"That’s what you’re all here for," I said. "To hear the truth at last." I looked out over the crowd, at all the confused, frightened, desperate faces. "You’re here to learn the truth about everything that’s happened. Everything that’s been hidden from you down all the centuries of this family’s existence. The secrets only a Drood can tell you."

"We know you," said a female voice from deep in the crowd. "But what’s the infamous Molly Metcalf doing up there with you?"

There was a general murmur of agreement, quickly cut off as Molly snapped her fingers and the woman in the crowd squeaked loudly as all her clothes suddenly disappeared. Molly smiled sweetly upon the crowd.

"Any more questions? I just love answering questions from the crowd."

And while the crowd was quiet, I told them everything.

I explained to them what the Heart really was and the true nature of the bargain that had given us all our torcs. There were shocked cries and gasps, but no one challenged me. I told them how the bargain had to be confirmed by every new Matriarch, and every eye in the chamber went to Martha Drood. She ignored them all, glaring coldly up at me. I explained how I’d destroyed the Heart, and why they hadn’t all died when their torcs disappeared. And then I told them the final awful secret of the Droods, known only to the inner circle. That we were not the secret defenders of humanity, but their secret rulers.

I think there would have been a riot then, as various factions in the family shouted and pushed at each other, but Jacob rose suddenly up into the air and took on his spectral aspect again. The temperature in the Sanctity plummeted, and we all shuddered, and not just from the cold. Death was in the chamber and looking right at us. Jacob glared about him with no longer human eyes, and everyone went very quiet and very still, not wanting to draw his attention. Jacob sank slowly back onto the platform and resumed his usual form.

From the silence, one voice rose. The Matriarch cursed me, naming me traitor to the family, calling me a fool and a liar and an enemy of everything the Droods stood for. She said I was no grandson of hers and called on every Drood present to rise up and drag me down and kill me. Her voice rose and rose, shrill with fury and hysteria, spittle flying from her mouth, until suddenly the Sarjeant-at-Arms dropped a hand on her shoulder and gave her a good shake. Her voice cut off abruptly, and she looked at him, shocked. The Sarjeant let go of her and turned his back on her to address the crowd.

"You all know me," he said, and his familiar harsh voice held everyone’s attention. "You all know what I stand for. And I tell you, Edwin has earned the right to be heard. He’s the truest son this family ever had. Go on, boy. Tell them what they need to know."

"Thanks," I said. "I still hate your guts, mind."

"Goes with the job," he said, entirely unconcerned. "Get on with it."

So I told them the rest: how I’d been falsely outlawed by the Zero Tolerance faction who were secretly running Manifest Destiny. That really put the cat among the pigeons. They all knew about Truman and what his people stood for.

"We’ve been lied to," I said finally, tiredly. "We’re not who we thought we were. We aren’t the good guys, and haven’t been for centuries. But we can be; we can be what we were meant to be. If you’re prepared to fight for it."

The men and women before me didn’t look much like fighters at the moment. Most of them looked pretty shell-shocked, as though someone had just punched them all in the gut, after hearing so many unpleasant and unsuspected truths one after the other. They looked at each other uncertainly, and then back at me, until finally a voice at the back of the crowd said:

"What do you want us to do?"

"I want us to do what we were born to do! I want us to be what we were always supposed to be: shamans to the tribe, protecting people from all the evil forces that threaten them! Only now the tribe is humanity, and we have to be warriors of the world, fighting the good fight; not for ourselves, but just because it’s the right thing to do! We have to earn the right to be proud to be Droods again!"

"But…how can we fight, without our torcs?" said another voice.

I smiled and let one hand rise to the silver torc at my throat. "The Heart is gone, but fortunately I’ve found a new sponsor for the family." And I subvocalised, Show them, strange matter.

The new armour flowed over me in a moment, encasing me completely in shining silver. The crowd cried out; some even applauded. A great voice spoke to them then, the strange matter addressing the family through me, its voice full of peace and calm and good fellowship:

"Long and long have I pursued the creature you knew as the Heart, across all the many dimensions, to punish it for all its terrible crimes. Now it is gone, I will stay here to help undo the evil it did. I will be your new protector, and there shall be torcs for all."

"How long do you plan on sticking around?" said a practical voice.

"Until I’ve taught you all how to be strong without armour," said the voice. "You have no idea of your true potential."

There was a lot more murmuring in the crowd about that.

"But what price do we have to pay for this new armour?" said another voice in the crowd. "The Heart wanted our children. Our unknown brothers and sisters. What do you want?"

"Just to help," said the voice. "That’s my job. And you’ve already paid me, by destroying the Heart. You have no idea how long I’ve spent chasing that damned thing. I’m just glad it’s finally over…I’m entitled to some leave, so I think I’ll spend it here. Just for a few millennia. Fascinating dimension, fascinating people. You’re really going to have to tell me more about this sex thing you do…"

"Later," I said quickly, subvocalising. "You know, I can’t keep calling you ‘strange matter.’ Don’t you have a name I can use?"

How about Ethel? said the voice in my head. That’s a good name.

"We’ll discuss that later, too," I said. "Now get this armour off me, please."

Oh sure.

The silver armour disappeared back into my torc, and I looked out over the family again. "Follow me, and you’ll all have armour again. And we will all be…what the family was supposed to be, before we lost our way."

"Under your leadership?" the Matriarch said loudly, her voice harsh and unforgiving.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," I said. "Never wanted that. Too much like hard work." There were a few chuckles from the crowd.

"No; we’ve had enough leaders. They can’t be trusted. You all agreed to the Heart’s bargain, Grandmother; generations of Matriarchs agreeing to the slaughter of generations of children."

"We had no choice!" she said fiercely. "We had to be strong, to fight the forces of darkness!"

"You always had a choice," I said. "We never did. We never agreed to the sacrifice of our brothers and sisters, Grandmother."

And there must have been something in my voice, because she looked away and did not answer.

"I suggest an elected council," I said to the crowd. "You can sort out the rules. Except that all current members of the council must be banned. They were part of the conspiracy. Part of the lies. I’ll see things through the transition, and then…I’m out of here. Back to being a field agent again. That’s where I belong."

"If you’re planning to run out on the family, why should we listen to you?" said a female voice in the crowd, only to duck her head down again as Molly looked at her thoughtfully.

"I’m not leaving the family," I said firmly. "Just going back to doing what I do best. Kicking the bad guys’ arses, and making them cry like a baby. Manifest Destiny’s still out there and all the other monsters who’d attack us in a minute if they thought we were weak."