Quest for the Sun Gem (14 page)

Saira fetched parchment and a quill and Roana sketched out a rough map. ‘Well, I am fairly sure I know where the sea entrance is. But my memory of the tunnels is a bit hazy. I am certain that the entrance in the palace is in the southern cellars.’

‘We won’t want to go into the palace,’ Saxon cried. ‘It will be crawling with Sedahs and guards.’

‘Well, that is precisely where the Sedahs are likely to imprison Queen Ashana and our parents,’ Ethan retorted grimly.

The talk went on and on, until the candle stubs were sputtering and the leftover food had turned cold and greasy on the plates.

Saira smiled. ‘My children – you have done well. I think you are on the right track to deciphering the crystal’s riddle. Remember, also, there is great knowledge to be found in beautiful Tira if you seek for it wisely.

‘The Sun Gem is indeed a very powerful gem,’ Saira continued. ‘Rubies are the gems of passion and nobility. They bring wisdom and luck to those who wear them, and perhaps most importantly for the Sun Gem, they give the owner the capacity to command.’

The four children glanced at each other with shining eyes and wide grins.

‘Now, one last thing I wish to show you.’ Saira pulled a thick piece of yellowed card from the dresser. A single word was written upon the card in thick black ornate letters. The children crowded around to get a closer look.

‘What does it say?’ Saira asked enigmatically.

‘True,’ said Roana, who was standing beside Saira.

‘False?’ said Lily, who was looking at the card upside down. Saira smiled. She turned the card the
other way up. The word was cleverly crafted so it said True one way up, but when you turned it the other way, it read False.

‘Wow, that is amazing,’ breathed Ethan.

‘Just remember that things can look very different when you look at them from a different angle,’ Saira warned. ‘Trust in each other and work together. You are stronger all together than you are alone.

‘But enough of my chatter. Now I think you need sleep, because it is a long hard ride to Tira. I will wash up and you four should go to bed now.’

All four woke early, excitement churning in their bellies. After a hurried breakfast in the dark, they bade farewell to Saira with great bear hugs and a glistening of tears.

Saira pressed a small bottle into Lily’s hand. ‘This is a very strong sleeping draught, which I think you will find much more powerful than the one you put in your mother’s cherry wine. While that worked quite well last time, next time you may need to make someone sleep for a lot longer.’

‘Thank you, Saira,’ murmured Lily, her eyes lighting up as she remembered tempting the Sedah guards with the drugged cherry wine.

‘Also, Saxon, I have heard that an old friend of yours, Fox, has gone to Tira. He may be able to help you – that is, if you can help him.’ She smiled enigmatically. The others stared at Saxon in curiosity. He flushed slightly but said nothing.

Saira waved furiously from her doorstep as the children mounted their horses and trotted down the lane in the early morning mist. Moonbeam looked quite strange to be dyed a dark nut brown like Roana’s hair.

‘Sax, what was all that about your old friend Fox?’ asked Ethan curiously, when the cottage was out of sight. ‘I’ve never heard you mention him.’

Saxon looked a little uncomfortable as he squirmed in the saddle.

‘Oh, no-one really,’ he muttered, shaking his head. ‘Not a friend. Just an old business associate of my father’s – in the cloth business, you know.’

Ethan raised his eyebrows at the girls. They giggled and shrugged in response.

The five retraced their footsteps of ten days ago, back to Goldcoin Cove where the ships had been moored. It seemed hard to believe everything that had happened in that time. Then they were exhausted, weak, injured and dejected, fearing that Lily might even die. Now they were refreshed, excited, fit and
optimistic in the fresh morning air. They paused briefly at the cove but it was empty. A few forlorn barrels and some flotsam on the shore were the only signs of the ships that had moored there.

They rode steadily, alternating between walking and trotting. Sometimes they rode in country lanes where they could ride side by side in pairs, while at other times the track became narrow and they rode in single file. They chattered merrily among themselves, Saxon entertaining them with his collection of ridiculous riddles and jokes.

‘What is it that you can hear, but can never see, and which only speaks when you speak to it first?’

‘I don’t know!’ laughed Roana. ‘A ghostly butler?’

‘No, an echo!’ said Saxon. ‘What can you put in a barrel to make it lighter?’

‘Air instead of wine?’ Lily replied.

‘No. A hole!’

‘What is coming quickly now but will never arrive?’ asked Saxon.

‘The end of your jokes,’ quipped Ethan, rolling his eyes.

‘No – tomorrow!’ roared Saxon.

As the day grew hotter and the ride longer, they became more lethargic and fell silent, only talking when they had to decide which path to take.

In the late afternoon they came to a sign pointing to the village of Leacroft, a short ride on.

‘Perhaps we can ask there for shelter,’ suggested Roana, who had enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in a bed again at Saira’s and wasn’t looking forward to camping out.

‘We may be able to make a fire and boil some water for tea and a wash,’ added Lily, rubbing her aching back. She hurt all over, although she was too proud to say so, and her scars burnt like fire.

Everyone straightened up and began to hurry their pace. Even the horses sensed their expectation, pricking up their ears and lifting their tired feet.

As they neared Leacroft everyone could smell a pervading reek of something burnt and foul.

‘Eeek. Smells like Lily’s charcoal paste,’ joked Roana.

The smell grew stronger. As they rounded the bend in the lane they discovered the source of the overpowering stench.

Leacroft was a burnt and empty shell. The little cottages, once surrounded by gardens and hung with vines, were now blackened piles of smouldering timbers and tumbledown stones. The gardens were trampled and ruined. Smashed china and glass
littered the main street. It was a scene of total desolation and ruin.

The children stared around them in despair. There were no animals and no people left. Beyond the village, even the meadows of young spring corn were nothing but charred husks.

Aisha sniffed through the ruins curiously.

‘Come on, let’s go,’ muttered Lily miserably, thinking of her own cottage and garden at Kenley and wondering if it too was now nothing but charred ruins.

‘We can press on and find somewhere to camp before dark,’ agreed Ethan.

Aisha barked, howled, and then whined piteously, backing rapidly away from the hole she had been exploring. Lily slid stiffly from Nutmeg’s back and went to investigate. Aisha had a bright red bead of blood on her nose, but still seemed intent on discovering the cause of her attack. Lily heard a sharp hissing noise from the hole.

She bent cautiously and peered into the hole between two fallen building stones. Hiding there was a scrawny black and white kitten. Back arched, fur standing rigidly on end, tongue spitting, it was the epitome of starving outrage. Aisha barked again and lunged at the hole. A lightning paw struck
again for Aisha’s nose, but this time she was quicker and darted away without injury.

Lily whispered soft entreaties at the kitten. ‘There, there, sweetie. It’s all right, don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you,’ she murmured soothingly as she crouched down closer to the hole.

The kitten calmed down slowly, the fur softening, the back relaxing. Lily gently reached for the kitten and scooped it up, but the kitten leapt away in fright, swiping at Lily with its needle-sharp claws. Lily screeched as a bright red welt of blood sprang along her arm.

‘What are you doing, Lily?’ demanded Ethan. ‘Come on, let’s get going.’

But Lily ignored him as she gently coaxed and cajoled until at last the kitten crept from its hole and snuggled into Lily’s arms, purring deeply.

‘Look,’ Lily announced triumphantly. ‘A little kitten.’

‘Just leave it, Lily,’ Ethan snapped impatiently. ‘We need to get out of here
now
. Who knows if there are still Sedahs about.’

‘I’m not leaving her,’ replied Lily defiantly. ‘I am bringing her with us. She will starve if I leave her here.’

Ethan glared at his sister. ‘Lily, we don’t need
another mouth to feed. You can’t possibly bring a cat along with us.’

Lily gave Ethan a mutinous look and tucked the kitten under her chin, stroking it lovingly, then mounted her horse again one-handed.

‘I think I will call her Charcoal.’

Ethan snorted, half in disgust and half in amusement at his sister, who could at times be as stubborn as he was himself.

They all rode on, leaving the tragic ruins of Leacroft behind them. As it grew dark they found a stream. They left the laneway and followed the bank upstream until they found a small clearing where they could make a fire and set up camp out of sight of the road.

Lily and Roana rubbed down the four horses, watered and tethered them while Ethan and Saxon gathered wood and built a small fire.

Aisha slipped off into the night and returned half an hour later, carrying the body of a small rabbit with her. Lily took her dagger and carved off a chunk to feed the starving kitten. Aisha glared suspiciously at the little creature sharing her hard-earned meal but then turned her back and ignored her. The two animals feasted happily while the humans prepared a meal of cold chicken, bread and salad herbs which Lily picked from the stream bank.

‘Delicious,’ sighed Roana. ‘Dinner never tasted this good in the palace banquet hall. It must be all this lovely fresh air.’

‘Or all the hard riding you’ve been doing. There is nothing like hard work to build a good appetite,’ replied Ethan with twinkling eyes. Roana flushed at the teasing, but smiled ruefully at Ethan.

They devoured the meal hungrily and washed it down with fresh cold stream water, then hot tea. The fire crackled merrily. The moon was a thin crescent low in the sky and the darkness pressed in around them.

‘Do you think we need to keep watch tonight, or will Aisha guard us well enough?’ asked Lily as she curled up in her cloak with the kitten in her lap and Aisha with her head on Lily’s feet.

‘I think Aisha would warn us of danger well before we could hear it ourselves,’ replied Ethan confidently.

‘I feel safer knowing we have Aisha with us,’ agreed Roana, patting Aisha fondly.

Aisha thumped her tail loudly and rolled onto her back to have her pale belly scratched. Roana tickled her tummy with a laugh.

They all murmured good night and rolled up in their cloaks close to the fire to sleep.

They travelled like this for days, riding all day and then slipping off the road at night to make camp. They chose the byways and tracks, avoiding villages and farms. The countryside seemed deserted. They rarely saw any people and then only in the distance. At first their muscles were stiff and sore, but they gradually toughened and became used to the long days of riding.

On the fifth day, as their food supplies dwindled, Ethan slipped off at dusk with his bow and arrows to track rabbits. Lily and Roana hated seeing the small lifeless bodies he carried back, but they were so hungry they knew it was necessary. Ethan skinned and prepared his catches expertly out of sight of the camp.

‘Don’t worry,’ Ethan assured them. ‘I only brought back what we can eat in the next couple of days. These will make a fantastic stew with a few herbs thrown in.’

They kept their direction by keeping the rising sun to their back in the morning and the setting sun in front of them after noon. On the ninth day, they noticed that it was harder to avoid the villages. On the eleventh day, they passed a marker stone pointing to Tira.

‘We should reach Tira tomorrow,’ cried Roana, her eyes shining with suppressed excitement.

A rabbit bounded across the road in front of them, a streak of grey fur, with its white tail bobbing. Aisha was off in a flash, chasing the rabbit into the undergrowth.

‘There goes Aisha!’ laughed Ethan. ‘We won’t see her for a while.’

The four rode on, chatting companionably.

‘What’s Tira like?’ asked Lily.

‘Oh, it is truly beautiful,’ began Roana enthusiastically. ‘The sight of the sun setting behind the white spires of Tira is one of the loveliest views in Tiregian.’

‘Heading for Tira, are we, laddie?’ growled a deep voice menacingly. Two large men with thick, wild beards, dressed in rough patched clothes, stepped out from behind the bushes. One lunged out and grabbed Ethan’s reins, while the other grabbed Lily menacingly by the arm, almost dragging her from the saddle.

Ethan reached instinctively for his bow, slung across his shoulders, but the ferocious look on the bandits’ faces and the sudden glint of steel knives stopped him immediately.

‘Wise move, laddie. You don’t want me to hurt lassie ’ere, do you?’ growled the bandit, holding his knife threateningly to Lily’s throat.

Ethan shook his head slowly, his head whirring. He berated himself for being so careless, so unprepared. What was the good of having his bow when it was too late to use it?

The bandits laughed in triumph. It was really too easy.

‘Well, I don’t think the kiddies will be seeing Tira tomorrow, do you, Duglass? It’s a long way on foot from ’ere, laddie, and that’s the only way you’ll be reaching it now. Looks like you young ’uns have been helping yourselves to your master’s stables. These ’orses are far too good for the likes of you.’

‘Oi, look, Ross. This young lad ’ere’s even riding a foine lady’s sidesaddle,’ Duglass cried. They both guffawed loudly at this joke, Ross spraying Lily with spittle.

‘Now, you laddies, jump down from those ’orses cos you really don’t want us to ’urt the pretty little lass, do you?’ Duglass said menacingly.

Lily glanced at Ethan, her face white and drawn. She turned to the highwaymen, tucking her little kitten protectively inside her pocket.

‘Oh please – don’t hurt me, sir,’ Lily squealed piteously. ‘Of course you can have the horses, we won’t cause any trouble, will we, boys?’ She turned pleadingly to the others.

‘Yes, take the horses,’ agreed Ethan quickly, raising his hands in a gesture of submission.

Roana glanced in derision from Lily cowering on Nutmeg to Ethan preparing to dismount from Toffee. She opened her mouth to protest vehemently but a warning glance from Ethan silenced her. She nodded curtly. Her fingers itched to find her own silver hunting bow and arrows stowed on the right of her saddle.

‘Come on then, down you come, my luvly,’ growled Ross to Lily, releasing her wrist. Lily crouched over the saddle, apparently overcome with panic. She fumbled quickly in her saddle pack.

Then with a sudden lunge, Lily swooped up and threw a jar of pinkish liquid into the bandit’s face. She had surreptitiously removed it from her saddle bag while she was hunched over.

Ross’s reaction was extraordinary. He started screaming and scrabbled at his eyes, frantically wiping away the liquid streaming from his eyes, nose and mouth. Staggering back and forth as if completely blinded, he made no attempt to recapture Lily.

The other bandit was distracted by the sudden commotion and twisted to see what was happening. In one continuous graceful movement, Ethan
whipped his bow off his shoulder, pulled an arrow from his quiver, nocked the arrow, and fired. The arrow pinged through the air and buried itself in Duglass’s right shoulder.

Duglass screamed in agony and dropped his knife, his arm temporarily useless. He turned to defend himself, trying to scoop up the knife with his left hand. His face was totally disbelieving. Duglass had expected the children to be a meek and easy target. Ethan kicked his heels into Toffee’s sides, causing her to lunge and prance.

Ethan nocked another arrow, aiming carefully at the bandit but not firing. Duglass hurriedly dropped the knife again.

Lily gave a piercing whistle that reverberated around the clearing. Moments later a streak of red-gold lightning came hurtling through the forest.

‘Attack, Aisha!’ screamed Ethan. Aisha obligingly leapt into the fray, dodging the prancing hooves of frightened horses. She jumped up at Duglass and sank her teeth into his left arm, shaking him like a sack and all the while growling ferociously.