The Seventh Daughter (19 page)

Tania and Cordelia halted their unicorns on the brow of a low, round hill. A white road lay beneath the unicorns' hooves; above them the sky was clear and bright. A warm wind ruffled their hair and lifted the long fine manes of their steeds. They were six days out from Fidach Ren.

“Behold Caer Ravensare and Passion Meadows,” Cordelia declared. “Did I not tell you it was something to marvel at?”

The meadows seemed to stretch out forever, flooded by an ocean of tall waving poppies that danced and rippled in the breeze. The colors left Tania speechless. At one moment the huge blossoms flowed in streams of magenta and fuchsia and orange, then all would change with a breath of air to an undulating carpet of lilac and purple and mauve. Another gust of wind, and the flowers shimmered into hues of green and turquoise and aquamarine that flooded in turbulent eddies before clashing against currents of
saffron and topaz and ocher.

The white road led down the hill and through the ever-changing blossoms to a tall castle of shining crystal, as blue as moonstone. Even from a distance, Tania could see that the castle had been built for beauty rather than warfare. The ornately decorated walls and battlements were festooned with swaths of greenery and overgrown with leafy vines, speckled and clouded with cataracts of many-colored flowers. In the meadows around the castle, clusters of tents had been set up sporting fluttering pennants of white and yellow and sky blue. Tania saw horsemen and knights moving purposefully among them, as well as laden wagons and many carts and carriages.

“The armies of Faerie are mustering,” Cordelia said. “That is good!” She made a clicking noise with her tongue. Zephyr reared up beneath her and went galloping down the hill.

For a few moments Tania was too bewitched by the shifting rainbow patterns of the flowers and too thrilled by the sight of the floral castle to react, but then she gave Tanzen a gentle nudge with her heels and followed Cordelia down the white roadway to Caer Ravensare.

 

Sentries must have given word that they were approaching, because as Tania and Cordelia passed under the gateway of the castle and came into a courtyard that was like a blooming garden, they found many people had gathered to greet them.

A tall, broad-shouldered man with ruddy hair and a red beard stood on the steps of a great keep. He was flanked on either side by tall young men with raven hair and handsome dark-eyed faces. With them Tania saw Hopie and Lord Brython, as well as Zara and an old gray-haired man leaning on a stick: Eden's husband, Earl Valentyne, Tania assumed. She stood gazing at the elderly man in surprise; she had known that Eden's husband was much older than her, but the stooped earl looked
ancient
. But there were others who took her attention, many highborn lords and ladies of Faerie who had come here with their knights to help defend the Realm against the Sorcerer King.

Tania and Cordelia dismounted. Grooms stood nearby, eyeing the unicorns nervously and unwilling to come too close to the fearsome horns.

“They will do you no harm,” Cordelia told them. “Lead them to the finest stalls in Ravensare and give them food and water.” She patted Zephyr's neck. “Take your rest, great-heart; you have earned it, you and your brother. I will come as soon as I may to speak with you and to make sure you are being well-treated.” She linked arms with Tania and walked with her to where the others were waiting.

“Cordelia and Tania, you are most welcome,” boomed the red-haired man, striding down the steps toward them. He took Tania's hand and bowed to kiss it. “We have not met since you returned to us after your long wanderings in the Mortal World,” he said. “I am your father's brother, your uncle Cornelius.”

“Hello,” Tania said. “I'm really happy to meet you.” She looked into his fierce blue eyes, realizing now that she was closer just how much he resembled the King. He turned after a moment, gesturing toward the dark-haired young men. “These are my stepsons, Titus and Corin, and this is my wife, the Marchioness Lucina.”

The marchioness was a graceful woman with flowing ash blonde hair and eyes that reflected the blue of the crystal walls of the castle. “Many greetings,” she said. “Our halls are made merrier by your presence.”

“Thank you,” Tania said, but before any more introductions could be made, a whirlwind of blue satin came flying down the steps and Zara caught hold of Tania and Cordelia and danced in a jubilant circle with them. “I am so glad to see you both!” she cried, her eyes glittering with happy tears. “I feared for your lives, truly I did!”

“Hush, Zara,” Hopie said, coming up behind. “Remember that you are a princess.”

“I am a sister first!” Zara exclaimed. “And a daughter.” She looked into Tania and Cordelia's faces. “How fares our father? Does he yet live?”

“Indeed he does, although he is weak and will not wake,” Cordelia said. “The last news we had of him was two days ago. Bryn Lightfoot sent a goshawk to us to say that they had reached Caer Circinn and that Earl Ryence of Minnith Bannwg was to provide them with wagons and an escort south.”

Hopie frowned. “Then they are still many days
away,” she said. “I had hoped for better news. We dare not move against the Sorcerer without Oberon, and yet we have heard only this morning that an advance guard of Serpent ships has arrived at Fortrenn Quay and that two thousand Gray Knights have disem-barked to swell the army of Lyonesse.”

“Is the Queen still safe?” Tania asked in alarm.

“We have spoken with her through a water-mirror,” said the Marchioness. “She and the refugees are secure in the Hunting Lodge under Eden's glamour. But the Gray Knights still swarm the forest, and they dare not leave their sanctuary.”

“And now more Gray Knights come to join the chase,” Cordelia said. “I like this not. How are we to unite our father with the Queen if all the spears and swords of Lyonesse lie between them?”

“This is but one of the many issues we must debate before we can act against the Sorcerer,” said Cornelius. He looked at Cordelia and Tania. “You must be weary and hungry from your long journey. I would have you rested and refreshed before we speak more.” He turned to the others. “We shall meet in the Rose Garden when the sun is at its zenith,” he declared. “And may good fortune look down upon our deliberations, for the fate of Faerie lies in our hands.”

 

The Rose Garden lay under the tall many-windowed walls of the castle keep. Slender paths wound through beds of red and white roses, leading to a grassy central area where carved wooden chairs formed an oval
around a raised pond of still, clear water. More roses climbed trellises, and yet more hung from the sills of the windows, so that the whole of the garden was bright with their heavy blossom and the air was sweet with their scent.

Tania looked around as people began to gather. Hopie and Brython were there, as were the Earl Marshal Cornelius and his wife and sons. Cordelia sat nearby with Zara. Earl Valentyne sat alone, both hands leaning on his cane, his eyes hooded and brooding. She also saw sad, grieving Lord Gaidheal seated with several other lords and ladies, representatives of almost every earldom in Faerie except for Weir and the far north.

The Earl Marshal began the meeting. “Scouts have returned from the south,” he announced. “They have brought grave news. The armada of Lyonesse has been sighted off the coast of Udwold: a thousand Serpent ships, their red sails like a tide of blood upon the ocean. It cannot now be many days before a great army sets foot on our land.”

“A thousand ships?” said Brython. “Their army will outnumber us twenty-fold. Our only hope is to meet the Sorcerer King in battle and to destroy him before the armada makes landfall.”

“But how may we do that?” asked Corin. “He will not move against us until all his forces are arrayed, and once that is done he will come upon us with such strength that we may not be able to withstand him.”

“Oberon will have the power to challenge the
Sorcerer King once he is healed,” said Hopie. “But he is many days' journey from here, and he cannot be made well until he is reunited with the Queen.”

“How do we get them together?” Tania asked. “Titania is trapped in the forest. Isn't there some way of getting her out of there so she can go and meet up with him?”

“Not unless we can conceive of a way to draw the Gray Knights from Esgarth,” said the marchioness. “That is our only hope.”

“Why should he withdraw from Esgarth Forest and engage in battle?” asked Earl Valentyne, his voice dry and cracked. “He will sit at his ease in the palace until all is in readiness and victory is assured.” He looked sharply at Tania and Cordelia. “How long will it be, do you think, before Oberon arrives in the south?”

“Two days,” Cordelia said. “Maybe three. But without the Queen I do not believe he will be able to help us against the Sorcerer. We should not wait for him. We should gather all our forces and march around the west flank of Esgarth Forest. We must set up our banners on Salisoc Heath and challenge the Sorcerer to meet with us in the field.”

“I believe the Princess speaks truth,” said Cornelius. “We must head south and make the challenge. But the children of my brother and the blessed Titania should not travel with us. They will remain here in Ravensare until the battle is done, for good or ill.”

Cordelia's eyes flashed. “That I will never do!”

“I neither!” declared Zara. “I can fight with a
sword as well as any knight here.” She looked at Hopie. “Would you lurk in Ravensare while others go to war?”

“I would not,” Hopie replied.

Tania sat in uneasy silence as the debate moved back and forth among the lords and ladies. Apart from the princesses themselves, everyone seemed to think that she and Zara and Cordelia and Hopie should keep out of harm's way, but at the same time no one seemed to be able to come up with a method of getting the Sorcerer King to pull his knights out of Esgarth Forest. And so long as the forest was full of the Gray Knights, how would Oberon and Titania be reunited?

Tania didn't want to have to fight. She had seen enough of battles in Kymry Bay, but hiding away while everyone else went to war seemed so cowardly, and so utterly useless. Gradually, an idea began to form in her head—a way of getting the Sorcerer King to fight them. An idea that she didn't like at all. She sat silently for a while, hoping that someone else would come up with a better plan.

No one did.

“I know what we should do,” she said.

All the faces turned to her. She swallowed hard. “The Sorcerer King will only fight us if we offer him something he can't refuse,” she said. “A really good bait.” She paused for a moment. “I think the only bait he'd be interested in would be
us
.” She gestured toward Hopie and Zara and Cordelia. “
We
should lead
the Faerie army down to the palace. I think he'll jump at the chance of killing four of Oberon and Titania's daughters.”

An uneasy murmur ran around the gathering; the only people who didn't look shocked or dismayed were her three sisters.

“I will not put you in such danger,” Cornelius said at last. “It is a brave offer, Tania—but an impossible one.”

But then a quiet, strong female voice seemed to speak out of the air. “I do not agree, Cornelius.”

“Titania?” Cornelius said, staring around.

“She speaks from the water,” said Hopie, getting up and moving toward the raised pond. “Mother?”

Now everyone came surging up from their seats and gathered around the pond.

“What are your thoughts, Your Grace?” asked Brython.

“If the princesses head our army, it will convince the Sorcerer that Oberon is not a threat to him,” said Titania. “He would see it as madness for us to go into battle without the King if we had any hope that Oberon could be restored to us. He will think that we've grown desperate—that we are assaulting the palace in the hope of rescuing the King from the dungeons. The Sorcerer will think we believe the King still to be there. He does not know that we have released the King from his prison on Ynis Maw and that he is on his way to us.”

“I would not put your daughters in jeopardy,” said Cornelius.

“I do not ask you to,” said Titania. “I ask that you give command of the Faerie army to Princess Tania. This is her moment, Cornelius. I believe that the battle with Lyonesse can only be won by her.”

Horrified, Tania stared down at her mother's image. “No,” she said. “That's not what I meant. I can't lead an
army
.”

A sharp sound caught everyone's attention. Earl Valentyne had tapped his cane on the stone lip of the pond. “The Queen is right,” he rasped. “Many ages ago, I read ancient texts concerning the Sorcerer King, books that even the Great Library of the palace does not possess. I had long forgotten them, but the Queen's words have brought them back to mind.” He looked slowly around the ring of people. “Do you know why the Sorcerer of Lyonesse was not killed in battle by King Oberon when the serpent banners fell a thousand years ago?”

“It is because he is enwrapped with powerful spells,” the marchioness replied. “None can end his life.”

“Not true,” said Valentyne. “The ancient texts do not say that he
cannot
be killed; they say that he cannot be killed by one of Faerie born nor by the hand of a mortal.” He nodded toward Tania. “The princess was not born in Faerie, and yet she is not wholly mortal. She alone of all of us stands with one foot in the Immortal Realm and one in the Mortal World. It is my belief that only she can defeat the Sorcerer King.”

Tania listened to him in silent astonishment, remembering that Clorimel had said something very
similar, speaking of her as Alios Foltaigg. What was it she'd said?
Thou art between things. Thou hast one foot on the land and one foot in the sea. The Sun is in thy right eye and the Moon in thy left. That is the engine of thy sadness and thy destiny.