Silence fell. I looked about, observing the devastation. The knights were exhausted, but none of them had been wounded. Corpses lay all around them. I shivered when I thought of the panic our battle would have created if a human had seen it. Luckily, we were far from any towns or farmhouses. While Galahad and his companions buried the bodies of Alwena’s followers in the woods, I banished the carregs back to the dirt they had risen from. As for the dragon, I thanked him gratefully for his help, then watched him fly up toward the clouds and vanish in the form of a falling star.
Charles clambered out of the car, where he’d been hiding, but Professor Deen was gone. We figured he must have taken advantage of the chaos to run off. Galahad and Percival set out to find him but they soon returned with the sad news that he was dead. It seems he had tripped on some tree roots and fallen. His torso was pierced by a sharp branch, and he’d hit his head on the trunk of a tree lying across the path he’d taken to escape us.
“We’re not going back to Cambridge,” I decided. “We’ll return to Comper. I need to talk to Viviane.”
The vision of all those soldiers, a whole army standing useless was still in my mind. I got in the car, my face somber.
Viviane wasn’t surprised to see us back. On the contrary, she was impatiently waiting for us, along with Gliton, and they weren’t the only ones. In fact, a crowd of Avalonians had gathered in Comper Castle.
Galahad, Bors and Percival joined a group of men who seemed to be happy at being reunited. They greeted each other loudly, with slaps on the back, hugs and handshakes.
I went up to my grandmother, who welcomed me with open arms, anxiety plainly showing on her face. It was hard to accept the idea that because of our family connection, every time I was in danger, she knew about it. I wondered, slightly embarrassed, if she could feel all my other emotions too.
“I was so afraid for you!” she said. “I shouldn’t have sent you to Paris.”
“No, you did the right thing… I found it!” I announced triumphantly.
“You found Myrddin’s spell book?”
I answered by placing it in her hands. Her beautiful blue eyes grew misty. She couldn’t hide her emotions this time, either, and I smiled at her kindly. A question popped into my head: could she read it too?
I watched her open the book of spells and turn the pages slowly, and awaited her reaction. It was not at all what I expected. At first she smiled, then she chuckled, and then, with each page she turned, her laughter became louder and louder.
“This is just like your grandfather,” she confided, after hiccupping and finally catching her breath. “Only Merlin could have pulled off a feat of magic like this. I suppose it’s not a problem at all for you to read it.”
“Not at all. So, you can’t see anything either?”
“This spell book is destined exclusively for you – no one else can read it, meaning you’re the only one who can use Myrddin’s formulas. I’m so glad to know you’ll be able to reopen the passage and defend Avalon. Our enemies are regrouping, and they seem determined to fight us. It’s not going to be easy.”
“I don’t know if it’s even possible,” I mumbled.
“What makes you say that?” she said with a frown.
“I was able to cast one of his spells, and I made Arthur’s army appear, but then I couldn’t control it.”
“What? Why not?”
“When I gave them the order to attack, they didn’t move.”
She became thoughtful, then glanced at Gliton, who was twisting her hands nervously.
“Did you see banners of the Knights of the Round Table?”
“Yes, every regiment had its banner. Luckily, Galahad, Bors and Percival were with me, and their knights obeyed their commands, but the largest regiment was Arthur’s, and it never budged. It was Merlin’s dragon that really helped us win the battle, even though I don’t know yet know how I made it appear! And if I can’t figure out how to lead all those troops, we’re not going to win the war.”
Gliton cleared her throat, but before she could say anything, Viviane spoke up.
“You can’t lead the army. As I told you before, your role is to defend the kingdom of Avalon, not to rule it. Your duty is to give the king the power to combat his enemies.”
“But the king is dead!”
Gliton was hopping from one foot to the other now, almost as if she were dancing.
“Yes, but his descendant is alive,” Viviane replied.
“So I have to serve and protect him?”
She nodded. Her entire body seemed as tense as a drawn bow. The dreams in which Merlin had appeared drifted into my mind: the flight, the baby, the thatched-roof hut… Something did not jibe.
Protect her! he had said. At no time had he spoken of any descendant.
“It’s not a him, it’s a her,” Viviane pronounced succinctly.
“What? A girl?”
Protect her! Merlin’s entreaty made sense now.
A low moan interrupted his thoughts. It was Gliton, pleading with Viviane.
“She’s not ready! She’s still so young.”
I looked at her curiously. Apparently, she knew the heir. Viviane darted a severe look at her before replying, “She’ll have to be ready! We have no other choice. Morgana is going to gather all her allies on this side, and Mordred will mobilize his army in Avalon. When the passage opens, they’ll be ready and waiting for us. A war is preparing, right under the eyes of all these humans, and Gabriel can do nothing without her.
“Merlin gave his life to protect her, Gliton, and we all knew this day would come. She’s the queen, and only she can assemble our people and command her army!”
Gliton started to cry. Galahad had joined us while Viviane spoke, followed by the other knights and all the fairies, who crowded around their sister to comfort her. I still didn’t understand why this news had affected her so much.
“We’ll have to go get her, as inconspicuously as possible,” continued firmly Viviane. “If Alwena and Morgana discover who she is, if they follow us, they’ll do everything they can to kill her.”
“They know she exists?” I asked, surprised.
“Yes, but they’re searching for a boy – that’s why they haven’t paid her much attention yet. As I explained before, Avalonians don’t age on this side, but with the help of the forest fairy Lucila, I created a formula to make one of our people age like a human. I bewitched a jewel, which she’s worn for several years now, so she could become an adult and lead her people.”
She turned to the others and announced, “I’m going to go with Gabriel and Gliton to go get her. Galahad, you’ll join us, but by a different route, with Percival. Glitonea and Tyronoe, you’ll do the same. I’ll leave the castle under the protection of Bors and Bedivere. Mazoe and her sisters will help them in case of an attack.”
Everyone agreed to her directives, and immediately took off in various directions to prepare.
When we were left alone, I asked Viviane, “You still haven’t told me where we have to go to find her. Is it far?”
“Paris,” she said, avoiding my eyes.
Alarm bells went off in my mind, and I paused before asking for more details, fearing I already knew the response. I took a deep breath and set my jaw firmly, for courage, and in a hollow voice, demanded, “Where exactly in Paris?”
I stared at her, determined to make her look at me, which she finally did, lifting her chin defiantly.
“Lycée Henri IV.”
I felt my world crashing down. I gasped, my hands trembled with anger and suddenly, the sky darkened, the wind gusted, and Viviane peered at me, alarmed. Images flashed across my mind: Melora’s face, her pendant – the one I’d always found odd, her eyes, her smile…
“How could she have hidden that from me?” I shouted, fists clenched. “She must think I’m a fool!”
“Calm down,” Viviane said. “She knows nothing of her origins. She thinks Gliton is her mother, but she’s actually her foster-mother.”<
br />
My anger instantly dissipated, but I felt bewildered.
“Why didn’t you ever tell her? Do you realize the shock this is going to give her?”
“It was to protect her!”
“Bravo, and now good luck explaining it to her. How will you manage that? Oh, I know. ‘Hi Melora, I hope you’re not too attached to your mom, because she’s not your mom, and I hope you’re not too anxious for your eighteenth birthday because you’re actually fourteen hundred years old! Oh, and one last thing. I forgot to tell you that you’re a queen…’”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Gabriel,” she interrupted, rolling her eyes.
“But how do you think she’s going to react when she learns the truth?”
“We no longer have time to wonder about it. Now go pack!”
Her resolute tone meant our conversation was at an end, so I headed upstairs, grumbling all the way.
We didn’t exchange one word during our trip. I pretended to be absorbed in my spell book, which I had brought in order to study the formulas. Gliton was still at the edge of despair, and Viviane had closed up like an oyster. A morose atmosphere!
I wanted to study, but my thoughts kept wandering back to Melora. I was worried about her. Sure, she was courageous, but we were talking about running a kingdom, about making war, and this would mean a complete upheaval in her life. I hadn’t talked to her since our evening at the Eiffel Tower. I’d tried to call her several times, but she never answered, so I gave up, assuming that what had happened between us had upset her too much.
Paris was only about fifteen miles off when I finally emerged from my ruminations. We had made plans to meet her at Sugarplum, a café near her school. Glitonea and Tyronoe were already there, seated before big cups of tea, gobbling up delicious banana cupcakes. They looked as guilty as two little girls caught raiding the cookie jar when we entered, but they relaxed after Viviane ordered tea and carrot cake. I took a coffee.
A few minutes later, Percival and Galahad sat down next to us. Their stature and commanding presence made the students in the café gaze at us curiously. We did present rather a strange spectacle in this tiny shop, frequented mostly by neighborhood students.
As Gliton was calling the school principal to ask him to bring Melora over, using the pretext of “family problems,” we heard a sharp cry in the room, and Caroline rushed up to our table.
“Gabriel, I’m so glad to see you again!” she gushed, favoring me with her most charming smile, fluttering lashes and a dreamy expression.
Suddenly noticing Melora’s mother and Viviane, she instantly calmed her effusions and said, “Hello Mrs. Dymas and Mrs. Healer, what a pleasure to see you. Melora didn’t tell me you were visiting.”
Viviane explained, “That’s because she doesn’t know about it.”
“I hope there’s nothing wrong!” she exclaimed.
“No, no, just an unexpected family reunion.”
“Do you want me to go get her?”
“That would be very nice of you,” Gliton replied, with a sigh of relief.
“No problem,” said the pretty redhead. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
I watched her hurry away, thanking her silently for making our task easier, but a slight prickling in my veins started up, preventing me from feeling serene.
As Caroline traversed the cloister, she began to feel disagreeable sensation – like she was being watched. She slowed down and looked around. The garden was as calm as ever, but no birds were singing, which was unusual, and that made it seem rather sinister. She accelerated her pace, feeling uneasy and anxious to reach the dormitory.
Melora’s finished class by now, she thought. She should be in our room, lying on her bed, nose stuck in a book as always.
She was certain that something had happened between Gabriel and her friend the night they’d gone out, but Melora never wanted to talk about it. She had been stubbornly silent and even hostile every time she had brought up the subject. Plus, she acted differently toward Evan now, more docile, and responsive to his every wish. Caroline made a face, disgusted.
As if she owed him anything!
It wasn’t that she had anything to reproach Melora’s fiancé with; the problem was that she wasn’t convinced that Melora was in love with Evan, and she couldn’t figure out why they had gotten engaged so quickly.
A rustling sound behind her startled her, and she came abruptly back to reality. She spun around to see what was making her panic, but then, without knowing why, she turned back and sprinted down the corridor and into their room, slamming the door behind her.
“What is it?” Melora asked in surprise. “You look like the devil was chasing you!”
“I don’t know what’s following me,” Caroline gasped, as she locked the door. “But I don’t feel good about it!”
Melora jumped out of bed, her senses alert. She had never seen Caroline so frightened, and she took it seriously.
“Your mother, your godmother and Gabriel are here,” Caroline said, her words tumbling out as fast as she could pronounce them, all the while keeping her eyes on the door. “They want you to meet them at Sugarplum, and they’ve told the principal.”
“What? They’re here? But why?”
“I don’t know – you’re gonna have to ask them yourself.”
Then she added, in a low voice, “And you better call them right this second.”
She pointed at the door handle, which was moving downward slowly and silently. The two girls, terrified, didn’t move a muscle or even take a breath, instinctively knowing they shouldn’t make a sound, but their hearts were banging against their chests.
The lock prevented the intruder from entering, and the door remained shut. The handle moved slowly moved back up. The girls moved closer together and grabbed each other’s hands. Then they heard a clicking sound and the lock started moving back by itself. The door slowly opened, making a slight squeak. Eyes filled with horror, mouths hanging open, they stared into the dark corridor. A figure appeared in the doorway, a pretty blond girl with emerald-green eyes, who gave them a cold, threatening look that settled on Caroline’s face.
“You run fast, little queen,” she mocked her, chuckling.
“What, what did you say?” stuttered Caroline in her fright. “I don’t understand… What do you want from me?”
“You thought we’d never find you?”
“Why? Were you looking for me?”
Melora was perplexed. Apparently this girl knew Caroline, but her friend didn’t understand what she was talking about. She decided to enter the strange conversation.
“Are you sure you haven’t made a mistake? My friend doesn’t seem to know you.”
“I’m Alwena, the daughter of Adenora,” she exclaimed. “You know… the sorceress that your little friend Gabriel killed.”
Her green eyes narrowed, making her look even more dangerous. The two friends realized the blond girl’s mistake and looked at each other. Caroline didn’t say a word, not wanting to betray Melora, but Melora spoke up – it was out of the question to put her friend in danger for her sake.
“It’s not Caroline you’re looking for. I’m the one who’s close to Gabriel, not her!”
“Nice try,” Alwena gibed. “But she’s the one I saw talking to Gabriel, not you.”
The stranger raised her arm menacingly, with a knife in her hand. Melora jumped in front of Caroline to protect her, and when the knife pierced her instead of her friend, terrible pain shot through her shoulder. She screamed, and Caroline screeched with fear.
Everything became a blur. Melora heard steps in the hall, clashing metal, grunts and groans, and vaguely saw Alwena lunging at her again, holding a long sword that had appeared out of nowhere. She felt Alwena pulling her away from Caroline and pitching her against the armoire, where she slumped down in agony. The knife planted in her shoulder dug in deeper. She couldn’t move, and she was forced to witness, helpless, the most terrible sight she had ever seen: the stranger pl
unging her sword into Caroline’s stomach. Melora could only lift her hand and scream, her eyes full of tears, “Nooooo!”
Alwena pulled out the bloody sword, a triumphant smile on her lips, and Caroline fell to her knees, hands clutching her abdomen. She turned her head toward Melora, stupor and incomprehension in her eyes, then collapsed at the feet of her assassin, bleeding profusely.
An instant later, Melora heard Gabriel shouting her name, and she knew it was all over for her too, from the look that Alwena threw him.
“Oh, yes…” she said, giggling. “You’re done for. It’s not as if I didn’t tell you so…”
Melora laughed in defiance, but it ended as a laugh of despair. Her friend was dead because of her, and now she was going to die too. She watched Alwena approach, sword raised, and prepared her mind for the fatal blow.
Gliton’s eyes suddenly went blank, and her cup slipped from her hands and fell on the table.
“They’re here!” she cried.
I’d already pushed back my chair, ready to rush outside. I had felt them too. We instantly left the café, creating such a brouhaha of scraping chairs and clattering dishes that we shocked everyone in the place. Sensing Caroline’s terror, I set out running toward the Lycée, followed closely by Galahad and Percival.
We entered, crossed the cloister gallery with great strides, then leaped up the stairs four at a time. A shriek of pain, followed by screaming, made me fear the worst. Melora was with Caroline, but they weren’t alone. Alwena’s guard rushed at us, but I pushed my way past him into the room, sword in hand. Alwena was dangerously close to Melora, holding her sword high. As I was about to cut her down, she spun around and parried my blow. We threw ourselves at each other, our blades crossing with deafening clangs.
Melora dared not move, petrified by the combat taking place before her eyes. She would certainly have thought the situation strange, if hadn’t been so serious, but Caroline’s now-unseeing eyes, still fixed on her, distracted her attention away from us.
Alwena shouted with pain – I must have wounded her. The racket in the hallway had ceased, and as Galahad came in, Alwena ran to the window. Breaking the glass with her fists, she crashed through it and disappeared.
Heirs of Avalon: The passage Page 13