The Dark

by Marianne Curley

  Continuing to keep my thoughts hidden from Lathenia grows harder with each turn of the wheel. Pain robs me of my ability to concentrate. To focus. Trying not to visualise is getting too hard. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  ‘Are they locked in the vault in Veridian?’

  ‘I know not!’

  She turns away, giving me a precious moment to collect my senses. But when she returns she has a metal wand in her hand. I watch, as she takes the tip of the wand and heats it in one of the burning torches on the wall. She returns and holds it between my eyes. ‘Tell me everything you know about the weapons. Everything!’

  I think about what I know of the weapons, or what I have learned about them from Lorian. Thoughts of their power, their ability to slay the soul-less, skim across my brain. No! I stop myself quickly. Don’t think! An image of the chest they are safely contained in, its intricate pattern of golden lace, forms before my eyes. No! Stop!

  She realises what I’m doing and screams. ‘Do you dare presume to withhold information from me?’

  ‘Maybe I’m stronger than you think.’

  Her silver eyes flare wide for a second and she steps back. My simple statement seems to have startled her. But why? Surely she doesn’t really suspect I’m stronger than … what?

  ‘Don’t think yourself so clever, Arkarian. Give me what I want, or I will push this hot poker straight through your heart.’

  I don’t doubt for a second she would do it. But I get the feeling she didn’t go to the trouble of bringing me to this other world to kill me at the first chance she got. At least not until she gets some useful information out of me. ‘Go ahead.’

  She raises her arm and holds the burning tip directly over the skin that covers my heart. ‘Who has the key?’

  Her question throws me. As far as I understand, Lorian thinks Lathenia has the key. I scramble my thoughts and attempt to play the innocent. ‘What key? I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  But my game only serves to make her angrier. ‘The key to the treasury of weapons! The key that cannot be handled by human hands!’

  So neither side has the key, and neither side knows where it is! Unbelievable! When I get out of here, this information will be of great interest to the Tribunal. I stare at her with a puzzled frown. ‘I honestly don’t know.’

  She slams the poker into the ground. It explodes, disintegrating into a shower of sparks and metal fragments. She keeps her face turned away, as if she needs time to contain her emotions. Then she says, ‘For as long as your soul exists, you can still be of use to me.’

  Her words sound like an ominous warning. ‘How might that be?’

  ‘It’s a wonder you haven’t worked it out, Arkarian.’ She doesn’t wait for me to reply. She just laughs mockingly and says, ‘If for some reason my plan to destroy you at birth should fail, your friends will come for you. And while they might be able to get in, they won’t get out. And won’t the Guard be disadvantaged then? Hmm? Lorian will be eating out of my hand, kissing the ground I walk on. As it should be. As it should have been from the start.’

  ‘They’re not as foolish as you think. If they come, it’ll be because they know how to get out again.’

  She laughs outright. ‘Only I know where the weakness in the rift is.’

  ‘Only you? I doubt that.’

  She stares at me, wondering at my certainty.

  ‘You showed them yourself when you unleashed that storm on the mountain.’

  ‘Ah, yes, the storm. Well, Arkarian, you’re not as wise as your reputation would have us believe. Do you imagine I didn’t plan that? If your loyal companions do get into this world of gloom, believe me, they will be trapped here. They will never find you, but live the rest of their lives walking these dark lands, searching. It wouldn’t be long before they lost their sanity. Perhaps even their souls.’

  I try to glean some information from her that might prove useful should the worst happen, and Ethan or Isabel, or any of the others, take it upon themselves to launch a rescue mission. ‘Once they are in, what makes you think they wouldn’t find that same location again to get out?’

  ‘Don’t think yourself so clever that I will simply tell you how to find the rift from the inside.’ Her eyes narrow and a thin smile pulls at her purple mouth. ‘But I will tell you this, the rift is impossible to find without light.’ She waves her hand around. ‘And as you can see, there’s little of that around here.’

  ‘One would think a coloured flash would be obvious in a black sky.’

  ‘The rift flashes black on the inside.’ She stops, and her teeth clench together.

  But the reality is, a black flash would be impossible to find in a black sky. I find myself wishing desperately that Isabel and Ethan don’t even attempt a rescue mission. It might be better if Lathenia’s plan to kill me at birth does not fail. Far better for the Guard to lose one member, than all three of us.

  The Goddess peers around as if looking for something, then speaks to her young soldier. ‘Where have the wren gone? Fetch them.’

  The boy glances at me with a look of wary concern, hesitating a moment before heading outside. Lathenia’s eyes narrow. She’s seen his hesitation too and is troubled by it.

  The same four winged creatures, called wren, leap or trot into the room. Their eyes glow brighter red when they see me, their wings flap once or twice. Saliva drips on to their hair-covered torsos from slightly open, piggish snouts.

  My eyes shift sideways to the Goddess. What in heaven’s name does she plan to do with them? While holding my stare, she says to her young soldier, ‘Release him. Have the wren beat him to within a breath of life, then take him to Obsidian Island. Secure him there. If they come, they will search in vain.’

  Turning from me, Lathenia, with Marduke and the old man slightly behind her, disappears. But her young soldier remains, releasing me from the rack. I fall to the ground. Instantly the wren close in. When they begin to attack, the boy turns his eyes away.

  Chapter Ten

  Isabel

  Mr Carter is co-ordinating our mission to save Arkarian from being killed at birth. We pass through the Citadel without any trouble. We’re given new identities, though mine is the same as the last time I came to France. It turns out there was a purpose to Lathenia’s mission, other than seeking revenge on Ethan. She also wanted to check out Arkarian’s mother, even though she was only a child of six at the time. Now I understand the bond Arkarian and Charlotte shared.

  So I’m back in France as Phillipa Monterey, with Ethan as my companion, Jean-Claude. Except now Charlotte is sixteen, and about to give birth.

  ‘What the hell!’ Ethan exclaims, unimpressed, as he dodges an English soldier’s arrow.

  Another arrow whips past my head, narrowly missing my ear!

  ‘Get down!’ Ethan calls out, yanking on my arm.

  It appears that delivering us safely into France is something Mr Carter is having difficulty achieving.

  ‘Watch out behind you!’

  I spin around just in time to avoid the lunge of a sword. Ethan dives at the soldier’s feet, taking him down to the ground, disarming him at the same time. It appears Mr Carter has landed us directly in the midst of a raging battle between the French and English armies. A French soldier nearby notices us. ‘Here, where did you two come from?’

  Struggling to explain why I’m standing in the middle of a battlefield wearing a long green gown and soft brown slippers, I lift one shoulder and offer a pathetic helpless smile.

  The soldier’s gaze slides over us both from head to foot. ‘You won’t last long without armour.’ He runs around for a minute gathering weapons from dead soldiers nearby, giving us each a sword and shield. When he hands me mine he points to the sword. ‘Do you know how to use that, lady? If you stay close by my side, I will protect you.’

  Ethan raises his eyebrows and rolls his eyes.

  A mounted English soldier bears down on us. Ethan lunges for him. ‘This is too
dangerous,’ he says. ‘We also don’t have the time. Not to mention the fact we could get killed, or kill someone in self-defence who’s not supposed to die today.’

  We struggle to make our way to the edge of the fighting. Eventually we see a chance to escape into some thick bushes. ‘Come on,’ Ethan urges.

  I drop my sword and shield and run for protection into the nearby woods. Once deep inside, the sounds of battle diminish, and we stop to catch our breath and our bearings.

  ‘Anything look familiar?’ Ethan asks, knowing I was in this area not so long ago. ‘Or has Carter stuffed that up too, landing us God-knows-where on this planet?’

  ‘Mr Carter’s doing his best.’

  ‘Is he? Or did he land us directly in the middle of that battle on purpose?’

  I shake my head. ‘What have you got against that man?’

  He makes a scoffing sound.

  ‘I know he’s harsh on you in the classroom. But maybe he’s like that ’cause he’s trying to bring out the best in you?’

  His scoff this time turns into a fully-blown choking fit. I thump him on the back a few times. He motions me away. ‘I’m OK.’

  Finally, he gets his breath back. ‘We never hit it off at school, that’s for sure. But if you want to know the truth, what I’ve got against the man is … Now this is going to sound lame, but it’s my gut instinct.’

  It should be my turn to scoff. But he looks so serious. And well, Ethan has reliable instincts. ‘Look, all I know is that bad mouthing Mr Carter won’t help us save Arkarian’s life.’

  ‘You’re right,’ he concedes and glances around. ‘Let’s find our way out of here.’

  It takes a while, but eventually we come to farmland that looks about right. A road up ahead leads into an area that looks similar to what we were earlier shown in the sphere.

  Finally I see the castle, behind its outer walls and the small thatched cottages, just as imposing as it was ten years earlier. But that last time I was with Arkarian. Remembering brings a sharp pain to my chest, making my lungs feel as if they can’t get enough air.

  Ethan notices as he pulls open the wooden gate. ‘He’ll be all right, Isabel. We’re going to make sure of it.’

  Thankful for Ethan’s optimism, I follow him through the gates. When we draw near the gate-house doors, Ethan makes me pull back behind a bush. ‘We should check things out first.’

  But my head says no. We lost enough time stuck in the middle of a battle, kilometres in the wrong direction. ‘This is the day Charlotte is supposed to give birth. We could already be too late.’

  ‘So what do you suggest, go straight up to the entrance?’

  He thinks it’s a joke, but I think his idea is spot on. ‘Exactly. But I know we have to be cautious, so how about I go on my own?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You can keep watch for anything unusual from here.’

  He doesn’t like my idea but eventually caves in. Before he changes his mind, I walk up to the front gate and bang on the iron door knocker a couple of times.

  After a few minutes a woman servant answers the door. ‘May I help you, miss?’

  ‘Is Lady Charlotte at home, please?’

  ‘And who might I say is calling?’

  ‘Phillipa Monterey, an old friend of the Duke and his daughter.’

  The maid’s face forms into a suspicious frown. ‘Miss Charlotte is not at home, and the Duke, God rest his soul, has been dead many years.’

  ‘Oh.’ This news is terrible. Poor Charlotte, how did she cope? But I can’t let my thoughts on Charlotte delay me from finding her. ‘Please, you must tell me where Charlotte is right away.’

  The maid’s frown only deepens.

  I try to re-phrase so that my question doesn’t sound so much like an order. ‘I mean, could she be down by the river?’ I point in the general direction I remember the river being.

  The maid’s frown softens, slightly. ‘You do know Lady Charlotte is …’

  ‘With child? Yes. And far gone.’

  The maid appears to relax her guard a bit. ‘Well, she went out with a gentleman caller this morning.’

  ‘What!’ The maid’s frown returns in full force. ‘I mean, so near her time? Isn’t that rather foolish?’

  The maid’s left shoulder lifts. ‘The poor child was in sore need of a day’s outing, what with the fighting being so near. The Duchess thought it would do the girl good.’

  A sense of urgency fills me, giving a sudden release of adrenaline. ‘Please, tell me where they were headed.’

  But the maid’s sense of protection kicks in. She becomes apprehensive. ‘Why should I? I’ve never seen you before in my life. The gentleman seemed genuinely interested in Miss Charlotte’s wellbeing.’ Her voice lowers. ‘He seemed particularly taken by Miss Charlotte these last few days.’

  I’ll bet. But I keep these thoughts to myself. Somehow I have to break through this woman’s doubts of me. I start to panic. Time is passing while she tortures me by withholding the information I desperately need. ‘Look, Lady Charlotte needs me. She’s heavy with pregnancy, and without my help she will die.’ My words are a mistake. Charlotte is going to die anyway – giving birth. That’s how it happened all those years ago, and I can’t change that fact today.

  The maid, though, must sense something in my impassioned plea. ‘They took a basket of food to the falls by the picnic ground. Do you know where I mean? Just before the river bends.’

  How could I forget? It was the place Arkarian kept Charlotte thoroughly entranced with stories about the great Gods of Ancient Greece. But it’s a good long walk away. ‘Yes, thank you. But we’ll need horses.’

  ‘We? Are there more of you? Where? Why don’t you show yourselves? Who did you say you were?’

  I could kick myself. No chance of any further help now. I’ll just count myself lucky I got the information I need. I run back to Ethan, grabbing his arm. ‘We have to hurry.’

  We run all the way. It seems to take for ever to get there, but once we near the spot, Ethan, slightly ahead of me, pulls to a halt.

  ‘What is it?’ I ask breathlessly.

  Then I hear it too. Screams. Long, ear-piercing screams of a woman in agony.

  ‘Hell, he’s beating her to death,’ Ethan says, disgusted.

  ‘Hang on, those are the screams of a woman in pain all right – childbirth pain.’ A difficult one, I reflect quietly. ‘We have to surprise this murdering soldier. At least we know Charlotte still lives, and by the sound of those screams, the baby’s in a hurry to be born.’

  But we have to be careful. There could be more than one soldier of the Order here. I remember one final warning. ‘There might be a dog,’ I tell Ethan. ‘A big one. It might not be what it seems. So be cautious.’

  We get close enough to hear the gentle sounds of a waterfall nearby, when Charlotte screams out, ‘Something is wrong! You must take me home, sir. Please, take me home!’

  Now I see her too. She’s lying under a tree. Another contraction grips her and she arches her back, clawing at the blanket beneath her with both hands.

  Two men stand by and watch. One fidgets restlessly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, sometimes scratching at his head, sometimes looking away or up at the sky. ‘Is there nothing we can do to ease her pain?’

  The second man, taller, with red hair and a moustache, keeps his focus directly on the girl squirming before him. ‘She’s going to die anyway. I don’t fancy killing a baby, no matter who it is, even though they are Her orders. Better the baby dies in the womb with its mother, and saves us the trouble.’

  That’s it! These words are all I need. The word ‘caution’ disappears from my vocabulary. Pulling a knife from my belt I charge out of our hiding place screaming. Both men have only a second to react, before I land fully on top of the one who callously wishes for the baby’s death, while Charlotte endures more agony than she is supposed to.

  ‘You coward,’ I hiss in his ear, my blade near his thr
oat.

  Ethan, I notice out of the corner of my eye, has taken my lead. Not that he has much choice, but he seems to be holding up well against the other soldier.

  The one beneath me pushes against my shoulders, rolling me on to my back. He grabs my wrist, shaking it hard. I refuse to let the knife go. He squeezes my wrist until it hurts like hell. ‘I’m not giving in!’ With these words I bring my knee up sharply between his legs.

  His eyes water and his body goes still. For a second I think I see something familiar in his eyes. As if he realises this, he jumps off me, and attempts to twist my hand behind my back. Grabbing his arm, I throw him over my shoulder. He grunts but gets up fast, then kicks me in the stomach, knocking the wind from my lungs. While I’m gasping for breath, he runs at me. I duck out of his way, and finding nothing but empty space, he falters and loses his balance. But he finds it again quickly and comes back for another round. This soldier is relentless.

  In the meantime Ethan knocks his opponent to the ground, then comes over and gives me a hand. Spotting my knife, Ethan wills it to his palm while dragging the soldier off the top of me. Before long Ethan has the knife horizontal across the soldier’s throat.

  On the ground the other one is starting to come around. But Charlotte’s agonising screams seize my attention, making my heart leap into my throat. I run over and put both hands on her stomach. I start working on easing her pain, softening and relaxing her muscles and making her womb open. There is a lot of blood now, and I fear for the baby’s life, but under my hands the baby’s heart beats strongly, only just a little too fast.

  The soldier from the ground staggers to his feet, pointing at me. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Easing her pain, you pig.’

  ‘You can’t do that.’ He tries to drag me away, but I claw my way back to Charlotte.

  I try to think of something to say that will make him go away, if only it were that easy. But I have to try. ‘The two of you are too late, you know.’

  ‘What? What are you saying?’

  ‘I’m a Healer! Can’t you see?’ I stare at him hard for a second. ‘I’ve already done my work. The baby will be born alive. And if I have to, I will take this baby back with me for protection.’