said to Julien Advent. “And there’s nothing you can do to stop me. Let the sun shine in . . .”
    So I put up my hand, like a child in class, and that got his attention. “I have a question, oh great and living god. Who are the Entities from Beyond, exactly? What do they call themselves when they’re at home? Only, I’ve had all kinds of contacts with all kinds of other-dimensional entities, and I never heard of them before. Why are you the only one they’ve contacted? Or should that be abducted? Why didn’t they tell you that you’d be spending years communing with them? What were you talking about, all that time? And what, exactly, do they want in return for all the power they’ve given you?”
    The Sun King surprised me then by smiling easily, completely unfazed by my questions. “I approve of you, John Taylor, I really do. Never afraid to ask the awkward questions. Never afraid to put your life on the line to get at the truth. And I approve of your adopted role. The private eye is a respected icon, a modern archetype, protecting those who can’t protect themselves. You’re living your dream. But like Julien, I have to ask, what have you actually achieved?”
    “Are you kidding me?” I said. “I’ve saved people who needed saving! I’ve saved the entire Nightside, and the whole damned planet, on more than one occasion! You should have done your homework. I’m not a private investigator any more. I’m the new Walker.”
    The Sun King shook his head sadly. “Just like Julien. You gave up the Dream, to become the Man. Sold your soul, for power.”
    “Isn’t that what you’ve done?” I said. “And I notice you still haven’t answered any of my questions. What price did you pay to become the Sun King?”
    “I can’t answer your questions because you couldn’t possibly