The Catastrophe of the Emerald Queen (10 page)

They walked back to the opening
they had arrived by. The two guards still standing impassively and
rigidly to attention. Jared jumped slightly as caramel coloured
tiles on the floor of the room slid silently under his feet to line
up at the entrance like last time. The soldiers took up position
then Mordalayn and Jared stepped on. The other soldier took up the
rear. Without any word the tile moved off down the dark corridor,
its light illuminating the dark walls and emphasising the void they
were over.

 “
Why
did they call you Takoba?” Jared enquired as Mordalayn faced away
from him.

 “
That is my
rank
,” he answered without
turning around.

 “
Were
you in the army?” Jared asked.

 “
I was
.”

 
Jared
could tell Mordalayn didn’t want to speak any more so he fell
silent.

 
As the
tile arrived back in the main hall they all stepped clear and
walked back to the entrance. The area was still teeming with people
and the light from the huge chandelier was dimmer than when they
came in. On Jared’s left a team of short creatures were working on
a statue. They looked like the irritable, long nosed one that had
passed them outside, pushing a barrow. They were about 15 of them,
using their noses to hold onto the cylindrical pillar at various
heights while polishing the statue with cloths. Two nearer the top
were chiselling away with tiny tools at the face of the statue.
None of them looked happy to be there.

 “
Come
on” Mordalayn said as they moved towards the officers manning the
entrance. The captain who had spoken to them when they came in
turned around as they approached.

 
"Takoba
," he said, bowing slightly. "I trust your
meeting was satisfactory.”

 
"Yes, thank
you
.” Mordalayn replied. "I
need transport to Arkale. Do you have something to
spare?"

 
"Of course
,” the captain said and signalled to another of
his men. 

Chapter
6

As Mordalayn and Jared got down
from the cart the Caracalic was tight lipped and surly. A grocer’s
cart had lost a wheel and was blocking their path. The driver of
their vehicle reigned in his horses and watched as the irate owner
yelling at his driver.

 “
What’s
wrong?” Jared asked seeing the look on Mordalayn’s face.

 “
We should not be
here
,” he replied glancing
around as if expecting trouble. “This village is too close to the
border. The Council should have known that.”

 
Around them people worked,
unloading other carts or selling their wares in the street. A young
man holding a tray of glazed fruits
bowed respectfully at Mordalayn as the cat figure glanced
towards him.

 
All around people were hushed
and obviously a little intimidated by Mordalayn’s presence. He took
Jared by the arm, and then whispered urgently. “This area is safe
if you do as I say. Do you understand?” Jared
tried to smile, still feeling competely
overwhelmed.

 
They
moved down the side of the street. People moving aside, bowing
their heads as they approached.

 “
Why
are they so nervous?” Jared asked quizzically, uncertain of why
everyone appeared so awestruck.

 “
Hush, wait till we are
indoors
,” Mordalayn snapped
and Jared fell silent. He was getting tired of being told to wait
for answers but was equally nervous by the reaction their presence
was having on everyone.

 
They
stopped near a shop with pots and pans outside. The brassware
shining brightly in the sunlight. Mordalayn checked the street and
a rider on a horse saw that they wished to cross and gently tugged
on his animal’s reigns, bringing the beast to a halt. All around
them people waited, nodding or even bowing to Mordalayn.

 
Just as they were about to
move off, a figure ran round the corner looking over his shoulder
shouting frantically
. “Oh my!
Oh my! OH MY!.” He was dressed in baggy red trousers and a pair of
worn, grubby shoes, his toes poking out of the front of one. His
shirt was torn and over it was a too-big green waistcoat. His hat
was floppy and peaked, falling back over his scalp and his hair was
shoulder length and looked filthy. As he hurtled towards them
Mordalayn whirled and grabbed Jared, shoving him forward into the
open doorway of a tavern. He landed with a thud, the air rushing
out of his lungs. As Mordalayn turned the man collided with him and
they both went sprawling into the road. A fine cloud of dust flew
into the air as they skidded to a stop, the dried earth layering
them both. Mordalayn tried to extricate himself from the wriggling
man. With a grunt he shoved him off and stood up to dust himself
down.

 
The people watching them were
silent for a few seconds then the man on the horse who had stopped
to let them cross began to chuckle. “My, my” he said shaking his
head
. “Our Lady’s bodyguard
seems to be not such a strong warrior after all.”

 
Someone else laughed and soon
three or four others had joined in. Jared staggered to his feet and
put one hand on the door frame of the tavern, gasping for breath.
Someone else piped up
. “Yes,
maybe he’s a spoon not a Takoba.” 

Others began to join in. Their
former respect of Mordalayn giving way to something sinister and
nasty.

 
Another
added
. “All the ballads they
sing of the Queen’s Sword. Maybe they should sing of how he was
finally knocked down by a runaway urchin.”

 
More
were laughing now. Jared watched, uncertain of what would
happen. 

The man who had bowled
Mordalayn over was clearly dizzy, holding his head and trying to
sit up. His hat had fallen off and he felt around for it. “Dearie
me, oh dear” he said trying to stand up but still too disoriented
to use his feet. He sat back down with a bump.

 
Mordalayn glared at the man and reached down with one huge
hand to grab his collar. The man squirmed and wriggled, squealing
“I’m sorry sir, I didn’t see you!”

“
I know you didn’t you clumsy
oaf
,” Mordalayn hissed at him
lifting the kicking man off the floor and holding him up, his feet
making pedalling motions in the air. The crowd still laughed at the
scene in front of them while Jared fought for
breath.

 
Just
then two uniformed and armoured men came round the corner. They saw
Mordalayn and one nudged the other.

 “
Don’t bother yourself Takoba.
Give him to us
,” he said,
standing back with his hands on his hips. The crowd were silent,
their amusement at the scene had vanished.

 “
Be my guest
,” Mordalayn said with a sneer, still clearly
angry and turned, dropping the wincing man in the road. The man
landed hard and grunted as he hit the floor
again.

 “
I’m
sorry sirs, I didn’t mean to offend” he stammered as the guards
reached down to pick him up.

 “
Come on” Mordalayn said. He
saw the look on Jared’s face
.
“Don’t worry about him, he’s an escaped prisoner” and turned him
around, walking back into the street.

 
The
guard who had spoken to Mordalayn was furious and very, very drunk.
Scious was only a petty thief and he’d managed to get out of the
prison cart when they’d stopped for a drink or two on their way
back to jail. If they hadn’t managed to find him they would have
been in very serious trouble. Luckily the wretch had run into the
once proud queen’s bodyguard and some brat he was with. No mind,
they would have him back in no time but first he needed to be
taught a lesson.

 
He
grabbed the man by the ear and hauled him up. Scious squeaked
loudly and grabbed at the fingers that held him. “HOW DID YOU
ESCAPE VERMIN?” the guard seethed.

 “
Please
sir, I didn’t do anything. The door was open at the back and I used
it to slip out”

 “
Oh right, so that’s why
non
e of the others followed
you?” He drew his dagger and held it up in front of Scious’s face.
The wriggling man blanched and kicked harder. “Maybe I should teach
you a lesson you pig. What do you think about that?.” He turned to
the other guard who laughed. The crowd around them stood
speechless. Some had ducked back indoors but others stared
transfixed, horrified but too afraid to
intervene.

 
The second guard grabbed
Scious’s arms. The one with the knife said loudly for the benefit
of the crowd
. “Those that
steal and rob shall be punished.” Just as the blade was about to
touch the petrified little thief’s ear, a huge hand grabbed his arm
and twisted it hard.

Mordalayn was embarrassed,
humiliated and angry. His reactions had saved Jared from a threat
that didn’t exist but he had been so wound up that he’d not reacted
quickly enough and had been knocked down by a tiny little thief. He
was also hungry and hadn’t slept in days. He needed to keep Jared
safe and being shamed in front of people who were clearly in awe of
him did nothing to help that cause. He turned to the winded boy.
“Are you ok?” Jared smiled and gave a thumbs up sign. “Good. I’m
sorry you were hurt but I thought you were in danger. Come.”

 
Jared glanced
back to the scene in the street and couldn’t believe what he was
seeing. One of the soldiers was holding the man down by his arms,
the one who’d knocked Mordalayn and laughing while the other was
apparently going to cut his ear off. He tapped Mordalayn
frantically on the arm and rasped in a croaky voice. “Look!”
pointing. The warrior glanced round and his face transformed into a
mask of utter fury.

As the hand grabbed his wrist
the soldier winced in pain and then his anger took hold. “What in
the name of...?!!!” he yelled and then twisted round to find
himself staring into Mordalayn’s green eyes. 

“
You
miserable thug!” Mordalayn yelled and hurled him into the wall of
the tavern. The man bounced back and fell face down. His knife
skittered across the floor. Luckily for him his armour had taken
the force of the impact. He leapt to his feet angrily.