Loren was dressed in a purple robe, his golden hair plaited into the shape of a crown. Perched in his hair was a violet glass bird. He reached for one of Kate’s hands, but she clasped both firmly behind her back.
Kate’s hair curled out in two great black tendrils behind her head, like horns. A circlet of silver was balanced on her forehead, her face decorated with swirls of white and purple make-up. Ellie marvelled that even on this day she somehow stood tall.
She wished she could reach out to her.
The guests stood, drowning out the music with their hearty applause. Kate drifted like a phantom between the tables, not meeting anyone’s eye.
‘It’s Her,’ Molworth whispered, watching Kate with wide, tear-filled eyes. ‘It’s Her,’ he said, and clapped both hands to his mouth. Ellie did not think she’d ever seen someone so truly happy.
‘Gosh, She looks awful,’ whispered the old man next to Ellie. ‘Like Her mother before She died. It’s a good thing She’s naming Her successor now, before She gets any worse.’
Loren stood in front of his throne, beaming and holding his hands out to the crowd, his cheeks rosy pink.
‘My friends, welcome to my feast!’ he cried. ‘Well, well. Here we are, here we are!’ He rubbed his hands together. ‘Thank you for celebrating it with us – really, I couldn’t be happier to have you here to witness my ascension to –’ he paused for effect, biting his lip – ‘Royal Successor!’
The explosion of applause was deafening. Noblemen punched their fists in the air – some even climbed on to their seats, shoving fingers in their mouths to whistle.
Loren waved them all down. ‘There will be time for more speeches later, but first there’s the matter of a feast, and, dare I say it –’ he tilted his head forward and touched the tip of his nose – ‘a special cake.’
There were more titters of laughter. A flicker of disgust crossed Kate’s face.
‘Why does he need a cake to become Royal Successor?’ said Ellie.
Molworth tutted. ‘Outer islanders. Can’t have a Succession Ritual without eating cake. It’s tradition.’
‘Laughter aside,’ Loren was saying, ‘I would like you all to know, here and now, that I could not be more delighted to be selected by Our Great Divinity as Her Successor. So that, should anything unexpected befall Our Beloved Queen, I will be here to take up the mantle of King. And now.’ Loren squeezed Kate’s arm, making her flinch. ‘I believe Kate … haha.’ He grimaced. ‘I’m sorry, the Queen has a few words to say about me.’
Ellie tried to catch her eye, to mouth to her that she was going to fix things. But Kate was looking at her knees, her hands fidgeting under the table. She stood up, pulling one trembling hand inside the sleeve of her robe.
‘Hello,’ she said, in a distant voice. ‘It is … so nice to see you all.’ She cleared her throat. ‘I couldn’t be happier on this holy day.’
She forced a smile, and the crowd clapped and stamped their feet once more. Kate sat down, and her smile fell to nothing.
A second course was brought out: green soup with chicken heads floating in it. Molworth stared in disgust. ‘I don’t like rich-people food. Where are the oranges?’
‘It’s a real delicacy,’ said the old man next to him, swallowing a chicken head whole.
Molworth rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ‘It feels strange to be eating like this, when the rest of the island’s going hungry.’
A third course arrived, and a fourth. Ellie watched Kate staring blankly ahead and occasionally muttering to herself. Loren and the nobles chatted as if she wasn’t there, except when Loren pointed to her, like some expensive painting he’d won at auction.
Ellie rubbed her chest, her throat dry. She couldn’t bear to do nothing as her friend was humiliated.
‘Then it’s time,’ hissed a voice.
Ellie looked up. The bleeding child was sitting among the band above, legs dangling off the gallery. ‘It’s time to save her,’ it said. ‘I will take Loren away – I don’t even have to kill him, if you don’t want me to. Then you and Kate can get back to saving the island, and all can be peaceful again. For a time.’
Ellie swallowed. The violins struck up a rousing, upbeat tune. Every eye turned to the door.
‘Oh, the cake!’ said the old nobleman, bouncing in his chair.
A large platter was carried in by two servants. On it were six fat tiers of fruit cake, nestled in a bed of flowers, its surface covered with slices of strawberry and pineapple and nectarine. The servants set it down in front of Loren. He grinned brightly, picking up a knife. ‘Time for the cake, and a song, I think!’
‘And then our new successor!’ yelled a noble from the back.
‘Well, precisely,’ said Loren. ‘Speaking of which, would you do the honours, my Queen?’
He passed Kate the knife. She held it, poised over the cake, then sank the point in deep, cutting a narrow slice from one side.
‘When Loren takes the first bite,’ the old man whispered excitedly, ‘he officially becomes Her successor! Of course, I do love the Queen, but I think Loren will be even better, don’t you?’
Molworth snorted. ‘No one could be better than the Queen.’
Kate lifted the slice on to a gold-rimmed plate. Ellie’s fingers were sweaty, her heart quivering like a skittish bird. She glanced up to the gallery, and found the bleeding child watching her expectantly.
Kate presented the plate to Loren. A droplet rolled down her cheek, of sweat or tears, Ellie wasn’t sure.
Ellie drew a tremulous breath and opened her mouth, to whisper her request to the Enemy.
Kate looked into Loren’s eyes. A tiny smile crossed her lips.
The doors of the dining hall crashed open and a Warden stumbled in, a wild look in his eye.
‘What is the meaning of this?’ one nobleman yelled in outrage.
‘Blasphemy! How dare you interrupt this great occasion!’
‘Your Divinity!’ the Warden cried. ‘Forgive me, but I have urgent news.’
Loren rose from his throne. ‘My friend, you are interfering with a holy ritual. Whatever this matter is, it can be resolved later.’
‘My Queen,’ said the Warden. ‘We have apprehended a man. He … he …’
‘What is it?’ said Kate softly. ‘Speak, my subject.’
The Warden took a deep breath. ‘He says he’s from the Enemy’s City.’
Screams tore the air as men and women scraped backwards in their chairs. Ellie felt acid rise into her throat.
‘Throw him in the dungeons!’ roared one noble.
‘Kill him!’ cried another.
‘My friends,’ said Loren, ‘be seated. We shall deal with this matter. No agent of the Enemy should be allowed anywhere near Our Beloved Queen. I suggest –’
‘Bring him in,’ said Kate, her voice filling the room. Ellie stared at her in surprise. She was so relaxed, like she’d expected the interruption.
‘My Queen, I don’t think this is wise –’ Loren spluttered.
‘My friends,’ said Kate, rising from her throne, wearing a gentle smile. ‘What a golden opportunity for Loren to prove he has what it takes to be our Royal Successor.’ Her smile broadened. ‘Do you think he can protect us from this evil man?’
‘YES!’ the old noble cried at the top of his lungs. ‘Loren! Loren!’
Others around the hall took up the chant, and soon the walls reverberated with the cry.
‘Now, friends,’ said Loren. ‘I am grateful for your support, but –’
He winced as his voice was drowned beneath the clamour. He turned to Kate, hissing something in her ear. Kate’s smile did not waver.
Two more Wardens stepped inside, carrying a man between them. Ellie stood, trying to see through the crowd of guests clambering over their chairs to get a better look. She clutched her chest.
Hargrath looked even worse than he’d done when they’d found him in Loren’s prison. The skin of his face was like paper, so tightly stretched Ellie could
make out the shadow of his skull. He staggered beneath the weight of his coat, staring at the wall of faces surrounding him. They booed and hissed like he was the villain in a play.
The Wardens thrust Hargrath before Loren and Kate, the Seven Sentinels forming a line between him and the Queen. The hall fell silent.
‘Very well,’ said Loren, straightening up and glaring down at Hargrath. ‘As an agent of the Enemy, I declare that you shall be executed immediately. Sentinels, take him away.’
But the Seven did nothing. Kate narrowed her eyes at the massive, broken figure before her.
‘Why did you come here, stranger?’ she said. ‘Why did the Enemy send you to our island?’
Hargrath made a strange noise, halfway between a snarl and a whimper. ‘I do not take orders from the Enemy. I am a member of the Most Holy Order of Inquisitors. I hunt the Enemy’s Vessel.’
There were murmurs and whispers around the hall.
‘We’ve heard enough,’ said Loren, his cheeks now bright red. ‘Take him away! He’s clearly deranged.’
A noblewoman stood up, her face pale with fright. ‘If he’s hunting the Enemy’s Vessel, then why did he come here?’
‘My friends, really.’ Loren held up his hands. ‘We cannot trust a man from the Enemy’s City to tell the truth. Everyone knows the Enemy is a master of deception and lies.’
Kate leaned forward, looking at Hargrath with a kind smile. ‘Answer the question,’ she said softly. ‘Why did you come here?’
Hargrath’s mouth twisted with hate. ‘I followed the Enemy’s Vessel.’
There was a moment’s silence, then a hundred shrieks pierced Ellie’s eardrums. She sank lower behind Molworth’s chair, her skin flooding with ice. Was Hargrath about to reveal her true identity to everyone? Would Kate let him?
‘If you followed the Enemy’s Vessel,’ Kate said, ‘why haven’t you caught them yet?’
Hargrath shivered, his face contorting with shame. ‘Because I was prevented from performing my holy duty!’ he spat. ‘I was … captured.’
A horrible silence sucked at the chamber. All eyes were fixed on Hargrath.
‘Now, friends, enough of this,’ said Loren. ‘You are letting yourselves get caught up in a fantasy.’
There were sharp shushes from around the hall, and Loren staggered back, as if no one had ever told him to be quiet before.
‘Who captured you?’ cried a woman.
Hargrath’s head tilted upward. His red-ringed eyes narrowed. He lifted his arm, and pointed at Loren.
Everyone began talking at once.
Loren raised his hands. ‘Friends, friends!’
‘Is this true, Loren?’ snorted a nobleman, standing up so quickly his wig fell off.
‘Of course not, my friends,’ said Loren. ‘I would never have dealings with an agent of the Enemy’s City – I would have turned him over for Royal Judgement! This man is clearly deranged, or perhaps an actor paid to defame me. I am not without jealous rivals, my friends.’
There was more murmuring and snorts of disapproval. Kate held up one finger, and the room fell silent.
‘Why would Loren imprison you?’ she said. ‘What did he want?’
Hargrath shook, looking at Loren in fury. ‘He wanted to know the identity of the Enemy’s Vessel.’
A high-pitched ringing whined in Ellie’s ears. Her vision went cloudy. She stared at Hargrath, her lips trembling. At any moment he would say her name.
‘Why?’ Kate asked.
‘So he could kill her,’ Hargrath said. He took a step towards Kate. ‘She’s dead.’
‘Dead!’ said Loren. ‘She’s not dead, she –’
Loren’s eyes bulged, and Ellie realized he’d trapped himself – he couldn’t admit knowing who the Vessel was without revealing he’d known about Hargrath this whole time.
‘All right, fine!’ he announced. ‘You’ve found me out. I used this man to learn the identity of the Enemy’s Vessel, so I could kill her. I didn’t wish to court the glory – I am a humble man, after all. But I single-handedly fought and vanquished the Enemy, and now our island is safe.’
Kate turned to Loren, her expression cool. ‘You cannot kill the Enemy, just its Vessel,’ she said. ‘There is only one person in the world with the power to destroy the Enemy, and that is me.’ She faced the hall. ‘My friends, you know the nature of the Great Enemy. As with all gods, when its Vessel is destroyed, its spirit searches for a new one. Loren has killed the Enemy’s Vessel, so now its spirit is free, on our island. Soon, it will find another Vessel with which to wreak destruction upon us. Far from saving us, Loren has endangered us with his stupidity.’
There were moans of agreement. One man stood up and booed.
‘Now, please, friends,’ Loren stammered, licking his lips. His voice was hoarse. ‘Please –’
Ellie glanced at Kate, who was shaking her head in theatrical disappointment. As the hall jeered at Loren, Ellie saw Kate’s right hand leave the sleeves of her robe, ever so briefly, to hover over Loren’s goblet of water.
‘The Enemy, on our island!’ cried a man, digging his hands into his hair.
‘Friends,’ Kate announced, raising her arms. ‘I know how frightened you must be. Loren was foolish, yes. But know this: we will root out the Enemy’s new Vessel, wherever he may lurk. I am your Queen. I will protect you.’
Panic turned to hesitant smiles, as the whole hall gazed at Kate. A man stood up in his chair.
‘Praise Her!’ he cried.
‘Praise Her!’ said another.
‘PRAISE HER!’ Molworth roared at the top of his lungs.
Ellie’s heart thudded in her jaw. She tried to catch Kate’s eye, to tell her to stop. Kate didn’t understand what she was unleashing: she couldn’t let fear of the Enemy reign across her island, like it did in the City.
‘Thank you, friends,’ said Kate. ‘And do not judge Loren too harshly – he acted only out of a desire to protect the island.’ Kate placed a hand on Loren’s shoulder. ‘However, I think we shall postpone naming him Royal Successor for a time. Under my tutelage, he will learn to do better, won’t you, Loren?’
Loren swallowed. ‘I, um, I …’
‘Now, there is much work to be done,’ Kate said briskly. ‘Let’s finish the Festival so we can begin the hunt for the Enemy’s Vessel.’ She pointed to Hargrath. ‘This man has done us a great service, though he may be from the Enemy’s City. Take him to the kitchens and see that he is properly fed. A solemn toast!’ Kate declared, picking up her goblet in one hand, reaching under the table with the other. ‘My friends – to the Enemy’s end!’
There was a loud cheer and more chants of ‘Praise Her!’ Loren nodded uncomfortably, his golden hair in disarray.
‘Yes, to the Enemy’s end,’ he croaked. He lifted his goblet and drained it in one, then slumped back in his throne.
Kate smiled, and for a moment her queenly mask fell and she was a girl again, cheeks flushed with excitement. Ellie noticed an odd smell, like burning dust.
‘Now let us put this behind us and be merry!’ Kate cried, clapping her hands together over the great cake.
There was a tiny pop, and berries and flecks of nut sprayed from the top, leaving a hole.
A brown head poked out, blinking its beady eyes. The dinner guests gazed in shock.
‘Is that … a rat?’ Molworth said.
Pop.
A second rat burrowed from the cake. Then a third, and a fourth. Then ten, all at once, the top of the cake splitting open in an eruption of strawberries and oranges and tiny pink noses and tails. The rats tumbled down the side, skittering across the tabletop. One man fell backwards off his seat.
And as the rats feasted on icing sugar, the candlelight bounced off a glistening, wriggling mass spewing from the hole they had left. A hundred fat, purple earthworms.
Kate staggered back, watching in terror as the worms spilled out over the top of the cake, as if they were fleeing from something beneath them.
&nbs
p; Something hot.
‘What’s happening?’ Loren shrieked, trying to scrabble up on his throne.
‘Stop it!’ said Kate, looking at Loren. ‘How are you doing this?’
Loren gaped at her. ‘I’m not doing anything!’
Kate put a hand to her mouth. ‘Oh … oh no,’ she gasped. ‘No, it can’t be.’
She raised a hand, pointing a trembling finger at Loren. ‘That’s why you did it. That’s why you killed the Enemy’s Vessel. So you could become its new Vessel.’
Fresh wails pierced the air, and guests fled their seats, gathering up their skirts and gowns and rushing to the other side of the room. Loren frowned at them, confused. But they could see what he could not.
Loren’s skin had turned pale as snow. His eyes as red as blood.
His mouth opened and closed frantically. ‘H-how, how dare you accuse me, you foolish child. These are lies, and I won’t stand for them! My friends, let me tell you the truth about our Queen –’
Molworth leapt up on to his chair. ‘The Enemy!’ he shrieked. ‘The Enemy has come!’
‘He’s the Enemy!’ cried a nobleman. ‘The Enemy’s Vessel!’
‘THE ABOMINATION IS HERE!’
‘Protect the Queen!’
There was a thunder of clattering metal as a Sentinel vaulted over the table, grabbing Loren by the throat and raising him high in the air. Loren choked and batted uselessly at the armoured warrior, as nobles grabbed his arms and legs, rolling their sleeves over their hands to avoid touching his skin.
‘I’ve got him! I’ve got him!’
‘Don’t worry, my Queen!’
In seconds, Loren was pinned to the floor by a hissing mass of frills and feathers, gagged with a large orange Molworth had produced from his pocket.
Kate climbed on to the table, glaring down at him. Ellie shivered, a squirming feeling in her stomach. She couldn’t say what it was exactly, until Kate spoke, and Ellie realized that, for the first time, she was afraid of her.
‘Take the Enemy’s Vessel to the dungeons,’ Kate said. ‘At sunrise, he shall be executed before the eyes of the entire island. Then, I shall use my divine power to annihilate the Enemy that festers inside him, so that our island will be safe forever.’
Shipwreck Island Page 23
