‘What development?’ Jack asked no longer pretending. Auldred was not fooled.
‘Oh, a couple of people turned up and over powered my inept guards,’ Auldred spat. ‘Don’t worry though, the guards are being punished. Severely.’ Auldred’s long fingered hands clenched into tight fists.
‘Who? Who was it?’ Jack asked.
‘Before I answer another one of your tedious questions, I have one of my own,’ Auldred said, his scarlet eyes boring into Jack. ‘Where is Brayden?’ The question startled Jack and his eyes jerked involuntarily.
‘I don’t know,’ Jack said, but it was a useless lie. Auldred turned and spoke to one of the guards, who nodded and trotted away down one of the corridors.
‘No matter, you gave me all the answer I need. Now, you wanted to know who’s here?’
‘Yes,’ Jack whispered.
‘Your little friend Cali. Esther of course – a very good fighter, it’s a shame she won’t pledge allegiance to me, it will be a great loss - the fire-traitor Loomis, Doug. I believe they were all with you at the bottom of the ocean.’ Jack nodded. There was little point in denying it. ‘There are two others now, who managed to free them the first time. You know Gordy and Dax I believe?’ he said and stepped aside.
Chained and bloody, Dax and Gordy were slumped on the ground. Gordy looked up, his expression fierce, black eyes blooming on either side of his face.
‘Do what you came to do Jack,’ he shouted before one of the guards cuffed him around the head and gagged him. Dax looked at Jack with his expressive deep blue eyes. Auldred stepped back in front of him, guards closing ranks behind.
‘What do you want?’ Jack asked, though he knew the answer. Auldred, sensing victory, looked greedily at the chain around Jack’s neck; his tongue poked ludicrously from his mouth, vibrating in the air as if it too tasted success.
‘I only want a small thing. You know that,’ Auldred said his eyes burning more brightly than ever, crawling over Jack’s face and dipping down once again to the chain.
‘I want to see Sophie,’ Jack said. Auldred’s smile faltered and his mouth twisted into an angry sneer. Only for a moment; then the smile resurfaced broader than ever.
‘Certainly, certainly. But first you must rest. I insist,’ he said as he signalled a pair of guards. ‘These men will… escort you to your room.’ Jack nodded - there would be nothing to gain from arguing.
The guards, one in front, one behind, silently led Jack past the vast crowd of onlookers who hissed darkly at him, their orange eyes filled with fire. If Jack had even considered attempting to escape their stares and roiling hatred would have squashed the idea before it was even half formed. Jack kept his eyes fixed forwards, staring at the back of the guards’ head so he had no firm idea of where they left the massive central atrium, only that he entered a corridor and the light became scarcer. They trudged along for some time and Jack, thinking that he may have the chance to escape at some point, tried to count the doors they passed but there were so many. The place was vast, bigger than Five Oakes. Eventually the guard stopped and removed a key from his belt, unlocked a door and shoved Jack inside.
He was surprised to find himself in a luxuriously appointed chamber. There was a large, tempting four poster bed with huge fluffy pillows but no duvet just a crisp white sheet. A large shelf dominated one corner, packed solid with books, and a small fridge and cooker stood in another corner. As Jack took it all in his surprise faded; although the room appeared comfortable and inviting he was not here as a guest but as a prisoner. He listened as the guard turned the key in the lock; he was still trapped.
Jack expected Brayden and the Keeper to have made a move by now and he felt panic begin to swell - what if they’d been caught? Anything could have happened since he, Jack, had been taken. He threw himself onto the soft, warm bed determined to practice blending until he could do it properly, but he was not there five minutes before he dropped into a deep sleep.
This time the dream was much easier to understand. Jack was in the central chamber of Mount Terror. The middle was burning, a huge fire that reached far up into the blackness beyond the last of the light. The swaying figures were there again, dipping and whirling around the orange, flickering fire which cast deep shadows. The effect was disorienting and Jack was confused until he saw Sophie’s hair. The golden rippling sheaf stood out amongst the darker hair of her dancing friends. He reached for her again and this time she turned readily, her face was still blank, the eyes dead.
‘Sophie?’ he said ‘Sophie!’ he thought for a moment that he had seen something flicker over her face but then she ripped her arm from his hand and span back into the circle, becoming lost in the writhing, swaying figures.
‘Sophie! Jack shouted. The sound woke him up. He was breathing heavily, more heavily than he had when he sprinted into the tunnel and into the Black Prince’s arms. The room was no longer pleasantly warm but stifling – if he hadn’t had a bad dream he would have slept for far longer. He lay on the bed, unmoving, eyes closed. He was thirsty and was just about to get up to fetch a glass of water from the bathroom when he heard a voice from the far end of the room, near the door. He lay still and listened.
‘He says that no-one’s to come in or out unless he’s expressly ordered it,’ the first voice said. Since the guards had never spoken to Jack he was unsure whether it was the voice of one of them.
‘Would you like me to go and wake him up, fetch him here to give his permission?’ Jack recognised Brayden’s voice, but what was he doing speaking to the guard as if he had every right and reason to be there? And why did it sound silkily menacing? There was a pause.
‘No. I can’t let you through. If you must speak to him right now I’ll wake him up, then you can speak through the door,’ the guard said. Jack could her pleading in his voice - the guard didn’t want to be the one to wake the Black Prince. Jack couldn’t hear Brayden’s answer; it was spoken quietly.
‘No,’ the guard said again.
There was a long silence. Brayden must have left, set off down the hall, because Jack heard the guard shout.
‘Wait! OK, you can go in. But only for five minutes. And I want a letter authorising it from the office of the Black Prince first thing in the morning,’ he muttered.
‘You’ll have it,’ to Jack’s disbelieving ears Brayden’s voice sounded smugly certain.
The door swung open and Jack watched from under his lashes as Brayden walked into the room. He walked over to Jack’s bed and stood there for a while looking down at Jack apparently sleeping. There was an odd look in the gnome’s large green eyes. Jack began to move around on the bed, as if he were waking up. He opened his eyes and tried to look surprised when he saw Brayden.
‘You took your time,’ Jack said, his voice heavy with feigned sleep.
‘It wasn’t easy. The Black Prince guessed I was here so I had to go to him first. I told him that it was my plan to bring you in the back way so I could fetch you straight to him,’ Brayden said.
‘Where’s the Keeper?’ Jack asked.
‘With you isn’t she?’ Brayden said surprised.
‘With me?’ Jack asked, astonished. Brayden nodded. ‘Keeper?’ Jack said.
‘Would you like to hear my riddle?’ the Keeper’s voice came from close beside him. Brayden jumped and all the colour drained from his face. The Keeper must have asked the question right next to his ear.
‘Why are you so jumpy?’ Jack asked.
‘You’d be jumpy too if you’d just spent the last three hours lying to the Black Prince,’ Brayden said. Now Jack looked at him closely, he did seem peaky.
‘Why didn’t the Keeper stop that horrible man from beating me up?’ Jack asked as he rolled out of bed.
‘Would you like to hear my riddle?’
‘She knows what you want to do. And she knows that she can’t do it for you. If you were really in any danger she would have stepped in,’ Brayden said confidently.
‘Does that mean you were going
to do me some serious harm back at Neptune’s Bellows?’ Jack asked, realising that he still wasn’t quite over Brayden’s betrayal. Brayden flushed.
‘I was going to take you out of action long enough to take the Amulet and leave. I have some skill with water,’ he said with painful honesty. Jack nodded.
‘Thanks for telling the truth. Right, come on, we’ve got work to do,’ Jack said and headed to the door. Brayden was hesitant. ‘What are you waiting for?’ Jack asked.
‘I’ve seen Sophie,’ Brayden said. Jack froze.
‘When? When did you see her Brayden? Tell me!’ Jack said.
‘It’s no use Jack, he has her. She doesn’t want to leave; she’s not like you’ve described her at all. She’s one of them,’ Brayden said miserably.
‘When did you see her?’ Jack repeated, more loudly this time.
‘When I knew they’d rumbled us I went to the Black Prince before I was caught. She was with him. They were talking about you,’ Brayden said, avoiding Jack’s eyes, his voice weakening as he spoke, shaking and stuttering.
‘What did she say?’ Jack asked, his voice quiet but intense. Brayden looked as if he didn’t want to tell Jack what she had said, not the truth anyway, but in the end Jack thought he did. It was cruel enough to be the truth.
‘She didn’t say anything. She can’t remember you,’ Brayden said, his voice as empty and exposed as the ice desert above their heads.
‘That’s not true,’ Jack said. She must remember him; it was impossible that she could forget.
‘I’m sorry Jack,’ Brayden said and he sounded sorry too.
‘Don’t be. It was obviously just an act,’ Jack said ‘let’s get going. Good news that you’ve seen her, that must mean you know where she is.’ He turned back to the door, acting as if he was listening but really trying to steady himself. Could it be true? Could Sophie not remember him? They were close, but she had been young, very young when she had disappeared.
‘I can’t hear anything,’ he said, still not looking at Brayden. ‘I won’t give up on her, whatever you’ve heard.’ Brayden, perhaps taking heart from Jack’s words, perhaps realising that Jack would not be swayed, began to move.
‘Move out of the way,’ he said. Jack watched Brayden blend into the background. The door opened - Jack stood behind it so the guard wouldn’t see him, but ducked back around as soon as he heard the fight begin. It didn’t take long for Brayden to overpower the guard – he was invisible and it’s hard to fight someone you can’t see. Brayden bundled the guard into Jack’s room and tied him up, pushing the furious guard into the bathroom in a surprisingly short space of time.
‘Mmmfh-mf-mmmfh!’ the guard said through the gag, glaring at Brayden and Jack.
‘Same to you,’ Brayden replied smartly and closed the door. ‘I feel much better,’ he said. They looked at each other and started to snigger.
‘Di-did you see hi-is face?’ Jack stuttered as tears of laughter squirted from his eyes. Brayden, overcome with a fit of giggles could only nod helplessly. Their laughter, though not without a touch of desperation, was a relief to Jack who felt the dark brutality of the mountain lift. They stayed that way, occasionally looking at each other and relapsing, for several minutes before both regained control.
‘Which way?’ Jack asked as they left the room, both wiping tears from their faces.
‘Depends where you want to go,’ Brayden replied cautiously. Any remaining humour vanished.
‘You know where,’ Jack said shortly.
Brayden didn’t answer but nodded, turned left and ran up the corridor. Jack followed. They twisted and turned through several corridors and Jack had chance to wonder how Brayden knew the way so well before they stopped outside a door that looked the same as all the others.
‘This is it,’ Brayden said.
‘This is her room?’ Jack asked. Brayden nodded and put his hand on the handle.
‘Wait,’ Jack said, his voice soft. Brayden looked at Jack confused. His hand dropped from the door. ‘I have to do this alone.’
‘I’m not leaving now,’ Brayden said.
‘Yes, you are. The Keeper is with me. You have to get everyone else out. Your family, Cali, the others.’
‘I can’t do it by myself. You have to come with me. We can go together when you’ve seen Sophie,’ Brayden said, the desperation in his voice heart wrenching.
‘I’m not just seeing Sophie. She’s coming with us.’
‘Whatever you say, but I’m waiting for you.’
‘I have to do this on my own.’
‘I can’t,’ Brayden whispered, looking utterly miserable.
‘Brayden, you could always do this. Whatever Sophie said, whatever you heard, I know she remembers me. I know it. Please trust me and find the others. We’ll need them to help us get away.’ Brayden’s shoulders lifted and his mouth hoisted itself into a parody of a smile.
‘OK,’ Brayden said. ‘I’ll get the others if I can. Just… don’t expect too much. Good luck.’ He surprised Jack by grabbing him roughly into a remarkably strong bear hug before sprinting down the corridor.
Jack sucked in a deep breath. He turned the door handle, pushed open the door and walked into Sophie’s room. It was similar to the one he had just left. There was a large four-poster bed opposite the door and a great crackling fire burning in the grate. Sophie was sleeping.
Jack had been waiting so long for this moment, the moment when he saw his sister again, the moment when he knew that his family was still complete. His throat closed up. He couldn’t speak.
Jack crept up to the bed and stood looking down at Sophie. Her golden hair was spread like a fan over the soft, plump pillows. Her skin, smooth and slightly pink had a light sheen and he could see her eyes moving beneath the lids; she was dreaming. She had grown in the past two years but to Jack she looked the same. He reached out to touch her, to prove to himself she was real when he heard a sound behind him.
‘I thought you’d find your way here. Somehow,’ Auldred said, pleasantly enough but his eyes were cold, cold fire. Jack said nothing. ‘You think she wants to go with you? She’ll never leave.’
‘Yes she will. She’s been waiting for me, she knew I would come,’ Jack said, unable to maintain his silence.
‘No she hasn’t. She did for a while until she realised that no one cared enough to come and get her,’ Auldred said, the words cutting at Jack cruelly.
‘That’s not true!’ Surely she had not thought that no one cared?
‘Oh, I’m afraid it is,’ the Black Prince said, grinning callously ‘but you can change that. Just give me the Amulet,’ he held out his long, thin hand.
‘No. I won’t give it to you. I’ll give it to Sophie. And only if you’ll guarantee safe passage for me and my friends.’ Auldred’s grin didn’t falter.Hewalked over to Sophie’s bed and reached over to wake her. ‘No!’ Jack said, the thought of those unnatural pale hands shaking his little sister awake was something he could not bear. ‘I’ll do it.’ Jack walked to Auldred’s side and stood shoulder to shoulder with the man who had stolen his sister. He reached out and gently took Sophie’s hand.
Her great blue eyes opened and she looked solemnly at her brother. Her eyes skipped from his face to look at Auldred who had changed back into his human skin. Jack was, once again, startled by his similarity to Aloysius. She didn’t speak.
‘Sophie? It’s me.’ Sophie’s eyes, large and round grew rounder still. They grew in her face until they seemed to Jack to be the size of saucers, dwarfing all her other features. Her skin, which had a healthy flush now become pale, a greyish tinge around the edges.
‘Jack,’ she said. Jack felt his heart leap. She recognised him. He reached under his shirt and drew the Amulet over his head, putting it into her hand. Her small fingers closed over it. Jack smiled at her and she smiled back as she gently touched his cheek.
Then to Jack’s horror, she handed the Amulet to Auldred. He didn’t even ask.
‘Jack. Jack, Jack, Ja
ck. I thought it may come to this. Your stubborn refusal to believe that your sister would forgive you. It’s sad really.’
‘But… but she knew me! She said my name,’ Jack whispered, the colour draining from his face.
‘I did, of course, tell her the moment you arrived. We were both expecting that you would see her. Not in her quarters though. Brayden will be punished.’
Jack looked at Sophie, who smiled sweetly at him.
‘Why?’ he asked, his voice breaking. He didn’t care that Auldred could hear him.
‘He needs it,’ Sophie said. Jack stumbled at her words, nearly falling and clutched at the bed to steady himself. His shirtsleeve pulled up uncovering his wrist and the friendship bracelet that Sophie had made him, so long ago, peeped out. Sophie saw it. Her eyes, blue and round, fixed on it for a moment, a brief moment and flickered away.
‘I’m tired,’ she said, and she turned away closing her eyes. Auldred, his eyes burning, grinned.
‘Soph…’ Jack whispered. He remembered who she had been, unable to believe that she could become a docile empty vessel.
‘I’ll have someone escort you to a more secure room,’ Auldred said, his voice pleasant but Jack knew it was a cell this time.
‘You promised us safe passage,’ Jack said. Auldred laughed, and changed his skin again.
‘You never really believed that did you?’ he said ‘Really Jack, you are a card.’ His forked tongue flickered.
‘What are you going to do?’ Jack asked.
‘Use your imagination. Believe me Jack, whatever you can conceive is nothing close to the pain and suffering I am going to inflict on your friends and then you. I think I might start with Cali.’ Auldred smiled, his sickening wide smile. Jack blanched but before he could say anything else he was grabbed from behind, a sack roughly pulled over his head and deep clawed hands dragged him out and away.
In his cell he dreamt of his sister. The same dream; dancers coiling and gliding, their hair swaying smooth and sleek in the orange glow. He grabbed Sophie’s arm, she turned and her face was blank. No expression, no feeling, nothing. She was a blank canvas. Sophie tore her arm away from Jack’s grip and began gliding around the fire; spinning so quickly that her terrifying face was a blur among the others. For the first time, Jack turned away from her, refusing to look as she honoured the fire. Without warning he felt someone, someone strong take his arm and bring him into the circle of dancers. Jack turned to see who it was, but they had disappeared. Jack remained still, refusing to join in, the glow from the fire and his despair were perfectly matched. The dancers flew past, one by one, until it was Sophie’s turn again. This time, Jack saw her eyes were smiling; she was looking at his wrist, intently, focusing all her concentration on it. She was losing the rhythm of the dance. She span past again and as soon as she lost sight of Jack she became immersed in the fire. Jack looked down at the wrist that she had been staring at. It was not remarkable in any way. Indeed, his most unremarkable shirt, an ugly checked affair that he had never got around to throwing away, covered his wrist neatly. Jack couldn’t understand the fascination. Soon enough, Sophie approached again, this time her mouth was smiling, her eyes still focused on his wrist, wobbling and losing focus again, making the dance jerky and uncoordinated. Her mouth was moving, but Jack couldn’t work out what she was saying.
Elemental: Steele Stolen: Part 1 and 2 Page 19