The Lost Queen

by Frewin Jones

  Despite the fact that they were still obviously badly shocked from what had happened, Zara and Sancha were curious about the house, asking questions, wanting to know whether all the rooms were for Tania’s private use. She explained that her parents lived here with her, but that they had gone away on holiday.

  Sancha wanted to know the use and purpose of everything she was shown. Zara wandered the rooms like a puzzled child, running her hands over the furniture, exploring their different textures and contours.

  “And what purpose does this gray box serve?” Sancha asked, peering at the television set in the corner of the living room.

  “I’ll show you.” Tania picked up the remote and the television screen burst into life. Some kind of talk show was under way. Sancha’s eyes grew wide. She reached to touch the screen.

  “’Tis cool, like glass,” she said breathlessly. She looked at Tania. “These people are not within the box, are they? We are seeing them from afar. Zara, come look: It is like our mother’s gift.”

  Zara gazed at the television, her eyes filled with wonder. “’Tis like a puppet show!”

  “What did you mean about it being like our mother’s gift?” Tania asked Sancha.

  “The Queen has the gift to see into faraway places by looking into the face of still, pure water,” Sancha replied. “But tell me, do all mortals have such devices? Can you use it to seek out the lair of an enemy and to spy upon his actions? That would be most useful to us in our present plight.”

  “It doesn’t work like that,” Tania said. “I can’t choose what to look at—well, I can, but not in the way you mean.” The thought of trying to explain modern technology to her sisters made Tania’s head spin. “It works with a thing called electricity,” she said. “It’s complicated.”

  “I do not understand this play!” Zara said. “The actors speak too rapidly and give no time for their fellows to say their lines.” She called out to the television set. “Speak more slowly, I beg you!”

  “They can’t hear you,” Tania said. “And it’s not a play, Zara. It’s real…sort of.”

  Sancha frowned. “You say it is not a play, and yet you cannot join in as they converse,” she said. “So what is its purpose?”

  “It’s supposed to be entertaining,” Tania said. She sighed. “But mostly it isn’t.” She pressed the remote and the screen went blank. “Shall we see how Cordelia is doing?”

  They went back to the kitchen. Cordelia was still seated cross-legged on the threshold of the garden door. There was a robin perched on the edge of her hand and she was smiling as she listened to the chirr chirr chirr of its call.

  As they entered the bird took off in a flurry of brown wings and sped in a dipping and rising flight down the garden.

  “Sorry,” Tania said. “Did we frighten it?”

  “A little, perhaps,” Cordelia said, getting up. “She speaks well of your mortal father, Tania. She says he talks to her in the garden and digs up worms for her to eat. She is happy here.” She smiled. “I am glad that it is so. It eases my heart somewhat to know it.”

  Tania smiled back. “So maybe the Mortal World isn’t quite as horrible as you thought.”

  Cordelia looked at her. “I would know far more of it ere I believe that,” she said gravely.

  Edric arrived about half an hour later. Tania had only told him the bare facts over the phone, and it was harrowing to see the horror that grew in his face as Sancha retold the tale of the Sorcerer King’s liberation.

  They were gathered in the living room now, huddled together like the shell-shocked victims of some terrible disaster. Edric was restless, hardly able to sit still for a minute, constantly getting up and pacing the room. “Are we safe here?” he demanded. “How long will it take for the Gray Knights to track us down?”

  “At least a few hours, surely?” Tania said. “Even if the King can work out exactly where this house is in relation to Bonwn Tyr, London isn’t like Faerie. They’d have to search the whole area street by street.”

  “How do you mean, street by street?” Cordelia asked. “Is this dwelling in a town in the Mortal World? In Faerie ’tis but a lone tower on the heath.”

  Tania opened her mouth to explain, then thought better of it. She went over to a sideboard and took out an A–Z map of London. She flicked through the pages to find Camden. She handed the open book to Cordelia; Zara and Sancha drew close to see.

  Tania pointed to a spot on the page of crisscrossed roads and streets and avenues and terraces. “That’s us,” she said. “The rest of the book is all London.”

  “Sun, moon, and stars,” said Sancha, turning the pages. “And do many people dwell in this great confusion?”

  “About seven million of them,” Tania said. “Give or take.”

  Cordelia looked appalled. “How do they not lose their sanity to be crushed together in such numbers?”

  Tania gave a weak smile. “Plenty of them do,” she said. “The point is that we’re surrounded by other houses here. The knights won’t find us that easily.”

  “Nevertheless, they will find us,” Sancha said. “And when they do we shall be in the very greatest peril.”

  Cordelia grimaced. “As will they!” she said. “Not without hewn limbs and severed heads will they take this life of mine.” She picked up the long bundle from the seat beside her and laid it on her lap. “We have not come into this world unarmed.” She untied the roll of cloth and opened it. Inside lay three slender swords of pure white crystal.

  “Three swords against thirteen?” Zara said. “I like not those odds.” She picked up one of the swords and stood up. Tania watched as she spread her footing, one arm curved back, her sword arm thrust forward, her eyes narrowed. “But they will feel my sting ere the final darkness falls!”

  “We have four swords,” Sancha said. “Eden’s blade also passed through the portal before it closed.” She looked at Tania. “Four swords and four princesses.”

  “I don’t know how to use a sword,” Tania said. “Edric should have the fourth one.”

  “No,” Edric said. “You must have Princess Eden’s sword. When the Gray Knights come they’ll try to kill you first. Without you the rest of us are stranded here. You have to be able to defend yourself.”

  She frowned. “I just told you, I don’t know how to use it.”

  “That is not true,” Sancha said. “Say rather, you do not remember how to use a sword. The skill will come back to you; have no fear.”

  “Sancha is right,” Cordelia said. “You were ever a dazzling swordswoman. Of all of us only Rathina could match you.”

  Zara lunged across the floor, her blade weaving a sparkling web in the candlelight as she thrust and parried. “The death blow!” she shouted. “And then there were only twelve!”

  “We cannot afford to meet them in battle,” Sancha said. “Edric speaks true: The death of Tania will be the ruin of us all. Our only hope is to stay hidden until we meet with the Queen.”

  “Fie!” Cordelia spat. “It burns my heart to run from such carrion! We should make our stand here.” Her eyes gleamed. “Or better yet we should take the fight to them. What is thirteen? They will fall like wheat before the scythe!”

  “Thirteen is but the vanguard,” Sancha said. “Once Lyonesse learns the secret of Tasha Dhul his armies will number in the thousands.”

  “What’s Tasha Dhul?” Tania asked. As with many things in Faerie the name rang faint bells in her head, although she had no idea what it meant.

  “It is the hidden mine,” Sancha said. “It holds the greatest secret of Faerie. Only there in all our world can black amber be found. For years beyond count the Sorcerer King has lusted to find the mine, and many thousands of Faeries have perished in the wars he waged to conquer us. But the secret is still lost to him, for only King Oberon and Queen Titania know the location of Tasha Dhul and they will never render up the secret, though Faerie be laid waste before their eyes.”

  Tania understood the importance of black amber
; it was the only shield the people of Faerie had against the deadly effects of metal.

  “If the Sorcerer King finds the mine,” Sancha continued, “which surely he will once his armies have swept over our land, then he will make jewels of black amber enough to protect an army of tens of thousands.” She looked solemnly at Tania. “Then he will send his knights teeming into this world and Isenmort will be no defense against them.”

  Tania shivered. “How do we stop them?”

  “We must find the Queen,” Sancha said. “Only she can help to free our father, through the bond that is between them, the unyielding bond of Hand-Fasting.”

  “Like the bond between me and Gabriel, you mean?” Tania said quietly.

  “Like it, but far greater,” Sancha replied with sympathy in her eyes. “It is strengthened by many other rites of marriage that you and the traitor did not perform. If we can bring the Queen to our father, I believe that the power that flows between them will suffice to sunder the bonds of Isenmort and break the amber prison and set him free.”

  “And then the Sorcerer King shall take to his heels,” Cordelia said fiercely. “With Oberon at our head, the armies of Faerie will sweep the filth of Lyonesse into the sea.”

  “Meanwhile we must run from them and we must hide,” Sancha said. She looked at Tania. “Know you of a refuge where we can await the return of the Queen?”

  Tania tried to think. Where could the five of them hide out for a day or a week or maybe even longer?

  “Yes!” she said. “Yes, I do.” She looked at Edric. “We can go to Jade’s place. It’ll be empty for the next two weeks. We’ve got spare keys for their house.”

  “Good idea,” Edric said. He looked at the three sisters sitting side by side on the couch. “I think you’re going to need some different clothes, though. We shouldn’t draw attention to ourselves if we can help it, not if the Gray Knights are looking for you.”

  “I’ll sort something out for them,” Tania said. “There’s only one problem with this plan. The Andersons won’t be leaving their house till early tomorrow, not until about four o’clock in the morning.”

  “That means spending the night here,” Edric said. He was thoughtful for a moment. “I think we should risk it,” he decided. “Like Tania said, it’ll take the Gray Knights a while to track us down and it would be crazy for us to wander the streets all night. But you should all sleep fully clothed in case we need to get out in a hurry.”

  “We can sleep in my room,” Tania said. “We can drag my parents’ mattress in there, too. There’ll be plenty of room for all of us.”

  “I’ll sleep down here,” Edric said, nodding to the couch. “That way I’ll be able to give the alarm if anything happens. And I’ll keep the keys to Jade’s house in my pocket in case we have to get out in a hurry.”

  Talk of the coming night drew Tania’s attention to the fact that the sunlight was waning and that the growing dark of the evening was gradually filling the room with soft, deep shadows. She got up and flicked on the light.

  She was startled by the cries and gasps of her sisters as the dim room was filled with electric light. It was such an ordinary thing to do that she hadn’t even considered how the princesses would react.

  Cordelia sprang to her feet. “’Tis the goblin light of Lyonesse!” she cried, snatching up a sword. “To arms! We are discovered!”

  “No! No!” Tania shouted. “It’s okay. It’s nothing to be afraid of.” She switched the light off. “See? It’s perfectly safe. I did it.” She flicked the switch a third time and the room was full of light again.

  Sancha squinted up at the shining bulb, her fingers shielding her eyes. “Sunlight in a bottle!” she said, gasping. “I have seen Eden accomplish such a thing but not without great effort and preparation.”

  Zara was bent over, her face in her hands. “It is not sunlight!” she muttered. “It is goblin light indeed, too hard and bright for nature. Put it out, Tania, I beg you. It hurts my eyes.”

  Tania switched it off.

  “Maybe candles would be better,” Edric suggested. He looked at Tania. “Have you got any?”

  Tania went and fetched scented candles, lighting a dozen or more of them and setting them in saucers all around the room. The remainder of the evening was spent bathed in the warm, flickering glow of the aromatic candle flames. They talked some more, and then, as the conversation faded in the deepening night, Zara sang songs to them: Songs of happier times, songs of beauty and of joy, songs to take their minds off what might lie ahead.

  Tania was comforted by the sound of Zara’s voice as she sat in the circle of yellow candlelight, curled up on the couch with her head resting drowsily on Edric’s shoulder. But even at her calmest moments, a darkness lurked in the back of her mind, a constant reminder of the uncertain and dangerous future that was rushing headlong toward them.

  Tania was in a world of dark swirling flames. They boiled all around her, spewing thick plumes of oily black smoke that coiled and rolled high into the sky. She ran distractedly this way and that, her hands up to protect her face, her skin sizzling, searching frantically for a way out.

  “This way!” A voice called through the wall of leaping flames. “Come to me!”

  “Edric?”

  “Come to me!” The flames parted to reveal a narrow opening, a way to escape. There was the silhouette of a man at the far end of the corridor of fire, beckoning to her.

  She ran toward the man, flinching as the tongues of red flame licked at her. The black shape of the man seemed to recede as she ran forward. “Wait for me!”

  His voice drifted to her on the hot dry air. “Come, my lady!”

  The flames flared for a moment and finally she saw his face—and it was the leering, silver-eyed face of Gabriel Drake.

  “No!”

  He lurched forward and his arms came around her, his impetus throwing her to the ground, his weight heavy and oppressive on top of her.

  She woke up struggling with the duvet.

  Zara was lying in the bed beside her. Tania became still, listening to the soft, steady nighttime breathing of her sister.

  She lay like that for a few minutes, scared to close her eyes. Would she never be free of the fear of Gabriel Drake? And now there was also the possibility that the King of Lyonesse may have liberated the evil Faerie lord from his exile on Ynis Maw. How much easier would it be for Drake to ensnare her now that he was no longer a prisoner?

  Anger swallowed her fear. It also completely woke her up. She turned her head and looked at the bedside clock: 1:13.

  Three hours till the alarm went off and they could head over to Jade’s house. Three hours! Too long to lie there wide-awake.

  She slid out of bed and tiptoed to the door. Sancha and Cordelia were huddled under her parents’ duvet on the mattress on the floor. They both seemed to be fast asleep; Cordelia was snoring lightly.

  Even in the darkness Tania could see the opened drawers and spilled clothes that were the result of trying to find something that the three princesses were willing to wear. Picking clothes to fit them was no problem; even though they weren’t all exactly the same size as Tania, the differences weren’t especially troublesome. But finding clothes that Zara was prepared to try on had been a different matter altogether.

  She refused to consider skirts or dresses that showed any part of her legs and she totally rejected any kind of trousers or jeans, despite the fact that Cordelia had quickly picked a pair of brown cords and a loose-fitting caramel-colored blouse. Sancha had chosen an ankle-length skirt of black satin patterned with huge red roses, and a white cotton blouse to go over it. They had also found an empty backpack, into which they had put the crown, hidden once more in its white silk wrappings.

  Half an hour later Zara had finally settled on a full-length, dark blue, cheesecloth gypsy skirt and a loose-fitting top with a high neck and long sleeves.

  Once Tania had helped the princesses into their clothes—they found the zippers particularly puzz
ling at first—she sent a quick text message to Jade: TELL YOUR FOLKS I’VE ARRIVED SAFELY AND EVERYTHING’S OKAY. MUM AND DAD SEND THEIR LOVE. T.

  Then they had all gone to bed.

  The last thing Tania remembered before she had drifted off was Zara’s voice close in her ear. “Why do you have those red numbers by your bed? What is their purpose?” She meant the clock display.

  “To tell me the time,” Tania had replied sleepily.

  “Ah, yes. Eden told us how mortals are held in thrall to time,” Zara had said. “It is foolishness, Tania. You are of Faerie. Smell the air to tell the time, watch the moon’s passage across the night, take note of the sun’s position in the day. That is all the time you need to know!”

  “Okay,” Tania had said, yawning widely. “If you say so.”

  And so to sleep. For a little while at least, until Gabriel had turned up to darken her dreams and shock her awake again.

  She carefully opened her bedroom door and slipped into the corridor. Her eyes were used to the dark, and she had no trouble negotiating her way down the stairs. The living room door was open. She paused in the doorway, gazing at the huddled shape of Edric curled up under a blanket on the couch.

  She had a strong urge to go in there, to sit on the carpet by his head and just enjoy the nearness of him, to watch him while he slept. But she didn’t want to risk disturbing him.

  She padded into the kitchen. Her clothes felt a bit odd from being slept in but it had been a wise decision not to get undressed, just in case.

  She opened the fridge door and the blue light poured out across the floor. She lifted out a carton of milk and took a long swig. It was cool and refreshing.

  She walked over to the door that led to the garden. The fridge door swung closed behind her and the light went out.

  She felt the need for some fresh air after several hours in a room made stuffy by four sleepers. She turned the key in the lock and opened the door. Cool air wafted over her. She took another long swallow from the milk carton and stepped outside. The paving stones were chilly under her bare feet.