Glasruhen Gate (15 page)

‘Come out,’ he called.

Jack expected Charkle and Timmery to burst out of the tree. Instead he saw the two white ravens. Camelin had seen them too. He wondered if the Queen had sent another message. The pair hopped daintily through the branches until they came to rest on either side of Jack.

‘We’ve heard all about you, Jack,’ said Hesta, moving closer.

‘You’re so brave,’ added Winver from the other side.

Jack felt very squashed and uncomfortable between the two ravens. He gulped and looked at Camelin for help.

‘What you doing here?’ asked Camelin.

‘We couldn’t wait until tomorrow to see you again,’ Hesta said to Jack, ignoring Camelin completely.

‘Since you couldn’t come to see us tonight we thought we’d sneak over here and see you,’ Winver explained.

‘That’s really kind but we have to have an early night, we’ve got an important day tomorrow,’ Jack said hurriedly.

‘Isn’t he good looking Winver?’

Winver nodded and cocked her head on one side so Jack could see her bright blue eyes.

‘I bet you’ve got lots of girlfriends,’ continued Hesta.

Jack spluttered and tried to signal to Camelin to rescue him.

‘Oh no, Jack hasn’t got any girlfriends, he’s too busy being brave,’ grumbled Camelin.

Jack suddenly realised Camelin was jealous of all the attention he was getting. This was his chance to turn their attention away from him.

‘Camelin’s a raven boy you know.’

‘A raven boy!’ Winver and Hesta said together before collapsing in a fit of giggles.

‘He’s the best stunt flyer I’ve ever seen,’ continued Jack.

‘It’s true,’ Camelin agreed, ‘can either of you fly upside down and do a triple loop-the-loop in the middle of a barrel dive?’

The two white raven’s beaks fell open.

‘Oooh Camelin! Can you really do that?’

‘Oh he can,’ said Jack quickly.

Camelin nodded.

‘I’m a brilliant stunt flyer.’

Hesta and Winver hopped down to the table. Jack breathed a sigh of relief until they started whispering. Unfortunately Jack could hear them and by the look on Camelin’s face he’d heard them too.

‘Which one do you want Hesta?’

‘I don’t mind, I like them both, which one do you want?’

Jack coughed loudly. Camelin took the hint and held out his arm for Jack to fly onto.

‘I’m afraid we’re going to have to say goodnight,’ said Jack. ‘But thank you for coming.’

‘Oh you can’t go so soon, we’ve only just got here,’ said Hesta.

‘We’ll see you tomorrow,’ added Camelin.

‘Please don’t tell the Queen we came to see you, she doesn’t know. We sort of sneaked out,’ pleaded Winver.

‘We won’t,’ Jack assured them.

They were just about to set off for the house when Elan came out. Hesta and Winver both gave a little shriek and quickly took off. Jack let out a sigh of relief.

‘What’s wrong?’ asked Elan.

‘Oh nothing, we were just coming in to bed,’ replied Camelin.’

‘What a coincidence. Nora sent me to fetch you and bring in what might be left of the pie. We’ve all got a big day tomorrow. Come on, I’ll show you to your room.’

They followed Elan through two large circular rooms. The last and largest room had many doors. Elan opened one.

‘Try and get some sleep.’

‘We will,’ replied Jack even though sleep was the last thing on his mind.

Once they were alone, Camelin lay down on the straw pallet whilst Jack perched on the chair.

‘So which one do you like best?’ laughed Jack.

A pillow hurtled towards him but he ducked before it could hit him.

THE QUEEN’S GARDEN

Jack and Camelin sat down at a long table for breakfast. Gwillam was busy giving orders and making last minute arrangements. Elan was nowhere to be seen. Nora brought them both a bowl of porridge.

‘Make sure you use a spoon Camelin. Now you’ve got hands you’re going to have to get used to using them. And no licking the bowl.’

Camelin pulled a face and waggled his head from side to side behind Nora’s back, then grudgingly picked up the spoon. Jack chuckled as Camelin grumbled.

‘I wish I had my beak back, food just doesn’t taste the same without it. It’s alright for you; nobody worries about your table manners.’

‘That’s because Jack’s always polite, even when he’s a raven,’ said Nora as she returned with a pile of clothes before putting them on the end of the table. ‘When you’ve finished breakfast I want you to go and make yourself look presentable. You want to make a good impression, don’t you?’

Camelin scowled.

‘I’m not going to impress anyone. They’ve all seen me already.’

‘But the Queen hasn’t.’

Camelin’s mouth fell open.

‘You too, Jack, go and sort your feathers out, some of them look a bit crumpled.’

Jack had been so busy worrying about the trial he’d forgotten the Queen had asked to see them. Then he remembered who’d be meeting them. They were going to have to see Winver and Hesta again. He wasn’t sure he was looking forward to that.

When everyone was ready they set off for the lake. Gwillam led them in the opposite direction to the way they’d come when they’d arrived. At the end of the village was an open space, in the middle of which stood a large stone.

‘This is known as The Clearing, the whole of Annwn can assemble here. The stone in the middle is a monolith, a speaking stone.’

‘You mean it talks?’ asked Camelin.

‘No,’ laughed Gwillam. ‘Whoever lays their hand upon it has the right to speak, everyone must listen until the speaker has finished. No one may interrupt.’

Camelin stood and looked wistfully at the monolith whilst the others went on ahead.

Jack flew onto his shoulder.

‘That monolith’s huge! I could do with one of them in my loft for when Timmery calls. I’d keep hold of it all the time, then he wouldn’t be able to speak at all.’

‘Whilst we’re on the subject of the loft, what was that problem you were going to tell me about?’

‘I might have tried a little bit of magic out on my own and…’

‘What are you two whispering about?’ asked Nora.

Camelin’s cheeks went red. He was saved from having to answer by Gwillam stopping and pointing towards another signpost.

‘The Eastern Crossroads,’ he announced.

Again, there were six ways. Gwillam explained where the pathways led.

‘The Eastern Gate is straight ahead, the next path climbs up to the mountain, this one goes to the amphitheatre and that one leads to the southern village by the swamp. It’s wet and boggy in the lowlands and floods quite regularly. The houses there are built on a platform with a causeway from the village to the dry ground.’

‘Amphitheatre?’ asked Jack as he looked around.

‘You can’t see it from here, we’re on the wrong side, but those three great hills in the distance are joined together. The middle hillside has seating cut into it all the way up from the ground to the top. It’s where the final celebrations take place at the end of every festival when all the people gather together. The best performers entertain the crowd with juggling, storytelling and singing. There’s always a mountain of food to share.’

‘What kind of food?’ asked Jack.

Camelin shook his head.

‘Is that all you can think about?’

Jack didn’t get a chance to reply as Gwillam sighed and then continued: ‘It’s all changed now. The people still gather but the treasures aren’t brought out. Velindur has them locked away in his room. The Ceremony of the Parting of the Ways hasn’t been performed for hundreds of years, not since the last visitors went back through the portals. Nobody’s seen the sword, the stone or the spear since then.’

‘It’s been even longer since the cauldron was here,’ added Nora. ‘If Velindur knew it was back it would be locked away with the rest of the treasures.’

‘Will it be safe in the village? What about Jed and Teg, do they know it’s there?’ asked Jack.

‘It’s safe,’ replied Nora and smiled. ‘A little bit of magic’s hidden it away from sight, I doubt anyone’s going to bother about a battered old kettle.’

‘But what if…’ began Camelin.

‘If anyone does take a fancy to it they’re going to find they’ve become very attached to it. I’ve applied a little sticking spell to the handle, they won’t be going anywhere if they try to remove it from Gwillam’s house.’

They all laughed.

‘What happens at the Ceremony, and why is it called the Parting of the Ways?’ asked Jack.

Nora sighed and looked longingly at the three hills in the distance.

‘It would start after the festivities had ended, when the light began to fade. It was a beautiful sight. Everyone would light a candle, then the four great treasures would be brought into the arena and their guardians would stand facing in the direction of the gateway to which each one belonged. The guests would rise and make their way to the centre of the arena. They’d stand behind the treasures, and four great processions would make their way to the portals of Annwn. The singing would begin and not stop until the guests were standing in front of their gateway. Anyone who’d accompanied them would say their goodbyes. That was where they would part, until the next visit.’

‘Now the cauldron’s back, will they do that when we go home?’ asked Jack.

‘Don’t you mean, if we go home? We’re still under arrest remember,’ grumbled Camelin.

Gwillam put his hand on Camelin’s shoulder.

‘Try not to worry.’

Nora and Gwillam walked on ahead. Camelin sighed and turned to Jack.

‘I only wanted to go to the fair.’

‘There’ll be another time. We’ll be able to go to the fair at Samhain.’

‘It’s going to be too late at Samhain.’

‘Too late for what?’

‘To sort out my dustbin.’

‘What dustbin?’

‘I’ve been trying to tell you since we got here. You know that bit of magic I tried, well I’ve got a dustbin in the loft.’

‘Why?’

‘For emergency supplies of course.’

‘How big is it?’

‘Dustbin size, like the one we gave Myryl.’

‘That big!’

‘It seemed a good idea at the time.’

‘But what’s that got to do with going to the fair in Annwn?’

‘I wanted to get an oracular frog. I need to know how many sweets I’ve got in the dustbin.’

Jack laughed and Nora and Gwillam turned round.

‘Shhh! I don’t want Nora to know.’

‘What are you two laughing about?’ asked Nora.

‘Camelin was telling me about oracular frogs,’ replied Jack.

‘I haven’t seen one of them in years, they’re supposed to be really good at predicting the weather…’ began Nora.

‘I thought they could predict anything?’ interrupted Camelin.

‘You won’t find many reliable ones, especially not at the fair, they’ve only got the ones nobody else wants,’ said Gwillam.

Camelin made a face and sighed.

Gwillam laughed.

‘They’re not as good as people make out, you know. Only the males predict the weather.’

‘I didn’t know that,’ replied Camelin and began to drag his heels.

‘Never mind,’ whispered Jack when Nora and Gwillam had gone on ahead. ‘Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to have a dustbin in the loft.’

‘What if I don’t get to see my loft again? What if they lock me up forever?’

Jack didn’t know what to say. What if he wasn’t allowed to go home either? He shook his feathers. He wished he were free to fly and explore Annwn. Timmery and Charkle were off now on an adventure. He thought that after the trial he’d ask to go exploring with them. Then he felt guilty – it wouldn’t be fair to go without Camelin.

‘I wonder where Timmery and Charkle have gone today?’

‘Somewhere exciting I expect, where Timmery can practice being brave.’

‘Are you grumbling about Timmery again?’ asked Nora.

‘I just don’t think it’s fair, they’re off having fun, flying around and I’ve got to walk now. I was remembering what it felt like to fly, to have the breeze ruffling my feathers, to loop-the-loop…’

‘Come on,’ said Gwillam. ‘We’d better hurry or we’ll be late, it’s this way to the lake. Gavin will be waiting for us with the boat.’

There was a rustling from behind one of the trees. Jack flew up to have a better look. Jed and Teg were crouched behind it. He swooped back down and landed on Gwillam’s shoulder.

‘We’re being followed,’ he whispered. ‘Do you think they’ve heard us?’

Gwillam smiled then whispered back.

‘That’s why I’ve been giving you the guided tour. We’ve come to the other side of the lake. There will only be one boat here. They’ll either have to swim over to the Citadel or walk all the way round to where the other boats are moored. No one uses this side of the lake anymore and the only way into the Citadel from here is through the water gate, which leads into the Queen’s garden.’

‘Won’t they know where we’re going?’

‘They might work it out, but by the time they get back to report to Velindur the trial will be well under way. They won’t be able to speak to him until after it’s over.’

It wasn’t long before Jack could see the water’s edge. Gavin waved as they approached.

‘To the Citadel, boatman,’ Gwillam said loudly as he fished into his robe and brought out a large coin. ‘Here’s your donar.’

Gavin held the boat still while they got in. As soon as they were out of sight of the shore he handed Gwillam the donar back.

‘We’ve only got the one,’ he laughed. ‘We’re hoping that soon we won’t be needing donars at all.’

As they got closer to the island Jack could see an archway in a high wall. It was big enough for the boat to go through.

‘That’s the water gate,’ explained Gavin. ‘On the other side is a small lake and the Queen’s garden is a short walk from there. All the boatmen were forbidden by Velindur to use this entrance, but we’ve had permission from the Queen herself.’