He scrounged for food. A nearby bush hung with pods seemed wild enough that no one would begrudge him its fruit. It yielded round, pea-shaped morsels. They tasted as bright green as they looked but were also sweet and crunchy. Meeyoo snagged a rodent for herself.
Ale would be more than welcome, but he would have to wait until they reached port to enjoy that. There was none on board the Fancy; ale did not travel. Instead, the ship had a supply of rum and Robin had stowed a flask in his pack. He sat sipping as night fell.
He lay on his makeshift bed, relaxing when Meeyoo's head came to rest on his shoulder. Above the canopy of leaves, a clear sky suggested he would pass the night undisturbed by rain. There was no shortage of stars, but he didn't recognize the constellations. He imprinted their patterns on his brain. James had traveled to many obscure places and might be able to glean information from the stars' arrangement.
Robin closed his eyes but drowsed rather than slept. With no one standing guard, his ears remained alert, his muscles tense. Distracting thoughts presented themselves like soldiers on review. Every person they had met since landfall was obsessed with someplace other than where they were, including the people of Here. Though Here's sentinel vehemently denied Perooc existed, he had gone to great lengths to discourage Robin and his knights from searching for it.
Robin couldn't disparage that. In the desperate time when he was lost to himself, he sought a place he couldn't envision much less name. It wasn't so much as a memory, yet he was driven to find it.
Behind his eyelids, Robin pictured his surroundings. Meadows and trees blended with the background. Overhead an ink-black sky studded with stars and planets. And beyond that, what? Heaven, his son Prince Conrad—Father Thaddeus—maintained. Or did the universe exceed Robin's ability to comprehend space and time? So believed Nowhere's sentinel and Sir Maxwell. Were there elements he could not see, smell, taste, feel, or hear? Of what had Perooc's glimmering, swaying wall been constructed? Where had it gone, and what became of the ghostly people? Had he imagined it all?
Ask and you will get an answer, No-one said.
All right, Robin thought. “Is there more?” he pleaded silently. “Tell me.”
He heard only the leaves rustling and the crickets chirping.
Ask with every cell in your body, as if your life depends on the response, No-one instructed.
Robin sifted through his memory for a time when he had been desperate for information. He recalled that terrible night when he was lost and struggled to regain any recollection that would tell him who he was and where he belonged. Reliving that moment made his muscles tense, his head throb, and his heart pound.
Recalling that urgency, he reached out a second time. He plunged into the expanse of sky as he had hacked through the thicket. As he plowed ahead, the space expanded, without end. “How much more is there? Tell me.”
A voice he didn't hear so much as perceive answered, “Do you really want to know? Because this is bigger than you can possibly imagine.”
And Robin saw without seeing the universe extending infinitely, a vastness that was everything at once and nothing at all. The limitless size terrified him, yet he did not fear for his safety or his life. Rather, he recalled how he felt at the birth of his sons. One minute they didn't exist, the next minute they did, complete with fingers, toes, and all the components that made a person whole. Two new distinct individuals. With unduplicated combinations of thoughts, feelings, and talents, each would grow to strike off on a unique path that no one else would tread in the exact same way. It was so remarkable it left him speechless.
Robin tipped back his head, stretched out his arms, his legs, expanded his chest, the better to merge with the immensity that enveloped all he knew of life and all he did not.
He could go back to Perooc. Freed of worldly concerns, he could immerse himself in this great quest, explore this unknown dimension. Like a mariner, he could cast off from a familiar shore, set out across uncharted seas, and keep sailing, forever.
Meeyoo butted his hand, demanding to be petted, yanking Robin in his dream ship back to earthly harbor.
He stroked her silky back. “You're right, Meeyoo. We cannot return to Perooc. There is no place for you there. Left behind, you would fend for yourself adequately but you wouldn't understand why we abandoned you. It would be the most callous betrayal.”
“Me. You,” she meowed, reaffirming their bond.
He scratched her behind her ears. “We are of this world. We are needed here. We will not desert those who depend on us.”
At first light, Robin broke camp and breakfasted on more wild peas. He and Meeyoo hastened toward Nowhere. He was eager to collect Sir Maxwell and Dame Deidre, reunite with Sir Albert in Near and Sir Alan in Here, and learn what James discovered.
Robin tramped through Nowhere's multicolored meadow, the paint from the grass rubbing off on his leggings. He picked up Meeyoo, brushed off her fur, and tucked her into the rucksack.
The settlement was as he had found it the day before, deserted of people but with animals roaming the dilapidated streets. Noise, smoke, and mingled aromas wafted from the gazebo.
Sir Maxwell hadn't strayed far from the position in which Robin had left him. He sat crossed-legged, smoke pluming from a burning bundle of sage in a dish on his lap. The aroma put Robin in mind of roasted poultry at a Bell Castle banquet. Best not dwell on that, he chided himself. To Sir Maxwell, he said, “From the stains on your tunic, we'd say you've been hitting that purple concoction hard. On your feet, young knight.”
His torso swaying, Sir Maxwell did not respond.
His hands wedged under the youth's armpits, Robin levered the young man upright. “We are leaving, Sir Maxwell, and you are coming with us.”
His eyes closed, the knight's knees buckled. “I will stay,” he said, half whining, half-singing. “I saw a unicorn.”
Robin righted him. “We're sure you did. Snakes in your boots too, we suspect. But you are needed. Snap out of it, Sir Maxwell. Come to attention. Your king commands you.”
“Command,” Sir Maxwell whispered, his brow furrowed.
“You took a vow, remember? To serve and to aid, and you must honor that vow.”
“My vow,” Sir Maxwell echoed. “But there is so much wonder here ...”
“You would forsake your oath?
“But the unicorn ...”
“Your oath ... and Dame Deidre? You would forsake her too?”
Chapter Four
It was a low blow, Robin knew, but the knight's eyes cracked open.
“Deidre,” he breathed.
“We need you to help reclaim her, the rest of our men, and return to the ship. As for unicorns, you can see those anytime, anywhere. You need only to open your heart, your mind.” So said No-one in Perooc, at any rate.
“Yes, Sire, that is true. So they have taught me here.” Now alert, he narrowed his eyes at Robin. “I am surprised to hear you say that, Your Majesty.”
“Be that as it may, we have business to attend to. Come.”
With a dazed and distracted knight stumbling behind him, Robin set out to find the trap door between Near and Nowhere. He released Meeyoo from the sack and placed her on the ground not so much in hopes she would sniff out the portal as she had before but to afford her some exercise.
At last, they spied the pivoting flap door protruding from the wall, half-open as they had left it. They wriggled through the space and continue toward Near.
“You were right, Your Majesty,” Sir Maxwell said as they marched toward the settlement. “About unicorns.”
“You see a unicorn?” Robin asked, concerned his knight might still be under Nowhere's spell.
“Not a unicorn. The gryphon.” Sir Maxwell pointed to a dark shape crossing the sky.
Robin dismissed the knight's imaginings with a wave of his hand. “Likely a hawk or an eagle,” he said although it was too hard to tell since it was so far away. He found himself wondering if it was the giant bat that swept into Of
an's cave.
As they approached Near, they spotted a procession of robed individuals moving rhythmically in single file.
“Great,” said Sir Maxwell. “While they are busy with their service we can get to the church and Dame Deidre.”
“No need, Sir Maxwell. Look.”
A man led the procession but the followers were all women. The leader, someone other than Ennoo, read aloud from the book. The woman carried books held against their chests or under their arms. Some walked with their heads down, some with their shoulders hunched, and others stumbled, all except for the woman directly behind the leader. Her head high and her posture straight, she placed her feet in the leader's footsteps.
Dame Deidre brought up the rear.
Robin and the knight hurried to her side.
“Dame Deidre, are you all right? Were you harmed? Were you released? Or did you free yourself?” Sir Maxwell asked.
“Shh, the women want to hear the words. They cannot read the ancient language. Walk silently. We are almost done.”
Robin and Sir Maxwell fell into step behind her. The procession reached the church and formed the circle in the courtyard. Palms pressed together, Dame Deidre bowed to the assembly. “I will leave you now. My king is here. I pledged my service to him and I will honor my pledge. Keep fighting. Remember, it's your world too.”
The women and the man who had led returned the obeisance.
“You have far to travel,” the woman who followed right behind him said. “We will send you on your way with provisions.” She darted into the church. She returned, her arms filled with sacks and flasks.
“Thank you, Lenora. I wish you strength for when your opponents seem invincible and doubts assail you. You must be the women's champion now.”
“Until we bring about the day when every woman can be her own champion.”
Dame Deidre threw her head back and laughed. “Right you are.”
They clasped each other's forearms and gave them a shake.
“Come, Sire. Let us leave them in peace.” Dame Deidre led them from the courtyard.
When they were out of earshot, Robin asked, “What did you discover, Dame Deidre? The way to Hewnstone?”
“No, Sire, I did not.”
Robin frowned. “But you had said there was something in Near to learn. It's why you chose to stay.”
“Not for me to learn, Your Majesty. For the women of Near.” Dame Deidre hung her head. “In Near, the women are not worthy. They can never be worthy. They cannot aspire to Perooc because they cannot learn the law. It is forbidden. The women of Near do the work of maintaining the community so the men can engross themselves in learning the law. They are given to understand that when the men attain Perooc, get the treasure, life will be better for the women too but it is not for any woman to achieve that. The women are told it is beyond them. While Your Majesty and Sir Maxwell were at the service, and I was cloistered in the church, I became convinced that I was not worthy.”
“You? But you earned your title righteously,” Sir Maxwell said.
“The men reminded me of my weaknesses, my frailty, so often I came to believe they defined me.
“But we women spoke as we worked. I discovered many of the women despaired, thinking they were lesser than the men. In their hearts, some felt capable of more. They wanted a chance to be heroic, to be the one to bring about that better day. One woman, in particular, Lenora, the one who gave us the provisions. She was the one who walked at the front of the line, right behind the man who read.
“The women asked about me and my life in the Chalklands. I revealed I had been a knight in King Bewilliam's court, though all the other knights are men. They could hardly believe it. They thought it astounding, daring. I reminded them that I wanted to use all my capabilities to best serve my king.”
Dame Deidre continued. “Lenora, too, wants to apply all her abilities toward the good of her people. She declared she would do no further work unless she could learn what she was working for.”
“So women learning the law, that is acceptable to the men of Near?”
“Not all, of course. There are many who feel it is a violation of the Law which dictates male supremacy. Surely you noticed they all bear a tattoo over their Adam's apple.”
Robin nodded.
“Getting that inscribed is a painful process all Near boys undergo when they come of age.
“Many of the men maintain that women studying the law jeopardizes all of Near, and some women agree with them. But a few men believe that the knowledge should be shared. They will teach the women the ancient language and instruct them in the practice. The opponents, of course, will defy them. The women are determined, though. They needed someone to speak up, to embolden them.”
“And that was you.”
“It was not my intention to incite a rebellion.”
“And yet you emerged as their champion,” said Sir Maxwell.” You got them to stand up for themselves. Like that heroine of old, Boadicea.” He grinned. “I have always seen you as valiant.”
“Have you? Like Boadicea,” Dame Deidre murmured. “I would hope to come to a better end than she.” But a smile turned up the corners of her mouth and her cheeks colored.
Robin thought Dame Deidre stood taller and straighter than before. An air of confidence had replaced that of ceaseless striving to prove herself. She had always been formidable. Now that she knew it, she would be unstoppable.
“I failed you, Your Majesty. I did not learn anything useful about where we are or how to get to port.”
“Fear not,” Robin replied with more certainty than he felt. He thought of the constellations he had observed in last night's clear sky. “We have acquired new information and will confer with James when we make it back to the beach.”
They struck out away from Near and sought the conduit between the settlement and There, stopping only to replenish themselves with the provisions Lenora had given them. Having had only a ritual wafer, tea, and gruel on his previous visit, Robin was pleasantly surprised to find the food palatable and filling. The beverage proved to be watered wine. Meeyoo enjoyed bites of cheese and boiled egg before she settled into the rucksack for travel.
They rediscovered the passage through the wall between Near and There. The door stood ajar as they had left it. Robin remembered his initial trepidation about what lurked in the dark space. They had proven unfounded and this time, Robin marched through without hesitation.
Emerging on the other side, he said, “Let's go that way.”
“We are on the right track,” Sir Maxwell said. “Look, yonder are the remains of the camp we built after leaving There before we continued to Near.”
Robin half expected to find Sir Albert waiting for them as promised, a thought shared by the other knights because Sir Maxwell said, “Sir Albert is not here. You don't suppose harm came to him in There.”
“I wouldn't be surprised if he despaired of our return. We were absent for longer than a few hours. He may have gone back to Here,” Dame Deidre said.
Sir Maxwell said, “Should we camp here again?”
Robin said, “The settlement wasn't far from this camp. Since we know its location, it shouldn't take us long to reach it. Unless you need to rest, Sir Maxwell.”
“Not at all, Sire.”
“Dame Deidre?”
“Let us press on.”
From their perch atop the wall between There and Here on their previous visit, they had heard the shouts of contenders campaigning for followers. This time, There was strangely quiet. Robin and the two knights made their way down the main path toward the commons where they discovered residents grouped in and around the gazebo. The citizens were engaged in discussions that while earnest were not heated.
Sir Albert shuttled from one group to the other. He spotted his comrades and hurried toward them.
He bowed to Robin. “Your Majesty. Sir Maxwell, Dame Deidre, I am grateful to see you. When you did not return to the campsite, I feared the worst.”
“We found another wall and a conduit to yet another settlement,” Sir Maxwell said.
“And did they provide information about how to reach Perooc? Or for that matter Hewnstone?”
Sir Maxwell and Dame Deidre shook their heads.
Robin said nothing about Perooc but asked, “And you?” He looked about. “These people are far less contentious than they were before. What happened?”
“You beat them into submission, didn't you?” Sir Maxwell said.
“Not exactly, although I was tempted. I challenged Nenoo to a duel.”
“Go on.”
“I told him should he win, I would become his follower. If he lost, he would become mine.”
“Sounds fair.” Robin frowned. “Why hadn't they done this in the past?”
“They aren't fighters. They make war with words.”
“You won, we assume.”
“That's a foregone conclusion,” said Sir Maxwell.
Sir Albert nodded. “It wasn't much of a fight. It wasn't any kind of fight. Nenoo surrendered immediately.”
“I'm not surprised,” Sir Maxwell said. “Only a foolhardy man would go up against you.”
“I'll confess, it wasn't valiant to challenge a civilian but I had a strategy.”
“And so now you are the warden of There?”
“For now. They are intent on reaching Perooc. Someone was bound to insist he knew of a path. But I used my new authority to get all the factions to declare a truce, a temporary cessation in campaigning. Next, I negotiated an armistice that each faction should draft a plan to be presented in an organized assembly. A debate, if you will. To focus on the plan's merits, not the persuasiveness of its advocate. Each presentation would have an equal amount of time after which the entire community of There would select which plan to follow.”
He scanned the groups of people. “They're still at it. They've been working on their plans the whole time.” He snorted. “Frankly, Sire, I'm convinced no one has a single clue of how to get to Perooc. They all claim to but in truth, they do not know.”
Magic Underground: The Complete Collection (Magic Underground Anthologies Book 4) Page 177