‘It may be that once he knows Sonya is safe he will want to revenge himself upon me for blackmailing him in this way. He certainly has the power to do so, no matter how many guards I have. But what matters most is the welfare of our country and our people.’
‘But now he knows what you’re doing, couldn’t he find Sonya and set her free himself?’
‘I wondered myself if he would be able to do that. Years ago he could have, but he has not done so, and I think we must take that as meaning that, by himself, he cannot.’
Questions kept coming to him. ‘Why didn’t you tell me all this before? Downstairs?’
The Queen paused, squeezed her brow. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know how you would react. I . . . just had to think things through first.’
‘Was it just coincidence that it was me – Sonya’s brother – who found Banfor and not another knight?’
‘Yes and no. Yes, because I did not know for sure where Ganfree was, so I needed to send all the knights out as far and wide as possible to search for him. But information I had gathered over the years suggested the most likely place he would be was in our north, possibly in the Forest of Gilderang. Although, as it turns out, he wasn’t there. But he was nearby. I have been meaning to ask you. Why did you leave the area you had been assigned to search to look for him in the Circle of Mountains?’
‘Er, well . . .’ Roderick did not want to mention Ruby. Given that she was a suspected Nareean spy, and he had just helped her to escape the dungeons, it would make things even more complicated than they already were. And things were already pretty complicated. ‘I just had a feeling she . . . I mean he . . . might be there.’
The Queen nodded. ‘Yes of course. And that is precisely why I sent you. You have powers that the other knights do not, Roderick. If, as I suspected, Ganfree was being guarded by the cockroaches, then the greatest swordsmen in the land would not have been able to get past them. You used your mind, didn’t you?’
Roderick nodded slowly.
‘As I said, I have some limited ability to use my own. You know this. You felt me talk to you in your head in the dining hall after that bee stung you, yes?’ Roderick nodded again. ‘And you felt me give you a little push down the hill when you were reluctant to get too close to the cockroaches? And of course you felt Ganfree and I use our powers today on the balcony.’
‘Yes.’
‘It is clear that of all the knights, Roderick, you have the greatest potential to develop these sorts of powers. I can sense it in you. And I can help you to develop them.’ She looked gravely at him. ‘You could be very powerful, Roderick. I hope you will always use that power to help Baronia. If you do, you could become one of my most trusted and important knights.’
Roderick could hardly take it all in. At the back of his mind something nagged at him. Something important, from the day he had saved the Queen’s life. Why hadn’t she wanted a drink?
‘How long have you known about me?’ he asked.
The Queen’s lips twitched. ‘What do you mean?’
‘That day on the bridge. I didn’t really save your life, did I?’
There was a long pause, and then the Queen clapped her hands in delight. ‘I knew you were clever. How did you know?’
‘When you were hit by the dart your symptoms were those of someone who had been poisoned with larabeen juice, so I made you the antidote and you recovered. But larabeen juice makes your mouth go dry. When someone survives, they always have an extremely dry mouth. But you didn’t. There was so much going on I didn’t take it in at the time, but when you recovered, you didn’t ask for water and even when you were offered it, you refused.’
The Queen clapped again. ‘Very good, my dear.’
‘But . . . I don’t understand?’
‘I have been on the lookout for someone with the potential to develop powers of the sort Banfor has for a long time. Eventually I sensed you. I knew you had potential, and that if I could help you to develop and use your powers in the right way, you could help me to keep Baronia safe. I found out a bit more about you, and it was clear that you would never willingly become a knight. So I created a way to make you one.’
‘But I was only on the bridge that day by chance . . . because Sonya was sick.’
‘She had dinner at a café in Indinwick the night before, and I arranged for a powder to be added to her food that would inconvenience her the next morning. I posted a lookout and, as your cart approached the bridge, we rode out the city gates. When I was near you I hid a dart in my hand, screamed and fell to the ground. You “saved my life” and I was able to thank you by making you a knight.’
Roderick was stunned. ‘But I saw someone run away into the trees,’ he stammered.
‘That was arranged.’
‘You thrashed about, foamed at the mouth.’
‘I swallowed a powder that caused me to do that.’
‘But why go to all that trouble? Why not just order me to come and live in the castle?’
‘People with these sort of powers are incredibly rare. I have been on the lookout for someone like you for fifteen years. I wanted to keep it a secret from everyone, Baronians, Nareeans, even you, until I could find out what you were capable of and whether, if I helped you to develop your powers, you would use them to help Baronia, or just to help yourself. Once again, I am sorry. I know how happy you were on the farm. But everything I have done has been to protect Baronia. And before you condemn me, remember that you have just been honoured as a hero by the entire city. Do you really wish that you had never become a knight?’
Do I? wondered Roderick. Initially he would have done anything to return to his old life. But after all that had happened, would he go back to it now?
‘Your kingdom needs you, Roderick,’ continued the Queen. ‘We have Banfor now, but for how long? Dark days are ahead. In the old days the side upon which he fought always won, and you have the potential to be as powerful as he was.’
‘But what about Sonya? Where is she? Can I see her?’
‘I hope you will understand, Roderick, why it is not possible now. You have my word that she is safe. As soon as we have, with Ganfree’s help, persuaded the Nareeans to leave us alone, you will be reunited with your sister, and Ganfree can return home.’
‘But what if it happens again? I mean, even if we can push the Nareeans back this time with Banfor’s help, what if they come back next year, or the year after that?’
‘I hope we will never be forced to go to war again. I wish we were not going to war now, but the attack on Taroom leaves us with no choice. But I have learnt my lesson. Never again will Baronia be unprepared. We will build up our army and increase the number of knights. I should never have let the numbers decrease, but we seemed to be in such a long period of peace.’ She let out a slow breath. ‘I have failed my people.’
Her shoulders straightened. ‘And if, in the future, there does come a time when once again we need to fight, perhaps you will have developed your powers to the extent that we will not need Ganfree Banfor.’
Roderick’s eyes widened. Could he possibly . . . ?
‘Yes, you can, Roderick,’ said the Queen.
He imagined himself at the head of the army, saving Baronia by using the power of his mind.
‘The Nareeans are preparing to ride against us,’ continued the Queen. ‘Perhaps they have already set out. Tomorrow we ride east to meet them.’ She reached out her hand to him and suddenly she looked less like an all-powerful ruler and more like a tired and anxious woman. It reminded him of how his mother had looked in the months after his father’s death. She stared into his eyes. ‘I hope I can count on your help, Roderick.’
He took her offered hand. ‘Yes, of course.’
CHAPTER 18
HOLDING A BUTTON
After the Queen left, Roderick needed time to think, but he didn’t get it.
‘She’s told you a whole lot of lies.’
‘How . . . ? What are you doing here?’
‘I thought that if your Queen was lying to you, you’d want to know,’ said the voice as it moved to the sofa the Queen had just vacated. ‘I came in with her. She’s very good.’ The cushions compressed.
‘We had a deal,’ Roderick said to the cushion. ‘I gave you those herbs, and in return you promised to leave Baronia and not come back. Why do you keep popping up everywhere?’
‘Because you’ve just been fed a mountain of lies.’
‘No I haven’t. Nareea is about to attack us.’
‘Except that they’re not.’
‘How could you possibly know that? When were you last in Nareea? Months ago! How could you know what’s going on there?’
‘I know my country. It’s not happening.’
‘When we first met, you told me you weren’t even from that country. You were from Danover. So you’re right. There is a liar about. You!’
‘If you listen for just a minute I’ll explain. Sit down.’ Roderick hesitated. ‘Come on,’ she bossed. Reluctantly he slumped into the sofa opposite hers.
‘The village that was attacked near the border,’ she said.
‘Taroom.’
‘Yes. It wasn’t Nareeans who did it.’
‘Who was it then?’ he replied. ‘Angry squirrels? A gang of rabbits?’
‘Baronians,’ she said.
‘Our soldiers attacked their own people? That’s ridiculous!’
‘It’s true! So that it would look like the Nareeans had done it.’
‘Come on! People were killed. Baronians wouldn’t kill Baronians.’
‘They did.’
‘What proof do you have?’
‘This!’ she said. There was the noise of hand hitting wood, and a small dark circle lay on the table.
‘What’s that?’
‘A rhinoceros. What do you think?’ Her turn for sarcasm.
He picked it up. ‘A button?’
‘Very good. What sort of button?’
It was white with a black cross in the middle. ‘A round one?’
Ruby sighed theatrically.
Roderick’s impatience was growing. ‘Stop playing games. If you’ve got something to say, say it!’
‘All right. With the herbs you left me, I made myself invisible, escaped from the dungeons, stole a horse and headed for Nareea. By nightfall I had nearly made it to the border. I camped out and then next morning crept into a village to steal some food, and everyone was talking about how a village nearby had been attacked. I decided to call in to see if the CAKE members I knew there were okay. I was looking through the remains of one of their houses for any sign that the family who lived there might have survived when I found that button. It looked out of place somehow so I picked it up. Baronian soldiers had started to arrive to help with the clean-up and I noticed that . . . Well, hold the button up against your shirt.’
Roderick pulled the top of his tunic down, exposing the top button of his knight’s white shirt, and held Ruby’s button next to it. They were identical. ‘So?’
‘In the ruins of a house supposedly attacked by Nareean soldiers, I found a Baronian soldier’s button.’
‘Ruby, you’ve got this wrong. You said yourself that Baronian soldiers were there helping. One of them must have lost a button.’
‘Take a closer look at it. Turn it over.’
On the other side of the button was the same design, but about a quarter of it was blackened.
‘See the black mark? It must have been caused by the fire, which means the button was there while the fire was burning.’
Roderick considered this. ‘So there was a Baronian soldier’s button in the hut. What does that mean? Maybe a soldier went there and lost a button once, or maybe a soldier lived there, or a kid found the button and brought it home. Or maybe the Nareeans dropped it there on purpose to try to make trouble.’ He was building up a head of steam. The next words rushed out. ‘Or maybe you stole the button from one of our soldiers, then held a match under it, so that you could then come in here, tell me some more lies and cause more trouble! Maybe that’s what happened.’
There was a long pause. The sofa cushions shifted. ‘So why don’t you find out the truth?’ asked Ruby.
‘Huh?’
‘I just heard the Queen tell you how wonderful your mind powers are, so use them. Pick up the button, do whatever it is you do and see what you get. Then you’ll know.’
Roderick turned the button over in his fingers. ‘I haven’t done anything like that before.’
‘Scared you might discover I’m right?’
Roderick looked at the cushions, then at the button. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘Let me concentrate. That means you have to be quiet for a minute. Have you ever done that before? You have to close your mouth and only open it to suck in air.’
‘Ha, ha. Very humorous.’
Roderick tried to focus on the button. He looked hard at it and tried to push his brain right inside it to grab its history. He pushed as hard as he could. Nothing. He kept pushing, trying to use his anger to overpower the button and discover its story.
‘Don’t you think . . .’ began Ruby.
‘I knew it! You can’t do it. You can’t not talk.’
‘I was just going to say that I’m no expert, but you look like you’re trying to solve a really hard maths problem. You need to relax.’
He was about to bite back at her, but then realised that her advice made sense. He recalled trying to communicate with the cockroaches. The harder he had tried, the more nothing had happened.
He loosened his grip on the button, let it sit lightly on his palm, shut his eyes and let his mind focus on . . . nothing.
For a while that’s what he got. Nothing. Then he saw the button. It was on the wrist of a Baronian shirt. The rest of the shirt was covered by a plain black tunic and over the tunic was a plain black coat. It was dark. The person wearing the shirt was crouching. The person’s hands moved, light flickered and a flame grew. He – Roderick was sure it was a man – was holding a torch of sticks and grass. The man crouched low and ran, then stopped and touched the torch to something. A hut. He was setting the hut on fire. The fire caught and flames licked the hut. The man ran on. Other dark shapes carrying torches were near him. There was shouting, smoke, screams. The man set another hut alight and moved on. More screams. The next hut was harder to light. The thatched wall would not take. The man found a weakness at the bottom of the wall and thrust the torch into it. The hut started to burn and he quickly pulled his arm away. As he did, his button caught on the thatch and popped off.
The image faded, but Roderick kept his eyes closed. He needed to think before Ruby started talking again. He had seen someone wearing a Baronian soldier’s shirt lighting a fire, but was it a Baronian soldier, or someone disguising themselves as a Baronian soldier? If it was Nareeans and they had gone to the trouble of disguising themselves as Baronians, why would they have hidden the Baronian shirt under a dark tunic and cloak? Why not let it be seen? Once again Roderick centred his awareness on the button. Suddenly he knew. He didn’t know how he knew, but he knew. The man wearing the shirt had been Baronian.
His eyes jumped open. He looked at Ruby’s sofa.
‘A Baronian lit the fire.’ He stood up. ‘I have to tell the Queen.’
‘Don’t you think she knows, Roderick?’
He froze. ‘But if she knew,’ he said slowly, ‘why would we be marching against Nareea tomorrow?’
Ruby sighed. ‘Don’t you see? If you Baronians think the Nareeans attacked Taroom, it gives your Queen the perfect excuse to start a war.’
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‘That’s ridiculous. Why would she want to do that?’
‘This is the woman who has already admitted she kidnapped your sister.’
‘But she had to do that. She needed Banfor here to help her stop the war.’
‘Or to help her start it.’
‘What about the arrows fired at her today during the parade? Someone tried to kill her.’
‘Did you happen to notice that they all missed? She’s trying to make it look like the Nareeans are the aggressors. First, fake an attack on a village near the border, then fake an assassination attempt.’
‘You think she arranged it? That’s crazy!’
‘She’s already admitted she faked that other assassination attempt on the bridge. Why are there guards outside this door?’
Roderick was feeling increasingly uneasy. ‘To protect me. My life may be in danger because I found out about Sonya’s kidnapping.’
‘Is that what she said? Because that doesn’t make sense. The Queen ordered Sonya’s kidnapping. She’s admitted that. Those who did it were following her orders. They’re not going to do anything to you unless she tells them to. Those guards aren’t protecting you. They’re there to make sure you don’t go anywhere. She needs to keep you here until she’s sure that you won’t tell everyone that she ordered Sonya’s kidnapping. Roderick, your Queen arranged for your sister to be kidnapped. She is trying to start a war and you are her prisoner.’
Something else nagged at Roderick. Another piece of the jigsaw. He remembered Jonas in the stable complaining that he had been ordered to prepare all the knights’ horses for another long journey. ‘Queen’s orders,’ he had said. At the time, Roderick had wondered what the journey could be. Now he knew: the horses were being prepared to march on Nareea.
He tried to remember when he had spoken to Jonas. Three days earlier. Three days ago Jonas had orders from the Queen to ready the horses to ride again. Yet the Queen had said that she had only decided that they had to march on Nareea after Taroom had been attacked, and that had just happened the night before last.
Why would the Queen have ordered the horses be readied before the Nareeans attacked Taroom? Unless . . .
The Adventures of Sir Roderick, the Not-Very Brave Page 18