The Lion's Crown (The Emberlyn Chronicles Book 1), page 11
“I want to reach the river today,” William continued, “and camp on its shore after we travel along it for a bit.”
Sir Stephen finished his breakfast and went back to the crypt as the others packed up the camp. An hour later, he was through copying the inscriptions, and they left the castle to find a way down the rest of the slope.
The castle wall facing the valley extended almost to the edge of the ledge, but there was a narrow path along it leading to more steps that had been dug out of the hillside. They got to the bottom and spent a few moments looking around at the forest.
Finding nothing unusual, they continued on toward the river. They reached the spot where it should be but found only more forest. When at last they heard the sound of the water, the forest was too thick for them to see it, so they walked around the sound until they found a clearing. As they stepped into it, Penny’s mouth dropped open. Instead of finding the river, they saw a bubbling fountain on the edge of a pool. A smooth stone lip ran all the way around the fountain, broken only by a narrow opening on one side. Water rushed out of the column in the center of the fountain and cascaded through the opening into the pool, which narrowed at the other end.
“This is the source of the river?” Sir Harold asked. “A fountain?”
They stepped up to the fountain, and Sir William climbed up onto the lip. The central column was low enough that he could look down into it. “It runs straight down,” he called over the sound of the water, “but I cannot see how deep it goes.”
Sir Alfred dipped his small finger into the water. He brought it back and pressed the wet finger against his tongue. “It tastes clean,” he said.
William climbed down and lowered his hand into the fountain. He scooped water up into his mouth and nodded. “We’ll fill our waterskins here. We can bathe in the pool and wash this mud off our clothes and skin.”
Penny stepped to the side of the pool. The water was clear, and she could see all the way to the bottom. There were no fish as far as she could tell, and the floor of the pond was a curved expanse of smooth, flat stone. She longed to strip off her filthy clothes and plunge in, but she couldn’t with all the men watching.
Sir William seemed to be aware of her predicament. “Right, men,” he said. “We’ll rest for a while behind those trees while Penny bathes.”
She smiled at him and waited for them to disappear from sight before stripping off her clothes, tossing them into the pool and jumping in after them.
The water was cold but not unbearably so. She untied her bun, dunked her head under and ran her fingers through her hair. When she surfaced again, she looked down to see a cloud of dirt coming off of her and her clothes, which were floating nearby. She vigorously rubbed the clothes together until the water ran clear then waded over to the opening of the fountain and spread them out on the stone rim on either side of it. As she did, she realized that the change of clothes in her bag was also dirty; they had been at the bottom of her satchel as she’d waded through the bog. She’d managed to keep everything else clean, but they were stiff with dried mud. Both mornings she’d woken up in the woods she’d considered changing, but in the end had decided to wait. She waded back over to the edge of the pool and rummaged around for the clothes. Realizing she might not have another opportunity to clean them for a long time, she pulled them into the water. She could wrap up in her blanket while they dried.
After finding the small sliver of soap she’d packed, she worked up a lather in her hair then sat on the edge of the pool and spread the suds over the rest of her body. She rinsed the soap away then took out her blanket, wrapped it around her and sat in the grass beside the pool.
“I’m finished,” she called toward the clump of trees.
The men returned, but Sir William stopped them as he spotted Penny with the blanket wrapped around her, her legs and shoulders bare.
“It’s all right,” she said. “I’ll just turn away and sit here while you all wash up. I promise I won’t look.”
She saw grins on Stephen and Harold’s faces, but they walked past her, and a few moments later she heard splashing. “I’ll make sure Owen cleans up properly,” George said from behind her.
“Thank you. I left some soap by the edge.”
She heard a slapping sound and knew the men were laying their clothes across the rim of the fountain as she had. A little while later, they filed past her. They all had their own blankets wrapped around their waists.
“Modesty is a virtue we can’t afford just now,” said Sir William. “It’s better to make sure all our clothes are clean while we have the chance.”
Penny blushed and looked down at the ground as they sat in a circle around her. George, Owen and her father were the only men she’d ever seen shirtless, and now she was surrounded by bare-chested, muscular men. Sir William sat near her, and even with her eyes downturned, she could see the curve of his bicep in her periphery.
“I’ve decided we’ll camp here tonight,” William said. He put his arms behind his head and stretched, oblivious to her discomfort. “That will allow our clothes to dry completely, and we can drink our fill of water. In the morning, we’ll follow the river to the end of the valley. With any luck, there will be a way out on the other side.”
The rest of the afternoon was spent in relaxation. Penny couldn’t think of a calmer, more pleasant spot to spend a day. When night neared, the men put their clothes back on, even though they were still a bit damp, and began to gather firewood. Penny stepped behind a tree and put her own clothes on. The relatively clean cloth felt good against her skin, and when she returned to the campsite, she found George alone, working on building the fire. She could hear the others in the distance, and before they returned, she kissed him deeply, taking him by surprise.
He smiled as she pulled her lips away. “Last night was wonderful,” he said.
She shrugged. “Don’t expect the same every night.”
“No, of course not. I know it’s difficult with the others so close by.”
Penny kissed him again then got up to wander toward the edge of the pool. She heard George striking his flint, but before the fire sprang to life, she saw a flash of light in the water.
“George!” she called. “Come see this!”
Swirls of yellow, blue and green light were beginning to appear in the pool. She looked toward the fountain. They were rising up from the column as well. The rest of their party returned and came to join them by the pool. They immediately saw what had attracted their attention, and they all stood mesmerized by the display.
Penny walked along the edge of the pool to the where it narrowed into the river. Beyond it, the lights gradually dissipated. “It’s only here in the pool,” she said.
“Do you suppose it’s still safe to drink?” asked Sir Alfred.
“It’s been hours since we drank from it,” said William, “and we’ve had no ill effects so far.”
The sun disappeared behind the cliffs to the west, and the glow in the water grew more intense. The light reflected off the trees all around them, dancing as different colors of water poured from the fountain to swirl together in the pool below.
“It’s even more beautiful than the meadow,” Penny said.
William voiced his agreement. He turned to George. “This,” he said, “should be enough. Tomorrow, we’ll travel to the far side of the valley. If there is no way through the canyon at the other end, we’ll turn back. If we can exit the valley, we’ll go just far enough to see what’s beyond.”
“You mean it?” George asked.
“Yes. I want to return with more men—enough to repair and occupy that castle. This valley… this will be Emberlyn’s outpost in the Hobswood. It is defensible, there is plenty of timber for building, it has a water source and there is enough land to raise crops. From here we can send expeditions in all directions, slowly expanding our territory.”
George let out a sigh of relief. He reached over to Penny and embraced her around the waist. She smiled and leaned into his chest.
“I’ll finish with the fire,” he said. “Why don’t you and Sir William have another reading lesson?”
Penny’s smile broadened. George was in too good a mood to feel jealous. She knew their tryst the previous night had played a part, but it was mostly because of what William had said about going home.
“If Sir William doesn’t mind, of course,” she said.
“I don’t mind.”
She went to her satchel and took out her little book. She opened it; the pages could clearly be seen in the light from the water. She went back to the edge of the pool and sat down, and William took his place beside her.
“Now,” he said pointing, “do you remember this word?”
Penny nodded and began reading the first line of the page they had studied the night before.
Chapter Sixteen
Leviathan
The lights played throughout the night. During her watch, Penny sat in silence, mesmerized by them, even though Sir William tried to make conversation. Afterward, she slept more soundly than she could ever remember having done and awoke just before dawn. She reclined in her bedroll, watching the lights in the water dim as the sky brightened.
She stayed in bed as the others began to rise. She felt calm and rested, and she didn’t want that feeling to end. An excited conversation eventually roused her, however, and she sat up to see William leaning over Sir Harold, who had his hand held out.
“What is it?” she asked, getting up and joining them.
“My wounds, where I was bitten by the hob—they’re healed.”
Penny reached out and touched his hand. There were light scars where the bite marks had been. “How?”
William glanced at the pool beside them. “Penny, how do you feel?”
“Wonderful.”
“As do I.”
“And I,” called Sir Stephen from the other side of the fire.
“Was it the water we drank?” Harold asked.
Penny shook her head before anyone else could answer. “It was the lights. I’m sure of it. We drank the water in the afternoon, but I was still tired and sore at bedtime. It was only after night fell that I began to feel better.”
George came out from behind a tree, adjusting his belt. “I believe Penny is right. I felt better and better as the night progressed.”
William gazed longingly at the pool. “If this is true, I hate to leave this place. The lights faded as the water flowed out of the pool. The healing properties might only exist at this spot.”
“I wouldn’t be opposed to another peaceful night like that,” Sir Alfred said as he rolled up his blankets.
William pursed his lips. “Nor I. If we can’t make it out of the valley today, we’ll turn back, as I said, and camp here again. If we do find a way out, we’ll camp on the other side of the canyon then return here the next night.”
Alfred grumbled but continued putting away his bedroll.
“But does it not make you wonder, Sir William?” George asked.
“Wonder?”
“There are people in this place; we know that from the castle. If this spring has these miraculous properties, why is it not closely guarded?”
William looked across the pool and into the dense woods beyond. “Of course I considered that, and I know you think it means there might be some danger here. But we have been in danger our entire time in the Hobswood. Let’s not let the placid nature of this place rob us of our wits.”
After breakfast, they each drank their fill from the fountain and topped off their waterskins. They found an animal trail and followed it along the river. They had to stay just beyond sight of it most of the way, as the brush was thick at the water’s edge. By early afternoon, they came to a stony bank near the cliffs at the far end and rested. From the bank, it looked as though the river flowed all the way up to the edges of the cliffs on either side, but after traveling a bit farther, they saw that a narrow path had been gouged out of the rock beside the river. The rock had been cut up high enough for them to travel along it without having to duck their heads, and the path continued on until it disappeared around a bend.
“So we go through?” George asked.
William nodded. “This path was made for a purpose. Perhaps it linked the castle at the other end of the valley with another outpost beyond. Perhaps there is even a city.”
He began walking, and they followed single file along the winding stone path. At times, it narrowed where a section of rock had broken off and fallen into the river, but it never became impassable. The river grew deeper and wider as they went. After one final curve, the canyon fell away, and they emerged into another valley. It was much larger than the last, and in the distance they could see towering mountains. Rolling hills formed the other sides of the valley, gradually rising higher and higher as they approached the mountain range.
The river had opened up into a lake. It extended a quarter of the way into the valley before narrowing again. Penny turned around as they exited the stone-cut path and once more walked on soft earth. Behind them, sheer cliffs ran for miles in either direction. She could just see that they gave way to slopes as they joined the hilly land at either end, but there didn’t look to be an obvious way back up and over them.
William was standing on a boulder by the side of the lake, apparently deep in thought. He was looking at the mountains at the other end of the valley.
“Sir William?” Alfred asked. “Are we to camp here or go farther into the valley?”
William looked up at the sun. “We have another four hours of daylight, but from here, I can’t see anything of interest that we could reach in that time. No cities, no ruins, no sign of the people who built that castle. It seems strange….”
“In what way?” asked Harold.
“Why would one not build a city here? Even if this area is no longer safe, it would have been settled at some point in the past. Can you imagine a better place than this? There is abundant water and plenty of flat, fertile land for farming. And from a tower there, near the end of the lake, one could see enemies approaching from all directions.”
“We can’t truly see well beyond the end of the lake,” said Harold. Perhaps something lies beyond those trees.”
“But there would be some buildings at the water’s edge.”
Sir Stephen had been peering into the lake. “I don’t like it either,” he said. “This water is dark and deep. There may be a good reason no one ever built here.”
“I agree,” said Alfred. “Nothing about the Hobswood can be trusted. Let’s turn back. We’ve seen plenty to tell His Majesty about.”
William hopped down from the rock. “Very well. We won’t make it back to the fountain today, but we can at least return to the valley on the other side of the cliffs.” He began walking back toward the stone-cut path but stopped. Beside the end of the path, wedged in a natural fissure in the side of the cliff, was a rectangular block of stone almost the exact height and width of the path that had been cut along the river. It was roughly shaped, but there was no denying its purpose: it was intended to block access to the path.
As Penny opened her mouth to say something, a wave of water rushed toward them and splashed high up onto the bank. She turned to the lake and screamed. Something was rising from the water. Something enormous.
They all ran away from the edge of the lake, toward a clump of trees twenty feet from the water. A head like a gigantic toad’s broke the surface and trained its bulging eyes in their direction. A hand with webbed fingers came next, and it reached out toward the block of stone as the creature rushed toward them. The hand seemed to suction against the stone, and it effortlessly picked it up and placed in into the end of the path. Its other arm slapped onto the shore, and it raised its body out of the water.
Any real similarity to a toad was minimal. Both the arms and body were long and thin, and its flesh was scaly. The memory of an old story came to Penny’s mind, and she decided that this had to be what Mary Briar had called a water troll. Mary Briar told several stories about various kinds of trolls, and they were not friendly creatures in any of them.
It rose up to what could be called its waist, but Penny turned away, unable to look at it any longer. She looked at Owen. He was staring unblinkingly at the troll, but there was no fear in his eyes.
“It’s coming onto land!” Sir William shouted. He glanced around behind him. “Deeper into the trees!”
They ran aimlessly, none of them daring to look back. William seemed to be trying to head due north, but the terrain forced him to change his course several times. They were taken away from the cliff face, farther into the valley. When they finally stopped, they were half a mile or more from the cliff.
William held up his hand so they would keep quiet. He peered into the woods in all directions, watching and listening. “Right,” he finally said. “As long as we can keep the cliff in sight, we can head north until we can find a way up. We’ll circle back to the other valley from there.”
“That creature… it trapped us,” said George. “Why?”
“How can we make sense of anything here?” William answered.
The crack of a twig brought an end to the conversation. William drew his sword, as did the other knights. George brought out his knife, and Penny unsheathed the knife Sir William had given her then pushed Owen behind her. The distinct sound of footsteps came from behind a small rise.
Sir William began backing away from the noise, but as he turned, George let out a choking sound and dropped to the ground. An arrow was sticking from his stomach at an angle. Penny screamed as another arrow landed at her feet. She heard Sir William bellow something incomprehensible as he sprinted for cover behind a tree. Sir Stephen grabbed her hand as she grabbed Owen’s, and they ran blindly after Sir William as arrows began to rain from the sky.
Chapter Seventeen
Demons
The respite behind the trees was short lived. William took but a moment to survey the terrain before leading them off again. The land in that area was jagged, and there were many small dips and rises. He guided them into the roughest patch he could see and crouched down behind a boulder. The rest of them scrambled after him, and Sir Stephen untied the bow that was strapped to the outside of his pack and began stringing it.
