“What is it then?” asked my father, once again patting his pockets in search of his beloved pipe as if he’d already forgotten he didn’t have it on him. “It certainly looks like blood.”
“It looks like blood because it is supposed to. This was created by a very powerful magician, but it is an illusion.”
“Bloody Diamonds!” barked my father in a crotchety manner before my mother grabbed his hand and motioned towards the villagers. Saying things like ‘Bloody Diamonds’ was all well and good in the comfort of his own home but to say things like that in front of his subjects was a different matter entirely. “I mean...erm…,” he coughed.
“It was not a Diamond that did this Your Majesty,” continued Mali, saving my father from further embarrassment. “It is a much more powerful wizard. The Diamonds are powerful, yes, but they wouldn’t be able to turn every river and stream in The Club Kingdom red.”
“Are you telling me that this isn’t the only river that looks like this?” asked my father, looking like he was on the verge of throwing up.
“This is one of the main tributaries of The Club River. I think it’s a safe assumption that it is not the only one that has been tainted in this manner. If I were a gambling man, I’d bet that this was altered at the very source of the river.”
I would have laughed if it weren’t so serious. Of course, he would bet on it. He already knew that’s where it had been tampered with, and who had done the tampering.
“If this is an illusion, is the water still drinkable because if it isn’t our only source of water is the snow and rain that falls from the sky.” My mother lifted her hands to the skies. There wasn’t a cloud in sight, and the last remnants of snow had almost thoroughly melted.
“You’d have to get an alchemist to test the water, Your Majesty, but I doubt many of your subjects will want to drink the water looking like that, even if it is pronounced safe.”
“I do not believe it. We live in the wettest kingdom in the whole of Vanatus. It’s done nothing but snow for weeks, and now you’re telling me there is going to be, what is akin to a drought?”
“It looks that way, Your Majesty.”
“Unbelievable!” My mother put her hands on her hips and tapped her toe.
“Tree, can you get a messenger to go and bring the best alchemist in The Kingdom here to the castle. We need this water tested right away.” My father puffed out his cheeks as he spoke. Tree saluted my father and ran back to the castle, leaving my father to talk to Mali again. “Tell me, sir. How do we stop this wizard? My troops are rather depleted at the moment, and, what with everything else going on, I’m reluctant to send them back up into the mountains.”
“This is very much a part of everything that is going on at the moment, Your Majesty. This is not a freak occurrence. I’ve been reading the runes and watching the stars. It is forecast that there will be a war amongst all people on Vanatus.”
“Actually, I’ve got my best men on the job to prevent that very thing!” replied my father, his hands going back to his pockets for the third time in almost as many minutes.
“You cannot prevent that what is forecast,” replied Mali.
“What does that mean?” asked my father beginning to lose patience.
“I’ll go!” I interjected. I already knew who was doing this, and although I didn’t yet know the reason why, I did know that sending hundreds of men up the mountain was completely pointless.
“Ash!” my mother said, sounding surprised. “What are you doing out here? You should be in bed.” She’d obviously just realized I was out of bed.
“Mali made me well again, Mother,” I said, not going into specifics. “He’s a mystical healer and a friend of Iris’s.”
“Ah. It makes sense now,” said my father as if he’d just solved a difficult puzzle.
“You are not going up those mountains. You almost died. What on earth do you expect to do against a great wizard anyway?” my mother demanded.
It was a good point. What exactly was I going to do up there? I couldn’t fight him. I had no magical knowledge at all, and if Mali was right, he was much more powerful than the Diamonds. I didn’t have an ounce of magic in me at all.
“I intend to talk to him. Find out what he wants.” I don’t know what made me say it, but it seemed the only thing I was able to do.
“What?” a chorus of shocked voices erupted.
“The guy is a powerful, evil wizard who has turned all our rivers to blood, and you want to talk to him?” my mother argued, her voice getting higher and higher with each word she spoke. “I absolutely forbid it!”
“Actually it’s not a half-bad idea,” said Mali, eliciting the famous death stare from my mother, the one she usually reserves only for when any of her kids have done something really bad. “As you said yourself, none of us have any hope of defeating him. I’m the most powerful sorcerer in the Club Kingdom, but my powers are tiny compared to even the average Diamond. I’m not sure we can reason with him, per se, but if we know what he wants, then maybe we can do something about it.”
“Fine!” agreed my mother, “but someone else can go. We’ll send one of our soldiers.”
“But mother! I have to go!” How could I explain to her that it had to be me? I felt like I knew him. He’d been in my head for weeks, and he knew everything about me. Because of that, I also felt that I knew him a little. I knew for example that he’d be expecting me to go see him. I even wondered for a second if the blood river trick was a way to get me up the mountain.
“No!” replied my mother firmly.
“Only the Five of Clubs can go up the mountain to him. The spirits say it is so,” said Mali, giving me a wink when he knew Mother wasn’t looking at him.
“Do the spirits say he’ll be safe up there?” asked Mother.
“I’m afraid they cannot foretell the outcome, Your Majesty.”
“I don’t see why someone else can’t go!” she repeated her same argument from earlier, but I knew we’d gotten her. I kissed her cheek and ran to the stables. It was a two-day trip up the mountain, and I wanted the fastest horse for the journey. Stargazer was there tending a doe and her foal and, inexplicably, a unicorn.
“I need a fast horse,” I said to her.
“Ok,” she replied, getting up. “Is something the matter?”
“I’m sure someone will fill you in later, but I need a horse now. I’m going back up the mountains.”
“Oh.” She seemed surprised. “Does mother know?”
“Yes. She’s not very happy about it, but it’s something I have to do. Do you have a horse?”
Yes, but you’d be better off flying up there. You can take Elphin if you like..”
“No, I can’t stand flying. I like my feet on the ground where I know I’m safe.”
“Ok, I’ll tack up Midnight. He’s the fastest horse we have.”
“Thanks, Star. I’ll just go and pack up some supplies, and then I’ll meet you back here in about twenty minutes.”
Back at the castle, I found all the villagers from down at the river standing in the entrance hall along with a few others that had just turned up. My father was doing his best to placate them, but with the prospect of no drinkable water for the foreseeable future, they were understandably upset. I sneaked past them down into the kitchens and asked the kitchen staff to pack up some rations for four days. I knew I’d not need any more than that. It was a two day trip up the mountains and another day and a half back again (It was slower progress going uphill.) That left me with half a day to speak to this Joker character. It was more than enough. My mother found me just as the kitchen staff finished and handed me the food.
“I don’t want you to go.” She wrung her hands as she spoke. “But if the last few weeks have taught me anything, it’s that I have to trust my children. You are nineteen years old, not a child anymore, and I have to let you do what is right for you.”
“Thank you, Mother, that means a lot.” I held my arms out to her, and she en
veloped me in a bear hug.
“If you die out there, I’m going to kill you!” she said, and I held her tighter. The last few weeks had been hard on her, and I was completely aware of how difficult it was for her to let me go. “Your sister’s friend is upstairs in the parlor waiting for you. He told me he has a magic talisman to keep you safe. You know I don’t believe in all that garbage, but I’ll believe in anything if it means getting you home in one piece. Wear it all the time.”
I could tell she was worried. She normally referred to anything Iris was involved in as mumbo jumbo.
“I will.”
“And here,” she handed me a big leather bag. “It has clean clothes and a blanket.”
“Thanks.” I hugged her again and left her in the kitchen to find Mali. She didn’t follow me.
Mali stood exactly where Mother had said he would be. Iris was with him. I could hear a lot of angry voices coming from the villagers in the entrance hall, and I wondered if I didn’t have the easiest job of all. I’d rather face an evil wizard than the seething mob out there as if my father could do anything about the blood red water any more than they could.
Mali spoke, which brought my attention away from the sounds of the angry villagers.
“Wear this.” He passed me a medallion with the very same symbol that was tattooed on the back of his head, a circle with a small five-sided star in the top right-hand corner. I slipped it over my head. “It will protect you from being invaded again. It will not stop any other spells, so you will have to be very careful what you say and do. I would have come with you, but I am old, and my arthritis would not be able to cope with the combined forces of the cold and the distance. As it is, I must take the three-hour journey back to Yelpish with Iris today.”
“Thank you for everything you have done.”
“You are more than welcome, my boy. I must warn you, though. The Joker is not to be trusted. Whatever comes out of his mouth is a lie. If he promises to turn the water back to how it was, wait until he does. Of course, that will not stop him changing it back to red later, but there is nothing you can do about that. The best you can do is really find out what he wants. The Clubs have no argument with him. If the stories are true, I know his allegiance is to no one besides his brother. Don’t bother trying to appeal to his better side. He has no better side. Unless it is in his own best interest, he won’t do anything. Good luck on your journey. I will send my spirit guide out with you. You will not be able to see or hear her, but she will report back to me if you are in any danger.”
I hugged both Mali and my sister and set out on my way. Star had saddled up the most stunning black horse I’d ever seen. He stood impatiently waiting for me to jump on his back, and even when I was on, he pawed the ground and tossed his head, desperate to be off.
“Thanks, Star!” I just about managed to say to my sister before the horse bolted, and we were both out the stable door at what felt like the speed of light.
Star had been right. Midnight was a fast horse. He raced up and over the hill at the back of the castle as though it was nothing more than a small mound of earth, and it was all I could do to hold on for dear life.
We got a lot further in one day than I remembered covering the last time I’d come up here. But then again, the last time, I’d been with hundreds of men and on a horse called Ned, who didn’t particularly like hills or walking. If Midnight continued the way he had today, I’d be facing The Joker a lot sooner than planned. By my estimation, we’d be at the source of the river by early afternoon tomorrow. I let Midnight wander around a field we’d come across and eat some grass. It was bitterly cold up here on the mountain, and the patches of snow were much larger than they had been in the village. It gave me an idea.
“We need to get lots of people up here with buckets to collect the snow before it melts,” I said aloud. Midnight ignored me completely, but maybe, just maybe, Mali’s spirit guide heard me, and Mali could get the message back to my father. I knew I was being defeatist, but there was every chance I wasn’t going to get through to this guy. Who even knew if he was still there?
I ate a good meal, thanks to the kitchen staff and a good fire I’d managed to make, and handed a couple of raw carrots to Midnight, who seemed to enjoy them. I took the amulet off as it was digging into my neck, and placed it in my pocket for safekeeping. I’d have to remember to put it on the next morning before I met The Joker.
Pulling out the blanket my mother had given to me, I wrapped myself up in it, lay my head on my bag, and fell asleep.
26th January
I awoke early to find Midnight had disappeared at some point in the night. Cursing my stupidity at not tethering him to a tree, I threw my blanket off and went in search of my wayward horse. I found him munching away on an apple tree the next field over. One thing about the magical water content in The Club Kingdom was that we had fruit all year round. I wondered how that would work if our water was polluted. A red stream flowed past the tree to remind me of our predicament.
“How did you get over there?” I called to midnight over the wall. As if he knew what I was saying, he ran towards the wall that separated us and jumped it gracefully.
I guided him back to my makeshift camp and scooped some of the snow for him to eat. I only hoped he’d not drank out of the stream while on the other side of the wall, but he seemed ok whether he had or hadn’t. I scooped up a smaller pile of snow for myself and ate it, letting it melt in my mouth and the cold water flowed down my throat. Breakfast was sausage, bacon, and eggs for me, all cooked on the fire that I’d relit that morning. Midnight had already had a load of apples, but I handed him a carrot to munch on anyway while I ate mine. It took a few minutes to pack up again, but then we were off, speeding up through the mountains. As predicted, we got to the mouth of the cave just after lunchtime. I jumped down from Midnight, pulled a carrot out of my bag for him, and tied him to a nearby tree by his reigns.
From where I stood, the cave looked empty except for the water flowing out of it. The stream that would eventually turn into the Club River and all the other rivers in The Club Kingdom was scarlet. I don’t know if it was because the sun was higher in the sky than when I’d seen it last, but the water no longer looked like blood; instead, it was brighter than I remembered it.
“Hello,” I called into the mouth of the cave. There was no answer. I mentally kicked myself for forgetting to bring an oil lamp. I really didn’t want to venture into the cave in the dark. I was searching the floor for a broken branch that I could wrap a piece of material around and use as a torch when I heard a woman’s voice.
“I knew you would come to find me.”
I looked over to see her emerge from the mouth of the cave. My heart jumped as I recognized her. It was the Jack of Hearts that Tarragon had hooked up with at the New Year’s Eve party. At first, I thought she was up here with The Joker, but when I saw her eyes, pure violet, I realized she was The Joker. Mali had prepared me for this. He’d told me that The Jokers could change appearance at will and could look like anyone. He just didn’t tell me how much they could look like someone. I’d not spent a lot of time with The Jack of Hearts; I couldn’t even remember her name, but this vision in front of me looked exactly like her.
“If you think turning into her will somehow provoke me into doing something, you are wrong. You’ve got the wrong brother. My younger brother dated her, not I.”
“Did he indeed?” she purred as she walked toward me. Goodness me, Tarragon would have melted by now. “I didn’t know that.”
I backed up a few steps and nearly fell over a rock.
“Silly boy. I’m not trying to seduce you. I could if I wanted to, but if I did, I’d not choose Journey Heart to do it. No, I know you better than that. Does this suit you better?”
Before my eyes, Journey turned into a girl I’d had a crush on at school. I’d not seen her in over a year, and I’d pretty much gotten over her. Still, it was disconcerting to see her standing before me, violet eyes where t
here should have been brown.
“Why don’t you appear to me as you are? The real you?”
“The real me?” She laughed. “It’s been so long since I’ve been the real me that I wouldn’t know what I looked like anymore.”
“When I saw you last, you were tall. A tall old man. Isn’t that you?”
Laughter came from her mouth. She looked like the girl from school, and her voice was the same, but he’d not quite gotten her laugh right.
“That was a shepherd I’d met once. I made him taller, of course, but it wasn’t me.”
Her features contorted, and I found myself looking at me. At least, a me with violet eyes.
“Is this better? We are even now.”
“Please don’t do that. Turn into someone else, a man,” I added.
“Do you know, this is not exactly how you look? This is only how you think you look because you’ve only ever seen yourself in mirrors. I’m a mirror image of you. If we were to stand side by side, we’d look subtly different.”
“Fascinating. Please change.”
He changed again, and there in front of me was a young man in his early twenties in old-fashioned clothing. There was nothing remotely scary about him. He could have been any man walking down the street.
“This is what I looked like the last I remember. It was a long time ago. My twin looked just the same. I’ve not seen him in the longest time. Of course, you know about him too. I saw your healer friend tell you about him. He did a good job of getting me out of your mind by the way.”
“I’m here to talk to you,” I began.
“Yes, I can see that. What shall we talk about? The weather? Politics?” He laid himself out on a rock, placed his hands behind his head, and looked up into the cloudless sky. It was the type of thing I might have done in the summer.
“You know why I’m here. I’m here about the water.”
“What about the water?” he asked lazily.
“What do you mean, what about the water? It’s red.”
“It’s perfectly drinkable. I see no problem.”
Five of Clubs (War and Suits Book 4) Page 4