by Frewin Jones
Tania remembered what she had said to the Queen before they had entered the palace. We think he’ll be in the dungeons, but what if he isn’t? It seemed that she had been right to doubt their hopes. Oberon was not here.
She looked determinedly at the others. “Then we’ve got to search the whole of the palace for him,” she said. “We can’t quit now.”
“The entire Palace?” Zara exclaimed. “Such a task would take us many days.”
“No!” Sancha said sharply. “I am such a fool! There is another way of learning where our father is. Had I but given it thought earlier, I could have saved us this fruitless sojourn.” She strode quickly toward the tunnel that led to the Adamantine Gate.
“What is it?” Zara called, following her.
“We must go to the—” But Sancha was given no time to finish. A dark, screaming shape came leaping from the tunnel entrance.
“Cover your eyes!” Zara screamed. “The basilisk is upon us!”
As she threw her arms up over her eyes Tania had only a split second to take in the shape of the monster. The basilisk stood over four feet tall, like a hideous blending-together of a bird and a snake: a huge bird whose bullet head wove back and forth on a long, scaly, sinuous neck; the red eye gleaming with an ancient evil; the long curved beak open; a forked black tongue flickering. It was plumed with hard dark feathers, more like the spines of a porcupine than the feathers of a bird, and its long, thick legs were covered in black scales. Great, curved black claws clicked on the stones as it moved forward, its head tilted upward and to one side, one eye fixed on Sancha. The wings ruffled with a sound like clashing iron. A long whipping, naked tail dragged on the stones, hooked at the end with a fearsome barb. A sound like scraping fingernails vibrated in its throat.
“Sancha!” Tania heard Zara scream. “Look away!”
Squinting between her fingers, Tania saw Sancha standing alone and helpless in the face of the terrible monster, stiff and unmoving as though she had been turned to stone. Without even thinking, Tania lifted her sword and ran forward, shouting. She remembered what Sancha had said about the impossibility of harming the beast but she didn’t care; she had to do something to try and help her sister.
She was vaguely aware of Zara standing to one side with her arms over her face. She heard Edric shout. “Tania! No!”
“Leave her alone!” Tania howled as she ran across the stones.
The monster let out a hideous screech. Sancha swayed for a moment and fell sideways to the floor.
There was nothing now between Tania and the basilisk’s malevolent gaze. Time seemed to slow. She could hear Edric calling frantically, but his voice was almost drowned by the throbbing of blood in her ears. As the basilisk’s red eye caught her gaze and held it she felt the strength draining from her body. She crashed onto her knees.
And then a woman’s voice sang out in the darkness: “Come summer sun, come heaven’s bright orb, come morning’s golden light!”
A blaze of sunlight burst out from the tunnel entrance behind the basilisk. The monster’s long, lithe neck writhed and its wings spread, beating frantically as it stumbled away from the source of the light.
The woman stepped into view with one arm lifted, a golden ball of light held in her fingers, its burnished rays flooding the long hall with golden arrows. And strutting at the woman’s feet was a gold and scarlet feathered cockerel.
“Come, fearless harbinger of dawn, come crested lord to welcome the new day! Sing aloud in your ancient voice!”
The basilisk let out a screech, but the grating noise was drowned out as the cockerel lifted its head and crowed loudly. The basilisk shrank back, its wings jerking, its legs stumbling, and as Tania watched, the beast began to shrink and shrivel like burning cellophane. The sound of its voice turned to a high-pitched whine as it fell.
It writhed for a moment on the stones, small and withered and horrible to look at, and then, blackened and dried-up as though blasted with fire, it lay still.
The golden light faded and now only the red flames of the torch that Edric was holding lit the hall.
“Well met in evil times,” said the woman.
Now that the blazing light was gone, Tania could see long white hair and piercingly blue eyes set in a pale, narrow face.
It was her eldest sister, Princess Eden.
III
Zara was the first to run toward Eden. “You are alive!” she cried.
Eden smiled grimly. “I have walked the line between life and death many times these past few days, but the filth of Lyonesse has not done for me yet.” She knelt at Sancha’s side, resting her hand on her tumbled hair. “She will recover,” Eden said. “She looked into the monster’s eye for but a few moments.” She gazed hopefully from one to the other. “Did you succeed in your mission? Is the Queen in Faerie?”
“Yes, she’s in the forest with Cordelia,” said Tania.
Eden gave a gasp of relief and for a moment the stern lines of her face softened. “’Tis well,” she said. “I feared all might be in vain. But we must quit this place. The Sorcerer King’s men swarm the halls above us like vermin.”
“We came to find King Oberon,” said Edric.
“He is not here,” said Eden.
“That we know, dear sister,” said Zara, kneeling at Sancha’s side and pulling strands of chestnut brown hair off her sister’s pale face. “With Sancha’s guidance, we have searched the Dungeons most thoroughly.”
“The King is not anywhere in the palace,” Eden explained. “His whereabouts are hidden from me by the Sorcerer King’s enchantments, but I know he is not close.” Anguish burned in her face. “He has been taken to some dark place, but I cannot guess where. The sorceries of Lyonesse fog my senses.”
“When you did not come through the mystic opening into the Mortal World, we feared the Gray Knights must have killed you,” Zara said. “How did you escape them?”
“I had power enough after opening the portal between the worlds to throw a glamour of sleep over them. I fled the tower and found refuge in the western fastnesses of the palace. I stayed hidden from them, waiting for your return.” She looked curiously at Tania. “How did you defeat the Sorcerer King’s enchantment against passing between the worlds?”
“We melted some black amber onto a sword and I managed to cut my way through,” Tania told her. “We only just made it.”
“That was bravely done,” Eden said, and then she frowned. “We cannot linger here.” She looked at Edric. “Master Chanticleer, will you bear the princess until she awakes?”
“Of course I will.” Edric crouched and, with Zara’s help, he gathered the limp form of Sancha in his arms. He got cautiously to his feet, holding Sancha against his chest with her head lolling on his shoulder.
Eden stood and walked over to the cockerel. She held out her hand, palm down over its head. “Well done, good and honest creature,” she murmured. “Go now with my blessing and find light and grain.”
The bird dipped its head, then went strutting off into the corridor with a clatter of claws on the stones.
“I don’t get it,” Tania said, glancing at the blackened shape on the ground. “What killed it, exactly? I thought those things were meant to be…well, kind of invulnerable.”
“Indeed they are,” Eden said. “To all but the first light of dawn and the crowing of a cock. These things they cannot endure. I knew the basilisk had fled into the dungeons, so I called the cock to me and fed it grain to keep it close lest I encountered the monster. The Orb of the Dawn is a brief enchantment, but it sufficed for our needs.” She reached out to touch Sancha’s trailing arm. “Would that I had come upon you a few moments sooner. Come, let us find somewhere less noisome until Sancha awakes.”
Eden led the way as they headed along the low corridor to the blasted Adamantine Gate.
“We will not take the route that leads to my apartments,” Eden said. “Gray Knights guard my sanctum and the Oriole Glass is secured against us. But we cannot attem
pt to leave the palace until Sancha recovers.”
“Mayhap to one of our bedchambers?” suggested Zara.
Eden’s face twisted. “I have seen what they have done to those rooms,” she said. “Your chamber rages with an endless storm, Zara. They have burned the forest in Hopie’s chamber, and slaughtered the animals in Cordelia’s.”
Tania’s heart ached at the thought of those wonderful, living chambers being defiled. Each princess had a chamber that was like an exquisite reflection of her innermost self: Zara’s room was a serene seascape beyond a shingle beach, Hopie’s was a dark forest, and Cordelia’s, a garden world where magical animals prowled. The walls of Sancha’s room had teemed with flowing script and whispering voices, tales and lore from every age of Faerie. Dancers circled endlessly in Rathina’s room. Tania’s own room was hung with living tapestries, faraway scenes that were like windows onto the wide world.
“What about the others?” Tania asked.
“Evil spells swarm the walls of Sancha’s chamber,” Eden said, “and the whispering voices speak of terrors beyond understanding. I have not entered Rathina’s chamber—I would not wish to see what dread things writhe and ferment beyond her door.” She looked at Tania. “The foul curse of Lyonesse has fallen on your chamber, too, Tania, but I believe that there we could endure it for a short time. Yes, let us go; I shall take us by a route that will keep us safe from the hoards of Lyonesse.”
They made their way through abandoned halls and up deserted stairways. Now and then Eden brought them to a halt in corridors where distant voices could be heard speaking or shouting or laughing harshly. Tania shivered. She had encountered those half-animal voices before, most recently as they had clamored to break their way into her bedroom in London while she wielded the black amber sword.
Eden made sure they were not seen, and it wasn’t long before they came to the door of Tania’s chamber.
“Do not look into the tapestries,” Eden warned, her fingers gripping the door latch. “You will not like what you see.”
Steeling herself for the worst, Tania followed Eden into the room. A grayish light filtered through the shards of the broken windows. Tania looked around and felt her heart ache. Her bedding had been slashed and torn and the overturned furniture showed signs of ax blows. Her personal items—jars and bottles and jewelry—had been smashed; even the washstand had been thrown to the floor and the water jug crushed.
Despite Eden’s warning, Tania couldn’t help but glance at the tapestries that adorned the walls. They had been so beautiful before, with landscapes and seascapes, mountain ranges and wide plains, arctic regions with cliffs of blue ice reflected in indigo water. It was not just the beauty of the scenery that Tania loved—it was the sense of yearning that pervaded the tapestries; it spoke to something deep in her heart. And they had been alive, every thread and stitch a vibrant, changing thing so that woven clouds slid over the woven sky while leaves moved on woven trees and birds of delicate gold and russet thread soared against far mountains.
But the landscapes were dark and dreadful now. A volcano belched ugly red flames into a dour, smoke-wracked sky. Evil things crawled across a benighted countryside, riven with pits and fissures that belched yellow fumes. Forests were aflame. Disgusting featherless birds lurched across yellow skies clutching naked writhing creatures in their beaks. Monsters swam in polluted seas filled with dead things.
Tania looked away, wishing she had heeded her sister’s advice.
Edric carried Sancha to the bed and laid her gently on the ruined covers. Her eyes flickered and she murmured.
Eden sat at her side, one hand on her brow. “She awakes,” she said. “She should be able to walk soon, but it may be several hours before her mind clears. The evils that lurk within a basilisk’s eye are not easily sloughed—and had I come but a few moments later, our sister may have never returned to us.”
“How did you find us?” Tania asked.
“The enchantments of the Sorcerer King lie like storm clouds in my mind,” Eden said. “But they do not entirely blind me. Some hours ago I felt the air dancing to the north—thus I knew you had returned. Even the most powerful sorceries cannot keep me from my sisters. I was hiding in deserted passageways to the west when I sensed your presence within the palace. I hurried to be with you, but I had to take care lest the Gray Knights captured me.”
“And yet our father is hidden from you,” said Zara. “That is ill fortune. How shall we find him?”
“I think Sancha had an idea,” Edric said. “But the basilisk got her before she was able to tell us what it was.”
“Then we must await her recovery,” said Eden.
“Has this all been a total waste of time, then?” asked Tania. “Are we just going to go running back to the forest?”
“Our labors here have not been entirely without profit,” Zara reminded her, nodding toward Eden.
“Oh, right! Sorry,” Tania said. “It’s really great that you’re in one piece, Eden, and that we’re back together again, but where are we with the Sorcerer King now? How are we supposed to fight him if we can’t find Oberon?”
“You speak true,” Eden said. “Knowledge of the Sorcerer’s full intentions would serve us well, but I am diminished by his powers: My sight is dimmed and my Arts desert me. Would that I could get close enough to the King to pierce his thoughts and know his mind. That would be a thing worth doing.” She frowned. “It is possible,” she said under her breath, as though speaking to herself. “An Altier Glamour might suffice. But I do not know. The risk would be great.”
“What’s an Altier Glamour?” Tania asked.
“It is a way of transforming a person’s true shape so that she may pass unnoticed among her enemies.”
“And you can do it?”
“Yes, given time and peace, I can do it,” Eden replied.
Sancha gave a small moan and her eyes fluttered open. Zara had her sister’s head in her lap. She stroked her cheek. “Wake up, sweetheart,” she whispered. “The darkness is all gone and Eden is with us.”
“The bodies are torn….” Sancha murmured in a faraway voice. “They lie cold in the dawn…all frozen and lost…and winter-storm tossed…. No grave for the brave…no tear for the fearful…”
“What’s she saying?” Tania asked.
“I know not,” said Zara.
“No! No! No!” Sancha shouted suddenly, her eyes wide open and her arms flailing. “I see them riding away over the blackened hills…. They beckon to me…I must follow…I must…”
“Sancha, be still!” Eden commanded.
Sancha fell back on the bed, her head in Zara’s lap again. Her eyes were open but there was no intelligence in them.
“Help her up,” Eden said. “See if she can stand. If she is able to walk, you must get her away from here. I will stay and attempt the Altier Glamour and come to you in the forest when I may.”
“No way,” Tania said. “I’m not going to leave you here on your own. The others should get Sancha out, but I’m staying. Can you do that glamour thing on both of us?”
“Indeed,” Eden said. “But the risk of capture is not small.”
“That’s exactly why I’m staying,” Tania said. “Someone has to watch your back.”
She looked at Edric. An uneasy frown had gathered on his face. “You know I’m right,” she said. “We can’t just run away and leave her.”
“Then I’ll stay as well,” he said.
“No,” Tania said firmly. “You’ve got to help Zara get Sancha back to the forest.”
Edric took her hand. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”
Tania nodded. “You bet I will.” She touched her fingers against his cheek. “You be careful, too, okay?”
“Let good fortune attend us all,” Eden said briskly. “Get you gone from here, Master Chanticleer. Take Sancha to safety.”
They managed to get Sancha to her feet and to get her walking, propped by Edric and Zara.
“Be swift!” Zar
a urged Tania and Eden as they stood at the door. “If you are not with us by the time the sun is at its zenith, Cordelia and I will bring such a bane of swords to this place that it will make the Sorcerer King wish he had never been set loose!”
They shuffled along the corridor, Sancha drooping between them. At the corner Edric gave Tania one last, lingering look, then the three of them moved to the left and disappeared from view.
Tania looked expectantly at Eden. “Well?” she said. “What happens now?”
Eden lowered her head, pressing two fingers to her forehead between her closed eyes. She stayed like that for a long time.
At last, Tania had to break the silence. “Eden? What’s going on?”
The fierce blue eyes flashed open. “I sense him,” she said. “He is in the Great Hall, and there are many knights with him. Come, I will take you to a place where I can work the glamour without fear of discovery.”
“What exactly does an Altier Glamour do?” Tania asked as she followed Eden along the corridor.
Eden glanced around at her, and there was a strange light in her eyes. “You will see,” she said. “It will be…interesting.”
IV
Tania crouched in half darkness, her back bent under the low slope of the roof beams, her eyes gradually becoming accustomed to the trickle of light that seeped in between the roofing tiles above her. Dust hung in the air and filled her nostrils. Her feet were balanced on wide joists between which stretched the upper surface of the lath and plaster ceiling of the Great Hall of Faerie. In better times Tania had danced with King Oberon in that grand hall to the music of lute and drum.
She looked at Eden. Her sister was crouching close by, her eyes closed, her lips moving in a soundless incantation.
Tania’s ears were full of discordant noise, shouting and laughter and occasional screams welling up from below them. It sounded as though most of the Gray Knights of Lyonesse were gathered in the Great Hall for some sort of feast or celebration.