by Marc Secchia
“True,” Cyantoria agreed, lowering her head to nuzzle Zaranna’s neck as horses did, “but I think she might just be crazy enough, and devoted enough, to –”
“Step into the hooves of the Dreamers?” said the Queen.
Well. They were intent on making a noble mountain out of a humble molehill. Yet her heart was a hard, throbbing lump in her throat. She had known from the outset that she was unlikely to make any significant impact with the High Council, apart from the impact she had already shared with the Commander and his Captains. That act would not easily be forgiven. No, she would do better out there in the wilds of Equinox, pursuing what she knew now to be the right path.
Zaranna said, “I made a promise to Prince Jesafion, o Queen. I’m the kind of girl who keeps my promises if at all possible, and I know just the person who might be able to help make this happen.”
“Your Human pet?”
Perhaps she would not mention the Queen’s opinion to Sanu. Not if she wanted to live beyond tomorrow. She replied, “Indeed. So, what’s the escape plan?”
The Queen smiled a perfectly mischievous smile. “I was rather hoping you would ask, Dreamer. How do you fancy becoming a Princess?”
* * * *
“A more mincing step,” said the Princess turned Plains Horse. “Make those hoof-chimes tinkle. Flick your mane, like this, to show off your diamond clips. No, not arrogant enough. It’s a show. Can’t you pretend?”
“She just isn’t achieving a Blue Sky-Clan Princess’ presence,” lamented the Queen.
“Maybe I’ll just affect a slight limp. And look important. It’s not as if I spent much of my lifetime practising disguise and duplicity,” said Zaranna, who after a flare or so of looking at her blue nose, was still startled by her appearance.
Queen Shensiss snorted, “And aren’t we glad for that? Imagine the trouble you’d cause?”
Zaranna had never been more grateful to have concealed Illume’s part in matters, and she had not even lied. Not directly – sigh – anyway. She said, “More trouble than high treason?”
Cyantoria said, “You need to go. That necklace of image-transference will not last more than five more flares. Remember, Zaranna, you look taller than you are. And I am about to have been knocked unconscious by your devastating powers.”
“Oh, I am a brute.”
The other filly chuckled, and nudged Zara on the withers with her nose. “Commander Zanfurion certainly thinks so. Go on. Shake a hoof.”
“But I can’t fly!” Ugh, a last-minute panic made her squeal.
“Want to stake a few Vales on that?” asked Cyantoria.
“You, young Cyantoria, are gambling away your future realm. We’ll be talking about that when I get back.” The Queen pushed Zara toward the door. “Dragons teach their young by tossing them off the edge of a cliff.”
“I’m not ready to die!”
Chapter 23: So not a Princess
ZARANNA STOOD ON the edge of a Sentalia branch five hundred and ten feet above the ground, and tried not to imagine the ridiculous weight of jewellery she wore causing her to gouge a horse-shaped ditch six feet deep in the soft sward down there. She had flown before, right? Who cared if the Queen had helpfully pointed out how high up they were? Besides, it was far too beautiful a dawn to be pondering how deep an imprint her body might make. Gentle, rubescent light filtered in through the russet Sentalia leaves and gleamed off the silver tree trunks, making the city resemble fires lit atop massive silver torches. A few Pegasi already flew on their morning errands, swooping amongst the trees like gigantic white swans.
“Alright, Cyantoria, time to put your best hoof forward,” said the Queen.
Zaranna scowled, then howled as Shensiss did exactly what she had threatened to do. A touch of her magic and her unwilling companion’s hooves zipped off the branch as though she stood upon a greased slide. She flared her wings instinctively and managed a reasonably steady glide. Holy … not quite a nosedive. Great. Taking her cue from Shensiss, who obviously had been born to flight, she flapped her wings gingerly.
“Good,” encouraged the Queen, righting a wobble with a subtle touch of magic. “Flow like a river. Ease up those muscles. You look like an angry Gryphon.”
Zaranna twizzled her neck. Not bad. She was flying, not kissing a tree at speed or chewing a swathe through the grass, and the sensation was glorious, a constant clenching in her gut combined with melodic wuthering in her ears and an incredible lightness of heart.
She said, “I just can’t believe I’m absconding with the Queen of the Pegasi.”
“On the contrary, the Queen is absconding with the Dreamer. The honour is mine, the criminality is shared.”
Zaranna tried to wrinkle her nose at Shensiss, but discovered that didn’t work terribly well in her Horse form. Certainly, Illume the Stars would not approve of her growing friendship with these Pegasi. Not all were as harsh as Zanfurion, nor as arrogant as Jesafion.
To her surprise, the flight of a Queen did not attract undue attention, making her wonder how secure these Pegasi felt in Sentalia Vale. They must believe unreservedly that their powerful magic would shield them from Worafion and his Gryphons and Dragons; further, there seemed to be neither overt preparations for defence, nor troops gathering, nor any apparent urgency among the half-dozen Unicorn couples she saw wandering amidst the Sentalia below them, or a family of Lilac-Ruff River Ponies playing in a spring. They dived beneath the water and shot upward with the flow, tens of feet into the air, with fancy pirouettes and somersaults and flares of their fin-like wings.
After a short flight, they came to the edge of the city, to the place where Kesuu’s Tribe had been housed in makeshift canvas tents. Each Tribe had a slightly separate area of tents with their own guards, meant as much to keep mischief-makers in as trouble out. As agreed, Zaranna secreted herself nearby while Shensiss flew straight on and alighted near the Human guards of Kesuu’s contingent.
In the cool dawn, Zaranna heard, “I am the Pegasus Queen. I would speak with your leader, Kesuu.”
She did not fear reprisals or sneak attacks? That said, Zara was sure the Queen was a more powerful magician than she had revealed so far. Canny. Bolder than she had expected – what had she expected? Demure Pegasus damsel-equivalents? Not this assertive creature.
The Queen disappeared into one of the tents. Several minutes passed before Zaranna caught a hint of movement from the corner of her eye. A shadow which was not a shadow.
She smiled at the spot. “Sanu?”
“Earthen Fires! Who are you? And where are you hiding Zaranna?”
“Hold your tongue, slave-to-be, before I yank it out by the roots and use it as a rasp for my hooves.”
“Why you rotten – what? You had better not be …”
“Besides, my sweet little Outland Human, I know you only picked me so that I could give you lessons in troublemaking.”
The nigh-invisible spot gasped, “It is you!”
In a blur, Sanu thumped into Zaranna and gave her a huge hug. Just as quickly, she dropped her arms. “So … the Pegasus Queen … uh, what are you doing here?”
She could only chuckle at the expression on that disembodied face. “Causing trouble. Want to join someone about to be convicted of high treason, in perpetrating numerous further shenanigans, such as springing a Pegasus Prince from the Hooded Wizard’s clutches with the tacit permission of the one and only King of all Quadrupeds? I need a good thief – I mean, accomplice.”
Sanu could only cover her mouth, shaking with laughter. Eventually, she managed, “Unbelievable. You are just … unreal. How do you do it?”
“Irresistible charm,” said Zaranna, striking a bejewelled pose.
Wow, now she sounded like Whiz. She was growing in all sorts of unexpected directions these days.
“You and a Gryphon-stunning ransom in jewellery. Why, how pretty you look,” sneered her friend, but her eyes twinkled all the same. “Say, do you think we can quietly ‘lose’ that load somewhere
, to the benefit of the Tribe?”
“I think that might be unhealthy for said Tribe.”
“What’s unhealthy is your utter lack of helpful morals,” snorted Sanu, doing something to tie or coil her long braids behind her head.
“Don’t you mean, immoral-s?”
“That’s not a word. Come on. Stop wasting this fresh morning air.”
“Follow me, slave,” said Zaranna. “You are about to escort the noble Cyantoria of the Blue Sky-Clan, Mystic Reader of the Sky-Fires, to her home Vale. Sadly, the illustrious Cyantoria shall be waylaid en route by a mysterious case of … er …”
“Righteousness?”
Taking off with an ungainly wobble, Zara threw over her shoulder, “Yes, and it’s catching.”
* * * *
A flare later, the high-and-mighty Cyantoria approached the Tertiary Safeways Junction of Sentalia Vale with her new and decidedly sulky Human slave in tow. Sanu tottered beneath a large carryall and an armful of possessions – more evidence of the Queen’s meticulous planning. Apparently, Pegasus glitterati never travelled without a retinue. One servant was an indecent minimum, but Sanu’s presence should deflect awkward questions.
The Pegasi troops guarding the ring of standing stones bowed deeply to the disguised Plains Horse as she sashayed by. Fourteen stones stood in a wide circle in a dell between the enormous Sentalia trees, guarded by a troop of two dozen Pegasus warriors and a barrier of magic which had been dropped momentarily to allow Cyantoria and her servant access. Within the circle, she found nine stone archways each housing a portal, and a problem she had not anticipated. Zaranna was not able to read Equinox runes.
Sanu glared at her past her load, motioning with her chin.
Zaranna shook her head. “Which one?”
Clever girl. Sanu pretended to fumble a bag. “Oh, Ancestors. Sorry, noble Pegasus.”
“Clumsy Human. Pick that up at once.”
“Yes, Majesty.” The Human girl’s hand moved reflexively toward her concealed daggers, before dropping to her side with evident reluctance. “I don’t … see it. Wait.” She scanned the portals, muttering, “Sable, Gemtoria, Aladasar, Syntoi-Ix, Istarlan, Rimmina …”
Zara mouthed a helpless plea for her brain to serve up something other than mashed potato. She had been so lucid under interrogation, now her brain was having a Sleeping Beauty day. What was the order? Cyantoria had instructed that they needed to traverse four Vales to reach Amorix. Which one was the right choice, the first step? She felt Sanu’s eyes burning upon her. Recognising her shame; not understanding. Any second now the guards would start to question the delay and they would be discovered, making theirs the shortest escape slash rescue in history. Even more shortly, their efforts would end at the wrong end of a noose.
No. She must go where instinct led.
“Syntoi-Ix Vale,” she whispered. Relief made her voice tremble. “Explain on the way?”
The girl’s dark head bobbed slightly.
They walked steadily across the sward, approaching two of the twenty-foot stippled granite boulders on the southern side of the ring. The archway loomed before them, just tall enough for the biggest Pegasi to move through without needing to duck their head, but wings would have to be folded. Right. Summoning Shensiss’ instructions, she tried to cast a veil over their minds. It would be easiest if Sanu touched her – in a moment. With the benefit of touch, magic transferred much more spontaneously.
The oily air before them seemed unnaturally still, like a fathomless pool waiting to drag them into the underworld. So, Jesafion. Message delivered. Now to haul his sorry princely rump out of the fires of wrath and disaster.
The still, faintly rank air lapped about her withers as she pressed into the darkness.
The instant they were inside, Sanu started to yell, “Earthen Fires, if I have to answer to –”
“Shh! This Safeway is patrolled.” Clearly seething, Sanu made to drop her bundles. Zara said, “No, those are our disguise.”
“May my ancestors groan in their graves! I am no-one’s lackey. And what by the blackest of Earthen Fires was that idiocy back there in the dell? You nearly gave us away before we even left on this madcap adventure.”
“Different script. Similar language. Odd, isn’t it?” said Zaranna, only tangentially registering upset.
They walked along another of the smooth black pathways through the depthless dark. Only the faint light emanating from the Plains Horse’s wisp-magic, wreathing her figure in threads of light, pushed back the darkness. This was Illume’s contribution to her abilities. There was an impression of not moving as they walked, yet they must be crossing great swathes of Equinox’s terrain, for somehow these tunnels connected places far in excess of the apparent physical distances.
“Oh. You don’t read, do you?”
“Do you think portals between worlds transfer language as well? Is language a form of magic?”
Sanu laughed uneasily. “Are you listening to anything I say?”
“Oh, what? Yes. I mean, no. I can’t read runes.”
“What’s the plan, Zaranna? Apart from rescuing this Pegasus – which is hardly an endeavour worth spending our lives upon, let me tell you! Rescue the Prince, stop Worafion?”
“Don’t mention his name, please! How many times …”
Sanu growled back.
They walked on in silence. And walked. Hours and hours, quite the longest journey Zaranna had yet taken in a Safeway. Her stomach was complaining mightily by the time they finally spotted the exit portal. At exactly that moment, the magic failed and she became an ordinary Plains Horse again. She stopped with a jingle of jewellery.
“Sanu, do you think my description will have reached Syntoi-Ix by now?”
“I don’t think there’s an Equine alive who doesn’t know what you’ve done,” Snippety Friend sniped at her.
“What bit you today?” Zaranna bristled.
“I suppose you’re relying on me to bail you out of trouble again? Very well. Let’s start by removing these ridiculous fripperies and putting these bags to good use.”
Zara did not know what she had done, exactly – or was Sanu still sore about her confusion back at Sentalia Vale? She had no clue what it meant to live with memorisation and recall problems! With the deftness of the pickpocket she undoubtedly was, Sanu divested her of Cyantoria’s jewellery and the magical necklace and packed everything amongst the various robes with which their bags had been stuffed. Zaranna tried to make sure all the jewellery went into the bags, but there was no guarantee. Sneaky jolly chameleon!
Sanu said, “Right. We exit the portal, check the lay of the land. If things are looking hot, we make a run for it. I’ll jump on your back with the bags and make us disappear. You take care of finding a way or ripping through their shield or whatever you need to do to save our necks, alright?”
“Alright.”
“I mean, do you understand and will you remember what I just said?”
Zaranna flushed angrily. “Now, just listen –”
“Good. Go, horsey.”
Ungrateful wretch! Zaranna trailed her overloaded friend as they exited the portal beneath the noses of five rather startled Pegasi. Evening. The sun had already dipped behind a nearby, strangely square-topped line of mountain peaks. She began to move off as if she knew the way, but one of the Pegasi stepped into her path, crying:
“Earthen Fires, a Plains Horse and a Human!”
Before he had finished speaking, Sanu threw the bags over Zaranna’s back. Butterflies whipped out of her in a panic, raising a blinding swirl of grit and leaves. The instant the Plains Horse felt a Human backside touch her back, she charged off – oh no! Rock! Swerving sharply, Zaranna ricocheted off a stone column. Sanu cried out. In the brief whirlwind, she could not see ten feet in front of her nose, but a glimpse was enough. Cliff! Jinking to her left, Zaranna’s hooves kicked up sparks from the rock at the edge of a huge precipice. She charged along the brink before spotting a pair of flags on s
ix-foot poles marking a trail.
“Hold on, Sanu!”
Sanu shifted her weight like Kai throwing her motorbike into a sharp turn.
Zaranna leaped down a set of wide, carved stone steps leading away from the portal site, hearing and feeling Pegasus fire searing past her left ear. The steps led almost immediately onto a trail carved into the face of the cliff, barely three feet wide in most places; to her right flank, the cliff carved away into a gorge so deep, she briefly spied clouds below. Now, her whole concentration zeroed in on the path. Perhaps it had been carved for flightless Equines like her, or Human slaves, to reach the Safeways Junction located in a tiny dell somewhere atop this mighty cliff.
Ahead, she saw a second cliff akin to the first, orange seams of stone streaked amidst the grey, and great veils of vines or hanging bushes trailing down the cliff in spectacular fountains of outlandish purple vegetation, sporting white flowers that were so large, she could see them from miles off. The perfume reaching her on the breeze was gorgeous, so thick and redolent that she coughed and sneezed simultaneously. Violent swerve! Zaranna leaped a hairpin bend in the trail and charged on, hearing a frightened squeak from Sanu on her back. So the girl was not brave at all times?
“Pegasi?” she panted.
The girl performed her contortionist trick. “Four incoming. Maintain your speed, Zaranna.”
“We’ll fall!”
“We need to reach the clouds.”
“Would invisibility help?”
“You’re a monstrous lump to turn invisible, Zaranna. I’m not sure how much strength I have left.”
“Find some!”
Sanu wailed again as the trail suddenly dipped, descending a series of wide steps that Zaranna took at breakneck speed. Where were Whiz’s gravitational stabilisers when she needed them? Or a handy warp drive? The girl leaned close over her neck and withers, melding herself as best she could with the horse’s gallop while holding their bags in place with her body. She yelled encouragement in Zara’s ear like a jockey spurring her mount on to the finish-line. Her heart pounded as much as her hooves as Zaranna sped down that endless staircase, rock rushing by just a couple of feet above her head, her hooves seeming to strike the ground with less and less force as she found her true running gait at last. Smooth as crystal. Relaxed. Clear of distraction, of effort, of any other thought whatsoever.
