The Catastrophe of the Emerald Queen (12 page)

 
As they approached him Jorehlo
tutted loudly and said to the boy
. “Master Bue. Being punished AGAIN? Not suitable behaviour
for the heir to the Valley Keys is it?”

 
The boy
ignored him but grinned broadly when he saw Mordalayn and Jared. He
had a large gap between his two upper front teeth. He straightend
up. “Alright there. Haven’t seen you in a while who’s your friend?”
he said looking at Mordalayn

 “
It’s
Takoba to you Bue,” Jorehlo corrected him
formally.

 
Bue ignored him again and
looked at Jared
. “If you’re
moving in here then come see me later, I’ll show you
around.”

 
The door next to the boy
opened and a woman’s head appeared. “Master Bue you are not suppose
to be talk….oh sorry
.” She
blushed as she saw the three others.

 “
Not your fault Miss, our young
friend was just telling us how sorry he was to have been sent out
of class
,” Jorehlo
replied.

 “
No I wasn’t
,” Bue replied indignantly, then turned to
Jared. “Seriously mate, look me up if you’re sticking around
yeah?”

 
He
leaned on the wall as they moved on and the woman closed the door.
After a few moments he began whistling softly and staring off into
space.

 
The
rounded a corner and on their right was a courtyard, the centre
decorated with a neatly cut lawn and many flowers. A small fountain
was in the centre, water gently cascading over a basin of grey
stone. Across the other side was a corridor open to the air like
the one they were now in, pillars every few yards forming arches
along the way.

 
Jorehlo
stopped outside a door that was blue instead of red and knocked
three times gently. “She’ll be so pleased to see you” he smiled at
Mordalayn.

 “
Come in
,” a voice said loudly, muffled by the
door.

 
Jorehlo
opened the door and in the small office they could see a small boy
standing in front of a desk. Behind it sat a woman dressed in dark
green with her hair tied back in a tight bun. She looked serious
and appeared about 50 years old. As they entered the room she
turned to the child in front of her.

 “
Please
may I? Is that clear? Please MAY I?”

 
The
small boy looked at the floor with tears in his eyes.

 “
Is
that CLEAR?” the woman snapped.

 “
Yes Ma’am
,” the tiny figure said, almost in a
whisper.

 
Still retaining her serious
expression the woman, picked up a piece of paper in front of her
and held it up. “Now let this be the last time I have to speak to
you about your manners
.” 

“
Yes Ma’am
,” the boy stammered and looked up at the visitors, clearly
embarrassed and scared.

 “
Now, off you
go
,” she said, writing a
comment on the paper and handing it back to the boy who scurried
out the room.

 “
Now then
,” the woman said, turning to the newcomers and
smiling. “What brings you here Takoba? I must say I am pleased to
see you again.”

 
Mordalayn
replied formally. “The pleasure is all mine
Madame Veer. “I see you are still strict with your
charges.”

 
She
stood up, extending her hand which Mordalayn shook. She turned to
Jorehlo. “Thank you. You may go”

 
Jorehlo
looked to Mordalayn. “Speak to you later
Takoba.”

 “
Indeed you will my old
friend
,” Mordalayn said. He
turned back to Madame Veer as the door closed. “This is a serious
situation we find ourselves in. I am sure you have been made aware
of the gravity of the current situation regarding the Emerald
Queen?”

 
The woman adjusted her neat,
long, green skirt and sat back down, gesturing to Mordalayn and
Jared to do the same. They took up seats opposite her and she
looked at Jared for a few moments before
replying
. “Is it safe to
discuss this in front of this child?”

 
Mordalayn
nodded. “This boy is the only link to what
happened and he also needs our protection.”

 
Jared
glanced at both of them, unsure as to where this conversation was
going.

 “
I am
happy to take him in. Need I remind you that this is unusual to say
the least?”

 “
I am aware of that Ma’am but
this boy needs protection. While he is with you he is safer than if
he is with me or the Council. Our enemies have spies
everywhere
.”

 
The
woman looked at Jared and smiled, her face transforming from a
serious, scary look to a pleasant one. “Don’t be scared boy, we are
all friends here. How old are you?”

 “
Eleven” Jared replied. “Can I ask, why do I need to stay with
you?” 

“
Here you will be safe, this place is protected
by agreement. No-one may enter here without permission, my
permission to be precise
.”

 
Mordalayn stood and turned to
Jared. “I have to go now, there is work to be done. However I will
return for you as soon as I can
.” He turned back to Madame Veer. “Thank you kindly. Your
generosity is appreciated.”

 “
You are always welcome here
Takoba. May Our Lady protect you
.” 

Mordalayn left the room,
closing the door quiety behind him.

 
Jared felt scared and looked
at Madame Veer. Her face was very serious but she appeared to
realise his discomfort
.
“Don’t be nervous, I promised we would help you and we will.” She
took a sheet of paper from a sheaf on her desk and took a feathered
quill pen. She wrote a note and handed it to Jared. “Go back the
way you came. The first door on your left. Challandra will see you
and give you something to eat and allocate you a bed for the
night.”

 
Jared felt his stomach grumble
at the mention of food and Madame Veer smiled. “All is safe for you
here
.”

 
Jared
walked down the corridor holding the piece of paper. At the first
red door he came across he paused and glanced down the corridor.
The boy from outside the classroom was gone and the singing had
stopped. He raised his hand to knock when the door suddenly opened.
Standing in front of him was a woman not much taller than him. She
had shoulder length black hair with two lighter streaks of brown at
the front. The hair was dangling in her face and she pushed it to
one side as she opened the door. She was pleasant and
friendly-looking, like the sort of person you could imagine taking
care of little kids at a nursery school. She appeared to be
young. 

“
Hello there
,” she said chirpily. “What can I do for
you?”

 “
I…I’m not
sure
.” Jared stammered,
handing her the piece of paper.  

“
Let’s have a look
,” she said, squinting at the page and then said excitedly.
“AHA! So you’re the special guest. OK we need to get you something
to eat.” Reaching down she took his hand and with her other closed
the door behind her. “We’ll get you to the dining room. I bet
you’re hungry.” 

“
Just a bit
,” Jared said, his stomach rumbling.

 
She led him down the corridor,
her shoes squeaking on the hard marble floor. “The boys will be so
pleased to see you. We’ve had no one new for a while now. By the
way my name’s Challandra
.”

 
They
came across two large red double door, arched like all the others.
Jared could hear laughter and the clattering noises that a busy
school dining room made at lunch. “Here we are” she said brightly,
pushing the doors open with both hands.

 
As they entered the room every
head turned in their direction and the conversations instantly
ground to a halt. Jared was facing two long, wooden tables with
about six boys on each. All were dressed in green shirts like he’d
seen as he came in to the place. Their trousers and shorts were in
varying states of repair and most boys were wearing leather slip on
shoes with no laces. He looked at them blankly feeling embarrassed
as the silence hung in the air. Behind the two tables was a hatch
in the wall where a fierce looking woman with a face like a rhino
stood holding a ladle and wearing a green apron. The
feroci
ous expression was
softened somewhat by the cap she was wearing on her head. At waist
level were several large metal containers of
food.

 
Challandra smiled and as the
boys stared at Jared with mute curiosity she beamed at them
brightly and clapped her hands together. “Hi there everyone, this
is Jared. He’s going to be staying with us. Can you please make him
welcome
.”

 
There
was another long pause and then suddenly a rush of excited voices
began babbling.

 “
What’s
he got on his feet. Never seen shoes like that before.”

 “
Where’s he from? Don’t recognise the clothes. You think he’s
from Coulen?” 

“
Strange hair
cut. How come we can’t get ours like
that?”

 
They continued to talk amongst
themselves like Jared was a species of interesting monkey in a zoo.
While he was standing there feeling like an ant under a magnifying
glass he looked up and saw the boy that had been outside the
classroom earlier stand up from halfway down the left hand table
and walk towards him and Challandra. He smil
ed at her. “It’s alright Miss, I’ll look after
him.”

 “
Good lad Bue and thank
you
.” She turned to Jared and
put her hand on his arm. “Now Jared if you need anything please
come to me or Madame Veer ok? You are safe here provided you stay
within the confines.”

 “
I’ll be
fine
,” Jared said smiling but
still feeling incredibly nervous.

 “
Come on mate you can sit by
me
,” Bue said smiling his
crooked smile and taking Jared by the arm as Challandra left the
room, the double doors banging a few times as she went
through.

 
Bue moved back to his original
seat while the excited buzz of conversation continued. All the boys
were looking at Jared, the ones on the other table craning their
necks to get a look at the newcomer in their midst. Jared
noticed
there was only one
chair and paused but Bue slapped the boy to him on the back of the
head. “Beevor, where’s your manners? Get our guest a
seat.”

 
The
other lad complied and scurried off to a stack of chairs against
the wall of the large hall they were in. He pulled the top one free
with a grunt and tottered back, setting it down between Bue’s chair
and indicating Jared should sit before squeezing back into his own
seat. Bue looked at the boy opposite and jerked his head towards
the hatch where the rhino faced creature stood looking bored.
 

“
Makeo, get him some grub. You’re hungry yeah?” he said to
Jared. 

Jared nodded. “Y
ou
don’t know how much,” and Bue laughed.

 “
Get him everything, tell Penny
it’s for him in case she kicks off
.”

 
The other boy made for the
hatch. He took a tray from a stack to the right of the serving
window a
nd approached the
disinterested looking woman. She lazily shifted her eyes in his
direction as he walked up.

 “
What
do you want?” she growled as the boy stood grinning brightly in
front of her. 

“
A portion of your best stew and vegetables and
one of your delicious puddings please Miss Penny
,” Makeo said keeping his forced smile plastered
to his face. 

“
You’ve already eaten you greedy little
twit
!” She fumed, her grip on
the ladle tightening and what looked like steam erupting from her
nostrils as she snorted loudly. “Do you want me to call
Madame?” 

The boy’s smile slipped only fractionally and he continued
beaming as he replied
. “It’s
not for me Miss, it’s for that new boy.” He turned around and
pointed to where Jared sat, the object of everyone’s attention.
Anticipating what Penny might say next he then added, “he’s a guest
of Madame Veer, he’s not a pupil here.”

 
Penny took a wooden plate,
separated into various compartments for different portions and
snorted again. “Well, I don’t see why he can’t come and get it
himself. I work here all day and it would be nice if I was
introduced to a guest occasionally
,” she grumbled. Penny used the ladle to scoop up a portion
of a meaty stew and then putting it down took a spoon and put some
mashed potato on top of it. The she put an assortment of vegetables
in the slot next to it and finally a sweet dish next to that in the
remaining compartment. “Cups are over there” she gestured to Makeo,
who smiled brightly and turned around. His smile dissapeared as he
grimaced and grabbed a metal cup from the stack near the trays and
made his way back to Jared and Bue.