Rufus moved around so that Rolf could mount behind Celie. Rolf hopped on, and Queen Celina got on Juliet behind Lilah. Lulath and Pogue had been walking alongside their griffins to give them a respite, but now they also mounted.
“Would you like to ride?” Pogue asked their guide politely.
“No,” the girl said after considering for a moment. “Not right now.”
She passed through the gate and then began to knot it closed again. Rufus decided that he was done waiting, and he leaped off the edge of the valley. Celie had to grip with her legs, because her arms were full of JouJou. Rolf grabbed hold around her waist, which also helped. Rufus soared down to skim the fluffy green treetops and then sailed back up again and landed neatly on the wooden platform beside the orange tent.
In an instant, guards had surrounded them. They were male and female, dressed in clothes woven of many-colored ribbon—which would have looked quite festive, if it weren’t for the spears they were holding.
“We mean you no harm!” Rolf shouted, holding up his hands.
“How do you do?” Queen Celina said calmly, slipping off Juliet’s back. She, too, held her hands out where they could see them, but in a very elegant way, as though she were about to fluff her skirts. “I am Queen Celina of Sleyne, and I’m here to meet with your Master of the Found.”
“She brought us,” Lilah blurted out, pointing to their guide, who was walking calmly along one of the bridges, taking her time reaching them.
“You’re Sleynth?” one of the female guards asked. She was tall, with hair so blond it was nearly white.
“Yes,” Queen Celina said. “My husband is King Glower the Seventy-ninth.”
The guard nodded politely and said something to the male guard at her side in another language. He shrugged, and neither of them lowered their weapons.
No one moved after that until their guide reached them. She walked calmly past the guards and led them around the side of the tent to where the flaps had been tied open. Celie would have liked to stop and investigate before going into the tent, but the guards were right on the griffins’ heels with their spears held crosswise, and so they let themselves be pressed forward into the dimness of the tent.
Celie hadn’t realized how hot and muggy it was outside until they were inside. There were servants standing around the cloth walls with large fans, making a breeze blow through the tent. It was very refreshing. The sun had been high in the sky, but now with just lamplight shining, it was much more pleasant.
Not that Celie had much time to enjoy it. The tent was full of people, and the guards herded her and her family forward until they were right in the middle of the crowd. Everyone was sitting on low, backless stools, holding shallow bowl-like cups and sipping as they talked. Or at least Celie assumed that they’d been talking; now they were entirely silent. She liked the fact that she was taller than everyone sitting on the stools, but she didn’t like the way they were all studying her.
At the far end of the tent, a wizened man with a brown face and a cloud of white hair stood up.
“You were from Sleyne?” he asked.
“Yes,” Queen Celina said, stepping to the front. “We are from Sleyne. I am Queen Celina, and my husband is King Glower the Seventy-ninth.” She made a little curtsy, one ruler to another. “And you are the Master of the Found?”
“Yes,” he said. “I am.” He sat back down. “The griffins are new,” he remarked. “How much of your ship can we salvage?”
“Salvage?” Queen Celina said, her voice faltering. “We . . . the Ship is just fine.”
“Just fine?” The Master sounded as though the words didn’t make sense. “You came here through the Well, did you not?”
“We did.”
“Then how is your ship just fine?”
There was much murmuring among the people. Celie heard Grathian, what she was sure was Bendeswe, and even a word or two of Sleynth. Looking around the tent, she saw people of all colors and ages, all wearing the odd ribbon clothes. Or so she thought at first. Looking closer, Celie saw whole pieces of clothing that she recognized: bodices and strips of lace from Grath, the one-sleeved tunics of Bendeswe. She suspected that woven ribbons were a way of patching and mending old clothes, possibly even things that washed up on the shore after falling through the Well.
“Like the people,” she whispered, looking around.
No one heard her, because all eyes were now on Queen Celina, the Master, and their guide, whose name was Kalys.
Apparently Kalys had erred by leading them directly to the City in the Trees, as this place was called. She should have gone back to the shore with Celie and Rolf and checked to see how many survivors there were and how much salvage was possible.
“They flew to the shore on griffins,” she said in a sulky voice. “The griffins were far more interesting than how much rope we could get from their ship.”
“I promise you the griffins shan’t be any trouble,” the queen said. “Nor will we. We need to refresh some of our supplies, and then with your help, we need to get home.”
“This is your home now,” the Master said, as though it were obvious. “What is found through the Well stays Found. But tell me,” he went on, “how did your ship not fly into a million pieces? The force of the Well can crush a man’s skull, and wood is equally brittle in its grip.”
“I am a wizard,” Queen Celina announced.
Since the queen was not a full wizard, she was not supposed to make such a claim. But Celie was glad that her mother had. It was much more impressive than saying that she was studying magic, and Celie had a feeling that they needed to impress the Master, immediately. Besides which, there was no one there to call her bluff.
However, the Master wasn’t easy to impress. “Another wizard could be of some use,” he said, much as though Queen Celina had announced that she was a shoemaker.
“I’m so very sorry,” Queen Celina said. The icily formal tone of her voice would have sent anyone of the court running for cover, but the Master didn’t flinch. “But I’m afraid that, since we’ve just come to your world from ours, we don’t understand what is happening. Would you be so kind as to explain yourself?”
The Master drew himself up. He stretched out a hand, and someone put a staff into it. The staff was tipped with iron, like a Vhervhish mountain climber’s walking stick, but there was a scroll wrapped around the top and tied with red thread. Lulath gave a small exclamation and whispered something to Lilah about Bendeswe.
“Before the first men fell through the Well, there was nothing here. Nothing but the land. There were fish in the ocean. There were birds in the trees. And on the land, among the trees and rocks, there were small animals, burrowing things, climbing things, small things.
“Then man began to sail the seas, and he fell into the Well. From every country of the world beyond, he sailed, and he was drawn into the Well and brought here. And so we built our cities, and we gathered the Found from every corner of the world. We gather tools. We gather cloth. We gather food. We gather what wrack and ruin comes through the Well, and we build with it.” He waved his staff around, indicating the stools, the tent, the clothing, and the people. “That is what the Found are. That is what you are now.
“You have been Found.”
“What an amazing thing you’ve done,” Queen Celina said blithely. “To have built all this from the wreckage coming through the Well.” She smiled around at the group. It was her court smile, the very one that Lilah had become so good at during their time in Grath. “However, I’m afraid that we cannot stay,” the queen continued. “Though if there are any tools you need that we can spare from our Ship, we will happily give them to you.”
“You will share all with us,” the Master said. “That is what it means to be Found.” He sighed. “It is not easy to be Found,” he said with great sympathy.
“But we aren’t Found,” Queen Celina said. “Because we weren’t lost.”
The whole crowd of people were shaking the
ir heads, and a few were laughing. Celie put on her own court smile, even though it wasn’t half as good as her mother’s. Also, she would rather have been shaking her fist at the people.
“There is no way back,” the Master said, beginning to lose his patience. “The Well flows only in one direction. You are here now, and here you will stay.”
Lilah slid off Juliet’s back, the better to have hysterics on the floor.
“Now,” the Master said, raising his voice over the howls coming from Lilah. “We will help you dismantle your ship so that you can build your homes here in the trees, away from the unicorns and other monsters.”
Lilah cut off mid-sob. “Did you just say unicorns?”
Chapter
23
I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you saw a unicorn,” Lilah ranted. She picked up a pillow from the floor, threw it across their tent, and then retrieved it so that she could sit down. “They’re only the reason why we’re all here.”
“It tried to kill us!” Rolf protested. “We were trying to find a good way to say ‘Hey, Lilah, those unicorns that you like so much are evil’!”
“And then you came, and Kalys was leading us here,” Celie said. “We were in shock, and there wasn’t really time.”
“We’ve got time now,” Pogue said, slumped against Arrow’s side. “All the rest of our lives, apparently.”
“Nonsense,” Queen Celina said, rather sharply. Then she smiled—her real smile. “I mean, Pogue, darling, there’s no need to be glum. The Ship brought us here for a reason, and it’s still in one piece, so that’s two things in our favor.” She made a face, wrinkling her nose and bunching up her smile. “I do wish Bran were here, or any more qualified wizard, really, but other than that, I refuse to despair!”
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty,” Pogue said. “I’ll try not to . . . despair.”
“Oh, good,” Rolf said. “More despair for me, then!” He shook his head. “Mother, how do you think we’re going to get back there?” He pointed up. “The Golden Griffin is amazing and magical, but even it can’t fly.”
“We’ll sort it out,” the queen said, waving a hand.
“Mummy,” Celie said uneasily, “you still think this is an adventure, don’t you?”
“What else would you call it?” her mother said.
“I would call it horrible,” Lilah said. “In fact, I do call it horrible.”
“I call it the end,” Rolf added. “Just . . . the end.”
“Now, this is not being talk that I am liking,” Lulath said. “Where are being my family of adventure?”
“Maybe it’s because we’ve had one adventure too many,” Celie said. She buried her face in the soft feathers at the base of Rufus’s neck. “I just want to go home.” And then she embarrassed herself by bursting into tears.
“Oh, darling, darling, it will be all right,” Queen Celina said. She reclined against Rufus as well, so that she could put her arms around Celie.
Celie felt only mildly comforted by this. They were all going to be stuck here forever. They would live and die in this world high above the trees, with rampaging beasts and who knew what else below. They would have to take the Ship—their beautiful Ship that they had only just built—apart to make themselves houses. It wouldn’t matter much to Lilah; she and Lulath could get married just like they’d planned. But what about her, and Rolf, and Pogue? What about Daddy, and Bran, and the Castle?
“Hello,” said a voice through the canvas wall of their tent. “Hello?” It sounded like Kalys. “I am coming in.”
Rather than using the tent flap, she rolled under the side of the tent right by Rufus’s head. He reared up, shaking off Celie and her mother, and they sat up and stared at the girl.
“Hello,” she said again, and grinned at them.
“What are you doing here?” Lilah demanded.
“And why didn’t you use the door?” Rolf asked. His eyes lit up. “Are you here in secret?”
“Yes,” she said, nodding.
She sat up and folded her legs neatly. Then she reached up and took off her headdress. Although her skin was dark, her brown hair was a shade lighter than Lilah’s or Queen Celina’s, and had been braided into two braids that slithered down her back and hit the floor when she shook her head.
“Are you really from Sleyne?” she asked, setting aside her ribbon-bedecked headdress and slicking a hand over the top of her head.
“Why else would we speak Sleynth?” Lilah said tartly.
“Lilah!” Queen Celina scolded.
“I speak Sleynth, and I have never been there,” Kalys said, without any hint of offense. “So you come from the Castle?” she asked Queen Celina directly. “You said that your husband is the king of the Castle? And he wears the crown and rings?” Her eyes were shining, and she was leaning forward until she almost fell over her own folded legs. She straightened herself with one hand.
“That’s right,” Queen Celina said.
“How do you know about the crown and rings?” Celie asked.
Kalys smoothed her braids, seemingly unaware of the shock that had just gone through the others. Celie tried to form a question, then didn’t know where to start, but Kalys picked up her story once she had her hair settled.
“My people brought the unicorns here,” Kalys said. “My family survived the ship from Grath that was bringing the unicorns to Larien to keep them away from the griffins, and from everyone else.” She made a face.
“That’s what I want to know,” Lilah said. “Why do all the stories talk about the poor unicorns being hunted? We come here, and Rolf claims one tried to eat him!”
“Eat you?” Kalys looked at him in surprise. “No, no! Did I say that? No, I didn’t say that!” she answered her own question. “It most certainly would not have eaten you. They don’t eat people. Or animals. Just flowers. Berries.” Kalys flapped her hand, a gesture not unlike one of Queen Celina’s.
Lilah gave a romantic little sigh at this. “They eat flowers,” she told Lulath, as though he hadn’t heard.
“But it would have definitely killed you,” Kalys said, oblivious to Lilah’s sighs. “They see everyone and everything around them as an enemy. And they are deadly with their horns and hooves.”
“Oh,” Lilah said. “So, if we leave here . . . you don’t think we could . . . take one back with us?”
“Definitely not,” Kalys said, looking alarmed. “When they lived in Sleyne, there was no one else there, so they were safe, and others were safe from them. But now that you are there, and the griffins are there, they should not return. They are happy here, and the world is safer.” She paused. “But when you return to Sleyne, there is one thing I would like you to take from here.”
“What’s that?” Rolf asked.
“Me,” Kalys said. “I want you to take me.”
They all sat there for a moment, stunned.
“Can we leave?” Lilah asked.
“What about your family?” Queen Celina said at the same time.
“You are knowing the way to the Well?” Lulath cried. “O clever!”
“Everyone knows the way to the Well,” Kalys said, as though it were nothing. “But none of us have been able to get to it, because every other ship that has come through has been destroyed.”
“There are enough parts here to build a fleet of ships,” Pogue said, raising one eyebrow.
“Who wants to risk it?” Kalys countered. “Yours is not only the first ship to arrive whole but also the first ship that hasn’t lost most of its crew. Only five people survived the ship that brought my ancestors here.”
When Lilah opened her mouth, Kalys said, “Four unicorns survived.”
Lilah closed her mouth, but she looked annoyed.
“Then why do you want to go with us?” Pogue asked.
Kalys put her hands up to her face and ran them over her cheeks, then up over her head and down her braids. She thought for a long time, and they all sat and watched her, waiting.
“You have griffins,” she said at last. “And the Castle.” She rocked back and forth on her haunches. “The Tribes are made up of people from all over the world. The other world, that is,” she clarified. “There are no stories from this one. No true language. We teach each other the dances, the stories, the music, the ways from the lands we came from, in that other world. My family is called Unicorn Lost. We speak a language called Hathelocke at home—do you know it?”
“Hathelocke?” Celie recovered her voice. “None of us speak it, no, but we’ve been to Hatheland. And the Glorious Arkower.”
“You are actually Hathelocke?” Rolf asked in amazement. “You’re from Hatheland?”
Kalys closed her eyes for a moment. “I have never been there,” she said when she opened them. “But I was raised to think of Hatheland as my real home, of Sleyne as my people’s new home, and of this place as being . . . not our true home. As though we are guests.”
“That’s horrible,” Lilah said. “To have never had a real home? I’m so sorry.”
“Now I am being with friend Pogue,” Lulath said. “And having to have the wonder of why you are not all building the ships and trying, trying to go to the homes.”
“Most of the Found are happy here,” Kalys explained. “Many of them are sailors, or their ancestors were—sailors who didn’t have a connection to another land. They found this place an exciting adventure. But my family was taught that we are griffin riders in exile, and this is not our home.” She tossed her head. “Some people say that we are strange and unfriendly for thinking this way. But if it’s only my family, then why don’t they build real houses? Or plant crops?” She looked around at them all in a challenging way.
“Which brings us to your family,” Queen Celina said. “What will they do if you leave with us?”
“Nothing,” Kalys said quickly, but she was looking at her hands when she said it. “My parents are dead, so I don’t have a family,” she added in a mutter. “And . . . well . . . there’s no one.”
“Again, so sad!” Lulath said. “I am not seeing that it is being any such problem for you to come on the mighty Golden Griffin! But first we must be going to the Ship, and then you must be helping us to find the Well!”
Saturdays at Sea Page 15