Sinners of Magic (13 page)

Arhdel bowed again before
clicking his fingers and Nienna approached from the main hall,
watching them with expectant eyes.

‘
Your guests
would like to retire,’ Arhdel instructed, gesturing for her to take
charge.

‘
Of course,’
Nienna replied, throwing out her hands and leading the way, ‘why,
please follow me and I will show you to your rooms.’

Tremlon turned his attention to
Crystal. ‘You should try to get some rest tonight, you look tired
and we have an early start tomorrow.’ Crystal simply nodded and
Arhdel interrupted her thoughts by bidding her goodnight, and once
he left, the three guests followed Nienna through a well-lit
passageway.

From the outside the tavern had
looked quite small, but once inside the building took on a whole
new spectrum. The ceilings were high, with strong, wooden beams
jutting out from the roof with lots of windows cut into the stone
walls, making the whole place seem light and airy. They had left
the rosy-cheeked landlord serving a couple of the guards and they
could hear him laughing at the soldiers’ somewhat pathetic
jokes.

They reached a wooden staircase
stretching upwards and curving to the right. This set of stairs led
to a long corridor of bedrooms and their shoes made a ‘thudding’
noise as they ascended. Small oil paintings and prints dominated
the white walls and Crystal noticed there were no portraits or
pictures of people amongst them, and horses, pigs and dogs appeared
to be more to the collector’s taste. They continued to climb three
flights of stairs before Nienna stopped and pulled out a large key
from her pocket. She unlocked a door and then pushed it ajar.

She gestured to Matt and
Tremlon.

‘
This will be
your room,’ she said, stepping back so they could enter. ‘I hope
you find it to your liking.’ Tremlon appeared to hesitate, turning
towards Crystal once again.

‘
I will wake
you for breakfast,’ he said, grasping the door handle, ‘please
don’t leave your room without letting me know where you’re
going.’

‘
Is there a
problem if I do?’ she asked, feeling her eyebrows knit together
with concern.

‘
Er, no, not
exactly, but you are not from this world and I don’t want you
getting yourself …’ Tremlon paused, searching for the appropriate
words, ‘into a situation you can’t get yourself out of.’ Tension
filled the air and it was Nienna who intervened.

‘
Should you
need anything in the night, milady,’ she interrupted, taking a step
towards her, ‘you’ll find a lever by your bed; just pull it and I
will come and assist you.’ Crystal nodded her thanks.

‘
I will,’ she
promised, producing a weak smile, ‘but I’m sure I’ll be
fine.’

Only slightly pacified, Tremlon
entered his room whilst grabbing Matt by the scruff of the neck,
shoving him inside and slamming the door behind him with the heel
of his boot. Nienna reached out and put a gentle hand on Crystal’s
shoulder.

‘
He’s always
been a bit tense, so don’t take it personally,’ she said, opening
an adjacent door and gesturing for her to enter.

‘
Thanks,’
said Crystal with a grin. ‘I’m guessing you’ve met him before by
that comment.’

‘
Oh, yes,’
Nienna said, with a nod of her head. ‘He’s stayed here many times
over the past few months.’

Any thoughts of Tremlon were
swiftly wiped away when she took a step inside her room.

‘
Wow! This
can’t be real!’

‘
Is something
wrong?’ Nienna asked with genuine concern. ‘Is there a problem,
don’t you like it?’

‘
But it’s
just like my bedroom at home!’ Crystal gasped in astonishment.
Running to her bed she grabbed the cuddly toy sitting on her
pillow.

‘
Hercules!’
she cried with joy. ‘What are you doing here?’ She was so pleased
to see her favourite stuffed toy and she hugged him fiercely,
feeling the first pang of homesickness wash over her. She looked
over and spotted the heavy-framed picture of herself and Beatrice
sitting on the bedside table. Still holding the bundle of fluff,
she rushed over and picked up the colour photo, gazing at it with
love glowing in her eyes. What the hell was she doing here in this
strange world anyway? Would all this secrecy and knowledge really
be worth it in the end? She placed the photograph back on the
table.

‘
How did you
get this room to look like mine?’ she asked Nienna, fascinated with
the concept of all she saw.

‘
Why, it’s a
standard feature in most of the taverns,’ said Nienna, laughing
with surprise, ‘didn’t you know?’ Moving a thick curtain aside,
Nienna exposed a metal grid attached to the wall. It looked to
Crystal like some kind of combination.

‘
This,’
Nienna pointed, ‘is what we call a room dial. It isn’t actually a
dial, as you have to push the buttons.’ She shrugged her shoulders,
‘I don’t know where the name came from but anyway, you punch in a
number and the room will change to any theme you wish, as long as
you have the right combination, of course.’

Punching in a code as she
spoke, Crystal watched the room change before her very eyes into a
ship’s cabin. The room swayed with the roll of the sea, causing her
to feel slightly nauseous. The hammocks tied to the ceiling swayed
to and fro and the water jug placed at the centre of the table slid
from side to side to match the movement of the rolling waves. A
single round porthole gave her a view of the deep blue ocean. It
was real, as real as anything she had ever seen and the sea sprayed
against the window, causing her to giggle with sheer delight. She
could make out colourless shapes under the water, shapes that were
swimming closer to her and she shrieked with excitement when
beautiful mermaids jumped from the icy waters in a huge
synchronised display. Their large tails flapped playfully in the
foamy bluish water and their long, golden tresses were wrapped
around their bodies to cover their modesty.

‘
I can’t
believe what I’m seeing,’ Crystal exclaimed, unable to accept what
her eyes were telling her to be true. ‘This really is another
world; you do have magic here.’

‘
It’s not
magic,’ said Nienna, shaking her head thoughtfully. ‘What may
appear to be magical in your ordinary world is not necessarily so
in ours.’ She punched a number back into the dial to recreate
Crystal’s bedroom once again. The room blurred for a moment, making
Crystal feel slightly dizzy before it settled back, but she was too
impressed to let that bother her.

‘
Tremlon’s
right though,’ she said, turning to face Nienna, ‘I do have a lot
to learn and even more to understand about this world.’ Nienna
smiled, the corners of her mouth softening, just a
little.

‘
Sleep well,
milady,’ she said, after turning the bed down for the night.
‘Remember, if you need anything at all, just pull this lever by
your bed and I will come straight away.’ Nienna showed Crystal how
it worked before replacing it to its correct position.

‘
Please don’t
fuss, I’ll be fine,’ Crystal insisted, jumping on the bed and
hugging Hercules for the thirtieth time.

‘
Very well,
then I will bid you goodnight,’ said Nienna, leaving her side and
heading for the door, and once she had closed it, Crystal went back
to hugging her dog, oblivious to what was about to happen to her in
the next twenty-four hours.

Chapter
6

Amadeus sat on the ridge
waiting for a sign that the wagon was approaching. He had waited
all night, sitting under the stars with only the moon and the
baying of wolves for company. The elf king had ordered him to watch
and wait for the daughter of the Oakwood wizard Bridgemear to
arrive, trusting no one else with such an important task.

Amadeus was seen to be a solid
man, heavy boned with unsmiling eyes and hair that was thin and
wispy. He had been born the son of a smithy, but had taken the oath
of the king after his seventeenth birth moon. His gift as an elf
had been his strength and none could beat him with either fist or
sword. Now, in his later years, although more weighty than when he
was a boy, he still had what it took to be the best warrior the
king had ever had. He sniffed the air, causing his nostrils to
flare; the wind blew to the east and with it the scent of someone
approaching. Alerted to the intruder, Amadeus held his sword tight,
ready to strike, thus enabling him to have the element of
surprise.

‘
Amadeus!’ a
voice he recognised called out and he relaxed the grip on his
sword.

‘
Hello
Phaphos,’ Amadeus said, lowering his guard, but feeling suspicious.
‘Tell me, what brings you all the way out here?’

‘
I’ve a
message from the king,’ said the warrior, clutching his strong hand
in his. ‘He instructs you to proceed without delay to Raven’s
Rainbow with all possible speed. The king has given you his finest
beast to help you on your journey.’

‘
But why the
sudden change of plan?’

Amadeus noticed Phaphos’s lips
tighten. ‘The king wishes you to go and seek out Bridgemear, the
Oakwood wizard, and not wait for the wagon as first planned.’

‘
But why has
the king chosen me to go? I am no match for Bridgemear’s magic,
especially if he should greet me with animosity.’

‘
You are to
go as the king’s envoy,’ Phaphos explained. ‘You must track
Bridgemear down and although that may not be easy, the king
believes that you are the only one who will find the
mage.’

Amadeus studied Phaphos further
with his startling hawk eyes and felt a cold touch worm down his
spine.

‘
What am I to
say to him?’

Phaphos stiffened. ‘Only a
handful of the king’s advisors and I will know about this. You must
tell Bridgemear news which will change our history forever.’

‘
What news?’
Amadeus asked, already feeling a knot in his stomach. ‘What does
the king wish me to tell the mage?’ Phaphos wavered and Amadeus’s
foreboding deepened.

‘
You must
tell the magician that the penalty he once paid for his debt
against the realm has been quashed. Tell him his daughter, Crystal,
the child born of Amella our princess, will arrive shortly in the
Kingdom of Nine Winters.’

‘
But
Bridgemear is no prince and could never lie with Amella,’ gasped
Amadeus, astounded by such a revelation. ‘Why, what you say is
simply preposterous!’

Phaphos shook his head and
sighed. ‘It is not for us to lay the law, but only to abide by it.
What I tell you is the truth; how this happened, I know nothing of
it.’

‘
This cannot
be true,’ Amadeus insisted, clutching at his sword as if it gave
him inner strength. ‘No one from the realms has ever done such a
terrible thing and lived to tell the tale. Yes, I was told
Bridgemear had a daughter, the very child I was waiting to meet and
escort to our kingdom, but not that her mother is Amella, why, I
simply cannot believe it.’

‘
Calm
yourself,’ said Phaphos in a firm tone. ‘As you are aware, the girl
is already in our lands, and you must go and tell Bridgemear that
his once banished daughter has re-entered our world with permission
from the Great Order of the Elders.’

Too confused to speak, Amadeus
merely stared at him in shock and only shifted his gaze when
Phaphos left his side, then he turned on his heels and made his way
towards the edge of the ridge. Facing the cool, orange sun he felt
its weak rays try to penetrate his weather-beaten face.

‘
So be it,’
he said, his face grey and ashen. ‘My allegiance has always been
with the king therefore my duty I am sworn to do.’ He spoke these
words aloud against the breeze, unable to quell the red-hot fire
that burned in his gut. With a heavy sigh he turned and ran towards
the king’s horse. Mounting, he cried out his command for the beast
to run like the wind and thus began his immediate ride to Raven’s
Rainbow.

*

Tremlon tapped on Crystal’s
bedroom door and waited for a reply. Inside, Crystal was hidden
under the covers with Hercules tucked safely under her chin, not
wishing to be disturbed from her fitful sleep. One of her slim legs
poked out of the bottom of the bed whilst the other was covered,
snuggled into the warmth of the sheet. She ignored his knock at
first, dreaming of life at home and being pampered by her mother.
The dream was comforting, her mind convinced she was home, safe and
sound.

Tremlon knocked a little
harder, becoming impatient, wanting to have his breakfast and
leave. The smell of freshly baked bread filled his nostrils and the
noise of others already filling their bellies made him less
tolerant than he might usually have been. Startled, Crystal sat up
and rubbed her eyes. Her body was still heavy with sleep and it
took her a moment to get her bearings.

‘
Are you
alright in there?’ Tremlon called out, suddenly afraid she was
gone.

Crystal pulled back the covers
and promptly charged towards the door. She pulled it open with such
force that Tremlon drew back in surprise.

‘
What is it?’
she snapped, standing there with her hair all awry and
messy.

‘
We’re
leaving in twenty minutes,’ Tremlon told her, regaining some of his
composure. ‘I just wanted you to know that your breakfast has been
ready for some time.’