Berlina's Quest

by James Hartley

  As they rode along, they began to see houses and cultivated fields. After another hour or two, they reached a built-up area, and to their delight, an inn called ‘The Jasmine Rose’. They tethered their horses, Berlina renewed the glamours on their faces, and they entered.

  Berlina walked up to the man standing behind the bar and said, “Innkeeper, we wish to get two rooms for the night. A double for me and my companion and a single for our bodyguard. Can you serve us?”

  “Ma’am, I regret that we are almost booked up. A room for you two ladies, aye, that I can do…if you can pay for it, that is. It is the finest room I have. As far as your bodyguard…well, the best I can offer is an empty bunk in the room where our guards doss.”

  “Ahh. I see your problem. Surely, an empty bunk with your guards cannot cost very much. Add that to the room for us, and we will pay you the cost of two ordinary rooms. Just what I was expecting to pay, anyway. Do we have a deal?”

  The Innkeeper frowned a little, as if he had hoped to charge more dearly, but then said, “Aye, ma’am. That will do.” He turned and hollered to the back of the building, “Squamish. Squamish! Go get these guests’ horses tethered out front and take them to the stables. Juletta, three meals for our honored guests.” He turned back to Berlina and said, “You two ladies will be in room one score and three, upstairs. Here is the key.” He held the key up but did not give it to them immediately. Instead, he gripped it firmly until Berlina put her gold on the counter.

  He scooped up the gold and dropped the key, and Berlina grabbed it. While this exchange was going on, a young girl in a barmaid’s dress placed three plates on a nearby table, and a young boy zipped through the room to the front door. “There is your dinner,” said the innkeeper. “Enjoy yourselves. When your man is done, he can go out back. The guard room is next to the stables. He can ask anyone if he can’t find it.”

  Berlina and her companions sat down and started to eat. After a few bites, Berlina said, “This is good, and it’s so nice to have something I didn’t have to fix myself.”

  “Yes, it is good,” said Felistia.

  When they had all finished, Berlina said to Lathan, “Go out in back. The room where you are to sleep is by the stables. If you don’t see it, ask for the guard room. In the morning, come back in here and wait for us to come downstairs. You understand?”

  “Shur, Princess,” replied Lathan, as he turned and walked toward the back of the inn.

  The two girls headed for the stairs to go up to their room. “I just hope we don’t have to go searching all over the inn to find him tomorrow,” said Berlina.

  * * * *

  In the morning, as they came down the stairs, they saw Lathan patiently waiting near the bar. When the innkeeper spotted them, he hollered, “Juletta!” Almost instantly, the same young girl darted out and put three plates on the table. “My daughter,” said the innkeeper. “I’m training her, and she is learning very well.”

  The three companions sat and ate. When they finished, Berlina went over to the bar and said, “We have heard some stories about the castle, and Prince Quince being thrown out. Are these true?”

  “Yes, ma’am. The castle was taken by treachery, and the prince had to flee to his stronghold in the village, or as it is sometimes called, ‘The Lodge’. The villains who took the castle seem to be using it to hold a prisoner, reported to have been dressed in the royal colors of Jylyria. They left just a handful of soldiers to hold the place—the soldiers and a sorcerer. The rest of the soldiers marched away, and partway down the road, vanished in a puff of smoke. I know not if we’ll ever see those men again.”

  Berlina laughed and said, “I suspect you won’t, at least not most of them. We heard a story that they were devoured by a horde of strange monsters.”

  “That is passing unusual, but since they mistreated our prince, I for one would be glad to find that story true. Now, if I may ask, why have you come to our village? Are you just passing through, or have you business here? Should I keep rooms open for you for tonight?”

  “We have an errand here, yes. As far as rooms, I don’t know for sure. Depending on how things go, we may have other accommodations by tonight…or perhaps not. We will try to send word to you if we are going to need rooms here. In the meantime, can you tell me how to get to this ‘Lodge’, as you call it?”

  “That is easy. Just stay on this road. It bends around toward the castle, and the Lodge will be the last building on the right before you come to the open space separating the village from the castle. Unfortunately, I fear you may be on a fool’s errand. Ever since the prince was forced from the castle and moved in there, no visitors have been allowed in. Even deliveries of food and supplies are left outside the door. The prince has been seeing no one…well, he did summon a witch from the village for a short visit, but that was all.”

  “A witch?”

  “Yes, the sorcerer has placed an invisible wall around the castle, and the prince hoped the witch might do something. When she got back to the village, she told everyone she was unable to help, and had so informed the prince.”

  “Do you know who this witch was that he summoned or where she is located?”

  “We have only one witch in the village—Madam Clotilde. She lives, and has a little shop, just down the road on the left. Don’t know why you care. I hear tell she’s really not much of a witch. After all, she wasn’t able to help the prince. Other than her, the prince has seen nobody.”

  “We shall see, we shall see,” said Berlina. “I have a feeling that he may be willing to admit me, to talk to me. Thanks for your information, and your advice. Now, if we can have our horses brought out?”

  The innkeeper turned to the back of the inn and shouted, “Squamish!”

  Berlina motioned to Felistia and Lathan, and the three walked out front to await the horses. When they came, the three mounted and started down the road. “No hurry,” said Berlina. “We have at least one stop to make before we get to the Lodge. In fact, I see our first destination just ahead.” She pulled her horse over in front of a small store, with a sign over the door that read “Occulte Shoppe”. She got down and handed the reins to Felistia. “Just hang on. I don’t think I’ll be long.”

  Berlina pushed open the door and entered. Inside, it was very dim, and the air smelled of incense. Behind the counter was a middle-aged woman wearing witch’s robes. Berlina said to her, “You are Madam Clotilde, are you not? The local witch, and the only person Prince Quince has asked to see since he was forced out of his castle? What did he want of you?”

  “Yes, I am Madam Clotilde, and yes, I am a witch. The prince’s men reported to him that there was an invisible wall around the castle—a wall they could not pass.”

  “Was there?”

  “Yes, what we call ‘wards’. I told him there was nothing I could do. Wards cannot be penetrated.”

  “Wrong, wrong, wrong. It is merely that the one seeking to penetrate the wards must be a more powerful magic user than the person casting them. Could you get any feeling for how powerful their sorcerer is?”

  “I should be ashamed to admit it, but he is much stronger than I am.”

  “How about me?”

  “You? What do you mean? You cannot be a witch. I would have sensed it when you entered.”

  “So, you couldn’t even tell I was using a shield-spell to hide my magical powers?” Berlina paused and muttered a few words. “Now, what do you think.”

  Madam Clotilde had a shocked expression on her face. “You are a witch! By the Brass Balls of Beelzebub, I have never sensed one more powerful. Are you a member of the Order of the Flowers?”

  “No, not a member. At least not yet. However, I was taught for five years by Forsythia. I apologize for putting you through this, but I wanted to see if you had any good feel for the strength of their sorcerer. Unfortunately, both he and I overwhelm you to the point where you can’t judge our strength versus one another. Thank you for trying, anyway.”

  “I am happy t
o help when I can…may I ask your name?”

  “Just call me Bejanna,” said Berlina as she turned and went out the door. Outside, she mounted and signaled the others to start. “Useless, Fee. She was just useless. A feeble witch, indeed.”

  It didn’t take long for the three to get through the town and arrive at the Lodge. They tethered the horses and walked up to the door, which had a sign on it reading, “No admittance. By order of the prince. This means you!” Berlina glanced at the sign, then took hold of the knocker, and rapped loudly on the door. When she got no response, she rapped again, harder and louder. A third time came close to bending or breaking the metal of the knocker.

  This time, there was a response. A voice from inside said, “Go away. No admittance. The prince is seeing no one, allowing no one to enter. Go away.”

  Berlina said, “I am sure the prince will see me, if he knows who I am. Open the door.”

  “No. I will not open the door. Go away.”

  “If you will not open the door for me, I will have to open it myself. Your choice.”

  The voice coming through the door was sounding angrier and angrier. “I will not open the door, and you cannot. This Lodge, built to be a safe refuge for the prince in an emergency, is built very strongly. This door is one of the strongest doors in the world. Do your damnedest. The door won’t open for you.”

  “All right. Have it your way.” Berlina pulled out her wand, muttered a few words, and the door swung open. “How strange. The door is open. Fee, Lathan, follow me. We’re going inside.” She entered the building and stopped in the middle of the entrance foyer, joined by Felistia and Lathan.

  In front of her, the owner of the voice, the Castellan, had a look of shock and horror on his face. Finally, he managed to choke out, “Are you part of the gang that took the castle, or are you another enemy? Are you here to assassinate the prince?”

  “No, actually, we are here to help the prince. To help him recover his castle. For I believe the one they are keeping prisoner there is the Crown Prince of Jylyria, and I have come to rescue him. Please, take me to your prince. You may call me Bejanna. I will reveal who I really am, but only to him.”

  Suddenly, a new voice issued from a balcony overlooking the foyer. “Caliban, what in the world is going on down there?”

  “A young lady calling herself Bejanna has managed to open the door, and has invited herself and two friends inside. She wishes to speak to you, My Lord.”

  “Well, if she managed to open the door, she must have something going for her. Send her and her friends up to my study.”

  “Yes, My Lord.”

  “One other thing. Close the damn door before we end up with half the people in the village deciding to come visiting.”

  The Castellan shut and locked the door, and then led the three up the stairs to the prince’s study. It was a large room with a magnificent desk in the middle and several clusters of comfortable furniture arranged for conversation.

  The prince was sitting in what was obviously his personal chair in one of the clusters, and waved Berlina and the others to seats opposite him. When they sat , he asked, “Now, who are you really?”

  Berlina pulled the golden medallion and silver key out of her dress and displayed it to Prince Quince. “This should tell you, Your Highness.”

  The prince nodded and said, “Ah, yes. The royal family of Jylyria. So, you must be Princess Berlina. I suppose that means our speculations that the prisoner being held in my castle is Crown Prince Darvid must be correct?”

  “Yes, correct, and I am here to rescue him.”

  The prince looked at her. “You are here to rescue him? You’re just a young girl. How do you propose to do that?”

  Berlina pulled out her wand and pointed it at the desk, which rose into the air, spun around, and returned to its place on the floor. “What do you think of that, Your Highness? What do you think of your impenetrable front door opening to let us in?”

  The prince sat for a moment, a shocked look on his face. “You are a princess and also a witch? Will that do any good? I consulted with a witch, Madam Clotilde, down in the village, and she told me she couldn’t do anything.”

  “Madam Clotilde, hah! A poorer excuse for a witch I have never seen. I can do many things that will prove useful in this venture. From what I’ve seen, I’m stronger magically, much stronger, than the sorcerer who cast the wards around the castle. Though, magic alone is not likely to be enough. With my magic and your soldiers working together, we should be able to retake your castle and rescue my brother. What do you say?”

  “I say yes, of course!” The prince reached out a hand, and they shook on it. “I suggest, since we are to be allies and both of noble blood, that we address each other as equals…Quince, Berlina.”

  “Good idea, Quince.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Plans

  “Now, why do you say the tunnel can’t be used?” asked Berlina.

  “Several of my men went in there and ran into the ‘invisible wall’, the wards,” said Quince. “They could see that just beyond, the tunnel was blocked by rocks and debris. Someone deliberately caved in the ceiling.”

  “Too bad. That might have been a good place to break in. We have to find someplace where there is open space both outside and inside the wards, both out of sight of the castle. How many men do you plan to go in with?”

  “As far as we know, they have about twenty soldiers plus their sorcerer. I want to go in with at least forty, more if we can manage it. Does that sound good?”

  “It sounds reasonable to me,” said Berlina. “So, I have to have forty men in a place out of sight of the castle, open a passage through the wards, and let the men go through one at a time. There has to be enough room on the other side for them to gather again out of sight of the castle, until all of them are through and ready.”

  “I think I know of a couple of places behind the castle. There are a number of rocky crags back there. I used to play there as a boy.”

  “That sounds good, as long as the wards happen to be in the right place. Face it. Their sorcerer didn’t position the wards for our convenience.”

  “True enough, Berlina. I have some men out there looking, now. We’ll see what they find. In the meantime, I’ll start getting the troops ready. The main attack force will be almost all my men, with a few from the village militia. The standby group, ready to go in if you can get the wards completely down, will be all militiamen.”

  “Quince, the easiest way to get the wards completely down is to kill the sorcerer who cast them. Brutal, but effective. So, make sure your men know that the sorcerer is a prime target, to be taken out at all costs. Getting him is almost a guarantee of victory for us.”

  Quince shivered a little at this bloodthirsty assessment but nodded his head in agreement.

  A few hours later, the men surveying the castle and the wards came back in with their findings shown on a map. “There are two likely spots, Your Highness,” said one of the men, pointing to where black circles were drawn.

  The prince looked at the spots, then turned to Berlina and asked, “From the viewpoint of using magic to get in, do you see any reason why one of those would be better or worse than the other?”

  Berlina studied the map and finally said, “From my perspective, the two look about the same. I’m pretty sure we can get forty or so men inside the wards at either of those spots.”

  Quince looked again and pointed to one of the locations. “If they are the same to you, we will use this one. After we are inside, this is closer to an old entrance where we can break in. There is better cover, both getting to that area before we go through the wards and getting to that entrance after we get through.”

  One of the officers of the prince’s troops spoke up. “Your Highness, I know that old entrance. It is bricked up. It won’t be that easy to get through.”

  “Perhaps not, but getting through a bricked up door has got to be easier than getting through a solid wall, don’t y
ou think?”

  The officer nodded in agreement.

  “I agree,” interrupted Berlina. “There are spells for that sort of thing—blasting spells—and they do work better on closed up doorways than on solid walls.”

  The prince turned and looked at her. “Spells, Berlina? That would mean you would have to be in there with the troops. Do you really plan to do that?”

  “Of course,” she said. “I have to go in. Who else would be able to deal with the sorcerer? I will be in there for the battle, and my companions, Felistia and Lathan, will be in there, too.”

  Quince still looked doubtful. “Are you sure…?”

  “It’s my brother in there we are trying to rescue. Besides…” She drew her sword and said, “Anyone want to try a little practice swordsmanship?”

  Several of the soldiers looked at her, and one said, “Your Highness, we could not. We would be afraid of harming you.”

  Berlina laughed. “Come on. Just a little fancy bladework. You may be as careful as you like so you don’t harm me, and I will likewise be careful not to harm you. One of you, two of you. Let’s make it a real challenge. Three of you.”

  Finally, three of the men stepped forward, their swords held in front of them in a purely defensive posture. Berlina stood there for a moment, then swung her sword around so fast, it was merely a blur. One man’s sword went flying out of his hand and across the room, followed by a second man’s sword. Berlina moved in on the third man, who suddenly found himself holding an unattached hilt as his blade fell clanging to the floor.

  There was a stunned silence in the room. Berlina dug out a couple of gold pieces and tossed them to the man whose sword she had just cut in half. “Here, buy yourself a new sword,” she said. She looked around and saw everyone staring at her. “Well, this is an enchanted sword, you know. The famous—or infamous—Black Sword. I’ve been getting a lot of practice, but I couldn’t do nearly as well with an ordinary weapon. Now, back to the topic at hand. When do we attack? Prince Drailsen, his sorcerer Zatarra, and more of his men will arrive in a few more days, so we can’t afford to wait too long. Oh, one more thing. Bring along Madam Clotilde, the village witch.”