Keeper of the Realms: Crow's Revenge (Book 1) (18 page)

‘Enough chatter. Put the mongrel child on that chair,’ said Lady Narcissa.

She watched as Stix and Stones dragged Charlie on to the seat.

Bending over the girl, she sneered, ‘Now then, young and foolish Keeper, you must learn not to be so trusting. Are you not aware that the whole of Bellania is at war, and that you and your pendant play a very large and important role in this? Well, know this, you brainless little girl: Bane, the Western Menace, is not going to be stopped, not by the Jade Council, not by the armies of Alavis and Alacorn, not by the Winged Ones, not by anyone. And definitely not by you! He’s an unstoppable force and I shall use you as a stepping stone to become one of his most trusted allies. With my position on the Jade Council, and my knowledge of Sylvaris and Deepforest, it will be a deal he can’t refuse.’

Charlie rubbed at her stinging cheek. It still hurt like crazy. Lady Narcissa certainly packed a mean punch. ‘I think you missed your cue just then,’ she said. ‘Aren’t all crazy, psychotic women with ugly children supposed to do an evil laugh after such a long speech?’

‘Why, you little –’ growled Lady Narcissa, drawing back her hand to slap Charlie’s other cheek.

‘Wait, Mother,’ interrupted Stix. ‘You don’t want to be doing that.’

‘And why not?’

‘Because I can do it better,’ he said. And so saying, with his yellow eyes glinting, Stix reached over and slapped Charlie on the other side of the face. Then, just for good measure, he viciously kicked her so that both she and the chair flew over backwards to land with a clatter on the marble floor.

Charlie lay there, breathing heavily as she spasmed uncontrollably in pain. How could this be happening? Surely someone had made a mistake along the way?

The room suddenly spun as Stones casually leaned over and righted the chair with Charlie still in it.

‘Enough of your smart comebacks, girlie,’ Stix growled in Charlie’s ear. ‘I can torture you all day and, when I do it right, it’ll never leave a mark.’

‘Yeah, well, glad to hear it, cos I can keep my mouth moving all day too, you mangy, flea-ridden mistake of a person.’ Charlie grinned through the pain, unable to help herself. She wouldn’t go down without a fight.

‘Enough!’ spat Lady Narcissa. ‘We don’t have all day for this. Besides, I have just the thing to handle this meddlesome wretch.’ Reaching into a polished oak and brass-hinged chest, she pulled out two dazzling amethyst bracelets. ‘Here, put these on her,’ she commanded.

‘Bracelets?’ taunted Charlie. ‘Ooh, I’m shaking in my shoes!’

‘For your information, young Keeper, these are Isiris Bracelets. In days gone by Stoman bishops would use these to bind uncontrollable and disobedient slaves.’

Charlie tried to wriggle free as Stix fastened the bracelets around her wrists, but Stones, with his incredible strength, held her fast, allowing his brother to finish the job. With a click the bracelets snapped into place.

Charlie froze, waiting for something to happen. A clap of thunder or perhaps a puff of smoke, but there was nothing.

‘That’s it?’ stuttered Charlie.

‘Not quite,’ smirked Lady Narcissa. Reaching back into the ornate chest, she pulled out a small velvet pouch from which a rather plain and nondescript ring tumbled into her palm. Slowly and lovingly, she pulled it on to her slim
forefinger. ‘Consider this the last part in the link. This ring is what makes the Isiris Bracelets work. I issue a command and you obey. Now then … get down on your knees and lick Stones’s sandals.’

To her utter shock and complete horror, Charlie found herself sinking down to her knees. She couldn’t stop herself. Her mind remained clear and free, but her body acted as though it had a will of its own.

She had no control.

None whatsoever.

Her head lowered over Stones’s scabbed and calloused foot. Slowly her tongue stuck out and, to her disgust, she began to lick. She had never, ever felt so humiliated. Nothing that Mr Crow had done came close to this. The shame was so overwhelming that she would quite happily have died there and then.

‘Enough, silly girl. Stand up and face me,’ instructed Lady Narcissa.

Charlie’s body pulled itself to its feet against her will. Cheeks blushing uncontrollably, she stared into the eyes of the woman who was supposed to be her guardian. The woman who she had admired and then trusted not just with her life, but with protecting the pendant that might one day lead her to her parents. Never had she felt a hate so complete. Never had such an anger awoken within her heart. That very instant Charlie felt something deep inside her move and change. Something in her soul sickened and died and in its place something darker was born. This was a moment that would be etched eternally into her mind. She would never forget. Never forgive.

‘Had enough, have you, my little princess?’ asked Lady Narcissa. ‘Would you like to go home now, or perhaps go and see your good friends Jensen and Kelko? Wouldn’t that be nice? Well, you can’t! You and your pendant are mine! Now then, back down on your knees! This time you can lick Stix’s shoes clean and when you’ve finished you can do mine!’

‘What of the pendant, Mother?’ asked Stix, talking to her over Charlie’s kneeling form. ‘Are you going to remove it for safekeeping?’

‘What, and raise suspicion? Just think of the uproar it would cause if a member of the council should see the girl without it around her scrawny neck! Besides, she isn’t going to go anywhere, say anything, or remove that pendant without my say-so.’

‘How do you know that?’ asked Stones.

Lady Narcissa sighed and rolled her eyes. Some days she just couldn’t believe how stupid her adopted sons could be. ‘Because of the Isiris Bracelets! Watch. Maybe you’ll learn something.’ She turned to Charlie. ‘Charlie Keeper, look at me. You will not leave this tower without my or one of my sons’ permission. Neither will you remove the pendant unless I tell you to and you will not remove or attempt to tell anyone about the Isiris Bracelets.’

Charlie didn’t feel anything, nor did she feel any different, but she knew that Lady Narcissa had just effectively ended any chance of escape.

‘And now, Charlie Keeper, I find myself sickened by the very sight of you. I think that I should find something suitable for you to do while I finalize all those essential, nitty-gritty little details required to commit
treason
.’

‘Send her down to the Alavisan Watchmen. I’m sure they could put her to work,’ chuckled Stones.

‘Hmm, I’m sure they would, but I would like something a bit more … degrading for her.’

‘The sewers need a decent service. Put her to work mucking the plumbing out,’ suggested Stix.

‘Better. I like the idea, but I’m sure neither of you wants to volunteer to check she’s done the work afterwards. No, I think she should be sent down to the Spinnery. She can work the looms and the threads. It’s a gruelling task and I know Aranea takes pleasure in working her staff into the ground,’ said Lady Narcissa. ‘Charlie, you delightful little girl, many thanks for cleaning my shoes. You’ve done a wonderful job. Now then, I would like very much for you to go downstairs and introduce yourself to Aranea, Mistress of the Spinnery. You are to work for her and only when the late shift finishes and the last loom falls silent may you return here to sleep. Now smile, thank me and go.’

Charlie’s face creased into a beautiful smile, she just couldn’t stop it. ‘Thank you, Lady Narcissa.’ Without being able to help herself, Charlie turned and walked towards the door.

‘Oh! And, Charlie, please tell Aranea that I consider you to be a troublemaker and that she should be sure to work you hard. Very hard.’

Charlie gritted her teeth. Her body may have been under the control of the traitorous councillor but her mind was not. As she walked back down the corridor the sound of the Delightful Brothers’ laughter fuelled and fanned the hate that grew like a black lump within her heart.

22

The Spinnery

‘What do you want?’ asked the seamstress.

Charlie stared at the woman. There was no hint of a smile on the woman’s face. Indeed, there was no hint that she had ever smiled in her life. Her face was all cold angles and sharp lines. And although her bright red dress was beautifully made, its high collar, tight seams and spiky buttons only added to the unfriendly appearance.

‘Well, don’t stand there gawking,’ said the seamstress. ‘I don’t have all day.’

‘My name’s Charlie Keeper and I’ve been sent to speak to Aranea,’ Charlie said, jutting out her chin defiantly.

‘The Spinnery is no place for girls,’ frowned the woman. ‘Be off with you. Shoo! Come back when we’re not so busy.’

‘But Lady Narcissa sent me.’

The seamstress paused at mention of Narcissa’s name. She looked Charlie up and down and her mouth twitched from side to side. ‘Come with me,’ she said curtly. Pushing open the large door she led the way into the Spinnery.

Charlie blinked in astonishment. The long room was filled with the clack-clack-clack of looms and the snick-snickerty-snicker of spindles, giving it an atmosphere of organized chaos.

‘Well, don’t just stand there with your mouth open! Come on!’ snapped the seamstress.

They walked past great rows of brightly coloured fabrics and long lines of workers sorting through bundles of unrefined cotton until at last they reached a quieter section of the Spinnery. Here there was only one loom, which was larger and more intricate than the others they had passed. An old, severe-looking Human woman sat at its side. Her hands moved over the loom in a series of precise but unusual jerking movements. But the finished cloth that dropped from the loom into the catching basket was startlingly beautiful. It seemed to glimmer and shimmer in the light. This woman was obviously a master of her craft.

‘Mistress?’ enquired the seamstress by way of announcement.

‘What is it?’ asked the woman.

‘It’s this girl, Mistress. Lady Narcissa sent her.’

The old woman stopped working and turned to fix Charlie with cold eyes. ‘And who might you be?’

‘I’m Charlie Keeper. Are you Aranea?’

‘That I am. I’m the Mistress of the Spinnery. Why did the lady of the house send you here?’ she demanded.

Charlie tried really hard to clamp her mouth shut, to turn and run from the Spinnery as fast as she could, but the Isiris Bracelets were overpowering. ‘Lady Narcissa says that I am to work for you. And could you please work me hard because she considers me to be a troublemaker?’

‘A troublemaker, eh? Well, we’ll have to see about that!’ She pointed a finger at Charlie. ‘Just you remember, little girl, that although this might be Lady Narcissa’s tower, this
is my Spinnery. If there’s to be any trouble here I’ll be the one to cause it. Anger me just the once and I’ll show you what “trouble” really is.’ Aranea paused as she took in Charlie’s clothes. Torn and as dishevelled as they were, it was obvious that her jeans and T-shirt weren’t made locally. ‘What fabric is this?’

‘Huh? Oh, uh, denim and I think the top is maybe … polyester?’

‘Denim? Polly-Heather? Where are you from?’

‘London.’ Seeing their blank faces, Charlie added, ‘You know, from the Other Realm?’

She heard the seamstress beside her gasp in surprise.

‘The Other Realm, you say?’ said Aranea. Leaning forward, she plucked at Charlie’s clothing with her scuttling, spider-like hands. Charlie tried not to shiver. ‘Your clothes, I want to study their weave. Give them to me.’

‘What?’ said Charlie, instinctively taking a step backwards. ‘No! You can’t just take the clothes off my back!’

‘Silly girl! I’ll give you a set of clothes far finer than these in exchange. Now get undressed.’

Charlie was actually quite tempted by the offer. After her recent adventures in Bellania her clothes were certainly the worse for wear, but something inside her rebelled. She hated being told what to do. Hated that she was here against her will. And she hated the feel of Aranea’s greedy fingers on her jeans. But above all she was fed up with everyone in this cruel tower.

‘No. I said no and I mean it.’

‘Don’t be cheeky with me, girl!’ snapped Aranea. ‘I could have them taken off you and force you to work in a coal sack.’

‘You could,’ said Charlie, taking a gamble, ‘but Narcissa needs me to look presentable for my meetings with the Jade Circle.’

Aranea begrudgingly took her fingers off Charlie’s jeans.

‘Very well, young girl, if you want to play it like that so be it. Now tell me, what can you do? What do you know of the weave, the warp and the weft?’

‘The weave? Warp? Uh, nothing.’

‘Nothing? Well, what about shedding, picking and batting?’

‘I-I … er, well, nothing,’ Charlie admitted. ‘I’ve never been inside a Spinnery before today.’

‘What? Useless, absolutely useless.’ The old woman sighed. ‘I’ve no idea why Lady Narcissa would send such a whelp of a girl down here in the first place, and then one who’s never worked the weave before. Well, if you’re a troublemaker I know just where to put you. Melita! Melita!’ Aranea called out in a sharp voice.

A large but gentle-looking Stoman woman approached. ‘Yes, Mistress?’

‘You’re to take this girl with you to the vats, where she can dye the threads. She’s not from our Realm and we’re behind schedule as it is, so feel free to work her fingers to the bone.’