Lily and the Shining Dragons (20 page)

Lily shook her head slowly. ‘We’ve not been there. But that sounds rather obvious. Are you sure?’

‘It’s a secret gate. Magically sealed,’ the princess explained. ‘You can only get in – only even see the door – if you have royal blood, or a warrant from the queen.’

‘Oh.’ Lily nodded. That sounded more believable. More like something to fight against. ‘So –
you
could open the door?’

‘Well, yes. I suppose so. I’ve never actually tried,’ the princess agreed thoughtfully. ‘But I still have royal blood, even if I am a prisoner.’

‘And you’d do that?’ Georgie slipped off the sofa, catching the princess’s hands in her own, and kneeling before her. ‘You’d do it? You’d help us free him? Free me from Mama’s spells?’

Princess Jane nodded slowly. ‘Everything’s so much clearer now.’ She ran a gentle hand over one of the fearsome-looking spikes that lined the dragon’s spine. ‘It’s you, isn’t it, taking away the spells I’ve been under? Why should I stay shut up here? I should have fought!’ She shook herself. ‘I wonder how long those spells have been wrapped around my mind? I should have fought long before. My mother and her counsellors have been using stale, dark magic to suppress us all…’

‘And now the real magic is rising again,’ Lily whispered. ‘It’s coming back. It must be – you prove it, don’t you?’ she asked the dragon.

The dragon flexed his long claws thoughtfully. ‘I imagine so. I could not have woken without strong magic flowing through the land.’

‘Why did you fall asleep under Fell Hall in the first place?’ Lily frowned. ‘No one even believes that dragons really existed now!’

The silvery-blue wings shuddered in a dragon-shrug. ‘We were old. Tired. We had been awake long enough, and there was no Fell child to fly with. The bloodline was dying out.’ He nuzzled thoughtfully at Lily, his huge scales surprisingly soft. ‘I still think there’s Fell blood in you, child. And your sister. One of the traveller Fells must have come back from the Indies, perhaps, and brought fresh blood into the line, after we’d hidden ourselves away. It’s taken a great surge of magic to wake us again. All these young magicians, their power coursing through the stones of Fell Hall, unused.’ He chuckled. ‘What did they expect? We’ll fly with you now, dear ones.’

Lily rested her cheek against the warm scales. They were going to fly. Magic suddenly seemed so much more possible. Irresistible, even. Georgie was leaning against her, stroking the dragon’s neck. He was making a strange purring sound, a soft, deep roar that made Lily’s teeth buzz.

‘We should go back to the dormitory,’ Georgie said reluctantly at last, pulling her hand away. ‘If someone wakes, and we’re not there…’

Lily nodded.

‘I shall stay here a while.’ The dragon coiled tighter around the princess’s little sofa, like a guard dog, and she reached out a cautious hand to stroke his enormous muzzle. He half-closed his eyes with pleasure, and he was more like a dog than ever.

A change from palace lapdogs, Lily thought, almost laughing. But then she remembered that the princess hadn’t had even a dog to keep her company up here, and the laugh died. Perhaps the dragon had been all that kept her sane, even if she thought he was a hallucination.

‘I will come down to your sleeping rooms soon,’ the dragon promised. ‘And tomorrow…’ He fluttered his wings, the soft blue-white membrane glistening in the darkness.

Lily swallowed. She found herself looking at him in terms of handholds, and there weren’t very many.

‘Soon.’ She nodded, and they crept away down the passage, making for the stairs.

The house was silent, but she knew that the staff patrolled the passages at night. They had stuffed their pinafores and a couple of old blankets into their beds, to make them look occupied from the doorway. Hopefully it would be enough.

The passages were empty and silent, and they had almost reached the dormitory – perhaps that was why they had dropped their guard.

‘Someone’s coming!’ Henrietta suddenly hissed, and Lily and Georgie stopped short. There was nowhere to hide – no doors, and they could hear the footsteps now. Tapping and pattering, little sharp heels. Miss Merganser.

‘Not now!’ Lily whispered in a panic. ‘She can’t! If she spells us now… We have to leave tomorrow. Even the dragon wouldn’t be able to undo one of those really strong spells before the morning.’ She turned frantically this way and that, but there was nowhere to hide, and down here the spells were still hindering her magic. She couldn’t transport them away.

‘Call him!’ Georgie whispered. ‘Perhaps he can hide us – he said he could use the carvings.’

‘Not for us…’ Lily moaned. But she tried anyway.
Help! She’s going to catch us!

There was a glowing light approaching – a lantern, carried by someone just around the corner.

A little carved figure in the panelling seemed to squirm, just a strange little movement in the half-light of the corridor. But it meant he was there.

Hide us! Please!
Lily begged.

I cannot. But I can do other things. Watch
. The dragon’s rumbling laugh surrounded them for a second, and then the wood shook again. But this time it wasn’t the carvings twitching.

A hole had opened at the base of the panelling, and Lily shrank back against the window on the other side of the passage, pulling Georgie with her. Henrietta pressed against their feet, her lips drawn over her teeth, and her tail vibrating with disgust.

A stream of rats was pattering out of the hole, their whiskers twitching from side to side, little dark eyes glinting in the approaching light. One of them stared round at the girls and Henrietta, who breathed the merest breath of a growl, before they scritched away around the corner of the passage.

There was a sharp, horrified scream, and the lantern smashed to the floor, the light dying instantly. The girls shot for the dormitory door, lit by a silvery-white glow from the panelling.

The dragon was stretched out between the beds waiting for them, an amused look in his glittering eyes.

‘A sufficient diversion?’ he murmured. ‘You had better get into bed. I doubt if she will stir from her room before morning, but still.’

His pearly light was filling the room now, casting a delicate gleam on the girls’ faces as they slept.

Little Lottie turned over, sighing and smiling in her sleep, and reaching out one hand, as though to stroke something.

The dragon purred with laughter, and nudged his massive head up against her fingers. ‘Not that this one needs much help,’ he murmured. ‘Her power is still sleeping, but she’ll be strong, when she’s older. Delicious magic.’

‘What about the boys?’ Lily whispered, thinking of Peter.

‘Ah well.’ The dragon smiled, and looked around, and Lily gasped.

There were more of them. Still only half there, thin and dreamlike in the darkness. Long, coiling shapes, in every shade. A curious midnight-blue face appeared over the end of Lily’s bed, and Henrietta glared at it.

‘They will see to the boys,’ the dragon explained. ‘They are not quite awake yet, but they are strong enough to lift a simple spell. So go to sleep, dear little cousin. When you wake tomorrow, we shall fly for London.’

L
ily woke slowly to a muttering all around her. She was tired after being up so much of the night, and she had dreamed strange dragon dreams, so it took a moment to remember what had really happened. Amoment longer to realise what must be happening now.

She sat up, staring around the dormitory, and Georgie climbed sleepily on to her bed, sitting at the end of it with her nightgown tucked around her feet.

The rest of the girls were gathered into anxious little knots, heads together, whispering. The dragons had gone, but Lily could feel that they were close by and waiting.

Elizabeth and her friends were gathered in the middle of the dormitory, but they turned to look at Lily and Georgie as they saw that Lily was awake. Lottie had bounced out of bed, and now she was leaning on the end of Lily’s bed too.

‘What’s wrong, Lizzie?’ she asked her sister.

Elizabeth shook her head. Lily had never seen her look quite so unsure of herself. ‘Everything feels – odd,’ she murmured. ‘Lily, what have you done?’

‘Why does everyone always blame me?’ Lily muttered.

‘Well, you did tell us you’d done spells before,’ Lottie pointed out chirpily. ‘None of
us
ever have. Though I’d ever so much like to, and I don’t care what you say, Lizzie.’

‘I have too,’ Elizabeth whispered. ‘By accident. But I liked it.’ She looked round at the others defiantly, as though she expected them to shrink away from her in horror.

‘Can it really be all that bad?’ Mary asked hesitantly.

‘It’s worked,’ Henrietta told Lily, wriggling out from under her blankets, and eyeing the girls thoughtfully.

‘Oh, Lily, you’ve got a dog,’ Lottie squeaked delightedly. She hadn’t heard Henrietta talking.

Henrietta pranced down the bed, and allowed Lottie to make a fuss of her, and gradually Elizabeth and the rest of her little gang came closer and stroked her too. Henrietta looked up at Lily, and Lily knew what she was asking. She nodded.

‘A little lower, if you please, there’s an itchy spot, just there…’

The girls stared at her, and Henrietta looked up at Mary. ‘Yes, you were almost there. Just a little lower. Please.’

Silently, Mary did as she was told, and Henrietta panted happily, showing off her long pinkish-purple tongue. ‘Perfect,’ she told Mary, licking her gratefully. Then she looked round at the others sideways. ‘I’m an abomination, according to Mr Fanshawe,’ she said chattily. ‘Miss Merganser would have me drowned.’

The rest of the dormitory was gathering closer now, staring wide-eyed at the talking dog.

‘They’d probably drown
us
, if they knew what we’d been doing,’ Lily said quietly.

‘What have you been doing?’ Sarah asked her. She looked dazed. She had been so strongly under the control of the spells that she even seemed to have trouble walking straight.

‘Do you know the history of Fell Hall?’

Most of the girls shook their heads, but Sarah blinked. ‘My mother told me once that the Fells were one of the great magical families. She even said…’ Sarah tailed off, as though she didn’t want to be laughed at for repeating it.

‘About the dragons?’ Lily suggested.

‘I dreamed about a dragon last night!’ Lottie bounced up and down on Lily’s bed. ‘A huge enormous dragon, and I stroked him!’

‘I thought you were more than half awake, little one,’ an amused voice said behind them, and the girls turned round slowly, clutching at each other’s hands.

‘That’s what we’ve been doing,’ Henrietta said proudly. ‘Lily woke him up.’

The dragon seemed to have shrunk himself a little. He wasn’t filling the dormitory the way he had the night before. But he was still large.

The little crowd of girls backed themselves up against the wall, staring, and the dragon stared back. He kept his jaws closed, which Lily thought was tactful.

‘He took away the spells you were under,’ Lily explained. ‘I think he ate them, actually. They were in the cocoa. Miss Merganser and the others were feeding them to you every night.’

‘But they aren’t allowed,’ Sarah murmured, still staring at the dragon. ‘
We
aren’t allowed…’

‘I think they bend the rules.’ Lily shrugged. ‘How else could they control magicians, if not by magic? You knew about the blue bottles, anyway.’

The girls blinked, and Sarah nodded. ‘I suppose we did…’

‘That isn’t fair,’ Elizabeth’s dark-haired friend muttered.

‘The dragons woke up because there’s so much unused magic around now,’ Lily explained.

‘There is.’ Lottie nodded. ‘I can feel it. And taste it!’ She put out her little pink pointed tongue, as though she was licking the air.

‘Lottie!’ Elizabeth scolded. ‘That’s rude!’

Lottie grinned at her sister wickedly. ‘Watch, Elizabeth…’ She closed her eyes, and clenched her fists, her nose wrinkling as she concentrated.

The dragon stretched his neck towards her, purring again. ‘Almost, little one! Concentrate…’

‘There!’ Lottie flicked her fingers, and squeaked in triumph, as a flight of tiny rose-pink birds suddenly fluttered out of nowhere, and went cheeping all around the room. Lottie laughed delightedly, and the other girls stared. Some of them might never have seen real magic, Lily realised, only the cruel binding spells the school used. This was something entirely different, a spell done out of the pure joy of magic.

‘Very well done, child.’ The dragon nodded approvingly. There were tiny pink feathers around his jaws, Lily noticed. She hadn’t counted the birds…

He caught her staring, and ducked his head a little, with an apologetic, sideways glance. When he looked up again the feathers had all gone.

‘I wonder if I could do that too…’ Elizabeth murmured, gazing at her little sister, an almost jealous look in her eyes.

‘You did magic before,’ Lily reminded her. ‘That’s why you were sent here. But Lottie never drank the cocoa – and she gave you hers. It might take a little longer for all the suppression spells to wear off, that’s all.’

‘You’re going to be awfully hard to hide,’ Lottie said to the dragon suddenly. She was still fluttering her fingers, staring at them lovingly. ‘No one will be able to say magic doesn’t happen any more, when they see a dragon.’