We passed through the rest of the garden in silence. More statues of random people were scattered around the neatly trimmed bushes and fountains. Water trickled out of the fountains from different spots and at varying degrees of strength. I wondered how they managed to get the pressure without motors. Like the other gardens, there was a bit of weirdness. The bushes swayed and rustled like a breeze blew through, but the air was dead calm.
Finally, we passed through an opening in the bushes that ringed the garden to find ourselves standing at the edge of a short bridge, which spanned over a moat about fifteen feet wide. Yeah, a moat! An honest to goodness moat surrounding a castle. Okay, it wasn’t really a castle, but it was close enough. Call me silly, but that made me giddy.
“You ready?” Aoife stepped up beside me.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“This is the guy that’s supposed to be able to help your mom.”
“I don’t know.” I twitched my shoulders in a quick shrug. “I guess I haven’t really been thinking about it, and when I have, I’ve done it with a healthy dose of pessimism.”
“You don’t think he can help?”
“I just don’t want to get my hopes up.”
“If there’s anybody who can, it’s him, Gaige,” Seanna said.
“I guess we better find out if he can or not, huh?” I didn’t wait for Seanna to take the lead as usual as I stepped onto the bridge.
The three of us approached the surprisingly unguarded double doors. They were intricately carved with swoops and swirls that all led to the familiar swirl at the center. I looked around but saw no knocker. Or doorbell. Or anything.
“Um…” I held my hands up.
“He knows we’re here,” Seanna said quietly.
“How?” Aoife asked.
“Trust me, he does.” She looked up at me. “Gaige, I’m sorry.”
I brought my eyebrows together in confusion. “For what?”
Seanna opened and then closed her mouth like she was going to say something but changed her mind. Her face fell. For the few days I had known her, she kept her face in a look of indifference, never showing much emotion. At that moment, it filled with immense sadness. “For back there,” she finally said. “For snapping at you.” Her voice dropped to a near inaudible level and she quickly looked away, but not before I saw a flash of guilt in the way her eyes wouldn’t meet mine.
“What’s going on, Seanna?” I asked.
A loud click sounded from the other side of the door before she could answer. The double doors slid soundlessly open.
33
Daresh
The double doors were made of a deep brown wood with black swirls. At least ten feet tall and a couple inches thick. It must have weighed a ton, but it swung out easily on massive, ornately casted hinges. Those huge chunks of metal had to weigh at least a couple hundred pounds each. A curving pull handle made of a dark gray metal stuck out of each door. They were also huge.
At first, I thought they opened on their own, but a man appeared from the dim light beyond them. A tall man. Very tall. He had to push above seven feet. Even Brian would have looked up to the man. He was thin, too, like a pole. I wondered if he was an Ashling in disguise like Seanna, but he didn’t have her pale skin. His was tanned to a deep brown. His face was long, and his mouth was so thin, he barely had lips. His eyebrows drooped over his pale eyes like his face was starting to melt. He wore a crisp, white shirt with black pants and vest, the familiar swirl stitched above his left breast. All of it looked pressed to perfection without wrinkle or out of place crease.
Nobody said anything. We kind of just stood there looking at each other. I wondered if he waited for us to announce ourselves and wait to be invited in. I glanced at Seanna for what to do. A vein stood out in her neck from clenching her jaw. Her hands were so tight that all color disappeared from her skin.
“We’re here to see Daresh,” I finally said to break the awkward moment.
“Indeed, you are expected,” the tall man replied. His voice was deep, very deep, but soft at the same time. He stepped to the side and bowed slightly at the waist, admitting us.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, stepping over the threshold. Aoife followed, but Seanna stood outside the door. “You coming?” I asked.
She looked at me and nodded. I couldn’t figure out what was going on with her all of the sudden. She had been nothing but a pillar of confidence since she approached me in the park back on Earth. Where did the onset of timidity come from?
We stepped into a foyer larger than my house. The inside walls were lined with deep, dark red wood that would have made the place down right gloomy if not for lamps generously spaced around the room. It was everywhere. It felt like I had walked into a house that hadn’t been updated since the seventies, complete with wood paneling. Very high-end paneling. I hadn’t seen so much wood since leaving the Ashling forest, not counting all the dead and rotting trees in the swamp. I wondered where they got all that wood. There was definitely not enough out on the plains to produce all it took to line the room. Even the floors were hardwood.
The lamps also illuminated tapestries, paintings, and other art that hung around the walls. They depicted all kinds of scenes. One tapestry covered a large portion of the wall to the left. It portrayed an enormous battle straight out of a Tolkien movie. It was a chaos of death with hordes of humans battling balataurs and another group of creatures I didn’t recognize. They looked like thin, long-limbed people. Extra-long. They had blue-tinted skin and four-fingered hands that hung down to their knees. They stood with a hunch that made their arms hang even lower. In their fists, they wielded swords with extended curved blades. Almost to the creature, they carried their weapons in their left hands. The battle looked bloody judging by the number of bodies littering the ground. Most of the dead were balataurs or the strange creatures. I assumed the tapestry was constructed by a human. History was told by the victor. I wondered if it was a victory or if that battle really took place. I wanted to look at it closer. The detail stitched into the tapestry was amazing. Even from across the room, I could see expressions on the faces. Determination lined the humans’ faces. The balataurs snarled with spittle hanging from their snouts. The other creatures had oddly blank looks like they didn’t care if they were there or not. Like they didn’t care they were obviously losing the battle.
The tall, thin man didn’t give me time to look closer, though, as he ushered us through the foyer into a long hallway. It was equally wooden and lit by lanterns that flickered. Art also adorned the corridor. We passed pedestals with sculptures on them. Some were indistinct lumps of curving and twisting hardened clay. Others were extremely detailed statues of naked women. I avoided looking at Aoife and Seanna as we passed those particular pieces of “art.”
I turned my attention to the servant, as I assumed he was, as he led us down the hall. Although he was tall and thin, I didn’t think he was one of those creatures in the tapestry. This man walked with a stiff back and lacked the extended arms. Although his long face was blank of emotion, he carried himself in a regal manner like he served the queen of England herself.
We passed other intersecting hallways, but never strayed from the main hall. It seemed to go on forever. I lost count of the number of halls we passed. Was it four or five? At any rate, the tall servant came to a stop at a door. Just to the left, a tapestry depicted a group of ragged-looking humans huddling together with fearful faces. In the background, a rock jutted from the lush terrain. There in the center of the rock was a dark spot, unmistakably a gateway. I wondered if this scene was of the first humans to step on Alisundi and the gateway connected to the Mediterranean on Earth.
The lanky man wrapped overlong fingers around the door handle and pulled it open, inclining his head in invitation for us to enter.
I stepped forward first, entering into a large room devoid of any furniture other than an occupied chair and desk. No tapestries hung from the walls; no art stood proudly on pedestals.
“I can’t do this,” Seanna muttered. “We have to—”
“Ah, the Gatekeeper himself has arrived at last!” A booming voice pulled my attention back to the single chair in the cavernous room. A man sat there, his hand with pen hovering over a stack of papers on the desk in front of him. “Welcome. Welcome.” He dropped the pen carelessly to the desk and stood. The chair scraped across the floor as he pushed it back.
The man was of average height, about an inch shorter than me. He was slim, but nothing like the servant who had let us in. He had deep brown hair, cut short, and a matching beard. He wore clothes that looked airy thin but well made. He had the same swirl over his left breast and another one etched into a wide, metal bracelet on his wrist.
“I’m very pleased you made it safe.” His eyes traveled to Seanna, who kept her head down, eyes on the floor. “And with extras. How lovely,” he said, eyeing Aoife. “Come in, come in.” He waved a hand, beckoning us further into the room.
“You’re Daresh?” I asked, taking a step forward.
“Oh, how absentminded of me to not introduce myself.”
“It’s an epidemic on this world,” I muttered.
“Of course, I am. Lord Daresh, humble leader of the good people of Delicia at your service, as it were.” He chuckled.
“Gaige,” Aoife said from behind me.
“Very glad you made it,” Daresh said, nodding his head as if pleased with that fact. “I had my doubts, I must admit. Not an easy journey, not at all. Especially not for Ashlings, who are notorious for hiding themselves away in their woods. I must say I’m impressed, girl.” He bowed his head ever so slightly at Seanna.
“Something’s not right,” Aoife said.
“What?” I turned to her, but Daresh drew my attention back.
“A good day this day! Nay, dare I say a great one?” His laugh boomed around the room, echoing back from the corners. “We’ve waited awhile for this, haven’t we?” He half turned to address the question behind him. “Our plans can finally move forward.”
For the first time, I noticed a cloaked, unmoving figure standing just behind Daresh. Even though there were plenty of lamps to light the room, the hooded person somehow managed to hide himself in the faintest shadow between the lights. He reminded my vaguely of Sholto, except this figure stood straight-backed, not hunched like the ruler of the swamp.
“Plans? To help my mom?” I stammered, staring at the figure.
Daresh turned to me, confusion flashing across his bright blue eyes. It didn’t last long before they sparkled with humor, a split second before another round of laughter burst forth. “His mom? Is that what you told him?” he asked Seanna. “Good job. Who knew you had it in you? Mom.” He laughed anew. “Always a good ploy, using a loved one. So, tell me. What is wrong with mother dearest?” he asked me.
“You don’t…” I shook my head. What in the world was going on? “You don’t know?” I looked to Seanna for an answer.
“I’m sorry, Gaige,” she whispered without looking up, keeping her head hung. “I had to.”
“Oh my, but he is thick, isn’t he?” Daresh asked his silent, cloaked companion.
“Gaige!” Aoife yelled, getting my attention. Her eyes burned bright gold. “We’ve been screwed over.”
34
Betrayal
Daresh’s booming laughter made its way around the room again like he had just heard the funniest joke. Nobody else shared in the laughter, but he didn’t seem to care. The cloaked figure remained unmoving behind the desk and the beanstalk servant stood placidly in the doorway. Daresh threw back his head and let his mirth roll.
“Gaige, we need to get out of here,” Aoife said, grabbing my arm.
“What the hell is going on here?” I demanded. “Are you going to help my mom or what?”
That sent Daresh into a new fit of laughter. I began to wonder if that man wasn’t off his rocker kind of crazy.
“Oh my,” he said, struggling to breathe. “Big and dumb. How very cliché.”
“Gaige!” Aoife yanked on my arm, spinning me to face her. “He’s maroon, a very deep maroon.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Evil. I see people in colors, remember? Maroon is evil.” When I just stared at her, she grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “Don’t you see? She set us up!”
I turned to Seanna who remained still, face down and shoulders slumped. “Seanna?”
Daresh took a deep breath and straightened. “Okay, okay.” A bit of a giggle escaped, but he kept it under control. “Enough of that. Let’s get down to business.”
“I don’t have any business with you. Come on, Aoife.” I grabbed Aoife’s hand and walked to the door, but the beanstalk didn’t move. “Move it, Lurch,” I growled, “or I’ll move you.”
I had no idea where that came from, but the tall man seemed less than impressed by my threat. When he remained unmoving in front of the door, I put a hand on his chest, intending to push him out of the way. That was my intention, anyway. The dude was tall but barely hit a buck fifty soaking wet. I’d shouldered kids almost twice his mass out of the way in football games, but when I pushed him, he didn’t move. Not even a fraction of an inch.
His immovable object won out against my not-so-irresistible force. I probably should have put some telekinetic power behind the push, but I really wasn’t expecting to have so little success at it the old-fashioned way. Before I could build up the power inside me to add the extra nudge, his long hand slapped around my neck. I didn’t have time to gasp before he lifted me a foot off the ground and slammed me down on my back. With a grunt, I felt all the air rush out of my lungs.
Aoife stepped over me and threw a punch at him. Not a good move considering the height difference. It landed with a weak thunk on his chest. He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her with enough force that she skidded across the floor a good ten feet. Luckily, she didn’t get the violent body slam that I was still trying to recover from.
I rolled to my hands and knees, trying to will air into my lungs. Sparkles started going off in my vision from the lack of air, and darkness clung around the edges of my vision. I figured I had only a few more moments before I passed out, but my lungs decided to finally wake up. My useless gasps turned into a huge intake of air. The pops of light in my vision faded away reluctantly.
I didn’t have time to enjoy my newly regained ability to breathe before the beanstalk walked by and snatched me up by the back of my shirt collar. He dragged me across the room where he deposited me at Daresh’s feet. I blinked up at the man. He stood with his arms folded over his chest, a scowl on his face.
“Now, are we done with this foolishness?” He sounded like he was lecturing an eight-year-old. “You should know that you won’t be leaving here until I get what I want. If you cooperate, then I might let you leave when that happens. In fact, let’s make sure you don’t get it in your head that you can leave unless I permit it.”
He glanced over his shoulder at the cloaked figure, who stepped forward. I tried to stand, but the beanstalk’s hand on my back kept me on my hands and knees with very little effort. The black cloak filled my vision as he knelt in front of me. Up close, I saw patterns stitched in the fabric. They swirled around each other like the steps for a group of dancers.
The figure inside the cloak hissed something I didn’t understand and a pair of hands materialized out from the folds in the cloak. I took a sharp breath into my sore lungs. I guess I had seen enough weird creatures on this planet that I shouldn’t have been surprised by another, but those hands were anything but human. There were only three thick digits, two fingers and one thumb. Deep lines and cracks crisscrossed the grayish skin. The figure curled a hand into a fist, thumb extended up. On the tip was what looked like a flat, blue jewel. With surprising speed, its hand lashed out and pushed its thumb against my forehead. After the treatment I had received thus far, I guess I expected it to hurt, but all I felt was a faint tingle.
The cloake
d figure straightened and stepped back.
“Now, we can conduct our business, yes?” Daresh said. He flicked his hand and Mr. Beanstalk reached down to haul me to my feet by the back of my shirt.
“What do you want with me?” I demanded. My heart thudded in my chest, driven by the anger building in me. I was slow on the uptake, as per usual, but the whole weight of what exactly was going on settled in pretty quick. I thought Seanna had been acting differently the closer we came to Delicia, but it never crossed my mind she was…what? I still wasn’t sure what was going on, but it was apparent I wasn’t there to obtain a cure for Mom.
“Want? Shouldn’t it be obvious?” he asked. “Oh, come now, you can’t be that dense. What could you possibly have to offer somebody like me? Don’t think too hard. It’s not a trick question.”
Thinking too hard wasn’t a specialty of mine, but there was only one thing I had that anybody could possibly want. “The gate,” I said.
“The fog has lifted and a thought has entered his head!” Daresh exclaimed.
“But I agreed to close it. There’s no need for all this.”
“And the fog settles back in.” His shoulders slumped in fake disappointment. “Why in the name of the Mines of Delicia would I want the gate closed?” He leaned in close. “You’re going to open it wider for me, not close it.”
“But Seanna said Lortmor was the one who wanted to get through the gate.” I looked back to where she stood, but she hadn’t moved, head still bowed.
“Well, of course he does. Which is why I had to get you before he did so you can open the gate for my army.”
I turned to Aoife, who thankfully still sat on the floor. I worried she would come out swinging again, but she hadn’t seemed to regain that fire yet. Her face was red and tears slipped from the corners of her golden eyes. I turned back to Daresh. “What do you want with Earth?”
He glanced back to the cloaked figure who had retreated back to the shadows around the desk before answering. Daresh spread his hands wide. “Does it matter? I want the gate open for my armies and you’re going to do that for me. That’s all that should matter to you.”
The Gatekeeper Trilogy Page 30
