by S J Howland
Relieved, Xander smiled weakly at him and, with a quick glance at Flint who was frowning at Ledger, he took the opportunity to escape.
‘Bit awkward, that,’ said Ollie, once they were safely out of earshot. ‘What did the Warden want?’
‘I don’t know,’ replied Xander, uneasily. ‘He said that questions were being asked about why I can do things like Travel and asked if I have any family from Haven.’
‘I s’pose it’s only natural,’ Ollie allowed. ‘They’re probably freaked out it’s another case of the Olympics. That happened thousands of years ago and it’s still held up as a cautionary tale among the Travellers.’
‘The Olympics?’ asked Xander, but Ollie just thrust a plate towards him. Len had followed behind them and reached out for her own, with a quick smile for her cousin.
‘Feeling under-fed?’ she queried, as she took in the large quantities of food piled up on the plates.
‘C’mon,’ Ollie said, ignoring the dig. ‘Everyone’s over here.’
He turned and headed towards the tree-line, over to another of the bonfires which was almost under the branches of the trees. There was a small crowd of shadowy figures sitting around it, and Xander realised that they were all around his own age, mostly boys but with some girls scattered through the group.
‘Budge up,’ said Ollie, as they approached.
‘Hey, Stanton,’ said one of the figures. ‘Is this him?’
Xander resisted the urge to tip his head down, letting his hair conceal him from all of the eyes which seemed to be boring in on just him.
‘This is Xander,’ Ollie returned cheerfully. ‘Xander, this is Zach, Milo, Tomas –’
His voice trailed off as he glanced around the crowd of figures. ‘Well, anyway you’ll never remember all the names at once. This is everyone.’ He waved a nonchalant hand at the group, and then pulled Xander to sit down beside him. Xander smiled round weakly, feeling thoroughly uncomfortable under the intense scrutiny.
‘So you’re really an outlander?’ asked one boy. Xander thought he was the one Ollie had identified as Zach. He just nodded, not sure what to say or how much to share about his background. As usual, he thought, Flint hadn’t exactly given him any guidance.
‘We’ve not been outside yet,’ chimed in another voice from a thin, blond boy. ‘They don’t let us Travel until we’re of age. You’re not eighteen though.’ His voice was faintly accusing and Ollie hastened to swallow his mouthful of food.
‘That’s not his fault, Milo,’ he said. ‘He was being chased by shades. Flint and Rafe said he had to use the Stone to escape and even then he still got shade-struck.’ That got everyone’s attention and the blond boy, Milo, looked slightly more impressed.
‘Seriously?’ he asked. ‘Where’d they get you?’
For the second time that evening, Xander held out his palm for inspection. There was a moment’s silence and then Milo frowned. ‘That’s not bad,’ he said. ‘I’ve seen way worse than that.’
‘That’s because he shielded,’ retorted Ollie. ‘The Wardens themselves can’t figure out how he did it.’
‘Really?’ said the first boy, Zach, his expression mildly ribbing. ‘Up on the inner workings of the Travellers, are you Stanton?’
His voice was not unkind but Xander was suddenly aware that there was an undercurrent of difference between these young Travellers and Ollie, who was as much of an outsider in his way as Xander. Ollie, however, seemed to take it all in good part.
‘Yeah, yeah,’ he said easily. ‘Keep your secret Traveller mysteries – I just come for the food.’ He took another enormous bite and, cheeks bulging, pulled a face at Zach who laughed.
‘Did the Wardens speak to you yet?’ asked the boy who Ollie had named as Tomas, staring pointedly at Xander. He was smaller than the others, with short dark hair and a sharp, inquisitive expression. ‘I heard they thought that the rules had been broken again.’
Xander shrugged awkwardly. ‘One of them just did,’ he answered. ‘He wanted to know if I had any family from here.’
‘Do you?’ interjected Zach.
‘No,’ replied Xander flatly. ‘Not that I’m aware of, anyway.’
‘What about Greece?’ demanded Tomas quickly. When Xander shot him a confused look, shaking his head, there was a swift round of sniggering from the younger Travellers around the fire.
Ollie rolled his eyes and then turned to Xander.
‘They’re talking about the Olympics,’ he began, but was immediately overridden by Milo.
‘I’ll tell it, I’ll tell it,’ he said insistently and Ollie shrugged, sitting back and letting Milo take centre stage. The blond boy lowered his voice, as the flickering light from the fire played over his face.
‘It all happened thousands of years ago, but it was so terrible that we still speak of it in whispers to this day, and one of the Wardens’ main jobs is to make sure it never happens again.’
‘Melodramatic, much?’ muttered someone, and there was another outbreak of laughter.
‘Shh,’ Milo said firmly, before continuing in a more normal tone of voice. ‘Anyway, in those days there were far fewer controls on how often Travellers crossed the border or how long they stayed, and there was no proper supervision over what they were actually doing there. Today, we have strict rules on concealing ourselves with wards and never openly using power, but back then it was pretty unregulated. And that was how a group of Travellers got away with effectively living over the border and using their orbs to scare the outlanders into serving them and doing whatever they wanted.’
Milo looked at Xander with a foreboding expression, giving the impression that very dark things were going unsaid, but Xander just stared back at him without commenting, so the blond boy continued with his story.
‘Apparently it went on for nearly six years before rumours began to reach the Wardens and they sent people over to investigate. It was a massive scandal and Zeus de Silva, Apollo Atherton, Aphrodite Edwards, Hera Hinxton and Ares Rolleston were all dragged back to Haven before a Wardens’ tribunal, and had their orbs confiscated. They were banned from ever crossing the border again and thrown out of the Travellers, but unfortunately the damage was already done in terms of all the rumours started amongst the outlanders.’
This time Milo got all the reaction he wanted. Xander’s mouth was hanging open, his eyes wide.
‘Zeus and Apollo? You’re talking about the Greek gods,’ he gasped. ‘The Greek gods were actually out-of-control Travellers?’
‘You’ve heard of them?’ asked Tomas, looking intrigued.
‘Are you kidding me?’ said Xander. ‘We learn about them in school, although we’re told that they were mythical.’ He shook his head in bemusement.
‘Wow, how weird,’ said Milo. ‘Anyway, the other rumour was that maybe they got a little too involved with the locals, and that there might have been children born who could have inherited Traveller abilities. They all vehemently denied it but still, that was the worry; hence the query about you having any relatives from the Mount Olympus vicinity.’
Xander gaped at him.
‘How on earth would I know that? You’re talking about thousands of years ago.’
‘So, what happened to them after they were thrown out?’ asked Ollie curiously.
‘Don’t know about all of them,’ said Milo. ‘Ares Rolleston got involved with the Constructionist Guild, and ended up pioneering some new type of metal working. And, according to the stories, Aphrodite Edwards, who was stunningly beautiful, married into one of the Founding Families. Supposedly, it was the Melvilles and they have been anti-Traveller ever since because of her resentment about how she was treated.’ He glanced over at Xander, a wicked smile dancing around his lips. ‘So, no sudden and inexplicable urges to hurl lightning bolts, then?’
Before Xander could respond, a dark figure loomed up behind them. ‘Xander? The Wardens want to see you now.’
Xander scrambled to his feet, as Ollie took his plate. Flint eye
d the younger Travellers thoughtfully and then turned away without a word, leading Xander back between the various hearths and through the gauntlet of whispers, and sharp looks. They walked straight over to a hearth set up to the right of the Lodge, softly lit by lanterns hanging from the branches overhead, as well by as a metal brazier full of crystalline glowstones. Standing or sitting around the hearth were several shadowy figures, who all looked up as Xander followed Flint into the circle.
Xander recognised the tall figure of Kirrin Ledger, who gave him a quick nod, before Flint gestured towards a small, wooden stool. Sinking down onto it, Xander swallowed his nerves and tried to meet the eyes of the seven people he assumed were the Wardens. Next to Ledger was a big, rather jovial-looking old man with wild white hair and a florid face, who beamed at Xander, but the others regarded him with a mixture of curiosity and concern.
One of the older Wardens, grey haired and with piercing blue eyes, spoke first. ‘So you’re the young outlander we’ve been hearing about who can use our Stones and defend against shade-strike.’ He looked Xander up and down with a faintly sceptical expression, as if he had heard these things but personally considered them very doubtful. ‘You also apparently claim no knowledge of the origin of these abilities or indeed of Haven itself.’
Xander wasn’t sure whether he was supposed to be answering any of these statements and so just nodded.
‘Hmm,’ said the Warden, pursing his lips. ‘We are also informed that the shades appeared to be targeting you specifically. What can you tell us about that?’
His mouth snapped shut and he fixed Xander with an intent stare.
‘I, um, I don’t know about that,’ stumbled Xander. ‘They were all around me at the museum but I saw them before that as well, at my home the night before. I didn’t know what they were though, just that they were pretty terrifying.’
There was a little stir amongst the group of Wardens, and some of them exchanged meaningful looks. The white-haired man looked sympathetic, while another Warden, also elderly-looking, pursed his lips.
‘I don’t know what things are coming to,’ he said in a quavering voice, ‘when we have outlanders involved in Traveller business. Where were the wards? That’s what I would like to know.’
‘Wards were used, Wooten,’ said Flint quietly, from behind Xander. ‘He wasn’t affected by them at all.’
Wooten tutted, his watery eyes fixed on Xander with great disapproval.
‘Most irregular.’
The Warden who had first spoken cut in, with an impatient look. ‘Irregular or otherwise, we are where we are. Regarding the shades issue, there do appear to be some minor anomalies concerning the border at the moment and we will continue to monitor these, and intervene where it is appropriate to do so.’
Xander heard a soft snort from Flint behind him, even as the jovial-looking Warden leaned forward, raising a bushy white eyebrow.
‘Minor anomalies, Atherton?’ he said sceptically, shaking his head. ‘Any potential defect in our border protection is hardly minor, I would say.’
‘Oh, for Haven’s sake, Bardolph,’ snapped Atherton. ‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. A few small glitches are no reason to flap and panic, or indeed push for extreme responses unwarranted by the current situation.’ He glanced over towards where Flint stood, half in shadow behind the group, and then continued with cool certainty. ‘We’ll liaise with the hobs and with the authorities at the Nexus, and doubtless any malfunction with Haven’s power infrastructure will soon be identified and rectified.’
‘And the boy?’ demanded Wooten.
‘Best he stays where he is,’ cut in Kirrin Ledger in his even, authoritative voice. ‘At least until we can be certain that it’s safe to return him. We’re still looking into the circumstances surrounding his arrival here and he’ll be safe enough with the Stantons, under our eye but without unnecessary exposure to Traveller affairs.’
‘Agreed,’ said Bardolph immediately, and there was murmured assent from most of the members of the group, although Wooten looked extremely put out.
‘In the meantime,’ continued Atherton, but he was cut off abruptly by the sound of running footsteps; a moment later, Ari and Rafe burst into the circle.
‘There’s been a massive blow-out at the Nexus,’ Ari panted. ‘It’s caused some power outages around the country, although apparently the secondary nodes kicked in pretty quickly and limited the damage.’
‘We’ve also just had several reports in from Watchers about strange occurrences and border fluctuations,’ added Rafe in his calm, quiet voice. ‘They say it seems to have stabilised but want to know if there are likely to be any repeats.’
There was a short silence, broken by Wooten’s quavery voice.
‘Well, this is what happens when people mess around with things they don’t understand,’ he complained. ‘It’s Thorne’s new-fangled synthetic rubbish causing this, you mark my words. Irresponsible nonsense to think he can supplant the hobs’ Core that has supplied Haven’s power for thousands of years and kept our border secure.’
Atherton cleared his throat irritably.
‘We have no evidence of that and one can’t simply stand in the way of progress for the sake of it, Wooten. Travellers don’t draw power from the Nexus and so it’s no business of ours how and where the Council and Guilds source their energy. Our only concern is if there is an impact on Haven’s security and so we will need to examine that aspect.’
‘They’ve shut down access to the Nexus for the moment, while they investigate, and won’t let anyone in,’ said Rafe quietly. ‘They say they’ll re-open by tomorrow mid-morning at the latest and expect to have answers by then.’
‘Fine,’ said Atherton, nodding in satisfaction. ‘I’m sure they will be able to clarify the situation then, and there’s no need for anyone to be running around ahead of the facts or causing a kerfuffle over nothing.’ Again, his eyes flicked over to where Flint stood with Ari and Rafe. ‘In the meantime, I suggest that we cease discussing Traveller business in front of this boy, and send him back to Woodside where Thea can supervise him.’
He turned away without giving Xander another glance and spoke quietly with a couple of the other Wardens.
Xander felt Flint’s hand come down on his shoulder, indicating that it was time to leave and he jumped up, relieved to have got through the interrogation. Mrs Stanton had clearly kept half an eye on the proceedings, as she hurried over to collect Xander with Ollie, Len and Katie just behind her. She looked like she wanted to speak with Flint, but he held up his hand quickly.
‘Not right now,’ he said. ‘I need to head out, but I’ll pop by first thing tomorrow morning and we’ll talk then, okay?’
Mrs Stanton tightened her lips but nodded, and Flint made a quick gesture to Rafe before turning away to join Ari, Kirrin Ledger and another of the younger Wardens, and disappearing into the dark woods surrounding the Lodge.
Rafe led them back across the grounds of the Lodge and this time people largely ignored their passing, as they leant in around their hearths and discussed the latest events in quiet tones, although Xander saw the gleam of several pairs of eyes following him. Once they had reached the way-marker, Rafe held out his arm to them and a moment later they were standing in the shadowy front garden at Woodside, warm light spilling out from the windows and the open door.
Rafe nodded courteously, and then vanished with just a quick glint from his orb to show where he had been. Mrs Stanton sighed and waved them all into the house, following behind Katie as she bounced down the hallway looking for her mother. With one accord Xander, Ollie and Len went straight upstairs, and then paused for a moment outside the boys’ bedroom.
‘So what happened with the Wardens, then?’ asked Ollie. ‘And why was everyone acting so strange afterwards?’
Xander bit his lip as he thought about what had happened. ‘They asked me a few questions and then they argued about whether or not the anomalies on the border were serious. That guy Atherto
n seemed to think not but the one called Bardolph was disagreeing with him, and I think Flint disagrees as well. Then Ari and Rafe came running over and said that there’s been some kind of power outage and problems with the border.’ He shrugged helplessly. ‘They were talking about a lot of stuff that didn’t make any sense to me, honestly.’
Len eyed him thoughtfully.
‘It’s all political with the Wardens,’ she said. ‘Alwyn Atherton is the Senior Warden and he really doesn’t like the boat to be rocked. Stavish and Wooten, the other older Wardens, are pretty traditional as well and Jory Bardolph tends to go along with them, although he’s more open-minded. The younger Wardens like Kirrin Ledger, Jon Sefton and Con Kirkeby listen to Flint more, although they’ll still tend to toe the party line.’
Ollie stared at her and Len tossed her head.
‘What?’ she said defensively. ‘So I pay attention to what’s going on around me.’
‘What’s the issue with them and Flint?’ asked Xander.
‘Flint thinks there’s a bigger problem with the instability on the border and that the Wardens aren’t taking it seriously enough,’ replied Ollie. ‘He thinks Travellers should train much more in defensive warding and dealing with shade incursions, while the Wardens think he’s over-reacting about the risks.’
‘It’s not just that though,’ said Len, with a wise expression. ‘Flint has gathered a bit of a following among the younger generation of Travellers, and they train with him and look to him to lead them. The Wardens don’t like that, hence the hostility from the older ones like Atherton. Ledger and Kirkeby are friends with Flint, but they were chosen as Wardens because they know when to get in line, while Flint goes his own way, more or less. As I said, it’s all political.’
With a quick shrug, Len turned and headed off to her own bedroom, while Xander and Ollie looked at one another.
‘Just another day in Haven,’ said Ollie with a quick grin and Xander laughed. At this point, he reflected as they both turned into their room, he had no clue what could possibly come tomorrow.