“She hides like a wild thing,” a traveler observed. A quiet chuckle went around the group. Then they returned to the previous subject.
“We came to warn you, Queen Scylla—yon magician ponders evil ambitions.”
“Our kingdom is plagued with evil ambitions!” she said. “Are you able to assist our soldiers in finding the magician?”
They exchanged glances and then nodded agreement.
At the same moment, into Scylla’s mind’s eye came a vision… the Goddess in her leafy green gown standing by the forest spring. The Goddess turned her head, and her calm gaze met Scylla’s, the glance like a physical touch as her hand pointed toward the spring. The illusion faded, and Scylla blinked. “We will accompany you,” she heard herself say.
Mako’s head snapped around and he stared up at her, astounded. Scylla said to him, “We will accompany them, Chancellor. To the east!”
A variety of emotions crossed his face, ending with a grim expression. “We will, Queen Scylla? Ah, yes… as you say! Gentlemen, give us twenty minutes—I will assemble my troops shortly.”
Moments later he was leading Scylla’s horse back across the field, speaking through gritted teeth. “What are you thinking, Princess? How can you ride all the way to the hunting lodge? Do you not recall how far it is?”
“I think the Goddess wants me to go,” she answered quietly. “I saw a vision of her at the forest spring!”
He was silent for a moment. Then he said curtly, “I can only bow before your vision! Take what you think you will need—a cloak, a hat, water, food. Soldier! Take Queen Scylla into the castle and help her dismount. She will return here after. Axit—take the twig inside! Soldiers!” he roared, his voice echoing off the castle wall. “All line up! Here!”
Scylla hobbled up the grand staircase hastily, clinging to the heavily carved handrail.
“I am riding east with the travelers,” she told Minda as she entered the chambers. “I need a cloak and my hat… and some rations!”
Minda stared blankly at her. Sorrell turned her head on the pillow from the bed in the corner.
“Have you gone truly mad, Princess?”
“The forest folk have come to warn us that Greyel went to the hunting lodge and then further east into the forest, studying his books as he rides. They say his actions are dangerous.”
“… his actions are dangerous,” Minda repeated after a moment’s stunned silence. “Well then, of course you will ride there too! Why would you not?”
Scylla snickered. Then she sobered. “You may think it odd, Minda, perhaps even silly. But I am almost beginning to find these events interesting, instead of terrifying—almost! Also, I believe the Goddess is beckoning me down the road today. Give me some water, seed cake, dried currants, and a chunk of that sheep’s cheese, Minda.”
“Against my better judgment,” Minda answered calmly. “I am glad you are no longer the recluse you were before. I hope we will see you back again… soon!”
“I hope we will see you again… at all! Does Mako know of this?” Sorrell pushed herself to her feet and stiffly crossed the floor.
“Mako is assembling a troop of soldiers. Axit should be back with Leon soon… Here he comes now, crying. I expect he wanted to keep on riding with the soldiers.”
“Allow me to pin up your hair, Princess,” said Minda. “And do not forget to eat and drink!”
“Just roll the braid up at the back, Minda. I cannot stand all those pins!” She submitted to a quick re-plaiting, with the braid knotted at her neck. Then she placed the wide-brimmed hat on her head, allowed Minda to secure it with two hatpins, and took her cloak over her arm.
“Here is your water and food.” Sorrell eyed her grimly. “And place this sheepskin on the saddle… you will need it! Does your horse have saddlebags?”
“I do not know,” Scylla called back over Prince Leon’s wails as she opened the door. “Be sure the feral children get their dinner, Minda… goodbye…”
“If the Goddess relents, turn that horse around!” she heard Sorrell’s acid farewell.
Moments later she was back in the saddle. The soldier, still wearing a startled expression, led her out through the gate to the field.
Ten mounted soldiers, their faces carefully blank, waited in a group with Mako. He stood beside his horse, stashing rations in his saddlebag.
He snapped an order to Scylla’s soldier. “Give me the queen’s food—I will carry it! I am leaving the remaining soldiers to guard the castle, Princess, and the villagers are on alert as well. Do you have your sword stick with you?”
She nodded, placing her hand on the hilt. Was she truly riding out from the castle on the hunt for a magician?
Mako’s voice rose in a bellow as he swung into the saddle. “Home Guard! Mind the castle! Queen’s Guard… onward!”
Yes, she was riding out. Her horse’s muscles gave a sudden twitch, making Scylla clutch at the front of the saddle and suck in her breath. No, she told herself—breathe deeply!
Mako caught up Scylla’s lead rope from the soldier and urged the animal forward.
“Ride on, Queen Scylla. Remember, this was your idea,” he added quietly. But when she glared back at him, his mouth twitched into a grin. “We soldiers enjoy a good hard ride, Princess! You will not… I hope your Goddess is with you indeed!”
The forest folk rode small brownish horses with a fine build, shaggy hair, and hard black hooves. They moved swiftly and with little sound, without the jingling bits, creaking leather, and hoofbeats of the soldiers’ larger horses. Sometimes they rode ahead. Other times they rode off through a wooded area and turned up a few minutes later, riding quietly behind the soldiers.
The company had not gone many miles before Scylla developed a strong regret that she had left the castle. The sheepskin was welcome padding, but even with Browny’s smooth jog she could feel the hard saddle beneath.
“How are you feeling, Princess?” asked Mako, not for the first time.
“The sun is hot, the wind is blowing dust in my eyes, and my ankle is throbbing,” she said disagreeably. “And no, I am not ready to go back!”
“You are riding well enough. By the time we return to the castle, you may be an accomplished rider.”
“How optimistic you are, Chancellor!”
“Perhaps a capable rider…”
“Really, Chancellor?”
“Any improvement will help, Princess! I see you are sitting the jog like you should,” Mako said. “I do not expect you to travel standing up like our little tree-baby.”
Scylla laughed despite herself. “Nor do I.”
“Rider ahead!” shouted a soldier who was riding in the lead. “Just one!”
“Could be a messenger from Renold,” said Mako, peering ahead at the distant dust cloud. Soon the on-coming rider raced up and stopped before them.
“Is that you, Chancellor? Message from Captain Renold!”
Mako tossed Queen Scylla’s lead line over her horse’s neck and rode up to speak with the messenger. Scylla stared at the rope in horror, but caught it up before it slid to the ground.
“Curses!” she said violently, her hands shaking. Then she realized Browny was doing nothing but standing with the others, taking a breather. She took a fresh grip on the reins and a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Perhaps I can do this, she said to herself.
“Do you want me to take the lead, Queen Scylla?” asked the nearest soldier, noticing her distress.
“Not just now, thank you.”
“You can double the rope over the front of your saddle,” he told her. “But don’t let it fall underfoot.” She nodded curtly.
Mako beckoned the Guard onward. A moment later he wheeled his horse beside Scylla’s.
“News from Captain Renold, Princess! Someone has been at the hunting lodge—the physician, they presume—but has gone again. Coltic says it is worse than before. Greyel has been ripping up floorboards and smashing holes in the walls.”
“Searching as the pr
iests did. Did he find… anything?” Scylla asked, her mind going to the secret door in the cellar corner, with the stacks of gold behind it. She gave Mako a quizzical glance.
He shook his head slightly. “He may have found a hidden vault in the king’s bedroom but if he did, he took what was within.”
“Did you not send a caretaker to the lodge after our last visit?”
“I planned to send a work crew for repairs along with a new caretaker, but…”
“Send guards and a caretaker, Chancellor. The lodge seems to attract vandals. Soon it may become irreparable. Recall the wine in the cellars and the value Captain Coltic claims it has.”
“How could I forget? He is far too enthusiastic on the subject, although not so much lately. However, who has time for wine? We have been fending off the wolves of Gryor and now another traitor!”
“… with evil ambitions,” she quoted the travelers.
“Apparently. Did you hear that thunder in the distance just now? I wonder how he caused last night’s storm… or if he did... and whether we will soon be drenched again.”
“I have no desire to find out!” Scylla exclaimed. “In fact, I beg the Goddess to shield us.”
“Yes…” said Mako. “Well, Renold has sent a messenger to the nearby districts to give them warning. He left a few guards at the lodge and set out on Greyel’s trail.”
“Once among the trees, everything looks the same. I hope they can find their way out again.”
“I hope Greyel is not the magician he hopes to be. He is apparently a student of magic, like the priests and like Woliff.”
“Another mage… and we did not even guess!”
“I have sent the messenger back to the lodge to tell them we are coming. His horse is faster than we will be.”
They rode on. The forest folk had gone ahead on their small horses and Scylla glimpsed them taking a shortcut over a rocky ridge.
“Carriage coming up fast behind,” one of the rear soldiers bawled after they had gone some miles further.
Mako looked back over his shoulder. “A carriage—it’s Jay and the pony.”
“Is he going to Minda’s farm, I wonder? We have not passed it yet.”
“Ride on, Princess—I’ll go back and speak to him,” Mako said. He wheeled his horse away and rode away to the rear. Scylla concentrated on keeping Browny jogging forward in step with the soldier on her right. She would not… would not!... ask Jay if she could ride in the vehicle. It had been her decision to ride out, and she was determined to carry on in the saddle, all the way to the forest spring.
Mako rode up beside her. “Jay asks if you want to ride in…”
“Yes, I do,” said Scylla instantly, before he had finished the sentence. “Yes. Now.” She reined in Browny, who stopped obediently. Scylla slid from the saddle without help, hopping on her good foot. Mako leaned over with an irritating grin, untying the sword stick from the saddle and handing it to her.
“Here is your sword, Princess. When you want to ride again, let me know. However, the roads are good all the way to the king’s lodge—why not just ride in the carriage?” He took up the horse’s lead and tossed it to the nearest soldier. The guards’ horses sidled apart, and Jay and his feisty pony pulled up next to Scylla.
“Hold that pony!” ordered Mako, and a guard vaulted off his horse and went to the pony’s head. It pawed the ground impatiently and fought the firm hand on the bridle.
Scylla, who had taken the sheepskin from the saddle, threw it onto the seat of the wicker carriage. Then she climbed in with a relieved sigh, settling herself next to Jay.
“Greetings, Jay—what brought you out this way? Did you leave the dogs with Minda? Thank the Goddess!”
Jay gave her one of his looks. The horses started off, and the pony charged forward, switching its tail in irritation at the halt.
“What was the chancellor thinking, Princess? You cannot ride all the way to the hunting lodge! And then back again.”
“Why can’t I?”
“I have seen you ride, Princess.”
“I have improved,” Scylla told him firmly. “I came all this way, and no one was leading Browny. She is quite…” She searched her memory for the word Coltic had used the first day. “Biddable! She is a biddable horse.”
“If you say so, Princess. Minda said you rode off with Chancellor Mako, and she agreed I should drive the carriage out in case you need it.”
“Thank you. I believe the Goddess wanted me to ride to the spring with the forest folk, so we set out.”
“I don’t see any forest folk,” Jay said, turning his head to look.
“They appear and disappear as they wish. Not literally. They go into the woods or race across a pasture. Their horses are small and quick—quite like your pony but larger and shaggier. They warned that they had seen the physician riding east and his intentions are evil.”
“Well,” Jay said after a moment. “We have faced evil before!”
Scylla looked at him with some surprise. “Yes, and we are here to tell the tale. Not that I wish to face it again. Thank you for bringing the carriage, Jay.”
The cavalcade pulled in at Minda and Orwen’s farm for a refreshment stop. Along with the others, the forest folk halted and offered their horses water and an opportunity to graze. Then they set out again down the road toward the hunting lodge.
An hour or more later, another messenger came dashing up. Renold and his men had lost Greyel’s trail and were on their way back to the hunting lodge.
It seemed like forever before the cavalcade finally trotted up the approach to the stone and timber lodge.
“Magnificent on the exterior,” Scylla murmured. Her eyes took in the impressive building, standing in the clearing and surrounded by the stately forest. “Befouled inside.”
“Did they not repair it, Princess?”
“Not yet, and Greyel has now done even more damage searching for… whatever he was searching for.”
“It is now late in the day. Are you spending the night here, Princess? We, I mean.”
Scylla hesitated. “I have not considered it, Jay. Where are the forest folk, and what is next, I wonder?” She craned her neck, looking around as the carriage pulled to a stop in the clearing. Renold and Coltic came out of the building through the arched doorway. A whiff of mustiness, unpleasantness, and stale wine reached Scylla’s nostrils.
“Good Goddess,” she sighed. “I forgot how the stench has got into the very walls of that lodge!”
She climbed to the ground and clinked across the grass, using her sword stick as a cane. Soldiers and horses milled nearby and Mako dismounted and accompanied her to the door.
“Greetings, Princess! Chancellor!” said Renold.
“Princess!” Coltic greeted her. “The messenger informed us you were on your way.”
“I believe the Goddess sent me here. Why, I do not know.”
“I cannot give you good news—we have not found our thief or the magic books,” said Renold.
“The travelers—the forest folk—came to warn us of Greyel and are here with us.” Mako looked across the grass to where the small group of horses and riders in rough brown clothing now stood. He beckoned, and the tight knot advanced toward the doorway.
“Our soldiers have not found the thief,” Mako said to the travelers when they approached within speaking distance. “Captain Coltic—Captain Renold… these are the spokesmen of Rellant’s forest folk.”
“I am Dunlin, and these are men of my clan,” said the leader. They stood still, their eyes shifting from Mako to the captains and on to Scylla. “We will ride into the forest and find the others. We will return later.” They withdrew and vaulted onto their horses. Within moments, they faded like shadows into the gloom beyond the forest edge.
Coltic watched them go with raised eyebrows. “Dunlin… that is a royal name. He must be the travelers’ king.”
“The spring,” said Scylla suddenly. Into her mind’s eye had popped a vision of the f
orest spring with its mossy stones and the cracked carving at the back. “I wish to go to the spring.”
“Hold on, Jay! Queen Scylla wants to go to the spring.”
“He has already unhitched, and the pony is tired… or should be. I will ride Browny.”
“Browny? Oh, the horse. Never mind, Jay!” Mako spoke to the nearest soldier. “Bring up the queen’s horse! And mine.”
“I will also take this hat off—I have had enough of it.” Scylla felt for the two hatpins and pulled them out. She inserted them carefully into the hatband and then rubbed at her scalp with the tips of her fingers.
Coltic took the wide-brimmed hat and placed it on the seat of the carriage. He returned, saying, “I have not visited this spring. Soldier! Lend me your horse.” They mounted the three horses and rode together down the wide forest path toward the spring.
Scylla said, “It is not far, I think. Jay and I left it and followed this path to find the hunting lodge. Just four or five days ago, was it not?”
“Four,” said Mako. “Four long days.”
They heard a voice calling from behind them.
Coltic looked over his shoulder. “Jay is coming… running on foot.”
“Are you going to the spring without me, Princess?” the boy complained when he caught up.
“Come if you want, Jay.”
“You might not find it,” he reasoned, puffing from his pursuit.
“Point the way, lad,” said Mako. “Quickly—the sun is thinking about setting!”
The horses continued and Jay hurried along with them, his bright eyes searching the forest ahead. The lowering sun cast a pretty glow through the forest leaves, with the sky turning silvery overhead.
“How lovely it is…” Scylla stared upwards through the canopy of variegated green. She felt the knot of hair at her neck loosen and she found the pin that held it and pulled it out, tucking it away. The braid unrolled and she pulled it forward over her shoulder, smoothing the plait so it hung free.
“Yes, when you are not lost and wandering,” Coltic agreed. “How are you getting along with the horse?”
“She seems to do as I ask. Not that I am overly demanding.”
The Queen and the Mage Page 29
