Bride of the Stone: Circle of Nine Trilogy 2

by Josephine Pennicott

  She moved towards Maya, who involuntarily took a step back. ‘Once there were great numbers of us, not just the paltry collection of Imomm and Bluites that reside in the Hollow Hills now. In time just remembered, the hills of our people spread far and wide across Eronth. The Imomm had full power in Eronth, but the Azephim and the whore sow that resides now in Faia made sure that our numbers were culled mercilessly. Faeries driven in the thousands from their natural homes, captured by the Azephim and experimented on in their demonic laboratories. Not to mention the virtual genocide that was performed on your native stinking planet. Hiss, claw.’

  Maya glanced around uneasily, aware that the entire court had stopped their chores. The Winskis circled the air above them, tiny hands to their ears to capture every word. Jig Boy’s eyes were protruding out of his head as he attempted to capture the scene for posterity. The Imomm Crone Deliah had stopped her spinning, a tear running down her wrinkled face as she remembered the bygone glory of the Imomm. Faeries and Bogies alike were gathered in silence, with an unmistakable air of resentment directed at Maya.

  ‘What genocide on the Blue Planet?’ Maya asked defensively. ‘It was always my belief that the Earth people just stopped believing in Faeries as they embraced the new sciences. The thought pattern was no longer strong enough to sustain you.’

  Diomonna’s wings fluttered, causing Maya to tense, but her hard, tight smile remained. ‘You think you know it all, big unwinged one,’ she said softly. ‘You question and criticise my actions constantly in the Hills. You make Diomonna burn up with fire. Perhaps your time with us is over, perhaps you are too big for the Hollow Hills.’

  Maya stared at her suspiciously. No being was ever allowed to leave the Hollow Hills. What was Diomonna up to now?

  The Faery Queen crossed to the little girl, her hand resting on her head. The child began to cry, and Patricia, at a glance from Diomonna, began to attempt to soothe her.

  ‘Her name be Abigail,’ the Queen stated, ‘I ripped her from a small Irish town, where the thought pattern in Faeries is strong enough for me to have power and a life force. She is a gift for Black Annis. A tasty morsel for her to chew upon, to keep her allied with Imomm people as well as the Azephim.’

  Maya avoided looking at the little girl. She had suspected as much. The child was a bribe for the Cannibal Hag, who was growing so old that she had trouble crossing to hunt for her food. Diomonna moved a step towards Maya, who took a step backwards. The Faery Queen’s breath smelt of lemons and limes. Her tongue was pale, soft blue. Tiny stars were spotted among her skin. Maya was uncomfortably aware that this iridescent beautiful creature before her would kill her in a second if she wished. Not for the first time, she berated herself for her lack of control over her tongue. Diomonna’s large beautiful eyes stared at Maya coldly.

  ‘Perhaps it be time, big Maya,’ she said sadly. ‘I shall speak to Black Annis tonight about mentioning you to the Ghormho. When he hears the Imomm have Miranda’s child, the Awakener of the Eom, the big bat may be ready to do business with us.’

  Maya felt an icy terror creep through her bones at the threat.

  ‘It might prove dangerous, Diomonna,’ she said. ‘The Ghormho might be furious at the betrayal played upon him by the Imomm, and you could well find yourself in danger from him yourself.’ Diomonna laughed, and after a second, the court joined in. ‘The Imomm have no need to fear those pitiful angels!’ she scoffed. Taking her cue, the Winskis circled her head proudly, and sang:

  The Imomm are the victors ’gainst the angels of the night

  We send the big bats packing to the Web in hasty flight

  Azephim are smelly, their wings are filled with pus

  They’re not the stuff of legends, like Imomm and like us!

  ‘That is a very boastful song,’ Diomonna said, smiling at them. Maya was unnerved by her smile. It was not the first time she had threatened to send Maya to the Ghormho, but it was the first time that she had ever smiled in that creepy fashion as she said it. Normally they were words shouted in anger, with a shaking fist and raised voice, and Bogies and chairs thrown at her. She contemplated the thought that Diomonna would actually carry out her threat. Diomonna noticed the change of expression on her face, and nodded.

  ‘I have fed and housed you too long, big one!’ she hissed. ‘After Black Annis receives her tasty snack, I shall confess to the Hag what I have done with the changeling. Then I will no longer have to cope with your insolence!’

  She stormed out of the dining hall majestically, Faeries and Bogies bowing low to her as she went. Winskis applauded her exit. Warily Maya glanced around the Hollow Hills at the silent, watching court. A feeling of malevolence spiked the air and, despite the lengthy time that she had spent in the Hollow Hills, she suddenly felt an outsider. In every direction that she looked, a hard glinting Faery eye glowered. Familiar faces that she had grown up with now wore the masks of strangers. Seeking reassurance, she crossed to Patricia and Ellie-Jane. They turned their backs and continued to dye the clothes. ‘Patricia, old senile one, please talk to me!’ Maya begged. ‘Don’t turn your back on me.’

  Patricia shook her head, slapping the clothes into the dye. Abigail had resumed her sobbing in the corner, and a Maja spider had seated itself beside the terrified child. If she was lucky, she would die of shock before Black Annis got to her, Maya thought. Resisting the urge to take the child into her arms and soothe her, she left the room. Tears were close to the surface, and there was no way she was going to entertain the Winskis any more than she had already done. She could still hear the heartbreaking cries of ‘Mummy! Mummy!’ as she made her way down the twisting earth corridors back to her bedroom.

  *

  The long wooden table was laden with delicacies: pomz, berries, quail pie, Faiaite crumble, spiced mushrooms and honey crickets. The Faery harper played mournfully in the corner and sang a song about a great Imomm warrior who had fought a golden dragon and survived. Hundreds of Winskis sat around their own table, feasting on roasted ants and mushrooms. Maya could hear their excited gossiping from where she sat, and she could imagine the theme of their conversation. Abigail, worn out, had fallen into sleep, her face streaked with tears, but she was still a beautiful child. Maya could hardly bear to consider the Cannibal Hag sinking her teeth into her soft skin.

  Patricia moved stiffly around the table, serving the Faeries. Her arthritis was playing up, Maya realised with sorrow. Who was going to rub her old nanny down when she was sacrificed to Ishran? For a wild second she contemplated throwing herself on Diomonna’s mercy, begging her to keep her in the Hollow Hills but, just as quickly, she rejected the idea. She was too proud.

  Diomonna looked beautiful as always, dressed in a long gown of lace and leaves. Black pearls, a result of one of the Imomm’s thieving excursions, glistened against her skin. She regarded Maya with an odd expression. Maya could not begin to imagine what thoughts went on behind her beautiful otherworldly face. For a moment it looked as if Diomonna was regretting her earlier decision. But then again, Maya had learnt before that the Imomm’s faces were often just reflections of the viewer’s.

  The Faery fiddlers had begun tuning their instruments.

  Huddled together in a corner, half-hidden among the vast paraphernalia of glittering priceless jewels and furs, were the evening’s entertainment. Two teenage Crossa boys, with baseball caps perched backwards on their heads and their bright surf T-shirts, made an incongruous contrast to their surroundings. They were staring around wildly at the court, at the Bogies with their twisted gnome faces, the Faeries both beautiful and terrible. They were in deep shock, Maya saw, and her heart twisted for them. Tonight they would have to dance the Faery dance. It was not the most pleasant way to die.

  Over her time in the Hollow Hills, she had seen too many Bluites and Faiaites tortured into dancing the notorious Dance of Death. It was one aspect of Faery culture she had never agreed with and, despite Diomonna’s heartfelt speech, she often had found herself agreeing with the
High Priestess of Faia that the death dances should be outlawed. She watched with deep revulsion as she saw Patricia and Ellie-Jane carry pewter goblets to the terrified boys for them to sip from. The intoxicating brew would prepare them for the macabre spectacle that they would be expected to perform tonight.

  She stared down at her plate, pushing the quail and popom salad with her fork. The air felt stagnant, heavy and impure. She began to long for her bed, and her comforting communication with Bwani, but she knew that Diomonna would take her absence as a personal slight. The whimpers from the corner continued.

  The Winskis were sleeping, suspended in midair, their heads drooping. Maya wondered at the sight — Winskis sleeping in the middle of feasting? The cavern seemed oddly quiet without the flap of their wings and their chattering. The fiddlers had ceased their tuning, their instruments lying on the ground, as they slumbered quietly beside them. Maya turned to the Faery seated next to her to ask her opinion of what was happening and was disturbed to see her face down in her pomz. The entire table was asleep, and soft snores filled the air. Even Diomonna was curled up, eyes tight, while Jinji slept on her shoulder. With stupefaction, Maya watched tiny Jig Boy crash over his desk, halfway through writing a sentence. The teenage boys were cradled together, snoring peacefully.

  Maya shook her head, trying to clear herself of the vision. The Imomm had been enchanted — either that or a mysterious plague had fallen upon them. For a second she felt panic, recalling powerful sleeping charms that could send the receiver into a sleep of a thousand years.

  ‘Quickly!’ Old Patricia and Ellie-Jane were standing at the entrance to the cave. ‘Maya! Hurry forward! We have your belongings here!’ Maya stared at them in confusion. Then her mind cleared and realisation dawned.

  ‘What did you give them?’ she gasped, in horror at their daring. Patricia looked white and drawn.

  ‘’Tis better you don’t know!’ she snapped. ‘Just go quickly, before it wears off. I have given the sentries the same dose at the gates. It may be the only chance you have to escape the Hills before she gives you over to the Azephim. I have been preparing for this day since you first arrived here, Maya. There are a few belongings and some food packed. You must get to Mary, High Priestess of Faia. Reports are that she be a fair woman and Bluite kin, so she will listen to your tale. Keep well away from the Azephim. If Sati gets her claws on you, you are as good as dead.’

  Diomonna stirred in her sleep, and Patricia and Ellie-Jane cast fearful glances at each other.

  ‘Go now!’ Old Patricia shrilled. ‘Keep always away from Faery haunts and make yourself a charm to protect you from us, because Diomonna will come after you. Her vengeance will be swift and merciless!’ Maya felt cold.

  ‘What of you?’ she said, hugging her old friends. ‘What if she finds you have sedated her entire court to help me escape?’

  Old Patricia shrugged. ‘We will sip from the brew after you leave. Diomonna will think you planned the poisoning.’

  ‘But she’ll kill you if she discovers it be you!’ Maya protested, loath to leave her only friends. ‘Can’t you both come with me?’

  Ellie-Jane looked longingly at Patricia, who shook her grey hair.

  ‘Nay, our destiny is not with you now. We have served our part.’

  A lump began to form in Maya’s throat. She looked at Abigail in the corner.

  ‘Don’t even consider it!’ Patricia snapped. ‘Just go before the entire court wakes!’

  Maya turned and began to run through the twisting corridors of the Hollow Hills. Terror gave her added speed. Old Patricia was sacrificing herself and Ellie-Jane for her freedom.

  Diomonna was no fool. She would soon sniff out who had placed the elixir of sleep into the Faery wine. She would make an example of her before the court. Maya fought back tears and panic. Ahead she could see the light from the outside world, while the Imomm sentries dozed at their post. The sky glinted through the portal that led to Eronth, and she could see a faint speck of Black Annis’s swanmobile. Throwing herself through the exit, Maya began to run faster into the twilight. She had to make her way to Faia, to seek sanctuary with Mary, but first she would visit Bwani. Not stopping to consider if that was the wisest decision under the circumstances, she ran through the rapidly darkening countryside.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Faery and Bluite will mourn together;

  A price will be demanded.

  (Even the sky will not contain her pain.)

  Blessed be she who returns from the Hollow Hills:

  (Thus the Awakener awakes).

  — Condensed from the Tremite Book of Life. Column XXVII BM X

  When Black Annis marched regally into the room, she found the Faery court in an uproar. The Cannibal Hag was a gruesome sight, with her roughly stitched gown of animal furs and skins. Jewellery fashioned from the bones of her victims dangled from her ears and nose. Half her hair had fallen out with age, but she was only worried about losing her teeth, because that would signify the end of her reign.

  Diomonna, beside herself with rage to discover Maya’s absence, had been shaking from head to foot since she had awoken from Patricia’s brew.

  ‘Which one of you betrayed me?’ she was shouting. ‘Who released the unwinged one?’ Silence.

  Black Annis snarled, her black nose twitching, sensing a drama. Winskis were sobbing in the air. Jig Boy was writing furiously. Faeries and Bogies were still half-asleep, rubbing their eyes.

  ‘The unwinged one?’ Black Annis shouted, realising her promised dinner might have escaped. ‘If someone has released my meal, let me deal personally with the offender!’ Diomonna whirled around to face the Cannibal Hag. Instinctively, she knew not to mention to Black Annis that the Imomm had had possession of the Awakener of the stones, but had somehow managed to lose her. She was shaking inside, scarcely able to believe what had just occurred. Even the great Maja spiders were half-asleep, dozing in the corners. She laughed, a silvery laugh that fooled none of the court.

  ‘One of our Crossa dancers has managed to escape, perhaps aided by some of my own people,’ she said smoothly.

  ‘For shame! Fie, fie!’ Black Annis remonstrated. ‘Hunt the black dogs down, whoever they may be, and tear the hearts from their chests. Black Annis loves juicy fresh hearts.’ Her eyes looked suspiciously at the court, seeking to pick the guilty party. The entire court shrank back visibly.

  ‘Have no fear, Black Annis,’ Diomonna said, her eyes roaming over her court. ‘I will find whoever is responsible, and you shall have their heart.’

  At the rear of the great room, Patricia and Ellie-Jane stood quietly, side by side, neither daring to look at the other. Black Annis tapped an animal-skin-draped foot and picked her nose thoughtfully.

  ‘Happens be, my swans see your dancer escape the Hills,’ she said. ‘They mentioned a great unwinged being below, thinking I might want to hunt it down, but I knew that I had food waiting for me here.’

  She grinned meaningfully. Diomonna sighed. The Faery Queen pointed out the child in the corner, who was silent with horror, staring at Black Annis. Her golden curls shone in the twilight dark of the cave. The Cannibal Hag drew in her breath with delight.

  ‘She be a beauty!’ she exclaimed. ‘Look at those rosy plump cheeks and fleshy arms. Look at those delicious blue eyes!’ She hurried over to the child, Diomonna swiftly following. The last thing the Faery Queen wanted was for Black Annis to devour the child alive in front of her court. It would upset the Crossas too much to see one of their own eaten. They were a sentimental race when it came to children.

  ‘Diomonna has not let me down again,’ the Cannibal Hag said greedily, saliva already beginning to drip from her razor-sharp teeth. Several Bluite nursemaids stood protectively in front of the child. Diomonna watched them with silent wings. This was always a sensitive moment in the Hollow Hills, when the Bluites became emotional over the children who were selected to be eaten. Diomonna could not afford to have her authority undermined in any measur
e in the Hills. Every action would be reported back to Ishran and Sati.

  ‘Stand back from the small one!’ she hissed. The Bluites glanced at each other in confusion. The world that they had been abducted from so long ago was already a very faint, hazy dream. The palest of watercolour sketches. All the old rules and regulations that they had observed so religiously on Earth no longer applied in Eronth, in the Hollow Hills. Yet a small part of their being cried out that this was madness, that feeding small children to cannibals was a heinous crime. A small part of their being moved to protect the vulnerable being who had no voice. But under Diomonna’s ice-cold eyes, the words dried in their throats, and they moved back from the child.

  With a snarl, the Hag rushed forward, her dried, cracked, black talon nails reaching for the child’s eyes. Alarmed that the Hag would scrape the eyes from Abigail’s head in front of her court, Diomonna quickly interjected.

  ‘Why not take her with you, Black Annis? Doubtless, she be a fine prize to share with the Ghormho and his Queen.’

  Black Annis hesitated, snarling. She was hungry, but she had cunning enough to realise that Ishran and Sati would be pleased by her generosity. Deciding to share her meal, she stooped over the child, lifting her into her arms, as the Winskis shouted their encouragement. Mercifully, Abigail had fainted. Black Annis’s breath alone, Diomonna thought, would be enough to make any child faint.

  The Hag carried the small body triumphantly over her head to her waiting swanmobile outside.

  With her exit, the air in the Hollow Hills seemed to exhale a sigh of relief at her passing. Diomonna reached into a large silver mojo bag that she wore around her waist and extracted a silver dagger set with bloodstones.

  ‘Now,’ she said softly, looking around the silent court. ‘Which one of you has betrayed me?’