Arrival (3 page)

The palace that stood in the city of Burmia, the capital of Lapis Matyr, was full of winding corridors and stairwells, in which it was easy to get lost.

Satine came to an iron door with a heavy padlock. She took two pins from her hair and threaded them into the lock. There came a soft click and, as the padlock fell, her hand whipped out to catch it before it hit the ground. She slipped quietly into the king’s dressing room.

On either side of her was a door. The one to her left led into the king’s bedchamber. The door to her right led to the king’s study.

She slipped through it and walked to the desk. Satine had only been in here alone once since Leostrial had come from over the sea, and then she hadn’t had enough time to find what she was looking for. In fact, she didn’t really know what she was looking for—that was half the problem. She needed something to prove what Leostrial was planning, to show he was up to something. She had her suspicions, but nothing to send to Gaddemar, and without proof, or even a stray word to report, Gaddemar could not, or would not do anything.

Piled on the table were many scrolls She couldn’t take them all or Leostrial would notice, and she didn’t have time to read them, so Satine left them and looked at the other parchments lying on the table. Most were maps, showing all the lands around them.

Then something caught her eye—a scroll with a red ribbon tied around it. She opened it, and found two parchment maps inside, places she had never seen before. One of them showed the plan of a huge structure and the other seemed to be of its surroundings. There were strange markings on the latter. She decided that these were worth taking, though Leostrial would know they were gone.

Leostrial stirred in his chamber and Satine held her breath, willing him to remain asleep.

She crept out of the study, into the hallway, ran back to her room and closed the door behind her, slumping into a chair with relief. Lighting the lamp next to her, she went to stand, when suddenly, impossibly she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Satine gasped and dropped the lamp, plunging the room into darkness. But she moved quickly, and grabbing the hand, she turned and landed a heavy punch into the intruder’s nose.

The intruder fell to the floor with a cry and looked up. It was a boy. Satine saw that he was unarmed, and quite scrawny. His nose was bleeding and he didn’t make a move to stand.

Satine stared at him a moment before gathering herself and asking, “Who are you, and what is your business in my room at night?”

The boy’s eyes widened in shock and he stuttered, “I’m sorry I frightened you, but I’m not here to hurt you. My name is Harry.”

On that same grey morning when Satine was sneaking about in the cold castle, and Jane awoke on the side of a cliff, Luca opened his eyes to find himself in a stone room lit with lamps. There was a dressing table against one wall, a canopied four-poster bed and a washing basin on another. He knew at once that they had made it through the portal—nowhere in his world looked like this. He must have blacked out when they landed.

He rolled his head slowly to one side, looking for the others, and saw a crumpled figure lying on the floor next to him. It was Anna. Luca scrambled over, and saw that her leg was bent at an awkward angle. “Anna!” he shouted. He shook her, and realised that she wasn’t breathing. He looked around for help, but the room was empty. He had no idea what to do, and wished desperately that someone were here—someone who might have the faintest idea of how to treat a broken leg. He decided to give Anna mouth-to-mouth like he’d seen on television, thinking that if he didn’t do something, she would die.

“Five, six, seven, eight...” he counted, pumping on her chest, then he blew into her mouth. Anna gave a deep rasping breath and convulsed, but soon she relaxed and started to breathe normally. Luca lifted her, being careful of her leg, and carried her out of the room into a hallway.

The room they emerged from was at the end of a passageway. Luca walked quickly past several other closed doors. It was pitch black. His voice rang out, “Hello! Is anybody there?” As he shouted down the silent corridor, doors swung open and people flooded out to surround him. They made no move to help, but only stood in silence, rubbing their eyes sleepily and trying to work out what was going on.

Luca heard a deep voice cry out, “What is going on here? What’s all the commotion?” The crowd parted to reveal a tall man.

“Who are you? And what are you doing disrupting my palace in the middle of the night?” The man was enormous. He had a huge chest like a beer barrel, and arms like tree trunks. Draped over his shoulders was an animal fur that looked so heavy it would crush anyone not built like a gladiator, and his chin was covered in a shaggy beard that matched his mane of hair.

Luca didn’t know what to say and decided it would be a lot easier to just tell the truth.

“We’re not from here ... my friends and I found a portal and we came through, but we were separated. I woke up to find Anna like this, and I don’t know what’s wrong with her. I need your help.”

They could not know how the frantic words were so uncharacteristic for him, but they could all see, quite clearly that he was in definite trouble.

The man frowned for a moment, and Luca’s heart sank, but then he motioned to a door and said, “Take her in there.”

Luca set Anna down on a bed in a room identical to the one he had woken in and stood back hesitantly. He ran a hand through his hair in agitation.

The large man asked a small servant boy to run and fetch a Healer. Once the boy had left, the man turned to Luca and said, “I am High King Gaddemar of Uns Lapodis, and you are in the high city of Amalia.”

“Thanks...” Luca stared at the man. High King? His hands clenched and unclenched of their own accord. He could feel himself start to sweat.

The door opened and a man dressed in a strange shimmering robe and carrying a wooden staff entered. He bowed stiffly to the king and walked to Anna lying on the bed.

After looking at her for a moment, the Healer moved the staff so that it was vertical above Anna, as though he was going to stab her with it, and stood with his eyes shut for a long time, making neither noise nor movement. After ten minutes, Luca was about to speak, but the Healer turned around and said to the king, “She is very sick. It will take me many days to heal her completely. Now if you will leave me, I must begin straight away.” And with that, he turned back to Anna. The king motioned for Luca to follow him from the room.

Luca blinked and felt a coldness touch his chest. He fought an urge to shout aloud for a proper answer, and instead asked calmly, “Will she be all right?”

“I cannot say. Would you like wine?”

“Uh ... no thanks.” He followed the king into a large dining hall and sat at a wooden table, which filled the length of the hall.

Luca felt his eyes droop with exhaustion, but knew he must stay awake and observe everything. The king was quite old. His face was set in a scowl that seemed like it had been there a long time—there were heavy lines around his eyes and mouth. Luca wondered when he last had smiled.

A young man hurried into the hall and sat down with them—he looked quick and strong. He was introduced to Luca as the king’s son and the Crown Prince of Uns Lapodis, Accolon.

The two men looked at Luca expectantly as they waited for him to speak. Luca spread his hands wide. “I’m not too certain what I’m doing here, actually. We found a portal and came through. We just wanted to know what was on the other side.” Luca paused to look around and said, “So where exactly am I?”

Gaddemar frowned. “You are in Paragor. It is made up of five different countries divided by oceans. Uns Lapodis, Cynis Witron, Lapis Matyr, are the three treaty countries, and then to the west there is Frescana, and further west is the desert land of Tirana.” The king paused and looked over at his son. Accolon looked back at his father and nodded. Gaddemar turned back to Luca, his brow furrowed.

He took a deep breath and continued. “Many years ago, a man named Leostrial sailed in from the sea. He came with an army of men and claimed the country of Lapis Matyr, and killed Altor the rightful king. The conqueror married Altor’s wife, Liessen and now lives in the capital city, Burmia. He took over the city. From there he rules the land. We could do nothing. There is a law that prevents the king of one country from meddling with the affairs of another unless his life is threatened. We have been forced to stand back and watch the land spiral into a state of degeneration.

“Altor didn’t give up easily—he fought hard, but he was young and was slaughtered like an animal. We don’t know how this happened because Altor had a large army of soldiers and Leostrial had only a score or so.” Gaddemar lowered his voice and slowly leaned towards Luca. “But we have a spy in the castle. They have informed us that Leostrial came across the waters with great and strange powers. It has never been known in our world for a man to wield powers such as these—powers that only the gods should hold.”

“We fear the worst. Tyrants such as him are not happy until they can cause great devastation and conquer everything in their path,” Accolon said abruptly. He had been watching Luca intently throughout the conversation. Luca looked at the king with foreboding.

“Why are you telling me this?”

Gaddemar blinked. “Direct, aren’t you?” He shrugged and spread his hands wide. “It is a lot to learn at once. Especially if, as you say, you found the portal by accident. But you must understand, Luca, that we have many stories about Strangers who have crossed over. They have been treated with great respect. I would have your stay here be as pleasurable as possible. Perhaps, some day in the future, you may be able to help us.”

Some day in the future. Luca considered the implication of his words. It was the first time since waking up that he’d had the chance to consider his predicament.

“Will you help me find my friends?” Luca asked, his voice conveying a calm he did not feel.

“Of course, we can try. How many of you crossed?”

“Six, if everyone made it.”

Accolon sucked in a quick breath. There was a light in his dark eyes as he looked wonderingly at Luca. Gaddemar only stared down at his hands, frowning, and said quietly, his voice heavy, “So. You have finally come.”

Jane and Fern walked for a day and a night and it seemed to her that they had been walking forever. It was not easy winding a slow path around the mountain, the track was often covered with slippery stones and crumbling edges. Fern didn’t seem to notice any of it—he spent the entire time singing and joking and telling silly stories. If he weren’t so tall and strong, she would have thought him a child.

The mountainside began to level out, and a distant noise tickled Jane’s ears. “What’s that?” she asked, looking around them to find the source.

Fern grinned secretively. “A surprise, lady. Close your eyes.”

“I’m not closing my eyes anywhere near you!” she exclaimed. “You’d probably push me over the cliff for a good laugh!”

“You think so little of me! I’m hurt.”

Jane rolled her eyes, not deigning to reply. Fern leapt from a rock and clutched at his heart, groaning in mock pain. “Your cruel words have wounded me, lady. I might as well throw myself from the cliff to ease the pain!”

She watched him for a moment, and couldn’t help a reluctant laugh. “Oh, all right. Don’t give yourself a heart attack. I’m closing my eyes.”

After a moment she felt him gently take her hand. Slowly he led her, telling her repeatedly not to peek. As they walked she noticed how warm his hand was. How big and encompassing. This annoyed her.

The noise grew to a deafening thunder and finally Jane opened her eyes.

“Oh,” she gasped, rocking on her feet.

Fern smiled, his eyes bright with triumph.

They were standing at the edge of the mountain in a clearing that overlooked a massive cascading waterfall, several hundred metres high. Jane was frightened, for they were so close that she only really needed to take a few steps and she could have reached down and touched it. The cool spray drenched them both.

From this gap in the trees, they had a clear view. Grassy plains stretched to the left and a dense green rainforest stretched out to the right. The waterfall below them turned into a river, and wound through tiny hills and plains for kilometres. It was all fairly flat terrain and she realised that they were standing on the only real mountain in sight. Towns and houses were dotted over the land, but she could not see any larger cities.

Fern gestured for them to walk a few steps away so that they could hear each other speak.

“Congratulations,” she said wryly. “You have caught me off guard—you must be pleased.”

He looked at her for a moment, then turned away. “This was not ... I wanted to share this with you.”

“I’m sorry,” she said softly and saw him turn back to her. “It’s just that I hardly know you.”

He seemed to accept this, for he nodded and said, “We stand on the northern side of the Cliffs of Amara. What you see before you is the countryside of Cynis Witron. Far in the distance is the capital city of Sitadel, where King Cornelius lives. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Jane could only nod.

“I could come here just for the view.”

“Why did you come up here?” she asked absently.

“There is a wise man who lives at the top of the mountain. I wanted to speak to him about something.”

“What could be so important that you’d climb all the way up there?”

“Ah, now, that is nothing for you to worry your pretty head over,” he said. “This is the highest mountain in Paragor and the point from which you can see most of the country,” he said to change the subject. His tone was warm and Jane guessed that he had been here many times.

“Do you want to know why this place is so special?” he asked with a sly grin.

“Why?” she asked warily.

“Because I can do this.” And before she could ask him to explain, he launched himself off the cliff and into the air. Jane gasped as Fern dived like a bird into the water. He was so far below that she didn’t hear the splash. It had to be at least a forty-metre drop.

“Fern!” she yelled, but doubted he could hear her. He waved and motioned for her to dive. She stared down at him, trying to steady her thumping heart.

She could not dive from this height!

She looked at the path and saw that it curved out of sight. It would take hours to walk to the bottom. More to the point—she didn’t want to want to chicken out.

Jane took a deep breath, vowed that if she died she was going to come back and haunt Fern for the rest of his life, and jumped off the edge of the cliff. The fall was far enough that she had time to get herself into what she hoped was a good diving position, and also far enough for her to fall out of that position so that she hit the water on her back and head.

The surface of the water knocked her senseless for a moment. Fern must have realised, for she opened her eyes underwater to see him swimming towards her. He pulled her up. Jane surfaced and tried to ignore the throbbing pain in her back and head and concentrated on pulling air into her empty lungs.

Fern still had his hands under her arms, holding her afloat. Jane was filled with the desire to punch him.

“You okay?” he asked.

“You idiot!” she screamed.

“What?” he asked innocently, his mouth widening into a smile.

“Why did you make me do that? I could have been killed!”

“Don’t be so melodramatic. You’re alive aren’t you?” he said as she swam to the edge.

“This water is probably infested with piranhas or some water-borne disease that eats away your flesh!” she raged. “For all I know it could be eating away my brain right now!”

“I think it must be.” Fern smirked.

“Fern! This isn’t a joke. Don’t you realise how dangerous that was?”

“Why did you do it, then?” he asked, and she did not reply as she was climbing out.

“It would have taken too long to walk,” she said, knowing that she was losing the argument.

“I would have waited.”

Jane could think of nothing to say, and he laughed at her. “Jane, you are much too serious.”

“I’m not the one with the problem, Fern!” she snapped. “You’re reckless and irresponsible! Life isn’t all singing and dancing! You can’t be laughing and smiling all the time!”

“Why?”

“Because you can’t!” she snapped.

He shook his head slowly. “Why are you so threatened by me?”

“Threatened? What are you talking about?”

“You refuse to be nice to me. You refuse to let me make you smile. It’s as if you see me as the enemy, and every time I laugh or sing, or dance,” he said pointedly, “I think you wish you could do the same.”

Jane looked away from him, her heart thumping. She had never been so angry before. “I don’t know where I am, Fern. I don’t know where my friends are. I don’t know anything.”

“You are right,” he said gently, treading water effortlessly. “I am sorry. But we will find them, Jane. We are heading towards the city. I will keep you safe. And you are allowed to have a little fun every now and then.”

She felt her anger slip away. He grinned and she couldn’t help but smile herself.

“Good, then,” he said.

“But no more trying to get me killed!” she said.

Jane sat down on the bank, aware of how her wet clothes clung to her skin. She pulled her knees up to her chest, and hoped that she would dry soon. Fern climbed after her and lay down.

“Oh no! What about the horse?” she asked after a minute.

“She will make her own way down. There is only one path.”

They lapsed into silence, but had not been drying for long when a sharp cackle came from the bushes next to them.

Jane started in fright, but Fern turned to face a little creature standing near them, next to a bush. It was almost like a little man, but savage and dirty.

“Do not even think about coming near us, you piece of filth,” Fern said in a low voice.

But the creature did not flee—it only moved closer, rubbing his bony hands together. Before it could take another step Fern pulled a knife from his boot and threw it with a sickening thunk into the creature’s forehead.

“Fern!” Jane yelled.

“Ogres,” he spat. “Save your pity for those that deserve it.”

“Why?” Jane asked.

“They seek out travellers in the night and slit their throats while they sleep.”

“Why?” she asked again, shocked.

“They have a thirst for blood, and like to loot.”

There was a silence then Jane said, “I think you need to tell me a little more about Paragor.”

Fern looked sideways at her. “It can be dangerous here,” he agreed. “But I will...”

“I know,” she interrupted him with a wry smile. “You’ll keep me safe.”

Fern blinked and then smiled slowly, shrugging. “There are three main countries, Cynis Witron, Uns Lapodis, and Lapis Matyr. They were discovered by three brothers back when the world was still young.

“Uns Lapodis was the country of the eldest brother, and so it was named the High Country. He became the High King of Paragor, and that tradition was carried on for hundreds of years. But then things changed. It was decided that the three countries joined by the brothers’ treaty should have equal say in how things were run, though old ways do not die easily, and Uns Lapodis still holds more sway in Paragor than the other countries.

“Tirana and Frescana are outside the jurisdiction of the treaty countries, and they are both smaller. All five countries trade fairly and prosperously.”

“Only five countries,” she murmured. “It’s tiny, isn’t it?”

“How many countries are in your world?”

“A lot more than that,” she smiled. “Hundreds and hundreds. But this means, for us, there are always wars.”

He shrugged. “It is my hope that Paragor will remain peaceful but dark times are ahead, I fear. There is always something to fight over, it seems.”

Jane looked at Fern’s troubled expression, and wondered, not for the first time, who he was. She decided it would be easier not to ask. It would not be long, surely, before they would have to go their separate ways. She could not expect his protection forever.

“Have there been other Strangers, like me?” she asked instead.

“There have always been those with the gift of true sight.”

“What does that mean?”

“The power to see the portal and jump through it. There have not been any Strangers for a long time. Do not worry—your kind has always been treated with utmost respect. Like royalty.”

“Well, in that case I think I’m going to like it here. Paragor sounds like a paradise,” she said.

“I have not told all, Jane.” Fern sighed heavily and told her the dark tale of Leostrial, the conqueror who came from across the sea to change the world.

“I need to find my friends,” Jane said when he had finished. She shivered at the thought of such a tyrant. “It isn’t safe for us here.”

“Then we will go to my home,” Fern said and paused to grin. “I shall take you to the land of the Elves.”