by Grace Martin
It was like something burst inside me. In all the time I had been in the past, I was closer than ever to getting back to Elisabeth. There were books in the Library, he said. It was possible to step into the Portal and have some control over where you stepped out. All I needed was enough power. Hot Stuff had even told me how I could achieve that power.
I was so excited I couldn’t stay in my seat. I jumped up and started to pace around the room. I went to the sideboard and poured myself a glass of wine, noticing that my hands were shaking. I could do it. I could really do it. I drank half the glass down single swallow.
When I finally spoke, my voice was shaking too, no matter how much I tried to control it. ‘And where is she?’ I stalked towards him. ‘Where is Umbra? Where is the wand? You must have some idea of where she is, or you wouldn’t have mentioned it.’
‘Oh, there have been legends for years, a word coming from the south, a rumour from the east, that someone has seen a wand matching Umbra’s description. Nothing has been confirmed, of course. If anyone was certain of Umbra’s location, every mage in the Thousand Counties would be making a pilgrimage to the site. And then there would be a bloody battle and the last mage standing would have the wand for a few moments before he bled to death, so it’s just as well no one knows exactly where she is.’
‘I have to find her,’ I cried. ‘I have to get back to Elisabeth!’ In my excitement I even put a hand on his arm.
‘Yes, I remember your devotion to her. I could hardly forget, even though it has been a hundred years since the last time we met.’
I looked at him closely. He looked like he was still young; lean, but muscular, with an appeal that was all… well, hot stuff. I took a few cautious steps forward. ‘How do you look so young if you’re over a hundred years old?’
‘I drink the blood of virgins.’ He took one last swig of the wine as my own blood chilled. The thought had just occurred to me that it may not actually be wine. ‘As I have good reason to know, that rules you out, doesn’t it?’
‘How could you possibly know that about me? I’d never sleep with you, so you certainly didn’t find out that way!’
He just laughed again. ‘We shall see. You can’t blame me for trying. You’re very ‒ well, not beautiful, but certainly attractive. Just because it didn’t happen before, doesn’t mean it can’t happen later.’
He obviously wanted to keep talking about sex, so I just sniffed disdainfully and changed the subject. ‘How did we meet anyway?’ I asked.
He brushed that rakish lock of dark hair back from his forehead. ‘You ruined my life. But things have a way of happening around you, Emer, and when the world turns, I want to be on your side.’
It wasn’t until after we had dined, sipping a sparkling wine that tasted like stardust, I realised Caradoc probably thought I was dead. I jumped up from the table. I didn’t spill my wine, because it was delicious. Even in the midst of a sudden realisation, one has to have priorities.
‘I must get back to my friends,’ I said. ‘They’ll be worried.’
‘Your mother would be very concerned, I’m sure,’ Hot Stuff (although I had now learned his name to be Kiaran) crooned.
‘Oh, yes, I’m sure she would,’ I agreed, having learned that approximately fifty percent of what Kiaran said was sarcasm. We were a good match in that sense. Every now and then, he was just slightly too familiar, but he had alluded to a relationship in the future, so perhaps that explained the intimacy he assumed. He didn’t touch me, not once, but he had a way of speaking and a way of looking that was almost as intimate as a touch. ‘How do you know she’s my mother anyway? Did I ever tell you that Aoife was my mother?’
He laughed, and by Umbra herself, it was impossible not to be moved by his laugh. He was so handsome and when he smiled his whole face lit up. ‘Have you looked in a mirror lately? You’re obviously related to the royal line, and closely, too. If I had to decide which princess you sprang from, it would have to be Aoife. The first time I saw her I knew that she had to be your mother.’
‘How do you know that Aine isn’t my mother?’
He laughed derisively. ‘Once I’d spent two minutes in her company, I was relieved of all doubt that Aine was capable of being your mother. Whether you like it or not, my dear, you and Aoife have a lot in common. You and Aine have nothing in common at all except your faces.’
It was a disturbing thought. I didn’t like Aoife and the thought of being related to her was a special kind of hell, but I had to admit that Aine was far too nice to be related to someone like me.
Chapter Twelve
Kiaran escorted me back to the holding rooms. Along the way we passed some guards and Kiaran allowed them to accompany us with affable good humour.
Caradoc sprang up from the chair when the door opened and he saw me there. He ran across the room to throw his arms around me. From behind me I heard Kiaran make a small sound, almost like someone who had received a distasteful surprise. I didn’t care what Hot Stuff thought. Caradoc had missed me; Caradoc had worried about me and that thought was far sweeter than what a sarcastic hundred-year-old mage thought. Kiaran withdrew and the door closed behind him.
When he realised I was having trouble breathing, Caradoc drew back from the fierce embrace to grab hold of my shoulders and shake me until my brain rattled. I twisted out of his grip.
‘What happened?’ he demanded. ‘Did they imprison you? Did they question you? Do they hurt you, Emer?’
And to think, I had spent the evening dining and drinking rare wine. I felt like a heel. I shook my head. ‘No, they didn’t hurt me, Caradoc.’
‘Well, thank God for that.’ It was Aoife. She was lying on the sofa and still had her eyes closed. ‘I have just been downright frantic the whole time you’ve been gone. Now at least I can sleep until I find out if we are all going to die.’
Caradoc looked uncomfortable. He looked like he was going to make excuses for her and if he did, I was going to smack him. I laid my hand on his arm. ‘I may have only known her five minutes, but I already know not to pay any attention to what she says.’
From the sofa I heard Aoife make a noise that sounded like, ‘Humph!’
Caradoc lowered his voice and touched my hand where it rested against his arm. ‘I was so worried about you, Emer. I’m so sorry that we argued this morning. I’ve been pacing around this room, running every word over and over in my head. I thought I’d go mad thinking that the last words we ever said to one another were in anger.’
I leaned forward to rest my head against his shoulder. ‘It’s all right,’ I whispered. ‘I should never have demanded that of you.’
We were interrupted by a knock on the door. Caradoc and I broke apart. Aoife opened her eyes and sat up. A group of six guards stood outside the door, three of them with the insignia of the Librarians on their shoulders. After I had run away last time and nearly destroyed the door, they made sure that they sent magi to accompany me.
‘The Librarians have reached a decision,’ one of them said. ‘If you will accompany us, we will take you to them.’
We felt more like prisoners than ever as we went back to the meeting room. Caradoc walked close beside me, his arm brushing mine sometimes and Aoife lagged behind us. It was impossible to tell if the Librarians had left the meeting room in the whole time we had been gone. All the seats were still full, even Kiaran was in his seat beside Garbhan.
As before, Garbhan was the speaker for the group. ‘Honoured ambassadors,’ he said, and I knew in that instant that the Librarians were on our side. I recognised sucking up when I saw it. ‘We trust that you are well rested. Our council has been in debate for long hours today, but we have at last reached a decision. The Librarians will stand beside the Empress in our stern duty of protecting the Thousand Counties against the terrible threat is ranged against us.’
Aoife was quick to speak. She probably wanted to get in before I ruined it all for everyone. She used a great many more diplomatic terms, saying a lot of very
pleasant things that were so non-specific that they could not be considered binding under any circumstances. At the end of it all, it was like we were all friends again. Garbhan offered us a Librarian to show us the way back to the diplomatic quarters. It was quite a change from three armed guards and three mage-Librarians. Just before we left the room, Garbhan spoke to me directly.
‘We are curious, your Highness. Can you explain to us how you were able to pass through the stone doors?’
I looked at her. I suppose it would be more accurate if I said I eyeballed him. ‘I don’t like being shut in,’ I said calmly. ‘I would have smashed the whole city if necessary.’
Beside me, I heard Aoife sigh.
Even before the sun set, the three of us were in a coach on the way back to Rheged. Aoife refused to sit next to me, so I sat next to Caradoc and wasn’t particularly sorry about it. Aoife fell asleep about three minutes into the journey, lulled by the rocking of the coach and what was, to be honest, probably a long day. I was feeling a bit drowsy myself. I didn’t like to say so, since the others had been denied such luxuries, but I probably had too much wine with my lunch.
I soon found that my head was also lolling sideways. Caradoc expedited matters by putting his arm around me so I could rest comfortably against his shoulder. In no time at all, I was asleep.
I woke when Caradoc suddenly shouted, ‘Driver! Stop the coach!’
I had only a moment’s notice to sit up straight when Caradoc pulled away. He opened the door and leapt from the coach while we were still slowing down, landing at a run. I stuck my head out of the coach door to shout after him, ‘Caradoc! Where are you going?’
He pointed to a glow on the horizon. ‘That’s the Halls of the Young. I have to go help them!’ He flung himself up onto a horse that was part of the entourage following us and galloped away.
Aoife woke up and lifted her head from the cushions behind her. ‘What’s going on?’
‘There’s a fire,’ I replied. ‘Caradoc is going to help.’ I looked out the still-open door. He was already galloping away. ‘I’m going with him.’
‘What business is it of ours?’ Aoife asked, still groggy.
‘Got to give Librarians a good example, don’t we?’ I jumped out of the coach. As I jumped, I changed form, becoming a large snowy owl, ghosting through the night after Caradoc.
I caught up to him and flew in a circle around him to let him know that I was there. He muttered a tense, ‘Thanks, Emer,’ but all his attention was focused on the village ahead of us.
I flew ahead. I had no idea what I was going to do, but I remembered what Caradoc had said about the way he was raised. This village was full of children who had already been forcibly removed from their families. Someone had to look out for them.
I got the village before Caradoc. It was chaos. Several buildings were on fire in different parts of town. People in armour were running around, children were screaming and no one was in charge. I landed in a secluded spot behind a building and changed back into my own form. I was glad I had changed into my own clothes for travelling – a princess’s robes would be no use in this situation.
I wasn’t going to be able to do much about the burning buildings, but there were children in danger everywhere. There was a little boy, only about four years old, standing in the middle of the road, crying. I ran towards him and snatched him out of the way. Terrified horses and terrified people were rushing along the road and no one seemed to notice the little boy.
I swooped him up. He clung to me and hid his face against me. I held him tight and fought the tide of people rushing along the road.
When we were tucked into a safe corner, I peeled his face away from my shoulder. ‘Where do you live?’ I asked, before I realised it was a dumb question. At least I hadn’t asked where his family was.
I decided that if I couldn’t save everybody, then at least I could still save some. I headed for the gates of the town, picking up stray children along the way. I picked up another child whose leg had been torn open in the panic and held her on my other hip. I gathered older children around me. ‘Hold hands!’ I shouted. Stay together! It will be alright!’ What a liar I was.
The little group around me grew. Whenever I passed a child huddled in fear behind a stack of crates or in the doorway of a building, I shouted at the child as kindly as I could until they mustered enough courage to get up and follow me.
By the time I reached the gate, I must have had fifty children gathered around me, clinging to my hands, my clothes, the tails of my blue leather tunic stretched out all around me with children hanging onto every available edge of the garment.
Then I saw a detail I hadn’t noticed from the air when I flew over the town. The gates were locked and armed guards dressed all in black stood ready to defend them. There was already a crowd at the gates there was something strange about the crowd.
The first thing I noticed was that the crowd wasn’t shouting. They stood in place or milled around, quietly and obediently waiting for orders or permission from the guards. The next thing I noticed was that they were all children, all dressed in the same brown tunics. All the adults present were the ones holding weapons and guarding the gates.
‘Open up!’ I shouted, shoving my way closer to the gates. ‘Open up or all these children will burn to death!’
The guards look me up and down. ‘Where is your uniform, Master?’ one of them asked dubiously.
‘I don’t have a uniform,’ I said. Up until a few days ago I counted myself lucky to have a change of clothes. I remembered Caradoc talking about the Masters. ‘I’m not a Master,’ I said. ‘I’m just here to help, now open the gate!’
‘The gates can only be opened by the command of the Grand Master.’
‘But you have to let these children out!’
‘They aren’t allowed to leave, except with permission from the Grand Master,’ the guard insisted stubbornly.
‘But it’s dangerous!’
‘The pups are the property of the Empress. To release them would be an act of theft against the Empire.’
I had a brilliant idea. I was going to do something I’d never done before. I was going to pull rank.
‘I am the Bach Chwaer!’ I shouted, drawing myself upright and eyeballing the man down the length of my haughty nose. ‘Yesterday the Empress appointed me her heir. Therefore, these children are also my property and I demand that you open these gates at once!’
I was so damned impressed by that. Unfortunately, the guard wasn’t similarly impressed. His expression didn’t even change.
‘Prove it,’ he said.
‘Prove it?’ I repeated. Anger was building inside me and now I had somewhere for it to go. I could have showed him the ring and the Empress had given me, but by now I was ready to make a statement. ‘I’ll prove it all right.’
I smiled – I bared my teeth. I lowered my voice, because I wasn’t going to waste my anger on shouting. In the quiet of the crowd at the gate he would still be able to hear me. ‘I should stand aside from that gate if I were you.’
‘I shall never abandon my post!’
‘Famous last words,’ I said, still grinning. I raised my voice. ‘Get behind me, children!’
Maybe they recognised something dangerous in my voice, because there was nearly a stampede.
The guard raised his crossbow to point it straight at me. I raised my left hand and held my palm out before me to create a shield that no arrow would be able to penetrate. The other hand I pointed to the sky. The winds that are a side effect of magic started to blow all around me, whipping at my tunic and my hair. I gathered the winds into my hand.
The guard fired his crossbow, but it glanced off my shield. I saw his face change when he realised what was happening.
‘If you won’t open these gates then I’m going to open them for you!’ I shouted. ‘Get out of the way or I’ll take you with them!’
I closed my fist tight against ball of winds I’d gathered, hot from the fire. I
lowered my arm and flung the ball of winds into the gate. The guard leapt away at the last moment. The gates exploded outwards, splinters of wood and shards of iron going everywhere. Part of the stonework either side of the gate crumbled away like I’d just kicked over a sandcastle.
The children around me cheered like they’d just found their voices. Several guards started firing into the crowd, but the arrows glanced off harmlessly. One of the guards shouted in frustration and threw his crossbow into the crowd of children. It bounced off the shield and smacked him in the face. He fell over backwards. It was probably the biggest laugh the children had ever had.
The crowd surged through the gates and I suddenly realised I was being carried along with it. There were quite a few older teenagers in the group and I recalled I’d seen another town just across the valley from the Halls of the Young.
A teenage boy, only a year or two younger than me, went past with one child on his back and another in his arms. He seemed like a good candidate to look after the others and lead them to safety. His hair was wild and red in the light from the fires. He reminded me an awful lot of Caradoc. ‘Take them to the next village!’ I ordered.
‘But we can’t go there,’ he said. ‘The Masters all live in the village.’
I still had my ring, the one the Empress had given me. ‘Show them this. Tell them you are under the direct protection of the Bach Chwaer.’ I looked around the ruins of the gates. ‘Tell them what happened here tonight. What’s your name?’
‘Ronan, Bach Chwaer.’
‘All right, Ronan. I will be returning to the palace tonight. I will send a messenger to the village nearby to make sure that you and others are well treated.’
I let them go and turned back to the burning settlement. There was a loud noise from the other side of the enclosure. The street I was in was in the very centre of the settlement. From where I stood, I saw the gates at the other end of town shatter like the ones I destroyed. Caradoc rode through the remains of the gates.
