Queen Mirabella must have read something of his thoughts in his face. “There are legends that tell of a figure called The Boy Whose Time Has Come, Sagandran, and I’m beginning to think this is who you might be – or who you can make yourself be. The odds may seem stacked against you, but you have the power of legend on your side. Moreover, your chances are actually improved now that Arkanamon has gone to war,” she reassured him. “He is busy directing his armies. You and your companions are few, and you can move with great speed. He will never know where you are, and he will hardly expect the boy he seeks to come straight at him. You have many advantages now, you know. Most of all, you have trust in and loyalty for each other. Trust and loyalty are unknown concepts to Arkanamon, who trades in deceit and betrayal. I cannot say your task will be easy, but—”
Samzing harrumphed crossly. “You make it sound as if our success is a foregone conclusion. Don’t delude the boy that way. Don’t mislead any of us.”
“I’m sorry,” said Queen Mirabella at once, spreading her hands in a show of humility. “I didn’t mean to deceive you. Your venture will be perilous, yes. I cannot guarantee that you will all escape with your lives, but there’s a way you may be able to stop the Shadow Master without engaging him or his armies in physical combat.”
Samzing still looked aggressive. “And this is?”
Queen Mirabella didn’t answer directly. “The two crystals he already has must be taken from him – at any cost. If you can rescue the crystals you will strip him of all the power they are giving him.”
“First we have to find the crystals,” said Samzing, clearly unconvinced.
“The crystals are in the Shadow World,” replied Queen Mirabella mildly. “Arkanamon wouldn’t dare bring them into Sagaria for fear that they might be lost in battle.”
“In the Shadow World?” said Samzing. He gave a derisive snort. A ray of light from the stained glass tinted his face a wrathful red; his beard looked the color of dried blood. “They might as well be nowhere at all. How could we hope to get there?” The light of morning seemed to have evaporated some of the confidence Samzing had displayed yesterday.
“The Shadow Portal—”
“Huh!”
“The Shadow Portal, I was trying to say, will be heavily guarded. Arkanamon possesses all the territory around it now, and we can be sure he many of his finest troops and his best weaponry around the gateway. He knows better than anyone how vulnerable he might be made should anyone capture the portal. So, no, that isn’t the way you should go.”
“Then how?”
“First you must travel to the realm of Qarnapheeran.”
Samzing looked shocked. “I swore I would never go there again.”
“I know why you swore that,” said Mirabella coolly. “It’s an oath you must be prepared to break, Samzing.”
Sir Tombin was looking at his friend strangely. “This is a tale you’ve never told me.”
Samzing suddenly decided that he might help with the packing after all and crouched down to grab something at random. “It’s unimportant,” he muttered. “Mere trivia. A minor thing. Ancient history. Has anyone seen my pipe?”
“It’s in your pocket,” snapped Sir Tombin. “Now tell us why—”
“He can tell you on the road.” Queen Mirabella’s voice was hushed but the implied reprimand was enough to silence the Frogly Knight. “As I say, you must go first to Qarnapheeran, the realm of magicians. There once was a portal there and they may be able to reopen it for you. If not, you must ask the wizards to transport you into the Shadow World directly, bypassing any portal. Either way you should be able to enter the Shadow World unnoticed by Arkanamon or any of his creatures.”
“How could these magicians do that?” asked Perima.
“If I knew that I would be a magician myself.” The queen smiled. “All I know is they’re sometimes able to do this; I don’t know the how of it. They have powers of the mind, of magic, that are far beyond any conception of mine.”
“It can be done,” Samzing reluctantly confirmed from his position crouched by a backpack on the floor. “It’s a powerful piece of magic and no single wizard can do it alone. Yes, you’re right, Your Queenship. Qarnapheeran is the place for us to go. All we have to do is find it.”
“But you’ve been there before,” said Perima.
“If only it were that easy. The magical city is invisible to anyone who doesn’t live there. Because I once did live there, I may be able to get round that, but I’m not sure. It depends on what the magicians of Qarnapheeran feel like at the time – whether or not they fancy the look of us when they see us approaching.”
“I may be able to help you there,” interposed the queen. “The magicians allow my hawks to go in and out of the city. I can send a message by one of them to Fariam, the Grand Master of the Elemental Orders, and ask him to welcome you. He rarely denies my requests.”
Samzing raised an eyebrow. “The wizards of Qarnapheeran are cautious souls, you know. They don’t like rocking the boat, Your Queenship. They may listen to what we have to say and then tell us it’s none of their business what Arkanamon gets up to, then send us packing.”
“Then you must explain to them that if the rest of Sagaria is conquered and destroyed, Qarnapheeran will be conquered and destroyed along with it.”
“And the sky will fall,” muttered Samzing sarcastically.
“That will be among the very least of the consequences, yes,” riposted the queen.
There were a few moments of silence as they reflected on this. Sagandran was the first to break it.
“Where is this city, anyway?”
“You never can tell at any particular moment in time,” replied Samzing, standing. “Magic, you see. Blasted nuisance. You ever try mailing a postcard to a city that’s never in the same place twice? The best anyone can tell is that it’s somewhere in the Never Plains, beyond the Great Junkyard.”
Sagandran frowned in disbelief. “The Great Junkyard?” he echoed. “The Never Plains? All sounds a bit Never Never Land to me.”
“Wasn’t me that named them,” said Samzing with a flourish. “And,” added the wizard, “we cannot use the transportation spell again. Firstly, because it’s too far and second, you and the girl almost met your untimely demise upon reaching Spectram. It’s simply too risky.”
“It was somewhat horrifying, to say the least,” Sagandran said, remembering only too vividly how he’d felt when he woke up, “but maybe it’s worth a try anyway. We have to get there as fast as possible.”
“I agree, but nope. We’ll have to do it the traditional way, I’m afraid.”
Queen Mirabella was looking impatient. “Again, this is something you can argue about on the road. My armies are already engaging the Shadow troops on the outskirts of Goram, and hopefully will keep them at bay for a few days, but time is still of the essence.”
“I agree, Your Majesty,” said Sir Tombin in his stately manner. “To Qarnapheeran we are bound.”
But it couldn’t be as quick as all that. A platoon of servants took the companions’ belongings down to the stable where their carriage, brought from the inn, had been housed overnight. Others loaded the vehicle with more provisions than the travelers could possibly consume. Waiting in the courtyard for everything to be readied, the companions found that time was moving with agonizing sluggishness.
At last, Queen Mirabella emerged from the palace to bid them farewell. Sagandran was the first to be addressed by the queen.
“You are the one Arkanamon seeks, and it will often be tempting to give way to the fear of that, but don’t underestimate yourself. Listen to your heart and you’ll find that roads will open up for you, even in your darkest hour.”
She made as if to move away, but then leaned toward him, clearly hesitant. When she next spoke, her words were barely audible, though her mouth was so close to his ear he could feel her warm breath on his cheek. “Remember that no one here can interfere with your free will, Sagandran. You cho
ose your reality. ‘The Boy Whose Time Has Come.’”
Queen Mirabella backed off slightly and gazed into his eyes.
Sagandran swallowed. Without knowing why, he had the sense that those last words carried an importance beyond anything on the surface. But what? Why was everything in the Sagaria so full of riddles?
The queen turned to Samzing.
“The Shadow Master is no minor practitioner of magic, even stripped of the power of the crystals. Your companions will need your skill and experience if they’re to succeed in this quest.”
Samzing looked down at the tufts of purple grass around his feet. “Glad to know I’m being appreciated for once,” he mumbled.
The queen kissed him lightly on the cheek and moved to face Sir Tombin. The Frogly Knight met her gaze.
“The question that you harbor in your heart, brave Sir Tombin, may be answered during your journey. Don’t look too far away for it; it could lie closer than you think. To love and accept yourself as you are will let others into your heart.”
A small tear trickled from the knight’s dark eye.
“I have a gift for you, Sir Tombin,” Queen Mirabella went on. She gestured to a guard, who approached her bearing a long cloth bundle. Mirabella unwrapped it to reveal a shining sword, a weapon that seemed almost to be made of pure light. The golden hilt was a tapestry of engraved, overlapping leaves.
“This,” said the queen, gesturing to Sir Tombin that he should take the sword, “is Xaraxeer, also known as Lightbringer. It is the sword that was borne by King Brygantra many centuries ago when he drove back the shadows that threatened the world. Ever since then, it has been resting in our treasure room, waiting for a warrior of King Brygantra’s stature and honor to face another time of such dire menace. This is assuredly the hour and, Sir Tombin, you are assuredly the warrior. May you prove yourself a knight of the true light.”
The Frogly Knight was at a loss for words. He stared at Xaraxeer in wonderment, as if the sword had been brought down fresh from the sun. Even Samzing looked impressed.
“Remember,” added Queen Mirabella, “darkness can exist only where light is absent. Those who have once been saved from the darkness will never wish to leave the light again.”
Sir Tombin bowed. “You do me more honor than I deserve.”
“Oh, you deserve it, all right,” the queen corrected him. “You have the truest heart in all Sagaria.”
Perima was shuffling her feet, obviously embarrassed by the whole affair.
If she’d been hoping to escape the queen’s attention she was disappointed.
“You, Perima, will also learn from this adventure that awaits you. Running away from difficulties seldom offers a solution to them. Only by facing a problem can you see its true nature. Some day, you will have to face your father again and work out all that has gone wrong between you.”
Perima opened her mouth to make some acid retort, but promptly shut it again. Her face reddened.
Queen Mirabella turned diplomatically away. That’s a conversation she’s wise not to pursue, thought Sagandran. He smiled shyly at Perima but received only a scowl in return.
“And finally you, Flip,” the queen was saying. She bent down to where the little creature was standing. He’d absent-mindedly started eating one of the vermilion flowers, and tried to hide it behind his back.
“You,” she said, “will share your inquisitive and optimistic spirit with your companions to brighten up the journey. Do not understate the importance of that. The ability to laugh and smile even in the face of adversity is one of the greatest gifts we have. Laughter alone can drive away the shadows we all carry in our hearts.”
“I’ll try.” The little fellow tried to appear dignified, as befitted the significance of the task he had been given. Sagandran suppressed a chuckle.
The clopping of hooves and the groaning of wheels made them all glance up. Around the side of the castle a stable boy led Snowmane, already harnessed to the shafts of their carriage. Someone had tried to make the carriage look a little less battered and dilapidated, without much success. The stallion, by contrast, was immaculate except for the traceries of scars on his shoulders As Snowmane came to a halt in front of them his mane glistened silver and its soft hairs rippled in the breeze.
“This is excellent,” exclaimed Sir Tombin, putting his hand on the horse’s shoulder. “However did you get him to look as splendid as this?”
“Took me all night it did, sir,” said the stable boy, blushing. “Thought I’d never get him clean. Couldn’t do much about the scars on his shoulders though. Strange, they are. Never seen anything quite like them.”
Sir Tombin fumbled with the tie of the pouch at his belt and produced a handful of coins. “Here. These are for you.”
The stable boy looked everywhere but at the coins in Sir Tombin’s outstretched hand. “I can’t accept that, guv’nor.”
“Of course you can. You must. You have earned it with your hard work.” Sir Tombin grabbed the lad’s hand and forced it open, pressing the money firmly into it.
“Snowmane here, the way he looks now, that’s all the payment I need.”
“Nonsense. You have done us a great service, as well as Snowmane. He will be our symbol of hope, and remind us of the power of light when all the world seems filled with gloom and shadow.”
The stable boy reluctantly closed his fingers over the coins. He bowed deeply to Sir Tombin, then to his queen, then turned and fled.
“So now you are six in number,” said Queen Mirabella. She took a couple of paces forward until she was standing right by the stallion’s head. She whispered something briefly into his ear. Sagandran could make out only a few words of what she said, and even then, he wasn’t certain that he’d heard them correctly. “Not the time,” he thought he heard the queen say, and “protect.”
The horse nodded his head once, twice, as if he understood exactly what Queen Mirabella had told him. Maybe he did, decided Sagandran. In a world of talking frogs and rodents, not to mention the rhinoceros lady we met yesterday, who’s to say a horse can’t understand language as clearly as anyone?
“And now,” said the queen, “farewell to all of you. The fate of Sagaria may lie in your hands. I bid you good fortune on your journey and in all you do.”
They climbed aboard the carriage, Sir Tombin taking the driver’s seat once again. Snowmane responded to the gentlest flick of the reins and pulled them around in a half-circle to face the open gate of the castle’s outer fortification. Sitting beside Sir Tombin, Sagandran looked back over his shoulder and saw Queen Mirabella still standing there watching them, her arms raised wide apart, her hands open in either blessing or resignation.
Snowmane held his head high as the carriage rattled through the streets of Spectram. Curious children of various species ran along behind for a while, but as the city gates came within view they fell back. Once beyond the gates, Snowmane increased his pace and soon, the carriage was making good speed along an old merchant road, with high grassy banks on either side. Beyond the banks, Sagandran could see patches of forest and the occasional cultivated field. Neither he nor Sir Tombin was inclined to say much and, judging from the silence emanating from the interior of the vehicle, the others were likewise lost in thought. Sagandran would often pull out the Rainbow Crystal and hold it tight in his hand, as if to keep it secure from any marauding Shadow Knights that might happen across them. Just as often, Sir Tombin would tell him tersely that the gem was safer inside his T-shirt and he’d reluctantly put it away again, only to find, shortly afterward, that it was once more in his hand.
After they’d been on the road for about an hour, Sir Tombin decided that he’d had enough silence.
“The best and quickest way for us to reach the Never Plains,” he announced to Sagandran, “is to go back through the Everwoods.”
“The Everwoods? But that’s where the worgs—”
“Even so, I think we’ll be safer going that way than any other. Arkanamon is bou
nd to have spies and assassins posted along the major thoroughfares, and even many of the minor ones. We thwarted the attentions of a Shadow Knight last time, thanks to Samzing’s sleight-of-thought, but we cannot be confident we’ll have the same luck a second time.”
“I really, really, really don’t want to meet any more worgs,” said Sagandran earnestly.
“Worgs aren’t the only wild creatures living in the Everwoods,” said Sir Tombin ominously, “but I still believe this is our best route.”
“You mean there are worse than worgs?”
“I didn’t necessarily say that.”
“What sort of beasts are they?”
“We may be favored enough by fortune that we see neither hide nor hair of them on this occasion,” pronounced Sir Tombin with the full force of his grandiloquence, which was a sure sign that the Frogly Knight was dodging the issue.
“Tell me.”
“In a word, no. You’ll find out if we meet one.”
“I’d like to know what it is I’m being eaten alive by.”
“If you’re being eaten alive, surely it hardly matters the precise nature of the eater, does it?”
And Sir Tombin refused to say a further word on the subject.
CHAPTER 3
PULL HERE!
head of them in the early morning light, Sagandran could see the edge of the great forest rising up like a huge green wall. They’d been traveling along byroads the last two days since leaving Spectram, and had seen no Shadow Knights or any other wayfarer who could give them cause for suspicion. Indeed, they’d met no one else at all; the country folk must have heard news of the impending invasion and be keeping to the illusory safety of their homes and hearths. Even the birds in the trees the companions passed seemed subdued, as if they too were aware of imminent disaster. Each night the camp had been a somber affair, with none of the laughter or tale-telling that might have been expected. And Perima – Perima who’d been so open about her feelings toward Sagandran back in Spectram – seemed now to regret all that she’d said and deliberately withdrew from him again. He knew that by so doing she was going against the voice of her heart, of both their hearts, but that didn’t make his feelings of rejection any easier to bear.
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