Azrael's Twins

by V. J. Mortimer

  ‘Majesties?’ said Niamh.

  ‘That’s right!’ said Garrett. ‘The king and queen are waiting!’ Standing, he threw his arms around the shoulders of Merritt and Grace and began to pull them towards the enormous castle gates. ‘Come on,’ he said patting their backs. ‘This is going to be great.’

  Chapter 5

  The Dragon’s Lair

  Garrett practically dragged the family to the gates of the castle in his enthusiasm to get everyone inside. ‘Want to see something pretty cool?’ he said to the children who nodded in unison. Garrett picked up a small pebble from the roadside and flicked it towards the grass stretching between the roadside and the walls of the castle. The children gasped when, instead of bouncing over the grass, the pebble disappeared into the ground with a loud “kerplunk” sound. A ripple spread out through the grass from the spot where the pebble had landed. The ripple looked exactly as it would in water though the ground looked for all intents and purposes to be completely solid.

  ‘How does that work?’ exclaimed Grady. ‘What is it?’

  Garrett chuckled. ‘It’s just the illusion of grass. There’s actually a big moat there. Anyone trying to get into the castle that shouldn’t had better be able to swim. We just make it look like that as the king prefers grass to water. And it’s also a trick for the unwary. We change it from time to time. Sometimes its grass, sometimes it’s a big deep ditch, and sometimes it’s just a moat – as long as the king isn’t here.’

  The castle became more impressive with every step the children took towards the front gates. Four pillars on either side swept upwards in graceful curves to create a gaping stone mouth. The carvers of the stone had been even more frenetic with their intricate design work down here than they had on the towers. Every conceivable surface was carved with scenes of people, fantastical creatures, heroic looking figures – with broomsticks and wands mainly – and as the sweeping pillars came close to the huge metal strapped oak doors, forested scenes of trees and vines which were carved with such realism and detail you could almost expect to see them grow. Directly above the main door in brilliantly detailed statuary stood a rampant dragon standing upright and pawing at the air with its front talons while flame belched from its nostrils. The main doors were set back into the mouth created by the pillars and were flanked by two statues of dragons in a similar pose to the one above the door. Their tails were wrapped around the base of the plinth they stood on and their front legs were held aloft as if about to strike an unseen foe.

  As the party approached the doors the two sentinels started moving. With a groan of creaking rock they first turned their heads towards the group and then dropped down onto all fours – each dragon a mirror of the other.

  The eyes of the dragon on the right grew suddenly bright. A smooth powerful voice came from its mouth – ‘Who seeks entry to the Dragon’s Lair?’ he boomed out across the courtyard.

  The phoenix stepped forward, now reduced in size and ferocity from the vision they had seen flying alongside them only minutes previously.

  ‘Belimawr of the Forest with Princes Garrett, Merritt and Grady, and Princesses Grace and Niamh.’

  The dragon regarded them with an unmoving stare before replying, ‘Enter and be welcome.’ Both dragons then quickly reared back up onto their plinths and resumed their former frozen stance.

  ‘I think that’s more for show than anything else,’ said Garrett to Grady. ‘They only ever ask when it’s people they haven’t seen before, and as you two fit into that category they are probably a bit wary. I’m really not sure what they would do if we said we were here to sack the castle and steal all the treasure! Shall we try it someday?’ he said to Niamh, with a wry smile on his face.

  ‘Not likely!’ she replied, with the same grin in return. ‘I don’t want to be the first to be fried by that dragon, thank you very much!’

  Behind them the coach and dragon slowly rumbled down the runway and took to the skies again. Grady looked back and saw the dragon sweep across the sky and with a belch of flame it turned towards the back of the castle and disappeared from view.

  The castle was no less impressive inside. The sweeping pillars outside carried on inside the main entrance, curving upwards before spreading out in irregular fashion to support a multicoloured glass roof far, far above their heads. A circular opening high above let more light in creating a courtyard-like effect and small trees and shrubs grew in well-tended clusters around the space. As they walked across the enormous expanse of the courtyard their footsteps echoed off hard-packed ground. The children had never been in such a stunningly big indoor space before.

  They headed towards a double door in the far wall – a large heavy black oak thing with massive hinges and big brass rings for handles. Two dragon heads were set in profile in the middle of each door at about head height (for the adults anyway). As the group approached the door the heads moved from their profile position in the door to face them. To the children it now looked like two small dragon’s heads were sticking out through the door.

  Just like the gate guardians one of the dragons spoke in the same smooth voice. ‘Who do you seek?’

  Again Bel responded, ‘Princess Niamh and Prince Grady come to join their family in residence. And we seek the king and queen.’

  ‘Enter with good hearts,’ said the dragon heads after a moment or two of consideration.

  Niamh and Grady suddenly felt a tingle on their heads which ran down their body.

  ‘You’ve just been sealed to the castle, guys,’ said Grace. ‘You can come and go now as you like!’ Neither Niamh nor Grady knew what this meant but assumed it was probably a good thing.

  The dragon’s heads turned back to their profile positions and again appeared lifeless and inanimate. Below them the heavy brass rings twisted with a loud rattling. The sound of a massive lock opening and bolts sliding back echoed through the yard; then the doors swung silently inward. Niamh noticed the doors were thicker than she and Grady standing back to back and wondered how something so big could move so easily. The doors opened onto a large circular space with columns around a walkway. Four paths joined in the centre at a small fountain cutting the area into four quarters. Set within the walls on the outside of the space were a number of doors – not the heavy oak things they had just walked through but great slabs of rock which were fitted into the main wall almost seamlessly.

  As the big doors closed behind them the whole wall around the outside of the courtyard started to move, revolving to the left of the party. With a grinding noise they slowly spun until a door which was indistinguishable from every other door came to a stop in front of them. As with the huge main door it was also double-handled and opened inward. Merritt explained; ‘It’s just one of those clever ways we keep the castle and the people in it safe. Any outsider who wants to see anyone in the castle has to go through this room. There’s no telling where the throne room might be at any time so this room will open you into the right place to get there. If the castle doesn’t trust you there’s no telling where you will end up. You may step out of here straight into the dungeons or you might end up in the dragon stables.’

  ‘So the castle moves around behind the doors then?’ asked Grady.

  ‘Well, not quite,’ said Garrett. ‘It’s more like the doors move to where the rooms or corridor you need to get to are. And just because you went through one door to get to, say, the gardens, doesn’t mean it’ll be the same door next time. It’s devilishly clever, I’ll tell you that. Too smart for me. This is some of the oldest magic we have. No one knows how to cast the spell which does this now or how the castle can work out who is trustworthy and who is not. As far as we know it’s never made a mistake. The only mistake I know about is when it decided to let me in one night when I had just learned how to cast a burping spell on your father. He couldn’t stop burping for two days and the nurse was just about pulling her hair out. It was very funny, I can tell you!’

  ‘Oh yes,’ said Merritt. ‘I’d forgotte
n that one. I recall I got you back, though it took me a few years. The foaming beer balls I dropped in your glass at your graduation went down a treat. The bubbles didn’t stop coming for hours!’

  Garrett looked down sheepishly. ‘Yes,’ he said ruefully. ‘As I recall I was just about to ask Popelina Hepplethwaite for a dance when the foaming started. I’ve never seen a girl run away from me that quickly. Poor girl, I’m not sure she ever recovered. I hear she still gets edgy when her toothpaste starts bubbling. I wasn’t very happy with you – it had taken me all night to get the courage up just to talk to her.’

  Niamh and Grady had no idea what that conversation was about and just shrugged their shoulders and rolled their eyes. Adults were very strange sometimes, they both thought.

  Garrett seemed lost in thought for a moment and then sighed. ‘Never mind. Come on,’ he said, turning on his heels. Niamh and Grady followed close behind Garrett, with Grace and Merritt a few paces further back. Bel, however, did not move. ‘I will see you later,’ he said. ‘I have things to do and people to see. But don’t worry. I won’t be far away.’ With a fiery flash and without giving them a chance to say goodbye, he disappeared from sight.

  ‘He comes, he goes,’ said Garrett, almost to himself. ‘Never mind. Let’s get on.’

  Beyond the dragon doors was a long corridor. Glass windows stretched down one side from floor to ceiling which tapered to the pointed tips they had seen from the air. The other side of the corridor was lined with tapestries and paintings and spaced in between the artwork were tall marble statues. Light streamed in, illuminating dust faeries floating in the corridor. But not just the normal sort of dust faeries, Niamh realised – these were real dust faeries! Flitting in between the glittering dust motes were small creatures about half the size of her little finger zipping over the walls and statues at a feverish speed, almost too fast for Niamh’s eyes to catch their movements.

  ‘What are they!’ she exclaimed, running forward to watch them at work.

  ‘Just what they look like,’ said Grace with a smile on her face ‘Dust faeries. They keep the statues and paintings and tapestries and windows and practically everything free of dust around here. It’s all they do. How do you think such a big place stays so clean?’

  Looking closer Niamh could see the faeries had small feather dusters in their hands and seemed to have a grudge against the dust motes. Almost before the tiny particles could even land on the statues there were faeries darting around to sweep it back up into the air. Alongside, other faeries were zooming along with tiny bags in their hands scooping the dust out of the air like little airborne vacuum cleaners.

  As the group entered the hallway the faeries suddenly stopped as one and glanced towards the visitors. One of them suddenly shot forward and hovered just in front of Grady’s eyes. It seemed to scan his face for a few moments and then before Grady could react, the faerie lunged out with its duster and gave his eyebrows a quick sweep. Some tiny bits of dust flew up into the air as Grady yelled, ‘Hey, stop that!’ Quick as a flash one of the vacuum cleaner faeries raced through the air and scooped the particles dislodged from Grady into its tiny bag. After another quick look and a satisfied squeak the two faeries shot off again and continued their diligent pursuit of dust in the corridor. Niamh squealed with delight at this little show while Grady just scratched at his eyebrows trying to figure out what had just happened.

  Before they could think about it a moment more the door they had walked through swung shut behind them. Grady turned around and wandered back to it with a thoughtful look on his face. Grabbing one of the handles he opened the door a crack and stuck his head through. There was no columned entranceway on the other side, or a great stone door, but instead a corridor stretching off to the right and left before turning off at each end into another passageway. Looking back at his parents he smiled impishly and said, ‘I think I’m going to really love this place.’

  ‘You haven’t seen the half of it yet, Grady,’ said Garrett. ‘For now though, you’d better get a move on. Your grandparents are waiting and if the king gets angry he might just decide to chop off your head!’

  Niamh looked shocked at this. ‘He wouldn’t do that, would he?’

  ‘No, of course he wouldn’t,’ said Merritt. ‘It’s just Uncle Garrett’s idea of a joke which the rest of the wizarding world is still trying to understand better,’ he said, smiling.

  They started off down the long corridor as the dust faeries continued their work. ‘Who are all these people, Dad?’ asked Grady, admiring the statues.

  ‘They are your ancestors, Grady. Kings and queens long gone but every one of them has a place here.’

  ‘Dad,’ said Niamh nervously, ‘I’m sure those statues we passed were watching us.’ She quickly spun round and saw all the statues had turned their heads and were leaning out to peer at them. As one they all quickly assumed the poses they had been in when the children entered. One of the statues was a little bit slower than the rest and fumbled the big marble book he had been holding. It crashed to the floor causing dust faeries to frantically race towards the disturbance to try and clean up.

  ‘Dash it!’ the statue cried out, and bending creakily it reached for the book. As it picked it up the sheepish statue turned to look at them and froze where it was. ‘Oh ... err ... hello. Sorry about the noise. Slippery little things, these books.’ The portly figure stood clumsily back on his plinth, nearly tripping over his robe as he did so. ‘Wish they hadn’t stuck me with this great big volume but what can’t be cured must be endured, I suppose.’

  The statue next door joined the conversation. ‘Oh, do shut up Bardolphus. Just get back up and leave the young dears to get along. Please excuse my brother,’ said the statue in a condescending tone. ‘He always was the clumsy one.’

  ‘Tha ...that’s all ... all right Sir,’ Niamh stammered. ‘But who are you, if you don’t mind me asking?’

  ‘Oh, please excuse my rudeness. Beroldus Hubelet is my name. And the oaf next to me is my brother Bardolphus.’ At the mention of his name Bardolphus raised the crown on his head in greeting and promptly dropped it while putting it back on, causing him to step down again and his brother to start shaking his head. The other statues in the corridor were chuckling to themselves while this exchange was going on. To them it seemed more funny than exasperating.

  ‘Who were you, Sir?’ Grady asked, walking to stand in front of him.

  ‘Well, my brother and I were kings around six hundred years ago. Father couldn’t work out who was better to have on the throne – my brother who was better at spells than me, or me who was better at just about everything else. In the end he couldn’t make up his mind so he gave it to both of us.’

  ‘Afternoon Beroldus,’ said Garrett. ‘We’d love to chat but must get on. Dad is waiting.’

  ‘Yes, I quite understand.’ The statue creakily inclined his head to Niamh and Grady – ‘Lovely to meet you both. Best of luck. We’ve heard good things about you two so don’t disappoint. See you soon no doubt.’

  At that he leaned back and assumed the air of posed indifference he had when they first walked past. Bardolphus had by this time recovered his crown and was rearranging his robe. With a cheery nervous wave he turned back towards the window, his features freezing into perfect stillness.

  ‘That’s enough silliness now,’ said Garrett. ‘Race you to the end!’ Grady needed no second invitation and broke into a sprint. Niamh rolled her eyes again and took her father’s hand while Garrett and Grady charged down the corridor roaring as they went. Just as they were about to reach the end of the corridor Grady tripped over a kink in the carpet and tumbled forward. He fell under Garrett’s feet and both of them crashed into the huge double doors at the end in a tangled heap. While they chuckled and roared with laughter they didn’t see the doors behind them open.

  A grey-haired old gentleman in a brown woolly cardigan loomed over the top of them. He carried a book in one hand and swept his glasses from his handsome but lin
ed face with the other. Casting a steely eye and a stern-jawed look at the two sprawled bodies in front of him he said in a clearly disapproving voice, ‘Well. Hardly the best way to meet your grandfather, is it? Get up and sort yourselves out. In here now!’ he barked at them. He turned on his heels, threw open the doors, and stomped back into the room behind. Through the open doorway the children could see a golden carpet that formed a walkway to a throne raised on a dais at the far end.

  Looking up Grady saw his uncle mouth the word ‘Ooops’ and started disentangling himself. Grady climbed to his feet and took his mother’s hand. They both took a deep breath and with a glance and a smile at each other they walked through the doors and into the throne room. Meeting their grandparents might not be quite as much fun as they had anticipated.

  The throne room was by far the most astonishing space Niamh and Grady had ever seen. The pillars which had formed the graceful treelike buttresses in the entrance to the castle were repeated in this room but here were even taller and more breathtaking. The ceiling above seemed like a mass of branches formed by the intertwining of the pillars’ boughs. The clear spaces between the branches were filled with crystal clear glass that sparkled and filled the hall with glittering sunlight. Gold-flecked marble covered the walls behind the throne which were hung with banners and shields. Audience chairs covered in royal purple were arrayed before the throne in several rows. Globes were suspended from the ceiling by huge chains. Wrought iron braziers in the form of twisted branches ran along the walls of the room. Niamh supposed it could easily accommodate several hundred people and, had it not been for the entrance hallway they had just been through, would have felt absolutely dwarfed by the scale.

  Their footsteps echoed around the hall as they followed some paces behind the king. Off to the left-hand side of the room was a small door towards which the king headed directly. He produced a wand from the inside pocket of his cardigan and flicked it towards the door causing it to fly open.