Setting the book aside, and gazing through the window at the fading daylight, she wondered if the library in the Jarudhan temple had books devoted to summoning spells—a book that detailed how to call the Demon Horsemen from their spirit existence to this world. A short time ago she would have dismissed such a possibility as absurd. Not so, now. If such a book existed…
Jewel broke her reverie by arriving with Jon, who was demanding a feed. Meg smiled at her infant son’s squirming anticipation, as she unlaced her black tunic. She took Jon and let him feed, and once her milk flowed she relaxed, enjoying the pleasure of feeding her son, the soft pressure of his tiny hands on her skin, his puckered mouth sucking her nipple.
The thumping at the door made her look instinctively for Jewel. The girl was sitting cross-legged in a pile of books, also staring at the door. Sunfire bounded up to it and took guard, snarling, his ruff bristling, and Whisper crouched behind the dingo. They heard a clang of metal and a man’s voice cry out. The thumping recommenced, with greater intensity. ‘Take Jon,’ Meg ordered, as she stood and held Jon out to Jewel. Jewel scrambled to her feet, took the baby, and retreated as a cracking sound exploded at the door. And another. An axe blade smashed through the wood. The sound of fighting erupted, with angry and desperate cries and the ringing of sword blades. Meg watched, her terror rising. Who would attack the Elite Guards protecting her in the centre of the palace? Another weapon thudded against the door and the wood splintered. Sunfire’s growling rose in pitch. Bad, whispered a voice in Meg’s head. Run. She looked around, but apart from the two animals she was alone. Trembling, she fought the urge to retreat, and waited.
The sounds of fighting faded and the axe blade smashed through the door again. The door shattered and a heavily armoured figure crashed through, axe swinging freely in his gauntleted left hand. To Meg’s horror, the intruder wore the black Elite Guards’ battledress, and behind him were two more Guards. She glimpsed a prone black figure on the floor in the adjoining chamber and saw more Guards fighting in the background.
Sunfire leapt, his fangs sliding ineffectually across the Guard’s armoured arm as he tried to bite. Distracted, the Guard swung at the dingo with his axe, but the agile Sunfire danced out of reach and circled for a second attack. The other two men advanced on Meg. One had a small crossbow aimed at her, but a black blur launched at his neck. The startled Guard yelled and dropped his weapon as he tried to fend off Whisper.
The third Guard came on, twisting his sword in his grip. Meg backed away. She’d faced armed men before. Don’t panic, she reminded herself. She saw the sword and the brutal intent in the young man’s face. She heard Sunfire yelp, but she couldn’t see what had happened to the dingo. The swordsman stepped within striking distance, raising his weapon. A spell, she desperately decided. She remembered the Rebel Seer. She focussed on the sword handle and recalled an incantation from the Lessons of the Fourth Ki text. Her spine tingled and the sword handle ignited. The Guard screamed and dropped his sword, staring at it in amazement. Something black appeared at his ear and tiny razor teeth sank into his tender flesh, sending him into a frenzied dance of pain, his arms wildly flapping around his head. Meg pointed her index finger at the Guard with the axe and a ball of fiery energy exploded against his jaw, searing his skin. Without hesitating, she ignited the crossbow that the third Guard was retrieving. Terrified, he dropped it and bolted for the door. The swordsman, rid of Whisper, followed his companion, leaving only the axe bearer, on his knees, clutching his burnt face. Meg waited for him to rise, but he stayed on his knees, sobbing with pain.
Through the splintered and broken doorway, she saw more Elite Guards arriving. The Royal Intermediary, Follower Servant, stepped through, his sword drawn, and strode towards her. ‘Is my ladyship hurt?’ he asked, as he reached her.
‘I’m all right,’ she replied, calming her nerves, her energy sapped by her summoning of magic. To her horror, Follower turned on the kneeling Guard and stabbed him brutally. The young man screamed, and tried to rise to his feet, but Follower wrenched his sword out and thrust again, and a third time before the Guard crumpled to the floor in a pool of blood.
‘Even my Elite Guards are suspect,’ Queen Sunset lamented, as she paced the chamber tiles. She halted before Follower. ‘You are certain that it is someone within my palace?’
‘It has to be, Your Majesty,’ he replied, bowing. ‘The men we’ve captured are Elite Guards. I know them. So someone has gotten to them from within.’
‘Who?’
‘That,’ he said, with a shrug, ‘is the problem. We don’t know.’
‘Not even any suspicions?’ the Queen asked, an icy edge to her voice.
‘I’m sorry, Your Majesty.’
Meg was studying the man in Royal black as he conversed with the Queen. Ever since her arrival, she had felt uncomfortable in his presence, as if he was always watching her. His eagerness to kill the Elite Guard seemed incongruous with the circumstances. If anyone had known who was responsible for coordinating and ordering the attack, surely it would be the leader of the Elite Guard rebels. But he was dead. The surviving captives were unlikely to know the truth.
‘With your permission, Your Majesty, I’d like to take my leave to interrogate the captives,’ Follower was saying.
‘As you wish,’ Sunset told him. As he passed Meg, he smiled at her, but she sensed antagonism in the smile. Queen Sunset embraced Meg. ‘I’m so sorry for what’s happening,’ she said, stroking Meg’s hair. ‘You must have been terrified for little Jon. I’d do something, but no one seems to know who is behind these attacks. I thought it might have been Diamond, or Light, but even they couldn’t convince Elite Guards to do this.’ She released Meg. ‘Is it true you used spells to protect yourself?’
‘I—yes,’ Meg answered.
‘No wonder my enemies are scared of you.’ The Queen turned away, took three steps, and turned back. ‘I’ve decided it’s no longer safe for you to stay here, in the Palace. I’m arranging for you to go, at night and in secret, to a place where you’ll be safe. At least until I can call you back again.’
‘Where?’
‘It’s better if you don’t know. Gather the necessities, and do so quietly. Don’t even tell Jewel anything.’
‘Will she go with me?’
‘Of course,’ Sunset said. ‘But it’s better if she doesn’t know until you’re actually going.’
‘What about books? Can I take some books?’
‘Choose one to take. You won’t be able to take anything else. You’ll have to travel light. But where you’re going there are plenty of appropriate supplies.’
‘What about Sunfire?’
‘The dingo can stay. I’ll see he’s cared for. And the rat.’
‘I can’t leave Whisper,’ Meg insisted.
‘As you wish,’ Sunset conceded. ‘But don’t take anything other than what you need. I’ll send Follower to escort you. We’ll make it impossible for your enemies to find you.’ She winked conspiratorially as she left the chamber.
Meg returned to her room where Jewel was waiting with Jon. Sunfire’s tail was wagging slowly, as she entered, and Whisper appeared from behind a curtain. She took her baby and held him close, kissing his blond locks as she walked to the window and stared over the dark courtyard towards the walls and the faintly illuminated roofs of city buildings beyond, wondering where Queen Sunset intended to send her.
Later, with Jon fed and asleep, and Jewel busy folding clothes in the lamplight, Meg sat with Whisper on her lap and Sunfire lying at her feet, and flipped through a series of thin volumes on her table, until she extracted one in a foreign language which she translated as The Many Voices. She opened it and began reading the ideas and practices of a long-dead druidess who claimed to have had the power to commune with animals and understand plants. It was a curious text containing anecdotes of experiences and recipes for spells that enabled communication with animals. After one fascinating section, she looked down at Whisper. The voices in
her head each time she was in danger—Whisper? Impossible. But then she had thought magic was impossible, until recently. But a rat able to talk to her? She reread the text and nudged the rat. ‘Wake up.’ Whisper squeaked and sat up, rubbing her eyes with her forepaws, before she stared at Meg expectantly. ‘Can you understand me?’ Whisper kept rubbing her snout. ‘It says, if I want you to understand me, I have to think my feelings to you,’ Meg said. ‘And you have to do the same.’ The rat continued cleaning herself. Meg tried to imagine how she could think an emotion. And which one? She concentrated on being angry. Whisper leapt from her lap and scampered towards the curtains, while Sunfire rose and slunk into the chamber shadows. ‘I didn’t mean it,’ she called to her animals, but they kept their distance, Whisper hidden behind the curtain and Sunfire watching from the shadows. ‘Now what?’ she wondered, and flicked through the text. She looked towards Sunfire and tried to ‘feel’ the emotion for the words ‘Come here’. Sunfire pricked his ears, and cocked his head as if listening. Then he came, his tail lowered and wagging slowly, and propped his head on her lap to be petted. Meg was pleased, but because she was still unsure whether he’d come of his own volition or because he’d heard her call in his mind she focussed her attention on the curtains. ‘I need you’, were the closest words she could conjure to describe the emotion she was ‘feeling’ in Whisper’s direction. A black head appeared. Whisper scampered across the tiles and ran up the dingo’s back and across his head onto Meg’s lap. Meg broke into delighted laughter. ‘I don’t believe this!’ she cried, and scooped up Whisper in one hand to snuggle under her chin as she petted Sunfire’s neck with her other hand. Knocking at the door interrupted her brief discovery and joy.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
‘But where are we going, Lady Amber?’ Jewel asked, as she passed the bundle of clothing to the silent men loading the wagon.
‘I don’t know any more than you do,’ Meg replied. She clutched Jon to her chest to shield him from the midnight chill. In her vest, Whisper shuffled for more comfort. A young man urged the women to climb aboard. The wagon lurched into motion and Meg listened to the steady clip-clop of the horses’ hooves on the courtyard pavers. She kept her hood close to her face as they passed through the torch-lit palace gates into the city. Because she hadn’t been outside the palace grounds since arriving, she was exhilarated at the prospect of seeing the wider world of Port of Joy.
‘Are you going home?’ Jewel asked, her voice low despite the noise of the wagon wheels rattling over the cobbles and dirt.
‘No,’ Meg told her. ‘The Queen is sending us somewhere safe.’ Jewel sat against the wagon side and fell silent, leaving Meg to wonder what the girl was making of the secret journey. She was curious to see where the Queen was sending them. Perhaps it was to a small refuge in the city that no one but the Queen and her closest confidants knew. Or were they on their way out of the city into the neighbouring countryside?
The wagon crossed the river bridge, the name of which Meg couldn’t recall at first. King’s Bridge, she remembered, as the wagon veered into a dark street. No one was out at this time of night. The moon was in its first-quarter phase, but the sky sparkled with stars, and the lack of clouds explained the cold air. The wagon turned more corners and passed along several narrow lanes, so close to the buildings on either side that Meg felt she could touch them by reaching out. Baby Jon wriggled every time the wagon bumped over a harsh section of road, but he didn’t wake. Meg hadn’t considered what she would do if he started crying, apart from fill his mouth with her breast to soothe him, but she hoped he stayed asleep. The wagon turned again, and she realised that they were descending a steep slope. They were close to the sea because she could smell salt and hear waves. She hadn’t thought of the possibility of being put on a boat, and she was apprehensive at the idea of going on the ocean. The wagon creaked to a standstill and shook as the driver and his companion dismounted. The driver tapped Meg’s shoulder, whispering, ‘If your ladyship will follow me.’
‘Where are we?’ she whispered, as she climbed down with the driver’s assistance, but the man was silent. Leaving his companion with the wagon, he led Meg, carrying Jon, and Jewel following, along a short alley to a darkened door.
‘Knock,’ he instructed, and promptly left.
‘What about our clothes?’ Meg whispered, but the driver was out of earshot. She listened at the door, noticing the thin line of light along the doorjamb, before she passed her baby to Jewel, and knocked. Someone shuffled behind the door and a shadow blotted the doorjamb light.
‘Who’s there?’ a voice whispered.
How should I answer? Meg wondered. ‘The Queen sent me,’ she finally said.
There was an unsettling moment of silence, before a bolt slid on the inside, and the door opened. Candle in hand was an elderly woman, her head wrapped in a black scarf. Her wrinkled face looked like a ploughed field, arguing that she was extremely old, but her erect carriage belied her apparent age. ‘Well? Come in,’ the woman urged.
They entered a small room, cluttered with ramshackle furniture and dirty tapestries. Multihued cats crouched among the detritus, staring angrily at the intruders, their eyes shining as they mirrored the candlelight. The stench of cat was overpowering. The woman petted a brindle tom, before indicating that Meg and Jewel should go through a low, narrow door. ‘What’s in there?’ Meg asked cautiously.
‘Don’t waste time with questions, girlie,’ the woman curtly answered. ‘You go through there.’
Meg turned the wooden handle and opened the door. At first there was darkness, until the old woman thrust her candle forward. ‘Take this. You won’t see anything without it.’
Meg took the candle and entered the room. It was small, and indescribable fragments of furniture and pots and fishing nets were piled against the walls. Movement in the shadows was revealed, when Meg lifted the candle, as a little dark-haired girl in ragged clothes. The girl shielded her eyes from the light and stepped forward, her hand held out.
‘Who are you?’ Meg asked, taking the girl’s tiny hand in her own.
‘Mouse,’ the little girl answered. ‘You’ll need a lantern, lady.’
‘Where are we going?’
‘A secret place. You’d better get a lantern.’
Meg cast a searching eye over the odd jumble of items, and spied a red lantern on the wall. She retrieved it, checking that Jewel was fine with baby Jon before she tried lighting it. The lantern was full of oil and lit easily. It spread an even glow through the tiny room. ‘Now where?’ she asked.
Mouse giggled and tapped her foot on the wooden floor. ‘Under here.’ She pushed aside a fishing basket, revealing a pull ring in the floorboards. ‘Here’s the way in.’
Meg put the lantern on the floor and pulled on the brass ring, opening a trapdoor. Wooden steps descended sharply into darkness. ‘Where does this go?’
‘You have to go down,’ Mouse said, her face serious.
Meg glanced at Jewel, took up the lantern and began to climb down. She arrived in a square space furnished with a small, circular wooden table and three stools. Crude shelves cut into the walls held jars and utensils. A lantern hung from the ceiling on a metal hook. To her left was a small wooden door. Whisper’s head appeared out of her vest, and the rat dropped to the floor. ‘Curious?’ Meg asked. Whisper started searching the chamber. Meg waited for Jewel to descend with baby Jon securely wrapped in his shawl. ‘Is he still asleep?’ she asked. Jewel nodded. The trapdoor above swung shut.
‘Now where?’ Jewel asked nervously. ‘Do we stay here?’
‘I don’t know.’ Meg was disappointed at the possibility that the Queen was going to make them hide in such a dismal place. ‘But I’d better find out where this door goes.’ As she warily turned the handle and opened the door, Whisper darted past her feet and into the tunnel, to the edge of the lantern light. ‘Wait,’ Meg said. She unhooked the ceiling lantern and checked for oil. She clicked the igniter, hearing the tiny flints sparking.
At first the battered lantern was reluctant to ignite. She shook it to ensure there was oil on the wick, and tried again. This time it fired. ‘I’m going to check the tunnel,’ she told Jewel, as she replaced the lantern on its hook.
The tunnel was narrow and low, and Meg had to stoop as she followed the inquisitive rat. They travelled thirty paces before Whisper stopped. Bad things formed in Meg’s head, and Whisper scampered back to crouch behind her legs. Fear thrilling through her veins, Meg strained into the darkness to see or hear. She edged back a step, puzzled by Whisper’s reaction, and tried to create a feeling in the form of a question that the rat might understand.
Men things, the rat replied.
In the same instant, a black shape emerged from the darkness. ‘This way, Lady Amber,’ Follower said.
Stifling a scream, Meg stammered, ‘I didn’t expect you.’
‘Her Majesty wouldn’t entrust this duty to just anyone,’ he replied. ‘But we must hurry. Where’s the baby?’
She glanced over her shoulder at the soft lantern light in the doorway. ‘He’s safe with Jewel.’
‘Bring them,’ Follower ordered. ‘Leave me your lantern.’
She gave him her lantern and retreated to the room. When she returned with Jewel and Jon in her wake, she was bemused by the tableau of Follower and Whisper staring at each other. Follower looked up, and said, ‘This way,’ and led them deeper into the tunnel.
They entered a large chamber that smelt of the sea, and Meg could hear waves crashing against rocks. As the lantern light spread across the crates and boxes stacked in the chamber, out of the shadows came a Seer—and instantly she knew that the whole situation was wrong. His presence also registered in her head as a simple, urgent response from Whisper. Bad man thing. She didn’t recognise him. She turned to Follower, and asked, ‘Who’s this?’
‘Seer Truth,’ Follower replied, and he bowed towards the holy man.
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