The Golden Circlet

by Unknown

  She was walking steadily and with peculiar confidence, as if she knew every centimetre of the path perfectly. Reaching the bank she jumped down on to the beach, her feet rattling the pebbles as she walked over them. She didn’t seem in the least afraid of slipping or slithering; in fact she wasn’t even looking where she was going. As if, Lizzy thought, she was in a trance, and another mind was controlling her.

  Halfway to the sea’s edge Rose stopped and looked around. Lizzy and Jack didn’t move a muscle and Lizzy held her breath as well, though Rose couldn’t possibly have heard it above the slap and murmur of the sea. After a few seconds Rose seemed satisfied that she was alone, and continued on towards the water. A metre from where the foamy edge of the tide licked she stopped and stood waiting.

  A hand touched Jack’s leg and, looking down, he saw Kes signalling to him. He and Lizzy lowered themselves back into the boat, and as they sat down the water beyond Kes rippled and Morvyr appeared.

  ‘Jack —Lizzy – She beckoned them to put their heads down to hers, then whispered in their ears, ‘The dolphins have seen Taran!’

  Lizzy’s heart gave a great thump, and Jack whispered back, ‘Where is she?’

  ‘She came through the silver portal, and she’s heading this way. She’ll be here before long. And she’s not wearing the pearl crown!’

  Kes’s eyes shone with excitement. ‘It’s what you said would happen, Father —the crown’s too precious to risk, so she’s left it behind. Which means we can take it from her!’

  ‘And we mustn’t waste time,’ Morvyr added. ‘We must go now.’

  Jack took off the locket that hung round his neck and gave it to her. ‘Do you remember all that Queen Kara taught you?’

  Morvyr smiled at him. ‘Oh, yes. I know how to use the pearl.’

  ‘Then… good luck.’ He looked fondly at the three of them in turn. ‘All of you.’

  Lizzy had already wriggled free of the clothes she had put on over her wetsuit. She climbed over the launch’s gunwale and slid into the water. Morvyr blew Jack a kiss, which he returned. Then without a splash she, Lizzy and Kes slipped under the water and were gone.

  Chapter Nine

  Morvyr set a fast pace through the dark water, and Lizzy needed all her strength to keep up. The sea felt bitterly cold, and the currents were much trickier than anything she was used to; they criss-crossed and clashed, so that she had to fight to make any progress at all. Again she envied Kes’s ability to change from human to merboy. If only she could do the same, could make her legs become a tail! She was slowing them down, and because of her they would lose valuable time.

  ‘How —far is the —black pearl’s gateway?’ she called breathlessly.

  Morvyr’s voice was carried back to her on the rush of water. ‘Not far! But we must hurry —we haven’t got long!’

  Taran couldn’t be far away from the island now. Soon she would arrive at the beach to meet Rose, and then she would discover that she had been tricked… Lizzy redoubled her efforts until she felt as if her muscles were tearing.

  The moon had risen now, and its silvery light filtered down through the water, brightening the gloom. Suddenly a huge, grey bulk of rock loomed to their left, and Lizzy’s eyes widened as Morvyr turned and darted towards it.

  ‘It’s all right!’ Kes called. ‘Mother knows what she’s doing!’

  Hoping he was right, Lizzy gathered her courage and followed. Then she saw the mouth of a small, narrow cave in the rock. Morvyr swam straight up to the cave, and Lizzy realized that she was going to lead them inside. Beyond the entrance everything was pitch black… Lizzy felt a rush of terror, and before she could stop herself she blurted, ‘I don’t want to go in there!’

  Morvyr turned and smiled reassuringly. ‘Don’t be afraid. This is the gate. And the black pearl will show us the way.’

  She opened Jack’s locket, then moved her fingers over the secret compartment. It sprang wide, revealing the black pearl, and at once the pearl began to give off a soft, strange glow. Lizzy gazed at it in wonder, for the light itself was almost black too, yet somehow it drove back the darkness. It shone on Morvyr’s face and hair, draining them of colour so that she looked like someone in an old photograph. Morvyr smiled.

  ‘Come on,’ she said gently.

  She swam into the cave. Lizzy and Kes hesitated for a moment. Then they grasped hold of each other’s hands and went after her.

  The cave was not as deep as Lizzy had feared, and by the glow from the pearl she saw a bowl-shaped hollow in the rocky floor at the back. They gathered round the hollow, and Morvyr held the pearl over it.

  A pool of light as eerily colourless as the light of the pearl began to shine in the bowl. Lizzy’s memory flashed back to the other gateway, through which she and Kes had travelled when they were forced to take the silver pearl to Taran. She waited, knowing what would come, as the light from the hollow started to move, slowly at first then faster and faster, turning to a whirlpool. Lizzy took a deep breath —then the whirlpool snatched them and spun them and pulled them into the gateway. Twisting and turning, they hurtled down the magical tunnel —then with a rush and a roar their heads broke through water into dazzlingly bright air.

  They had surfaced in the pool of the rainbow cave. As the churning water slowly calmed down, Lizzy gazed around. There were the nine mirrors set into the cave walls. Seven shimmered with the colours of the rainbow, the eighth glowed silver. But the ninth was still dark and lifeless, and would stay that way until the black pearl was restored to its place in the Queen’s crown. And there was the great rock that Taran used for her throne. It was empty now, but Lizzy remembered the look of cruel triumph on Taran’s face as she held up the silver pearl and gloated over her prize.

  Morvyr’s voice broke the spell of her thoughts. ‘Quickly, children!’ she said. ‘The golden circlet is here somewhere, and we must find it. Look around the rock and the mirrors, and I will swim to the bottom of the pool and search there.’

  Without waiting for an answer she dived and vanished. Kes looked at Lizzy. ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘We’d better get started …’

  Hidden behind the rock outcrop in his gently bobbing boat, Jack waited and watched. There was no sign of Taran yet, and Rose’s trancelike mood had begun to wear off. She was growing impatient and now she paced up and down the beach, hands shoved in her pockets, feet scuffing at the pebbles. Even though it was summer the night was chilly as the wind came in off the sea, and every so often Rose shivered and rubbed at her upper arms.

  Jack was cold too, but he didn’t mind. The longer Taran took to arrive, the happier he would be, because it gave Morvyr and the twins more time for their quest. Where were they now? he wondered. Had they got through the black gateway and reached the rainbow pool? Had they found any trace of the golden circlet? Arhans and the other dolphins might have news, but he had warned them to stay well away from the island in case Taran should see them and become suspicious.

  Suddenly a glimmer of silver appeared as something made the sea’s surface ripple a short way from the beach. At once Jack was alert, staring over the water. Rose had seen the glimmer too, and she ran to the water’s edge, craning eagerly forward. There was another ripple, closer to the shore —then Taran’s head and shoulders rose from the water. She was wearing her cloak of seaweed, and bracelets and necklaces made from rare shells hung at her throat and wrists. The moonlight gleamed in her blue-black hair, lit up the emerald green of her eyes. Jack heard Rose gasp at her beauty and he shuddered. Taran was beautiful, all right. Beautiful —and evil.

  ‘Ah, Rose.’ The Queen’s musical voice carried clearly above the murmur of the sea. ‘We meet at last.’ Her eyes glinted hungrily. ‘Have you brought the black pearl?’

  ‘Yes, Your Majesty.’ Rose drew out Lizzy’s locket on its chain round her neck, and held it up. ‘It’s here!’

  Taran smiled sweetly. ‘Come closer, my dear. Show me.’

  Not caring about her jeans or shoes, Rose waded into the sea
until the water was above her knees.

  ‘Ahh!’ Taran breathed. ‘And your sister?’

  ‘She’s fast asleep at the cottage we’re staying in. She doesn’t know anything.’

  ‘Excellent!’ Taran swam closer, her gaze never leaving the locket. ‘I am sad and disappointed about Lizzy. She was duped by Morvyr, and she really believes that I am a usurper. Poor child; she is very foolish. Such a shame. But then she is so young. You are older. You understand the truth.’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ said Rose. ‘I do. The black pearl is rightfully yours, for you are the true Queen.’

  ‘Of course I am. What a wise girl you are.’ Taran smiled her sweetest smile, then reached a hand, palm upwards, towards Rose. ‘Now, my dear, give me the pearl.’

  ‘It isn’t here!’ Lizzy turned from side to side, fists clenched in frustration.

  ‘It must be!’ Morvyr had surfaced in the pool and her eyes were frantic.

  ‘Mother, we’ve looked everywhere in the cave,’ said Kes. ‘There’s no sign at all of the circlet!

  Taran must have hidden it so carefully that we’ll never find it!’

  ‘And time’s running out,’ Lizzy added worriedly.

  Morvyr gazed around. ‘Oh, where could it be? Unless …’ Suddenly her expression changed.

  ‘Oh, no …’

  ‘What, Mother? What is it?’

  ‘I don’t know… something… a feeling …’ A shiver went through Morvyr, and with a flick of her tail she darted across the pool to where the black mirror was a dull, dead oval in the cave wall. Shutting her eyes tightly she added, ‘There’s a spell – Queen Kara taught it to me long ago. If only I can remember it… Ah!’ Her eyes snapped open again and she raised the pearl and touched it to her forehead.

  ‘Mirror dark to mirror bright —

  Show the truth, and bring the light!’

  To Lizzy’s amazement the empty mirror began to glow with the same strange light that shone from the black pearl. For several seconds darkness swirled in its depths. Then, slowly, it cleared, and a scene appeared. There was the beach on the island. There was Rose, at the water’s edge. There, too, was Taran. And Rose was holding Lizzy’s locket …

  Rose had trouble with the locket’s secret compartment. Taran began to seethe at the delay, and it was all she could do to keep her temper. But at last Rose’s fingers found the right spot, and the compartment sprang open.

  ‘The pearl!’ Taran hissed. ‘Is it there?’

  ‘Yes, Your Majesty.’ Carefully, almost reverently, Rose took the fake pearl between finger and thumb and held it up. Jack had painted it very skilfully, laying a silvery sheen over the black so that it looked exactly like the real one.

  Taran’s sigh of delight sounded like a surging wave. ‘Give it to me! Give it to me!’

  Rose held out the pearl and Taran snatched it. Holding it in her cupped palm she stroked it with greedy fingers. ‘I have waited a long time for this moment,’ she said, almost crooning in her delight. Then she reached beneath the folds of her seaweed cloak, and drew something out.

  Rose said, ‘Oh, how lovely!’ And Jack peering over the rock felt a surge of horror as he saw what Taran was holding. It was the golden circlet – she had brought it with her after all! So Morvyr and the twins were searching her lair for something that they would never find!

  Helplessly Jack watched as Taran raised the circlet in one hand and the pearl in the other. The moon’s light seemed to set the circlet on fire, and all the pearls round its edge glowed like brilliant cats’ eyes. Then Taran’s voice rang out in the night as she chanted the binding spell:

  ‘Seven you were; eight you are;

  Nine you now shall be.

  Let the circle be completed

  By the power of moon and sea!

  I bind you once, I bind you twice,

  And three times with this sign.

  The circle is completed —

  And now all power is mine!’

  At the same moment that she spoke the last word, Taran touched the black pearl to the last empty setting in the circlet.

  Nothing happened. The pearls did not flash their rainbow colours, and the fake black pearl did not magically join with the circlet but simply lay lifeless in Taran’s hand.

  For a moment Taran was very, very still. Then slowly her head turned and she fixed a terrible stare on Rose. Her eyes seemed to turn to green fire, and her face twisted into a look of towering rage.

  ‘You have tricked me.’ Her voice began as a low snarl, then exploded from her in a shrill scream. ‘YOU HAVE TRICKED ME!’

  With a powerful thrash of her tail she flung herself forward —nd the spell that had hypnotized Rose snapped. Rose jolted awake to see Taran lunging at her. She screamed and tried to scramble back to the shore, but the pebbles under her feet were slippery and treacherous, and with another cry she fell backwards into the water.

  ‘Rose!’ Horrified, Jack leaped from the boat and over the rock, scrabbling and slithering in a desperate bid to help. But he was too late. As Rose tried to get to her feet Taran flung the black pearl away and clamped a hand on her arm. The Queen’s fingers closed with a grip like an eel’s jaws, and she dragged Rose into the sea.

  Chapter Ten

  ‘Rose!’ Lizzy’s scream echoed Jack’s as the black mirror showed what was happening. She didn’t pause, didn’t think – spinning on her heel, she dived into the rainbow pool.

  She heard Kes and Morvyr yelling at her to come back as she plunged under the water and down, but she ignored their warnings. Rose was in terrible danger, and nothing else mattered! The whirlpool rushed to meet her and she hurled herself into it. It snatched hold of her and carried her away, faster and dizzyingly faster, until she burst out of the gateway in a whirl of bubbles.

  Gasping, she turned towards the cave entrance and was through it in seconds and swimming with all her strength towards the island. Taran was going to drown Rose – she had to be stopped!

  Frantically Lizzy churned through the water, arms flailing, feet kicking. Faster, faster, faster! But she wasn’t fast enough. She didn’t have the power, didn’t have the speed!

  Suddenly a shock went through her, a violent tingling that seemed to start in her head and surge down to her feet. Her feet – they weren’t feet any more! She was changing – she could feel it – her legs fusing together, her feet becoming one, becoming a tail. She was a mermaid!

  Lizzy gave a strange, wild cry of triumph and hope as, swift as a dolphin, she hurtled towards the place where Rose was fighting for her life.

  It took Jack only a few seconds to start the engine, but even as he powered the launch out of the rocks’ shelter and into open sea, he knew that there was nothing he could do. Taran and Rose had vanished beneath the surface; he could pinpoint the spot where they had gone under, but he wouldn’t be able to reach them without diving over the side. He couldn’t breathe water – he couldn’t help Rose!

  ‘Arhans!’ he roared. ‘Arhans, help us, quickly!’ But the dolphins might be anywhere. Even if Arhans had heard him, she was probably too far away to get here in time.

  Then, further out to sea, he saw water splash and churn, and for a moment the flukes of a shining tail appeared above the surface. For a moment he thought it was a dolphin. Then he realized how wrong he was.

  Through a dark whirl of water Lizzy saw Rose and Taran ahead of her. Rose was struggling, but her struggles were becoming weaker and Taran’s grip was relentless. She was pulling Rose down, deeper into the sea, and a surge of mixed fury and desperation went through Lizzy and gave her new energy. Bunching her fists and stretching both arms ahead of her, she put on a final burst of speed and charged straight at the evil Queen.

  Taran’s back was to Lizzy and she didn’t see her coming. Lizzy hit her full on, and the impact sent Taran spinning sideways. She lost her hold on Rose, who at once started to sink. Darting frantically after her, Lizzy grabbed her under both arms and surged towards the surface. But Rose was a limp weight; she had
lost consciousness and her sodden clothes were dragging her down. Even if Lizzy could reach the surface with her, could she get her to shore?

  In the chaos of the moment she had not heard the noise of an approaching engine. But as she and Rose came up into the moonlit air, she saw the launch heading fast towards them with Jack at the wheel.

  Lizzy waved frantically, spluttering as air and water mingled in her mouth. She almost let go of Rose but just managed to grab her again, then Jack was there, stopping the boat and leaning over to take the heavy burden.

  ‘I’ve got her!’ He heaved Rose over the gunwale, then as she fell into the launch his eyes widened with alarm and he shouted, ‘Lizzy, look out!’

  Lizzy turned just in time to see Taran speeding towards her. The Queen’s face was ugly with rage and her hands were outstretched like claws. There was no time for anything but instinct and, as Taran lunged to attack, Lizzy’s tail flipped and she dived. Taran shot past above her, then while Lizzy righted herself the Queen twisted with incredible agility and came at her again. An arm lashed out and Lizzy dodged, her tail swishing round and slapping across Taran’s midriff. Then through the foaming and bubbling of the water she saw a flash of gold. The circlet! A reckless impulse hit her like a lightning strike. If she could get hold of it —

  She didn’t pause to think but hurled herself at Taran. Taken by surprise, the Queen was thrown off balance, and Lizzy’s fingers clamped on the circlet. The two of them struggled ferociously as she tried to pull the circlet from the Queen’s grasp, but Taran was much bigger and stronger, and Lizzy began to lose her grip. She made a last, despairing effort to wrest it away – and suddenly she somersaulted backwards as Taran gave a scream and let go.

  The long pole of a boathook had speared down from above them and caught in Taran’s seaweed cloak. Jack! Lizzy realized with delight. He must have glimpsed them under the water, and he was helping her! Jack pulled on the pole, jerking Taran away. She tried to free herself but her arms and tail were tangled in the cloak’s folds.