Guardians of the Akasha (26 page)

*****

Daemon walked aimlessly through the castle. His tread left no sound on the rich Persian carpets, the air hardly stirred with his passing, as if he was a ghost gliding through the halls. Eventually he reached the Great Hall, walked to a divan covered in red velvet with a gold
fleur-de-lis
pattern and sat down. He ignored the two men standing at attention, waiting to be noticed.

Julius stood to one side, as if not wanting to be part of whatever news they had to report. No one made a sound as Daemon fastidiously smoothed his trousers and pulled at his diamond cufflinks.

A speaker took a reluctant step forward.

Daemon made him wait. Then, in his own time, he acknowledged him: “Yes?”

“Sir, the Chosen One, she was warned of the trap. She was prepared,” the man stuttered.

Daemon’s only reply was a dark stare.

“Sir, the two women were freed. They took the plane and it is believed that they are on their way here.”

“Hmm,” Daemon sounded bored. He crossed his legs and swung a foot up and down, lazily. He lifted a hand and shooed the group out of the room; they almost fell over each other in clear relief to get out of Daemon’s sight.

“Seems as if your little plan didn’t quite work,” Daemon drawled.

“It would have worked if our little
friend
had done her job!” Julius protested and added a belated: “Sir.”

“Oh, she did her job all right. It was your men who failed to execute their part. But, this is no time to play the blame game. It appears that she is on her way here anyway, in
my
plane,” Daemon had to stop and collect himself.

“Why would she come here? She has her friends,” Julius asked, confused.

“That is the question. It seems little Keira has a death wish, because that is the only thing waiting for her here.” Daemon’s voice lowered, leaving an ice-cold trail of revulsion shivering down Julius’s spine.

“Unless, of course….” Daemon’s eyes brightened. “Hmm, she knows it is here, in the castle, and she’s coming to get it!” His manic laughter shivered the stained glass windows.

“Has the scroll revealed more clues about its exact location, Sir?” Julius asked.

“No, only that the Gate and Gatekeeper are here, somewhere.”

“Well, I’ve had the men search every inch of the castle and outbuildings, sir. They haven’t found any gate, or gatekeeper.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. The little dove is flying right into my hands. All we need is patience and we’ll lure her right into my lap and then—ahh—then my dear Julius, I’ll have all the time in the world to do whatever I want.”

Julius let his boss dream in silence for a moment, then he asked, “Why don’t we take them at the airstrip? It would be easy to set a trap.”

“No! Your buffoons have had their chance. Besides, it is now more important than ever that she be unharmed. I need her to open the Gate. Make sure there is a token resistance when they come, but if anyone harms her, they answer to me!”

“Or course,” Julius murmured and bowed to Daemon.

“Now go!” he dismissed Julius as the cell phone on the glass table next to him rang. He picked it up and purred, “Any news?”

Neither of the men saw the red-headed girl where she hid in the shadows behind an antique display cabinet, clutching the duster in her small hands.

Chapter 29

The conversation she overheard last night replayed in Amber’s mind. She knew which scroll they talked about, it must have been the one she had helped him translate. Whatever the Master—no, she refused to call him that—whatever
he
planned, it had something to do with that scroll. It was obviously important. To her, this meant Keira and the Draaken needed to see it.

But she would have to be very, very careful, very, very patient. She couldn’t give them the slightest reason to throw her in the dungeon as well, otherwise there would be no way that she could save her parents.

Amber’s chance came earlier than even she could have hoped. That same afternoon, she was sitting in her corner, chewing down some dry bread and trying to stay out of everyone’s way, when the new cook and her assistant started whispering over their dinner preparations.

“Hey, did you hear? That group of Guardians that the Master’s been hunting, they’re coming here!”

“What! Here? But—what about us? There will surely be fighting—I didn’t sign up for that! When—”

“I don’t know, I only heard that the Watchers are getting ready.”

So that’s why everyone is rushing around
, Amber thought. When the Master came, the castle became quiet, dark, and more than a bit scary. But since this morning, the Watchers had been running up and down the halls, slamming doors, and shouting orders at each other. It’s been very noisy.

The women’s voices sank to low, urgent whispers and Amber strained to hear what they were saying, without appearing to listen.

“If we leave tonight….”

“Are you crazy? If we get caught—he’ll skin us alive!”

“I am not staying and fighting! Those Guardians don’t take prisoners. Besides, this Keira woman is said to have some serious powers.”

“Yes, you’re right. Maybe….”

“Maybe nothing. I’m leaving,
tonight
! You can stay, or come with me.”

“Fine, but we have to be careful. We’ll have to find a way through the wall, we can’t just leave out the front gate.”

“Leave it to me, I know who is on night watch. Meet me at midnight by the side door leading to the rose garden. And don’t be late! I’m leaving with or without you….”

Amber couldn’t hear any more, but it didn’t matter.

Keira is coming! But I have to warn her
, she thought.
They know she’s coming and there are so many of them here.

Amber twisted her hands together in agitation. Her friends were walking into a trap and if they all died, who would save her and her parents?

Amber thought for a few moments and then her lips pressed together in a thin, determined line. She had a plan. She would need all her courage, but she only had to think of her parents in the cold dungeon to push her fear aside.

Evening came and the castle quieted down. Amber lay on the woollen blanket under the kitchen table and tried very hard to stay awake. She was so tired; it had been a long day of brutal chores, but every time she felt her eyes drooping, she pinched herself and bit on the inside of her cheek. She made up songs and rhymes in her head and recited the names of the wolf pack a hundred times. She remembered all the happy times she had in the castle, and tried to imagine happier times to come.

The clock against the far wall tick-tocked hypnotically, trying to lull her to sleep. She got up a few times to drink water and splash her face. At last, the clock’s hands showed that it was a quarter past eleven.

Amber took a deep, shuddering breath. It was time to go.

She crept down the passage leading from the kitchen to the rest of the castle. Her bare feet didn’t make even the slightest whisper on the cold, stone tiles. She had packed her shoes in the only possession she was allowed to keep, a small backpack that also stored one change of clothes.

She knew the way to the dungeon. She had been allowed to go down there just that morning to take her parents some water. But all she could hear was her mother’s weeping and her father’s coughing, which had gotten worse as soon as he stopped drinking the tea.

From that visit, she knew the rusted gate at the bottom of the stairwell leading to the dungeon wasn’t locked. The only prisoners down there were her parents, and
he
obviously didn’t think they’d escape. Still, there was the fat old guard who sat at the entrance to the passage leading to the cells.

I’ll cross that bridge when I get there
, Keira thought. There was always the cake cook had baked that afternoon. She’ll tell him cook said he could have some. That should get him moving.

She crept down the stone stairs, hugging the wall as she circled around and around, deeper into the castle’s nether regions. The guard was fast asleep. She could hear his snores before she could see him. When she took the last step down, she merely peeped quickly at him, just to be sure, before slipping past and quietly running down the dimly lit tunnel, past three other doors, to the one behind which her parents were kept.

“Mama,” she whispered. “It’s Amber. Papa?”

There was a slight shuffling sound, then her mother’s soft voice called from the other side of the door.

“Amber?”

“Yes, Mama. I’ve come to tell you to hold on. I’m going to get you and Papa out.”

“Amber! No! It is too dangerous, please—you have to go!” her father whispered urgently.

“Papa! How are you? Please hold on, I’ve got a plan,” Amber whispered, her little hands vainly pushing at the rough wood. She couldn’t even see a keyhole, and even if there was one, where would the key be?

“The Draaken is coming. They will help us!” Amber sobbed against the door, trying to be quiet unless the guard woke up.

“Amber, listen!” her father said, the desperation in his voice made Amber stop her scrambling.

“Amber,” he continued. “You have to be brave my girl. You have to get out of the castle.”

“Yes Papa. I’m going to find the Draaken. But I have to get the scroll first. Do you remember the one I told you about? I’m going to take it to Keira,” Amber answered. “I—I came to tell you—I love you and don’t worry.”

“No!” Amber’s mother cried from within the cell. “It is too dangerous! Go to the village, hide there!”

Keira heard her father moving her mother away from the door and trying to comfort the distraught woman. After a few tense moments he was back and whispered urgent instructions: “You will have to be our big girl, Amber. Get that scroll and leave the castle as quick as you can. You find Keira, and you give it to her. She is our only hope. Please Amber, we love you.”

Amber heard her mother’s muffled sobs. She felt a desperate keening start in her own throat, but she swallowed and did the cheek biting trick again.

“Yes Papa, I understand,” her voice broke. “Please Papa, stay strong, I will be back with the Draaken!” With a last touch against the door, she turned and crept back along the wet tunnel, past the sleeping guard, and up the circular steps.

She made her way back through the kitchen. This time she took the passage she was so familiar with, the one leading to the library, where
he
had his tea every morning. Inch by inch, she made her way in the darkness, her heart beating a polka in her throat. The way to the library was usually nerve-wrecking in the day with the Watchers appearing unexpectedly from behind corners and statues, but at night…. Amber had to clamp down on the whimpers threatening to escape from behind her lips.

I can do this, I can do this….

Voices!

Amber quickly hid behind a suit of steel armour standing watch over the long corridor. She could see the library’s double doors in the distance.

Just too far!

The voices rumbled closer. Three Watchers glided through the shadows, right past Amber where she hunched, curled up in a small ball.

I am not here, I am not here, I am not here…

The refrain repeated itself in her mind, over and over until she was completely convinced of the fact that they couldn’t see her. She concentrated so hard on
not
being there, that it took her a while to realise she was alone in the corridor once again.

Somewhere in the castle a clock chimed a quarter to the hour. She had to hurry.

Amber tiptoed the last few metres to library. She slowly turned the big brass knob and froze as the door creaked open, the sound rolling down the corridor behind her like a foghorn. After an agonizing moment, she peered around the door. Moonlight streamed in from the tall, narrow windows on the far wall. The room was empty.

Amber slipped through the small opening and clicked the door closed behind her. She inched her way over to where she had last seen
him
reading from the scroll.

It wasn’t there!

She looked around frantically. The library was so big, she could search until the sun came up and not find it. Amber lifted books, trying to be as quiet as possible, but still the papers rustled and whispered as she moved them around.

The doors slammed open so quickly, Amber had no time to hide. She stood like a deer, frozen in an oncoming car’s headlights. It was a Watcher! He slinked into the room and looked around with a puzzled frown. His stare slid over Amber and continued up and down the bookshelves.

“Mmm, could have sworn I heard something in here,” he scratched his head, left, and closed the door behind him.

Amber sank to the floor, her quivering knees unable to bear her any longer.

He didn’t see me…. Why didn’t he see me?

She bent over, trying her best not to be sick all over the floor.

A few deep breaths later she lifted her head, weary with the fear and tension bearing down on her small shoulders. She looked up, and there it was. The scroll lay on a low table a few feet away, rolled up and tied with a red velvet ribbon. Amber could only crawl on her hands and knees. She opened it, making sure it was the right one. The ancient text in the spidery writing leapt out at her and she wanted to cry with relief.

New strength flowed through her and she quickly rolled the parchment up, retied the ribbon, and carefully pushed it into her backpack.

Amber would never be able to remember the journey back down the long passages and corridors. It passed in a blur of shadows and light, then suddenly she was hiding behind a big shrub at the edge of the rose garden. She could see the fountain in the distance, its once-white marble shining dully in the moonlight. It was silent and dry, filled with dead leaves.

Papa would never have allowed that
, she thought.

A few seconds later, two shadows, weighted down with big bags over their shoulders, slithered past the roses towards the outer wall. They didn’t notice the small shimmer of air that followed them. They walked along the wall, until they reached the narrow wooden door where a Watcher stood guard. The clinking of coins sounded as payment passed hands then the door was thrown open. The guard went with the two deserters, down creaking steps that led to the moat. They stepped onto a flat wooden raft and poled themselves over to the opposite bank.