On arriving at the Upper house, she was relieved to see Corporal Lucy, and not Sergeant Sam, waiting for her.
‘We have guard duty at the Great Hall,’ said Corporal Lucy. A flicker of hope shot through Deelind as they walked down to the Great Hall. If she was lucky, Princess Lee would be awake and able to remove her necklace. On arrival, they were met by Captain Roeland.
‘Good. Deelind, you are standing guard on the back door. Corporal Lucy, you are on guard at the side door. No one may enter until the meeting is finished, no matter who they are. I want a complete lockdown, no exceptions!’ ordered Captain Roeland. He handed Corporal Lucy a large, metal ring with keys on it. ‘You oversee the lockdown. Only let council members in. Lock the Rainbow travel down and then check all doors are locked.’
Captain Roeland looked tired. On thinking about it she had not seen him around much since the funeral.
Corporal Lucy turned to Deelind. ‘Come, I will walk over with you to the back door. There is not much to guarding the door. All you need to do is stand in front of it, lock it and do not allow anyone in. The back door is normally quiet. Try not to fall asleep. In one of our training sessions I’ll give you some tips for staying alert during guard duty. Just do the best you can this time around.’
When they walked past Oakman, she could see the pod Princess Lee lay in and that Oakman had his branch down, allowing the council members to walk over to the island. Lucy took a large crystal off the key ring, walked to the front of the pond, hung the crystal in the pond and said, ‘This crystal has the magic required to close a stop on Rainbow travel. We’ve just closed the Great Hall stop.’
‘What if someone was coming here?’
‘All that will happen is they will get out at the next stop, which in this case is the final stop of the indigo vein, the terrace. This just stops anyone getting out at the Great Hall.’ Finished with her task, the corporal and Deelind continued to the back door.
Oakman did not speak to Deelind when she tried to talk to him, nor did he show any sign that he knew she was there. They reached the back door. After taking a large, ornate key off the ring of keys, Corporal Lucy took down a long spear which hung above the door and handed them both to Deelind. The corporal then took out a maroon armband with the royal emblem on it and wrapped it around Deelind’s upper left arm, above her plaster cast.
‘While you wear this, it gives you the authority to outrank anyone who wants entrance to the Great Hall. Now go through and lock the door on the other side.’
‘Yes, Corporal Lucy,’ she said and walked out of the Great Hall. Locking the door behind her, she slipped the key in her pocket and stood in front on the door with her spear standing tall in her right hand. She wondered how long this meeting was going to take. It wasn’t long before it was becoming hard to stay awake and it was with some relief when she heard someone hurrying down the corridor towards her. The relief quickly faded, and her heart thumped when she saw it was Sergeant Sam looking flustered and angry.
‘Open this door, private.’
‘Sorry, Sergeant Sam, I can’t. No one is allowed entry.’
Sergeant Sam’s face went red and Deelind eyed her in trepidation. ‘I order you to open the door.’
‘You know I am not allowed to,’ Deelind said, knowing that this was going to make things ten times worse between her and Sergeant Sam. Spotting the ornate head of the key poking out of Deelind’s pocket, Sergeant Sam lunged forward to grab it. At the same time Deelind brought the spear down and pointed the spearhead at Sergeant Sam’s throat.
‘Leave!’ she ordered and to her relief Sergeant Sam stormed off. Well, that went well! Sergeant Sam was not the easiest of people but there was no chance she was ever going to warm to Deelind now. Sighing, she propped the spear against the wall next to her and rested against the wooden door she was guarding. Her surroundings blurred for a second and suddenly she could hear the council meeting. It sounded as if there was an argument going on.
‘How do we know? There is no way a Dragonknight could be a traitor!’ said Captain Roeland, his deep voice laced with anger.
‘How do you know?’ a male voice asked stridently. ‘How did Blackthorn get fifteen dragons from the Dragon Valley? They were either killed or turned into rotvipers. How did that piece of the rotviper you killed at the cottage battle just disappear? This happened while it was under your guard in the Upper house.’
‘How did Blackthorn know how to attack Oakman and poison him?’ said a female voice that sounded suspicious. ‘No one has heard from Dragonscout Rudy. For all we know he could be working for Blackthorn.’
‘Lady Tegalad, Head Witch or not, that is ridiculous and going too far!’ said Captain Roeland. There was an edge to his voice that sent a shiver through Deelind. ‘With the escalation in attacks, you know there is no one available to look for Rudy. That kind of talk is unhelpful until we have evidence to suggest otherwise.’ Lady Tegalad? That was the witch she’d encountered in the Great Hall when she’d been carried through on a stretcher.
‘Captain Roeland, you are blind to the weakness of the Dragonknights. My cards tell me there is a traitor in the Upper house. I have warned you all!’ said Lady Tegalad.
Dragonscout Rudy? At her gran’s funeral, Miss Tibi had mentioned Captain Roelands brother, Rudy, was missing. The lost Dragonscout must be Captain Roeland’s brother and apparently no one was looking for him. If she could only remove this infernal choker, she would go looking for him. As a featherlite without a designation, she was not yet bound to the rules of a Dragonknight. However, she had no idea where to start looking and she was stuck at school and featherlite training during the week, which only left the weekends. That would have to be good enough and at least she could try out some of the skills she had learnt in her Scouting classes. Perhaps she could twist Mug’s arm into helping her.
Someone shouted inside the hall, jerking her attention back to the conversation inside.
‘We are losing too many molers. No one wants to join the Lower house anymore and I don’t blame them. We are the ones dying in great numbers each time he attacks with his deathburners. Jack’s clean-up squads are at breaking point. I say we give in to Blackthorn.’
‘Careful, Lord Moler. You are walking a fine line towards treason,’ said Captain Roeland.
‘Lord Moler,’ said Princess Lee softly, ‘if the molers wish to break away from the royal house I cannot stop you, but Oakman and I will be unable to protect you if you do. I know the great sacrifice the molers make and how Blackthorn threatens you all. But I cannot give in to him nor will I ever. His path is into complete darkness. He will enslave us all. You know this to be true. You have seen it for yourself.’
‘It is as you say, and we will stay for now. However, I will be staying below ground in Mole City until this is over.’ Deelind wrinkled her nose at that. Lord Moler sounded like a coward hiding out while other molers fought to protect their friends and family.
‘Lord Moler, the time has come to fill the slopes of Moler Valley above Mole City entrance with rocks,’ said Princess Lee. ‘We can then create an avalanche of these rocks to block the main entrance into Mole City, but only as a last resort. While we are doing this, we will conceal the valley with Lady Noele’s mist. It will be physical work collecting and putting the rocks in place. Will you assist Lord Moler, Lady Noele?’
‘Of course,’ came the soft reply.
‘I would suggest you stay with us here so that we can protect you. That black cloud of Blackthorn’s may mix with your ethereal body with unknown repercussions. You are welcome to stay here on the island.’
‘Thank you, Princess Lee, but for now I shall return to my clouds in the mountain range between Brakenhill and Moler Valley. Blackthorn’s cloud seems to be remaining over Buttercup town at present.’
‘As you wish. We cannot afford spies through the back door. Captain Roeland and Jack, I want guards at all the doors on the Lower and Middle house. All visitors entering must be challenged. Captain Roeland
, please investigate the possibility of a traitor. Not just in the Upper house but all houses. Is there anything else anyone wants to discuss?’ Silence fell. Princess Lee said, ‘Settled, then. This council meeting is over. I need to get back to Oakman as he is still distressingly weak.’
* * *
Deelind could no longer hear anything and guessed the meeting was finished. She wondered if she should go in but then they would know she had overheard the meeting, so she waited. She saw Corporal Lucy standing looking down the passage at her, but the corporal did not walk down to her. After looking at the door Deelind was guarding she turned, shrugged and walked away. Strange. Corporal Lucy must have been checking to make sure she was still at her post, but it was as if Corporal Lucy hadn’t seen her. After waiting half an hour, she gave up. Moving away from the door she unlocked it only to find an empty hall. She replaced the spear on its hook above the door and put the key in her pocket. Perhaps no one had thought to tell her the meeting was over.
She walked over to the pond and saw that the bridge was still down, but the pod Princess Lee was in was closed. Walking across the bridge she went up to the princess’s pod and knocked on it.
‘Princess Lee? Can you hear me?’ she said telepathically. No response. ‘Oakman, can you hear me?’ Again, no response.
She tried to open the pod but wasn’t strong enough. She needed something to prise the pod open and quickly. Anyone could walk into the hall at any time. The spear! Retrieving the spear by the door, she poked it into the tiny lip where the pod halves joined and tried to prise it open, with no luck. Rashly she stabbed the pod, to little effect. Not a mark was left on the pod, which was probably a good thing. She berated herself. What had she been thinking? The spear might have split the pod and hurt or even killed Princess Lee! A noise at the pond startled her. It would look bad if someone came in and saw her stabbing at Princess Lee’s pod. This time she put the tip of the spear in the lip again and tried to jump on the spear handle. To her horror the spear tip bent. Hurriedly she bent the tip back as best she could and returned the spear to the back door.
On returning to the bridge she spotted the still rainbow water. What if she poured some water over the pod? Maybe it’ll open in response to rainbow magic. Moving quickly to the pond she attempted to scoop up some water with her right hand. The water flowed out her hand as she ran back but she had just enough water left to splash onto the pod. Frustratingly, it did not work. There was no one she could ask for help because then she would have to tell them about the choker. Her new instincts screamed against it. Vulnerable! This was her best opportunity and time was running out. Looking at the pod, she whispered in frustration, ‘Open!’
To her delight and shock the pod opened. Princess Lee lay there asleep. She felt a deep sensation of Zara stirring. Shaking Princess Lee did not wake her. Not even opening her eyelids worked. If she wasn’t so nervous, this would be hilarious but in truth she was treading a fine line here. Oh, who was she kidding? She had stepped way over the line several decisions ago.
An idea came to her. She sat on the edge of the pod and lowered her body over Princess Lee. Struggling with her left arm in the plaster cast, she grasped Princess Lee’s hands, which felt warm and soft. Awkwardly she lifted them to the choker and used them to pull on it. Relief flooded her as the choker opened smoothly and fell into Princess Lee’s lap. Deelind rocked back on her heels as she felt Zara’s presence fill her mind and body. The warmth of affection washed over her and lungfuls of air expanded and contracted as their energies swirled around each other and reunited.
Deelind’s body felt like it had just given itself a long, hard stretch. Weird but it was such a great sensation to have Zara back again. It was obvious Zara felt the same when her voice, filled with a swirl of snowflakes, said, ‘At last. We are never wearing that thing again. It’s far too dangerous for us.’
‘Zara! It’s so good to hear you, to feel you! I’ve missed you so much.’
Urgency filled her and Zara said, ‘It’s time to fly.’ A sharp breeze scattered the snowflakes in all directions.
Battling against the wave of need to fly that Zara was putting out, Deelind said, ‘Unfortunately, we must wait a little longer to fly. I need to finish up here and get the plaster cast removed, then we can fly.’ She sent waves of reassurance to Zara, admitting that she would have loved to have transformed and flown out of the Great Hall, too.
‘Fine,’ Zara said, and the breeze died down. ‘What next?’
Deelind was not sure what to do. Just leave? But then she left Princess Lee exposed. What was she going to do with the choker now?
Following her thoughts, Zara said as icicles cracked, ‘We should get rid of it. We can never let ourselves be trapped by it again.’
Mentally nodding in agreement, Deelind said, ‘I feel the same way, but we can’t. Look into my memories and see what Nurse Amy said about the dragon necklace. It’s easier to heal and deal with the human form of a melded pair. The dragon choker stops them from going dragon at the worst possible moment, like in response to strong pain when my arm was being snapped back into place. I’m sure the choker has been a great help to many Dragonknights after being injured in battle.’
A flurry of snow blew into her face as Zara said, ‘I see your memories and your words make sense. However, it was made clear to us, even before Princess Lee and Oakman were injured, that we would have the choker on until the cast came off. I doubt other featherlites are required to keep the choker on for months at a time.’ Zara sounded and felt grumpy. Her dragon really needed to fly. Deelind heard a soft grunt in her mind.
How was she going to explain this to Captain Roeland? Seeing the choker in Princess Lee’s lap, she, like Zara, did not want it back on her neck ever again. Deliberating further, it seemed the best place to leave it was with Princess Lee, who was not going anywhere for some time and no one else could then force her to wear it. She stood and tried the same thing to close the pod that she did to open it.
‘Close!’ she said, and the pod slid closed. Deelind looked around and saw the ring of keys hanging on a small branch on Oakman’s main trunk. Returning her key to the ring, she raced back over the bridge. She was about to leave when she saw the crystal used to stop Rainbow travel to the Great Hall was still in the pond. Now what to do? She quickly removed it, ran across the bridge and hooked it onto the key ring. As soon as she got back across the bridge it retracted, and the rainbow in the pond flowed again. She left the Great Hall and returned to the Upper house in search of Corporal Lucy.
‘There you are,’ said Corporal Lucy. ‘Captain Roeland is looking for you.’
Her heart started to beat hard. Did he know what she had done?
‘Give me your armband. You can find him in his office.’
‘Is this magical?’ she asked as she removed the armband and gave it back to Corporal Lucy.
‘You are funny,’ said Corporal Lucy shaking her head. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘No reason. I’m just never sure what is normal and what is magical around here.’
Corporal Lucy laughed. ‘I guess that’s true if you’ve never grown up here! Rest assured this is just an emblem sewn onto a cloth. You best hurry, you don’t want to keep Captain Roeland waiting.’
While heading towards Captain Roeland’s office she pondered on Lucy’s words. How odd that she had heard the council meeting. Aside from the key and the spear, the only other thing that had been different was the armband. Maybe Mug would know more.
* * *
She had never been in Captain Roeland’s office but walked past it every day as it was the first one on the left coming out of the exit from the manor house onto the Upper house. Deelind walked up to it and knocked on the door.
‘Enter,’ boomed Captain Roeland.
She wanted to turn tail and run but entered instead.
‘Good. Sit.’ Captain Roeland pointed to a chair in the front of his desk.
As she sat down, she took in his office which was simply
furnished. There was a desk with two chairs. On the wall behind Captain Roeland’s desk was a large map of the surrounding area including the three valleys, the manor house, Buttercup town and Blackthorn Farm. The new hedge was sketched onto the map, and a red circle drawn around an area of the hedge near to her gran’s cottage.
‘Eyes this way,’ said Captain Roeland softly to her when he saw her looking at the photos of the gargoyles which were on the other walls.
Why would Captain Roeland be so interested in gargoyles?
‘Princess Lee will not be back with us for a few more weeks. I have spoken with Elp Brown and he has reported that you will be continuing your studies for level 5 at the Learning Tree during the summer holidays. You have done well to have caught up levels 1 to 4 already. If you continue the way you have, you’ll be up to Mug’s level shortly…’ Captain Roeland paused, inhaled and frowned. Deep red flames flickered briefly in his dark eyes as they fixed on her shirt collar.
Deelind had seen those flames before. Alarmed, she said to Zara, ‘He knows. The choker has always been hidden under my collar. How can he know?’
Gentle snowflakes tumbled down from a white sky as Zara said soothingly, ‘His dragon can sense me. Captain Roeland has had a telepathic conversation with us when we were dragon and when we were bound by the necklace at the funeral. He knows our energy signature just as we know his. He can sense that we are different now.’
‘…I am not sure how you have been able to remove the dragon choker, nor do I wish to know,’ he continued, holding up his hand when he saw Deelind was about to interrupt. ‘That is a conversation for you and Princess Lee. In the meantime, Corporal Lucy will be giving you flight training here at the Upper house. This is the only time you may fly. Do you understand?’
‘Yes, Captain Roeland,’ her heart sinking. How was she going to look for Rudy now? ‘Why have you put a red circle near my gran’s cottage?’
Deelind and The Icefire Page 17