Thorn Boy and Other Dreams of Dark Desire (41 page)

Invisible, I
strolled among the revellers. No one could see me. They were all
like statues come to life; physically perfect, but strangely devoid
of souls. I sat on a chair at the edge of the hall and watched for
some time. Then I rose and went back out into the gardens and
thence to the shore. Before climbing back into the boat, I broke
off a small twig from one of the trees and concealed it beneath my
jacket.

‘
That is
stealing,’ said the boatman. ‘The Ambertrantes won’t like
that.’

‘
Take me
back,’ I said. ‘Tomorrow night I will need your services
again.’

‘
If you
return, they will kill you,’ said the beast.

‘
It is a
risk I will take,’ I said, ‘and not your concern. You will get paid
regardless.’

Shrugging the
boatman guided the boat across the dark lake to the farthest
shore.

Back in the
princes’ bedchamber I hid the jewelled twig amongst my belongings,
then composed myself on the couch that stood against the wall. To
be sure, I was fast asleep by the time Calobel and Cataban came
stealing back up the dark stairway, although I awoke as they got
into their bed. I could hear them whispering together, laughing
softly. No doubt they thought I would soon be a dead woman.

The following
morning, the queen came to the princes’ chamber and enquired how my
night had been. I stretched and yawned and told her I was well
pleased with what I’d learned.

‘
You
were asleep,’ said she, her face pinched with suspicion.

‘
I have
three days,’ I said. ‘Trust that at the end of this time, all
secrets will be known.’

That night,
the princes once again enacted what they supposed to be their
deception upon me, and once again I only pretended to drink the
draft they gave to me. As before, I uttered no word. This time, I
followed close upon their heels as they descended the stone steps,
and as before, they could not perceive my presence with their eyes.
However, at one point, in the darkness, I trod upon the hem of
Calobel’s nightshirt and he hissed to his brother. ‘All is not
right. Something has pulled at my robe.’

‘
Rats,’
said Cataban. ‘That is all.’

In the
antechamber at the bottom of the stairs, they discarded their
nightclothes and dressed themselves in the velvet suits similar to
those they had worn the previous night. The clothes were hanging
waiting upon pegs in the wall, and there was no sign of the
discarded nightshirts they’d left there the last time. Once in
their finery, they opened the door upon the dark shore.

Following them
out, I stumbled a little and sent a litter of stones flying. Again,
Calobel said, ‘All is not right. Did you hear that noise?’

‘
A
distant firecracker from the palace grounds,’ said Cataban. ‘Stop
fretting.’

I watched them
climb into their boat and then hurried to where the little warty
boatman was waiting for me. This time I had brought him more coins
to keep him sweet.

I followed the
princes as before, into the palace of light. Again, it was filled
with a throng of people, dancing and running about and shrieking
hysterically. The princes danced like lunatics, drinking strange
ichors from crystal chalices, much like the one I had been offered
in their bed chamber. This night, I stayed a little longer, and at
some point the princes disappeared. I didn’t see them go and ran
out in a panic to the gardens, worried they’d gone home early and
would discover I wasn’t where they thought I’d be. But their boat
still rested against the shore, where they’d left it. I went back
into the palace and searched as many rooms as I could enter, but
there was no sign of them. Dawn must not now be far away, so I knew
I must return to my boatman, but as I was leaving the palace, I
heard a lady say, ‘The Lord and Lady of this house spend too much
time with the princes Calobel and Cataban. They are neglecting all
those of us who worship at their feet.’

Her companion,
a handsome man dressed in armour, said, ‘Fear not, my lady, for
after tomorrow the princes will be no more. The time has come for
their dance to reach its climax.’

How I wished I
could interrogate these people, but of course it was not possible.
As I left the palace, I took one of the crystal goblets from a
table. It was a beautiful thing and hidden fires lurked within its
facets.

In the
morning, again the queen came to question me and once again I
assured her that soon the mystery would be solved. I wasn’t yet
sure myself how I would solve it, because what I’d heard the
previous night had hardly been encouraging, but I was not without
hope.

Later, as I
followed the princes on their nocturnal excursion, I took with me
my sharpest blade.

This time, I
stuck close to Calobel and Cataban, to make sure I did not lose
sight of them. They were beautiful to behold, but that night, it
seemed a dark shadow hung over them. Their movements were more
languid, their eyes unfocused. They had the look of creatures
hypnotised by a snake.

Long past the
midnight hour, I saw the princes glance at one another. Cataban
nodded his head and Calobel took his brother’s hand. They left the
ballroom through a curtained doorway, and I went after them at
once. We passed through many chambers, in which scenes of great
excess were enacted like bizarre theatrical productions. I was in a
strange frame of mind, neither disgusted nor delighted. Neither was
I afraid. It was as if I’d drunk the waters of forgetfulness, and
walked in a drugged state.

Finally, I
followed the princes into a chamber lit by fire-pits of blue and
green. Long-backed lizards baked themselves upon steaming stones,
and salamanders crawled in and about the unearthly embers.
Otherwise, the chamber appeared empty. The princes danced together,
to music only they could hear. Once we’d walked under the arch that
led into the room, all sound from beyond was cut off, as if someone
had closed a door of lead upon us. Then, Calobel stopped dancing,
his body shaking. ‘Brother, there is someone here with us,’ he
said.

Cataban
frowned. ‘No, no, they have not yet come.’

‘
Not
them
,’ the other
urged, ‘but someone else.’

I held my
breath, standing utterly still.Their milky eyes looked directly at
me, yet I knew they could not see me. I was not part of this world,
but like a phantom in it.

‘
There
is no one,’ Cataban said, and turned a slow pirouette on the
spot.

My heart ached
to see them caught in this weird thrall. They were two of the
beautiful sons of the world, and did not belong in this place of
dark hedonism. Even as I began to plan what I could do to save
their souls, there was a great crash in the room, like someone
striking an immense gong. It was the clamour of swords, of
thunderbolts. The princes began to dance maniacally, as if their
lives depended on it. The sight was at once grotesque and
arresting. Hair spun and writhed and limbs described jittery arcs
on the air. They were but puppets and someone had just tweaked
their strings.

The light in
the room grew more intense, and I saw a wall of heavy drapery peel
away to either side. Beyond it was stark white radiance, and
against it two silhouettes, one male, one female. Their costumes
were magnificent, high collars rearing behind their heads, spiked
with black feathers. The woman took the hand of the man and
together they strolled down a shallow staircase into the room. ‘My
pets,’ said the woman, in a voice like the bells that shake at the
ankles of dancing girls.

‘
Pleasing,’ said the man.

They were very
tall, their skin of a strange bluish tinge. Likewise their hair was
stroked with cobalt flashes and their eyes shone like sapphires.
Demons, I thought, and took an unconscious step backwards. The
princes meanwhile threw themselves about the room in a frenzied
manner. The woman laughed and clicked her fingers. ‘Dance, my
pretties. Dance for me.’

The feet of
the princes were but a blur, and their faces were agonised. This
was an enchantment of great potency, and the only ones deriving
pleasure from it were the demons.

‘
How
well they dance,’ said the demoness to her companion. ‘It seems
almost a shame to quench their flames.’

‘
There
will be more such as they,’ said the demon, ‘for is it not our
magic that makes them so lovely?’

‘
I think
I love them,’ said the demoness, ‘and if I didn’t love you more, I
would crush the jewelled leaf of a tree and mix it in a chalice of
smoke and fire with your blood. Then the enchantment would be
ended, and there would only be they and I to explore new
possibilities upon our island of desire.’

‘
You
love me more,’ said the demon. ‘The children of the earth are your
playthings, my dear, and your sustenance. If we do not quench their
flames, our work would be in vain, and that beauty you enjoy so
much would wither.Then this would become the island of despair
instead.’

‘
Food,’
said the demoness, staring sadly at the dancing princes. ‘They seem
so much more than that.’

‘
But
they are not,’ said the demon. ‘They have danced for us for many
seasons to tenderise their essence. Now, they are ready to delight
us.’ He clapped his hands and called the princes’ names. At once,
they became still and stood with drooping heads in the centre of
the room, held in trance.

The demons
glided towards them, and each took a prince in their arms. I
expected them to be vampires and suck blood, but instead, they
began to bite the princes’ flesh. I realised then they would
consume the youths alive. There was no time for me to consider my
actions. I unsheathed my blade and leapt into the centre of the
room. The demons did not anticipate what happened and I beheaded
them in a trice with swift strokes of the weapon. The princes were
barely nibbled, and still stood lethargically before me. I gathered
up the heads of the demons and tore down some of the draperies in
the room in which to wrap them. Even as I was doing this, strange
sounds reverberated through the palace: low hoarse screams and the
crash of timbers. I realised that, in destroying these creatures, I
had set about the destruction of their sorcerous domain. There was
no time to waste. I could not risk speaking to the princes, because
that would break my protection of invisibility and, in any case, it
was doubtful whether they’d be able to hear me. With the heads
slung over my shoulder, I took an arm of each prince in my grasp
and dragged them, stumbling, from the room.

Outside, the
palace was in chaos. Huge lumps of ornate plasterwork were falling
from the ceiling, walls were collapsing and draperies were aflame.
Panicking revellers were running this way and that, shrieking
madly, and were in such a state of horror and alarm they had no
time to notice me. Still, I was aware that the demons must have
defences about the place, so dragged the princes as quickly as I
could to the gardens. It was difficult to proceed because the
island itself was sinking back into the dark lake. Explosions lit
the air around the palace, and I could see that far above, there
were only rocks covered in fungus and no sky.

The boatman
was agitated to the point of being difficult as I tried to shove
the princes into his boat. ‘My vessel is too small,’ he said. ‘We
will sink.’

‘
Then
take the other boat!’ I said. ‘The one the princes use.’

‘
It will
not obey me,’ said the boatman. ‘I cannot steer it.’

‘
Then we
risk a sinking!’ I snapped. ‘Hurry up! When this island submerges,
there will be a maelstrom and any boatman foolish enough to be
hanging around here then can think of drowning whether the boat is
too heavy or not!’

Grumbling, the
boatman had to see the sense of what I said and he began to urge
his little vessel back across the lake. It was a perilous journey –
terrifyingly slow, because the boat was so burdened, and the waters
roiled and churned around us. Many times, I was sure I’d have to
swim to shore, and wondered how I could save my own skin and still
bring the princes back to their parents. Looking back towards the
island, I could see people fleeing to boats around the shore, and
even as I watched, whirlpools began to spin and sucked some of the
unfortunate wretches down beneath the surface of the lake.

Oblivious,
Calobel and Cataban lolled on the floor of the boat, their heads
upon each other’s shoulders. They missed entirely the final great
spectacle as with a huge roar, a burst of sparks and filthy spray,
the island disappeared completely, taking most of those floundering
around in boats with it.

When we
finally reached the other side of the lake, I was exhausted with
anxiety and could see the little boatman was also near the end of
his strength. Whatever nether creature he might be, he had served
me well these past nights. It seemed he realised this for
himself.

As he dragged
the boat to shore, he said, ‘Never mind the fine glittering coins
you have given me, lady. Now, my employment is at an end, for there
will be no one to transport and nowhere to transport them to.
Therefore, I am seeking new employment, and it has occurred to me
how well I have worked for you, and that a brave adventurer should
have a companion to see to her needs and to lend his brains when
she requires an intelligent mind to aid her. I proudly offer you my
services.’

I observed him
for a few moments, then said, ‘Help me with the princes, creature.
We shall see.’