by Pedro Urvi
“Then he was being poisoned!” cried Nilsa.
“Looks like it,” said Valeria, who was anxiously waiting for Egil to finish reading.
“‘There was a thorough investigation at the request of King Leonidas, and the poisoner was found. It was Ismael Hertus, one of the King’s surgeons. He was interrogated in order to find the name of the person guilty of the murder attempt on the King, since the surgeon himself had no reason or motive to wish to kill the monarch. Someone in the shadows had orchestrated the macabre plan. The surgeon confessed at the hands of the royal guard and pointed to Leonidas’ cousin, Laurentes Dodecus, who was contending with the King for the crown of Erenal. Months later, after a signed confession in which he described how he had hatched the plan and bribed Ismael Hertus, he was condemned for his crimes against his Majesty. He had investigated several poisons and ways of disguising them, given that he himself would be one of the main suspects in the event of an attempt on the King’s life. A quantity of materials and correspondence on the subject was found in his castle. He had been planning it and searching for the right poison for over ten years. He was beheaded in the royal square.’”
“What a story!” cried Nilsa. “He hadn’t counted on a Nocean Healer to come and ruin his plan!”
“This turns things upside-down,” Valeria mused.
“You think we’re in the same situation?” Gerd asked, obviously not liking the idea at all.
Until this moment Egil had been only reading, without expressing an opinion. “It might very well be,” he said.
Gerd was shaking his head. “That would mean one of our people at the Camp is involved in the poisoning of Dolbarar. I don’t even want to think about it.”
Valeria folded her arms. “So we have a poisoning on our hands?”
Egil heaved a deep sigh. “I’m afraid it could be. Dolbarar’s illness might be just that, although it could also be that he’s being poisoned and Healer Edwina and Eyra have been tricked, as in the case of Leonidas’ surgeons and the healers who treated him.”
“But that’s just not possible!” Nilsa cried, aghast.
Gerd was shaking his head. “How could anything like that be possible in the Camp?”
“How certain are we?” Valeria asked. She did not believe it either. “In this case it was a poisoning, but to assume it is in Dolbarar’s case is completely different. It could be Putrefaction of the Blood. We can’t rule that out, even if it leaves us without options and condemns Dolbarar to death.”
Egil snorted. “I can’t be certain at all. That’s precisely what I’m looking for. At the moment I have a suspicion. I’m not saying it can’t be Putrefaction of the Blood … just that I hope it isn’t.” He held up the book.
“If it’s Putrefaction of the Blood, he’ll die,” Gerd said somberly. “There’s no cure.”
“Yeah,” Nilsa said, “but if it’s poisoning, then someone’s trying to kill him, someone close to our leader. I don’t know what’s worse than that.” She was rubbing her hands together as she paced around.
Valeria shrugged. “Both of them are pretty bad. There’s no solution to the first … maybe there is to the second.”
“Does it say anything about an antidote?” Nilsa asked.
Egil went on reading the book in silence, while the others watched him uneasily. It took him a while to find the entry referring to the poisoning. He read aloud:
“‘Initially, Ahamad Salusiaman stopped the treatment the surgeons and the Healer had prescribed, and with this the progress of the poisoning also stopped and the King began to recover. This corroborated his hypothesis of a poison, and a few weeks later he started working on an antidote. The poison was already in the King’s blood, although in smaller quantities. He concentrated on trying to eliminate the toxin from his blood. It took him a couple of months to come up with an antidote, because he could not take risks with a patient who was so weakened. The necessary compounds and how to prepare them are listed in an appendix.’”
“Find it, Egil!” Nilsa ordered him eagerly.
He turned the pages until he found the appendix. “Here it is! Ingredients, measurements, recipes, everything. Very detailed. Ahamad Salusiaman was a very intelligent erudite.”
“Are the components strange and exotic, or can we get hold of them?” Gerd asked.
“Let me see …” Egil went over the list of ingredients carefully. “There’s only one that’s hard to get hold of. The rest we’ll find in the Camp pharmacy.”
“Without that ingredient …” Valeria said.
“I know an herbalist’s shop in Norghania. It’s the biggest in the kingdom, and they have compounds that are hard to find elsewhere. We’ll find it there.”
“Great!” Gerd said. “We can make the antidote!”
Nilsa was looking troubled. “Okay, but … if he’s being poisoned, and I’m not sure I want him to be, surely all we need to do is stop his current treatment?”
“I don’t really think Angus, Edwina or Eyra will agree with us stopping the treatment,” Gerd objected.
“Yeah,” Valeria said, “they’ll say that if we do that and it turns out he’s not being poisoned, he’ll die straight away.”
Egil shifted uncomfortably. “That’s probably true. It’s a complicated situation. But I think we’ve taken a real step forward. We now know there are two possibilities, and we need to establish which of the two it is.”
Valeria pointed to the book. “And now you know why they didn’t want to give you the information.”
He nodded. “I guessed it would be something like this. Confidential and very compromising confirmation which they’re anxious to keep secret.”
“I don’t see why, if the information can help other people like us who’re looking for a solution to a problem as serious as this,” Gerd said. He sounded angry.
“Because kingdoms and their kings, however mighty and powerful they may be, don’t want their dirty laundry aired in public. They hide it so that everyone still believes they’re mighty and powerful.”
Gerd folded his arms over his massive chest. “What nonsense,” he said dismissively.
“Not entirely,” Egil said. “Bear in mind who they have as neighbors to the north. The Zangrians would take the slightest opportunity they were given. And if they knew the monarch had been poisoned, they’d fall on him.”
“What surprises me is that it wasn’t them,” Valeria commented with a grim smile.
Suddenly they heard a noise behind the half-open door to the study chamber. They all fell silent and turned. Gerd, Nilsa and Valeria drew their weapons and leapt out into the first chamber to confront the danger.
Through the door appeared a black cat which came in calmly, as if these were its own domains. It saw them and meowed.
“Where there are mice, there are cats,” Egil said with a smile.
“I think it’s time to get out of here as fast as we can,” Gerd suggested.
“Yeah, it’s a sign,” said Nilsa.
The group left the chamber, leaving everything as they had found it and locking it up behind them. Once they were out of the Grand Library they ran as fast as they could, taking the Grand Master’s keys with them.
“It’ll take them a while to puzzle out what’s happened,” Egil murmured as they ran. There was a mischievous smile on his face.
Chapter 39
A radiant sun in an idyllic environment of paradisiacal islands amid a turquoise sea welcomed them. Lasgol and Viggo put their hands to their eyes to protect them from the burning sun which was reflected back from the surface of the sea and dazzled them. Ingrid clutched the rudder tightly and narrowed her eyes to slits.
“We’re in the turquoise realm at last!” Lasgol said, deeply moved.
“It’s as pretty as I remembered it,” Ingrid said. “They leave you breathless, these transparent turquoise waters.”
Viggo was staring spellbound at the seabed with its white sands and coral reefs. “It’s a real paradise,” he said, and
dipped his hand into the water to check how transparent, warm and beautiful it was.
Islands very pretty. Like much, Camu transmitted, together with a feeling of joy.
Ona chirped once and wagged her tail. She could hardly wait to leap on to the fine white sand of the beach on one of the many islands they could see.
“So exotic, so incredibly beautiful,” Lasgol said. He was looking at one of the islands with its tropical vegetation, then at the seabed with its multicolored corals.
“We’d better cover ourselves up,” Ingrid pointed out. “This sun is a blessing for a time, then hell for the rest of the day.”
“You can say that again,” Viggo agreed.
A school of multicolored fish went by under the boat. Camu and Ona put their forelegs on the gunwale to follow them. They were on the point of jumping into the water to chase them, especially Camu, who had already made his first movement.
Stay right where you are, the two of you! Leave the fish alone! Lasgol snapped. He had already begun to fear that they would jump.
Viggo gave a malicious smile. “Let the bugs have a swim.”
“As soon as we find Astrid I’ll let them swim to their heart’s content. I’ll even join them on one of these wonderful beaches.” Lasgol pointed to the nearest, which was not very large, but tropical and beautiful.
“That’s a pretty good idea,” Ingrid said.
“That’s because you’re a wet blanket and don’t want them to have any fun,” Viggo protested.
“See to the sail, you numbskull, we’ve a breeze. Let’s make the most of it.”
“Let’s follow the course the Pearl’s showing,” Lasgol said. “My guess is that it’ll lead us to the Turquoise Queen.” He took it out and asked Camu to activate it so that they could see which direction to follow.
They sailed between two islands which were exotic in vegetation and bird-life as well as beautiful, then skirted some reefs, following the course marked by the Pearl. Soon they reached the inhabited islands. On several of them they found the inhabitants fishing in the water beside small canoes, hunting birds on the beaches or gathering mollusks from the rocks. They all stared in surprise when they saw the sailboat with the visitors. They were not used to seeing foreigners.
“They’re really weird, the people of this tribe,” Viggo commented as he waved at some warriors on the beach who were watching them as they passed. “You realize that when you see them in the flesh.”
It was true that they were very different from other races in Tremia, with their amazing turquoise skin. They were of average height, and slender. Each warrior who had come out to see the boat was wearing the shell of a giant tortoise over torso and back as armor. Instead of spears, they carried tridents and round shields which were giant seashells, treated so as to harden them.
“Their turquoise skin is certainly eye-catching, and it makes them unique in all Tremia,” Lasgol said.
“And that intense green hair and eyes,” Ingrid added. “Now that I see them again, I get the strange feeling all over again that instead of hair they have seaweed on their heads. I thought I’d got used to that, but I see I haven’t.”
“Yeah, it does give that impression,” Viggo agreed. “It’s not easy to get used to it, we’d need more time in this dream of a place.”
Ingrid looked at him suspiciously. “Why do you want to stay here for longer?”
Viggo smiled enticingly. “To socialize with the natives.”
She frowned in disapproval. “Oh, really …”
They sailed on, arousing the curiosity of the peoples of the archipelago. Several fishermen in a canoe saw them, but did not dare come near.
“Hey! I know these houses!” Viggo exclaimed as they passed one of the white sand beaches, where he recognized a group of huts which seemed to be floating above the quiet turquoise water.
“Yeah, I recognize them too,” said Lasgol.
“I wouldn’t mind taking a long vacation relaxing here,” Viggo said enviously.
“I’m afraid that the place we’re going to end up spending a long vacation is in a Rangers’ cell,” Ingrid pointed out, “with all this time we’re taking.”
Viggo’s face took on an air of pride. “Well, that would do credit to our reputation.”
“I don’t see why that should be something to boast about,” Ingrid said in puzzlement.
Viggo’s chest swelled. “It adds to our reputation as an intrepid bunch. Soon everybody in Norghana will know there’s no mission we can’t take on and come out triumphant.”
“Oh, sure, and ending up in a cell is a real triumph.”
“It reinforces our image. Whatever the punishment, we manage to win on any mission.”
Ingrid put her hand to her forehead. “Lasgol, please, make him see reason …”
Lasgol smiled and gave a massive shrug. “Sorry, Ingrid, I gave up a long time ago.”
As they went on between the coral reefs, they glimpsed a much larger island than the ones they were leaving way behind.
“There it is,” Ingrid said.
Lasgol recognized it too, and a great nervousness rose from his stomach to his mouth. The enormous circular island was surrounded by a wide beach of white sand, and behind it rose a rocky hillside carpeted in green, more than a hundred and forty feet high. This was the island of Uragh, the Turquoise Queen.
Magic, powerful, sea and life, Camu said. Even from this distance he could feel Queen Uragh’s power.
Thanks, Camu.
With optimism and renewed energy, they set course for the huge waterfall which fell from the top of a rocky wall into the sea, and which gave the only access to the interior of the island. The sound of the waterfall broke the peaceful silence of the turquoise water around the island.
“They’re coming to welcome us!” Ingrid said in warning. She could see three canoes of turquoise warriors coming to intercept them.
“We’d better not do anything to provoke them,” Lasgol pointed out. The last thing he wanted was any confrontation, now that they were so close to Astrid.
“Why are you looking at me?” Viggo said, looking offended.
“Because you’re you,” Lasgol replied.
“Thus spoke the weirdo,” Viggo snapped back.
“Let’s behave properly and be very civilized with the savages, even if it sounds contradictory,” Ingrid said with a touch of amusement.
Camu, hide, please, Lasgol said.
Ona too?
No, just you. I don’t think Ona will be a problem. He knew that the savages respected the big cat. As for Camu, he aroused too many questions and fears for him to dare risk letting him be seen.
They waited, with their sail lowered, and an elderly native stood up in the nearest canoe. With his greenish-white hair, his face marked with wrinkles and his tunic of long braids of various kinds of seaweed, together with his staff ornamented with corals of different, intense colors, he looked like a shaman of the tribe.
“Arrain, Shaman of Life and Sea, friend. I am glad to see you again,” Lasgol greeted him. He had recognized the shaman, who was the right hand of the Turquoise Queen.
“Lasgol …” the Shaman said as he recognized him. “This is a surprise and a real event. I am glad to see you again.”
“Thank you. It’s an honor to be back in the Turquoise Realm.” Looking at the warriors in the canoes, Lasgol said and hoped the meeting would be a friendly one.
“I see you have company,” Arrain said, looking at the others in the boat. “Ingrid, Viggo and the panther Ona, if my memory serves me correctly.”
“Absolutely correct.”
Ingrid and Viggo greeted him with a nod, which the shaman returned. “Wise Mother Sea gives us many surprises in life, and today shows me one of them,” he said.
“Weren’t you expecting us to come back?” Lasgol asked him, rather taken aback.
“The ocean is immense and unpredictable, as is life itself. Seeing you again gladdens me, and at the same time, it is true, surpri
ses me.”
“We promised we’d return, and so we have.”
“I remember that. That’s why it surprises me. It was a great promise to make, and keeping it cannot have been easy.”
“It hasn’t been, but we’ve kept it. Here we are.”
“I see that not all of you have come. My old friend Eicewald hasn’t made the voyage with you. I wonder whether he is well …?”
“He was, the last time we had news from him,” Lasgol said. “We were forced to separate… against our will,” he added.
The shaman looked thoughtfully at him. “I see. I hope my old friend the Ice Mage is well.”
Lasgol was unable to restrain himself any longer. “Is Astrid all right?” he asked. It was the first thing he wanted to ask the shaman, and these courteous exchanges were killing him.
“Astrid, yes …. a very interesting young woman. You had better speak about her with Her Majesty Uragh.”
The reply did not make sense to Lasgol. A plain ‘yes’ would have been enough for the question he had asked. “But she’s all right, isn’t she?” he insisted.
Arrain smiled. “It will be better if you discuss that with the Turquoise Queen.”
Lasgol did not like this reply in the least. He was about to ask again, but Ingrid stepped in.
“In that case,” she said, “please lead us to your Queen.”
“Very well,” he said. He turned to his men and spoke to them in the tribal language, then the three canoes turned to face the waterfall.
“Follow us,” he said from his canoe.
Lasgol, Ingrid and Viggo exchanged a look of concern. Arrain’s evasive answers were not a hopeful sign. Had Uragh killed Astrid and forgotten their agreement? No, that was impossible. An accident? A tropical disease that had infected Astrid? No, Uragh was a great sorceress and healer and would have cured her. Had she grown tired of waiting for them? That was possible. Perhaps she thought they had tricked her and kept the Star. If she believed that, then Astrid would pay with her life. The Queen had warned him. The more he thought about this, the more nervous he began to feel.