Arrival (4 page)

Well, Harry, you haven’t answered my question—what are you doing in my bedchamber in the middle of the night?” “We demanded Satine.

Harry stammered, “I don’t know. I woke up here.”

She stared at him. Maybe the boy was slow? She spoke slowly. “What do you mean you woke up here?”

“I think this must have been where I landed when I crossed over.” Harry shuffled uncomfortably.

“What are you talking about? Explain yourself, or I will summon the guards.”

“Guards? No, don’t! I’m not a criminal or anything. I’m from ... somewhere else. I found a portal to here—wherever this is—and this is where I woke up. I don’t know much else. I can’t remember.” He shrugged and looked at Satine’s horrified face.

“You must leave here at once—they’ll kill you if they find you!” she exclaimed.

“Who is going to kill me?” Harry asked.

“The king!”

“Why?”

“Because you’re a Stranger.”

“But—?”

“Enough. This is ridiculous. You have changed everything. I cannot stay here,” she whispered to herself. “There is no time for this. We must leave immediately. Your questions can be answered later.”

Satine grabbed the scrolls and put them in her pack. Then she took the ivory hair comb that had been a gift from her father and hesitated before finally packing the ornamented quill Leostrial had given her last year. She had no idea what possessed her to do so—she would certainly have no use for a quill where she was going!

Satine paused a moment and looked around at her room. It was over. She could finally leave and be free of all this deception and hatred. She felt a sudden rush of sadness with the knowledge she must leave—Burmia was her home, despite everything. And what had she accomplished? It was almost too hurtful to think about—she had yet to discover what Leostrial was up to. Then she thought of where she would be taking Harry, and her heart leapt.

She told Harry to turn around and quickly changed into some travelling breeches. They left the room quietly, sneaking through the silent halls. Harry was behind her breathing heavily and treading loudly.

“Try to relax,” she whispered. “And keep the noise down.”

“Sorry,” he hissed, his eyes wide with excitement.

Satine gritted her teeth and led him out into the dark night. The twin moons were shining brightly enough for them to make their way without a lantern, but also brightly enough for them to be spotted if anyone happened to be about. The stables were not far away, and it was easy to pick the door locks.

“Can you ride?” she asked him.

Harry shook his head mutely, staring at the huge stallion before him. Satine swore under her breath and set about showing him how to saddle a much smaller horse. They were nearly ready when out of the moonlight ran a dirty little stable boy, pausing in shock to see them.

“What are you doing? You are not to leave at this time of night,” he exclaimed, staring at them with eyes full of fear.

Before they could say a word, the boy ran from the stables and towards the castle to sound the alarm.

Satine helped Harry to mount his horse and then leapt atop her own, leading them onto the cobbled streets.

“We can’t open the gates by ourselves so we’ll have to go to a place in the side wall where we can jump over,” she said and they raced their horses around the fence line, Harry using every bit of concentration to stay on the horse.

The wall was the same height all around. Finally, after two circuits, they decided that no place was better than any other, so Satine chose a spot and ordered Harry to back up. People were pouring out of the castle behind them, including soldiers with weapons.

“You go first,” Satine commanded.

“What? I don’t know how to jump over a wall!” said Harry.

“Sit forward,” she told him quickly. “Hold the reins nice and tight. You have to have confidence, or the horse will scare. Kick her hard and ride straight at the wall—she will do the rest.”

Harry looked at Satine, and then the wall. “Christ, I don’t think I can...”

“Go Harry!” Satine yelled.

He kicked his horse and it leapt into a gallop. Harry bounced around in the seat, unable to hold himself steady. The horse neighed loudly, scared by the clumsiness of her rider as she leapt the wall. Harry gasped aloud with pain as his head snapped back, clacking his jaw and he nearly fell from his mount. Sheer terror kept him gripping the reins and he managed to right himself and pull the horse to a rearing halt.

Satine was right behind him, clearing the jump beautifully.

“Well done,” she breathed. “Now we must ride!”

Harry raced after Satine as she galloped across the plain, rattling around painfully in his saddle, unable to tighten his knees to keep himself in place. His neck ached from the whiplash.

Leostrial’s horsemen were in close pursuit. They raced for the trees where they were able to lose their followers momentarily. Harry gratefully slowed to a canter, but kept going. Satine called out to him, “We have to go through the marshes, Harry. There’s no time to go around. We have to make it into Uns Lapodis as fast as we can.”

When they came to the marsh, going fast was easier said than done. It was a wide expanse, as far as the eye could see, of muddy, foggy ground. So foggy in fact, that they could only see a few feet in front of them. The horses had a terrible time, for their hooves slipped in the mud with every second step.

“This is disgusting!” Harry groaned, wiping mud off his face.

“It will get worse,” Satine assured him grimly.

And with that it began to pour with rain. Soon, there was a raging storm all around them, with lightning flashing and thunder roaring. They were soaked through instantly, and Harry didn’t think he could imagine anything more miserable. He started to think of home. This was certainly not the romantic notion he’d had of exploring a new world. This was the worst idea he’d ever had!

They walked through the marshes in the rain for two days. Their horses had long since been left behind, as they could not travel fast enough through the mud, and Harry and Satine were coming to the last of their strength. Without food they could not keep going.

On the night of the second day, they huddled together against the cold, exhausted. The rain lashed at their faces, and they could barely see each other. They were at the edge of the marshes and by the next day they should make it out. Satine was starting to feel sick with worry—Uns Lapodis was across a span of water, and she had no money to pay the ferryman.

“It will be all right, Satine,” Harry said.

She looked at him in wonder. “You’re the most optimistic boy I have ever met,” she said. “This whole time, you’ve never once complained.”

He shrugged. “I can’t complain when I have someone as amazing as you to get me through this.” He blushed as he said the words. “Who are you, Satine?”

She smiled recklessly and shook out her long blonde hair. “I am no one but the woman put in this world to deliver you to safety. If I do nothing else in this life, I will get you out of here alive, Harry.”

He stared at her, a lump coming to his throat, thrilled by her intensity. She looked like a warrior goddess, the wind and rain lashing at her face.

“Why though?” he managed to ask. “Why all this trouble for me? Why am I important?”

“Because you’re a Stranger!”

“I don’t understand what that means,” he sighed. They shivered under their wet clothes. “But I know I’ve never had anyone put so much belief in me, whatever the reason.”

She looked at him. “What do you mean?”

He shrugged again. “I’ve never really been good at much, I guess. But I always knew there was something else out there. And I suppose I was hoping that when we got here, maybe things would be different, you know? Maybe there would be something for me to achieve.”

Satine smiled slowly. “Harry, my friend, if I can get you away from here, I guarantee you will have a huge task ahead of you.”

Harry looked at Satine in surprise, but before he had a chance to ask what she meant, the sound of nearby beating drums sliced through the rain. Satine’s eyes widened and she hissed, “Leostrial! I thought we had lost him. Come on, we have to keep going.”

They struggled on through the rain and mud but almost immediately, Harry’s foot became stuck.

“Harry, come on! They are almost upon us!”

“I can’t, Satine—my foot’s trapped—I can’t get it out.” Danger was closing in around them. They could hear the drums beating and the horses’ hooves on the soft ground.

Men screamed around them and the wind howled.

Then suddenly, everything seemed to freeze. All around them the sound was muted and the wind stopped as if someone had thrown a switch. Harry and Satine looked on in astonishment at the frozen world. Only the sky moved. They saw lightning strike but could not hear the thunder, and the rain had ceased.

“What’s happened?” whispered Harry.

“I have no idea,” Satine said, her heart pounding.

“Of course you have no idea,” a voice said scornfully.

They turned to see a body-shaped shadow standing before them. Yellow eyes peered at them through the darkness. The shadow continued to speak in its rumbling voice, “Your ignorance is really quite astounding, never ceasing to think only of yourselves.”

“Who ... what are you?” Satine asked quietly.

Harry began to shiver.

“I am the Equinox,” the creature said and, as he spoke, there was a flash of lightning in the sky right behind him, which lit his wraith-like figure for a moment. He wore a long cloak, and even though it was white, it did not shine or glow against the night sky. Somehow it held only darkness. The hood was drawn over his head so that his face was hidden—all except the eyes. They seemed to bore deep inside Harry and Satine. Harry wanted to hide. He felt exposed. Those eyes could see anything they wanted. They were probing too deeply, and the thought chilled him.

“I am not confined by good and evil. I am the holder. I was made for one purpose and one only. To watch and to guard,” said the Equinox.

“Guard what?” asked Satine.

“The creatures,” he said cryptically. “Creatures made for one only. I wait for him to claim them. Once he comes I will be no more.” He watched them both very closely, and then asked, “Do you need help?”

“Yes,” Satine said slowly.

“Then be warned—today I will save you, but tomorrow I may kill you. I am ever-changing.” And with that, he raised his head to the sky and gave a long wavering whistle. It was not loud, but it seeped into every crack in the earth.

Out of the sky flew two unicorns, one black, one white, weaving about each other, their horns touching every now and then. Their hooves ran through the air and propelled them forward, their huge feathery wings spread wide. They landed with grace and stood very still, gazing at Harry and Satine.

“You may have the creatures for one day only. You can use them to get out of the marshes and away from your pursuers. Treat them well, for they have a purpose beyond what you can understand.”

Then the Equinox vanished into the fog, and the world started to move again.

Satine and Harry slowly approached the unicorns, and, seeing that they were friendly, patted their necks.

The creatures flattened their wings in invitation to the riders. Satine climbed swiftly onto the white creature. Harry climbed onto the black and wound his fingers into the mane. He clamped his knees down over the unicorn’s flank and flattened himself against the back of the glorious creature. He breathed in the cool scent of its mane and shivered with pleasure. He was actually sitting on a real unicorn! Wait till his friends heard about this!

The unicorns launched themselves into the air and Harry held on tighter. He turned to look down at the quickly fading ground, and saw their pursuers staring up at them. Then as they climbed higher, the men became mere specks below.

As Leostrial watched the two figures disappear into the sky he cursed. There was a flat feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He had lost her. Odin had always said that his trust in the girl would be his downfall. Now Satine had gone, and there was only grief inside him. He was too clever not to understand the implications of such a flighty departure. Too clever not to understand, finally, that she had never loved him. That she had betrayed him.

His rage was flat and cold, deadly and permanent. When he ordered his men home, they knew to be quick to follow his command.

Leostrial’s appearance was misleading. He did not bother with the robes and jewels that a king often wore, but garbed himself instead in a plain battle tunic with a sword at his belt, so that people who did not know him took him for a common warrior and no more. He had not been with the original party of soldiers he’d sent to pursue the fugitives, but had ridden out to join them when they did not return. He had found them lost in the marshes. And he had come too late. So now they were riding home without victory. The soldiers’ stupidity was atrocious! They had behaved like useless babes without their mothers! Leostrial wasn’t accustomed to being beaten. But it was more than the pain of defeat that stayed with him. There was a hurt inside him too deep for words.

No one understood how deeply love cut through Leostrial. How deeply he was affected by it. It drove his ambition and was part of the reason he had taken over—his was a past full of loss that he never spoke of.

And what Leostrial had felt for Satine was too surprising and too deep for him to remain unchanged.

By the time they returned to the castle, the soldiers were exhausted and frightened, aware that there would be consequences for their failure to capture the escapees. The king entered his room and shut the door behind him.

“Arrange to have the hunting party forego rest until they have acquainted themselves intimately with the marshes,” he barked. “I don’t want to see any of them again until they have made it through and back twice. Never again will they lose their way on a task set by me.” He paused and clasped his hands together before murmuring, “And send for Locktar—we cannot have spies telling our secrets now, can we?”