The Twins of Tintarfell

by James O'Loghlin

  Gambon heaved the sack back onto his shoulder and moved on. Dani breathed a sigh of relief. She was swung from side to side as Gambon walked, and began to feel a bit ill. She knew that people got seasick. Maybe she was getting sack-sick. Gambon’s footsteps started to echo more, and the dark got darker. They must be inside. They clomped up some steps and then Dani heard a door swing open and she was laid down on something soft. The sack opened, and Gambon’s large face peered down at her. She started to scramble out.

  ‘Careful of the cauliflower,’ scolded Gambon. ‘And the apples. I get in trouble if they’re bruised.’

  ‘Help me, then.’

  Gambon grabbed her around the waist, lifted her out and put her down on the floor. They were in a plain grey bedroom, a bit bigger than the one she and Bart had shared, and the sack lay on Gambon’s long bed. She knew Gambon also lived in the servants’ quarters. After all that had happened, it seemed strange that she was in a room just a few steps away from the one she and Bart had shared all their lives.

  ‘I gotta deliver this food,’ said Gambon. ‘You . . .

  um . . . what should you do?’

  ‘I’ll stay here. When it gets dark, I can sneak around.’

  ‘I wanta find them orphans, but I’m not very good at sneaking.’

  Dani had another idea. ‘You don’t need to sneak. And neither do I. And we don’t need to wait until dark, either.’

  ‘We don’t?’

  ‘As long as you’re carrying your sack, everyone will think you’re delivering something. After you unload the food, bring the sack back. I’ll get in it, and you can carry me around. We can cut some holes in it so I can see out.’

  ‘I don’t want to ruin me sack.’

  ‘What’s more important? The orphans or your sack?’

  Gambon looked at his sack. ‘Oh, all right. It’s a good sack, though.’ He picked it up and left.

  Dani lay on the bed. The mattress was thin and uncomfortable. No wonder Gambon wanted a new one. However, she’d had no sleep the previous night and was soon dozing.

  Chapter 27

  The Orphans

  Edward put on his robe. He had been drawing when a servant knocked on his door and informed him that Randling had requested his presence in the throne room, and he knew it was more an order than a request. So far, being King wasn’t making him nearly as happy as he had imagined. Although his lodgings were a lot finer than the cell Bart had been taken to, he was just as much Randling’s prisoner. He trudged to the throne room where he would, no doubt, do exactly what Randling told him to. He felt a wave of self-loathing.

  As soon as he sat on the throne, Randling appeared from a side door and sat on the smaller chair next to him. A number of guards and advisers stood around the walls of the throne room, while Wanda waited beside the door through which Randling had entered.

  ‘How are we, your Majesty?’ said Randling with his bland smile. ‘Ready for some more ruling?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Edward flatly.

  ‘Come, come. You are the King. I understand you may be frustrated that I sit so closely beside you, but consider the alternative. At any rate, if you can’t be happy, you may as well be busy, so let’s get on with it. There is something I need you to do.’ Randling turned to face the room. ‘Leave us. I must speak to the King in private.’

  Everyone except Wanda scuttled out of various doors.

  ‘Your Majesty may have noticed that the orphans no longer serve us,’ began Randling.

  ‘Why is that?’ interrupted Edward. ‘They’ve waited on my family for years.’

  ‘Well, maybe they got tired of waiting and left,’ said Randling, and laughed. ‘Get it?’

  Edward looked blank-faced.

  ‘No? Ah well. It was a good joke. Let me explain my problem. It appears that the orphans resent my rapid rise to power. They are very loyal to your father, and I have heard whispers of a plot among them.’

  Edward thought this sounded unlikely. He knew Dani and Bart hated being servants. He couldn’t imagine that the rest of the orphans felt any great devotion to the King.

  Randling continued. ‘It would be easy for one of them to poison my food or find another way of harming me. As servants, they’re everywhere, so I have taken the precaution of imprisoning them.’

  ‘All of them?’

  ‘For the moment, yes. If I had only imprisoned some, the rest would have resented me even more. However, I have become aware that now the guards, soldiers and our advisers are beginning to wonder if what I have done is fair.’

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘My powers give me some ability to sense things. Edward, if people are already beginning to question my decisions, before too long they may question my very presence here. So, from now on, my boy, you are going to give the orders regarding the orphans. That way, everyone will understand that nothing sinister is going on, because the King is in control. You must act as my shield. I want you to order the guards to bring one of the orphans, Jonas, to the roof.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I believe he is one of the leaders of the conspiracy against me and I want somewhere out of the way to question him. Don’t worry, I won’t cause him any pain. Just order the guards to bring him to the roof. In fact, tell them that it is important that they obey all my orders about the orphans, even if they seem unusual. And tell them to take special care of Bart. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to him, and I’m sure you wouldn’t either. Will you

  do that?’

  Edward was sure that there was more to this than Randling was telling him, but what choice did he have?

  ‘All right,’ he said.

  ‘Good.’ Randling walked to a side door and opened it. ‘We need two guards,’ he said.

  A couple of guards entered the chamber.

  Randling motioned for Edward to speak.

  ‘When Lord Randling requests it, fetch the orphan Jonas and take him to the roof,’ said Edward. ‘And tell the guards in the dungeons they must treat the orphan Bart well. Also, Lord Randling may have some unusual requests regarding the orphans.’ Edward glanced at Randling, who nodded. ‘You must do whatever he says.’

  ‘Your Majesty, perhaps you could tell them that when I make requests regarding the orphans, that I am just following your orders,’ said Randling, smiling.

  Edward gritted his teeth. ‘He’s just following my orders,’ he said.

  Bart sat with his back against the cell wall. Guards had brought a slice of bread each for him and Jonas, and some water, but Bart was still hungry. Jonas dozed on his mattress.

  Bart wondered if his powers over animals would work here. Melindarah and Gildarin had said there was a blocking spell in the castle, so perhaps not. He extended his mind, trying to sense what creatures were near. Nothing.

  More time passed, and then he heard footsteps approach and a key turn in the lock. The door swung open and two burly guards entered.

  ‘Come with us,’ said one to Bart. ‘Either you can walk, or we can knock you out and carry you. Your choice.’

  ‘Not that one,’ said the other guard. ‘He’s special. This one.’ He shook the sleeping Jonas, and then they both pulled him to his feet.

  ‘Huh, yaw wa?’ moaned Jonas.

  ‘Wait,’ cried Bart. ‘What are you doing?’

  The first guard moved towards Bart. ‘Is he too special for me to smack in the head?’

  ‘I’m not sure, so you’d better not.’

  The guards pulled Jonas out of the room and slammed the door behind them.

  Edward wandered. He was supposedly heading back to his room, but he was restless. Earlier, he had been dismissed by Randling: ‘Free time now, your Majesty. Of course, it is best if you do not leave the castle. For your own safety.’

  Again, Edward knew it was an order and not a request.

  He paced along
corridors and up and down stairs until he had covered almost every part of the castle and was at its far end, where he rarely ventured. Ahead, stairs led down to the dungeon. He heard voices and slowed.

  A guard came into view heading upstairs. Behind him was a boy he vaguely recognised with his hands tied in front of him. Behind him another guard held the boy firmly by the shoulder. They disappeared up the stairs.

  Edward felt a stab of guilt. It must be the orphan, Jonas, who he had ordered to the roof. He went to the stairwell and caught glimpses of the three of them climbing the stairs. Edward tiptoed after them. The soldiers led Jonas past the fourth floor, and then Edward heard a creak. It had to be the trapdoor that opened onto the roof.

  Randling had said he wanted to interrogate Jonas about some plot among the orphans, but after all that had happened Edward doubted this was true. What was he really doing?

  Edward cautiously approached the wooden trapdoor and, hoping no one outside would notice, eased it open a crack. He saw the backs of the two guards and Jonas heading towards the middle of the roof. Beyond them, about a dozen steps from the trapdoor, stood Randling. To his right was a table upon which sat some tubes that ended in spikes. On the other side of the table stood Wanda. To Randling’s left, two chairs faced each other.

  The guards and Jonas reached Randling, who looked closely from one guard to the other. ‘It is important that you tell no one what you see up here. Do you understand?’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ replied each guard tonelessly.

  ‘In fact, even better, you will forget what you saw up here.’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ they chorused.

  ‘Tie the boy to the chair.’

  They pushed a protesting Jonas onto the chair and tied him to it.

  ‘Hold his head still,’ ordered Randling.

  One of the guards held Jonas around the neck as Randling picked up one end of a tube, took the spike and inserted it behind the orphan’s ear. Jonas cried out. From the table Randling picked up a goblet and offered it to him. ‘Drink it.’

  Jonas hesitated.

  ‘Or the guards will slice your head off.’

  Jonas drained the goblet.

  Randling sat in the other chair. He found the other end of the tube, which also had a spike and, with a grimace, slowly inserted it below his own ear. The two sat facing each other, connected by the tube, and then Jonas groaned and slumped back. Randling sat, concentrating intently, for some time and then leant back and smiled. ‘Ahhh!’

  He carefully removed one end of the spike from below his ear and, less carefully, the other end from Jonas.

  ‘Take him back to the dungeon and bring me another one,’ he ordered. ‘In fact, make that two more.’

  The guards unstrapped Jonas, pulled him to his feet and walked him back towards the trapdoor. Edward quickly lowered it, but before it closed, he caught a glimpse of Jonas’s eyes. They were utterly blank, just like Bart’s had been when they had found him in the forest.

  Gambon lumbered out of the servants’ quarters and across the courtyard towards the castle, his sack slung over his shoulder. Inside the sack, Dani took turns peeking out of the four small holes they had cut in it. The hole at the front of the sack wasn’t much use, though, as all she could see through it was Gambon’s shirt.

  Gambon entered the castle and clomped along a corridor. Their plan was to head towards the dungeon, as Gambon had heard that the orphans were being kept there, and Dani thought that was also where Bart was most likely to be. She had brought her sling, but she only had one rock left.

  They went around a corner and Dani heard footsteps coming the other way. She peeked through a hole and saw a figure walk past them. Edward. Dani was filled with fury. She wanted to leap out of the sack and bash his treacherous, double-crossing brains in, but there would be castle guards lurking, and one good scream would bring them running. Better to continue with the plan to find Bart. Later, though, Edward would pay for what he had done.

  ‘We’re nearly at the dungeon stairs,’ whispered Gambon.

  ‘Good. Do you remember what to do when we get there?’

  There was silence.

  ‘Well? Do you?’ pressed Dani.

  ‘I nodded.’

  ‘I can’t see you nod. I’m in a sack.’

  ‘Oh, yeah. Sorry.’ He moved on, and then stopped again. ‘Someone’s coming down the stairs.’

  ‘Wait until they pass. If someone’s heading down to the dungeon, it’s better we know about it. Turn around and go slowly back the way we came.’

  Gambon obeyed, while Dani looked out of the hole in the back of the sack. Descending the stairs were two guards leading Jonas. They disappeared down towards the dungeon.

  ‘Let’s give them a minute and then follow,’ she whispered.

  Bart’s cell door swung open, and the same two guards who had taken Jonas pushed him back in, and then slammed the door shut. Jonas stood in the centre of the cell, staring straight ahead, his eyes vacant.

  ‘Jonas. What happened?’

  There was no response. Bart shook his shoulders. ‘Jonas?’

  There was no reply. In the house of Jonas, there was no-one home.

  Gambon reached the bottom of the dungeon stairs and entered the corridor.

  ‘There’s a row of doors,’ he whispered. ‘The first one’s open.’

  ‘Go in,’ hissed Dani.

  Gambon hesitated, and then entered the room. From a sack hole Dani could see a desk against a wall, and two male legs dressed in the leggings and boots of guards. She carefully twisted her head and looked out a hole on the other side of the sack. There were two more sets of guard legs and between them two sets of skinnier legs in grey servant leggings. She scrunched her head down lower and could see that the skinnier sets of legs belonged to two orphans, Sophia and Sam.

  ‘Gambon,’ said one of the guards. ‘What brings you here?’

  ‘My feet.’

  ‘Hilarious,’ replied the guard. ‘What have you brought us?’

  ‘Just food and stuff.’

  ‘Let’s see it, then.’

  ‘Um,’ hesitated Gambon.

  ‘We’ll leave you to your goodies,’ said one of the guards next to the orphans. ‘The King said we have to do whatever Lord Randling wants, and he wants two more orphans on the roof.’

  ‘What’s he doing with them?’ asked the first guard.

  There was a pause. ‘I . . . I don’t know. I mean, we was up there but . . . it’s gone kind of blank. Anyway, we gotta take these ones.’

  The two guards led the orphans from the room and Dani heard their footsteps grow fainter.

  ‘Open up the sack then, Gambon,’ said a guard.

  Dani grabbed her rock.

  ‘Sure,’ said Gambon, laying the sack on the floor so that Dani was on her back. The sack opened and Gambon’s big face looked down at her.

  ‘Get ’em,’ ordered Dani.

  ‘What . . .?’ began a guard before Gambon grabbed him and pushed him against the wall. Dani leapt up and, as the other guard drew a knife, threw her rock hard. It hit him in the chest and he grunted, slumped back against the wall, and slid down it, dropping the knife. Dani grabbed it and sat on his chest.

  Gambon held the other guard in the air by the throat. ‘Put me down,’ cried the guard.

  ‘Sure thing. Of course,’ said Gambon, but made no move to do so. ‘That was sarcasm,’ he added.

  Dani held the knife above the other guard. ‘Is Bart down here?’

  ‘I dunno,’ the guard replied. ‘I can’t remember all their names.’ He pointed over Dani’s shoulder. ‘Look at the chart.’

  Dani turned. As she did, the guard swept his arm up and knocked her knife hand away. He pushed Dani in the chest so she fell back and leapt to his feet.

  Gambon threw the other guard towards the ceiling, gra
bbed him by the ankles, moved into the centre of the room and swung him around. ‘Duck!’

  Dani fell to the ground as Gambon threw the guard, who flew over her and crashed into the other guard. There was a pair of screams.

  Gambon stepped over Dani, picked up each guard by their shirtfronts and pushed them into the wall. Seeing he had things under control, Dani got up and examined the chart on the wall.

  Edward reached his chambers. He put his hand on the doorknob but made no move to turn it. Inside he could rest, be waited upon, order any food and drink he wanted, and even be diverted by whatever form of entertainment he asked for: a magician, dancers, music, a book, even someone to read it to him. But he kept seeing Jonas’s blank eyes.

  Now he understood why Randling had wanted the orphan taken to the roof. He was doing to the orphans what he had done to Bart; draining their minds to gain more power. Edward bowed his head. It was he who had ordered the guards to take Jonas up there, and that meant he was responsible for what had happened.

  What should I do? he thought. What can I do?

  He opened his door but didn’t enter. He stood there for several moments, staring into space, and then pulled the door shut and headed back down the corridor.

  Dani searched the chart. On it were about twenty names and most of them belonged to her fellow orphans. Bart was in cell eleven with Jonas.

  Gambon stood over the guards, who sat on the floor. Dani addressed them. ‘Where’s the key to cell eleven?’

  The guards looked at each other, but said nothing.

  ‘There’s two ways of opening that door,’ said Gambon. ‘I can use the key, or I can use the battering ram.’

  ‘You don’t have a battering ram,’ replied a guard.

  ‘Yes I do,’ said Gambon. ‘Your head.’

  ‘The key’s in my pocket,’ said the guard quickly.

  Gambon dug into the guard’s pocket and pulled out a key ring with one key on it. ‘Which key is it?’ he asked.

  The guard looked confused.

  ‘I’m just messing with ya,’ said Gambon. ‘Where are the other keys?’