by Dean Cadman
It didn’t take him too long to convert the gold dust into gold coins. But when he’d finished, he was amazed by the number he had managed to create in a single day. When he had collected the gold from the river before, he had usually made three of four coins each day. Sometimes, on a good day he had even made five or six. But now, he had just made almost fifty gold coins in a single day.
He had no idea how much gold the Nauroe would demand for taking them to Thule, but he felt confident that he’d now be able meet their demands, whatever they were. He had another eleven days before the statue unveiling ceremony took place, which meant ten of those days could be spent there, searching for gold. And if the riverbed yielded as much gold during that time, as it had today, he would have collected over five hundred gold coins in that time. A King’s ransom in anyone’s eyes.
Before he set off back to Helveel, he levitated several large rocks from the riverbed, and placed them on the riverbank to mark his starting location for the following day. Although he didn’t really need them, he also decided to buy a pair of oars from the local chandlers in Helveel the following morning. It probably wouldn’t look that strange travelling downriver without any oars, but if anyone saw him returning back up the river without them, well, that could cause a whole new set of problems for him. And he didn’t really think it was worth the risk for the sake of spending a few silver coins to buy a pair of oars.
As he made his way back towards Helveel, he kept a keen eye open for anyone who might see his strange metal craft travelling seemingly unaided against the river current. As soon as he came within sight of Helveel, he stopped his boat. Again he levitated a few rocks from the riverbed, and placed them on the riverbank to mark the spot. Then he manoeuvred the boat to the riverbank, and carefully climbed out onto the slippery bank. When he glanced back at his small boat, he couldn’t believe what he saw. Almost the entire hull of the boat was already covered in a thin coating of red rust. He knew that metal rusted, of course, but he had no idea it would rust so quickly. If he didn’t do something about it, he would turn up tomorrow to a completely rust covered boat. He knew it wouldn’t affect the boat’s strength so quickly, but he couldn’t afford to get it all over his clothes for the King’s spies to see.
After placing a similar enchantment on the metal boat, to the one he had used on Neala’s knives to stop them rusting, he sent the boat out into the centre of the river. He knew he couldn’t leave the boat out in the open for people to see, just in case it caused any unhealthy interest with the locals. Instead, he sank the boat in a deep part of the river, securing it in place on the riverbed with a few large rocks. He would easily be able to find it again in the morning, now that he’d marked its position clearly on the riverbank with rocks.
It was almost completely dark before Lusam arrived back at The Old Inkwell, and the lights from inside the shop spilled out onto the street outside. His boots were coated in a thick layer of mud from the road outside the east gate of the city, so he carefully removed them before entering the shop. He would have to clean them thoroughly before returning to Lamuria, or it would look very strange indeed to the King’s spies should they see him leaving the High Temple covered in fresh mud. He mentally added a pair of boots to his shopping list for the following day. That way he could leave the boots he was wearing in the basement, and use the new ones to trek through the mud outside Helveel each day.
As he opened the front door of the shop, the smell of delicious home cooked food greeted him. When he had left earlier that morning, he had not really been looking forward to the evening meal there, mainly because of the conversation which would inevitably accompany it. But after being out on the river all day, and using his magic almost non-stop, he was more than willing to converse a little while he ate. And his stomach suddenly let out a loud rumbling noise, as if agreeing with his thoughts on the matter.
“Is that you, Lusam?” Lucy called from the rear of the shop.
“Yes,” Lusam called back, trying desperately not to get mud all over the pristine floor from the pair of boots he was now carrying. He intended to put the boots at the top of the basement stairs so that he could clean them later, but Lucy met him halfway there.
“Oh goodness me! Where have you been with those?” she said, crinkling her nose at the sight of his muddy boots.
“Err… I went for a walk along the river,” he replied sheepishly.
“It looks like you spent a good deal of your time actually in the river by the state of those,” she said nodding towards his filthy boots. “Well, best you put them in the wash room for now. I suppose you can clean them after dinner. I believe Lillian is about to serve the food at any moment, so if you hurry, it will still be nice and hot.” Lucy didn’t even wait for an answer, she simply turned and headed back towards the dining room shaking her head, leaving Lusam standing there with a pair of dripping muddy boots and a vase full of gold coins. Thankfully, she hadn’t even mentioned the vase, much to Lusam’s relief. He would leave it at the top of the basement stairs for later, but first he would deposit his boots in the wash room as Lucy suggested, then follow the delicious smells to the dining room.
Chapter Thirteen
In the end, Lusam really enjoyed the evening meal, and not just because of the delicious food. It felt really good to be back in Helveel and spending time with Mr and Mrs Daffer again. He hadn’t realised just how much he’d missed them both, and also the city he had spent most of his life growing up in. The Old Inkwell felt like home to him now, more than anywhere else in the world, and he wished he could simply stay there forever. He dreaded the thought of returning to Lamuria, where he would be recognised by everyone on the streets, but knew he must if he wanted to rescue his mother.
After the evening meal, Lusam announced that he was very tired and wished to retire to his bed. Somehow, he needed to make certain that Mr and Mrs Daffer didn’t discover that he wasn’t actually sleeping in their basement. He didn’t really expect them to go down into the basement and disturb him, because they never had done when he had been there with Neala. But he still felt like he needed an extra level of certainty. The last thing he needed, was for Mr Daffer or Lucy to discover that he wasn’t actually there at all, and then have to explain to them how that was even possible.
Eventually he settled on a suitable cover story, and told them that he would lock the door to his sleeping cell, as he had also been experiencing sleepwalking episodes lately, and didn’t want to cause them any unforeseen problems. He also told them that he had been experimenting with a form of deep magical meditation to aid his sleep, and would unlikely hear them if they called out to him. They seemed to willingly accept what Lusam said, and assured him that they would not disturb his sleep while he stayed with them. He thanked them for their understanding, and bid them both goodnight.
Lusam hated lying to Mr and Mrs Daffer, but knew it was far better that they didn’t know the truth about what was in their basement. And if he had to tell them a few untruths to keep them both safe, then so be it. It was a price worth paying as far as he was concerned.
Instead of going directly to the basement, Lusam first made his way towards the wash room to clean his muddy boots, but was met halfway by Lillian, the house maid. Apparently, she had discovered his filthy boots by following the trail of mud from the front door of the shop, and taken it upon herself to clean them for him. He thanked her very much, and was soon on his way to the basement, and ultimately back to Lamuria.
Lusam picked up the vase of gold coins from the top of the staircase, created a small light orb, and headed down into the basement below. The vase was quite heavy, and he knew that it would be very difficult to carry another tens days’ worth of gold coins back to Lamuria all at the same time, especially if he expected to keep it a secret from the King’s spies in Lamuria. He thought about leaving the coins inside the small chest in his sleeping cell for now, but wasn’t sure how he would get them all back to Lamuria unseen later.
Then he remembered the
hidden coin pouches both he and Neala had bought in Helveel. They had been fashioned to sit almost invisibly under their clothing, and they’d used them only once before visiting the carnival in Helveel. Neither of them had their coin pouch when they’d gone to the carnival, because Neala had suggested taking no more than one gold with them. And later that day, Neala had been abducted by Skelly, and taken to Stelgad against her will.
Lusam had later collected his own pouch when he had transported himself, Neala, Alexia and Renn from Coldmont. But as far as he knew, Neala had never used hers again. So hopefully, the coin pouch should still be somewhere in the sleeping cell she had used back then.
He made his way down the familiar corridor towards Neala’s old sleeping cell, smiling to himself at all the good memories this place held for him. When he reached her door, he sent his light orb inside then followed it in. There was no sign of the coin pouch out in the open, and the only place to hide anything was in the small chest at the foot of the bed. He bent down and picked up the small chest, then placed it on the stone shelf which Neala’s mattress once occupied. When he tried to open it, he was surprised to find that it was locked.
He frowned to himself, wondering how and why she would have locked the small chest. A single thought, and the lock magically clicked open. He opened the lid, and revealed not only the coin pouch, but a handful of ancient looking coins. The designs on the coins were like nothing he had ever seen before, and he wondered where she could possibly have found them. Then he remembered that Neala had gone on several ‘treasure hunts,’ as she had called them, when they had first arrived there. It was on one of those ‘treasure hunts’ that Neala had first discovered the secret door to the Guardian book room.
“No doubt she’d collected her bounty from the various rooms down here,” he thought, smiling to himself and shaking his head at all the fun she must have had while he catalogued the books. He picked up the ancient coins and placed them in his pocket, fully intending to tease her about them later. Then he collected the coin pouch and began to fill it with the gold coins from the vase.
It was a good job the merchant had convinced him to have a wire placed inside the string of the pouch, so it couldn’t easily be cut by a potential thief. If he hadn’t, Lusam felt sure the string would have snapped due to the excessive weight of the pouch. Even so, just to be on the safe side, he placed two small enchantments on the coin pouch. One to strengthen the leather and stitching, and another to strengthen the string and wire it contained.
Fortunately, he still had the thick leather belt on he’d also bought in Helveel, and fastened the heavy pouch securely to it. He had originally bought the leather belt to stop the coin pouch pulling down his trousers, but with the extra weight of it now, it made little difference. He knew if he didn’t support its weight magically, his trousers would still end up around his ankles regardless. He would have to come up with a better solution for tomorrow, but for now, it would have to suffice.
As he left Neala’s old room, he turned left and headed for his own. He quickly placed the mattress and bedding inside the room, then magically locked the door from the outside. If Mr Daffer or Lucy did venture into the basement for any reason now, all they would see was a locked door, and hopefully think Lusam was fast asleep behind it. He would unlock it again in the morning, and make sure the room looked suitably slept in before heading upstairs for breakfast. After one final check that everything appeared as it should, he set off towards the Guardian book room.
A few moments later he was standing outside the Guardian book room looking at the huge five pointed star which was carved into the stone door. Using his mage-sight, he located the five indentations and connected them with a constant line-of-power, mirroring the shape carved on the door. The ground vibrated slightly, and the low rumble of the door opening filled the long corridor once more. When the door was open enough for him to squeeze through, he stepped into the room and the brilliant white light burst into life all around him.
He quickly located the corresponding indentations inside the room and activated them, causing the huge door to grind to a halt, then reverse its direction and begin closing again. Once the door had fully closed, he turned towards the book pedestal. The word Freedom emblazoned across the front of the Guardian book burned bright to his mage-sight, but it was the words on the book pedestal which he sought out. And in particular, the word Transcendence. The word which would take him back to Lamuria, and also back to Neala.
One he loved, and the other he had begun to loath.
***
The next nine days followed a similar pattern to the first for Lusam. The only real difference was that he had started packing up most of his breakfast in Lamuria to eat later on the river in Helveel. He knew it would look perfectly acceptable to the King’s spies if they saw him taking food into the High Temple, considering they thought he spent the entire day there. He had also bought several things in Helveel on the second day, including a set of oars for the boat, a new pair of boots, and a long leather strap to enable him to wear the coin pouch around his neck. The new leather strap made it much easier to hide the coin pouch under his tunic, and the new boots meant that he no longer had to worry about the King’s spies seeing mud on his old ones.
Neala had also been very successful in gathering information about the King’s spies over those nine days. She had discovered that there were four of them in total: two for the day shift, and two for the night. She now knew what time they swapped over shifts, where they all lived, and which routes they took to work each day and night. But by far the most important thing Neala discovered, was that one of the men always bought himself and his colleague a savoury pastry on his way to take his over his night shift. He always bought the same type, and more importantly, he always bought it from the same vendor, something which Neala felt certain she could exploit when the time came to leave Lamuria unseen.
It had been quite possibly the longest ten days that Lusam could ever remember in his life. And with only two days remaining until the statue unveiling ceremony, it felt like time had almost come to a standstill for him. All he could think about was his mother, and what she might be having to endure at the hands of Lord Zelroth, whilst he waited to be immortalised in stone.
It wasn’t only the statue unveiling ceremony which was due in two days’ time, Renn was also due back then, and hopefully with some good news from the Nauroe. The High Priest had instructed him to return no later than twelve days after their meeting, but Lusam had secretly hoped it would be sooner than that. For his own sanity, he needed to know if the Nauroe had agreed to take on the mission or not, and at what cost.
Today would be Lusam’s final day collecting gold in Helveel before the statue unveiling ceremony tomorrow, and that thought added to his already dour mood. With each passing day he had been forced to travel further and further up the river in search of fresh gold. Today he would have to travel at least twenty miles before he could even start searching for any new gold on the riverbed.
For the first few days he had propelled the boat forward as fast as he could to reach the new untouched areas of the river, but recently he had used that time to plan his attack on Irragin and Lord Zelroth. He tantalised himself with what he might say or do to Lord Zelroth, then tortured himself by imagining he was already too late to save his mother.
By the end of his final day in Helveel, his gold tally had reached an incredible five hundred and ninety-three gold coins. Hopefully more than enough to secure the services of the Nauroe. He thanked Mr Daffer and Lucy for their kind hospitality, and offered to pay them for his board and lodgings, but they firmly refused to even consider it. His new cover story was that he would be leaving in the early hours of the morning, so he could get a good start on the day’s travel ahead. It took quite a bit of persuasion, however, to convince Lucy not to wait up and see him off. Eventually, she agreed to bid him farewell that evening instead, and after the evening meal they all said their goodbyes.
A few minu
tes later Lusam announced that he was going to try and get a little sleep before his early start in the morning, and after another round of goodbyes, he was on his way to the basement for the final time. He wasn’t sure what to do about his cell door, but eventually he decided to leave it locked. If Mr Daffer or Lucy ever said anything about it, he could easily put it down to force of habit, and the fact that he had woken up so early and wasn’t thinking clearly.
When he reached the basement, he found himself feeling incredibly sad that he was about to leave the only real home he had known in years. He had no idea when, or even if he would ever return there again. He had no intentions of returning to Lamuria after rescuing his mother. As far as he was concerned, the further away from the King and his politics he could get, the better. The down side of that, of course, was that he would no longer have access to the book pedestal inside the High Temple. So if he wished to visit Helveel in the future, it would have to be by other, more conventional means of travel.
Of course, the other thing he had to consider, was his own rapidly growing fame. Right at that moment, no one in Helveel seemed to recognise him, thankfully. But that would soon change. It would only take a single person from Lamuria to recognise him in Helveel, and the whole city would soon know he was there. And if that happened, it would seriously jeopardise the safety of the Guardian book, something he could not allow to happen, no matter how much he missed the place, or Mr and Mrs Daffer.
With one final look around at the place which had given him so much, he set off towards the Guardian book room with tears in his eyes. But not before offering a silent prayer to Aysha, asking her to watch over Mr and Mrs Daffer, and thanking her for having had the opportunity to know them.