The troll scowled with embarrassment at first, then burst out laughing. The goblin in the pantry shouted out. “What’s so funny?”
“We have an intruder,” the troll replied, keeping a watchful eye on Molly.
“I’ll get my club!”
“Don’t bother,” the troll said, still laughing until his sides ached. “Come out here and see what I found.”
The goblin slipped out of the pantry and glanced through the archway, puzzled when seeing a little girl in his prison. His large eyes bulged out even more. “Who in blazes is she? And how’d she get in here?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Molly taunted. “I ought to report you two for doing such a lousy job. You’re all eating and arguing, and very little guarding. You couldn’t guard your own shadows if you had to!”
The troll boiled at the remark and clenched his fists. “Is that so, little one? Well, I’ll show you who’s guard and who’s prisoner!” He exposed his sharp teeth and motioned to the goblin for assistance. “Let’s grab her and lock her up!”
The two hulking figures slowly walked down the corridor toward Molly. Ulric now saw his chance to act, so he and King Rupert dashed across the floor into the pantry. They quickly searched the small room and found what they needed–two weapons and a ring of keys. “One of these must go to the tower,” Ulric said. “Quick! Take this sword.” King Rupert grabbed the weapon. Ulric took the goblin’s club standing in the corner. In the next instant they ran out of the room after the two guards, brandishing their weapons and hollering like wolves.
And not a moment too soon, for the troll and goblin were only a stone’s throw away from Molly, ready to spring at her. “Try and get us instead!” Ulric shouted. “We’re more your size than a little girl!”
The guards spun around and stared at the new intruders with mouths wide open and nostrils flaring. “They’ve got our weapons!” the goblin cried.
“And we’ll use them if we must!” King Rupert said.
“You boys can’t escape this way either,” Molly added, grabbing a burning torch from the wall and waving it in front of the guards. “Give up, losers!”
The troll and goblin quickly realized they had been outwitted. Instantly their fierceness crumbled into cowardly obedience. Ulric hurriedly opened one of the prison cells and pushed the guards inside, then slammed the door shut and locked it.
“That should hold them for a while,” Ulric said, leading the way out of the corridor to the spiral staircase. “You were very brave, Molly. You displayed the same courage and spirit of my own troops.”
Molly managed a suitable reply, not having the heart to tell Ulric that she had been scared right down to her socks. But that was behind her. Now a more important task confronted them as they hurried up the stairs two at a time. Molly, Ulric and King Rupert were swiftly closing in on finding Princess Rosalind.
CHAPTER TEN
A Rescue Gone Sour
“Won’t these stairs ever end?” Molly whispered miserably under her breath. Her heart beat wildly and her feet ached. King Rupert puffed and wheezed his way up to the tower with each clumsy footstep. Ulric held up best of all, though even he was visibly tired at times.
“If the trolls don’t get us, exhaustion will!” the King said. “I’m too old for such athletics. A rest would do nicely right about now.”
“No time,” Ulric insisted. “We’re so close to rescuing Princess Rosalind. Our small aches and pains can’t compare to what she’s been through.”
King Rupert hadn’t considered the situation in those terms and doubled his effort. “You’re right, Ulric. I won’t let a little pain keep me back. It will take a horde of trolls to stop me now!”
The King picked up his pace, climbing with renewed vigor and determination. But even that sudden burst of energy didn’t last long and he began to lag behind again. If they didn’t reach the tower soon, he knew he wouldn’t be able to go much farther. Then as all hope nearly drained from his heart, Ulric spoke.
“The last step!”
King Rupert looked up as Ulric raced to the top landing. He and Molly followed close behind and soon the trio sat and rested on level ground. The door at the end of the narrow landing would have to wait a moment for their tired limbs to recover.
Molly broke the silence. “I fear we may be followed. Shouldn’t we go now? I’m feeling better.”
“If anyone wants to follow us up those stairs, let them!” King Rupert said. “By the time they reach the top, they’ll be too exhausted to raise a hand against us.”
“Molly’s right,” Ulric said. “We’ve rested long enough.” He stood and slowly opened the door. A gust of icy wind burst inside, refreshing him instantly. “We’re at the top of the castle. A guard tower is directly ahead. Princess Rosalind must be in there.”
The King jumped to his feet when hearing the news. “Then what are we waiting for? Move on! Move on!”
The three walked through the door into the open air of morning. They stood on a narrow walkway with a stone railing jutting up on either side. To their right, stretching endlessly south, were the harsh plains they had traveled over. Molly could also see the nearby woods where they had hidden before dawn. Below to the left was a huge courtyard with a large stone platform in the center and several concentric rings of benches around it.
“We must hurry,” Ulric said as he led them along the walk to the guard tower in the corner of the castle. The whipping winds nearly threw them off balance. The black and red flag on top of the tower snapped in the biting breeze. Molly realized that the tower looked just like the one she had seen from the window downstairs. She wondered if she had seen a face peering out of it after all.
Ulric opened a door at the base of the tower and they entered, finding relief from the bitter cold. Inside was damp and gloomy. A table and chair were squeezed into one corner of the room. “This is where that troll must have kept guard,” King Rupert said. “But where’s Rosalind?”
“Probably up above,” Ulric said, pointing. “There’s another staircase.”
“Just how many stairs are there in this infernal place!” the King wailed.
“It’s not steep like the other one,” Molly said. “This tower isn’t very high.”
Ulric sprang up the staircase and Molly and King Rupert followed. Molly hadn’t counted thirty steps when Ulric reached the door at the top.
“Please let this be the last door,” the King said, hurrying to catch up. He reached for the handle and tried to open it. “Locked! We shall never get in!”
“Don’t worry,” Molly reminded him. “Ulric has the keys, remember?”
Ulric produced the ring of keys he had swiped from the pantry and began trying them one by one. The brass, silver and copper keys jingled with each attempt. “That troll has more keys than there are rooms in the castle.”
“Oh, just hurry!” King Rupert pleaded. “My heart can’t take much more strain.”
“Another moment. Give me one more moment and I’ll–ah ha!” Ulric had fitted a brass key into the lock and turned it. A sharp click sounded. The door unlocked.
King Rupert pushed it open. The door creaked painfully on its hinges, revealing a dim and musty room. A single window let in a stream of morning light. A small table below it contained an unlit candle and a basin of icy water. In the far corner of the room was an old battered bed. On it lay a pale thin figure, apparently lifeless amid the dreary surroundings.
The King walked cautiously into the room with Molly close by him. Ulric stepped inside, keeping watch at the door. King Rupert seemed afraid to approach the person on the bed, expecting the worse. Molly inched closer to the figure and saw a young lady with flowing blond hair and a beautiful face, though worn by fear and worry. Molly glanced at King Rupert, sensing his uneasiness.
“Is that your daughter?” she asked.
He nodded and walked up to Rosalind, certain he had arrived too late. He examined her pale face and closed eyes and nearly cried. Then he saw it. Sh
e was breathing! His heart leapt and he knelt at her side. “Rosalind,” he said softly. “Wake up, Rosalind. Your father is here.”
Slowly the young lady stirred. Her eyes opened and she looked around in utter confusion at first and then in overwhelming joy. “Father? Is it really you?” Rosalind sat up and touched King Rupert’s face until she knew he wasn’t part of a lovely dream that would fade away. “It is you, father!” she cried, embracing him with all her might.
Quickly the color returned to her face and Princess Rosalind looked as alive as a spring morning. Though still a bit shaken at the sight of her rescuers, she quickly told her father all that had happened since the attack on his castle so many days ago. She was glad to see Ulric standing by the door but was at a loss for words when her eyes met with Molly’s.
“I’m forgetting my manners,” the King said with embarrassment. “You two do not know each other. Rosalind, this is Molly Jordan, a member of your rescue party. It’s a long story that will have to wait for another time.”
“Pleased to meet you, Princess Rosalind,” Molly said politely. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”
“Thank you, Molly,” she replied. “And thank you for helping with my rescue. I never knew a girl so young who would risk her life in a place like this. I shall be happy to leave it.”
Ulric stepped forward. “Then let us leave at once. I can imagine what an ordeal you’ve been through, Princess Rosalind, but we should go immediately while our way is still clear. I’m sorry I can’t allow you time to rest.”
“Do not apologize, Ulric. The sight of the three of you has renewed my strength.” Princess Rosalind smiled for the first time in many days. “I’m ready to depart at once. Not another minute in these awful surroundings!”
King Rupert was thrilled to see his daughter’s fighting spirit. He helped her stand, and in a few moments the four scrambled down the stairs to the guard quarters below and then walked out the door and into the bright morning light. The cold air woke Princess Rosalind as she hurried along the stone walkway above the castle. The wind tossed her hair like waves of gold.
“It’s wonderful to be outside again where there’s life and light. I had nearly given up hope.”
“Well, we didn’t,” Molly assured her. “Especially your father. He wasn’t about to give up no matter how difficult things were!”
King Rupert smiled at Molly for her kind words. The worry and despair of the last few days washed out of him instantly. He felt as if he had the spirit and strength to fly right off the castle wall into the wintry blue sky.
Finally they reached the door leading into the main section of the castle. “Not those horrid stairs again!” the King grumbled.
“They’ll be much easier going down,” Ulric assured him. “Just don’t rush too fast. Trip once and you might end up spiraling to the bottom–and taking us with you!”
Everyone descended swiftly but cautiously in single file. They reached the landing on the main floor of the castle in less than half the time it took going up. They now stood at the spot where they had first heard the voices of the troll and goblin guards from the prisons below.
“I hope our two friends are still secure in their cell,” the King said. “We’d be in an awful mess if they ever escaped.”
“We’ve been safe up to this point. Let me listen into the corridor to see if all is clear,” Ulric said. He placed an ear to the door.
“Anything?” Molly asked.
“Dead quiet,” he said. “That worries me.”
“Do we stay or go?” King Rupert asked impatiently. “If you don’t hear anything, I say that’s good. Let’s go!”
“Very well.” Ulric opened the door to find the castle corridor deserted.
“Free at last!” the King cheered. “This way, all of you. I’ll lead you back to our hiding place by the moat.”
He confidently led the others, certain their way would be unhindered. Ulric, Molly and Princess Rosalind swiftly followed. Soon the King approached a corner and prepared to turn it without so much as a cautious look beforehand. Ulric tried to stop him, but it was too late. King Rupert bounded around the corner and his face quickly contorted into expressions of horror as he found himself barreling toward an angry mob of troll and goblin soldiers.
“Retreat!” Ulric shouted.
The four of them had just enough time to stop before crashing into the soldiers. But before they could turn around and run the opposite way, another group of soldiers rushed at them from behind. Each squad closed in on the unarmed intruders like spiders stalking terrified flies caught in a web. King Rupert felt the life drain out of him. He had led his people head first into a trap and there was no escape.
The troll whom they had imprisoned below stepped forward, his leathery flesh appearing sinister in the flickering torchlight. “So you thought you outsmarted us,” he sneered, keeping an eye on King Rupert all the while. “Nobody breaks into our castle without paying the consequences!” The other guards hooted and cheered.
“I say we throw them in the moat!” the goblin guard said. “No one locks me in my own prison and gets away with it.” He walked up to Ulric. “You forgot to take these,” he snickered, dangling a ring of keys in front of his face. “I keep a spare set hidden under my vest. Your rescue plan never had a chance!”
Jeers and shouts again erupted, and it took some time before the troll could settle the troops. “Quiet! Quiet! I’ve already decided what to do with our prisoners. I’ll show them who’s really in control around here. Bind their hands!”
Swiftly, four soldiers rushed forward, one to each prisoner, and tied their hands behind their backs. Molly kicked one of the trolls in the shin but only hurt her toes in the process. The troll didn’t feel a thing through its thick hide.
“You won’t get away with this injustice!” King Rupert bellowed. “First you kidnap my daughter, and now me and my followers. No indeed, you will not get away with it!”
“But we already have!” the goblin howled. “In this castle, you live by our rules!”
“Enough merrymaking,” the troll said. “There’ll be plenty of time for that later on. First things first.” He clapped his hands and a group of soldiers surrounded the prisoners. The others lined up behind them. The troll walked up front and signaled for all to follow him. “This way, little mice,” he said to the prisoners. “Your sentences await.”
“Where are you taking us?” Molly demanded. Fear and anger churned inside her as she prepared to rush at one of the guards and knock him down. But she held back, not wanting any harm to befall her friends because of her own reckless actions.
“You’ll know soon enough,” the troll replied, letting out a chilling laugh that made Molly quiver. “Oh yes, you’ll all know your miserable fate very soon!”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
A Recipe for Sleep
Molly hadn’t the foggiest idea where they were being taken, but was certain it would probably be an unpleasant place. She was rushed along winding passageways with the others, for the troll in charge had commanded his soldiers to move as fast as possible. Her legs soon tired and her wrists ached as the rope bit into her skin.
“How are you holding up, Molly?” Princess Rosalind whispered. “I’m sorry I landed you in all this trouble. Maybe it would have been better not to rescue me at all. At least the rest of you would be safe.”
“Don’t say such things, Princess Rosalind. We’ll find a way out. We’ve gone to too much trouble to have everything end like this.”
“Quit whispering, you vermin!” one of the soldiers yelled. “Pay attention to where you’re going. Don’t make us gag you, too.”
Molly heeded the warning and kept silent, but her thoughts remained busy determining every possible way of escape.
At last they reached the end of their tiresome journey when the troll ordered his soldiers to stop. King Rupert and the others looked around, happy that they hadn’t been taken to a dungeon as expected. Instead, the group stood outside of
an enormous pair of wooden doors on which were carved pictures of hideous dragons, serpents and vultures. The troll instructed two soldiers to open them.
“Now you will face your doom!” he said with glee.
The four prisoners were ushered into an enormous hall filled with hundreds of men, trolls and goblins seated at large tables spread throughout the room. Molly’s hopes for escape were dashed at once.
The troll ran up to a platform situated at one end of the chamber. Seated at a table on it were the castle’s highest officers. “We have a gift for you!” he shouted, motioning for his soldiers to escort the prisoners over. Molly, King Rupert, Princess Rosalind and Ulric were ushered right up to the platform and presented before Belthasar.
“And who have we here?” Belthasar asked.
“Prisoners!” the troll replied. “Four intruders who were not clever enough to escape under my watch.”
In fact, these were the very four prisoners that Christopher had seen from atop the balcony while spying with Artemas and Mr. Smithers. They were watching now, shocked that their friends had been captured, and at a loss as to how to rescue them from the turmoil below.
“What do you wish to do with them?” the troll asked.
Belthasar thought for a moment and walked to the edge of the platform. “What a surprise this is! I believe we have the great King Rupert of Endora before us, though at the moment he doesn’t appear so great.” All the troops in the chamber jeered and hissed.
“You’ll pay for this!” the King snapped. “Malaban may have left you in charge, but I’ll see you get what’s coming to you, you scoundrel!”
“My dear King,” Belthasar said. “I am not the only one in charge. I have decided to let Arga and Crull assist me in running this castle.” He pointed to the troll and goblin seated at the table. “In fact, I was just about to announce my Great Plan. But I think your presence sheds a new light on matters.”
The Endora Trilogy (The Complete Series) Page 10
