Chapter 34
There was a sudden commotion at the main door of the hall. Everyone turned to look as the sentries struggled to restrain the tall, dark man who had thrust his way into the room, shouting and waving his arms. Darin recognized the first mate of the Petrel.
“Let me through!” he yelled. “I must speak with Sultan al-Din himself.”
The Vizier darted forward. “Silence! What is the meaning of this?”
“If the sultan wishes to see his daughter again, he must let my captain go.”
“Dog,” snarled the Vizier, making as if to strike the sailor.
Sultan al-Din held up his hand. “Wait. Bring him to me and let him speak.”
Visibly summoning up all his resolution in face of such authority, the first mate of the Petrel addressed the sultan. “Your majesty, we have your daughter in our power,” he said, his words coming out in a rush. “You must release my captain and his crew and provide us with a new ship. This must be done in exactly the way I shall instruct you if you are ever to see her again.”
“You are a fool,” hissed the Vizier. “My torturers will enjoy getting the whereabouts of Princess Safira out of you.”
The mate flinched and answered in a trembling voice. “If I do not signal my comrade within the hour, he will take the princess and leave her bound hand and foot somewhere, helpless, and even I will not be able to tell you where.” He looked imploringly at the sultan. “Would it not be better to avoid all risk, by granting what I ask?”
The sultan had been looking distraught during all this. He put his hand to his brow and studied the floor intently for a moment.
“I care nothing for these pirates,” he said finally. “You will do what this man asks until I know my Safira is safe.”
“But I am safe, Father!”
The voice came from a corner at the other end of the great hall. In the opening of a small door he had not noticed until now, Darin saw a young girl, black-haired and pretty. Standing by her side with his bow across his back, gazing in awe at the scene before him, was none other than Brynn.
“Safira!” The sultan started forward, his arms open, and the girl ran lightly across the chamber to meet him.
“Oh, Father!” she cried. “Brynn here has just saved me from kidnappers. I know I should not have been out alone. I was only visiting Fatima. Forgive me.”
The sultan embraced his daughter, murmuring softly in her ear. She looked up and saw the first mate.
“This man and another fell upon me. Then Brynn came and now we have the other kidnapper safely locked up.” She clapped her hands, her face flushed. “And guess what, Father! The dolphins came to meet Brynn when his ship came in this morning.”
The sultan laughed. “Ah, the prophecy! I’ve told you before not to set too much store by it. Besides, dolphins often sport around incoming ships.”
“But Brynn said he felt them trying to communicate with him. Come, Brynn, tell him!”
“Well done, Brynn,” Darin called out, as the lad advanced hesitantly towards them.
“Ah, of course, he is with you,” observed the sultan. “Yes, well done, indeed, young sir. I am forever in your debt—my daughter is very precious to me. You may name your reward.”
Brynn blushed deeply. He looked first at his friends, then at Safira, then at Sultan al-Din. “I would like to know about this prophecy,” he said finally.
Safira answered him. “Lord Bertilak, who brought the axe here, told my grandfather that one day someone would come from across the sea to claim it. He talked about the dolphins and everything.” Here she paused and a faint colour came to her cheek. “He also said that this hero would one day rule over the land at my side.” She turned to her father. “You must let him try,” she said quietly.
Sultan al-Din looked enquiringly at Broderic and Darin, who both nodded.
“I cannot believe the axe will do this young man much harm,” the sultan said. “My daughter has laid her hands safely on the axe before now and other children likewise, but they all lacked the strength to lift it.”
Safira took Brynn’s hand. “Won’t you try?”
Brynn stared at her. The full implication of what Safira was asking of him, now that he had heard the prophecy, made his heart swell; he felt giddy, as if he were losing himself in the depths of her dark, beseeching eyes. He nodded.
The whole company watched, breathless, as Brynn and Safira walked side by side across the room and mounted the dais together. Taking both of her new friend’s hands in hers, the princess placed them on the handle of the great green axe. She looked into his eyes for a moment and then stepped back.
As Brynn gazed down on the jewel-encrusted battleaxe, its magnificence seemed to him to be a symbol of the future that awaited him, a future he could never have imagined in his most exalted dreams less than two short weeks ago. Would he, an untried boy, be the one to achieve Arthur’s quest? He felt Broderic’s eyes on his back, and Darin’s, and he knew how much this meant to them; but most of all he was aware of the slender girl who stood nearby, watching him eagerly.
The green leather was soft and warm to the touch. Gripping it lightly, he lifted the huge axe. To his surprise, it was not particularly heavy; in fact, as he raised it to shoulder level, he judged it the perfect weight for him to wield with ease as an accurate and deadly weapon. Holding it vertically before him, he turned to face the company.
The courtiers and soldiers fell to their knees as one man, prostrating themselves before him with their foreheads to the ground; the captain and mate of the Petrel followed suit. Darin, Broderic and the sultan remained standing, looking at the axe in awe. Brynn noticed Sir Agravain taking advantage of their inattention to slip quietly out through the main door, but he was too dumbfounded to give a sign. He turned to Safira, who stood by his side with a look of rapture on her face. “What must I do now?” he whispered.
“We must put it in its case.”
She came to him and put her hands over his. Together they placed the Green Knight’s axe in the tattered leather case lying on the table, closed the lid and stepped down from the dais. The sultan hurried forward, put his arm around his daughter’s waist and clapped his hand on Brynn’s shoulder. Darin and Broderic, laughing now, crowded round to slap him on the back.
“As you see, my people all believe in the prophecy,” said Sultan al-Din, indicating the courtiers, who now started getting up off their knees. “You have proved your virtue and your strength. If you will rid my kingdom of this axe, you will forever have my gratitude. But you must act as you see fit.”
Brynn looked at his friends and then at Safira. His heart said one thing, but his sense of duty another.
“I must see this quest through and deliver the axe to my lord, King Arthur,” he said. He turned to Safira. “But I swear I’ll come back as soon as I can, if that’s all right.”
“You have proved yourself a trustworthy friend to my daughter,” said the sultan. “I pray I live to see the day that you return to us. And now, my friends, tonight you are my guests. In the morning, a galley will be waiting to take you to your king!”
That evening, there was feasting in the palace on a scale the three companions had rarely seen. At the banquet, spiced dishes, sweetmeats and sherbet appeared, all of them delicacies that were completely new to them; the whole company was merry, and none more than Sultan al-Din. Safira sat next to Brynn and when they had eaten their fill, she began to teach him some words in her language. Darin watched in amusement while the red haired boy sat spellbound by her pretty lips as they shaped the unfamiliar sounds.
At last, they all retired, each to his own chamber, happy to exchange the rough sleeping bags and the hard deck of the Petrel for the silk sheets and soft couches they found waiting for them.
Keepers of the Western Forest Page 34
