Quest for the Sun Gem

by Belinda Murrell

  Back in the water, they turned and splashed quietly downstream, leaving no tracks or scent. Eventually they urged the horses to climb out of the stream onto a rocky bank, which was less likely to show hoofprints, then wound their way through the soft forest floor where the leaf mulch was deepest. They tethered the horses in a remote clearing and made the rest of their way on foot.

  Two of the Royal Guards were standing watch under the trees near the caverns. The children announced themselves and were given a formal salute. Inside the caverns, the villagers had built two roaring fires. Around one fire huddled the royal contingent – the courtiers and advisors. Around the other were the villagers and farmers. Both groups were vehemently discussing plans and retaliation. Children were asleep in the soft sand, tucked under cloaks and rugs.

  When Lily and Ethan entered the cave, the discussion sank away and many people jumped to their feet. ‘Here they are,’ called one.

  ‘Well done. Your parents would be proud,’ George said.

  ‘Thank you both,’ another villager added.

  ‘Three cheers for our rescuers,’ George cried, and the caverns erupted in sound as everyone cheered.

  The children were hugged, thumped on the back, kissed and congratulated until their cheeks burned and they squirmed with embarrassment.

  The cheering and celebration only ceased when one of the king’s chief advisors stood up.

  ‘Peace. Peace, good folk. Enough of this distraction. It is time for a council of war. There is much to be done. The queen and prince have been taken and we should mount an attack to rescue them. Tira must be warned, and we need to plan our defences.’

  Ethan tried to interrupt him to say that Princess Roana was safe and sound, but the chief advisor held a hand up for silence.

  ‘Children of Kenley, thank you kindly for your brave efforts to rescue us tonight, but now it is time for you to join the other children and sleep while we make serious battle plans.’

  Dismissed, the three children settled down by the fire, too nervous and excited to sleep. They were ignored by the adults, who continued to argue and disagree, back and forth.

  Ethan leant over to George and whispered to him. ‘George, the invaders said they were going to burn Kenley in the morning.’

  George roared with indignation and leapt to his feet.

  ‘The boy says the Sedahs plan to burn our village in the morning. They’ll do that over my dead body!’

  The courtiers muttered and frowned. The villagers yelled and ranted. Some wept.

  The discussion heated up. Now the villagers demanded that Kenley be saved before an attempt was made to rescue the queen, while some courtiers wanted to set out immediately for Tira.

  ‘We need help from the soldiers of the Royal Guard to fight off the invaders before they destroy Kenley,’ shouted one villager.

  ‘No, we should make haste to the coast to mount a counterattack on the ships that wait there!’

  ‘A party of guards should be sent directly to Tira to warn them,’ bellowed a large courtier in a carefully curled wig, now artfully tufted with leaves and twigs.

  ‘We need all the guards here, the few that there are, to fight the invaders,’ thundered a red-faced villager.

  The shouting rose louder and louder.

  Ethan glanced at Saxon and Lily and raised his eyebrows. Lily and Saxon both grimaced in return. Ethan gestured with his head towards the cave mouth. The others nodded in agreement.

  They rose quietly and slipped out of the cave. No-one noticed them leave.

  Aisha greeted them joyously when they returned to the horses tethered in the clearing.

  ‘Let’s go back to the tree house,’ Lily suggested. ‘We should check on the princess and we can make plans there. I hope they all come to a decision soon and actually do something. Otherwise the Sedahs will have destroyed the whole land before they even leave the cave.’

  The boys laughed grimly.

  ‘I hope they save Kenley,’ Ethan murmured. ‘I can’t bear to think of it being burnt, but somehow I feel we should go to the coast and see if we can do something to help Mama and Dadda, and the others.’

  ‘I think you are right, Ethan, though what we can actually do I don’t know.’

  They all fell silent as the horses picked their way through the dark. Thoughts and hopes tumbled through their minds like water rushing down a mountain stream.

  Captain Malish stood in the empty barn, his knuckles white on the handle of his cutlass. The two guards who had been found locked in the barn lay grovelling on the floor at his feet, their hands and feet tied.

  ‘You say a band of children overpowered you, set all the prisoners free, locked you in the barn and rode off on some stolen horses?’ Captain Malish demanded furiously.

  The guards nodded frantically. ‘Yes, sir … yes, children.’

  Captain Malish turned to Lieutenant Foulash, who stood looking pale and wan.

  ‘I checked the situation myself a couple of hours ago and everything was in order then,’ Lieutenant Foulash said quickly.

  ‘You consider it in order for your guards to be drinking copious amounts of cherry wine while they are on duty?’ barked Captain Malish, poking the unfortunate guards with the toe of his highly polished black boot.

  ‘No, no, of course not,’ Lieutenant Foulash retorted. ‘I would never allow that.’

  ‘But, sir, you sent us the wine,’ whined a guard piteously.

  Captain Malish spun on his heel.

  ‘Wake Sniffer,’ he barked over his shoulder at Lieutenant Foulash.

  ‘Sniffer cannot track anyone in the dark, sir,’ Lieutenant Foulash said tentatively.

  ‘I said wake Sniffer,’ Captain Malish shouted. ‘And lock those idiots back in the barn. I will deal with them – and you – later …’

  ‘Yes, sir, straight away, sir,’ replied Lieutenant Foulash, hurrying to carry out his orders as quickly as possible.

  In the tree house the three children found Princess Roana crouching in the darkness, knees up to her chin, face pale and pinched, eyes large and dark with fear.

  ‘Where have you been?’ she shouted furiously. ‘How dare you leave me here all alone in the dark in this horrid place! I demand you take me away from here at once!’

  ‘Don’t worry, your highness, we will be taking you away from here just as soon as we have rested and made plans,’ retorted Ethan. ‘We will be very glad to hand you over to your maid servants – the sooner the better.’

  Princess Roana’s eyes widened with fear and surprise. ‘My maid servants? But … but I thought they were … you said they were all captured?’

  ‘They were,’ replied Ethan with relish. ‘But we set them free tonight and they are now sheltering in a cave not far from here. Where we will happily escort you and allow them to take over the task of looking after you.’

  ‘You set them free!’ cried Princess Roana in disbelief. ‘That is ridiculous! How could you set them free? You are nothing but a couple of filthy village urchins who stink to high heaven.’

  Ethan bristled in irritation and proceeded to describe the rescue at the barn in exciting and colourful detail.

  Princess Roana sat with her mouth open in surprise.

  ‘Is this true?’ she demanded of Lily at the end of the tale. Lily merely nodded her head wearily.

  ‘Good,’ Princess Roana announced. ‘Then you must take me to these caverns at once.’

  ‘No, your highness,’ replied Ethan firmly. ‘We are tired and need to rest for a while. Besides, we must plan our journey. Our parents have been taken prisoner with your mother and brother. They are now on a ship at the coast, waiting to be taken to Tira. We will ride to the coast and see if there is anything we can do to rescue them.’

  ‘Rescue them?’ Princess Roana demanded scornfully. ‘How could you hope to rescue the queen and prince from a heavily guarded ship? You must be insane. I will order the Royal Guard to set out at once to attack these ships.’

  ‘You may be ri
ght,’ Ethan acknowledged slowly. ‘However, many of your Royal Guard are wounded or imprisoned on those ships, or even dead, and from what we heard tonight there is much debate about what to do. All I know is that we must try to do something. Anything is better than doing nothing. And besides, we managed to rescue nearly one hundred people tonight. Perhaps we can manage to help a few more?’

  Princess Roana rubbed her head fretfully. Saxon nodded. Lily sighed. The wind whistled around the tree, moaning woefully.

  ‘So, Sax,’ Ethan continued. ‘Will you come to the coast with us, or will you help the villagers try to save Kenley?’

  Saxon’s eyes shone in excitement. ‘Of course I will come with you. I know the way to the coast. I’ve been there with my father many times to collect cloth from the merchant ships, so I know the area quite well. Besides, an extra head and hands are always useful.’

  ‘What about your father?’ Lily asked. ‘Isn’t he away? Won’t he worry about you when he gets back?’

  ‘Yes, he’s visiting the lacemakers in the east,’ Saxon replied. ‘He won’t be back for a couple of weeks. I’ll leave a note for him telling him what we’re doing so he won’t worry.’

  ‘That’s settled then,’ Ethan cried. ‘We should eat and drink a little. There are a few supplies to pack, then we will escort her highness back to the warmth and safety of the cavern and her royal hand maidens.’

  Princess Roana stiffened but said nothing. The children made a merry picnic feast of bread, butter and honey, washed down with cold stream water. They joked and laughed as they ate, elated at their adventures.

  They recounted the highlights of the evening, giggling helplessly as they remembered the look on the guards’ faces as they floundered in the manure. Princess Roana listened carefully, despite her air of nonchalance. She even smiled briefly when Ethan repeated his jibe about good riders checking their girths.

  ‘Well, I think it is time we escorted her highness back to the comfort of the caverns,’ Ethan announced, when everyone had finished eating.

  While the boys packed the saddle bags, Lily unbandaged Princess Roana’s ankle and bathed her cuts one last time.

  ‘I’ll leave the bandages off. I think your boots will give your ankle enough support now, and we’d never get the boot on over the bandages,’ Lily murmured soothingly.

  ‘Thank you,’ grunted the princess gruffly, as if unused to uttering such pleasantries.

  Lily smiled shyly. ‘A pleasure, your highness. I hope you will be feeling better soon. It will be much more comfortable for you at the caves.’

  Princess Roana shrugged stiffly.

  In a few minutes they were all ready. Saxon scrawled his father a brief note and left it on the floor, weighted under a rock. He thought it was safer to leave it in the tree house than risk going back to Kenley. His father knew the boys’ secret hiding place, and would find it there.

  Ethan and Saxon helped Princess Roana climb down the tree, and up onto her horse. Then they were all trotting back towards the caves.

  ‘The cave is just over there,’ whispered Saxon. ‘There are two Royal Guards there who will help you inside. We will slip away before anyone tries to stop us.’

  ‘We wish to thank you both very much,’ Princess Roana murmured formally. ‘We will ensure that the queen rewards you greatly for your kindness.’

  ‘That’s presuming someone can rescue the queen first,’ muttered Ethan. Princess Roana scowled darkly.

  ‘Thank you, your highness,’ replied Lily, shooting a dark glance at Ethan. ‘Good luck. I hope you are restored to your home and family very soon.’

  They all waved in farewell and urged on their mounts – three dark shadows slipping off into the trees, the other lone pale shadow setting off towards the cave.

  Ethan, Lily and Saxon rode in silence for a while. The darkness was eerie. Branches made strange shapes that leapt out at them through the night. Sounds of the forest were amplified and distorted in the pitch black. A bat swooped over their heads, making the horses skitter.

  ‘Stop,’ cried Lily sharply. ‘Did you hear that?’ They halted their horses and listened carefully. Aisha barked, cracking the darkness.

  ‘What?’ asked Saxon nervously. ‘I hear nothing – except Aisha.’

  ‘Shhh, girl,’ ordered Lily. ‘I thought I heard a twig crack, and a sort of little … snuffling noise.’

  They sat silent again. There was nothing but the sounds of the forest – small creatures padding on tiny feet, leaves swishing in the breeze.

  ‘I hear nothing either,’ shrugged Ethan. ‘Come on, let’s go. I think you’re just a bit jumpy, Lily.’

  They rode on for another few minutes. Then they all heard the unmistakable sound of a branch cracking behind them. Aisha growled low and menacingly, her hackles raised.

  ‘Ssshhh. Someone is following us,’ whispered Lily.

  ‘Let’s hide off the path and watch,’ suggested Saxon. They quietly dismounted their horses and crept off the narrow track.

  A moment later a ghost appeared around the bend. A shimmering white rider on a shimmering white horse, floating through the darkness of the forest. The hidden children clutched each other, too frightened to breathe.

  Aisha bounded out to meet the wraith, tail wagging and tongue lolling. The ghost stopped.

  ‘Hello, girl,’ murmured a familiar voice. It was the Princess Roana on Moonbeam.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ cried Ethan furiously. ‘Why aren’t you at the cave?’

  ‘We are coming too,’ replied Princess Roana vehemently.

  ‘No, you are not. Go back to the cave at once!’

  ‘I will not,’ the princess said imperiously. ‘My family is on that ship as well.’

  Ethan and the princess argued furiously for several minutes.

  ‘That’s enough. Stop it, you two,’ cried Lily in frustration. ‘This is getting us nowhere. We need to keep moving and we need to keep quiet.’

  ‘We can’t have her with us,’ Ethan spat furiously, glaring at the princess with intense dislike. ‘She will just slow us down, and drive us crazy with all her airs and graces. She will want us waiting on her hand and foot. Besides, we won’t get halfway to the coast with her in that getup.’

  Princess Roana’s cheeks burned. She considered what these children must think about her. She supposed she had been rather self-obsessed, but then her father had been murdered, her mother and brother taken prisoner and her country invaded. She had good reason to be so self-focused.

  Everyone stared at the princess. Her once golden ringlets were matted with dried blood, dirt and leaves. Her pale face was scratched and bruised. The fine white gown was torn and muddy, but there was no disguising the rich origin of the fabric and embroidery.

  ‘I will not slow you down,’ Princess Roana retorted. ‘I can ride as well as anyone in Tiregian. And I will not expect you to look after me. I can look after myself!’

  There was a long pause. The others glanced at each other doubtfully.

  ‘We would need to dress her in some of our spare clothes,’ announced Lily. ‘Probably yours are best, Ethan. Mine would be a bit small for her. Anyway, no-one will notice her dressed as a boy. We can cut her hair short.’

  Princess Roana bit her lip but sat up straight in the sidesaddle, her muddy skirts flowing over Moonbeam’s flanks.

  Saxon grinned. ‘I don’t fancy trying to drag her all the way back to the cave, and we can’t leave her here in the middle of the forest.’

  Ethan scowled furiously.

  ‘Oh, all right then,’ he agreed finally. ‘But just one of your fancy airs and we’re leaving you behind. Understand? And no more “Princess” or “your highness” any more. From now on you are plain Roana – a grubby village lad like us.’

  ‘Perhaps Rowan would be more appropriate than Roana,’ Lily giggled.

  Saxon helped Roana down from Moonbeam.

  Ethan unpacked a white shirt, brown breeches and green cloak from his pack. Lily helped the prin
cess limp behind a bush to change, then, grasping Roana’s tangled gold ringlets with one hand, Lily hacked them off with her dagger.

  Roana winced, her eyes shining bright with tears, but she said nothing. A few minutes later the proud princess was gone, and in her place stood a young boy with wild, tousled hair sticking up on end, and a mischievous grin. He twirled around on tiptoe, showing off his oversized cloak and swaggering in baggy breeches.

  The only problem was the boots. There were no spares, and Roana’s were long and white with high heels.

  Ethan and Saxon could not help but laugh. ‘You look terrible,’ crowed Saxon. ‘A wilder lad I never saw. Especially with those boots.’

  The mangled hair was tossed under a bush, to be joyfully discovered later by various birds to line their nests. The silken gown, layered petticoats, white gloves, pale stockings and silver crown were stowed in the saddle bags in case they proved useful later. And the convoy of adventurers set off again, riding into the night.

  A few hours later, the four rode in total weariness, swaying in their saddles. The thick blackness of night had given away to the grey gloom before dawn. Aisha trotted at their heels, no longer sniffing at rabbit holes or animal tracks, but keeping up a steady pace.

  ‘We should rest for a while before it gets too light,’ called Saxon. ‘It will do us no good to be completely exhausted. We will need all our wits and our strength.’

  The others nodded wearily. ‘I think I can hear a stream nearby,’ replied Ethan. ‘It would be good to rest near water so we can drink and bathe.’

  The stream was a few minutes ahead. They forged the horses up the stream away from the path until they found a small clearing.

  Saxon, Lily and Ethan slid off their horses and led them to the stream to drink. Then they undid the girth buckles, lifted the saddles off and dumped them on the ground. Ethan was just about to pull up some long grass to rub the sweat from his horse’s bay flanks when he realised that Roana was still sitting up on Moonbeam’s back in her sidesaddle.