Moonlight and Ashes (13 page)

‘Can't you see? I feel sick,' he said testily. ‘I've never . . . been good on boats.'

‘Oh come on, Max,' I sighed. ‘You know it's what Andel was saying – even now, when you know how they've treated you, you can't bear to have anything bad said against the royal family, can you?'

‘He was talking rubbish,' snapped Max, ‘and you know it.'

‘Rubbish about magic, yes, but not the rest. Max, for God's sake! You've got to face facts. It's no good being loyal to them any more – they're not loyal to you. They were prepared to have you
blanked
!'

He closed his eyes briefly. ‘Oh, Selena. You can't imagine how much I wish that it was all a dream.'

‘It is a nightmare,' I said, ‘but all too real, and you better get used to it if you're going to do anything to change it.'

He looked at me. ‘What happened to you to make you so tough, Selena? I am older than you and a man and yet beside you I am a creature of marshmallow and melted butter.'

‘It's all too new for you, that's all,' I said softly. ‘I have had to get used to it and . . .' And then quite simply, just like that, I was telling him my story, leaving out only, as I had done with Olga, my moon-sister ancestry.

He listened with his eyes on my face and when I finished, he said, ‘Oh, my poor, poor Selena.' Then his arms were around me and he was holding me tight. His lips on my hair, he whispered, ‘Ever since the very first moment I saw you, I knew that everything had changed –'

It was the echo of my mother's words in the dream and in a nerve-prickling moment I knew that's what she had meant. Everything
had
changed for me when the hazel-tree magic came into my life. It wasn't the Prince I had been meant to meet – it was Max, for it was he whose fate I shared. Everything had led to this moment.

‘Oh Max, I have been so alone,' I whispered.

And he said, looking in my eyes and holding me close, ‘Selena, my sweet, brave Selena, you will never be alone again. Never, I promise you, whatever happens.' My heart was melting with a singing sweetness, my limbs dissolving with the beauty, the joy – the perfection of a moment I knew I would never forget for as long as I lived.

By and by he gently released me and helped me to my feet. Taking my hand, he said, smiling, ‘That Andel's a discreet sort of fellow, isn't he? But even he must be wondering what we're doing – we
are
guests on his boat, after all.'

‘Yes, we are,' I said, smiling back. ‘You know, he's a good man, even if he does talk some awful rot.'

He laughed. ‘You're right on both counts. I must say I'd like to see his face if he knew what you told me about the hazel-tree magic.'

‘Well, he doesn't know and it's better to leave it at that for the moment,' I said firmly. ‘He's convinced himself magic doesn't exist because he's never seen it happen. What he can't see with his own eyes he won't believe anyway, and besides, despite that blind spot he's kind and generous and I see absolutely no reason to try and humiliate him with things we know that he doesn't. Agreed?'

He gave me a quizzical look. ‘Yes, Miss Selena. Agreed.'

‘He didn't ask me why we were on his boat and we don't need to say but I think we shouldn't tell him about the Mancers. It's not that I think he would tell anyone, it's just it would be safer that way – for him. We tell him we are bound for Silver Harbour but nothing more.'

‘Yes,' he said. ‘But what of the child? We should let him go. We surely cannot take him to Almain with us. It is not right, Selena.'

‘We can't let him go, not yet. He would denounce us in a heartbeat,' I said. ‘But at Silver Harbour, when we are safely on the boat to Almain, that would be the right time.'

He sighed deeply. ‘I suppose you are right, but he is a little boy and he's frightened and missing his parents. I just don't like to –'

‘I know you don't, Max,' I said gently. ‘But it cannot be helped. You must know that.'

He nodded, sadly.

I hesitated, then quickly said, ‘And please don't quarrel with Andel about the other things. I am sure he does not mean those things in a bad way.'

‘I know,' he said softly. ‘Don't worry.' And putting my hand to his lips, he kissed it, and we walked back to the cabin and went back in.

Andel made no comment on our return, but acted as though we'd taken an unremarkable, quiet stroll. He made no comment either when we told him we'd be getting off at Tresholm and catching the coach to Silver Harbour. He just nodded and said, ‘Very well.' He didn't ask why,
didn't press us for any explanations; Max was right, he
was
discreet. For a moment I was sorry we couldn't entrust him with our secret because, as well as being discreet, he was also utterly trustworthy. I felt that with every instinct, every nerve. But it was too dangerous for him. He lived his life as a free man, going up and down the river plying his trade, reading his books, and thinking his absurdly radical thoughts, without fear or favour. He was the first person I'd ever met in my life who'd shown not the slightest fear of the Mancers in any way. It was admirable, but it was also wrong, and could easily be his undoing – and I wanted no part in that.

A short time after we came back, Olga and the child surfaced. She had Tomi by the unresisting hand, and he had the dazed and hopeless look of someone who'd woken from a bad dream only to discover it wasn't a dream at all. When he came in and saw Andel, his eyes widened but he said nothing. Olga introduced him as her little brother Tomi, and though he still said nothing, something wild flared in his eyes as she spoke.

It was only when Andel squatted down to his level and said, ‘And are you hungry, little man?' that he spoke.

‘Yes,' he said, very quietly, his eyes on Olga's face, as though he was afraid she might object. The sight of it gave me a pang I quickly pushed away. Young and scared he might be but he was still my enemy. He might not know that, but I did. And so I had to be on my guard; I couldn't allow my heart to be moved by foolish sentiment that might get us all killed.

‘Breakfast coming up for us all, then,' said Andel, cheerfully rattling around in his pantry.

Behind his back, Olga shot Max and me a questioning look.
Have you told him?
her eyes asked, and we quickly shook our heads.

‘Andel is kindly putting us ashore at Tresholm,' I said, ‘where we can catch the coach to Silver Harbour.'

‘So we'd better fill your bellies good and proper because it might be quite a few hours before you eat again,' said Andel. ‘What do you fancy?' He lined up several things on the table. ‘Now, I've run out of salted pork but I can do you porridge, or eggs, or bread and cheese –'

‘But these must be all your supplies, we don't want to eat you out of house and –' Max began, but Olga interrupted him, her green eyes hungrily alight.

‘I am thinking hot porridge is good but also fried eggs and creamy cheese on good bread, yes, but how to decide?'

Andel said, with a bright, sidelong glance at her, ‘I am thinking now why not we have something of everything, Miss Olga, what think you?' He was gently mocking her accent and she knew it. She coloured and muttered something under her breath which I guessed to be in Ruvenyan, and to be rude.

Andel laughed, and replied with a few words in the same tongue. Olga stared at him and spoke rapidly but he shook his head and returned to our language.

‘I only know a little. Never been there, just picked up a few words from a Ruvenyan trader I met once.' He gave her a disarming smile. ‘But I'm nowhere near as fluent as you are in our tongue so I shouldn't tease you, I'm sorry. I let my tongue run away with me sometimes.'

‘Hmm,' she said, sounding somewhat mollified, but giving him a cool, assessing glance all the same.

Breakfast was as excellent as it had sounded, Andel proving to have quite a light hand with the cooking, and for quite a while there was no talking at all as we all did justice to the copious meal. Even Tomi's pinched, haunted expression was fading and he seemed almost as cheerful as any normal child would be with a good cooked breakfast.

But when Andel got up, wiped his mouth and announced he had to check things to ready for arrival at Tresholm, I saw the hope flare in the boy's eyes and knew at once what he planned to do. So I said, sharply, ‘No, Tomi, you must leave Mr Andel alone to do his work in peace.'

‘It's all right,' said Andel, ‘I don't mind if –'

‘He hasn't finished the food on his plate,' I said desperately, ‘and Olga doesn't approve of him leaving food. Do you, Olga?'

‘What? Oh yes.' Her eyes fixed on Tomi. ‘You sit, little man. You finish this food. Look, I even butter this toast for you. You like?'

He nodded miserably, easily defeated by the fear she inspired in him. A little squirm of shame went through me at the sight, and I nearly changed my mind. After all, even if Tomi did tell Andel who he really was, it was highly unlikely – even impossible – that the bargeman would agree to denounce us. But he might well want us to leave the child with him, and that we could not do; not until we were well clear of Silver Harbour and in the stormy international waters where the empire's long arm could not reach us quite so easily.

When we docked in Tresholm, it was a little after dawn. Most of the town was still asleep but the docks were already bustling, and the arrival of
Wanderer
attracted no attention at all. Owing to Andel's extraordinary generosity, we were well equipped for the journey before us: he had given us enough coins to pay for second-class seats on the coach, a knapsack filled with a blanket, bread and cheese wrapped in cloth, a bottle of ginger beer, a pocketknife, and a compass. He would have given us much more, only we told him not to, and he insisted that he'd walk us the short distance to the coach station.

Unfortunately, when we got there, we discovered that not only did the next coach to Silver Harbour not leave for another hour, but the waiting room was already full, meaning that even the second-class seats outside would be taken. We'd have to wait for at least another two hours after that and every hour that passed would increase the danger of being discovered.

‘Is there any other way of getting to Silver Harbour?' asked Max.

‘Not really,' answered Andel. ‘Except . . . wait a moment. There's no public transport there apart from the coach, but traders do head there all the time and I know quite a few of them. There might be someone who can give you a lift. Come on.'

He led the way through a maze of streets to a shabby little coffee house that was already buzzing with activity. Telling us to wait outside, Andel went in. A short time later, he came out again.

‘None of the men in there are leaving for a while, but one of them told me that if we go to the hospital we might just catch a trader in Almainian medicines who's heading back to Silver Harbour within the hour. We'll have to hurry if we're to catch him. It's a good long way away, on the other side of town, right on the road to Silver Harbour.'

The town was beginning to wake, with lights appearing behind windows and carts beginning to rattle through the streets. Andel strode confidently along and we hurried in his wake, with Olga piggybacking Tomi, for otherwise his short legs would hold us up. We didn't speak, but I knew that the tension that was in me was also agitating in everyone's thoughts. Even Andel seemed desperate to get us there in time.

The breath was nearly knocked out of me as I ran straight into Max, who had stopped behind Andel, suddenly.

‘What's the matter?' I cried, my heart lurching with fear, at once certain that the Mancers were coming.

Max frowned. ‘Not sure, but it looks like an accident up ahead.'

‘An accident?' I said, blankly.

‘There's an overturned cart and police swarming around, best not to go that way,' Andel said and, motioning to us to follow, doubled back on his tracks and plunged down another street. Now we hurried even more, for this was obviously a longer route to our destination, and I grew increasingly desperate to make it in time.

When we finally reached the hospital the gates stood open and the courtyard was filled with carts and wagons, bringing in patients, discharging supplies, and so on. It was a hospital run by nuns and a number of them flitted about in their black habits and white winged headdresses, looking rather like a busy flock of giant magpies. Andel went over and spoke to one of them, who was chalking numbers on boxes of supplies as they were being loaded into a large covered wagon. She looked at us out of black eyes as beadily bright as a bird's, nodded, and gestured towards one of the other carts.

At that moment, Olga gave a little cry. We turned – and there, coming down the street towards the hospital, was a detachment of police headed in our direction.

‘We've got to run,' said Olga, wildly. Andel gripped her shoulder. ‘No.' He turned to the nun. ‘Sister,' he said calmly, ‘your wagon.'

‘Of course,' said the nun, instantly, and reaching inside the pocket of her habit, she brought out a small box of chalk. ‘Get in and smear this on your faces and hair, even the child's,' she murmured. ‘And you, Mister,' she went on, turning to Andel, ‘you can help me move these boxes.'

We didn't wait to be told twice but scrambled into the wagon and pulled the canvas flap down behind us.

And there we had a surprise, for it wasn't just boxes the wagon was carrying – there were four or five people in there, who lay unmoving under blankets on straw mattresses. They looked very ill, with wax-like skin stretched tight over their pale, bony faces; their frames like scarecrows with thin grey hair. A couple were asleep while the others gazed at us with dull incurious eyes as Max rapidly crushed the chalk and we did as the nun had told us. Then we huddled in amongst the patients, Olga holding the boy tight to her chest so he couldn't cry out. None of us said a word, but we all thought this desperate stratagem was of no use – that this was the end, that the authorities were on our trail and that we would be found and it would be all up with us.

In those few surreal moments before the courtyard erupted with noise, I heard the murmur of Andel's and the nun's voices, but I couldn't catch what they said. Then Andel's voice rose and to my astonishment I heard him talking with the nun about whether or not it would rain. I could feel the stupid, desperate laughter bubbling in my throat. Well! We'd go to our doom with chalk dust on our faces and hair and inane, pointless chatter about the rain as the last memory of our brief freedom. Some memory!

The sound of heavy footsteps soon followed and I heard the nun's clear voice saying, ‘What seems to be the matter, Sergeant?'

‘Telegraph from Ashberg,' replied a gruff voice. ‘Gang of ruthless bank robbers on the loose.'

Bank robbers!
The Mancers must not want people to know prisoners of theirs had escaped, I thought. After all, no-one was supposed to be able to do that.

‘Oh dear God,' said the nun, anxiously. ‘And it's thought they've come to our quiet little town?'

‘Nobody's sure where they've gone, Sister. But every police force has been told to be on alert and to check everywhere. Have you seen any strangers about this morning, Sister?'

‘No, I have not. But I've been very busy this morning and would not have noticed.'

‘And you, porter?' said the policeman.

Adopting a gruff tone, Andel said, ‘I see nobody. But then I weren't looking neither.'

‘These people are extremely dangerous,' said the policeman solemnly, ‘and must not be approached under any circumstances.'

‘Oh my goodness . . . My heart fair quails at the thought,' said the nun, faintly.

‘You mustn't be afraid, Sister. We are here to protect you. Now, do you mind opening up this wagon just to make sure no-one hid in it while your back was turned?'

We looked at each other. This was it.

But the nun hadn't finished. ‘Oh, I can assure you no-one could possibly have snuck in there! We've been here all morning loading on some very sick patients of ours to take to our hospice near Marika for there is nothing more that can be done for them here.'

‘What's wrong with them?' he asked.

A pause, then she said something in a whisper that I couldn't hear.

But we all heard his reaction. He sounded shaken. ‘Oh my God, I'd heard rumours it had returned, but –'

‘I'm afraid it's no rumour, Sergeant.'

‘And as you know it is very, very contagious,' added Andel, solemnly.

‘Yes, yes . . . But I still need to see, Sister. For my report, you understand.'

‘Of course, go ahead. But remember, don't get too close.'

The canvas flap flung open and the sergeant's big red face appeared in the opening. He peered in, but not for long. Hurriedly replacing the flap, he said, ‘Sister, please get these people to your hospice straightaway. The less time such cases remain in this district, the better.'

‘I quite agree, Sergeant,' said the nun, calmly. ‘We will do just that.'

‘All right, men,' shouted the policeman, his voice fading gradually as he walked away, ‘fall in, there's nothing here.' As we sat there quiet as mice we heard their heavy boots as they marched away.

Still, we did not dare to move – not until the flap was moved aside slightly and Andel's face appeared.

‘All clear,' he said, smiling. ‘But don't get down,' he added, as we made to move. ‘Sister Claudia will give you a lift to the next stop for the Silver Harbour coach. It's on her way.'

‘How can we possibly thank you both?' I said.

‘Don't try, then,' said Andel, flashing a smile.

‘Andel . . .' Max began, ‘don't think we are what he –'

He held up a hand. ‘Stop. Just know this – I have always been on the side of the hunted, never the hunter. I don't want to know why you are hunted, I am just glad I could help a little.'

‘It is not a little,' said Olga, solemnly. ‘You are good man. Very good man.'

Again, Andel smiled. ‘I am glad to hear you say that, Miss Olga.'

Their eyes met and she quickly said, ‘You come one day to my country, learn more of our words.'

‘I'll look forward to that, Miss Olga,' he said gently. ‘Now, I see Sister Claudia looking impatient, so goodbye, and good luck to you all.'

‘Goodbye,' we said. I felt strangely touched, and more than a little regretful to be leaving his company, for this was a man whose heart was as big as his size. He reached in, ruffled Tomi's hair and said, ‘You look after your sister, then, little man.'

He gave us a final smile and was gone.

‘Andel!' Tomi began to yell, but Olga hushed him.

In the next instant Sister Claudia popped her head in at us. ‘Please, you must all be quiet, for my patients need rest, and we have a little way ahead of us yet.'

‘Sister, we are in your debt,' said Max, ‘but we are not bank rob–'

‘Pfft,' she snorted, ‘as if I would believe such a thing anyway! The very idea! As to debts, light a candle and say a prayer for the sick and wretched of this sad world and your debt will be repaid, my son.' She looked at us with her beady, black eyes and added, ‘Now then, I do not know if you heard what I told the sergeant but you must not be anxious as I did not tell the whole truth.'

We must have been looking at her blankly because she smiled and said, ‘Then all is well,' before she closed the flap and went away. Moments later, the wagon gave a lurch and we were off.

We looked at each other.

‘She said
something
to frighten that policeman off,' said Max, slowly.

‘Yes,' I said. ‘He certainly didn't want to hang around.'

‘She must have told him that it was some dreadful . . .' he began, then paused. He glanced at the unmoving patients, most of whom seemed to be dozing. He went pale. ‘Oh my God.'

‘What?' Olga and I both said.

He leaned forward to us, and murmured, ‘The White Death.'

I felt the words lodge like cold needles in my spine as I remembered the stories I'd heard about a terrible wasting illness that slowly drained all the blood from you, turning your hair grey overnight and your skin to wax, making you into the walking dead. I saw the same horror written on the others' faces. Only Tomi looked unmoved. But then Tomi was very young – there was no reason for him to have any knowledge of what it meant.

‘But that was wiped out, long ago, in the whole of the empire.'

‘No, there were two cases last year,' Max said, bleakly. ‘It was hushed up, so there would be no panic.' He read my expression. ‘I happened to see it in one of my father's documents. It said that it hadn't spread. The victims were sailors, from –' he looked at Olga ‘– from your part of the world. They'd only just arrived in Faustina and had no time to infect anyone.'

‘Or so it say,' said Olga, with a tremble in her voice. ‘Oh my friends, even if we can outrun the hunters still we cannot outrun death itself if we stay amongst these people any longer.'

She made as if to get up. ‘Wait, it cannot be like that,' I said. ‘Why would the Sister have told us what she did? Remember, she said we must not be anxious.'

‘Yes,' said Max, the colour returning to his cheeks. ‘And she said she'd told the truth, but not all of it. I think she would have told us to go as soon as the police had left if . . . it was
that
.'

‘Perhaps,' said Olga. ‘Or maybe this nun she not frightened because she doing holy work and she think the angels will protect her and us just the same.' She shook her head. ‘But I know White Death can take holy and unholy and old and young and I am frightened of this thing. I think we go now, me, we should not risk any more.'

I was a little shaken by her vehemence. After all, the disease still existed in Ruvenya and she might even have known people who had fallen victim to it. But then I remembered something else.

‘Andel also went along with it,' I said, ‘and he is no believer in the automatic protection of angels, I'll be bound. He would never have left us if he truly thought there was any chance these people were sick with – you know what. No, I think Sister Claudia told him the truth beforehand. That's why he played along. He'd never have done it if he thought there was any danger of us falling ill.'