The Starkin Crown (33 page)

The Erlrune smiled at him with eyes as warm and green as a forest pool. ‘When you didn't arrive, I looked for you in the Well of Fates. Oh, but I saw such terrible things! I saw you blind and lost and betrayed …'

‘Well, yes, all that happened'. Peregrine nodded.

‘What! How? What happened'. his family demanded.

‘It's a long story,' Peregrine began.

Everyone laughed. ‘It always is,' Pedrin said, ‘but we've all the time in the world, my boy'.

‘Thanks to you,' Merry said. ‘I don't think I'll ever forget the sight of you riding through the storm with Lord Grim's Gallop!'

‘You arrived just in the nick of time,' Rozalina said. ‘Another second or two …' She shuddered.

‘Tell us how you found the spear,' Zed said. ‘I bet you a bag of gold coins you've had some wild adventures'.

‘Let the poor boy talk,' Lisandre said, reaching forward to pat his hand.

So Peregrine found himself sitting on a stool in the centre of a circle of eager, fascinated faces, describing all that had happened in the past twelve days. As he spoke, he felt the giddiness of his relief and joy passing into something much warmer and deeper. His family was safe, the future was bright, the land at last had a chance of true and lasting peace. He had found the Storm King's spear, won the starkin crown for his father, and had a new phoenix ring wrought for him, symbol of the cycle of life and the new world that might be made from the ashes of the old. He dug in his pocket and found the bog oak ring to show his parents, and they marvelled at the exquisite workmanship.

‘Molly made it,' he said proudly.

‘Is that the girl who rode with you and the Wild Hunt?' his mother asked at once.

He nodded. ‘I couldn't have found the spear without her, Mam. I was lost and blind and in despair. She gave me the courage to go on, and then guided me through the bog. She was lame, you know. I was blind and she was lame'.

‘I must thank her,' Liliana said quietly. ‘Where is she now?' She looked around, but the banqueting hall was so crowded with wildkin and starkin and hearthkin it was impossible to see anyone.

‘She's cooking supper. There's a lot to do, to feed so many, and most of the servants are too busy raiding the castle's cellars and celebrating'.

‘Well, thank heavens someone thought about food,' Zed said. ‘I'm starving!'

‘Me too,' Merry said. ‘I can't remember the last decent meal I had'.

‘Well then, let's go down to the kitchen,' Liliana said. ‘We can't let the poor girl do all the work!'

Everyone jumped up. ‘Great idea!' Merry said. ‘I want to meet this girl myself'.

‘Don't overwhelm the poor thing,' Rozalina said anxiously. ‘Does she really want to meet everyone all at once?'

‘Just Robin and I will go,' Liliana said firmly. ‘The rest of you can meet her at the feast. She can sit at the high table with us'.

She drew Peregrine's hand through her arm as they went slowly down the steps to the cavernous kitchen at the back of the castle. ‘Oh, Robin, I was so afraid for you when I saw Lady Grizelda here at the castle. I can't believe she wore a poison ring! And that she actually tried to murder you'.

‘We should have listened to Stiga. She told us Grizelda carried venom in her hand'. Peregrine's voice was bleak. ‘Maybe if we'd listened to her, Stiga would still be alive'.

Liliana nodded. ‘But we searched Grizelda and found nothing. And she was so young! How could any of us suspect her capable of murder? We're not to blame, Robin'.

‘I suppose so,' he answered. ‘If only we hadn't ridden out! It was all a trick, Grizelda saying the starkin had fusillier fuel, Mam. They didn't use it against us, not once'.

‘No, they didn't,' Liliana agreed. ‘Not even against the grogoyle'.

‘If we'd stayed inside the castle, Grizelda could never have shown the soldiers where the secret entrance was. Her dog piddled on the entrance, you know, and the sleuth hounds
tracked his scent. That's how the soldiers knew how to break in'.

Liliana shook her head in amazement. ‘So … so clever. So cold-blooded'.

‘She was both of those things,' Peregrine replied. ‘She looked me in the eye and lied to me, Mam. And I believed her. And then she set her dog on Jack and tried to poison me'. His tone was incredulous.

‘It's all my fault,' Liliana said. ‘It's because I sent you away. I should've kept you close'.

‘It was Grizelda who lied to us and tried to murder me, it's her fault and no-one else's,' Peregrine said. ‘Besides, if I hadn't ridden out I'd never have found the spear. So, even though I'm very sorry about Stiga and everyone who died at the castle, in the end I'm glad Grizelda came to Stormlinn Castle and tricked us into fleeing. Because otherwise we wouldn't have found the spear or roused Lord Grim or won the starkin crown. It was all worth it, Mam!'

‘In the end, it was!' Liliana hugged him close. ‘I … I'm sorry, Robin. I was afraid for you. I wanted to keep you safe. The lightning in your head frightened me, upset me'. She hesitated, then plunged on bravely, ‘Yet it is who you are. Look at what you've achieved! You found the spear of thunder, you won the crown for your father, you … you saved us all from a horrible death. I … I was wrong, I should've trusted you'.

‘That's all right, Mam. Just don't do it again!'

Liliana laughed ruefully.

They came into the warmth of the kitchen where Molly was busy stirring a great pot of soup. Her freckled face was flushed, her brown hair was in disarray, and there was flour on her cheek.

Peregrine grinned. ‘Hey, Molly. This is my Mam. Mam, this is Molly'.

Molly looked up, gasped in dismay, and at once dropped into an awkward curtsey. ‘I'm sorry, your Highness …' she began.

Liliana swept forward and embraced her warmly. ‘Thank you!' she cried. ‘Robin has told me all you've done. Come, take off your apron, put down your spoon! I'll send the hobhenkies to finish up, they love to cook. Come and meet the family!'

It was nearly midnight on Twelfth Night, and everyone was having as good a time as it was possible to have.

Wildkin were dancing with hearthkin, starkin with wildkin, and hearthkin with starkin. On Twelfth Night, tradition demanded that servants were on an equal footing with their masters, and so the fat cook was dancing with a starkin lord, a farmer with a lady's maid, the Erlrune with a hobhenky, Queen Rozalina with a shyly smiling pot-boy, and Peregrine's grandmother Mags with Tom-Tit-Tot. A radiant Princess Adora was whirling in the strong arms of the Marsh King, while Hal and Hank and Fred and Frank and Bill and Bob and Will and Wat and Gus and Ged and Ty and Ted had all found dancing partners, ranging from goose-girls to grand starkin ladies.

King Merry, Lord Pedrin and a motley orchestra were playing their instruments as well as they could for laughing at the sight.

Jack had found the golden coin in the cake and so, as Lord of Misrule, was leading a riotous procession around
the banqueting hall, singing, banging pots and pans with wooden spoons, dancing jigs on tables and swinging off the chandeliers.

Molly and Peregrine had been dancing for hours but, hot and breathless, had found a shadowy corner in which to throw themselves down on a cushioned bench and gladly gulp at their goblets of golden elderflower wine. ‘What a night!' Molly cried.

‘Twelfth Night is always wild and merry and out of control,' Peregrine said. ‘It's the end of Yuletide, you see'.

‘It seems a shame,' she said. ‘I like to see starkin and hearthkin and wildkin dancing and feasting together like this, everyone happy and joyous'.

‘We might need to think of a new name for all our people,' Peregrine said. ‘I mean, what am I? I'm all of those things and none of those things. And if all goes well, I'll not be the only one whose blood is mingled'.

Molly looked at King Merry, the starkin crown pushed back rakishly on his head as he played a rollicking tune that just forced your toe to tap and your fingers to drum. ‘What about the merrykin?' she suggested.

Peregrine's eyes blazed with excitement. ‘Molly, I love you!' he cried and leant forward to kiss her full on the mouth. Molly slid her hand into his unruly curls and kissed him back with all her heart. They only broke apart when Tom-Tit-Tot hurtled down to land on the back of their bench, hooting, ‘Ooooh, aren't they sweet? Ooooh, feel the heat!'

Molly turned crimson, but Peregrine only batted him away, saying, ‘Go and bother someone else, Tommy-boy!'

The omen-imp shot off as fast as a speeding arrow to tease Princess Adora and the Marsh King, who were dancing a steamy
estampida
in the middle of the floor.

‘You might need to rescue your father,' Peregrine said.

‘Oh, I think he'll be fine. It's your starkin princess who needs rescuing! My father looks ready to sweep her right off her feet'.

‘That's Twelfth Night for you,' Peregrine replied, fanning his hot face with his hand. ‘Don't worry! Life returns to normal tomorrow'.

Some of the light went out of Molly's face. She sighed. ‘I don't really want it to. These last few days have been so marvellous! I mean … apart from you being poisoned and Jack almost dying and the battle …'

Peregrine laughed. ‘I know what you mean. I think the last few days have been marvellous too'. He couldn't resist kissing her red mouth once more.

‘I guess the adventure had to end sometime,' she said wistfully, a long moment later.

Peregrine smiled and seized her hand. ‘There'll be other adventures,' he promised. ‘But until then, let's dance!'

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