Silence and Stone (6 page)

When she woke, there were still stars overhead. She stretched and drank from the bottle of rainwater. She was hungry, too. She ate six of Ruth's delicious roses. They were sweet and tender and wonderful, and she ate them slowly, waiting for dawn.

When it was light enough to fly, she spread her wings and flew again.

She was careful not to come too close to the town at the bottom of the hill. Some people were already awake. There were lit lamps in a few of the windows.

Just as the sun came up, Alida spotted the
wide clearing in the forest that surrounded Lord Dunraven's castle.

It was even bigger than she had thought the night she and Gavin had escaped.

The ground floor was wider than any of the others, but even the dark stone towers were massive. They were beautiful in the dawn light.

Alida flew in a low, wide circle and found a rocky ridge.

She set her bag on top of a stone shaped like a giant's tooth.

Then she stared at the castle.

She didn't want to go inside it.

The corridors were like a maze.

But how else could she get Gavin out? Even if she somehow broke a window, how could he get down off the castle roof? She was afraid to try to carry him.

She wasn't at all sure her wings would be strong enough to keep them both in the air.

Alida stared at the jumble of stones on the ridge. She had suddenly been able to fly when Kip had scared her. She was certainly scared now.

Faeries could lift dogs and huge stones and many other things without touching them.

Alida found a fist-size stone and tried to make it rise into the air. She couldn't. She tried over and over. The stone didn't move at all.

Angry with herself, she rolled up her shawl and tucked it under her arm.

Then she stood on her toes.

She took a deep breath and rose into the air.

She was still afraid.

But it didn't matter.

If Gavin hadn't been brave, she would still be locked in that little chamber. She would find him. Then she would find a way to help him.

First she flew in a wide circle around the castle. She counted the towers. There weren't ten, as she
had thought the night Gavin had helped her escape. There were thirteen.

Most of them had windows.

Only four of them were like the one she had been in—barred with iron.

She flew a little closer.

There were guards near the main entrances. But they were watching the road, the meadows, and the forest—not the sky.

None of them was near the barn.

Alida flew straight up, then leveled out until she was over the stables.

Coming down, she flew fast, slowing just enough to land running.

She hid behind one of the fancy carriages. Once she was sure no one had seen her, she put on her shawl to hide her wings.

She tied the ends in a careful knot.

Then she walked closer, trying to remember
where the door had been. Everything looked very different in the daylight.

Just like the castle, Lord Dunraven's barn was much bigger than she had thought.

When she finally spotted the double doors John had opened to lead the mare out, she tiptoed inside.

She could hear two men talking in low voices.

She squeezed between the wall and a stack of hay. She folded her wings tightly against her back beneath the shawl and hid, listening.

For a long time, she couldn't quite hear what they were saying.

Then they turned and walked toward her.

“How's the bay mare doing?” one of them asked the other.

“Healing fast,” came the answer, and Alida sighed in relief. It was John's voice.

She waited until the second man left, then she peeked out.

John was looking at her. Somehow he had known she was there. He smiled.

“I came to find Gavin,” she said.

“I knew you would,” he answered. “You are like your mother. Loyal and true.”

“Do you know where Gavin is?” Alida asked.

John shook his head. “But I don't think he's in any of the towers. Lord Dunraven has my stable boys run the food trays up, and there haven't been any new prisoners for a long time.”

Alida's heart sank, but she nodded and thanked him. “Do you know where my family is?” she asked, then held her breath.

John shook his head sadly. “No. I miss them all.” He sighed. “When you find them, please give them my best wishes.”

Alida stared at him, questions rushing into her mind. But there was no time. Not now.

“I'll have the stable boys exercising horses all day long,” he said. “Lots of noise and commotion.”

Alida understood instantly. “Thank you.”

He looked into her eyes. “It isn't my place to explain anything to you,” he said. “Your mother will, when you find her. But I never meant to harm you.”

There was sorrow in his eyes, and kindness. “I believe you,” she told him.

He smiled. “If you need my help, I will be in the stables,” he said, and walked away.

10

John kept his word.

It wasn't long before ten stable boys—each of them riding one horse and leading three—were galloping in long circles around the castle.

The guards posted outside every door were watching the horses pounding past them.

Thanks to John's cleverness, they would be less likely to hear any sounds she made or to look
up
.

Alida started with the towers, just to make sure.

She landed lightly beside each window and peeked in.

The first one was empty, then the next, and the next, and the next.

At the fifth one, she noticed the crack in the stone.

She hovered, then turned in the air and looked down.

She recognized the shapes of the trees, the angle of the road.

This was her tower—this was the little room she had lived in for so long.

She went back to the window and looked inside. Gavin was not in the chamber. No one was. Alida stared at the bed, the stone floor.

If the guards caught her, Lord Dunraven would lock her in the chamber again.

She never wanted to be alone ever again, waiting, listening for footsteps. The thought made her tremble.

Fighting her fear, Alida flew on. John had been right. All the tower rooms were empty.

Working her way downward, looking into every window, she flew close to the stone walls. She was careful not to make a sound, even though the horses were galloping below.

Every window was interesting.

She saw empty ballrooms. The floors were polished stone. There were mirrors framed in gold.

She saw women cleaning a huge chamber with rows of wide wooden tables.

The next room was stacked with coiled rope. Men were hunched over long tables, braiding long, dried grass together.

Alida flitted past before anyone looked up.

Looking into the next window, she saw glass tables and velvet chairs, arranged on a deep blue carpet. She kept going. Some of the bedchambers were twice as big as Ruth's whole house.

The kitchen had a hearth big enough to roast a whole cow. The windows were open. The smell of wood smoke, bread, meat, and onions drifted out.

Alida glided past, quick and unseen.

By the time she got to the lowest floor, she was starting to worry. What if she
couldn't
find Gavin this way? What would she do?

She hovered, listening to the sound of the horses galloping in the clearing below, trying to think.

The ground floor was much taller and wider than any of the others—it was the strong, solid base of the castle.

But it had no windows at all. How would she ever find him?

Alida landed and knelt, staying out of sight, trying to decide what to do.

She remembered the barred doors she had seen when she and Gavin had walked the long passages on their way out.

The rooms had high ceilings, but if there were no windows, how were they lit?

With lamps and lanterns?

The air would be thick with smoke unless there were windows or chimneys to carry it outside. She
noticed narrow, wooden, peaked roofs here and there.

She went to look.

Beneath each little roof, there was a long, narrow gap in the stone.

No glass.

No iron bars.

Just an opening made to let in as much fresh air as possible. The little roofs were to keep out the rain.

Alida crouched beside the first one, ducking under the roof to peek into the huge room.

Far below her, men stood leaning against the walls, talking in low voices.

She jerked back when one of them shouted. She was sure he had spotted her.

But then someone else yelled.

They were arguing. The stone ceiling was so high that their voices echoed.

Alida caught her breath, almost sure this was one
of the barred rooms she and Gavin had passed.

She looked again, squinting to see better, then leaned back.

The men were all wearing torn shirts and tattered trousers.

They weren't guards. They were prisoners.

Peering down, she looked at each man in the vast chamber below her, one by one.

Gavin wasn't among them.

She flew to the next little roof. The room was even bigger. There were many prisoners, but Gavin wasn't there, either.

The next room was smaller. There was only one prisoner inside it. She recognized him instantly.

Gavin was walking in a slow circle, round and round. Alida slid through the slit in the stone and glided to the floor.

He whirled around, startled.

When he recognized her, he smiled. “You can fly now!”

Alida nodded. Whispering, she told him his grandmother was well.

His eyes lit up. “She is? Did you—”

“Ruth had already cured her,” Alida said. Then she explained how Kip had taught her to fly, and Gavin laughed a little. She was about to admit that she had lied, but he leaned closer to whisper.

“Someone saw us leave,” he told her. “But in the dark, they couldn't see that there were two riders, not one.” He paused and listened, glancing at the door, before he went on. “The guards found the bracelet. So I am a thief. I will be put to hard labor for a year, but no one knows you're gone.”

He stopped again, listening.

When he was sure no one was coming, he smiled. “Thank you so much for coming to say good-bye, to tell me about my grandmother. I was so worried.”

Alida shook her head. “I didn't come to say good-bye,” she told him. “I came to help you the way you helped me.”

He pointed up at the gap in the stone, far overhead. “But I can't fly, Alida.”

She nodded, then told him how faeires could make things float in the air. “I tried this morning and couldn't do it,” she said, “but I will keep practicing, and I will come back and—”

The sound of heavy footsteps in the corridor made them both glance at the door.

He took her hand. “They could be coming to get me. You need to go now.”

Alida hesitated. The footsteps got louder. “Where will they take you?”

He shrugged. “Probably one of Lord Dunraven's silver mines.”

Alida could hear the dread in his voice. “I will follow you if they—”

“No!” Gavin whispered. “The mines are dangerous. Hurry, before they open the door!”

Alida flew upward, sliding back through the long, narrow opening in the stone. But she didn't
fly away. Hidden by the little roof, she watched.

Gavin was standing very still, facing the door.

His feet were spread wide, like he was bracing himself.

All of this was so wrong, so unfair. He had just wanted to save his grandmother. He was kind. And he wasn't a thief. He had just pretended to be one to protect her.

Alida could hear the sound of heavy boots on the stone, coming closer. There had to be something she could do to help him. There
had
to be.

And, just like she had suddenly known how to fly, Alida suddenly knew how to lift him.

She took a long breath while she let the magic weave itself inside her heart.

The footsteps were getting louder.

Alida knew she had to hurry.

She stared at Gavin's cot and lifted it a hands-breadth off the floor.

Could she do this? She narrowed her eyes and let the magic begin to work.

Gavin was facing away from her when his feet left the ground.

He flailed his arms, and then arched backward to look up at the ceiling. Alida could tell the instant he spotted her. He lowered his arms and closed his eyes.

He was trying not to make it harder, trying to trust her.

Alida lifted him higher, and higher and higher.

And that part was easy.

Fitting him through the narrow gap in the stone was going to be much harder.

She heard the footsteps stop outside the door.

“Keep your eyes closed,” she whispered. “Don't make a sound.”

She saw him nod. Then the chamber door banged open, far, far below. She steadied herself and concentrated.

“Hiding won't keep you out of the mines, thief!” one of the guards shouted. “I have no time for children's games.”