Chosen Sister (8 page)

She grabbed Austyn and pulled him towards the darkness of the castle. Austyn screamed, and she turned around. A huge, black reptilian head rose out of the moat.

“Come on.” She yanked him forward.

Hearing the scrape of the creature’s claws on the drawbridge behind them, she broke into a run. In the distance, she glimpsed gray light, and she put on an extra burst of speed. They broke out of the darkness and into a courtyard. Now the gray walls completely surrounded them. Ahead lay the inner part of the castle, where another gateway beckoned to them, but they’d only made it halfway across the courtyard when a dark shape blotted out the sky. A huge black dragon sailed over their heads from behind and landed directly in front of them.

Reina whirled around just in time to watch a metal portcullis smash down over the doorway they had just come through. They were trapped! Austyn made a little squawk of a noise, his face paled, and he collapsed in a faint at her feet. Reina’s hands felt terribly empty as she turned around to face the dragon.

Its huge black body still dripped with green slime from the moat. Its silver eyes sparkled, fixing on her, and it opened its mouth into a large, toothy grin. It smelled as bad as the moat.

“What, child, are you doing trespassing in my castle?” Its hot breath washed over her, convincing her that it could breathe fire if it wished.

Don’t show any fear,
she told herself. She straightened up and glared defiantly at it. “We’re here to see the Green Wizard. This is hardly the way to greet a couple of exhausted travelers.” She shook her finger at the dragon. “We’ve had enough without you too. Let us through!”

The dragon cocked its head, regarding her for a long moment. She wanted to check Austyn, make sure that he was all right, but she didn’t dare.

“You are not afraid of me?” the dragon asked. “I could eat you in one bite.”

I’m sure you could.
“Of course I am,” she snapped at it. “But I’m not just going to scream and run. Besides, I’m trying to get
in,
not
out.
” She took a step towards it, even though everything in her wanted to run away. “Once I get ahold of that Green Wizard, I’m going to tell him exactly what I think of his way of welcoming visitors. Now step aside and let us through!”

“I will let you through on one condition.” The dragon bared its teeth at her and stood up.

Reina bent her legs, ready to jump aside if it should attack her, but instead it stood on its four feet, wings spread, and looked down at her.

“Walk beneath my body to the door.”

Reina gulped. “I thought dragons’ bellies were their weak spot.”

“You don’t have a weapon.”

That was only too true. And with Austyn unconscious, they didn’t even have a chance to use magic.

“Fine. If you promise to let me through without attacking.”

“I promise nothing, only that if you don’t do it, you will have no chance at all of getting through.”

She hadn’t expected it to agree. “Okay, we’ll do it.” She bent to wake Austyn.

“Stop. Leave him. You must go yourself.”

Anger replaced all her fear, and she whirled around to face the dragon. “Never!”
I should have known it would trick me.
“I won’t leave Austyn. Eat me, then, and let him go.”

The dragon blinked in surprise. “I won’t harm him.”

“And I won’t leave him!”

The dragon snorted. “Very well. I see you have courage, child. Take your brother if you must, but I won’t be responsible for what happens afterward.”

Reina bent and shook him. “Austyn! Wake up.” He didn’t even grumble in his sleep. “What did you do to him?” she demanded. “Let him wake up!”

“He won’t in my presence,” the dragon said, and the hint of a chuckle in his voice irritated her further. “He’s too afraid, and that fear binds him while I stand here.”

Reina gave him a scathing look and picked Austyn up in her arms. He was horribly heavy. “He’s only six. It’s normal for him to be afraid. You did it to him on purpose, scaring us like that.” With each step, her arms ached, but she continued towards the dragon, her anger supporting her. “If he doesn’t wake up, I’ll find a way to make you pay, I promise.”

“He’ll wake, but he’ll not have passed this test,” the dragon said softly. “I said I wouldn’t be responsible for his welfare afterwards, and I won’t. It’s you who insists on bringing him where he shouldn’t go.”

“Hrmf.”
He probably just wants to eat him when I’m gone.
She marched right under the dragon, determined to make it without dropping Austyn. Ahead stood the door, and as she approached, it opened.

“Good luck, little morsel,” the dragon said.

She turned her head. The dragon had turned around and sat on the ground facing her. It winked, and then flew away. Austyn groaned, and she gently set him on his feet as he came to.

“Reina.” He sobbed and clung to her. “I was so scared. I thought we were going to die.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” She rocked him for a moment. “It was just a jerk that liked scaring people. It’s gone now. Let’s go in and find the wizards.”

Austyn wiped his tears away with his sleeve and nodded. She took his hand and entered the castle. Windows near the ceiling let dim gray light filter down. The arched hall led to a large dining hall. Tables with flowing white tablecloths filled the hall, and all the places were set, yet she saw no one.

“Hello?” Her voice echoed across the room. She walked up to one of the tables for a closer look; a fine layer of dust covered the plates. Looking up, she saw cobwebs hanging from the windows.

“I don’t think anyone’s lived here for a long time,” she said in a low voice. “But we’d better keep going, just to check.”

She crossed the room, glancing at several doorways, trying to decide which one to pick. Something glittered in the doorway on the far side, so she went in that direction. When she reached the passageway, she noticed light sparkling down at the far end. Figuring it was as good a choice as any, she headed down the passageway. White lace tapestries hung on the walls, but they too looked dusty. At the end of the passage, a wooden door stood half-open. She peeked in.

A small, square hall stretched out in front of her, with a very tall ceiling with a skylight. Red tapestries depicting a unicorn hunt adorned the walls. At the far end of the room stood an archway. While it had no door, rippling blue light filled the arch.
Magic,
Reina thought. She stepped into the room and, sure enough, a cool vibration came from the light-filled arch.

Hand in hand with Austyn, Reina approached the arch. She didn’t dare touch the sparkling blue energy. Next to it hung a smaller red tapestry, with the picture of a unicorn sitting in a little fenced garden. The unicorn wore a gold collar encrusted with jewels, and birds and flowers were stitched into the background.

“Only if you are pure and innocent of body and heart may you pass through here,” the unicorn said.

“What?” Reina blinked and rubbed her eyes. She turned to Austyn. “Did you hear that?”

He wrinkled his nose at her. “Yeah, the picture talked! Weird.”

Reina looked back up at the unicorn. It distinctly turned its head and fixed an embroidered eye on her. Her stomach turned over. In a way, it unsettled her more than the dragon.

“If you are, you may walk forward without fear.”

After speaking, the picture returned to its previous position and didn’t move. Reina glanced back at Austyn, who shrugged.

“Well, here goes.” Reina extended her hand into the blue light. It felt cold. Purple, yellow, and pink stripes now flashed in the barrier, but it didn’t hurt her. She took a deep breath and walked through. Icy energy enveloped her for a moment … and then she was on the other side.

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Reina stood in a magnificent hall, but unlike the one before, this one was decorated in rainbow colors, with tapestries and jewels encasing the wall. At the far end a fireplace suddenly lit up, and a table with two chairs began setting themselves up in front of it. Her eyes almost bugged out as food appeared on it. Her stomach grumbled, and she wanted to run over and start eating but realized that Austyn wasn’t next to her. She turned around and saw Austyn through the blue wall. Apparently he couldn’t see her, because he started yelling.

“Reina? Reina, where are you?”

“Here!” she yelled back, but he didn’t respond, perhaps he couldn’t hear her. She put her hand to the barrier, but it only seemed to work one way. It was solid now, and cold like ice. For a moment she panicked. What if they were stuck apart? Why hadn’t she pulled Austyn through with her?

And then Austyn stepped through the barrier. Again it turned purple, rose, and yellow as he went through. He blinked for a moment, and she wrapped her arms around him.

“That scared me!”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that would happen.” She kissed him on the forehead. “Look, food!”

They hurried over to the table. The fire warmed her after the cold of the barrier. Reina sat down and breathed in the wonderful smells. It was exotic food, stuff she’d hardly ever seen. Grapes, oranges, strawberries, as well as spiced turkey, stuffing, and apple pie. A teapot poured out two cups of tea as she watched.

“Do you think it’s safe?” Austyn asked, poking a finger at some grapes.

Reina didn’t want to think about it—she wanted to eat. “Well, I think we ought to try it.” Wasn’t Austyn starving as well? “It looks perfectly good. Perhaps it appeared here just for us.”

Austyn frowned. “I dunno.”

“Okay, I’ll try it first, just a little, to find out.” She picked a grape and popped it in her mouth. Its sweetness made her close her eyes in contentment. “Tastes just fine to me.” She let hunger take over and served herself a full plate.

Austyn sat down and watched her carefully for a few minutes before taking a few grapes. Reina smiled to see that, after a few bites, he ate as furiously as she was.

“Merrrow?”

Reina turned. A sleek, red-gold cat sat between the table and the fire. It had black markings along its eyes, the tips of its ears, and its paws. Its yellow eyes fixed on Reina’s plate.

“Oh, are you hungry too?” she asked, grinning.

“Rrrow.”

Normally, her parents didn’t hold with feeding animals, but the cat looked so well-kept and regal, Reina felt sure it belonged to whoever owned the castle. Surely they fed their pet good food and wouldn’t mind if she shared. And even if the wizard, or whoever owned this place, did mind, looking at the pitiful expression of the cat, Reina decided she didn’t care. They had plenty more food here than either of them could eat at the moment. She scanned the little table and grabbed a tea saucer. She ripped off some turkey, put it in the saucer, and set it on the floor.

The cat tucked in as if it had been starving. Reina giggled.

“Let’s give it some milk too,” Austyn said, grabbing the little milk pitcher from next to the teapot. He put his saucer on the floor and poured the milk into it. The cat started to purr and lapped it up.

As they continued to eat, Reina’s eyes drooped. She was exhausted. Part of her wanted to keep searching for the Green Wizard—he ought to be around here somewhere—but she was too tired. A stuffed chair stood next to the fireplace. Perhaps if she just sat down for a bit, she’d feel up to it in a minute. She dragged herself over to the chair, and Austyn joined her. It was plenty large enough for both of them.

The cat stalked over, staring up at them again with big golden eyes. Reina patted her lap, and it jumped up. Together they ran their hands across its fur as it kneaded their legs. Within minutes, all three of them fell asleep.

A gentle touch to Reina’s face woke her. She opened her eyes. Two large amber eyes looked intently at her face. The cat gently tapped her cheek again with its paw. She yawned and stretched. The cat jumped down. Austyn remained asleep, his curls sticking up every which way. She smiled and gently shook him awake. He looked confused for a second.

“I thought for a moment we were home again,” he said in a quiet voice.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get home someday,” Reina replied. “Mama and Papa will be waiting for us, and everything will be like it was before, only better, because there’ll be no harpies or Red Wizard.”

“I miss Mama and Papa.” Austyn sniffed. “What if we don’t ever get back?”

“We will. I promise.”

“Meow!”

The cat interrupted their discussion. They both stared down at it. It started pacing back and forth, tail straight in the air, looking over its shoulder at them before coming back, rubbing against their legs, and then heading away again. Reina and Austyn looked at each other in surprise.

“I guess we’d better do what it wants,” Reina said, standing up.

The cat crashed its head against her leg, purring, and she reached down to scratch it behind the ear. Suddenly, it turned and headed across the hall. They followed. The cat led them out of the hall, into a corridor with one side covered in more unicorn tapestries, the other in arched windows that looked out on the most beautiful garden Reina had ever seen. She stopped for a moment to gaze at it, all the carefully trimmed trees and bushes, beds of gorgeous flowers, and in the center, a fountain with a marble unicorn rearing up amid the water.

An impatient meow from the cat made her rip herself away. They continued past the garden until they reached the bottom of a curling staircase. Reina guessed this led to one of the castle’s towers. The cat started up and turned to stare at them as if to ask, “Well, aren’t you coming?”

“We are, we are,” she told it and started up the stairs.

Austyn giggled. “You’re talking to a cat.”

“Well, it’s not any ordinary cat—it’s a magic cat.”

“How do you know?”

“It doesn’t act like a normal cat.”

“Ha. I think it does.”

Reina glared at him. “What would you know about it?”

“I’m the one who used to play with all the cats, not you. They all act like they know everything, and we’re the dumb ones.”

Reina shrugged. “Whatever.”

Just when she began to think the stairs would never end, they reached the top. The cat sat next to the wooden door at the top, waiting for them. Reina opened it and stepped in. She gasped. The room was entirely white, with windows all around the walls and a white altar in the middle of the room, covered by a white cloth. On it lay the most beautiful sword Reina could ever have imagined.