Spellbinder, page 32
part #2 of The Jester King Series
Without warning, the newcomers stopped their advance. Hugh held his breath and tightened his grip on the crude knife.
A soft whisper split the silence, “Wait, Your Highness. I sense a trap.”
Your Highness? Prince Hereweald? Down here? This could be our chance to turn things to our favor.
He risked a peek around the corner and saw a short, slight man wearing a cloak, his face hidden in the shadows of its hood. A small orb of light, with the color and intensity of a torch, floated in the air near him. The little man slipped his sword from its sheath, and the orb moved away to circle the room.
Hugh inhaled and readied himself to attack.
Just then, another cloaked man stepped out of the shadow beyond the archway. Like the first man, he was short and kept his face hidden within the recesses of his hood. He had a long cloth-covered package strapped over one shoulder, and in one hand he wielded a short curved sword of a design Hugh had never seen before. He extended his other hand, and a bluish orb of light appeared, floating above his palm. It shot to the arched ceiling of the chamber, where it intensified.
I have to act while I’ve still got surprise on my side. And quick as a bolt before they can cast a spell on me. His muscles tightened to spring.
“Sir Hugh?” the second man said.
Hugh froze.
The little man raised his hand, and the bluish orb became as bright as daylight, causing Hugh to squint. The second man then opened his sword-hand, and his weapon disappeared.
“Sir Hugh?” The second man probed the darkness beyond with his voice. “Is that you?”
The voice was so familiar to Hugh, and yet he could not place it. It seemed like a voice that crossed oceans of time to reach his ear.
Is this some trick of magic? A demon’s spell to catch me off guard?
At that moment, the second man pushed back his hood and revealed his face.
Billy! It cannot be!
Malcolm stepped into the room from the opposite archway. “Billy!” He showed his empty hands to the first little man and advanced.
The man stepped in front of Malcolm, barring his way.
“It’s all right, Shaldra. He’s a friend.”
Shaldra pushed back his hood, lowered his sword, and stepped aside. For a moment, his pointed ears and almond shaped eyes struck Malcolm dumb, but then he remembered Billy.
“Billy!” The highlander threw his arms open.
Billy rushed forward into his embrace.
“I thought I’d never see you again, my boy.”
“And I, you!”
At this, Camion ambled out of the dark. His size caught Shaldra and Billy off guard. Shaldra raised his sword, and Lura Zahn appeared in Billy’s fist.
Malcolm, still holding onto Billy, put his hand on his arm. “He’s no trouble. He’s with me.”
“I remember you,” Billy said to the giant. “You were on the Gyldan Mene.”
Camion nodded. “Glad to see little people still alive.” He eyed Shaldra and the point of his sword. “All little people.”
Shaldra smiled and lowered his weapon.
“‘Member me, Billy?”
Aeth leaned against the archway. Billy stared at his crooked, bandaged body and frowned. Finally, he made his way up to the boy’s face and his one eye. “Stitch?”
“Aye.”
“What happened to you?”
“‘Tis a long story. Maybe I’ll tell ya sometime, but now we need to be rescuin’ Lady Cyndyn.”
“Right.” Billy walked to Aeth and put his hand on his shoulder. “It’s good to see you.”
Hugh remained slumped half in the shadows, on the floor behind the doorway. He was staring at Billy with tears rolling down his cheeks. He still held Aeth’s crude knife in his hand.
Billy stepped to Hugh and removed the long package slung over his back. The blue orb of light dimmed and moved to the archway. Billy sat cross-legged in the pool of light, in front of Hugh, with the package across his lap.
“Yeah, … it’s good to see you too.”
Hugh remained mute.
Billy opened his shirt and showed Hugh the scars the dragon had left across his chest. “We meet again, old friend.”
The crude blade in Hugh’s hand fell to the stone floor with a tink, and he rolled to his knees. He grabbed Billy and plucked him off the floor, wrapping his arms around him, like a man drowning in a river grabs hold of a fallen tree.
“Hugh,” Billy gasped. “You’re crushing me.”
Hugh loosened his grip but kept hold of him. He closed his eyes, but the tears continued to roll down his cheeks and catch on his smiling lips. His breath drew in slowly but escaped in bursts as if his lungs could not hold it.
“I saw you die.”
“I know. I know. But, in fact, it was you that saved me.”
“What?”
“That little coffin you brought aboard the Gyldan Mene saved my life.”
Hugh relaxed his embrace of Billy and sat back onto his haunches to examine him. Unable to let go completely, Hugh held onto his newly restored friend at arm’s length.
“The coffin?”
“Aye.” Billy picked up the long package that lay on the floor between them and held it out to Hugh. “This belongs to you.”
Hugh released Billy and put his hands around the long cloth-wrapped package. When Billy let go, its well-balanced weight fell into his hands and told him exactly what it was.
“Is this a dream?”
Billy smiled. “Shall I pinch ya to make sure?”
Hugh stared at him and the item resting in his hands.
“Go ahead. I kep’ it oiled for you, just like you taught me.”
Hugh loosed the tie strings and flipped back the open top of the sack. The bluish light sparkled off tiny silver leaves and bone as the silky cloth spilled away from Hugh’s ancestral sword. The blue gemstone in the pommel winked at him in greeting.
“I never dared to dream. I am forever in your debt.”
“No. True friends have no debts between them, only gestures of kindness.”
Hugh put his hand behind Billy’s neck and leaned in until they were touching foreheads. “Right. Right.”
As they drew apart, Hugh said, “Say, how did you know it was me?”
“When?”
“Just now. Before we came out of hiding, you called my name like you knew it was me.”
“Well, who else would be down here with four men preparing to storm a fortress guarded by a legion of well-trained elite forces in order to rescue one lady from under the nose of her war-seasoned royal captor?”
Hugh laughed, and Billy joined him. Their infectious laughter spread to the others, but it didn’t last long. There was still sober work to be done.
Billy and Hugh stood up, and Hugh strapped on his sword.
“I suppose that’s a long story too.” Billy pointed at Hugh’s wound.
“Not really. I got drunk, insulted some very patriotic Gwythies, and when they grew bored of beating me, their sergeant used me for sword practice.”
Billy reached out and touched the site of Hugh’s wound. He closed his eyes and concentrated. After a moment, he straightened. “Shaldra, bring me Elzgig’s balm.”
Shaldra slipped off his backpack and brought it to Billy. He then opened it and handed over a small clay jar.
Billy nodded at the backpack. “Might as well give him those.”
Shaldra reached into the pack and pulled out a helmet and a pair of gauntlets. He handed them to Hugh while Billy doctored his wound.
Hugh and Shaldra just stood and stared at one another.
“Oh, pardon me,” Billy said. “Shaldra, this is Sir Hugh, the King’s Champion. Sir Hugh, this is Shaldra, my friend.”
Shaldra straightened with pride.
“I’m not the King’s Champion anymore. I’m not even a sir any longer.”
Billy looked up from his bandaging.
Hugh caught his eye. “Ergyfel.”
Billy nodded. “And that fine fellow behind me is Stitch.”
“Not Stitch anymore. Name’s Aeth.”
Billy looked over his shoulder to the giant. “I never learned your name, but perhaps that’s to my advantage. No doubt, it too has changed recently. Whatever it is, I owe you my thanks for the Gyldan Mene.”
Camion grinned and bowed at the waist.
“And you, Malcolm, what do they call you now? Are you still the famous Malcolm the Magnificent?”
“Aye.” The master juggler smiled. “Though I’ve not felt very famous or magnificent lately. My friend’s name is Camion.”
Hugh blurted out at Shaldra, “You’re a faerie, aren’t you?”
“I am of the Faerie Court, though of all the names men call us, I think I prefer ‘elf.’”
“The Faerie Court?”
“Aye. The court of my prince.”
“That’s enough.” Billy stood up and handed Shaldra the jar of balm. “We don’t need any more of that.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Shaldra whispered.
Then Billy turned to the others. “Come. It’s time we rescued Lady Myrredith.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Ghost of a Chance
The new rescue party continued into the dark of the catacombs. Though he could sense his way to Cyndyn Hall with his ring, Billy allowed Aeth and his locket to lead. Shaldra took up a position at the ex-pickpocket’s side with orders from Billy to, “protect him as if he were me.” Billy and Hugh came next, with Malcolm and Camion guarding the rear. Billy split up his faerie light into a half-dozen orbs and spread them around so that no one had need for a torch.
After turning two corners, Hugh spoke to Billy in hushed tones. “You seem to know a great deal about what we face.”
“Unlike you, I can’t afford just to make it up as I go.”
“Funny. And yet you brought only the two of you.”
“You only brought four!”
“Yes, but I brought a very talented sneak, two skilled warriors, and a giant.”
“We brought weapons.”
“Good point.”
“But seriously, my plan depends on stealth and a speedy escape.”
Hugh raised an eyebrow. “Speedy escape?”
“Aye. Two members of my company are waiting with horses at the old stable, south of Cyndyn Hall.”
“The old ruin under the hill?”
“Aye.”
“How many horses?”
“I figured on one spare mount per rider, so ten.”
“There will be nine of us with Myrredith.”
“Then we’ll just have to do without spares.”
“Good plan.”
“I know.”
“How do you intend to get Lady Myrredith out of Cyndyn Hall and to the old stable?”
“There’s a secret passage that Lady Myrredith made me swear never to reveal to anyone. It goes under the walls of Cyndyn Hall to the south.”
“I know that passage, but there’s a great deal of open ground between the exit and the hill.”
“If we move quickly, we can make it before sunrise. Shaldra?”
“Aye.”
“Can we pick up the pace a bit?”
Shaldra glanced to Aeth, who nodded.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Let’s move.”
The party quickened their steps. Hugh continued to march with the group, but his eyes were on Billy more than the path ahead.
Billy noticed his stare. “What is it, Sir Hugh?”
“Please, just Hugh.”
“Sorry, Hugh.”
“Hearing Shaldra call you ‘Highness’ brought back to my feeble mind the truth of your identity and the meaning of your return. I was so overwhelmed and happy to see you alive, that it completely slipped my mind. In fact, I think it’s slipped all our minds, save Shaldra.”
“The meaning of my return?”
“Recently, a seer told me that I might save Lyonesse. With Ergyfel on the throne, I couldn’t see how that was possible, but now that you’ve returned, my direction is clear.”
“Hugh, why do you think I’ve returned?”
“To reclaim the throne, of course.”
“I came back to save Lady Myrredith.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. Once we get to the crypt under Cyndyn Hall, you will wait there for us to return with Lady Myrredith. This rescue is far too risky for our future king. You must stay safe for the good of Lyonesse!”
“You’re not listening.” Billy put his hand on his friend’s forearm. “I didn’t come back for Lyonesse.”
Hugh fixed his eyes on him. “You are the heir. You have a responsibility—”
“I have other responsibilities.”
“Not to a whole kingdom!”
“Yes, to a whole kingdom.”
Hugh halted and grabbed Billy’s arm. “What are you talking about?”
Billy looked around as the others of their party gathered. He sighed. “I was hoping to avoid this ‘til later, but ... My mother, Queen Eleanor, was also queen of her own land. That is where I have been.”
“Where’s that?” Aeth asked.
“Tirn Aill.”
“Tirn Aill?” Malcolm and Hugh exclaimed.
Hugh shook his head. “There is no such place! It’s a child’s bedtime story, a faerie—” Hugh gazed at Shaldra. “—tale.”
Shaldra smiled and shook his head. “That’s the difference between men and faeries. Men believe the tales about us aren’t true, but wish they were. Faeries believe the tales about men are true, and wish they weren’t.”
“So.” Hugh rubbed his forehead. “You’re the heir to two kingdoms?”
“Aye. I’m her sole heir, so Tirn Aill needs me more than Lyonesse.”
“How can you say that? Have you looked around you?”
“If I don’t succeed in my mission, Tirn Aill will ... suffer. Even more than Dyven.”
“If you don’t help us, Lyonesse will die.”
“Lyonesse may have an enemy on her shores, but she has her army, and knights, and warlords, and a king to defend her.”
“That usurper doesn’t know how to win a war!”
“I can’t say that I would do any better.”
“But they will all fail. The army, the knights, the warlords will all fail because the man on the throne does not belong there.”
“Maybe. But even if the war is lost, Lyonesse will live on.”
“What, as a nation of slaves?” Hugh shook his head. “It would cease to be Lyonesse.”
“Lyonesse will live on for as long as we hold her in our hearts. I thought that you, more than anyone else, understood that Lyonesse is more than an army or a castle ... or a king.”
Hugh sighed and contemplated Billy’s words. “When did you become so wise?”
Billy shrugged. “It was sort of thrust upon me.”
“Well, now that you are so wise, do you mind telling me why Tirn Aill deserves your help more than Lyonesse?”
Billy looked at Shaldra and frowned. He had hoped to keep secret from all the inhabitants of Tirn Aill, and especially his questing comrades, the burden he felt was his alone to endure. He didn’t dare tell them, for fear they might lose all courage or fall into despair. But here it was, the moment of truth. Billy thought about sending Shaldra away to “scout up ahead” but then decided that the elf had even more right to hear the truth than the others.
“Because, I have seen the cost of my failure. If I fail ... every flower, every tree, every animal, every bee, every bird ... every person on Tirn Aill will die.”
The corridor became a quiet tomb.
“Come. Lady Myrredith is waiting.”
***
The rescue party found itself in yet another dark, anonymous corridor, indistinguishable from all the unremarkable corridors before. Shaldra suddenly smacked Aeth across the chest and knocked him onto his back.
“What is it?” Billy asked, with Lura Zahn in his hand.
Aeth sat up and rubbed his chest. “Yeah. What is it?”
Shaldra stared at the floor in front of him and sent his amber faerie light for a closer inspection. Without warning, it disappeared below the floor. Shaldra concentrated and made it brighter until it revealed a large gaping chasm yawning before him. The other members of the party came up behind him as he withdrew his light and sent it to the ceiling.
Billy brought his own faerie lights into the area and surrounded the hole.
Hugh grunted. “It’s got to be fifteen feet across.”
“It’s bigger,” Billy muttered.
“No.” Malcolm came up beside him. “I think Hugh got it. Fifteen feet. Maybe a bit more.”
“What I meant, was that it’s bigger than it was when I was here last.”
“You were here before?” Camion asked.
“Yes, and we need to get past this place quickly!”
“Why?”
Billy made eye contact with Hugh. “This is where I last saw him.”
“Him?”
Billy paused, looked around, then whispered, “Rory.”
Hugh tensed. His face paled.
At that moment, Aeth tossed a piece of rubble into the hole.
Billy and Hugh looked at him in horror.
“What are you doing?”
Aeth shrugged. “Just thought we should know how deep it is.”
There was a tick, then a skitter, then a clack, and then another tick. The sound of the rock tumbling down the cavernous hole continued to reverberate up to them until, at last, there was a splash.
Hugh put his hand to his forehead. “Well, that counts out climbing down and back up.”
Malcolm nodded. “How sure are you this is the right way, Aeth?”
The boy examined his locket again. “I’m certain.”
“He’s right,” Billy said. “This is the shortest way to Cyndyn Hall.”
“The shortest?”
“Aye, Hugh. There is another way around this—I took it the last time I was here, but that way will take far too long now.”
