The Seventh Daughter

by Frewin Jones

Tania nodded. “That won’t happen,” she said.

  “Thou shalt travel to Ynis Maw,” said Clorimel. “Follow us.”

  The Lios Foltaigg took to the air again, drifting on the wind like leaves as Tania and the others made their heavy-footed way down the winding valley. They came around a sharp bend and suddenly the world opened up in front of them. The valley tipped steeply to a wide rocky bay where the gray-green sea smashed against the land with a sound like splintering glass. Out across a mile or so of choppy waters, Tania saw a black hump of land rising from the sea.

  “Behold the Black Isle,” said Clorimel. “Behold Ynis Maw!”

  XIX

  Tania stood on the seashore, staring over the waves at the sinister black fist of Ynis Maw. Edric and Cordelia were at her side, and many Lios Foltaigg were gathered nearby. Tania’s mind was filled with thoughts of Gabriel Drake, of how Oberon had exiled him to that bleak hunk of rock—and of how the Sorcerer King’s evil power had set him free once more.

  “We could really use Zara right now,” said Edric. “She could whistle up a couple of turtles to ferry us over there.” He looked at Tania and his voice lowered to a whisper. “Do you think these people would carry us?”

  Tania pulled her eyes away from the dismal island. “I suppose we could ask,” she said. “But they’re really small—I’m not sure they could manage it.”

  “And how will we return with the King?” Cordelia added. “And how will we bring him safe to our Mother? Even when we set foot upon that cursed isle, I deem our troubles are but beginning.” She smiled grimly. “A worthy challenge, indeed!”

  Tania had the bad feeling that she was right. All the problems and dangers that had beset them so far were just the preamble to the huge unanswerable question of what to do once they found Oberon. Without black amber, they had no way of freeing him from the iron-bound Amber Prison.

  There was a whirring sound in the air behind them. Tania saw one Lios Foltaigg descending toward them in long spirals. He landed lightly, his small feet hardly disturbing the stones.

  “Thy steeds are galloping south,” he said. “They move at great speed. They will not return.”

  “Thanks for letting us know,” Tania said. She hoped Tanzen and his companions would get safely back to their home. She looked at Clorimel. “We need to get to the island and it’s too far to swim.”

  “There is a boat,” Clorimel said. “It is old, very old. It may not bear thee after all this time.”

  “A boat?” Tania said in surprise. “Where?”

  “It lies in a cave not far from here.”

  “Take us to it, by your mercy,” Cordelia said. “And let us test its seaworthiness.”

  With a delicate unfurling of her wings, Clorimel lifted from the ground and drifted feather-light across the shoreline. Tania and the others followed, as did several Lios Foltaigg, rising and skimming the stones with the soft whirr of their shimmering wings. They came to a place where the dark cliffs reared up into the sky and the waves broke in a welter of foam. Clorimel led them over sea-wet boulders hung with slippery weed.

  A dark crack appeared in the cliff face. The cave had a shingle floor and reached back into the cliff beyond the sunlight. Lying to one side just inside the entrance was a slim black rowboat.

  Edric leaned over it, his hands on the gunwale. “It seems to be intact,” he said. He looked at Clorimel, who was standing by the cave mouth. “When was it last used? What was it for?”

  “It is not of our making, nor was it ever used by Lios Foltaigg,” she answered. “The minions of the Sun did once on a time use the vessel, but I know not its purpose, save that it is said that the blood of the stones is food for the Sun.”

  “What does that mean?” Tania asked.

  Clorimel cocked her head. “It means what it means,” she said. “No more, no less. Is the boat serviceable?”

  “I think so,” Edric said. He looked at Tania and Cordelia. “Help me get it down to the shore?”

  Between the three of them, they managed to haul the boat out of the cave and down through the stones. Tania saw that a pair of oars lay in the keel. Clearly at some time someone had used this boat to get to and from Ynis Maw. Oberon had no need of a boat to send exiles to the Black Isle—he did that with the power of his Mystic Arts. So who had used the boat and why?

  They pushed the boat into the sea. Edric waded in waist deep, fighting the waves as they tried to drag the vessel away from him.

  “I see no water seeping through the boards,” Cordelia said. “I think the hull is sound.”

  Edric held the boat as steady as he could while Tania and Cordelia climbed on board. It rocked and bucked on the waves, but they were able to help Edric in without mishap. Cordelia took an oar and fended the boat off the rocks. Edric joined her in the stern and together they managed to push off. Tania sat in the narrow prow and Cordelia at the stern while Edric took the middle seat and began to row with long, firm strokes. Tania could see on his face the effort it was taking for him to get the bobbing boat under control. He gritted his teeth, fighting the waves, plying the oars expertly as the boat moved away from the shore.

  “It’s working,” Tania encouraged him. “You’re doing it.”

  He nodded, the sweat standing out on his forehead as he lunged forward, lifting the oars in a wide arc out of the sea, then heaved back, twisting the blades as he plunged them into the waves and dragged them through the water. It was several minutes before he managed to row the boat away from the shore and beyond the breaking, foam-capped waves. As he rowed them out into the gray-green sea, Tania saw that a few Lios Foltaigg had lifted off from the shore and were following, hanging as buoyant as thistledown above them.

  It wasn’t an easy crossing. The sea fretted at the small boat, spitting foam at them, jolting them this way and that as if a spiteful intelligence was at work, determined to force them off course. Tania clung to the side and looked over her shoulder, watching the black shore of Ynis Maw come closer.

  They made landfall in a flurry of sucking foam. Drenched to the waists, they fought against a sea that seemed to be trying to pull the boat away from them and leave them stranded. But at last they managed to drag it clear of the hungry waves onto a sloping shore of black shingle. Tania stared up at the slick black rocks that jutted from the top of the beach. They shone under the gray sky, their dull sheen ghostly and sickly.

  Cordelia gazed up to where Lios Foltaigg hung in the air a little way off the coast. “Do they come to spy upon us or to give us aid?” she asked suspiciously.

  “I don’t know.” Tania looked up, cheered a little by the sight of the delicate people floating like curiously shaped kites, gazing down with their almond-shaped sea green eyes while their dragonfly wings held them aloft and away from all harm.

  She envied them at that moment more than she could have said.

  Clorimel circled lower. “We shall help thee in thy search,” she called down. “Tell us what it is that thou seek’st.”

  “That’s really kind of you,” Tania said. “We’re looking for a large amber ball. There’s a man inside it.”

  “Thank you for your aid,” said Cordelia. “Courtesy unlooked for is a great boon.”

  Clorimel nodded and rose to rejoin the others. Tania watched as Lios Foltaigg darted off one by one over the island, vanishing inland above the cliffs. She heard a crunching of shingle and turned to see that Edric and Cordelia were making their way up the slope of the beach. She followed them toward the greasy-looking rocks.

  It was hard work to get up that first frowning wall of cliffs, and Tania’s arms and legs were trembling from the strain of the climb by the time they finally stood on the top and saw Ynis Maw stretching out in front of them.

  “A desolate place, indeed,” said Cordelia. “A fit kingdom for a traitor.”

  There were some signs of life among the knife-edged cliffs and jagged valleys: a few bleak wind-scoured bushes and spiked grasses that jutted from the black rubble. The island lifte
d in uneven terraces toward a cracked dome of fanged rock. The hills looked as if they had been battered and broken by gigantic hammers, the land ripped open and wounded by monstrous axes.

  Edric’s hand slipped into Tania’s. His voice was low and full of horror. “I know what Drake did to you, and what he tried to do to us all, but I wouldn’t wish this on him…not this.”

  Tania didn’t want to talk about Gabriel Drake—this place was dreadful enough without that. Besides, they had come here for a reason. “Where should we look first?” she asked. She had always imagined that once they had reached Ynis Maw, she would be able to sense her Faerie father’s presence—like a kind of warmth or a feeling of well-being in the air. But there was nothing.

  “The Amber Prison might be out in the open somewhere, but it could just as easily be hidden away in a valley or a cave,” Edric replied. “We’ll have to look everywhere.”

  “Then let us begin,” said Cordelia. “Do we stay together or search alone?”

  “We should keep together,” Tania said, uneasy at the thought of being alone in this ghastly place. “I know it’ll take longer, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to split up.”

  “So be it.” Cordelia began to pick her way through the rocks.

  They searched for a long time, climbing down into steep-walled valleys, making their way over wolf-fanged ridges, scrambling among the ruination of pulverized rock. Now and then Tania saw one or two Lios Foltaigg moving across the sky, but any hopes that the flying folk would quickly find the King had ebbed away. The world darkened as battalions of storm clouds streamed in from the north.

  Cordelia eyed the clouds. “If we do not find the King while the daylight lasts, what then?” she asked, voicing a concern that Tania had been feeling for some time. “Do we sleep on this cursed island, or must we return to the mainland?” She lowered her voice. “I have seen things,” she said. “They keep away from us and try to stay hidden, but I have seen them, flitting among the rocks—watching us, following us.”

  Tania looked at her in alarm. “What kind of things? Animals?”

  “Nay, not unless there are beasts on this isle that walk upon two legs and clad themselves in ragged garments.”

  Tania’s eyes widened. “You mean people?”

  “The wretched remains of things that once were people,” Cordelia said. She looked at Tania, and there was a strange light in her eyes. “Thought you that only the Traitor Drake had ever been banished to this place?” she asked. “Nay, sister—there are others.”

  A cold chill ran down Tania’s spine. She glanced around, half expecting to see crazy-eyed faces peering out at her from among the rocks.

  “There are still a few hours of daylight left,” Edric said. “We don’t have to decide yet.”

  A high-pitched call, like the cry of a seagull but with words in it, came drifting down to them. Tania stared up into the gray sky. Three Lios Foltaigg were hovering near the coastline, two males and one female.

  “Maybe they’ve found something,” Tania said, renewed hope kindling in her.

  “Or maybe they’re giving up,” Edric said grimly.

  They scrambled over the rocks, coming to a high cliff that overhung the sea. The three winged folk came closer. The female was Clorimel.

  “The Sun sleeps in a cave upon the north side of the island,” she called down. “Ithacar and Uriban have seen him. He lies in an orb of yellow light and slumbers with both eyes open.”

  “Oberon!” said Tania. “They’ve found him.” She called out, “Can you show us the way?”

  “That we can,” Clorimel called. “Come, it is not far.”

  The Lios Foltaigg led them around the west coast of the island until they came to a cave-pocked valley in a ring of broken hills.

  “Merciful spirits!” Cordelia said. “Do you see the light?”

  An amber glow brightened the mouth of one of the caves. They scrambled down the hillside, Tania’s eyes fixed on that amber light, praying that they would find the King alive inside the cave. It was little more than a scoop hollowed out of the cliffs, the roof low and rugged, and the floor of gray shale. But the amber radiance lit up the walls, so that as they stepped over the threshold it looked as if the cave was made of dark gold.

  The Amber Prison hung in the air, a few inches off the ground. It was wrapped around with a network of gray metal bands through which the trapped light welled. A figure lay within. Cordelia let out a low sob, her hands coming to her face. Tania stepped forward, trembling as she remembered how she had found Edric trapped in such a globe.

  Oberon lay on one side. He was clad in a robe of dark fur trimmed with white. His eyes were open in his handsome bearded face, but his gaze was fixed on nothing and there was no life or animation in the sky blue irises. One arm was lifted, the hand stretching out, the open palm upward, as though he had been frozen in amber at the moment of trying to defend himself.

  Tania drew closer. A single tear ran down her cheek as she stared through the brutal metal straps at the face of her Faerie father. There was no fear in his expression, but the emptiness in his eyes drained all the hope from her. She bit her lip, hearing Cordelia’s sobs behind her.

  Edric came up beside her. He said nothing.

  For a few moments they just stood there, staring at the amber globe. Then Tania stretched out a hand to touch it. A blue spark leaped from the iron bonds, burning her fingers like a flame, shooting barbs of agony up her arm. She snatched her hand away with a cry of pain.

  “I can’t even touch it,” she said, her voice shaking with emotion. “We’ve come all this way and I can’t even touch him.” She fell to her knees, anger and frustration and fear overwhelming her at last. “What was the point?” she shouted. “It’s all hopeless. It’s all completely hopeless!”

  XX

  Night came down over Ynis Maw like a black lid. There were no stars, no hint or gleam of light, save for the sad amber glow that beamed like trapped yellow moonlight from between the iron bands that enwrapped Oberon’s prison.

  None of them could bear the thought of leaving the King alone there for another grim night of sleepless, petrified banishment. There was little comfort in the cave, but they made the best of it, Edric and Cordelia curling up to sleep on the shale floor while Tania took first watch. She huddled in her cloak at the cave mouth, her back to the cold stone, her eyes aching as she peered into the nothingness that lay beyond the amber glow. Bleak thoughts filled her mind. They had no black amber to melt the Isenmort bonds—no metal to destroy the Amber Prison. How were they to set Oberon free when they couldn’t even touch the shining sphere?

  A faint pattering sound brought her out of her brooding thoughts.

  Patter, patter, patter. Like distant running feet.

  She thought of the half-mad creatures that Cordelia had seen—the banished people. Were they out there in the night? Were they closing in on them?

  The pattering grew louder, and a heavy drop of rain splashed on Tania’s hand. Dark dots began to stain the gray stone beyond the cave mouth. Darts of rain lit up like jewels as they cut down through the amber light. Tania drew herself a little deeper into the cave as the rain began to fall more persistently. Soon, the rock was slick with running water, the rain pelting down with a hiss that was like snakes and lizards.

  Thunder growled and forks of lightning cracked the night open, making brief hectic silhouettes of the surrounding hills. The storm clouds were emptying themselves over Ynis Maw. They were in for a restless night.

  Tania awoke to a sky full of grim, ruddy-colored clouds. It was as if the sky had rusted over from the rain; the grisly light made the black rocks look like bloody bones thrusting up out of pools of gore. She was still huddled in the cave mouth, stiff and aching. She got to her feet, wrapping herself in her cloak and stepping out of the cave. The rocks around her shone wetly red and dark red water splashed underfoot. She looked around, remembering the banished folk and wondering what their lives must be like on this terrible b
arren hunk of rock.

  “And they won’t ever die,” she murmured. “They’ll be here forever.” The immortality of the Faerie folk could be a curse as well as a miracle.

  Her mouth was dry. She reached for the water bag that hung at her waist. It was limp and empty. She needed something to drink, but she couldn’t bring herself to fill her bottle from the bloodred rain pools that had formed overnight.

  She walked a little way off, searching for a less tainted water source. A small pool had formed under the lip of an overhanging rock. The water was dark and still, but not bloodred. She knelt, taking the stopper from her bottle to scoop up some water. As she bent over the pool she saw her own reflection gazing darkly up at her.

  “Is that really me?” she whispered. The hair was draggled and unkempt, the face pale, the hollow eyes full of sadness. It was the face of someone who had witnessed horrors—the face of someone who had come to a place of utter despair.

  And then it was as if the universe stumbled for a moment—as if time had stuttered.

  “Tania?”

  She stared into the pool. The face had changed. It was her face but not her face. The lips moved again and a voice spoke in her head.

  “Tania, it’s me.”

  “Titania?” Tania said breathlessly, leaning closer to the water.

  “I’ve been trying to reach you for days,” Titania said from the surface of the pool. “Where are you?”

  “We’re on Ynis Maw,” Tania replied. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, we are all safe and well. Eden’s spell is keeping us hidden.”

  Misery filled Tania’s voice. “Everything’s gone wrong,” she said, the words thick in her throat. “We’ve come all the way here, but now…”

  “I know, I know,” said the soothing voice. “Do not worry, Tania. I have spoken with Hopie. She told me everything that happened.”

  Tania rubbed tears from her eyes. “A lot more has happened since we left her.”

  “You can tell me about it when you get back,” Titania said. “But now you have to listen to me, Tania. I’m going to tell you a great secret. Probably the greatest secret in Faerie. I did not dare to tell it to you before now, in case something went wrong and you fell into the hands of the enemy.” There was a brief pause, then: “The black amber mine is on Ynis Maw.”