The Jasper Forest

by Julia Gray

  'Piss off, you little worm. Or you'll need some healing yourself.'

  'I have to get inside. It's very—'

  'You heard what the man said,' one of the other guards snarled. 'Clear off.'

  He advanced menacingly, his hand on the pommel of his sword, and as the boy turned and fled, their mocking laughter followed him into the night.

  Terrel decided to make his next attempt in the small hours of the morning, when he hoped the sentries would be at their least alert. This time he was determined to advance by stealth rather than bravado - and he was now prepared to risk rather more than his dignity.

  The great, iron-studded gates had been closed for the night, but the doors at either end of the side passage that went directly through the guardhouse itself were still open. A number of soldiers were on duty, though most of them were just lounging around, looking bored in the flickering light of the torches that burned in wall brackets. The smoke these torches gaye off was scented with pine resin, which helped disguise the stink that drifted on the air from the nearest sections of the stews.

  After his earlier failure, Terrel had decided to use the glamour this time.

  Although Alyssa had been unhappy about this, she had not been able to come up with an alternative suggestion. The possibility of attempting to alter his appearance to that of a respectable citizen, and then bluffing his way in, had been rejected as too complicated, and instead he'd decided to try to make himself invisible. He'd done this once before, on the wasteland above the mines of Betancuria, but on that occasion he had been standing still. This time he would have to move. He spent a few moments watching the play of light and shadow around the guardhouse, trying to imagine himself as just one more patch of unrecognizable darkness in the night. He crept closer, still keeping out of sight, and waited for Alyssa.

  Now? she asked.

  Now, he replied.

  The magpies came swirling down, the sound of their harsh staccato chattering filling the air, and began to attack the main gate. They scrabbled for purchase on its ledges, wings fluttering in black and white, as they pecked at the wood in an apparent frenzy. After a few moments of this, guards started to pour out of the doorway.

  'What the . . . ?'

  'Have they gone mad?'

  I am smoke and shadows, Terrel told himself. Smoke and shadows, nothing more.

  He slipped past the first soldiers without them giving him so much as a glance, and ducked quietly into the tunnel. He had to move aside when two more sentries ran past him, but he kept up his internal litany and neither of them paid him any attention. A few moments later, as the excited birds scattered into the night sky, Terrel stepped out into the calm air inside the city of Talazoria. Smoke and shadows? the enchanter declared incredulously. Moons! What are you up to now?

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Leave me alone, Jax.

  But you invited me to watch, the enchanter said, and laughed. And this isn't a dream, is it? This is real. He sounded intrigued, and Terrel knew that the prince was storing up everything he saw for future use.

  When are you going to get drunk again? the prince asked. There's a lot more scope here than there was at that last place.

  Terrel wanted to be rid of the enchanter, and knew that his mind would remain vulnerable as long as he used the glamour, but he was still too close to the guardhouse for comfort. He began to run as best he could.

  Your foot hurts, Jax commented. He sounded pleased.

  Terrel tried to ignore him. He limped on, surprised by how much light there was in the city. There seemed to be lamps and torches burning everywhere, both on the streets and behind the shuttered windows of the buildings. More surprising still, there were a lot of people out and about — which would have been unheard of at that

  time of night anywhere else. The routines of Terrel's life had always been regulated by the hours of daylight, and even the largest towns he'd visited rarely had much activity after dark - and certainly not in the middle of the night. Talazoria, it seemed, was a law unto itself.

  Even though it took him longer than he'd expected, Terrel eventually found a dark and quiet place to hide. As he released the glamour, the relief he felt was tempered by Jax's parting threat.

  You'll have to go to sleep sometime. I'll be waiting.

  It's just words, the boy told himself. He can put thoughts in my head and influence my dreams, but he can't do anything unless I've already lost control of myself. Terrel had no intention of getting drunk again.

  Now that he had managed to get into the city, Terrel wondered what he ought to do next. He was hiding among some bushes in a small, shadowed garden, and was reasonably sure that he'd be safe there for the rest of the night - but he didn't want to risk sleeping, especially after his twin's final remark. His immediate problem was what to do at daybreak. There would no doubt be far more people on the streets then, and unless he was prepared to use the glamour again - which would both exhaust him and leave him prey to the enchanter -his appearance was bound to attract unwelcome attention. All the people he had seen so far had been well-dressed and well-groomed - and able-bodied. That meant he could have to act quickly, before he was caught and thrown out of the city.

  It occurred to Terrel that if he was arrested by the guards, it was possible that he would not simply be

  returned to the stews. He might - and here the boy's heart raced as he sensed the beginnings of a plan - be found guilty of some crime, and condemned to be sent to the demon. If that happened, it would save him the trouble of having to find the elemental himself. His enemies would actually force him to make the very contact he desired!

  There were risks, of course. His punishment might be something entirely different. They might execute him by a more conventional method, and — even if he wasn't killed - being thrown into gaol or exiled would be almost as bad as far as his plans were concerned. However, if what he'd been told was true, Ekuban was always looking for victims for his latest entertainment - and he was unlikely to turn down a volunteer!

  Terrel was still wondering about this as the first light of dawn crept into the sky, and he decided to try to avoid capture for as long as he could - at least until he worked out what his chances were of reaching the elemental on his own. If, in spite of his best efforts, he was arrested, he would do his best to ensure that his sentence suited his purpose. In the meantime, he hoped that Alyssa would join him again soon. He needed her more than ever now. The little he had seen of the city was enough to show him that he could easily become lost, and he wanted her to help him find his way around.

  Just as the watery daylight was becoming strong enough for Terrel to risk making his way out into the maze of streets, he got his wish. The magpie came gliding down, landed on the clipped grass nearby and bounded up to him. When she looked at him, she clicked her beak several times and lifted first one leg and then the other,

  waving them about as if she were trying to shake something off her feet.

  Are you all right?

  Doors don't have to open inwards, she replied. How can you steal shadows?

  Alyssa? Terrel was worried now. He needed her to be rational. A long stay in the body of one animal or bird could bring her madness closer to the surface, but she had only been in the magpie for three days so far.

  He's been here, hasn't he?

  It took Terrel a moment to work out what she was talking about, but when he did he was glad she was making a little more sense.

  Yes, but only for a while. He's gone now, he reassured her.

  Don't let him come, she said. You mend things. He destroys them. There was both fear and revulsion in Alyssa's voice.

  I'll keep him away, Terrel promised, even though the prince's threat was still fresh in his mind. You and your friends did well. Thank you.

  You 've no idea how difficult it was to get them all to fly at night! she exclaimed, apparently glad to change the subject. I had to tell them there was food embedded in the door, just waiting to be stolen.

&n
bsp; Magpies like stealing things, don't they? Terrel said, smiling.

  If thieves had a guild, they'd be the first to join up, she replied. It's their one natural skill.

  Are they still here? he asked, wondering if he would need the birds' help again.

  I can get them back if necessary, Alyssa replied nonchalantly. What are you going to do now?

  Try to find the Ancient. Will you scout around for me, find out where the ruined fort is? And the palace?

  Of course. Are you staying here?

  No. Someone will see me sooner or later, so I'm going to have a look around.

  Will you he all right? she asked. You haven't had much rest.

  The sooner I get going now the better, Terrel said. I don't want to sleep.

  As if to disprove his own claim, he yawned and his eyes closed of their own accord. He forced them open again.

  Would it help if I pecked your ear again? Alyssa asked hopefully.

  Terrel tried to appear confident, as though he belonged in the city, while Talazoria came to life around him. Most of the people he saw - in contrast to those who had been abroad during the night - were clearly underlings. Their clothes were generally of good quality but not showy, and most of them were obviously going about their business - sweeping forecourts, tending gardens and fetching food for their masters' households. Although the boy's presence attracted several questioning glances, no one spoke to him or raised the alarm. Terrel caught sight of several military patrols, but managed to keep out of their way as he moved further into the city. He was working on the assumption that most of the important buildings were likely to be near the centre, and when Alyssa returned she confirmed this, and told him that he was heading towards both the ruined castle and the king's palace. The two were situated next to each other.

  Did you see the elemental? Terrel asked.

  No, but I didn 't stay long. I wanted to make sure you were going in the right direction.

  And am I?

  Yes. There's a big square nearby, and a lot of people are gathering there, she told him. You might be less conspicuous in a crowd, and you 'd have a chance to find out what was going on.

  Her advice was sensible, so Terrel continued on his way, with Alyssa flying ahead of him and acting as both guide and lookout. He was still the object of much curiosity, but no one seemed alarmed by his presence, and he began to wonder if the city really was as hostile to outsiders as he'd been led to believe. Because he was starting to feel light-headed from lack of sleep, he dared not use the glamour again. He would have liked to appear more presentable, and to disguise the message-handle, but he was afraid that if he did, Jax would take advantage of his vulnerable condition.

  The closer he got to the heart of Talazoria, the more grand the streets and houses became. Manicured gardens surrounded enormous mansions, which were themselves decorated in flamboyant style, with statuary, gilded stonework and even jewelled mosaics on some of the walls. Such blatant ostentation was repulsive when set against the wretched poverty of the stews — and when Terrel saw a group of servants carting away a pile of garbage that included a huge amount of apparently good food amid the rubbish, he was appalled at such conspicuous waste. Talazoria was clearly a place where the fortunate few lived in pampered luxury. Drewan had told Terrel that even the king's dogs ate better than most peasants and, as with

  several of the bargee's other tales, the boy had not wanted to believe it. Now that he was inside the jewelled city, such stories seemed all too plausible.

  After a while, Terrel found himself moving within what was now a constant flow of traffic. As well as those on foot, there were some people on horseback, and others in ornate carriages for whom underlings made way without question.

  There were soldiers among the crowd too, but they seemed preoccupied and paid the boy no attention. By the time Alyssa told him that he was nearly at the square, the sense of anticipation in the air around him was reaching fever pitch - but although he had overheard several snatches of conversation, he still didn't know what was happening. As he finally emerged into the open space, his attention was instantly drawn to an extraordinary building on the far side of the square. Ekuban's palace was the most elaborate, bizarre construction Terrel had ever seen. Even on a cloudy day it glittered and glowed, each surface displaying a whole range of vivid colours. There were bulbous domes of shimmering blues and purples, pointed turrets of red and ochre, wide roofs of glowing orange and yellow tiles, and walls decorated in a variety of exotic patterns. And everywhere there were touches of gold and silver, as well as patches of brilliance that could only come from precious stones set into the fabric of the building itself. Even from a distance it was difficult to look at the palace without squinting. On a sunny day it would have been blinding. As it was, it was so garish that Terrel felt the beginnings of a headache. Anyone who could build such a monstrosity had to be mad, but if not, living there would surely drive them insane.

  Terrel switched his attention to the mercifully plain walls of the ruined fort next to the palace. He could see very little of the grey stones, just the jagged upper levels of what had once been a much larger building. In front of the ruin, on the edge of the square, stood three tall wooden towers, and Terrel could see people standing on the uppermost platform of each while others were climbing within the scaffolding below. Further away, presumably on the far side of the castle, were other similar towers. With a sudden sickening lurch of understanding, Terrel realized that these were grandstands, built to give a few observers the best possible view of the various spectacles within the elemental's prison. What was worse, there was obviously a great deal of competition for places on the platforms, which meant that something was going to happen soon.

  Terrel made his way towards the fort without any real plan in mind, knowing only that he had to know the worst. He was soon engulfed by a densely-packed mass of people, the human tide now running strongly across the square. From closer to, the ruin was larger than he'd first thought, and it was evident that the original building had been an imposing edifice. The moat around it was wide and deep, but Terrel couldn't get close enough to see much more, and there was obviously no chance of clambering up onto the already overcrowded towers.

  A new purpose had seized the crowd now, and the boy was swept along with it, first away from both the palace and the fort, then turning back to climb a small hill. This led to a slope of bare earth, which was covered with people crammed shoulder to shoulder. From this vantage point it was possible to see inside the fort, although it was a

  much more distant view than that afforded by the towers. However, no one seemed to be paying much attention to what was happening there. Terrel stared, trying to find some sign of the Ancient, but there was nothing like the swirling darkness he had encountered in Betancuria, and he assumed that the elemental was hiding. There was a buzz of conversation all around him, but he couldn't make out what was being said, and he glanced around, wondering whether he dared ask someone what was happening. He chose one of his neighbours, whose clothes were among the plainest he had seen, hoping that he would be the least likely to pay much attention to Terrel's own drab garments or his unusual staff.

  'What's going on?'

  'It'll be hours yet,' the man replied, without turning to look at the boy.

  'Wish I'd brought something to drink.'

  'I have some water,' Terrel offered, slipping his pack off his shoulder and taking out his flask.

  'Thanks.' The man was obviously startled by the boy's crystalline eyes, but he accepted the water bottle nevertheless and drank gratefully.

  'We've a long time to wait, then?' Terrel ventured.

  'They're not going to feed the demon until noon. Didn't you hear the announcement?'

  'I must have missed it. I only got to the square a short while ago.'

  'You're lucky to get a spot like this then,' his informant commented.

  'Especially as this is the last show for a while. After today they're going to be saving up all
the prisoners for the festival.'

  'What festival?'

  The man gave him a strange look.

  'Ekuban's name day, the day before Whitefire's Eve.'

  None of this meant anything to Terrel, but he knew he'd already displayed rather too much of his ignorance, so he just nodded and said nothing for a while.

  'That's an even longer time to wait then,' he commented eventually, his need to know more finally overcoming his qualms.

  'Aye, a long month, more or less,' the man agreed, sounding resentful at having to endure such a long time between entertainments.

  A horrible suspicion began to form in Terrel's mind as he worked out his dates.

  'Whitefire's Day is midwinter, right?' he asked.

  The underling shot the boy another suspicious glance.

  'Of course.'

  'My memory's not good today,' Terrel said, with what he hoped was a rueful grin. 'I had too much to drink last night.'

  'I know that feeling,' the man said, his uncertainty replaced by a sympathetic smile.

  Terrel was not sure whether he was pleased or horrified by what he had learnt.

  Closing his eyes for a moment, his memory took him back to the cloud-filled valley, and Amie's reply when he'd asked her when the day of the dream-predicted earthquake was. 'It's two days before midwinter,' she had told him. Which was Ekuban's birthday, the day of the festival.

  Knowing that, it seemed very likely that this celebration, including the deaths of a large group of prisoners, was actually going to be the cause of the elemental's explosive rage. Terrel had to find a way of stopping that from happening, although as yet he had no idea how to go about it. At least he had some time to consider his options. After today's

  'show' there were to be no more for a while, which was a relief. On the other hand, the idea of getting himself arrested was untenable now. Even if the ploy succeeded, it would mean waiting until the prophesied day of destruction before he would have a chance to confront the elemental and try to avert a catastrophe. There had to be a better alternative.