Royal Institute of Magic: Elizabeth's Legacy (20 page)

“I said
don't
look round.”

“Sorry. Where is he? I
didn't see him.”

“That's because he's
hiding. Calm down and keep walking.”

“What are we going to do?”
Charlie asked, a note of despair in his voice. “If he spies on
us he'll know exactly what we're up to.”

Ben thought for a second and then
smiled. “Let's lose him.”

“Lose him? This isn't a
Hollywood movie, Ben. We need to—”

Ben took a sudden right down a
small alleyway, cutting off Charlie's protests and leaving behind the
hustle and bustle of the main pavement.

“I'm not sure this is a
good idea,” Charlie said, breathing heavily. Ben had increased
his pace and they were now speed walking. “In fact, I
know
it's not a good idea.”

“Did you have a better
one?”

“I did actually,”
Charlie said. “But it relied heavily on the Warden accidentally
falling over and crippling himself.”

“Brilliant. Why didn't I
think of that?”

The alleyway split two ways and
turned out to be the perfect place to make an escape. It was a little
maze, with roads splitting off at all sorts of angles. Some roads
doubled back, others were dead ends.

“Could we rest a second?”
Charlie asked. They had been walking and running for the last five
minutes and Charlie was panting. “We're not all future Olympic
athletes. Have we lost him yet?”

They paused at the corner of a
street and Ben peered round. Ten seconds passed and nobody came.
Twenty. Forty.

Just as Ben was beginning to
relax, the Warden appeared.

He was closer now and in full
view, giving Ben the chance to take a proper look at him. Taller than
Ben remembered, he had a really gangly stride and a chin that
probably entered rooms a good second before the rest of his face.
Ben's eyes went to the holstered Spellshooter and his stomach
lurched.

“We need to keep moving,”
he said.

The Warden was proving
particularly good at tracking them, considering he rarely had a line
of sight. Ben grit his teeth and doubled his efforts. They jumped
over walls, climbed through open windows, slipped in and out of
houses and created false trails by doubling back.

“I can't take any more,”
Charlie panted, sagging against an old brick house. “You keep
going, I'll risk the Warden. If he's still tailing us, he's some sort
of tracking god.”

Ben stared grimly down the narrow
path. “He's still tailing us.”

“That's not possible,”
Charlie gasped.

“Must be magic,” Ben
said. He grabbed a protesting Charlie and hauled him to his feet.

“I wasn't joking when I
said I can't go on.”

“Change of plan,” Ben
said, ignoring Charlie's protests. “This Warden could probably
find us if we hid under a rock on planet Narg. Let's head back to
Taecia Square. At least we'll be safe in the crowd.”

“As long as we stop with
the obstacle course. Lead on.”

“Lead on? You're the one
who got directions to Taecia Square.”

“Yes, from the hotel, not
the middle of nowhere.”

“So we're lost?”

“Of course we're lost,”
Charlie said, exasperated. “Have you seen where you've been
taking us? A skilled ranger with an iPhone and a pet bloodhound would
be lost.”

“Point taken,” Ben
said. He put an arm around Charlie's waist and half walked, half
dragged his exhausted friend onwards. They had to keep moving.

The Spellshooter was now in the
Warden's hand and he was getting closer, walking just that bit faster
than them. Ben increased his pace despite Charlie's protests, but the
Warden did the same and the gap kept narrowing. Even if they ran, the
Warden would probably be that bit quicker. Ben had a feeling they
were being toyed with.

They were now taking every
turning they came across so the Warden wouldn't get a clear shot. The
roads were getting really narrow and Ben was concerned they would hit
a dead end.

“I just thought of plan C,”
Ben said. He was now breathing hard as well; Charlie was not light.
“We—”

He stopped. Voices! A distant
murmur coming from somewhere ahead. The road split before them. Which
way? No time to pause and debate.

“Left,” Charlie said,
in a voice that left no doubt that he too had heard the voices.

The noise became louder with
every step. A different noise came from behind. Pounding footsteps.

The Warden was running right at
them.

“Run!”

With a surge of energy fuelled by
pure terror, Charlie let go of Ben and put in one last dash. Ben
followed, hoping they ran into someone soon as Charlie was already
slowing after his initial burst. The road forked again, but this time
they were close enough that even Ben could hear which way to go.

He rounded the corner and ran
headlong into a mob of people in some sort of marketplace. Stalls
lined both sides of the street and the colourful scene dazzled his
eyes just moments before the aroma hit him. Sweets. Chocolates. Ice
cream. All shapes and sizes. There were boys and girls everywhere,
eyes like saucers as they walked from stall to stall, and many
followed by haggard parents. A large banner fluttered overhead
reading “Taecia Sweet Market.

"Blend in," Ben said,
tearing his eyes away from the stalls.

They walked until they were
safely in the heart of the market. Ben scanned the crowd searching
for the lanky Warden, but there was no sign of him. He took a deep
breath and relaxed. Even if the Warden had entered the market, he
would never try something in this crowd.

"Now what?" Charlie
asked, eyeing up a strawberry tart.

"We need to get directions
back to Taecia Square."

They started searching for a
vendor who wasn't occupied; most of them were trying to serve half a
dozen kids at once. Eventually Charlie spotted a stall selling
multicoloured toffee apples that was momentarily empty.

Ben was so focused on getting to
the idle apple vendor, he almost missed the Warden slinking behind
the stalls. Ben stopped, slapping an arm out to halt Charlie.

"What was that for?"
Charlie asked, rubbing his chest.

He didn't answer. It wasn't the
Warden after all. This man was tall and well proportioned, not lanky
like the Warden. He wore a hooded black cloak that
concealed most of his face, but Ben could just make out gold flecks
in his eyes.

It was Robert, Commander of the
Institute.

"I don't see him,"
Charlie said, following the line of Ben's pointed finger.

"There!"

Most of the vendors seemed
oblivious as the Commander passed behind their stalls. Those who
spotted him did nothing more than casually shift aside.

"I see him!" Charlie
said finally. "Wow, how did I miss someone that big?"

"I don't know. Let's follow
him."

They continued down the centre of
the market, almost parallel to the Commander. There were so many
people around, it was easy to blend in.

"I wonder what he's doing
here," Ben said.

"Maybe he's got a sweet
tooth."

Unless Ben kept a good eye on the
Commander, he lost sight of him easily. As Charlie led the way, Ben
put a hand on his shoulder so he didn't have to worry about where he
was going and could focus on their target.

"Sorry, my mistake!"

Charlie came to a halt and bent
over to pick up a bag of sweets he must have knocked over. Ben was
only distracted for a second, but it was enough. He lost sight of the
Commander. He scanned the stalls, but there was no sign of him. It
took him a moment to guess where the Commander must have gone.

There was a gap between the
stalls ahead. Through that gap he could see a small, dilapidated
shop. The sign above it read Irvine Rainwater Boks. There was a
missing letter in the last word, which Ben assumed was supposed to
spell “books”.

The Commander must have walked
inside. Ben thought he could detect a whiff of dust coming from the
recently opened door.

"Not the most welcoming book
shop, is it?" Charlie commented, as they looked over the store
front. It was dull compared to the vibrant colours of the surrounding
market. The books in the window had accumulated so much dust Ben
couldn't read the titles and people passed the shop as if it didn't
exist. Surely the Commander was the first customer the shop had seen
in some time.

“I wonder what he's doing
here,” Charlie said.

“Well, he's in a book
store. I know it's a long shot, but could he be looking at some
books?”

“You know what I mean,”
Charlie said, with a roll of the eyes. “There must be a million
books in the Institute library. Why come here? It probably has fewer
books than my bedroom.”

“Maybe he's not looking for
a book. Maybe he's looking for someone.”

Charlie followed Ben's gaze to
the sign. “Who? This Irvine Rainwater bloke?”

“During the Executive
Council meeting, the Commander asked Victoria, the Director of
Scholars, if she knew where a colleague of hers might be. What if
that person was Irvine Rainwater? If he runs a book shop he could
easily be the scholarly type.”

Charlie tapped his chin
thoughtfully. “You could be right. But what does that prove,
other than your detective prowess?”

“Nothing,” admitted
Ben. “But I don't think the Commander is as strange as Natalie
claims. I wonder if he could help us."

“No way,” Charlie
said, shaking his head vigorously. “Remember what Natalie said?
Even Wren thinks there is something odd with him. I know he looks
normal enough, but you've only met him once. Wren knows him far
better. I think we should trust her."

Charlie had a point, but Ben
still wasn't convinced. He eyed the shop door. What did they have to
lose by approaching the Commander? They might not get another chance.
Ben recalled those strange eyes within the cloak. They had looked
determined, thoughtful, not strange. But a peculiar doubt tugged at
him and it took him several minutes before he could work out what it
was. The Commander could remove that ridiculous declaration of
treason on his parents with a click of his fingers. But he hadn't,
which meant he was either clueless or thought Ben's parents were
guilty. Neither scenario was good news. Yet, there was something
about him Ben couldn't ignore. He held answers, Ben was certain of
it.

He was still lost in thought when
the Commander re-emerged from the shop and continued on his way.

What to do? He had to act
now
.

"Let's do it," Ben
said. He grabbed Charlie's arm, anticipating the usual protest.

But Charlie wasn't there. He
looked around desperately and saw him standing by a bright yellow
market stall some twenty paces away.

"Charlie!" Ben said,
waving at him furiously.

Charlie waved back
enthusiastically, oblivious to Ben's urgency.

"Good news! These guys are
heading to Taecia Square and they said we can follow them."

Ben cursed. The Commander was
disappearing down the street. Ben considered running after him, but
he didn't. He watched until he could no longer see the black cloak
and then he turned reluctantly towards Charlie.

They followed the family through the market back to the small, winding
lanes. Ben was relieved to find a growing number of people taking the
same route; that would deter the Warden. The main road kept getting
wider until there was enough room to land a 747. A mighty arch came
into view, towering above the buildings. On the front it read “Queen
Elizabeth’s Taecia”. It reminded Ben of a holiday to
Paris where he saw a triumphal arch.

As soon as they passed
underneath, the pavement opened up to a square surrounded on all
sides by timber-framed shops. In the middle was a throng of people,
many walking with shopping bags, others basking in the sun or
drinking coffee at one of the many outdoor cafés.

“I guess this is Taecia
Square,” Ben said, raising his voice above the hum of activity.

It looked like Oxford Street in
London on a Saturday. Twice already he had been barged into with a
subsequent apology.

“Natalie said to meet her
at the food court,” Charlie said.

They made their way to the tables
in a corner of the square. Surrounding them were pastry shops and
cafés, and the smell of bread and coffee filled the air. They
sat down at one of the few empty tables. It was easy to relax amongst
all the people, the delicious smells and the balmy weather, but Ben
still kept an eye out for the Warden.

“Did we make it here within
half an hour?”

“Incredibly – yes,”
Charlie said, after asking a stranger the time. “Natalie should
be here soon.”

Five minutes passed and Ben was
starting to get concerned, when Charlie spotted her. She had changed
into a jumper and jeans but didn’t appear affected by the
summer heat. On her arms were two jackets and over her shoulder was a
backpack.

“Mission accomplished,”
Natalie said with a smile. “I got into a bit of trouble with
the apprentice in charge who had a go at me for missing this
morning's classes.” She showed them the jackets. “But it
was worth it for these.”

“Did you notice anyone
following you?” Ben asked, searching the crowd.

Natalie rolled her eyes. “Of
course not. I told you, we're safe unless you try and leave Taecia.”

“Tell that to the Warden
who's been following us for the last half-hour.”

Natalie gasped, her hand covering
her mouth. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“Yeah—”

“Other than my lungs and
legs, which won't recover until next week.”

Ben recounted the last half-hour,
omitting only the bit about almost approaching the Commander of the
Institute. By the time he had finished, Natalie was also scanning the
crowd, fiddling with her hair.