“Mother—”
“You’re no daughter of mine!” her mother spat in a strangled voice as her face twisted in agony. The wand’s pieces glowed and her mother shrieked as the skin on her face and arms went gray and grainy and then—
POOF!!!
Meylyne’s brain refused to register what her eyes saw.
Her mother had burst into a cloud of dust.
Shrieking like a chorus of banshees, the dust cloud reared up and shot down toward Meylyne. She ducked and it shot over her head. With a final howl, it divided in half and disappeared into the wand’s two halves.
Meylyne edged away. She half expected her mother to re-emerge but as the seconds turned into minutes she became aware of the stillness settling upon her and she knew her mother would not come back.
Something glinted on the ground next to the broken wand. She picked it up.
Mother’s black opal.
Then the world tilted and the sound receded into silence as everything around Meylyne went black.
26
Homecoming
MEYLYNE EMERGED INTO A WORLD OF SHADOWS.
Wherever she was, it was like lying in a cloud. A candle sputtered above her. Golden geese, stitched into the covers over her glinted in its light. She shifted and then froze as something flickered in the gloom.
“Who’s there?” she croaked.
There was a flash of pink and the snake slithered into the candlelight. Meylyne gazed at it, still trying to put all the pieces together when the floodgates of her mind opened. Images of everything that had happened crashed into her thoughts—Blue’s sword hurtling toward her, the wand slashed in half, her mother disappearing inside it . . .
She closed her eyes as a wave of dizziness overcame her.
“Here.”
The snake nosed a glass of water toward her.
Meylyne gulped it down. Water had never tasted so delicious before. She opened her eyes but it was impossible to see more than shapes in the gloom beyond the enormous bed in which she lay.
“Where am I?”
“Glendoch Castle.”
Glendoch Castle?
While Meylyne struggled to digest this, the snake wiggled around and then nudged something toward her with its nose. It was the rose-gold band it had worn around its neck.
“Put it on,” said the snake.
Still in a daze, Meylyne slid her hand through the band and then the room exploded with light. Crying out, she shielded her eyes.
“Turn that off, it’s far too bright,” a voice scolded. “I’ll open the drapes instead.”
The glittering blaze disappeared and Meylyne heard footsteps padding into the room. There was a rattling noise and the room brightened—a bedroom by the looks of things, and a gargantuan one at that. She was vaguely aware of ornate dressers and gilded chairs, and a magnificent chandelier hanging above her. A figure appeared by her bedside and she gasped as its features swam into focus.
“Great-Uncle Groq!”
Her great-uncle glared at her as he always did but he laid his talons on her wrist in a caring sort of way. Meylyne was getting over the shock of seeing him when Queen Emery appeared by his side. Meylyne shrank back as the queen leaned toward her, long red hair splashing down over her shoulders.
“How do you feel Meylyne?” she asked.
Tongue-tied, Meylyne could only shrug. She immediately wished she hadn’t. It felt like a shower of daggers had pierced her shoulders. Everything hurt. Luckily, she was saved from answering as yet another person bustled in—a nurse, judging by her outfit and the smell of disinfectant that accompanied her. She reached over and felt Meylyne’s forehead.
“She’s no temperature anyway. No infection anywhere as far as I can see. Just a lot of bruises and a broken foot.”
“Thank you, Millie. If you could give us a moment now,” Queen Emery said.
Millie scowled. “Don’t tire her!”
Meylyne blinked. She could not believe anyone would talk to Queen Emery that way.
“Millie is my old nurse,” Queen Emery explained, smiling.
Meylyne blinked again. Is she smiling at me?
Then Queen Emery licked her lips, as if she wasn’t sure what to say next.
“Do you remember what happened?”
Meylyne nodded. Both her great-uncle and Queen Emery looked at her, clearly waiting for her to say more but she couldn’t. She didn’t know what to say.
“I can’t imagine how you must feel. I, that is we,” Queen Emery glanced at Groq, “are so very thankful for all that you have done for us.”
“You’re thankful?” Meylyne peered at her great-uncle. “I’m not in trouble?”
Her great-uncle shook his head.
“Not at all. What you did was very brave. I am proud of you. And your father would have been proud of you.”
Meylyne’s eyebrows shot up to hear him speak of Meph in front of Queen Emery like that. The subject of her father was as welcome as yellow-oozing-scab disease in the palace.
“We know now that it was Anastisse, not your father that was behind Glendoch’s troubles,” Queen Emery added.
Meylyne’s chest tightened at the mention of her mother. Another memory crashed into her mind—jagged icicles stabbing Blue—
A jolt of horror coursed through her. “What about Blue? Is he okay?”
“Oh yes. He is here, in fact, in the castle with Piam.”
“Trin and Train are here too—they’re all waiting for you to wake up,” Groq added.
“Trin and Train are here?” Meylyne’s eyes darted from Groq to Queen Emery. “In the Above-World? In the castle?”
“Yes, they are.” Queen Emery smoothed an imaginary crease in her skirt. “We’re changing the border rules. Soon, all garlysles and humans may go where they please.”
Meylyne gaped at her great-uncle. It was what he had wanted for so long. His feathers puffed up and his glare lessened, which Meylyne knew to be his version of a smile.
“Yes, we can’t very well keep the two worlds separate any more. Not now that our next Rose queen is a garloch,” he said gruffly.
Meylyne stared at him, trying to make sense of his words. A burning in her lungs told her she needed to breathe. Was he talking about her?
“Don’t worry,” Queen Emery said quickly. “I’m sure it’s all far too much to imagine right now. And no one is going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do—”
She trailed off, glancing at the door where a small commotion had sprung up. Voices clamored—
“She’s awake, isn’t she?”
“Yes, and under no circumstances are you going in!”
“Please! Just five minutes?”
“Come on!”
Meylyne’s heart leaped. There was no mistaking the voices of Blue, Trin, and Train.
“Please let them in. I’m fine, really!” she pleaded.
Queen Emery and her great-uncle exchanged a look.
“All right, but not for long. We’ll be back later. Just pull this cord if you need anything,” Queen Emery said.
She and Meylyne’s great-uncle walked away. With a great deal of grunting and groaning, Meylyne maneuvered herself into a sitting position as Blue, Trin, and Train darted into the room. Prince Piam strolled in behind them. Blue leapt up onto her bed while Trin, Train and Prince Piam clustered around it. Everyone’s voices jumbled together.
“Finally, you’re awake!”
“We’ve missed you so much!”
“How do you feel?”
This last question was from Train, who engulfed her in a cloud of red-gold feathers as she sat down next to her. Meylyne squeezed her back as tightly as she could, wincing from the sharp pains slicing through her body. Despite this, she felt ridiculously happy for the first time in ages. As she buried her face in Train’s chest, she felt it grow wet with tears.
“Great now that you are all here,” she choked.
“You don’t look great,” Prince Piam remarked, grinning.
“Don’t listen to him. He’s just jealous.” Blue lifted up his shirt to show a large bandage wrapped around his chest. “I’m going to have such a cool scar from this!”
An image of the demon-cat flitted into Meylyne’s mind and she shuddered. Beads of sweat trickled down her face. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and as she did Trin leaned forward.
“Is—is that our mother’s shield?” he squawked. “Melted into your hand?”
Meylyne had forgotten that the shield was now fused to the palm of her hand. Nodding, she told everyone how she had used it to reverse the incantations flung at her.
“But don’t worry—I’ll work out a way to give it back to you,” she assured Trin and Train.
“No you won’t!”
“It belongs to you now,” Trin and Train said at the same time.
“Yeah I’d say there’s no parting with that,” Prince Piam said. “Can I see it again?”
As Meylyne showed it to him the rose-gold band slid down by her hand. Frowning, he grabbed her wrist.
“Where did you get that?”
Meylyne told him about the snake and how it had given it to him. Something told her to leave out the part about the snake being there in the room with them.
“No way,” Piam breathed when she had finished. “My mother has the exact same bracelet! It’s one of a pair—the other was given to Princess Amber! This could mean she’s still alive somewhere.” He ran his fingers through his already tousled hair. “Should I tell her? I don’t want to get her hopes up if it’s not true. She longs for Princess Amber. She’s desperate to believe she’s still alive somewhere!”
Meylyne stared at him. Before she could reply, he jumped up. “It’s no use—I have to tell her!”
Prince Piam dashed off, bumping into Nurse Millie as he ran out of the room. “Sorry!”
“You will be sorry. How many times have I told you not to run in the castle?” Nurse Millie waddled over to Meylyne’s bed, red-faced and muttering.
“Right, that’s quite enough excitement for now. Off with all of you! You can spend more time with her tomorrow but for now she needs to eat and rest!”
Deaf to their protests and pleas, she herded Trin, Train, and Blue out of the room. Moments later she reappeared with a steaming bowl of soup. Smells of garlic and ginger wafted toward Meylyne.
“Eat this, get some sleep, and next morning I reckon you’ll feel as right as rain!”
Nurse Millie plumped up the pillow behind Meylyne’s head, closed the drapes in the room and then left. Meylyne waited a few minutes until she was quite sure that Nurse Millie was nowhere nearby. Then she called out, “Snake? Are you still here?”
There was a rustling noise as the snake slithered out from underneath the bed. It sat, coiled up on the floor, staring at Meylyne with its startlingly blue eyes that had always looked familiar to Meylyne.
Now she knew why.
“Yes I am,” the snake hissed. “There’s one more thing I need to give you.”
Meylyne folded her arms. “How did you get past the seerwolves guarding the castle grounds?”
The snake did not reply.
“I’ve heard they can sense anything out of place—even a worm,” Meylyne added.
Still the snake remained silent.
“And I know it takes time to develop a seerwolf’s trust,” Meylyne persisted. She paused, holding the snake’s gaze. “Then again, it would be easy for someone that grew up here, wouldn’t it?”
Now it was Meylyne who fell silent, waiting for the snake to reply. Outside the window, a lark trilled to its neighbor. After a moment, the snake sighed.
“Oh this is all so tight. Give me a second to change into something more comfortable.”
Tucking its head down, the snake shivered and wobbled as though possessed. Meylyne gasped as its scaly skin fell away and four limbs stretched out of its body. The pink stripe billowed into a pink dress. When it straightened up, Meylyne found herself staring into two blue eyes and the face of a woman not unlike her mother’s. Or her own for that matter.
“Princess Amber,” Meylyne breathed.
Although she had guessed the snake’s identity, it was still a shock to see the long-lost princess after all she had heard about her.
The young woman stumbled as she moved toward Meylyne’s bed. “Ooops! It’s been a while since I have walked on two legs.”
Sitting on the edge of Meylyne’s bed, she held up her finger as Meylyne opened her mouth to speak.
“Sshhh. I don’t have much time. I know Millie—she’ll be back in here to fuss over you any second. Allow me to explain—”
Drawing a deep breath, Princess Amber closed her eyes and scrunched up her brow as though she needed every ounce of concentration to say what she was about to say.
“The rumors that your father kidnapped me are true. He had found out about the betrayal of the snake people, and when his demands that Groq seek justice proved futile he thought he could harness my alchemical powers to restore balance in Glendoch. But I, being young, refused him.”
Pain flickered across her face.
“So he struck a bargain with the snake people—trade my sister for me, and he would find them the tunnel they sought. He figured her sorcery would be as good as mine. The snake people agreed and, just like that, there I was—encased in fiery mud for the rest of my life for all I knew. But then my sister turned against him—got rid of him as soon as he had served her purpose.”
Her expression darkened.
“Making it so easy for that fallen spirit to find her.”
“You mean her wand?” Meylyne asked.
“Yes. It has a name—Thraxal—and is a story unto itself but we don’t have time for that now. It was easy for Thraxal to prey upon Anastisse’s bitterness. It promised her the revenge she sought and bit by bit it took the few traces of love she had left and bound them into this black opal.”
Taking Meylyne’s hand, she placed the black opal in her palm and closed Meylyne fingers around it.
“This is the second thing I needed to give you.”
Another memory flashed into Meylyne’s mind—her mother’s face, twisted with hatred as she hissed, “You’re no daughter of mine.”
She dropped the opal on the bed. “I don’t want it.”
Princess Amber sighed.
“Meylyne, I know this is hard for you but I promise you that in her own flawed way your mother loved you very much.” Her voice caught in her throat. “Perhaps she still does.”
Meylyne snorted and Princess Amber snatched her wrists, holding them so tightly that it hurt.
“Listen, Meylyne, and listen well. You are a Rose, which means that you, too, have the potential to become a Thorn Queen. All we Roses do—so choose your thoughts and your actions wisely.”
Princess Amber picked up the opal and put it back into Meylyne’s hand. After a second’s thought, Meylyne closed her fingers around it.
“How did you escape from the snake people?”
Standing up, Princess Amber moved to a window and pulled the drape aside. The air outside was violet. Meylyne guessed it was dusk.
“I didn’t escape from them,” Princess Amber answered. “They let me go. As soon as I found out that you were out looking for Prince Piam’s cure I knew that you needed help to succeed, and succeed you must for Glendoch to endure. I told the snake people that I would guide you to the answer they sought, in return for which I wanted my freedom. They agreed, but insisted I assume the disguise of a snake until I had delivered on my promise.”
Meylyne rolled the opal between her palms.
“And how did you have my Book of Incantations?”
“That is too long a story for right now. The short answer is that I found it. But it was always going to return to you. Anastisse was silly to think otherwise.”
Meylyne held her gaze for a second, her mind roiling with questions. Then she s
hrugged. She had the right book now. Cradling the bowl of soup, she took a sip. It tasted bitter and sweet at the same time.
“So what now? Are you returning to the castle?”
Princess Amber shook her head. “Alas no, not yet. I must find your father.”
Meylyne inhaled sharply and the hot liquid scorched her throat as it went down the wrong way. She coughed and spluttered, her bruised ribs exploding in agony. Princess Amber hurried back to her side and took the bowl of soup before it splashed all over the bed. After a few minutes the fit subsided and she lay back on her pillow, trying to draw air into lungs that felt like they’d been flattened beneath a pastry-roller.
“He’s still alive?” she wheezed.
“I didn’t say that.”
Meylyne waited for Princess Amber to explain. Instead she placed her hands on Meylyne’s shoulders and kissed the top of her head.
“Do not resist the role of Queen of Glendoch. It is rightfully yours and that for which you were born.” Her eyes twinkled. “And you’ll see—you’ll have fun with it. Your friend Blue will live with you in the castle and your friends—Hope, Trin, Train, and Grimorex can visit whenever they like. All Glendoch’s good is returning. I can feel it!”
As Princess Amber stood up, a pang of longing gripped Meylyne. She suddenly, and quite desperately, wanted her to stay.
“But what about you? Are you ever coming back?”
“Oh that I am. You can count on it.”
With that, Princess Amber closed her eyes and Meylyne watched as her limbs melted back into her body and her skin became covered with scales. Once back in the form of a snake, she slithered over to the window and seconds later she was gone.
For a while Meylyne sat in the gloom, thinking about everything Princess Amber had said. Then a chink of light appeared in the room as the door opened a crack. Blue and Prince Piam tiptoed in.
“Nurse Millie is asleep outside,” Prince Piam whispered, grinning.
“I thought you’d like some company,” Blue added, crawling up into bed with her.
Meylyne could tell from the look in his eyes that he understood how she felt. After all—he’d been through it all with her. A warm flush of happiness spread through her and she squeezed his hand.
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