by E. D. Baker
“This is the guest room,” Bascom said as he opened the door. “That’s a joke around here. We’ve never had any guests before. You two are the very first. Breakfast is at sunrise. Be there on time or it might be gone before you show up. Cold air makes big appetites! See you in the morning!”
Annie caught hold of his sleeve before he could walk away. “Wait. Before you go, I need you to answer a question. Is my uncle ill?”
Bascom looked away, no longer able to meet her eyes. “We aren’t supposed to talk about it,” he said, lowering his voice as he glanced down the corridor toward her uncle’s room. “Prince Rupert thinks it’s a big secret, but he scarcely eats and he’s grown weaker over the last few years. It’s obvious that he’s in pain sometimes. The only one he’s talked to about it is the captain. He must not want his family to know, or he’d have told you, too.”
“Do you think I should ask Rupert about it?” Annie asked Liam as they stepped into the room.
“We’ll be here for a few days,” said Liam. “Let’s see if your uncle brings it up first.”
Someone had already lit a fire in the fireplace and turned down the covers on the big double bed, but the air in the room was still icy and Annie shivered. Edda pushed past Liam and he shut the door behind them.
“The room isn’t bad,” said Liam.
There wasn’t much space, but there was a tapestry showing mountain peaks and clouds on the wall and a thick rug on the floor. A stool rested by the side of the tall bed, and there was a chair beside a small table in front of the window.
“Actually, it’s perfect if you’re an ice cube,” Annie said, taking off her shoes. “Last one in bed is a frozen egg!”
The blankets themselves were so cold that Annie and Liam had to curl together to try to get warm. After a few minutes of shivering, Annie was tempted to invite Edda onto the bed for extra warmth, but the bed wasn’t big enough for the three of them. Liam fell asleep before Annie did and she lay awake with just her face uncovered. When she was finally warm and pleasantly drowsy, she noticed that the wind had stopped blowing. All she could hear was Liam’s breathing and a steady thrum. Annie wondered what was making the sound just moments before she fell asleep.
The first thing Annie thought when she woke the next morning was that something was missing. Glancing at the window, she saw that it was frosted over; light could come in, but she couldn’t see out. She was up and getting dressed before she noticed how quiet it was. It sounded odd after the continuous howl of the wind the night before. She was about to say something to Liam, when Edda raised her head from where she was lying by the door and whined. The whine turned into a bark as Edda scrambled to her feet and began pawing at the door. Liam opened the door and the big dog ran out, her bark growing louder and deeper. Other dogs were barking now, and Annie could hear shouting in the corridor.
When Annie and Liam left the room, they nearly collided with Bascom. “Here, put these on,” he said, thrusting long fur coats at them. One was the color of cream, while the other was a darker brown. “It’s colder today than yesterday and you’d freeze in five minutes without these when you get outside.”
The barking was changing as all the dogs in the fortress began to howl. Annie thought it sounded as if they were being tortured, and she understood what Bascom had meant about the sound the day before.
“Do they smell trolls?” she asked, glancing down the corridor where a man was running with an enormous dog on either side.
“That they do,” said Bascom. “Your uncle said you can come up on the wall to watch. Bundle up first, though. And pull up your hoods. You’ll appreciate them in this cold.”
Annie struggled to pull on the coat as she and Liam followed Bascom down the corridor. He led them to a stairwell and they climbed up three flights to the top of the fortress wall. “You couldn’t see it yesterday with all the snow, but the wall is twenty feet thick and holds the living quarters. Prince Rupert’s rooms and the guest room where you slept are right above the gate. Best view in the fortress, I’d say. Ah, there’s your uncle. I should get to my post now. Hear that racket? The trolls must be getting close.”
Annie and Liam hurried to where the prince was standing with a group of men. They were all peering down from the wall at the snow-covered pass where dark shapes were shambling closer. Annie looked up, seeing the mountains for the first time. They rose high above the fortress, their sheer walls too steep for even the most nimble mountain goats to climb. Two vertical walls of stone defined the pass; the fortress filled one end of the opening, built flush with both sides so that it was completely blocked.
Annie glanced down. The trolls were much closer now. She was surprised by how quickly they could move. When she heard pounding below her, she guessed that some had already reached the wall.
“The only way through is the gate below us,” Prince Rupert said when he saw Annie trying to look over the side of the wall. “I don’t understand it. The magic has worked perfectly ever since the spell was cast. The trolls learned how fruitless it was to attack the gate, but they seem to think they can get through now.”
“The gate is impenetrable because of magic?” asked Annie. “Someone should have told me! Magic doesn’t work around me, remember? And I slept in a room above the gate.”
Her uncle frowned, his eyes flicking from the approaching trolls back to Annie. “Do you mean to say that your presence was enough to remove the spell?”
Annie nodded. “It happens all the time. It works faster if I touch something, but even when I’m close by, I make the magic fade. I didn’t know there was magic here. I can hear it when it’s present, but the wind was so loud last night, it would have drowned out anything else. Come to think of it, I did hear something when the wind stopped. The sound is gone now, but the magic should return when I’m no longer here. The trolls must be able to hear it, too. That’s how they know it’s gone. Liam and I should leave now, before they break through the gate. Here, we’ll give you back your coats.”
“No, no, keep them on!” said Prince Rupert. “You’ll freeze in an instant if you take them off now. I’m glad I was finally able to meet you, Annie. You, too, Liam. I hope to see you again someday.”
“So do I,” said Annie as Liam shook her uncle’s hand. “Perhaps in warmer circumstances!”
Annie wasn’t sure if she should hug Prince Rupert or not; he didn’t seem like the hugging sort. She finally decided that she would and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek besides. He seemed surprised and patted her back as if he didn’t know what else to do.
“Ready?” Annie said, turning to Liam.
“Here’s the next card,” he said, holding it in front of her.
“Good-bye!” they called to the prince and the men on the wall. And then they touched the middle of the card and were gone.
CHAPTER 4
“More mountains?” Annie said as she looked around. “At least we’re dressed for it this time.” She hadn’t had a chance to look at the card before she touched it, so she hadn’t known what to expect. They had arrived in a courtyard with the white walls of a large palace around them. Tall towers with pointed spires stood at the four corners, and a two-story white stone building took up much of the space. Beyond the courtyard walls, snow-topped mountains rose on every side. The sun was just coming up over one set of peaks, revealing more of the scenery every second.
“If the sun is coming up here, we must be west of Delaroo Pass,” said Annie. “Where do you think we are?”
Liam shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen any place like this before. This is amazing. It looks as if there’s snow on the ground outside the walls, but the air is balmy here. I’m hot in this coat. I’m going to take it off.”
Annie agreed. She was sweating with the coat on, and the air on her face felt far too warm for there to be snow. Pushing back her hood, she took off her coat and ran her fingers through her hair. She could hear the sound of splashing water now. When she looked for the source, she spott
ed a stone circle surrounding a fountain where water rose into the air and cascaded down in droplets. The most unusual thing about the fountain was the cloud of mist that hung over it, hiding the water one moment and revealing it the next.
“Why is it warm here when it’s so cold just beyond the walls?” Liam wondered aloud.
“It must be magic,” Annie said. “But if it is, it won’t last long with me here. Look at that fountain. Do you see the cloud above it?”
“That’s odd,” said Liam. “Do you think the water is warm, too?”
They strode to the fountain with their coats draped over their arms. Annie sat on the stone edging and reached her hand toward the water. She was about to touch it when Liam saw what she was doing and said, “Wait! We don’t know if it’s safe. Is that steam or mist coming off it?”
Annie pulled her hand back and peered down into the water. It wasn’t boiling or anything, but Liam was right; they didn’t know what the water vapor meant. They were both standing by the fountain when they heard shouting. Turning to look, they saw a small boy run through an open doorway, laughing. Wearing just an under-tunic, he had the rolling gait of a very young child. He was darting across the courtyard when a young woman dressed in a rich-blue, shapeless gown ran through the same doorway, calling, “Marco!” followed by something in a language that Annie didn’t understand.
Catching up with the child, the woman swung him off his feet and twirled him around. Another woman bustled after her, carrying a blanket. Annie had a feeling that the second woman was a servant; although they were both dressed in the same style, the second woman’s gown was made from a coarser fabric and she nodded in deference to the younger woman before handing her the blanket.
The young woman was talking to the little boy when he noticed Annie and Liam. He said something to the woman and she turned her head to look at them. Surprised, she pulled the little boy closer to her. When a bearded man came through the doorway a moment later, she called to him, again in the language that Annie didn’t understand.
Like the women, the man was wearing a shapeless garment that covered him from neck to feet. The blue fabric was finer than that of the older woman’s, and he had the bearing of a man in charge when he started toward Annie and Liam.
Liam moved toward Annie so that he was standing slightly in front of her while touching her arm with his. She noticed that he held one hand near the pocket where he had tucked the postcards, and was holding the medallion with the other.
“We didn’t mean to surprise you,” Liam said as the man drew close. “My name is Prince Liam, and this is my wife, Princess Annabelle. We’ve come to visit, but if this isn’t a good time, we can leave.”
Annie hoped the man could speak the same language, and was relieved when he said, “Welcome to Westerling! You have arrived at a most propitious time. We rarely have visitors during Shumra. Are you here to join us in meditation?”
“Actually, we were just married and are on our grand tour. A friend gave us a magical gift that will take us to far-off lands,” Liam said, patting the medallion. “We wanted to visit places that we had never seen before.”
“Then you are doubly welcome here,” said the man. “You honor us with your presence at such an important point in your lives. I am King Lalidama and this is my wife, Queen Shareeza. The runaway child is our son, Prince Marco.”
When the little boy looked up at them with laughing eyes, Annie felt her heart melt.
“You must have powerful magic here, to make the air of your palace so warm when there is snow all around you,” said Liam.
“That is not magic, other than the magic that nature gives us. Our palace is built above hot springs that keep us warm no matter how cold the weather. Come. Join us! We were about to break our fast as a family as we do every morning.”
Westerling! Annie thought as Liam accepted the invitation. That’s where the mystics live!
She and Liam had met someone who had claimed to be a prince from Westerling, but was really the adolescent son of a nasty witch. They had later learned that the prince of the far-off land was a two-year-old named Marco. Annie was excited to finally meet him.
As Annie and Liam followed the king and his family into the palace, they couldn’t keep from staring. The walls and floors were as white as the snow in the mountains, while the ceiling was covered with blue tiles the color of the sky. Murals depicting scenes from nature had been painted on some of the walls. A glimpse through an open doorway revealed men and women seated cross-legged in a circle, their eyes closed and their faces serene. All were wearing the same shapeless gowns as the king and queen, although the colors varied.
They had been in the palace for only a few minutes when the serving woman whisked the little prince away. No one seemed to react when a large golden-colored cat passed them as it prowled the hallways. It spared them only the briefest of glances before moving on. The cat made her think of Edda, and how comforting it had been to have the dog close by, if only for a little while.
They finally reached a large, open room with windows looking out over the mountains. The tables were low to the floor, and there were no chairs or benches. Instead there were pillows placed on the floor on three sides of the table. A bowl held an arrangement of delicate white and yellow flowers, scenting the air with their perfume. The king and queen waited patiently while a serving woman hurried to bring more pillows for the guests, and other servants brought bowls of fresh fruit, cooked grains rich with spices, and eggs cooked in a milky broth. Cups of sparkling water were set on the table along with clay pitchers dripping with condensation.
Annie and Liam waited for the king and queen to sit, but no one moved toward the table until the serving woman brought the prince to the room, dressed in a garment like his parents’. The king sat first with his wife and son on either side of him. Annie and Liam sat farther down the table. The little boy squirmed until his mother served him grain and eggs. His father didn’t seem to notice as Marco devoured the first few bites, then began to play with his food. The queen chided her son, telling him to stop. He did, but began to fidget again.
“Your palace is lovely,” Annie said, breaking the silence as everyone helped themselves to the food. “And the view is extraordinary.”
“You are most gracious,” said the king. “However, we are more interested in the tranquillity of our surroundings than in the outward appearance. The palace was built to encourage meditation.”
Marco reached for a piece of egg. It was soft from the milky broth, a texture he seemed to like. He laughed as he squeezed it with his hand, and the egg oozed out between his fingers. Queen Shareeza sighed and wiped his hand clean with a cloth she pulled from the folds of her garment.
“You said that hot springs keep your palace warm,” said Annie. “Do you use magic for anything here? The last place we visited was made strong through magic.”
The king shook his head. “This is a peaceful kingdom. The mountains are protection enough.” He turned to his food and studied it as if he’d never seen anything like it before. Using a shallow spoon, he scooped up a bite of grain and began to eat.
Although Queen Shareeza had food on her own trencher, she was more intent on tending to her son. The little prince was pushing his grain to the sides of his plate, making a mushy wall. The queen looked as if she wanted to say something, but didn’t after a quick glance at her husband.
Liam was enjoying his breakfast and didn’t notice anything going on around him. The silence lengthened while the king chewed each bite slowly and methodically. Annie was used to lively conservations during a meal. It bothered her that no one was talking. “The flowers are beautiful,” she finally said. “Where do you get fresh flowers among all this snow? Do you grow them here at your palace?”
“They came from somewhere out there,” the king said, waving his hand toward the window.
For the first time, the queen looked interested. “There is a meadow filled with flowers that grow even in the snow,” she said, her
eyes lighting up. “You can almost see it from here.” She pointed out the window to a narrow pass that widened out farther up the slope. “It is my favorite place to visit when I have the time. I saw a snow owl there once, and I often see rock dodgers.”
“What are rock dodgers?” asked Liam.
“They’re like rabbits, only bigger and plumper. People in the city in which I grew up prized them for their meat. Which we do not eat here,” she said, glancing at her husband.
“Rock dodgers? Interesting,” said Liam.
When no one seemed inclined to talk any longer, Annie gave up. She ate the grain and a small fruit that reminded her of a plum, but wasn’t interested in the eggs after seeing Marco play with his.
After a while, the little boy began to kick the table. His mother sighed and gestured to a servant hidden behind the door. The woman whisked Marco away, whispering something that managed to quiet the little boy.
Queen Shareeza had just picked up her spoon to start eating, when the king set his on the edge of his trencher and said to Annie and Liam, “You are welcome to stay as long as you would like. However, we won’t be able to talk to you again until dusk, when we eat our next meal. Queen Shareeza and I spend most of our day in meditation. You may join us if you’d like, but we won’t insist, as you are visitors. If you’d prefer, feel free to explore the palace. All we ask is that you do not disturb anyone who is meditating. Come, my dear. It is time.” He held out his hand to his wife, who reluctantly set down her spoon.
