The Key

by Marianne Curley

  ‘My gift to you is the enhancing of your affinity with animals, so that you will be able to communicate with them, and they will be able to communicate with you.’

  This gift is as special as Queen Brystianne earlier boasted. Along with the others, I can’t help but applaud. Neriah is overwhelmed with gratitude. She looks up to thank Queen Brystianne and her face is full of joy.

  The remaining gifts are almost as exciting; clearly Neriah is a favourite among them. King Richard is last, and his is a physical gift. He hands Neriah a brush, a fine and delicate paintbrush that fits neatly in the palm of her hand. ‘With this brush you will be able to paint passageways into other worlds. It will take time to perfect the skill, and one day you won’t need the brush to accomplish this same task. It is a great responsibility, Neriah. You must use this power wisely. Practise with the brush but do not fret if you should lose it. It will work for no other hand, and the power I speak of is already within you.’

  He sits and I think about his gift. It has the potential to be powerful beyond words. And I have to wonder, who is this girl – daughter of a traitor – who has won the hearts of all these honourable people?

  Lorian stands and approaches Neriah with his gift. Lifting his hands to hover over her head he says in simple words, ‘I give you the gift of Truthseeing.’

  Murmurs ripple around the room, but the consensus is that while the gift is generous, it is also befitting. As Lorian’s gift is bestowed on her, and Neriah becomes a Truthseer, the Tribunal members and Arkarian start to applaud.

  When it is over, Neriah goes to stand, but Lorian waves her down. ‘There is one more of us here today who has a gift to pass to this girl.’

  The Tribunal members start murmuring to each other, and heads bob up and down.

  Lorian glances at me. ‘Matt, will you come into the Circle?’

  Though phrased in the form of a question, Lorian’s ‘request’ is more of a command. I do as he says. ‘Yes, my lord?’

  ‘Do you have a gift to pass to this girl?’

  His question takes me completely by surprise. Sure I have a gift for someone. It’s my father’s assurance that I will not live an eternity on my own. I remember his instructions well. I’m to nurture this gift until I find the right one. I would know her, he told me, by looking into her mind. I look down at Neriah now. ‘Is she the one?’

  Lorian smiles, and for a moment he almost resembles his brother.

  ‘But …?’ If this is so, why can’t I see it?

  ‘We have been wondering,’ he says beside me, still looking amused.

  Neriah glances around the room looking uncomfortable. She starts to get up.

  ‘Sit down, Neriah,’ Lorian commands, then looks at me and waits.

  I go to take another look, but Neriah has suddenly become more interested in the subtle patterns of the tiled flooring. I take a deep breath to try and calm my racing thoughts, then with the tip of my finger under Neriah’s chin, I lift her head. Our eyes meet, hold, and the truth suddenly hits me. Neriah is the one person I am destined to share my life with – for ever! She will one day become a member of the Tribunal. Everyone in this room knows it – that’s why so many of her gifts were about judgement and mercy and such. It’s also why the Tribunal members hold her in such high regard.

  And then I remember my promise to Dillon. Mr Carter’s warning suddenly comes flinging back at me: ‘Be careful what you promise’.

  ‘Oh no!’

  Neriah’s head jerks at my words, and I realise I’ve spoken them out loud. She squirms and looks uncomfortable.

  In front of all these people I’m at a loss to explain.

  ‘Matt, are you ready?’ Lorian asks beside me. ‘It’s time to do this.’

  I nod, half in a daze, and Lorian goes back to his stool.

  Taking a deep calming breath, I lift my hand to rest against her forehead, just as Dartemis showed me. And with all the skill and power that my father taught me, I draw on the gift I have been minding on his behalf. ‘Neriah Gabriel, I give you the gift of … Immortality.’

  The instant the word is spoken the room begins to shake. Some of the Tribunal members gasp, others reach out and hold hands. Lorian tries to calm them. And as he does so, a golden light emits from my hand against Neriah’s forehead. It pushes into her and her skin takes on a golden glow from the inside. It works its way through her body from her forehead, through her arms, chest, torso and legs, right down to her toes. You can even see it through her white tunic. Suddenly she shudders with the force. But it is soon over, and while her skin still glows, it does so softly now.

  She glances at her hands, turning them over.

  ‘It will pass. Your skin will return to normal by morning.’

  Lorian comes over and motions for Neriah to stand. When she does, it is on slightly unsteady legs. Lorian declares we should now go and join Dillon in a sumptuous feast. The room erupts in cheering, and many of the Tribunal members come over to congratulate Neriah.

  The doors are unlocked and soon everyone finds their way to a dining room laid out with tables of food and drink. Dillon comes over and comments on Neriah’s gently glowing skin. Neriah is quick to explain it away, and I notice she doesn’t tell him she is now a Truthseer. She probably needs time to adjust.

  For most of the evening Neriah makes sure to never be alone with me. If she sees me coming, she quickly finds someone to talk to and immerses herself in conversation. Most of the time Dillon is never far from her side. He keeps his eye on her even when Lorian goes over to talk to him.

  The room – in fact the whole palace – becomes stifling and I go outside. In the courtyard I find a pair of amazing golden birds locked in a cage. They see me and come right up to the wire and start singing. It is the most melancholy, mournful sound I have ever heard. I get the sense that they’re trying to tell me something. I use my power to listen in their language, but their thoughts are blocked to me. Their singing grows faster. Their pitch rises. They start pushing against the fine mesh, flapping and scraping their wings.

  Lady Arabella appears beside me, and the birds go silent.

  ‘They seem disturbed,’ I remark.

  She starts fiddling with the trays at the bottom of the cage. ‘With all the excitement today, I’ve forgotten to change their seed. They’re just hungry, that’s all.’ She places the fresh seed inside their cage, but they don’t touch it. ‘There, there, my lovelies.’

  ‘Where did you find them?’

  ‘They found me,’ she says.

  ‘They don’t belong in this world.’

  She sighs. ‘It must be why they sing so mournfully.’

  ‘Why do you keep them locked in a cage?’

  She gives me a wide-eyed look. ‘For their protection. They’re injured, and until they can fly again, they’re in danger from wolves and other wild animals.’

  ‘Ask Isabel to heal them. Then you can let them go.’

  ‘She can heal creatures other than human?’

  For some unknown reason I don’t want to give her any more information about my sister. I try to think of something to switch the subject and run a hand over the fine craftsmanship of the cage. ‘It’s a work of art.’

  ‘Yes. Jimmy is amazing, isn’t he?’

  ‘Jimmy built this?’

  ‘I’m not sure if there’s anything he can’t do, or hasn’t had a hand in making around here. He’s very talented. And his timing is impeccable. Whether you need him or not, he always seems to be there, one step ahead of you.’

  ‘Yes,’ I murmur, unconsciously agreeing. Jimmy is the Protector. He has access to every high-security area, and he knows all the secret doors and passageways into and out of the city. In fact, they’re his security systems that guard us all. But look what happened with Neriah’s house – Marduke broke through its defences.

  ‘Are you all right, Matt?’ Lady Arabella asks.

  But my thoughts are still with Jimmy. Arkarian trusts him with his life. Dartemis trusts him with th
e mother of his son! Do I have the right to doubt him? Am I just being paranoid? I recall Arkarian’s warning to keep the key safe from everyone because we don’t know who we can trust. Did he mean Jimmy too? Other than Arkarian, Jimmy is the only other person who knows where I’ve hidden the key. In fact, he’s the one who helped me secure its hiding place.

  From the corner of my eye I see Neriah running through a door at the far end of the courtyard. Lady Arabella notices too. ‘Don’t make the same mistakes Lorian has made.’

  Not quite sure what she’s talking about, I get the sense she believes I should follow Neriah and make amends. I think it’s a good idea, and so I put thoughts of the traitor out of my mind for now. Anyway, I can’t go suspecting people just because their skills give them access to high-security areas! And while I’ve had my issues with Jimmy, he’s never given me any reason not to trust him.

  The troubled birds appear to have quietened down now, so with one last look I pull away from the cage. My hands have dust on them and I brush them down the sides of my cloak. ‘The cage is dusty. I thought it was new.’

  Lady Arabella looks at me with a vacant stare. ‘Dust? Oh, yes, it blows in on the night wind. I’ll clean it right away.’ And then she adds, pointing to the gate Neriah disappeared through, ‘You’d better hurry. It’s easy to lose sight of someone in the dark around these hills.’

  I take off and soon find myself searching the hills outside the palace walls. I spot Neriah running past some scrub and bush. I follow and find her sitting on a grass-covered mound overlooking ancient Athens in the moonlight.

  She sees me and gets up, looking around for a place to run.

  ‘Don’t go!’

  She pauses and I catch up.

  She says, ‘What do you want?’

  ‘To talk. To clear up our misunderstanding.’

  ‘OK, that’s simple. I’m sorry you have to spend the rest of your life with me.’

  I stare at her in awe. Her skin is still glowing, but even without this, she is still the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. ‘You knew our lives were destined to be entwined from the moment we first met.’

  She thinks about this for a moment, then bursts into laughter. ‘Of course.’

  The sound of her laughter ripples through me. ‘I could listen to your voice all of my life.’

  She laughs again and twirls around and around. The moonlight appears to dance around her. I grab her arms and hold her still. ‘Stop, you’re making me dizzy.’

  Breathlessly she whispers, ‘But you are making me so happy.’

  ‘I didn’t think I could feel like this again. I didn’t want to.’

  ‘And now?’

  ‘Now, looking at you, I know it’s right.’

  She smiles. ‘Remember when you rescued me from Lathenia’s palace, where she had me locked in an enchanted cage?’

  ‘Yes.’ I wonder where she’s going with this.

  ‘And I told you she locked me in the cage because I had come into one of my powers and she feared that I might escape?’

  ‘Yes.’ Now I’m really confused.

  Neriah pulls away and starts to dance and swirl around. Before I realise what’s happening, her long slender shape changes form. Her arms become fluttering wings, while her legs shorten and keep shifting until she transforms into the shape of a dove! She hovers in the air directly in front of me, and in my head I hear her say: Come with me!

  My heart races at the thought. I will the shape of a dove and together we soar into the sky, and I feel freer than I’ve ever felt before.

  We fly over Athens, enjoying the sight of this ancient city, but more so the company of each other. Time passes and it is easy to forget the dinner in the palace that continues without us. She understands my concerns and we fly back to the hill, changing into our human shapes as soon as our feet touch the ground. We find ourselves standing so close together, that our bodies touch from shoulder to knee. Without any effort we wrap our arms around each other. As if it is the most natural thing in all the worlds, my mouth finds hers and we kiss. We kiss for a long time, and all that is around us ceases to exist.

  A rustling, snapping sound jolts me back to the reality of where I am and what my responsibilities are.

  ‘What is it?’ Neriah whispers against my chest.

  My arms tighten around her, instinctively feeling the need to protect. Something, or someone is out there. The sound is too much like a twig being purposefully snapped in two. ‘It’s nothing,’ I try to reassure.

  ‘Is someone watching?’ she asks again.

  I don’t voice my suspicions out loud and I screen them as hard as I can. ‘Come on. We’d better get back before we’re missed.’

  But I suspect we have already been missed.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Matt

  The trip to Athens has an unsettling effect. When Arkarian shifts me back into my bed, I wake with a jolt, and glance at the digital clock on my bedside chest. It reads past two a.m. I roll over and try to get back to sleep, but thoughts of the promise I made Dillon go round and round in my head. This is a promise I can’t keep any more. I have to talk to Dillon the first chance I get.

  For no explainable reason I suddenly get a feeling that something isn’t right inside the house. I close my eyes for a moment, searching for the cause. I wonder if this feeling is because of Neriah and what just passed between us. We returned at the same time. She should be sleeping next door in Isabel’s bedroom.

  I decide to check on Mum first. Even though she’s with Jimmy all the time now, and his job is to protect her with his life, there are still many dangers. Except for her, everyone that lives in this house is a member of the Guard. This is a threat to her safety.

  But Mum is sleeping soundly while Jimmy snores away alongside her. It’s then, as I turn from Mum’s room to Isabel’s, that this eerie sense hits me full on. And now I understand exactly where it’s coming from and why. I yank Isabel’s bedroom door open, startling Neriah into wakefulness.

  ‘Matt? What’s wrong?’

  ‘Where is she?’

  She rubs her eyes. ‘Who?’

  ‘Isabel!’ To prove my point, I switch on the light beside Isabel’s bed, then pull back the bed covers, to reveal two pillows placed down the centre of her mattress to form the shape of her sleeping body.

  Neriah tiptoes over to take a look. She looks at me with a puzzled frown and lifts her hands. She doesn’t know, but her thoughts tell me she’s quickly figuring it out. Realising I’m in her head, she scrambles her thoughts and stares at me with as blank an expression as she can find.

  Inside, my blood begins to simmer. Jimmy comes into the room. The second our eyes connect I know he knows. And this thought makes my blood boil to exploding point. ‘You knew about this?’

  He comes towards me with his hands stretched out. ‘Now wait a minute, Matt.’

  ‘You knew and still you let her go! Don’t tell me you were in on her little deceitful plan. What sort of a Protector are you?’

  ‘Keep your voice down, you’ll wake your mother.’

  As I prepare to use my wings, Jimmy grabs both of my arms. ‘Don’t go there, Matt. Arkarian would never hurt Isabel. The two of them have nothing to hide.’

  I shrug off Jimmy’s grasp and he flies backwards with the thrust. ‘If that were true, then why do they meet in secret in the middle of the night?’

  I don’t wait for an answer. Instead, I use my wings, and in the next moment find myself standing in the dark outside the secret entrance to Arkarian’s chamber. He has brought her here. I feel their presence inside, even through all this dirt and rock. Open the door, Arkarian! Open it now!

  Nothing. Like a spider’s web I project my mind through the corridors inside, searching. I know you have my sister in there, Arkarian. If you have nothing to hide, then why do you bring her up here in secret?

  The entrance opens and a dark corridor reveals itself. Inside, the hallway is lit by only one or two softly burning ca
ndles. I storm up and down the flickering shadows trying door after door, but they’re all locked. I stand still for a moment and try to slow my breathing. It will help me work out which room they’re in.

  At last Arkarian appears before a doorway to my left. He throws his hands into the air. ‘I know you’re mad, but before you see Isabel, you have to let me explain.’

  Explain! ‘What is there to explain? Is Isabel with you, or not?’

  The door Arkarian is protecting opens and Isabel comes out, sliding her arms into the sleeves of her long black coat. She works her way around Arkarian to stand between us. ‘Will you slow down a minute? Not that it’s any of your business, but we were just trying to find a few moments to be together.’

  ‘You can explain all you like at home.’

  ‘Matt, you’re overreacting.’

  ‘I saw your bed, Isabel. You planned this. That’s what I’m upset about. The secrecy.’

  ‘Matt,’ Arkarian says softly, ‘if you calm down you’ll realise the only reason we came here in secret was because of the reaction we expected from you.’

  ‘Oh, really? How do I know you’re not lying when you just proved how deceitful you can be?’ I stand near the doorway. ‘Isabel, I want you to come home now.’

  ‘You can’t tell me what to do,’ Isabel says through gritted teeth. ‘Matt, I’m sixteen, and you’re not my father!’

  ‘Well he’s not here, is he?’

  A look comes into her eyes, a look of pain and hurt. Instantly I regret my words. But I’m only trying to make her see. It’s because of me that her father left us so long ago. He knew I wasn’t his child and while he tried to make it work with Mum, this fact kept grating on him. He took to alcohol. In the end he thought Isabel was better off without him. That’s why I have to look after her. The day Isabel’s father left, I promised him I would.