“This is Axit, a girl from our farm. You will recall she is looking after Prince Leon,” said Minda.
Axit nodded. She held out her hand. “Here are nettle leaves,” she said nervously. “They are not so good at summer’s end. I found a few tops.”
Her eyes fell on the basket and widened. “Ooh! A trellet!”
They looked at her and at the basket. Keet sat up and was staring at her hands.
“’Tis a trellet! Where did it come from?”
“It turned up,” said Minda. “Have you seen one of these before?”
“Oh, yes, ma’am, but they’re nasty! It may be better to just let it go.”
“He’s injured – he says he’s dying. I have sent for a healer.”
“Ooh.” She leaned closer for a better look but stayed out of reach. “They can be snappish, and they are very quick. Much better just to throw a towel over the basket and put it outside in a tree.”
“Give me the nettles!” snarled Keet. “Stupid girl!”
She gave him an amused smirk. “I will give you the nettle tops, trellet! Do not bite me!” She cautiously flipped the leaves into the basket. Keet gathered them up with his good hand and both feet faster than the eye could follow, and huddled back into his nest possessively.
“Good Goddess!” remarked Coltic. The nettles vanished into the sharp little mouth.
“Goodness! We may need a person dedicated to procuring nettles,” said Scylla.
“Oh, no,” Axit assured her. “They eat fast, but very lightly. He may go dormant after he eats. Then he can be taken safely out and left in a tree, or under a thicket.”
“It will help the healer if he goes dormant,” said Minda.
Axit was eyeing the creature. “They are usually only seen in the deep forest. I wonder how he came here?”
No one enlightened her, as no one knew, exactly.
“He has saved me three times – in the forest, before the attack on the road, and also with his warning about the priest.”
Keet stopped his busy chewing for a moment, snapping, “I saved you twice in the forest, you foolish creature!”
“Keet,” said Mako when the last of the leaves had disappeared into the trellet’s mouth. “We thank you for saving the queen’s life.”
“Do not thank me. I am here under duress, and look what it has got me.”
“Duress...? Nevertheless, you are here and we thank you.”
“Being the greatest of the trellet tribe... the fastest... the strongest... I was chosen to intercede,” bragged the trellet. “No one warned me I would die in the attempt!”
“The healer will do her best,” said Minda. She said under her breath to Mako, “... I hope.”
“You were sent? Who sent you?”
Keet looked sly and said nothing. He huddled down into his nest.
“I ask that you help us one more time,” Mako said.
“Hmmmm! There are those who feel that danger has spread to this forest, this realm... There is more at risk than just this... insignificant... kingdom.”
“Are you from our forests?”
“Not I! I am from...” His little mouth yawned, showing a set of sharp teeth. They all stared at him, fascinated.
“From where?”
“I am from the greater realm on the other side of the mountains. I was sent because I am the fastest, the greatest!”
“Who sent you?” Mako asked again. Then he hesitated. “May I rephrase that... how is it that those in another kingdom – Gryor, I presume – heard of treachery here in Rellant?”
“Within three days,” added Coltic. “The mountains are all but impassible, and a voyage by boat takes several days.”
“You giants... have grown so stupid,” the trellet mocked them. “So far from the roots of these lands... If it were up to me, I would let you all slaughter each other...” He yawned again. “Except that you giants can be so... destructive...”
“Keet!” Mako commanded. “Tell us who sent you!”
He gave them a nasty little grin. “Wouldn’t you like to know!”
“Yes,” said Scylla. “We would. Please, Keet. If you don’t tell us we are still in danger.”
“Oh, the danger continues... it does! There is evil swirling through the lands...”
The girl, Axit, spoke up. “If you tell us, trellet, we will return you to your forest. If you don’t, I will throw you into the sea while you lie dormant!”
Keet shrieked in horror. He chattered hysterically for a moment, words of gibberish. “Tell us!” Axit demanded. She put her hands on her hips and glared at the basket.
“The mice!” screeched Keet. “The mice saw the killings at the hunting abode. The mice told the rats! The rats told the squirrels. The squirrels told the birds! The birds told the trees! The trees told the trellets! The trellets in your forest, that is! They are a timid tribe, not like us in neighboring lands! But...” he wound down, yawning again. “But Rellant’s trellets knew of the danger spreading throughout the lands. It is evil! Evil.....!” His eyes began to close.
Axit snapped. “Do not go dormant yet, trellet!”
He snarled viciously. His eyes opened, blinking. “The white swans were sent to carry the word to our land... there is resistance, active resistance. We... have not won... but... we have not yet lost! There is still hope...”
His eyes began to close. Axit leaned closer. “Trellet!”
“We need to know,” Mako said urgently.
The trellet smirked, even as his limbs began to slacken. “The treachery, the slaughter...! One princess remained, but she was lost in the forest and without her, a great blow would be struck to her land... and our lands... I was chosen to intercede... I rode on the back of the great white swan...” He shuddered. “Over the sea, above the waves...” His teeth chattered in terror. His eyes opened once last time. “There is danger in this land... but less now, thanks to the great Keet! In our land, the danger remains...”
“Keet,” Mako said his name again. “What danger?”
“... the power... the ancient... the...” Keet’s eyes closed, his limbs slackened and he went silent. Then his eyes opened just a slit. “The danger in our land... is a danger to you... if it is... not...” His whisper died away.
The room was silent. The faint voices of Leon and the soldiers intruded from the roof garden outside the chambers.
Axit said, “He’s gone dormant. I doubt you will wake him.”
“The priests,” Mako mused. “Rellant’s priests, we are told, have begun to follow ancient ways, turning to evil. They have ambitions... or had.” He looked around the room, and out through the window where the tiny form of Prince Leon appeared to be learning swordplay with a dagger from one of the soldier’s belts.
“The high priest and one of the others had the means of suicide about their persons... and used it,” Mako continued. “One has died in resistance, and another has begun to speak. The other two are younger and we do not entirely believe they were part of the treachery.”
“But what danger does the trellet warn of?” asked Scylla.
“They had planned to crown Prince Darwyn. As we know, he was a stupid and disgusting man and easy to manipulate. With Darwyn gone, Prince Leon was an even better choice, a young child without any power at all. This is all we have been able to gain from the priests. There may be others at large. I am beginning to think that this treachery has its roots in the court of our neighboring lands.”
“The kingdom of Gryor... the young king there is weak. He is nicknamed the Puppet,” Coltic offered.
“I have heard rumors,” Minda said thoughtfully.
“I was there in the shipyards when the old king died.” Coltic was thinking, looking inwardly. “Some six or seven years ago. I was on the boats as guard, shipping wool to those lands. Our wool, you know,” he said, his eyes moving to Scylla. “Rellant’s wool is of high quality and prized in other lands. As are our woven fabrics, and our wool felts...”
“Never mind,” said Scylla impatiently
. “Go on!”
“There was a fire at the top of the castle, where the royal family resided. We saw the flames in the upper windows. The king died – two of the young princes also died... a younger child, a princess, was injured but lived, at least for a time. One prince, who is now king, survived the fire.”
“What about the queen?”
“I believe she had returned to her home country some time previously. I do not know any more than that.”
“And we hear that the young king is but a puppet of those who run the court.... The priests and some others, whose tastes are depraved and whose ambitions have begun to rape the land.” Mako was looking down at the motionless Keet, who now resembled a mere bundle of sticks in the basket. “It seems that not only people are affected. This creature may be right. The danger to his country is also a danger to ours.”
“So, in Gryor too,” Minda observed. “... the royal family almost wiped out, leaving only one young prince as a figurehead. We heard only that the fire was accidental.”
“I have not heard different. Perhaps it was accidental, but does it not cause you to wonder? At the very least, that tragedy left the gate open for misuse of power.”
“And gave Darwyn and Rellant’s priests an example to follow,” Coltic noted. “However, in our kingdom, they were not as lucky.”
“Probably Darwyn’s eagerness got the best of him,” said Scylla. “I am sure the priests would have soon found him to be less than an ideal figurehead.”
“Have some more food.” Minda gestured toward the table. “Before it is entirely cold.”
Scylla grimaced in distaste. “My appetite is gone. I do hope you have some ideas, Chancellor.”
“Hmmmm. Well, I am glad to have the trellet’s warning. Give me some time to think about this, Princess... ah, I mean Queen. Coltic and I will consult with Renold and the district lords this morning before they head home. We shall need to have Rellant’s army at the ready.”
“It is like a grass fire,” Coltic observed. “We quell it in one area, only to see it flame up somewhere else. Then when all seems under control, there is more smoke and, as we now suspect, the whole forest may be ablaze!”
| Chapter 12 |
As Coltic and Mako took their leave, Minda asked, “Will you be telling the lords of the kingdom about the trellet?”
Mako stopped. “Ah... hmmm. Not exactly... for now I may just say we have had inside information passed to us that corroborates what we have learned from questioning the priests.” He looked around the room. “Perhaps we will for now keep word of the trellet within these walls. And ask the healer to say only she has come to attend to the queen and Sorrell.”
There was agreement all around. Axit spoke up. “That’s best. Regular people do not believe in creatures such as the trellets, and others!”
“Others?” asked Scylla with interest. “What other creatures are there?”
Axit pursed her lips and looked away. “It... it is sometimes best not to know!”
Mako said hastily, “Yes, let’s leave it at that! I have heard too much already today about priests with evil ambitions, and forest creatures that speak! We will return later to consult, Queen Scylla.”
She nodded and waved them off. “I suppose the trellet’s basket ought to go back into my alcove until the healer arrives. I wonder how long he will stay dormant.”
Minda picked up the basket and carried it to the alcove.
The others inspected the excess of food still laid out on the table. “Perhaps we can call the prince in for his breakfast, and offer some of the food to the soldiers,” said Sorrell.
“And to the healer when she arrives,” Scylla agreed. “Axit – if you are hungry, please help yourself.”
“Oh, thank you!” said Axit, eagerly inspecting the food. “If I may! First I will call Prince Leon. No, I will take some food out to the roof garden.”
Minda returned to the room and nodded permission. After the girl had assembled some food for herself and the child and gone outside, Minda said to Sorrell and Scylla, “And there you have it! Axit is from a family of wanderers, her grandfather in particular. She is an excellent young person... however, her value in this matter was entirely unexpected!”
***
It was some time before the healer arrived. Scylla took pleasure in the idle time, the first in days that no one was making demands on her. She sat in her chair with her foot elevated, and sipped at a cup of tea. Sorrell lay down and slept, while Minda went through trunks and heaps of clothing, both of Queen Clerryn and her successor, Queen Maris.
“These should be sorted now,” she said to Scylla. “Prince Leon will need some clothing – he has almost nothing. Perhaps some of the princes’ clothing can be cut down for him. And if the clothing and other belongings of the ladies-in-waiting who died have not already been sent back to their families, I must see to that also. There are several rooms that must be cleared.”
Scylla responded, “Feel free to do whatever you care to. You need not consult with me. In fact, do not! Except that, of course, Lady Sorrell has no clothing suited to being a lady of the court. She may want to pick out some of those available. Hopefully not the sillier dresses.” Scylla had banished everyone but Minda, Sorrell, Prince Leon and Axit from the queen’s quarters, although Minda had talked her into allowing two of the late queen’s staff to help at times.
“There is housekeeping also to be done in the King’s quarters, where the Chancellor and the Guard are housed.”
“Let the queen’s ladies do that. I myself do not wish to see their pinched and sorry faces. Do you, Sorrell?”
Sorrell had been resting on her bed at the time with her eyes closed. “They’re sorry now that they were unpleasant to us then. Perhaps, Minda, some new ladies could be found who are more suited to Queen Scylla?”
“Yes, without the unfortunate history,” Minda had agreed. “The chancellor is already looking into it, but it may take a few days. I do not know whether his wife, Lady Dara, will be taking up residence in the castle.”
“I doubt it,” Sorrell replied. “I’ve heard it said that Mako and his wife do not see eye to eye and she, therefore, lives at his family home without him.”
“Hmmm... Well, I will ask him. Being the wife of the new chancellor may appeal to her. If so, some rooms will have to be provided for her.”
***
Outside the walls, the mid-morning sun shone brightly on the castle’s stone ramparts and the town, fields, and tree lines surrounding it. The horse training ground, having hosted a large overnight camp for numerous travelers who had come to the village for Queen Scylla’s coronation, was now clear. The last few carts had trundled away – the celebration over.
On a side pasture sloping away from the horse training ground, several men toiled with shovels, marking out three holes the length and width of a corpse. The new graves were not within the low walls of the castle cemetery – which could be seen in the distance on a small hill – but banished to what would end up being an unmarked location.
Having left the castle gateway, a horse and cart trundled along the road, its load covered with burlap. “Make way! Make way!” called the soldiers who accompanied the cart. The driver turned onto the flat training ground, heading toward the sloping field where the diggers were at work. The cart lurched and bumped across the pasture.
“Easy there!” said the soldiers, gingerly shoving back part of the hidden load that threatened to slide off. When the horse cart reached its destination, the soldiers hauled three dead bodies off the cart and dragged them into a row on the grass, covering them again with the burlap. Still dressed in their red and yellow court robes, the lifeless priests exhibited none of their former aura of power.
Empty of its load, the cart trundled off again, leaving one soldier standing over the silent burlap-covered mound while the others joined in digging the holes.
“Many hands make light work!” said one soldier facetiously as he tossed sandy earth out of the hole.
“Digging graves ain’t never light work,” replied another. “Damn priests! Should have built a pyre as we did for Darwyn and his murderers... send them off to the afterworld in flames.”
“Or just boat them out to sea and dump them overboard for the fish to nibble... good riddance!”
“Let the worms eat out their eyeballs,” exclaimed the first soldier. “Six feet down in a horse pasture is good enough for me!”
They toiled on for some time. “Sun’s hot!” said one finally. “Hey, Sergeant, can we go get some water and cool off in the river?”
“All right,” agreed the wiry young man in charge, who stood near the burlap-covered bodies. “Ten minutes – that’s it.” The laborers climbed out of the graves, set their shovels into the dirt with a thump and set off towards the tree-lined river some distance away.
The sergeant watched them go with some envy, as the sun was warm. Sounds of splashing and a few yells soon indicated they had reached the water and were making the most of it. Keeping an eye on the men in the dappled shade occupied his attention, and so he was unaware when the burlap coverings first began to move. When a sound finally caught his attention, his head turned uncautiously before he realized, with sudden shock, that at least two of the bodies were coming back to life.
“Hey! Hey! Help... men...!” But the soldiers at the riverbank did not hear him and the two revived priests staggered to their feet before his disbelieving eyes. One of them hit him with a crashing blow across the face and knocked him down. The other – dressed in the now filthy robes of the High Priest, although he no longer wore his white cap – stood swaying at full height and with a few hoarse words sent a flash of something from one claw-like hand towards the northeast corner of the castle. There was a snap along with a brilliant flash of light and then the rumble and clatter of stones crashing to the ground. Black smoke puffed and an acrid stink followed.
The sergeant covered his eyes, blinded by the flash. His ears rang. His involuntary scream added to the noise. When he was able to clamber back to his feet, he was still half-blind. The two non-dead priests were gone, and when the grave-diggers came back up from the stream, he yelled at them, “Where did they go? Where did they go?” But they had been oblivious to what had happened, with the sounds drowned out by rushing water and their own splashing and banter, and no one had seen in which direction the two former corpses had escaped.
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