The Catastrophe of the Emerald Queen (27 page)

Nakal looked
up at him and smiled. “Thank you,” he said and wiped his eyes with
the back of his small hand. 

“
Come and see
my sister,” the brother said brightly. “She will be pleased to know
you’re back.” 

“
Could you
bring her out here to me?” Nakal asked. “I don’t wish her to see
that I have been crying.” 

The brother
wiped Nakal’s cheeks with his hand and smiled. “Sure,” he replied.
“I’ll go and get her.”

 “
Thank
you,” Nakal said quietly and as he watched the brother go into the
house, he closed his eyes and clasped his hands. 

When the
brother returned a short time later with his sister, Nakal was a
statue once more. His face looked peaceful and he was the same way
they had found him.

They both
cried for the poor creature, who had wanted only to be loved and
they returned him to the attic, hoping that one day he would come
back.”

Maximo looked around the table
at the boys. There was silence and Bue stared at him, his chud
drink unfinished and cold.

 
Maximo
smiled and looked at Makeo. “Whatever love you have in your heart.
Don’t be so blind as to think that your actions from that love will
only be loving.” 

He walked over to Makeo. “Do
you understand?” he asked kindly. 

Makeo smiled.
“Thank you Master,” he said and Maximo laughed and ruffled his
hair.  

“
Now, off to
bed with all of you. We have another big day tomorrow.”

Chapter
20

Kulkrain awoke. The fire in his
shoulder was gone and he felt the tightness of bandaging around it.
He realised he was in a large bed and as he tried to sit up the
dizziness hit him like a hammer and his head fell back on the
pillow.

 “
Just
rest, you are hurt,” a deep voice said from the
darkness.

 
Kulkrain turned his head and as his eyes adjusted to the
gloom he saw a figure in a chair near the window.

 “
Takoba
Mordalayn,” he murmured. “Thank the sun I found
you.” 

Mordalayn
stood up and walked to the bed, taking a jug of water from the
cabinet and pouring a mug for the injured man. Kulkrain tried to
raise his hand to take it but the Caracalic shook his head. “Relax,
you are lucky to be alive and have lost a lot of blood.” He placed
the mug to Kulkrain’s lips and tilted gently. After he’d drained
the contents he lay back.

 “
Thank
you.” 

Mordalayn nodded and placed the
mug back on the cabinet then took his chair and moved it to the
side of the bed. “What happened?” 

Kulkrain
paused before replying. “There were six of us, we were sent to
infiltrate Anghofio castle. After your report of the attempt on the
queen the council realised that they knew more than we ever
believed.” He paused to cough slightly. 

“
Take your
time, don’t rush,” Mordalayn said, knowing that he needed to know
whatever secrets this man carried with him, but that he had also
come within a hair’s breadth of dying.  

After a few
seconds Kulkrain winced and continued. “We made it and lay low for
two days. Yesterday we finally found what they knew. It…it is
devastating. I was not aware of the full extent of the Emerald
Queen’s true origins.” 

“
You were
never meant to know,” Mordalayn replied. “What you don’t have
cannot hurt you or be taken from you.” 

Kulkrain
managed to smile weakly and then said “Takoba, this news is
shattering. My comrades are dead. Only I made it
through.”

 “
What
are they planning?” 

And Kulkrain told
him. 

When he’d
finished Mordalayn paused for a moment and then stood. “I have been
by your side since they found you. Your loyalty will not go
unrewarded Kulkrain, you have my word. Sleep now.” 

As he went to
leave Kulkrain spoke. “What will happen now? Do we have the ability
to stop this?” 

Mordalayn
turned and looked at him then said “I don’t know my friend. Alegria
has become complacent. We never thought anything as terrible as
this could ever happen.” 

Stepping outside he saw the
anxious faces of Maximo and his wife, Leppard, Madame Veer and
Challandra. He closed the door and turned to them. 

“
Anghofio are
now more than a potential threat,” he said, iron faced. “I need to
leave now and Jared needs to come with me.”

 
Madame
Veer looked concerned. “What did he tell you?”

 “
That
is something I cannot say,” he replied, “But the news means we
cannot wait.” 

Mordalayn turned to Maximo. “Do
you have enough power to Shimmer us?” 

Maximo beamed
and replied. “Yes of course. We rarely use it but we have enough
for you.” 

“
We leave
now, fetch the boy,” Mordalayn said and Challandra moved off down
the corridor. 

She returned with Jared and
nearly all the other boys, excited by what was happening and
wanting to know what was going on. Bue was particularly keen and it
took Madame Veer shouting loudly to quiet the noisy chatter in the
cramped corridor. 

“
Jared and
Takoba Mordalayn are leaving now. This is urgent and will not be
discussed,” she said, her voice and stare as tight as the bun her
hair was in. “You will all remain here until such a time as I deem
it safe for us to leave. Is that clear?” 

“
Can I come
too? Jared’s my friend. I can protect him,” Bue protested, looking
hurt. 

“
No Bue,”
Madame Veer replied tight lipped. “You stay here and set an example
to the other boys.”

 
There
were murmurs of understanding and Mordalayn looked at Jared. “We
leave now.”

Maximo led
them down the corridor and opened a door at the end. Behind it was
a flight of steps that led down, winding to the left. Jared
clutched his small pack and walked down nervously. The Shimmer was
like at the orphanage, a small concave dish in the centre of the
room. Maximo held his flaming torch up and turned to them. “When I
tell you, step into the centre and do not step clear until you
arrive.” 

Jared stepped
to the edge of the dish, with Mordalayn at his side. Maximo
inserted an orange crystal into the mechanism like Madame Veer had
done before. It shone brightly as it locked into place. Jared
nervously looked around. Mordalayn stepped forward first and again
Jared was reminded of seeing ripples in a pond. Around the huge cat
man they appeared and he faded away and vanished. Maximo looked at
Jared. “It’s alright my boy. Just walk on.” Jared hesitated and
finally plucked up the courage. Just as he was about to step
forward there was the sound of feet on the stairs. As he and Maximo
turned, Bue emerged holding his pack and crossbow with Leppard
chasing him,.

 “
You’re
not going without me,” Bue shouted and ran forward, grabbing
Jared’s hand and pulling him into the centre. As Leppard tried to
pull Bue back he tripped and fell into the dish. Before Maximo
could react they all rippled and faded away.  

The dish was empty. The room
silent. Maximo removed the now clear crystal from the mechanism and
sighed deeply. There were tears in his eyes as he turned and hurled
the crystal against the wall where it shattered. He recovered after
a moment and said quietly to himself. “May the gods forgive me for
what I have done.”

Chapter
21

Jared woke
up. His arms hurt, something hard was digging into them. He shook
his head and tried to clear the fog that held him. Last thing he
remembered was being at the Cherubs and stepping into the Shimmer.
Now he was in a dark room and he felt scared and disoriented. As
his eyes adjusted to the gloom he squinted up and saw that his
wrists were tied with some kind of metal bracelet with chains
vanishing into the darkness above. He looked around in the dim
light and saw Bue on his right. The boy was stirring, groaning and
shaking his head groggily. Jared looked to his other side and saw
Leppard restrained too. Jared looked around frantically and tried
to see over his shoulder to check if anyone was behind him, but
couldn’t turn in the painful position he was in. Bue shook his head
and looked at Jared. “What the…?” he exclaimed and pulled in
annoyance at the chains holding him. “Where are we?” The links held
tightly and he began to thrash louder, squirming against the
bindings.  

Leppard
snapped back at him. “Be quiet! We are prisoners,” and Bue stopped
struggling. Jared looked around and saw that they were standing on
some kind of huge, round, engraved floor. The rounded area finished
some way ahead of them and the poor light there was in the room was
coming from a doorway that looked to be about twenty metres
away. 

Jared groaned
and his head jerked up as he realised he was trapped. He struggled
briefly with his restraints before glancing at Leppard. “Is
everyone alright?” he asked, straining to look around.

 “
We are
prisoners in Anghofio,” Leppard said quietly. “I never thought
they’d be so bold as to openly declare war on Alegria like
this.”

 “
H…,
how do you know where we are?” Jared asked, frightened and
bewildered. 

Leppard
stared straight ahead and answered “The Shimmer was rigged. Only
King James would need to do this. Ergo, we are in his
kingdom.” 

All three
were now wide awake and their eyes adjusted to the murkiness in the
room. There was no telling how big it was as the darkness above
them was absolute and no one could turn around. The doorway gave
some semblance of reassurance that they were in fact trapped within
a normal place.  

“
How did they
get us?” Bue said, still struggling against his
bonds. 

“
The jump was
rigged. When we Shimmered we came here where they were waiting,
simple as that. That we are still alive proves that they want to
talk to us. Otherwise none of us would still be
breathing.” 

“
Why us, we
don’t know anything?” Bue said, the fear in his voice
showing. 

“
We have all
been with Jared, it is him they want and need but they are clearly
taking no chances.” Leppard informed them. 

The door ahead of them suddenly
opened with a loud grind and bright light flooded into the room.
They all winced and squinted at the glare as three figures emerged
from the yellow light that bathed the room and walked towards them.
As their eyes adjusted Leppard whispered loudly “James!” 

As Jared’s
vision finally adjusted he saw that there were two guards escorting
another man. They were standing in front of them, where the normal
floor met the round area he and his friends were imprisoned upon.
The other man was thin and tall with a black shirt and silver
clasps on the sleeves. He had cropped, black hair and a long,
slanting scar that ran from his left cheek to his forehead. His
face was split by a big smile, but it was far from friendly. His
eyes were black, like a crocodile’s. Cold and
unfeeling. 

“
That’s King
James or “your Majesty” to you, let’s not forget our manners shall
we,” the man replied to Leppard. “My, my what a mess you’ve got
yourself into!” he exclaimed with mock concern. “One moment playing
with the fairies, the next caught like a rabbit in a
snare.” 

He looked at
Bue and Leppard. He stared at Jared. “You must be the young man
we’ve spent so much time looking for. A pleasure to meet you dear
boy.” He smiled again and Jared squirmed under the malevolent gaze.
 

“
What do you
want?” Bue snapped loudly. 

“
Dear oh
dear” the king tutted theatrically. “What I want, you rude little
boy, is something you cannot give me.” 

“
To the hells
with you!” Bue snapped and spat at him. The king pulled a face of
disgust. 

“
Charming
little orphan,” he mused then looked at Jared again. “Now
then…Jared isn’t it? These people around you. Would you consider
them friends?” 

Jared looked around frantically
but could find nothing to help him. 

“
Well?” James
asked again. 

“
Yes…they are
my friends. Please let them go. If it’s me you want I’ll help
you.”