“Ordinary people. They need things like this, things from the past, to reassure them.”

“This lot wouldn’t reassure anyone,” said Whitney.

“This is the Royal Family,” said David importantly. “Legitimate rulers of England.”

“No way, man,” said Blue. “It’s a joke.”

“The kids out there don’t have to know how bad off they are.”

“They’re grown-ups,” said Lewis. “Everyone knows how bad grown-ups are.”

“We’ll lie. Say they’re special. Show them on the balcony now and then. From a distance they’ll look fine.”

A man flopped to the floor and started to crawl off the dais toward the kids, saliva dripping from his open mouth. Two of the guards picked him up and put him back on his throne.

“Don’t worry, they’re completely harmless,” said David. “But in the right hands they could be a powerful weapon. Other children out there will—”

“Wait a minute,” said Achilleus. “You keep talking about other kids. What other kids? I thought this was it.”

“There are children all over the place,” said David. “Children like you. We just have to find them. That’s what Jester was trying to do. Our plan is to organize the whole of London.”

“By organize, you mean rule?” said Blue.

“Call it what you like,” said David. “But if we’re to stand any chance of creating a secure and prosperous new world to live in, we all have to work together. And for that we need a figurehead.”

“That lot of zombies?” said Blue scornfully, pointing to the grown-ups on the dais. “They’re gonna look great on the stamps.”

“They’re a symbol,” said David. “That’s all. Before, when we had a queen on the throne, she had no real power.”

“At least she could walk and talk,” said Blue.

“As I say,” David went on, “nobody needs to know just how sick they are.”

“So if they’re like, the Royal Family, what does that make you, then?” asked Whitney. “The prime minister?”

“I am a sort of lord chamberlain,” said David.

“A lord what?”

“The person who puts the king’s will into practice. When the king is weak, the chamberlain has the power. In times of crisis you need a strong person in control. But the Royal Family can unite everyone and provide a link to the past.”

“We don’t want no link to the past,” said Whitney. “We don’t want no new royal family. You think this is going to make things easier? This bunch of idiots on the throne? You’re crazy.”

At this, David stormed over to Whitney and shouted into her face.

“I am not crazy! I am the only person who can pull this country back together. I am your only hope for a secure future.”

Whitney grabbed David by the throat and put her face very close to his.