by Frewin Jones
“Spirits of thunder!” said Rathina breathlessly. “You used the Dark Arts! ’Tis no wonder your presence leaned so heavy on my heart!”
“The Mystic Arts are all one and the same,” Edric replied. “The spirits summoned are neither good nor bad. It’s how the power is wielded that divides the dark from the light.”
“You are a fool if you believe that,” said Rathina. “How came you by the power? Who taught it to you?”
“No one did,” said Edric.
Tania looked at him. “Edric, it takes years to learn to use the Mystic Arts, even I know that.” Her eyes widened. “Drake!” she gasped. “Gabriel Drake taught you!”
“No, he didn’t teach me,” Edric replied. “But I was his amanuensis for five hundred years, Tania. I was with him when he made his enchantments. I saw enough to allow me to duplicate some of his work. But not for any bad purpose. You know I wouldn’t do that. You know me better than that.”
Tania watched him, but for the moment she couldn’t speak.
“It is not the power that corrupts the soul, Master Chanticleer,” came Rathina’s clear, steady voice. “It is the manner in which the power is attained. The spirits can be befriended or they can be enslaved—there is no other course.” Her voice faltered now. “Gabriel Drake chose the quick path of enslavement, harnessing the spirits to his own ends, heedless of their agonies and distress. You have followed in his footsteps and the stench of his corruption is all about you.” She raised her arm and pointed a warning finger. “Beware, fool. You know not how swift the evil can enter you and take command.” Her eyes blazed and her voice broke. “Do you not know? Once on a time, even Lord Gabriel was pure of heart.”
Tania saw fear flicker across Edric’s face. “That won’t happen to me,” he said. “I’m not Drake. I used the power to help Tania, that’s all.” He looked at Tania. “You know I wouldn’t do anything bad,” he said, a note of desperation in his voice. “You know that!”
Her mouth was dry and she felt hollow, as though her heart had turned to ash. She looked into Edric’s face but saw only the soulless glitter of Gabriel Drake’s silvery eyes.
She ran her hand over her face, and when she looked again, Edric’s warm brown eyes were gazing anxiously at her. Had it been fear that had shown her that brief vision—or had it been a glimpse of what was to come?
She swallowed, hardly able to hear her own voice over the insistent throbbing in her head. “Promise me, Edric,” she said. “Promise me you’ll never use Drake’s powers again. Ever!”
“Do you think I’m so weak that I’ll lose control?” Edric replied. “Don’t you trust me at all?”
“It’s nothing to do with trust,” Tania said. “Don’t you get it? I’m frightened! I’m frightened of what that power will do to you if you use it. Didn’t you hear what Rathina said? Gabriel Drake was good once. Do you think you’re stronger than him? Do you?”
“I know I’m better than him.”
“The arrogance of the novice,” murmured Rathina. “Thus it ever begins!”
“I have to know you’ll be safe,” Tania insisted. “Even if we can’t be together, even if you go back to Weir and we never see each other again, I have to know that…that you’ll be all right.” Her voice faltered. “I’m sorry…. I can’t bear the thought of you changing into…into someone I don’t know. Someone cruel and horrible.”
“That will never happen,” said Edric. “But if you want, then I promise. I promise you that I’ll never use the power again, not unless I have no choice.”
Was that enough? What did it mean to have no choice?
Rathina stepped up to him and looked candidly into his eyes. “Listen to me, Master Chanticleer, and understand that I speak knowing of the love that my sister holds for you. The powers you have used are dangerous beyond your comprehension. If you should call on them again, they will twist your deeds and warp your soul and you will know nothing of it until all that was you has been consumed and lost.” Her eyes blazed. “But know this: Before that happens I will come upon you no matter where you may go and I will run a keen blade across your throat and wash my hands in your life’s blood.” She almost choked as she finished. “I will not allow a second Gabriel Drake loose in Faerie, Master Chanticleer. Upon mine honor I will not!”
“It won’t come to that,” Edric said. “It would never come to that.”
Rathina nodded. “Then all is well.” She turned to Tania. “Let us fulfill the quest, sister. Let us seek for Master Connor.”
King’s College Hospital was not hard to find. A main road ran down a steep hill on the far side of the railway station, and as the three of them stood on the corner waiting for the traffic light to change, they could clearly see the sprawling hospital buildings built of red brick and decorated with cream-colored stonework stretching away along the roadside below them.
“It’s huge,” said Edric. “Do you know where Connor will be?”
“He said he’d get the stuff at the emergency room dispensary,” Tania said. “But we don’t need to go inside. If he’s still here, his car will be in the lot. It’s a dark red Ford Fiesta, and knowing Connor, it won’t have been washed for months, so it should stand out.”
She was right. They quickly found Connor’s car in a far corner of the hospital parking lot.
“Master Connor has agreed to take us to the coast,” Rathina told Edric as they made their way across the lot. “We need to be within the walls of Veraglad Castle ere dawn.”
“A good bit earlier than that, I hope,” said Tania. “I’m not sure what the time is.” She looked into the velvety sky. Stars were just beginning to appear, twinkling palely through the nocturnal sheen of the big city. “Not later than half past nine, I don’t think. That ought to give us time to get back well before Faerie is closed off to us.”
“Lo! He comes!” said Rathina, pointing to a small dark shape that moved quickly from the portico entrance of the hospital and ran across the parking lot. Connor came to a halt as he saw them.
“What are you doing here?” He looked at Edric. “Who’s this?”
“He’s Edric,” Tania said. “He’s from Faerie as well. As for why we’re here—well, that’s a long story, and I’d rather get you up to speed on the way, if that’s okay. Did you get the stuff?”
Connor nodded. He opened his jacket and briefly showed them a small plastic box. “The needle-free inoculator is in there,” he said. “And I have a couple of ampoules of levofloxacin in my pocket.”
“Is that the best one?” asked Tania.
“For a broad-spectrum antibiotic, it’s probably the best there is right now,” said Connor. “It’s effective against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, and it’s used even when the specific bacterium is unknown—like in this case. It’s usually the first drug people are given when they show the symptoms of pneumonia—and right now pneumonia is my best guess for what your people have.”
“Then let us make haste, sirrah,” said Rathina. “My people await your skills.”
Connor unlocked the car. “Did you remember the sandwiches and drinks?” he asked.
“We did not,” said Rathina. “More urgent concerns distracted us.” She looked at Edric. “Or so we thought.”
“We’ll buy something on the way,” said Tania. “How long will it take to get to Beachy Head?”
“Half an hour to get out of London,” said Connor. “Then another hour or so down the A twenty-two if the road’s clear, which it should be at this time of night.” He looked at his watch. “We should be there before midnight. I can administer the antibiotics and still have plenty of time to check out how our guinea pig is doing before the sun shows up.”
Tania let out a breath of relief. They would be back in the palace hours before the dawn deadline. She looked at Edric. “We can’t just stroll into Cerulean Hall with Connor,” she said.
“I agree,” said Edric. “In fact, I’d say it was a mistake to stroll anywhere in Faerie with a Mortal among us.”
“Can you think of another way to fight the plague?” Tania asked. “Hopie and Sancha haven’t had any luck with a cure. Connor is our only hope.”
Edric looked at her. “Have you considered the fact that he may make things worse?” he asked.
“It’s a chance we have to take,” said Tania.
“I just want to be sure you’ve thought it through, that’s all.”
“I have,” said Tania. “I’ve been thinking about nothing else ever since we got here! Now, like I said, we have to get into the palace secretly or the wardens will stop us. And I think we should try out the drugs on Cordelia first.” She turned to Rathina. “Can we get to her rooms without being seen?”
“Indeed we can.”
“And once you’ve given the drugs, how long then?” Edric asked Connor.
“We should start to see an improvement in a few hours,” Connor said. “If everything goes according to plan, we should know whether this is going to work in plenty of time for me to get back home safe and sound.”
If Tania’s hopes and prayers were answered, then in just a few short hours Connor’s medicine would start to work. And once they knew the plague could be cured, she would be able to insist that the portals between the worlds be kept open to allow more of the medicine through.
The plague would be defeated. All would be well. Things could return to normal in Faerie.
In just a few short hours…
Tania stretched her aching limbs and looked into a sky full of stars. It was a relief finally to get out of the metal shell of the car. It had given her a massive headache to be cooped up in the backseat for so long, but now the journey to Beachy Head was over.
From the pained expression on Edric’s face she assumed he was feeling pretty rough as well. A few weeks ago they would have comforted each other, but now their body language was awkward and they walked separately through the lank grass.
“Does anyone know where we’re going?” asked Connor. He had pulled a rubber flashlight out of the back of the car and he was swinging it around, randomly illuminating patches of long grass.
There was something eerie and disturbing about this place in the middle of the night. The dark sky was too big, the stars too distant.
“We are almost at the place where we entered this world,” said Rathina. Once more Tania was astonished by her sister’s built-in sense of direction. If it had been up to her, she doubted whether they would ever have found the right spot, and yet Rathina led them unerringly through the grass toward the cliff edge.
“Here!” Rathina said, spreading her arms.
“Are you sure?” asked Tania.
Rathina gave her a sharp look.
“Sorry.” They were very close to the edge of the cliff. Tania didn’t look down. She could hear the sea flailing the rocks below them. She could feel the immense expanse of empty air that opened out only a few short steps away.
Tania shivered and turned her back to the cliff edge, reaching out her hands. “Hold on to me,” she said.
Connor took her right hand and Rathina closed her fingers around her right wrist. Edric hesitated for a moment then put his hand in her left hand.
She sidestepped.
The stars went out like a thousand blown candles, and the air became still.
They were back in the Well Room in Veraglad Palace.
Part Three
The Road of Faith
XVI
Edric’s hand slipped out of Tania’s the moment they came into Faerie. It was as if he couldn’t bear to touch her. How had that happened?
“Wow!” Connor’s awestruck voice was the first to break the silence. He let the flashlight beam rove over the stone walls of the small room. The various entrances and exits stood out sharp and black. “Where are we?”
“You are in the hidden heart of Veraglad Palace,” said Rathina. “This chamber and the passages that lead from it were delved from solid stone by the Mystic Arts of our sister Eden.” She looked at Tania. “We will be able to enter Cordelia’s chamber without the need to show ourselves.” She pointed to a narrow slot. “That is the way.” She held out a hand to Connor. “I shall light our path,” she said.
Connor handed over the flashlight. Rathina looked into the beam, her eyes narrowing against the bright white light. “A marvelous, odd thing, indeed,” she said. “Like a hundred candles without flame. Is this…What did you call it, sister?”
“Electricity,” said Tania.
“You don’t have electricity?” said Connor. “Is this whole world stuck in, like, the sixteenth century?”
“I don’t think they’d appreciate the word stuck,” Tania replied. “And trust me, it’s not like any sixteenth century you’ve ever seen on the History Channel.”
“Well, no,” agreed Connor. “I got that. For a start there’s that whole magical side step thing you have going for you. And I guess that’s not all. Your sister mentioned Mystic Arts? Does she mean—magic?”
“There is no time for this foolishness,” said Rathina. “Come, Master Prattler. Your lessons can wait; you have stern work to do.”
Rathina stepped into the shoulder-width gap in the stonework and began to mount a flight of wedge-shaped spiral stairs. Connor followed after her, then Tania and finally Edric—keeping always a couple of steps behind her.
The stairway led to a cramped corridor and finally to a slender wooden panel set in the stonework.
“We are here,” Rathina said. She pressed her hand against the panel and it slid smoothly to one side. The flashlight beam shone onto what looked to Tania like the inside of an empty wardrobe.
Rathina walked through the wall and into the wardrobe. She pushed the door open. There was a click and the sudden yellow glow of candlelight.
“Oh my god,” she heard Connor murmur. “It’s just like getting into Narnia!”
A moment later and they stepped out of the wooden closet and into Cordelia’s bedchamber.
Cordelia lay unmoving in her bed, pale as death, surrounded by watchful birds. A lump filled Tania’s throat.
Please let Connor’s drugs work.
Many tall candelabrums had been set up around the bed and the air was filled with a slightly sour, spicy scent.
“Sweet spirits of peace.” Rathina sighed, handing Connor the flashlight and leaning over her sister’s still figure as the birds edged away from her. “Look, Tania, she is no better. Master Hollin’s healing stones do nothing!”
“What mischief is this?” asked a voice from the doorway. “How came you here to my wife’s chamber?”
They turned. Bryn was at the part-open door, his face gray and drawn, his eyebrows knitting as he took in the strange clothing that Tania, Rathina, and Connor were wearing.
“We mean nought but good,” Rathina said quickly. She gestured toward Connor. “This man is a Healer. He has medicines with him. Tania has great faith in his powers.”
Bryn’s eyes narrowed with distrust. He stepped quickly into the room, coming between Connor and the bed. “You are not of Faerie,” he said, looking Connor up and down. “Whence come you?”
“I’m here to help,” Connor said nervously. “Tania—tell him!”
Bryn glanced sharply at Tania as realization dawned in his face. “He is Mortal! You have been to the Mortal World—against the most specific commandment of the King! Lord Aldritch said it was so when you could not be found, but I did not believe him. I thought you had gone to some private place to consider your future. But now I see he was in the right! And you have brought another Mortal into Faerie!”
The look of disquiet on Bryn’s face made Tania feel uncomfortable. “I had to bring Connor here secretly,” she explained. “The earls are going to close the ways between the worlds in a few hours. Then it would have been too late. Connor is going to help. Trust me, Bryn.”
Edric’s voice was low but authoritative. “Bryn Lightfoot—if you love your wife, allow this man to do his work,” he said. “For I tell you true, none other
than he can lift the shadow of death from our people.”
Tania looked at Edric. It was so strange to think that this was the same smiling boy she had fallen in love with in the Mortal World. Back then he had spoken like an ordinary Londoner, but now, unless he was specifically talking to her, he sounded like any other man of Faerie.
“I can help,” Connor added. “If you’ll let me.”
Bryn stepped to the door and closed it. “Then work swift, Mortal,” he said. “Master Hollin’s acolytes return here betimes to sing their healing dirges over the princess—not that their ministrations have awoken her nor put the blood back into her cheeks.”
“What’s Hollin doing now?” asked Tania.
“He resides in Lord Aldritch’s chambers,” Bryn said with a growl. “No doubt playing at pitch and toss with his worthless pebbles.” He glanced at Edric. “Lord Aldritch spoke against it, but the Conclave of Earls had decreed that none other shall be taken from the Gildensleep until some proof of the Healer’s powers is revealed.”
“I think they’ll have a long wait,” said Tania. “What about their plans for shutting the doorways between the worlds? Is that still going ahead?”
“It is,” said Bryn. “All the enchantments have been prepared. When the sun rises, the ways between the worlds will close forever.”
Tania saw alarm flicker for a moment in Connor’s eyes, but he said nothing.
“Not if Connor’s medicine works,” said Tania. “If Cordelia gets better, I’ll be able to convince them to leave the portals open, I’m sure of it.”
Connor gave her a worried look. “I’d better get a move on,” he said.
Tania turned to him. “Yes. Do it,” she said. “Do it now.”
“What about these pebbles?” Connor asked, gesturing at Hollin’s healing stones. “Can I move them?”
Tania nodded. “Yes, get rid of them.”
Connor picked the stones off Cordelia’s body and placed them in a pile on the bedcovers. He then took the plastic box from under his jacket. He laid it on the bed and clicked it open. Cordelia’s birds shuffled away to the far side of the bed and one or two fluttered to safer perches, but none left the room and all kept their black eyes on the ailing princess.