The Mirror's Tale (Further Tales Adventures) (28 page)

Rohesia closed her eyes, and Bert was sure he heard
a deep, happy sigh fill the chamber. The specter rose and faded. A moment later the Witch-Queen was gone. When Bert looked at the mirror again, it was only an empty frame. The void had vanished.

CHAPTER 47

“M
other, please,” Bert cried, laughing. “You and Father are driving me crazy. I can walk perfectly well!”

“Honestly, Bert,” the baroness said. “Why can’t you just use the cane for another week until you’ve gotten all your strength back? You’ll fall and break your neck, and where will that leave me? After I almost lost you once—almost lost both of you …” She chewed on the back of a finger.

Bert put an arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek. “We’re fine now.”

“All of this … It was all my fault,” the baroness said. “Sending you here.”

“No more of that, Mother. Everything’s fine now.”

She sniffed and wiped a tear with the back of her hand. “It will be fine when we all get back to Ambercrest. This place frightens me. It always has.”

“It shouldn’t scare you anymore,” Bert said. “The trouble is over. But I’m looking forward to getting home too. And then preparing for the next journey, when I’m really strong enough.”

The baroness put a hand on his cheek. “Are you sure you want to do that?”

Bert squeezed her hand. “Oh yes. Why don’t you make sure all your things are packed, Mother? I’ll talk to you later.”

When she’d left, Bert leaned out on the wall of the terrace and breathed deeply. He heard footsteps behind him. The rhythm was familiar: a strong step, then a weak step.

“Good morning, Parley,” he said without turning around.

“Speak up, will you? Don’t forget, I’m deaf in one ear now,” Parley said.

The courier leaned on the balcony. Bert looked at him. “You look even happier than usual today.”

Parley grinned and rubbed his stomach. “Makes me giddy just to be alive, Bert. Besides, how many men can say they were saved by the world’s loveliest ghost?” He sighed and put a hand into the pocket of his vest. Bert knew what was in there: a pair of diamonds that Parley would keep with him for the rest of his life. Parley looked at him sideways. “It was a month ago today, did you know that?”

“Yes.”

“You know which bit I wish I’d seen? When those beasts ran into the courtyard and scared the stuffing out of Brocuff and the rest of those knaves.”

Bert laughed. “At least poor Uncle’s poison arrows were good for something.”

“Yes. Funny how it all worked out. Seeing those
monsters convinced your uncle’s men that maybe they hadn’t signed up on the right side after all”

Bert nodded. He turned to look at the mountains of the Dwergh, looming behind The Crags. He lost himself in his thoughts until he heard Parley speak again.

“And there’s something else that may eventually work out, if I’m not mistaken,” the courier said. He pointed into the courtyard below, where Aunt Elaine and Andreas walked side by side. The knight staggered under the weight of an enormous potted plant while Aunt Elaine pointed to its leaves and lectured with great enthusiasm about its medicinal powers.

“What do you mean?” Bert said.

Parley clapped a hand on his forehead. “How is it that the fellow with one eye sees twice as much as the rest of you?”

“Oh.
Oh!”
Bert laughed until he had to wipe his eyes. Then he told Parley something that only his mother and father knew. “Last night I told my father that when the time comes, Will should be baron. I said I don’t want it to be me.”

Parley stared at him. “Did you really?”

Bert shrugged. “I … lost my taste for it. For power. Fighting. Ruling. All that. You know, I’m sure Will’s going to be better at all those things.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the little sachet of melissa that Aunt Elaine had made for him. He brought it to his
nose and took a deep whiff “There’s something else I’d like to do with my life, I think”

“What’s that?” Parley asked.

“I’ll tell you,” Bert said. “And by the way, I was wondering if you’d like to join me”

CHAPTER 48

M
argaret leaned close to Will and pinched his waist. “Calm down, boy!” whispered his old friend and servant.

“I can’t help it,” Will shot back from the side of his mouth. He bounced up and down again, as if there were springs on his heels.

The courtyard at Ambercrest was lined with knights, soldiers, and nobles from throughout the kingdom. The king himself stood beside Baron Charmaigne.

On the wall above the gates heralds lifted their trumpets and blasted long, clear notes that echoed off the keep. Cheers drifted over the wall from outside, where thousands crowded the roadside.

The gates of Ambercrest were thrown open, and Will nearly shouted aloud as three figures on horseback rode in. One was the king’s ambassador. The one in the middle had to be Tarkho, highest of the seven kings of the Dwergh. And the other was Bert.
He looks so much bigger,
Will thought.
I suppose I do too.

Familiar folk rode in next: Kholl and Harth and the rest of the band of seven, adorned with so much shining silver and gold it was a wonder their horses didn’t buckle
under the weight. Parley was with them, trying at first to look grave and important, but soon surrendering his face to a radiant grin.

For the first time in nearly a century there was peace again between this kingdom and the Dwergh. Will gazed at his brother, and his heart warmed. He saw Bert look back at him. Bert winked, and pointed with a subtle finger toward their favorite hideaway, the old watchtower, before turning and saying something to the Dwergh king. Tarkho nodded.

My brother,
Will thought.
The peacemaker. What a mighty thing to be.

P. W. CATANESE
was born in New York and grew up in Connecticut, where he lives with his wife and three children. When he’s not writing books, he draws cartoons and works for an advertising agency. Interestingly, the letters in “P. W. Catanese” can be rearranged to spell “want escape.” Mr. Catanese figures that’s why people read books like his. Visit him on the Web at
www.pwcatanese.com