The Topaz Quest

by Gill Vickery

Tia and Yonas gently tipped their flowers onto an empty table at the top of the room then left quickly. Tia was glad to be outside again. She sat on the bottom step of a flight of stairs running up to a door on the upper storey and took deep breaths of fresh air.

  The door jerked open and an Outsider woman in shabby clothes came hurrying down. Tia stood up to let her pass but the woman banged into her and she went sprawling on the grass.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ the woman said. She pulled Tia up, brushed grass and leaves from her jacket, apologised again, then rushed away and disappeared among the trees. Tia and Yonas looked at each other, startled; it had happened so quickly and the woman had behaved so strangely.

  Are you all right?’ Yonas asked.

  ‘Yes, just surprised.’

  ‘Off to the fields, then,’ Yonas said.

  With a groan Tia picked up her basket and followed him to the plain.

  Chapter Seven

  Luona the High Witch

  Back in the fields they saw the strange Outsider woman picking saffron flowers. Tia and Yonas decided to ignore her and work in a different area. At noon Jofranka brought them a meal and some news.

  ‘The Lady Luona is coming to see how work is progressing,’ she told them as they climbed up on the wall and began eating.

  Tia munched her pie thoughtfully. She was going to see her third High Witch aunt. Would she be beautiful like Malindra or ugly like Yordis? Whichever it was, she was certain to be just as cruel and dangerous as they were.

  ‘Do you know when she’ll be here?’ she asked.

  Jofranka shook her head. ‘She’ll come when she’s ready.’

  They three of them chattered away until the food was eaten, then Jofranka waved goodbye and Tia and Yonas went back to work. As Tia leaned down to start picking a small dark shape flew over her head and landed on the wall where they’d been sitting. It was Loki. He pecked at the crumbs they’d left behind. Tia hoped he was keeping one eye open for the white cats.

  Luona didn’t arrive till Tia had filled three more baskets and delivered them to the sorting shed.

  The High Witch, accompanied by her women and surrounded by guards, walked haughtily along a stone-flagged path running round the field. Everyone bowed as she passed.

  She was tall and slender and her pale blonde hair, decorated with plumes and glittering stones, was piled high, making her look taller still. She wore a white gown and an orange-yellow sash fastened by a buckle set with a large, deep yellow jewel. She stroked it and, just for a moment, Tia saw a shimmer of enchantment around it. The magic topaz!

  Curious to see it more clearly, Tia made her way closer to the little procession. She’d almost drawn level with Luona when a hand fell on her shoulder.

  ‘What d’you think you’re doing?’ a harsh voice demanded. It was one of Luona’s guards. He shook Tia so hard that her teeth rattled and she couldn’t answer.

  ‘Where’s your work badge?’ He peered at her suspiciously.

  ‘It’s here.’ She pointed at her jacket – but the badge was gone.

  Tia looked round wildly for help. The Outsider woman who’d banged into her glanced away furtively and put her hand over the badge pinned to her dress. Tia was sure that the woman had pushed her over deliberately and stolen her badge.

  ‘Unauthorised Outsider brat – it’s the ice prison for you!’ The guard started shaking her again.

  ‘Stop!’ A blast of freezing wind wrapped itself round them. The guard instantly let go of Tia and dropped on one knee, head down.

  The High Witch beckoned. ‘Come here girl.’

  Tia hurried forward, heart beating fast.

  Luona gripped her chin, forcing her to look up. She examined Tia’s face, turning it this way and that.

  ‘Hmm.’ Luona let go of Tia and gestured to one of her women. ‘Asta, take the child to the palace. Put her in a lesser guest room and keep watch until I send for her.’

  ‘Yes, Lady,’ Asta said.

  Without another word Luona swung round and she and her procession swept on.

  ‘My, but that was a close escape!’ Asta said. ‘It was lucky that my Lady Luona took a liking to you.’

  The woman chatted all the way to the palace; the only thing she asked Tia was her name and how she came to be in Stoplar.

  They went through the imposing entrance, into marble halls, up stairs carpeted with crimson and into a grand chamber where a white cat lounged on a bed spread with fine coverings. Asta pushed it off and tutted at the scattered hairs it left behind.

  The cat hissed at her as it slunk out, and snarled, ‘If you touch me again I’ll give you a good scratching!’

  Horrible animal! It’s a shame I can’t tell it off, Tia thought.

  She bounced on the bed and stared around. If this was a lesser guest room she couldn’t imagine how grand the others were. The walls were hung with tapestries showing the seasons of the year and the windows were draped with curtains embroidered all over with saffron flowers. The floor was cool white marble dotted with yellow rugs.

  Asta opened a door to one side. ‘This is the bathing room. You need to be clean when the High Witch summons you. I’ll bring you fresh clothes.’

  Why did people always want to change her clothes? Tia wondered.

  ‘And you can get bathed while I go – you’re all sweaty.’ Asta shook her head in disapproval and went out locking the door behind her.

  You’d be sweaty if you’d been picking flowers in the hot sun all day! Tia thought indignantly. She rubbed her aching back. Perhaps plunging into hot water would be a good idea after all.

  After her bath she found Asta waiting with a simple tunic and long skirt.

  ‘I have to wait on the Lady Luona. I’ve put a meal for you on the table by the window. Get changed before you eat and be ready for when she wants to see you.’

  Tia nodded. As soon as Asta had gone she dressed in the tunic and skirt and went to the table. She looked out of the window as she ate; down on the plain the saffron pickers were still toiling away in the last of the daylight.

  She opened the window and scanned the darkening sky. A small black bird with a grey head was flying slowly round the palace. It had to be Loki. She waved furiously. He saw her and flew in through the window, landing with a bounce and a hop on the table.

  ‘I see you’ve got yourself captured again,’ he said.

  ‘It wasn’t my fault!’ Tia explained about the Outsider woman and the badge and Luona’s sudden, unexpected interest in her. ‘I don’t know why she wants to see me but at least now I’m in the palace I can find out more about the topaz and plan how to steal it back.’

  A key rattled in the lock.

  ‘It’s Asta! Hide!’ Tia whispered and Loki flew behind a curtain.

  Asta poked her head round the door. ‘Come on, girl – the Lady Luona wants to see you now and she doesn’t like to be kept waiting.’

  Tia hurried out. What could the High Witch want with her?

  Chapter Eight

  Loki in Trouble

  Luona was in a grand chamber sitting on a grand chair, carved with gilded symbols of the wind and sun, clouds and snow crystals.

  She pointed to a padded stool at her feet. ‘Sit here, child,’ she said sternly, ‘and look at me.’

  Tia obediently sat down and looked up at the High Witch.

  ‘Asta told me your name is Nadya and you live with Traders.’

  ‘Yes, Lady,’ Tia lied. ‘My parents died in a storm and the Traders took me in.’

  ‘You were fortunate.’ The High Witch leaned forward and stroked Tia’s hair. ‘You remind me of my sister, Ondine. She has hair of the same colour.’

  Tia sat very still. She was suddenly afraid. Surely Luona couldn’t suspect her true identity?

  ‘Since we High Witches became rulers of all Tulay, we have been confined to our own lands and do not see each other.’ Luona sighed. ‘I miss my little sister.’

  She smiled suddenly, all her grim sadness gone. ‘You shall take he
r place and live in the palace with me.’

  Before Tia knew what was happening Luona had summoned Asta, told her to bring Tia fine clothes, look after her and instruct her in the ways of the palace. Then, just as abruptly, she waved them out.

  Asta laughed at Tia’s expression. ‘She’s as changeable as the wind! She’ll make a fuss of you for a few days then probably forget about you once she starts bartering with the spice merchants. When she’s done with that she’ll send for you again – until something else catches her attention.’

  That suited Tia. She didn’t want Luona’s attention. And she could explore the castle and find out about the topaz while Luona was busy. ‘Who are the spice merchants?’ she asked Asta as they walked back to the guest chamber.

  ‘They come every year to buy our saffron. It’s the finest in the world,’ Asta boasted, ‘and it’s very valuable – even more costly than gold. That’s why Stoplar is so rich.’

  ‘The Outsiders don’t look rich,’ Tia said, thinking about their shabby clothes and the bare, rickety sorting sheds they lived in.

  ‘They don’t belong to Stoplar – they’re from poor villages beyond the pass. They come here to work at harvest time. They’ll do anything to get a work badge and earn money picking the flowers.’

  Even stealing, Tia thought. The Outsider woman who’d taken her badge had probably lost her own and was scared she’d be sent away or punished.

  ‘Why don’t they move to Stoplar? Then they could work all the year round.’

  ‘They did live here once,’ Asta admitted. ‘But the Lady Luona banished them when she used the topaz to change the weather and favour the saffron harvest. There’s only enough work for them now at harvest time.’

  ‘Couldn’t they do different work during the rest of the year?’

  Asta had stopped smiling. She looked as uncomfortable as Yonas had at the questions about the Outsiders. ‘They used to tend their land but the High Witch took it for the bulbs. There isn’t enough other work to go round.’

  As they neared the chamber Asta changed the subject. ‘I’ll bring you finer clothes…’

  Tia sighed. ‘Do I have to wear them?’

  Asta laughed. ‘Only when the Lady Luona summons you.’

  Tia brightened and Asta laughed again. ‘In the morning I’ll show you around the palace and teach you how to behave.’

  Suddenly a terrible squawking and mewling burst from inside the chamber.

  ‘What’s that?’ Asta said.

  Tia knew. It was Loki shrieking in alarm and a cat sneering, ‘Make as much noise as you like, jackdaw, no-one’s coming to help you.’

  Asta and Tia burst into the room. Black and grey feathers and clumps of white fur swirled in the air as Loki fought off two enormous white cats trying to pin him to the floor. They turned their flat faces and snarled.

  ‘You don’t frighten me,’ Tia shouted. ‘Get off that bird!’

  The cats hissed in surprise. ‘You can speak to us!’ one said.

  ‘I’ll do more than yell at you if you don’t let the jackdaw go,’ Tia said, hoping Asta didn’t realise she was actually talking to the cats. She kicked out at them, making sure she missed but coming close enough to give them a fright.

  They leaped away from Loki. He flew to the top of a curtain yakking furiously as the cats stalked out.

  Tia banged the door shut. She could hear the cats muttering evilly on the other side. ‘Horrible animals!’

  Asta opened the window. ‘I hope the poor bird will be able to fly away. He can’t stay here all night.’

  ‘It’s dark now – he won’t fly at night. I don’t mind if he stays till morning.’

  ‘All right then, if you’re sure.’ Asta closed the window, drew the curtains and turned down the bed. ‘Goodnight, Nadya.’

  As soon as she was gone, Loki flew down and Tia made a big fuss of him, stroking his feathers and telling him how brave he was and how well he’d fought the cats.

  ‘But how did they get in?’ she wondered.

  ‘When you left, a servant came in to clear up your dinner things and the cats must’ve followed him. I didn’t see them till it was too late.’ Loki shook his wings and shuddered.

  ‘We’ll both have to take care now they know I can speak to animals and birds,’ Tia said. ‘They’re bound to tell the other cats and cause problems for us.’

  ‘I’m not going to let them catch me out again,’ Loki said. He flew back to the top of the curtain, put his head under his wing and went to sleep.

  Tia got ready for the night too. Once she was in bed she took out the locket that hung on her chain next to the emerald. She opened it and looked at the picture of her father, Elio. He’d promised to come and rescue her from the dragons when they stole her away but she’d never seen him since. It was all the High Witches’ fault.

  She thought about how Luona had seen a resemblance between her and Ondine. For a moment she was tempted to pull off the paper covering her mother’s picture in the other half of the locket, just to see, but then she snapped it shut. Tia didn’t want to be like her mother.

  She turned down the oil lamp and wriggled deeper into the soft bed. Even though it was warm and cosy, Tia preferred her bracken-strewn shelf in Freya’s cavern. She was a true DragonChild, nothing like the High Witches. And when she’d returned all the jewels of power, everyone would know it.

  She drifted off to sleep, more determined than ever to find the topaz as soon as she could.

  Chapter Nine

  The Ice Prison

  Just as Asta had said, Luona made a fuss of Tia for the next few days: she moved her to a grand chamber near her own and took her everywhere she went.

  ‘It’s very annoying,’ Tia grumbled to Loki one morning. ‘I haven’t had a chance to explore the castle. If I try to creep out at night there’s always one of her cats waiting to follow me, mewing and screeching. I can’t do anything in secret.’

  ‘What about the topaz? Have you seen where she keeps it when she’s not wearing it?’

  Tia nodded. ‘It’s in a metal cabinet set in the wall of her sleeping area. It’s sealed with a magical lock that you have to press in a special pattern.’

  ‘Have you worked it out?’

  ‘Not yet, but I will.’

  Tia wished she felt as confident as she sounded. She jumped up. ‘Now I’ve got to get ready for a grand midday meal. The spice merchants have arrived to trade for saffron and Luona wants to show me off like one of her pet cats.’

  Loki huffed at the mention of the cats.

  Tia opened a cupboard door and scowled at the clothes inside. ‘What shall I wear, Loki?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ the jackdaw said. ‘I’m content with my feathers.’

  ‘They’re all dresses – they won’t hide my chain and Luona will see the emerald. I’ll have to take it off.’ She unclasped the chain and slid the emerald ring into her palm. ‘Where can I put it?’

  ‘I’ll guard it for you,’ Loki said.

  ‘Keep it somewhere safe,’ Tia said, holding it out.

  He took it and stood with one foot on the jewel so that he could speak to her. ‘I’ll hide it in an old chimney where even the cats can’t go.’

  ‘You don’t need to take it away,’ Tia said.

  ‘It’ll be safer,’ Loki insisted and flew out of the window. Tia felt uneasy without the emerald, but there was nothing she could do. She re-fastened her chain and turned back to the cupboard, wishing she could fly away with her jackdaw friend instead of dressing up for the High Witch.

  The meal was very grand indeed and so were the spice merchants. Tia had never seen such silks and satins, waving plumes and glittering jewels.

  ‘What do you think to my guests, Nadya?’ Luona asked.

  Tia thought many of them looked cruel with their darting, suspicious eyes and dishonest smiles. ‘They’re very… splendid, Lady,’ she said hoping she sounded truthful. ‘Though not as splendid as you.’

  Luona smiled and patted Tia�
�s hand. ‘You are an observant child.’

  She turned abruptly to a small, thin woman on her other side and began talking to her as though Tia had disappeared. Tia didn’t mind; it gave her a chance to listen to their conversation without them noticing.

  A spice merchant leaned towards the High Witch. ‘Lady, have you not heard that the emerald and the opal have been stolen?’

  ‘What?’ Luona’s fist crashed to the table and the sky outside grew dark.

  The room fell silent, all eyes on Luona and the merchant. Tia tried to make herself look small and innocent.

  ‘Malindra and Yordis have been captured,’ the merchant went on. ‘Their people have rebelled and they are both imprisoned in their own castles.’

  Thunder exploded and black clouds churned over the palace. ‘Who has dared do such a thing?’ Luona shrieked and gripped the topaz protectively.

  Tia slid from her chair and began to back quietly away.

  ‘It was all the work of a mysterious Trader child,’ the merchant said. ‘They say her name is Nadya.’

  ‘No!’ Luona cried and the storm clouds broke.

  Tia ran for the door, desperately dodging this way and that. It was no use; hands snatched at her, and dragged her to the High Witch.

  Lightning darted and flared, reflected in Luona’s eyes. ‘Take this creature to her chamber and wait for me,’ she seethed.

  Tia was hauled away past the sneering merchants. She was a captive with no-one to help her, not even Loki.

  Luona ransacked Tia’s room looking for the emerald and the opal. Tia was thankful that Loki had taken the ring.

  ‘Where are the jewels?’ Luona demanded.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Tia said truthfully. ‘I haven’t got them, really I haven’t.’

  ‘Liar!’ Luona raged. Outside lightning split the dark sky, and thunder boomed in the gathering storm.

  ‘The harvest, Lady!’ Asta said. ‘The saffron will be ruined!’

  ‘Do you think I care? This, this… deceiver has stolen my sisters’ jewels and refuses to give them to me!’