by Leyland, L J
‘Note that I will not rise to that, as I am far too superior and mature. I have taken a vow of non-violence.’
‘I suppose that you’re going to be just as non-violent when we face the Mayor?’ he asked, his eyebrow raised.
‘Vows can be broken,’ I replied.
Chapter Thirty
It was the smell that first alerted me to the fact that I was nearly home. It was pitch black and for all I could see, we could have been anywhere – the Highlands, the Metropole, Hell. But the minute I smelt that briny, sluggish air, I knew I was home. The peaty marshes thickened the air with a pungency that was soupy and acidic. The clear, cold air of the Highlands felt thin in comparison. Brigadus air was the sort that stuck in your throat and made all your clothes damp.
Matthias guided us into my jetty with great care. Fire torches were lit on the prow; they didn’t do much good. The blackness was too thick and stubborn for them to illuminate anything other than their immediate surroundings. I looked back out to sea and saw a line of beacons following us. It looked like one of the old fisherman tales about mermaids who would lure sailors to their deaths using lights and songs. It was three in the morning. We had been sailing all day and most of the night; my patience was strained. The closer we got to Brigadus, the bigger the lump got in my throat. It was as though the Highlands’ wind had blown away all my troubles but the still Brigadus air made them stagnate and congeal around me. They pressed down hard on me, weighing heavily on my shoulders.
In contrast, Noah was possessed of a glowing optimism. His pale skin caught the glow from the fire torches and radiated warmth and excitement. The fire was reflected in his eyes and the flames danced merrily. He had never looked more handsome. He seemed to sense that I was looking at him and he hopped from the prow to put his arms around me. ‘Welcome home,’ he said.
Tension tightened my throat so I just attempted a moronic smile. It didn’t fool him.
‘Don’t worry.’ He pushed my hair behind my ears and bent to whisper in my ears. ‘We can do this. We’re nearly there.’
‘I’m worried what I’ll find when the sun comes up,’ I said. I was praying, hoping, that the sun would never rise. I wanted to stay in the dark, ignorant of all the problems that the rising of the sun would bring. Daylight would mean confronting scenes that might make me upset. Daylight would mean finding out if Edie and Aiden were OK. At least in the darkness, I could delude myself that everything was fine. But in the daylight, I would actually have to go to Matthias’s grandmother’s shack and see if they were there, or if they had been discovered and taken. Daylight would mean seeing the preparations for the coronation ceremony and the arrival of the Metropolites. Daylight would mean confronting the Mayor. I wanted just a few more hours of ignorant bliss. But there were to be none.
The minute we landed, Matthias had us take torches and guide the other boats in. The ground crunched underfoot and I knew that it had been snowing. Snow in Brigadus usually fell as pure white snowflakes. However, the minute it touched the marshy mud, it turned into a murky brown slush. Matthias said that’s what Brigadus did to anything pure – turn it into a haggard, filthy mess. I could see what he meant. Even the nicest of Brigadus children grew up to be like their parents; worn-down good-for-nothings.
We guided the Highlanders into the deepest part of the cove, where the trees grew right next to the water. The weeping branches of willows offered a good camouflage. Once we were confident that the boats were undiscoverable, we gathered on the jetty for further instructions.
‘Parrots aren’t usually about this time of night but let’s not take any chances. We need to get to my parents’ mansion and we need to do it quickly, quietly, and without any fuss. We’ll go through the marshes. Maida will lead the way; she knows them like the back of her hand.’
Noah nodded towards me and I realised that a little pep talk was expected of me. I needed to be seen to be competent if I wanted to instil any sort of confidence in these warriors. After all, they had left their land and their loved ones to follow us here and fight a fight that wasn’t really theirs. I needed to be seen as unafraid, and therefore I had to bury my own fears deep, deep down.
‘Erm … OK. These marshes may not be as high or as rocky as your mountains but they are just as dangerous, if not more. Whilst the danger in the Highlands is obvious – the landmines, the cliffs; danger in Brigadus has a way of sneaking up on you and catching you unaware. Your animal might be a stag but I’d say the people of Brigadus are weasels. And believe me, a weasel is much more dangerous. A stag’s antlers are obvious to all; they are a warning of danger. But a weasel will creep up on you and sink its teeth in until it meets bone. And it will never let go. You’ll find that this is the same for the people, and for the land here. Be aware of the hidden dangers of this place. Grown men regularly disappear in the marshes, so make sure you don’t. Keep close together and only step where I step.’
I swung my fire torch into the air and beckoned everyone to follow. The Highlanders, led by Fergus and Mhareen, had their antlers on. I sighed as I realised how slow our progress was going to be. Their antlers caught on everything; vines, twigs, giant ferns. They were designed for the wide, open fir-tree forests of the Highlands, not the tangled jungle of Brigadus. They weren’t used to the closeness of the little, twisted trees. The snow and mud slush made sucking, slurping noises at every step. The rustling as they untangled themselves from the grasps of vines was so loud that it sounded as though cymbals were crashing. We might as well have announced our arrival with a trumpet fanfare.
Matthias was sucking his teeth, trying to refrain from cursing the heavy-footed warriors.
‘Just try to spread your weight out on your feet. That way you’ll sit on top of the mud and not sink in,’ I heard him whisper to Fergus in a strained voice.
‘I don’t think your land wants us here,’ whispered Fergus. ‘Keeps trying to grab my antlers off. These are mine, yer bastard,’ he said, wrestling with a vine that had got a particularly strong grip.
Noah moved silently, with one arm holding aloft a torch and the other around Iris. Iris was surprisingly nimble and quiet. Well, I suppose she had had a lot of practice when she used to sneak after the Mayor.
As we rounded the frozen lake, the mansion loomed into view. No lights were on. It looked abandoned and coldly unwelcoming.
‘Your parents will be in bed? Do you have a key?’ I asked.
‘No, but the butler should open up if we knock.’
We extinguished our torches in the lake. The first watery rays of sun were beginning to fight against the darkness and make an appearance on the horizon. Snow had settled across the manicured lawns giving the topiary lions little white hats. I smiled as I passed them but Matthias grabbed my arm and forced me to stop. He pointed at the lawn. Numerous pairs of large footprints could be seen in the snow. My eyes traced their trail. They led to the front door. The huge wooden door was framed by pretty stained-glass windows on either side. The right-hand window next to the door lock was smashed. Broken shards of pink glass roses were scattered on the top step.
Noah sprinted across the lawn. I wanted to cry out to him to stop in case the intruders were still in the house but then that would let them know that he was coming. I dithered for a second, unsure what to do until finally I came to my senses.
‘Get back into the marshes,’ I whispered to the warriors. They set off towards the lake at full speed. Thank goodness they were well trained enough to follow orders without quibbling. ‘We’ll go and check it out with Noah. Go back to the boats and wait for us there. We’ll come and get you if it’s safe,’ I told Fergus.
He nodded and disappeared along with his warriors into the gloom.
I turned to see Iris following Noah at a sprint.
‘Oh, God, why didn’t you stop her?’ I shouted at Matthias.
‘She ran off before I could grab her! She’s really quick.’
We set off at a run, slipping on the icy ground. Grimmy was huffing an
d puffing after us.
‘Grimmy, go stay on the boat with Fergus,’ I hissed.
‘And have those bloody Highlanders feed me that yak’s milk again? Not bloody likely. No, I’m not leaving you now. We’re a team, remember? You can count on me, Regina,’ he said.
Matthias raised his eyebrows but neither of us said anything. There were far more important things at hand than Grimmy’s mistake. My bag banged against me as I ran; the binoculars and the golden gun lay heavy inside it. I reached inside and pulled out the gun, slipping it into the pocket of my inner shirt.
Noah crashed through the door. ‘Mum? Dad?’ he called.
His voice echoed hauntingly against the marble as though the lost voices of ghosts repeated his cry. There was no answer. There was no sound at all. Noah set off for the parlour but I grabbed Matthias. There was a slick of red on the floor.
‘Oh, God,’ croaked Matthias.
We followed Noah into the parlour at a walk. There was no point in running. I already knew. I already knew that they had been taken. I knew that we had been discovered.
The sight that met me in the parlour was astonishing. The beautiful red sitting room had been turned into a shredded mess of slash marks. Someone had taken a knife or a cleaver or some other monstrous weapon and slashed everything in an almost ritualistic frenzy. The embroidered cushions were scored so that their innards spilled out. The tapestries and curtains hung like tattered streamers from an ancient battlefield. They swayed faintly as we walked past them. The fur throws had been butchered as though they were still real animals. The judgemental faces that looked out of the portraits had all been made blind by cross-hatches scraped across their eyes; centuries of Penmorthans wiped out by one cruel act. I looked into the fireplace and saw the charred remains of ribbons of white fabric. It was the Duchess’s formal wrap. Lying on top of the pile was her silver tiara, blackened and burnished by the flames.
Noah knelt down, reached into the fireplace, and took the tiara in his hands. ‘They’ve been taken,’ he said. He turned the tiara over in his hands, as though expecting to find a secret message written on it. When he found nothing but blackened silver, he dropped it as though it was still hot from the long-dead fire. His hands covered his eyes. I walked to him and stroked his hair. From his kneeling position, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed his head against my stomach. His grip was surprisingly fierce.
His hair was gritty from the sea air and his neck felt feverish under my cold hands. Five minutes went by and still he did not get up. I gently removed his arms from around my waist and sank to my knees to look him in the eyes. His blue eyes were the colour of the sky, the sea, and tears. His embrace was heavy as though he had little strength to hold himself up. He leant on me and I supported him.
Eventually, he took in a deep breath and exhaled heavily, as though expelling all misery from his body. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘I knew this could happen but I never thought that it would.’ He rose to his feet and held out his hand to help me up. My hands were shaking and he steadied them. When I reached my feet, he bent down to kiss my forehead. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered.
Matthias and Grimmy re-entered the room. I hadn’t even noticed they had gone.
‘Noah, we’re so sorry,’ said Matthias. ‘All the rooms are like this. I think someone had a field day doing this, not one piece of furniture has been spared. It’s just mindless.’
Noah nodded. ‘Of course. I understand why they did this. People are jealous of what they can’t have. I’ve no doubt the Mayor ordered everything to be destroyed because he knew he could never be what the Bluebloods are. So he’s destroyed everything that they stand for instead. Wipe out their home and their culture and you’re half-way there to wiping out the people.’
‘You think the Mayor is behind this?’ asked Grimmy.
‘Of course,’ replied Noah. ‘Who else would it be?’
Iris suddenly laughed. ‘Now they’ll all know what it feels like to be locked up.’
Nobody dared voice what we were all thinking. Were Noah’s family being held by the Mayor and tortured for information? Or were they already lying in hastily dug shallow graves somewhere in the silent land of the marshes? No. It seemed more likely that they were alive and being kept as bargaining chips in order to lure us in. After all, the Mayor had done that before; he had used Flora as a bargaining chip to ensure Iris’s compliance. But just because an animal does something once, doesn’t mean that it will do it again. People who are on the cusp of madness cannot be relied upon to be consistent.
‘You know what this means?’ said Noah. ‘We’re going to have to go to the Complex to get them out. That’s what he wants. He wants us to go there to get them. We have to go there now.’
Matthias shifted uncomfortably. ‘Isn’t that just walking straight into a trap? Once we’re in, I don’t think we’ll ever get out. I think we should just go back to the boats, take some time to regroup and carry on with the plan. How can we expose the Metropolites at the coronation ceremony if we’re locked in a dungeon somewhere?’
‘They could be being tortured, Matthias!’ exploded Noah. He yanked on his hair and grimaced. He looked as deranged as Iris. The silence grew around us. As much as it hurt me to upset Noah, I agreed with Matthias. It would be a fool’s mission to go to the Complex. But then again, it is easy to be cool-headed when the victim is not one of your own. I knew that if it were Edie and Aiden being held, I wouldn’t rest until I had them safe in my arms. Edie and Aiden …
I bolted for the door but slipped on the melted ice patches on the marble. I landed with a bone-crunching thud and yelled in pain. I tried to get up but slipped again, my leather boots unable to grip the slippery surface.
‘Maida! Where are you going?’ asked Noah.
‘Edie and Aiden,’ I gasped. ‘If they’ve found out about your family, they’ve probably found out where they are too.’
‘Gran …’ said Matthias, his face drained of colour.
We didn’t need to say anything to each other. We both knew what to do. He took off at a fast pace, clutching his bandaged sides, but never slowing. He headed left through the marshes to the little hamlet of townsfolk shacks by the shoreline. He was the advance party. Being quicker than I, he would try to head them off, try to make sure the trail didn’t go cold. Maybe even intercept them in the act. I would follow with back-up. Well, practically speaking, only Noah could be classed as back-up. Grimmy and Iris were more hindrance than help but I couldn’t leave them behind. Not now they were being hunted by the Mayor.
We followed at a slower pace. Iris practically had to be dragged, although I knew she could run quicker than what she was showing. She seemed to be enjoying herself, as though she was pleased that others would now suffer at the hands of the Mayor as she once had. Noah’s face was boiling with frustration but he refrained from shouting at her. Grimmy’s face, in contrast, was heart-attack red but he still kept up with us. His breathing became more laboured. He crashed through the trees with an almighty racket, but what was the point of being inconspicuous now? Half the island probably knew we were wanted by the Mayor and were on the lookout for us.
Matthias’s grandmother’s house was one of the oldest state-provided shacks, erected thirty years ago by the shoreline. She had planted trees and flowers around it to make it more like home but nothing grew in the muddy sludge that the houses were resting on. I remembered that her shack had an oddly lopsided look as it was slowly being eaten by the mud. Vicious sea storms had battered the wood until it had taken on a smooth, grey pallor; the colour of drowned peoples’ skin.
We burst out of the tree line and I spied the row of higgledy-piggledy shacks. ‘It’s the last one on the row,’ I shouted, rounding the corner and pelting towards the sea-salted wooden hut at the end. Then I saw it. A body on the shoreline. Lying outside the house. Unmoving.
‘No!’
I couldn’t look, I couldn’t go near it. It was Wolf. He had been shot in the head. His kind face a
nd happy tail were lifeless. His body was already cold. I covered my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see his broken body lying so undignified in the mud.
How could I have betrayed a servant so loyal? How could I have put something so innocent in so much danger? He had always been our guardian when we were young. He had watched over us and protected us when we slept, always aware, always loyal. But he could watch over us no more. Our childhood guardian lay defeated. A feeling of impending fear shook me as I realised that I was unprotected, alone in the adult world now. He had been my last barricade against the truth that had long been banging at the door – with him, I could convince myself that I wasn’t entirely responsible for myself, Edie, and Aiden. We had Wolf to watch us and protect us. I could still be a child. But without him, the truth confronted me with an ugly face. I was responsible for us all and I always had been. And look what had happened. Look what I had done.
I began to sink to my knees, to feel his soft skin under my fingers one last time but Noah grabbed my shoulders and wouldn’t let me. We turned to face the shack. A light was on inside but it sounded quiet. I was sure that if the bodies of our family lay inside, Matthias would’ve been howling to the heavens. It heartened me slightly until I realised what the alternative was. The Mayor would have them.
I could stand it no more. I broke free of Noah’s grip and stalked towards the house. I had to know. Either way, I had to know what had happened to them. I banged the door open so hard that the rotten wood splintered and creaked.
‘And there she is,’ the Mayor said pleasantly. His snake-eyed gaze slithered over my body. He licked his lips. He had been eagerly anticipating this trap. ‘Didn’t I tell you she’d come? People like her are so predictable.’ His whole body shook with the magnitude of his laughter.
Matthias moaned from the floor and a boot met his injured side. I cringed and hoped that it had not reopened his wound. I scanned the room quickly and saw that Edie and Aiden weren’t there. Relief came like a wave and I had to catch my breath. Either they had escaped before the Parrots got there or they were being held in the Complex. I didn’t want to believe that a third, more final, option existed. It was too painful to even contemplate.
