The Tower of Ravens (54 page)

Edithe’s colour was high and her eyes glittered with angry tears, but she swept to the chair and sat down as ordered, disposing her skirts about her feet with exaggerated care. She then opened her book and began to read with an air of great interest.

“I’ll just tell Maisie she can bide a wee longer in bed, I want her as strong and well as possible for the journey ahead,” Nina said as she led the way out of the room.

Lewen nodded, his mind already busy with plans for getting away from the castle without arousing suspicion. He took one last look at Rhiannon, sleeping restlessly in her bed, then followed Nina across the hall and into Maisie’s room. She was out of bed and limping about, but it was obvious her deep festering wounds still troubled her. She was glad to get back into bed and have Nina give her another draught of pain-killing poppy syrup and tuck her up in her eiderdown. Lewen stoked up the fire for her, and moved the cup of water closer to her hand.

“Call out to Edithe if ye need anything,” Nina said gently, “and try to get some sleep.”

Maisie nodded gratefully and shifted onto her side, trying to find a comfortable position to lie in.

“I wonder where Lulu is,” Nina said anxiously, as they went out into the hall again. “I would’ve thought she would have been quite happy playing with the doll I made her and no‘ gone wandering off. She doesna like Edithe, though. Happen I left her too long and she went looking for Roden. We’d better go find her, Eà kens the trouble she could be causing!”

She put her head in the door of the big suite. “Roden? Roden?”

There was no answer.

Nina went in, and hurriedly searched the room, her face growing whiter by the second. “He’s gone!” she cried. “I left him only a moment, just while I looked in on Rhiannon. Och, the wicked boy! Where has he gone?”

Lewen came in too and searched in the cupboards and under the bed. There was no sign of Roden.

Nina was so white he thought she might faint. He supported her with one hand and went to pour her some water but she refused it impatiently. “We must find him!” she cried. “Och, this is no‘ the place for a wee laddie to be wandering round by himself. Oh, Lewen! Do ye think someone took him? That sly-faced Irving!”

“We’ll find him,” Lewen reassured him. “Nina, can ye sense where he is? Close your eyes, concentrate. Ye ken him better than anyone. Canna ye sense him?”

Nina tried to calm herself. She sank down on one of the cushioned chairs, sipped at the glass of water Lewen passed her, and closed her eyes, resting her face in her hands. The only sound was the cry of ravens outside. Lewen saw one had come down to perch on the windowsill. He went to the casement, threw open the window and violently shooed the bird away. It cawed mockingly and flew off with slow flaps of its enormous black wings.

“I think… he’s over that way somewhere,” Nina said, waving her hand to the north. “Oh, Lewen!”

“We’ll go and find him now,” he said, leaning down to help her up. “Do no‘ fear, Nina. He’s bored and restless, and angry he wasna allowed to watch them move the tree. He’s gone off exploring, that’s all.”

“Happen he’s gone to find that room with all the toys,” Nina said. “I’ll skin him alive!”

Together they went quickly along the hall and down the stairs, keeping a wary look-out for any servants. They heard voices from one room and passed it silently, then hid for a moment in an antechamber as some footmen went past, carrying some silver down to the kitchens to be cleaned. Otherwise all was quiet.

“I wonder where the laird is?” Lewen whispered.

“Still in his library, I’d say.”

“I hope Edithe kept her mouth shut!”

“Unlikely, but I do no‘ think it’ll matter. She dislikes Rhiannon so intensely she would’ve done a better job than any o’ us in discrediting her. I’m sure she told the laird that Rhiannon is half-satyricorn and quite wild and a constant trouble .to us all. By the time she would have finished, the laird would be sure we suspected no ill o‘ him!”

“I hope so,” Lewen said grimly.

They came to a thick oak door that stood ajar. They could hear nothing beyond so eased it open a little further and slipped through. They tiptoed down a stone-floored corridor that led to a spiral staircase, winding upwards into gloom.

“He’s here somewhere,” Nina whispered. “Upstairs, I think. It’s so hard to be sure. These thick stone walls confuse my witch-sense.”

Then they heard the low murmur of voices from a room to their right. Moving very carefully they pressed themselves close to the door to listen.

“Someone has been sneaking about and spying,” Lord Malvern said angrily. “Irving found a smashed lantern on the steps near Rory’s room, and I swear someone has been in my library! Ye ken I canna bear to have things out o‘ place, and things have definitely been moved. None o’ the circle would’ve done it, they all ken better!”

Lady Evaline murmured something about sleepwalking.

“Sleepwalkers do no‘ take lanterns with them,” Lord Malvern cried. “Nay, that girl knew what she was doing. The question is, how much did she see?”

Another low murmur from Lady Evaline.

“Dedrie says her boots and cloak were all muddy. She must have gone outside at some point, and I canna help thinking she may have found the secret way to the tower. If so, who kens what she may have seen and heard! We canna risk her telling a soul. Thank the Truth the witch suspects naught.”

Lady Evaline made some kind of protest.

“It’s a little late to get cold feet now, Evaline. We’re so close! Do ye no‘ want Falkner and Rory back? After all these years, all this trouble, ye canna get squeamish now!”

“There’ve been too many deaths,” Lady Evaline said unhappily.

“But the things we have learnt! And now we are so close, ye canna say it has no‘ been worth it. The secrets o’ resurrecting the dead! That is a prize worth sacrificing for.”

Lord Malvern’s voice came closer, as if he were striding around the room. Nina and Lewen flattened themselves on either side of the door, but were too eager to hear more to retreat.

“If we can just stop her from telling them all she saw! I’m sure they do no‘ suspect anything. Lady Edithe says she’s some half-breed faery girl that is quite wild and hysterical, so happen they will no’ believe her, no matter what she says. We canna take that risk though. We must stop her mouth somehow.”

Lewen gritted his teeth together in rage and Nina cast him a warning glance.

“What about the lad?” Lady Evaline said pitifully.

“Och, he’s just too perfect,” Lord Malvern said with a strange note of longing in his voice. “It canna be coincidence that a boy just the same age and height and colouring as Rory comes riding through our gate the very day we finally get the secret o‘ resurrecting the dead into our hands!”

“But they’ll take him away! Once they ride out o‘ here we may never see him again.”

“Aye, o‘ course we will. We’ll find him again when the time is right.”

“How can ye be sure?” she asked. “Oh, Malvern, he’s so like Rory, so bright and bonny! I wish I could take him into my lap and hold him, but that witch keeps him so close I have hardly been able to touch him. I wish we could keep him here a while longer.”

“Aye, aye, I ken, but we canna take the risk, Evaline. Surely ye see that?”

She said something low and he sighed in exasperation. “Our first priority is getting hold o‘ the spell. I do no’ ken how long that will take, Evaline.”

Again they heard the soft pleading murmur of her voice and then Lord Malvern’s voice, as loud as if he was standing next to them, “Och, very well, Evaline! Anything to keep ye happy! I must go now and find out what is happening. Do no‘ weep, now. We are closer than we have ever been.”

They heard his quick impatient stride, and both Nina and Lewen whisked themselves away from the door, making it into the shelter of the staircase scant seconds before the door opened and Lord Malvern came out. He went away down the hall, as tall and stiff and black as a pillar of obsidian, and Lewen heaved a sigh of relief.

Nina’s face was pinched and angry. “We have to find Roden and get away from here! What do they have planned for him? Oh, it canna be good, Lewen!”

Lewen nodded in agreement, and pressed her hand in comfort. “Where is he? Can ye sense him?”

Nina pressed her hands to her temples. “I’m so afraid I canna think straight.”

“Lord Malvern mentioned something about a broken lantern on the stairs. Let’s go up and have a look around.”

Nina nodded and led the way up the spiral staircase. “Why, oh, why did I ever come this way?” she murmured. “Again and again we were warned, and I did no‘ listen!”

The staircase wound up to a narrow wooden door, half-hidden behind a faded tapestry curtain. They heard the sound of a boy’s voice and quickened their step, though both felt a sudden superstitious chill that raised the hairs on their arms. “Let it be Roden and no‘ that poor wee ghost,” Nina whispered, then pushed open the door.

Roden and Lulu were sitting together on the floor, playing happily with some toy soldiers. He looked up at the sound of the door opening and smiled. “Hi, Mam,” he said.

“Ye naughty, naughty boy!” Nina cried and flew across the room, dragging him to his feet. “What are ye doing here! Don’t ye ken ye scared me half to death?” She gave him a good hard smack across his bottom, then pulled him into her arms, hugging him tightly.

Roden looked sulky, and Lulu jumped up and down, gibbering in distress. “And as for ye!” Nina cried, turning on the arak. “I told ye to stay! What are ye doing wandering all over the castle?”

The arak hid her face in her hands, peered round in abashment, then covered her eyes again.

“Lulu was bored,” Roden said defensively. “She wanted to find that little boy’s room too. She came and got me when she’d found it. O‘ course I had to come and have a look. See, Mam? There’s a castle and everything.”

“I told ye to stay in your room!” Nina’s wrath had not abated.

“Ye’re just mean,” Roden burst out. “Why canna I play with the toys? We’ve been stuck in this boring auld castle for days and days, and I wasna even allowed to watch the tree go crashing down. I just wanted to look at the toys.”

Nina took a deep breath. “Thank Eà ye’re safe,” she said. “Please, please, do no‘ do that again, Roden. No’ here, in this castle.”

“All right, Mam,” he said in long-suffering tones.

She drew him close to her and caressed his dark red curls. “I ken ye’re bored, dearling. Let’s go and see how
dai-dein
is doing moving that tree, all right?”

He brightened at once, and Lulu skipped about joyfully.

“Leave the toys here,” Nina said sternly, and reluctantly the boy and the arak put the toy soldiers back into the castle.

“It’s certainly just as Rhiannon described it,” Nina said, glancing round the room.

“Except for the ghosts,” Lewen replied with a slight grin.

“Och, the ghost is here,” Roden said unexpectedly. “Canna ye see him?”

Nina and Lewen stared at him, their flesh creeping. Roden pointed at the rocking horse. “He’s there. He doesna want me to go. He’s so sad and lonely.”

They stared at the rocking horse. There was nothing to see.

Roden lifted a hand. “I got to go now, but happen I’ll come back later. Bye!” Then he took Nina’s hand and went out of the room with her, Lulu scampering on ahead. Lewen followed, the nape of his neck prickling as if someone had blown on it with icy breath. He could not help looking back over his shoulder. The wooden hose had begun to rock backwards and forwards, creaking gently. Lewen shivered and shut the door firmly behind him.

Rhiannon woke and lay for a while, staring about her room. Everything was quiet. On the hearth the fire had fallen into coals that gleamed dully. Somewhere ravens were crying. Edithe sat in the cushioned chair, one foot swinging, reading a book and sighing every now and again as if bored to distraction.

Rhiannon gently put back the bedclothes and slid her legs out. A wave of dizziness overcame her as she stood up. She leant her hands on the bed and let her head hang forward till it passed.

Edithe turned her head. “Oh, ye’re awake. I thought ye were going to sleep all day!”

Rhiannon said nothing, just stared at her with suspicious eyes.

“They brought ye food if ye want it.” Edithe jerked her head at a small pot of soup set in the hearth to keep warm.

“I eat naught they bring me,” Rhiannon said sullenly.

Edithe rolled her eyes. “I suppose ye mean ye are afraid it’s poisoned? Really, I think ye are quite mad. What do ye intend to do? Starve yourself to death? I’d expect anything from a girl who cuts herself for amusement.”

“Dinna do it for amusement,” Rhiannon growled.

“Well, it certainly doesna amuse any o‘ us! I’m quite embarrassed to be one o’ your party. What the laird o‘ Fettercairn must think, I canna imagine.”

“He bad man,” Rhiannon said sullenly.

“He’s a perfectly charming gentleman, and the laird o‘ one o’ the auldest and most respected clans in Ravenshaw,” Edithe said sharply. “And if ye think anyone will believe your wild accusations and slanders ahead o‘ his word, ye are very much mistaken.”

Rhiannon lost her temper and rushed at Edithe, knocking her down with a great shove. Edithe went down with a scream, knocking over the fire-irons and bashing her head hard against the wall.

“How dare ye!” Edithe cried, pressing her hand to her head. “Ye’re naught but a wild animal! Ye should be locked up in a cage like a snow-lion. Wait till I tell what ye’ve done. My father shall make sure ye pay!”

She scrambled to her feet and ran from the room, her face red with rage.

Rhiannon’s eyes smarted with tears. Her legs were so wobbly she had to grip the back of the chair to stop them giving way. She waited a moment, breathing deeply, then made her way across the room, leaning on the furniture for support. She dressed, her fingers fumbling over the buttons and ties, and drew on her boots, which she found clean and freshly polished in her cupboard. Her cloak hung there too, and she slipped it about her shoulders, the camouflaging grey side outwards. Then she picked up her saddlebags and slipped them over her shoulder.