Sagaria (32 page)

Perima squeezed his fingers once more. Sagandran didn’t know whose trust he valued the more, the queen’s or Perima’s.

“We don’t know how Arkanamon discovered the portal between here and the Earthworld,” continued Mirabella. “Of course, he must have been aware that it existed but, aside from myself and your grandfather, there were few who knew its location and none would have revealed that information to Arkanamon or his minions. His spies must have searched every nook and cranny of Sagaria, turning over every stone. The portal could not remain hidden from their eyes – from his eyes – forever, I suppose. Once he found it, it would have been easy for him to send a troop of spies from here into the Earthworld to scout what was there. They must have also been ordered to seek the Rainbow Crystal in the Earthworld, because if it wasn’t in the Shadow World and they couldn’t find it in Sagaria, the Earthworld was his final hope. They failed to find the stone, but they did find a gatekeeper on the Earthworld side of the portal, and they suspected that he could lead them to the ultimate prize, the Rainbow Crystal.”

She gently punched the wrist of one hand with the fist of the other.

“Yes, that must be how it happened. So Arkanamon still doesn’t know for certain that he’s on the track of the last crystal, he just believes he is. The fact that you have it, Sagandran, must remain a secret encased by the four walls of this room. You must tell no one that you even know of its existence. All of you. Do you hear me?”

“Our lips are as securely sealed as your own, Your Royal Majesty,” said Sir Tombin with a courtly nod.

“And we expect, Your Queenship,” interposed Samzing caustically, “that your lips will be as securely sealed as ours.” His voice turned the words into a question.

Sir Tombin sucked in his breath, aghast.

“You are right, wizard, to ask me that,” replied Queen Mirabella after a surprised pause. “Yes, the ties of trust must bind each one of us alike. I give you my promise.”

Perima at last got to her feet, uncurling in front of Sagandran. As she stood and turned to face the throne, he suddenly saw that the girl was, in her own slight way, every bit as regal as the grand queen before her on the dais. “You have also the word of a Princess Royal of the Kingdom of Mattani.”

This time, Queen Mirabella gave a full grin. “I know,” she said quietly. “I’ve seen the way you look at Sagandran. If you wouldn’t pledge yourself for the sake of the three worlds, you’d pledge yourself for him.”

“I promise as well,” said Flip, dropping to the floor; Sagandran had clean forgotten that the little fellow had been on his thigh all this time. “I swear it by the honor of Mishmash. We may not be what you might exactly call
big
, we folk from Mishmash, but our word is as good as any. With the possible exception of Tod’s,” he added in a spiteful undertone.

Sir Tombin and Samzing rose as one.

“Your loyalty to goodness can never be doubted, Frogly Knight,” said Queen Mirabella lightly, “but what of you, wizard? I know you less well.”

“Even if I were of a mind to betray the trust of my friends here,” said Samzing waspishly, “my own magic would stop me from doing so. The arts I have learned over my lifetime can be put only to the cause of good. If I tried to divert them toward an evil purpose they would desert me in an instant. By the same token, they restrain me in my own actions.” He spread his hands. “I have no choice but to give you my pledge.”

“Your guards?” said Sir Tombin with a tip of his feather toward the door.

Samzing spoke quickly. “They heard nothing. From the moment our conversation turned to earnest matters, I shielded us within an invisible cocoon of silence. Not a word we said could have reached even the door, far less the ears of any beyond it.”

Queen Mirabella nodded. “That was wise of you, Samzing, but could your shield not have been penetrated by—”

Samzing snorted. “By another magician? Perhaps, if he were of unparalleled strength and ability. Even then, I’d have detected the attempt. There has been none.”

“Good.” The queen gave them a gentle mock scowl. “Now sit down, the lot of you, please. This is no place for unnecessary ceremony.”

It’s only a throne room after all,
thought Sagandran ironically,
and you’re only the greatest monarch of this world.

Queen Mirabella was speaking once more. “Even Spectram is not a safe place, these days. Arkanamon’s spies have infiltrated everywhere in Sagaria, and I hardly believe that Spectram can be immune to them. The ones you must fear the most are his Shadow Knights, as you know. They are sly and cruel, and they have additional senses beyond the mortal range – senses that border on magic. If you try to hide the Rainbow Crystal, they will inevitably scent it out, no matter how good the hiding place. The best and safest place to keep it is where you have it now, hanging around your neck. That way,
the crystal will never be in one place for more than a few short hours. If it keeps moving, the chances are that the Shadow Knights will not be able to locate it.”

Sagandran gulped. It sounded as if he were going to be a target for the massed forces of evil. A moving target, yes, but this didn’t change the fact that he as good as had a bullseye painted on him.

“It might be best of all if you returned to the Earthworld,” mused the queen.

“No!” Sagandran was astonished by his own vehemence.

The queen raised an elegantly curved eyebrow.

“I must seek Grandpa Melwin.” The words came out in a rush. “Even if he’s not being tortured, as Samzing here says, he still needs to be rescued from those swine who’ve seized him.”

“But he must be in the Shadow World,” observed Mirabella. “How do you propose to rescue him from there?”

“I don’t know,” said Sagandran, “but that’s what I’m going to do.”

The queen stared deep into his eyes for several long seconds. “You have the same determination as your grandfather.”

“He would do as much for me.”

“Yes, indeed he would. I only wish I could offer you an army, but I must muster all the troops I can to defend this world from the forces of Arkanamon.”

“I understand,” said Sagandran. “I know this is something that I’ve got to do on my own.”

“Not on your own,” said Perima. “Do you honestly believe I would let you out of my sight, Sagandran? You need a good, sensible female to look out for you, or you’ll end up in a hopeless muddle or, more likely, have your bones picked clean by the crows. I’m told crows are especially fond of the liver. Did you know that? Anyway, you’re stuck with me whether you like it or not.”

She and Sagandran stood face to face, almost as if in defiance. Then a smile appeared on the lips of one of them, neither knew which, and spread to the face of the other.

“Some would see it as my duty to send you back to the care of your father, Fungfari,” said Queen Mirabella from the throne.

Perima gave the queen a look of such regal contempt that even Queen Mirabella flinched.

“I thought you might think that,” murmured the queen, more to herself than to Perima. “Do you know what? I believe I agree with you.”

“Unless,” stated Sir Tombin pompously, “Your Royal Majesty requires me to persevere in your service, I would like to—”

“Go, Sir Tombin,” she said with an airy wave of her hand. “These two young hotheads will need you with them.”

“I haven’t anything better to do,” announced Samzing reluctantly, staring into the bowl of his malodorous pipe as if there might be something more interesting there, “so I suppose I better tag along as well. I feel like a change of scenery. I’ve been going stir-crazy back in my house, to be honest with you. Besides, Golma would be vexed with me if I returned soon. She’s probably having a wild time with me out of the picture.”

Sagandran had difficulty picturing the metal housekeeper having a wild time, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

“What about you, Flip?” said the queen. “If you would prefer, I could easily arrange for you to be taken back to your village of Mishmash. I have heard it’s a most beautiful place, though I’ve never had the pleasure of going there myself. My tame eagle, Eron, could fly you there in a matter of hours.”

Suddenly finding himself the focus of attention, Flip shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. “Mishmash is indeed a beautiful place, and I miss it sorely but … but if this Shadow Master fellow destroys Sagaria then he’ll destroy Mishmash as well. That means Jinnia would be destroyed, and Dodgem, and Old Cobb and Luti Furfoot too. All my friends back there. Even people like Tod and the farmer Fofa, who’s horrible to everybody – my life would be a lot happier if they weren’t there, but at the same time I’d hate it if they just vanished. I need them too, in a funny sort of way. I don’t know why that is, but it is. So, for the sake of Mishmash and all who live there, I, Flip, the celebrated Adventurer Extraordinaire,” he looked up at Sagandran, “I’m with you too my dear, if somewhat clumsy, friend.”

“Well spoken,” said Queen Mirabella. She clapped her hands once.

“Thank you,” said Sagandran brokenly, feeling tears threatening to return. “I thank all of you. You are all such … very good friends.”

“No need to spoil it by going soppy on us,” stage-whispered Perima to him.

Her words broke the spell. Soon everyone was smiling and patting each other on the back, Queen Mirabella mixing among them as just another of their gathering. Finally, she tapped her foot loudly on the mosaic floor and they fell silent.

“You will stay here in Spectram, in this very palace, tonight. Yes, I know that there is still much of the day left, but you need to be outfitted for your long journey, and there are matters of state that I must discuss in private with Sir Tombin.”

Perima looked impatient and began to make a protest, then swallowed the words.

“Tonight, you are my guests,” the queen insisted. “Tomorrow” – for once her voice faltered – “tomorrow I will wish you luck as you set out anew on your quest. It is a quest from which I – from which I hope you will all return.”

“One more question, Your Majesty,” said Sagandran, aware that he was probably breaching all court protocol.

The queen didn’t seem to mind. “Certainly, my young friend.”

“Why is he called the Shadow Master?”

Mirabella looked at him, clearly choosing her words with care before she spoke them. At last she said, “The shadow is our darker side, Sagandran. Everybody possesses one. The shadow is everything that has been subdued or hidden; it is life that has not been allowed expression.”

Sagandran was still perplexed.

The queen smiled at him, then she continued. “Our shadow is potentially harmful. Anger, hatred, lying, stealing, selfishness, the desire to hurt others – these are some of the denizens of the shadow, and they are forever seeking to escape it to make their stain upon the world. Sometimes, people can win the battle with their shadow, and sometimes they can’t. Arkanamon has allowed his shadow to flow into his whole being, suppressing all the positive features of his life. ‘Allowed’? He has opened the door of his soul and
implored
his shadow to enter. He has forever banished any goodness that might have remained in him. Of course, he thinks that he has mastered his shadow, which is why he gave himself the name of Shadowmaster even though the truth is that it’s his shadow that has mastered him. He’s become just the shadow aspect of his former self.”

“It could happen to any of us,” said Sir Tombin in a quiet voice.

The queen nodded. “The greatest danger of your quest is that it might do so.”

On that uncertain note, their audience was over.

As night settled over the rainbow city, Sir Tombin stood silently by the window. The gentle snores from Sagandran, Perima and Flip, and Samzing’s not-so-gentle snores (and occasional muttering) filled the room, but he hardly even noticed. His shiny black eyes were staring transfixed at a room across the royal courtyard in one of the castle’s delicately elaborated towers. The queen was sitting in front of the mirror, combing out her long, flowing hair. Wearing a silvery night gown, she brushed her hair with beautiful, graceful movements. He gazed at her with such tenderness that an observer would’ve silently walked away – as if even the slightest intrusion would’ve been irreverent. As it were, the
man-frog caught his own reflection in the window. He studied it for a moment, then abruptly winced at what he saw and turned his head away. A tear rolled down his green cheek, then he let out a sigh and quietly lay down on his own bed. Sleep eventually came, even for the Frogly Knight and, along with it, the dreams. They were always the same: green-blue slanted eyes framed by the most beautiful face he’d ever seen. 

CHAPTER 2

T
HE
B
OY
W
HOSE
T
IME
H
AS
C
OME

agandran felt someone tap him on the arm. He opened his eyes and found himself looking into a black, gentle gaze.

“Time to wake up,” said Sir Tombin softly.

“No it isn’t.”

“Yes,” said the Frogly Knight, “I’m afraid it is.”

Sagandran yawned and stretched. The bed he was in was deliciously comfortable, and its linen sheets felt so soft against his skin.

“What time is it?”

“After nine. You were sleeping so deeply that we didn’t want to disturb you.”

“Oh.”

“The others are already downstairs, eating breakfast. I shall look forward to encountering you down there in like manner.”

Sir Tombin left the room.

It was difficult hauling himself out of his warm bed, but at last Sagandran managed it. The water in the pitcher on the table under the window proved to be icy cold, but he poured some water in a bowl and washed perfunctorily.

He couldn’t remember many details of the night before. He and Perima had spent much of the afternoon exploring Spectram. They found a museum devoted to the history of the city and enjoyed an hour or two there, but most of the time was taken up by Perima declaring that she really must have various items on sale in the markets and Sagandran declaring equally forcefully that they couldn’t carry unnecessary junk on their quest. Embarrassingly, he’d come back to the palace bearing a greater number of redundant purchases than she had, and later had quietly given them to one of Queen Mirabella’s stewards, who’d solemnly promised to “store them.” The queen laid on a feast for the companions in the evening, but it was a dour affair, punctuated by far too many uneasy silences as they contemplated the unpleasant fate that might be in store
for Sagaria generally and themselves in particular. Only Flip made much effort at gaiety, and even his antics seemed unusually restrained.

The food had been unusual – delicious, but strange. There were vegetables aplenty, but in place of meat were all sorts of strangely shaped and colored beans, which proved to taste exactly like chicken, pork, or even roast beef.

Queen Mirabella explained, “We have chosen not to eat the flesh of animals. As we look at the pattern of our existence, we find that other creatures are rather like ourselves. Just as we do, they want to continue the journey of life that has been granted to all of us. In this light, it becomes impossible to regard those animals as merely food.”

She patted her lips with an embroidered napkin before continuing.

“Whatever you choose to do, always listen to your inner voice and act according to it. Then the pattern from which our existence is made will be revealed to you. In the beginning, small dots of light emerged from a great brightness, and as they danced and swirled they created mountains, rivers, seas and beautiful green forests. These all have their own inhabitants, from the winged creatures of the skies to the fish of the great ocean, from the throngs of people in the cities to, well, to a small adventurer who has journeyed far from his home in Mishmash. Each of these living forms is a part of every other. If we eat some of them, in effect we’re eating ourselves, our families and our friends.”

Sagandran had never thought about food this way before. As he’d stabbed his fork nervously into another bean, he’d been half expecting it to squeal in protest.

Sagandran’s thoughts came back to the present and he found himself staring into the water pitcher. His morning ablutions completed, he looked in the mirror on the wall next to the bed to check that he was presentable. Servants had taken his clothes during the night and laundered them, which was a big improvement, but his hair was a mess and he couldn’t find a hairbrush anywhere. As he ran his fingers over his head in a desperate approximation of a comb he felt the crystal, warm against his chest. Ceasing his futile attempts to get his hair straight, he pulled the gem out by its gold chain and held it up to the mirror, looking at its reflection. A shaft of sunlight from the window caught it, and it glowed softly like a rainbow captured in glass. As he stroked the surface of the crystal with his thumb, it seemed to him to almost be alive. He sensed that somewhere, tantalizingly beyond the borders of his mind, it was trying to communicate something to him.

Only a fancy, surely. Crystals weren’t alive. Crystals didn’t talk.

Grinning at his reflection, he tucked the crystal back inside his T-shirt and went stumbling down to breakfast.

“I’m afraid there’s grim news,” said Queen Mirabella. They’d finished breakfast and were assembled once more in the throne room. This time, the queen had eschewed the throne and all the other trappings of her grandeur; dressed in a plain peasant-style frock, she was helping Sir Tombin stow provisions in a backpack. Sagandran thought she looked more lovely than ever, and could hardly take his eyes off her until Perima accidentally trod on his foot. Twice, to make sure that he’d noticed the first time.

“The city of Goram, in the foothills of the Goram Mountains, has been attacked. It’s the nearest township of any size to the Shadow Portal.”

“Aha,” said Sir Tombin meaningfully.

“As soon as I heard the rumors late last night, I sent out a squad of my trained hawks to investigate. Only one of my flying messengers has returned. He reports terrible carnage. All of his fellows were brought down by arrows. Goram has been devastated in just a few short hours, and its buildings set ablaze. Those people who haven’t been slaughtered have been enslaved by Arkanamon, the Shadow Master. We know what their sorry fate must be.”

Sagandran looked inquiringly at her.

“Arkanamon must surely intend to draw the life energy from them, to add it to his own power. Once they have been sucked dry, they will become new additions to his Shadow Army, controlled entirely by his evil.”

“That’s terrible,” said Perima, frozen in horror.

The queen nodded gravely. “The war that has been so long feared has finally begun. With Goram secured, he has no choice but to move swiftly. Few lands of Sagaria have heeded the warnings of his conquest; I fear they will fall easily to him, one by one. Everywhere he goes, his power will be increased as he drains his new subjects of their life force.”

“Then there is no time to lose,” said Sir Tombin. “I shouldn’t have let you sleep so long,” he added to Sagandran, as if that had been Sagandran’s fault.

“No,” said Queen Mirabella at once. “You did right, Tombin. He’s perhaps the most important of you all, and he needed rest to prepare for the ordeals he must soon confront.”

“How can we, how can I, hope to stop Arkanamon?” said Sagandran. “There are only five of us. I’m just a boy. He’s a ruthless conqueror. He has vast armies of minions who’re as evil and ruthless as he is. They can’t fear death, because they’re already dead. How can we …?”

He ran out of words. Last night, it had appeared that they were merely facing
near-insurmountable odds. Now, the entire venture seemed doomed before it even started. He didn’t know if he wanted to burst into tears or start punching the wall. Or just flee to a very secure hiding place a long way away and curl up into a ball.

Queen Mirabella must have read something of his thoughts in his face. “There are legends that tell of a figure called The Boy Whose Time Has Come, Sagandran, and I’m beginning to think this is who you might be – or who you can make yourself be. The odds may seem stacked against you, but you have the power of legend on your side. Moreover, your chances are actually improved now that Arkanamon has gone to war,” she reassured him. “He is busy directing his armies. You and your companions are few, and you can move with great speed. He will never know where you are, and he will hardly expect the boy he seeks to come straight at him. You have many advantages now, you know. Most of all, you have trust in and loyalty for each other. Trust and loyalty are unknown concepts to Arkanamon, who trades in deceit and betrayal. I cannot say your task will be easy, but—”

Samzing harrumphed crossly. “You make it sound as if our success is a foregone conclusion. Don’t delude the boy that way. Don’t mislead any of us.”

“I’m sorry,” said Queen Mirabella at once, spreading her hands in a show of humility. “I didn’t mean to deceive you. Your venture will be perilous, yes. I cannot guarantee that you will all escape with your lives, but there’s a way you may be able to stop the Shadow Master without engaging him or his armies in physical combat.”

Samzing still looked aggressive. “And this is?”

Queen Mirabella didn’t answer directly. “The two crystals he already has must be taken from him – at any cost. If you can rescue the crystals you will strip him of all the power they are giving him.”

“First we have to find the crystals,” said Samzing, clearly unconvinced.

“The crystals are in the Shadow World,” replied Queen Mirabella mildly. “Arkanamon wouldn’t dare bring them into Sagaria for fear that they might be lost in battle.”

“In the Shadow World?” said Samzing. He gave a derisive snort. A ray of light from the stained glass tinted his face a wrathful red; his beard looked the color of dried blood. “They might as well be nowhere at all. How could we hope to get there?” The light of morning seemed to have evaporated some of the confidence Samzing had displayed yesterday.

“The Shadow Portal—”

“Huh!”

“The Shadow Portal, I was trying to say, will be heavily guarded. Arkanamon
possesses all the territory around it now, and we can be sure he many of his finest troops and his best weaponry around the gateway. He knows better than anyone how vulnerable he might be made should anyone capture the portal. So, no, that isn’t the way you should go.”

“Then how?”

“First you must travel to the realm of Qarnapheeran.”

Samzing looked shocked. “I swore I would never go there again.”

“I know why you swore that,” said Mirabella coolly. “It’s an oath you must be prepared to break, Samzing.”

Sir Tombin was looking at his friend strangely. “This is a tale you’ve never told me.”

Samzing suddenly decided that he might help with the packing after all and crouched down to grab something at random. “It’s unimportant,” he muttered. “Mere trivia. A minor thing. Ancient history. Has anyone seen my pipe?”

“It’s in your pocket,” snapped Sir Tombin. “Now tell us why—”

“He can tell you on the road.” Queen Mirabella’s voice was hushed but the implied reprimand was enough to silence the Frogly Knight. “As I say, you must go first to Qarnapheeran, the realm of magicians. There once was a portal there and they may be able to reopen it for you. If not, you must ask the wizards to transport you into the Shadow World directly, bypassing any portal. Either way you should be able to enter the Shadow World unnoticed by Arkanamon or any of his creatures.”

“How could these magicians do that?” asked Perima.

“If I knew that I would be a magician myself.” The queen smiled. “All I know is they’re sometimes able to do this; I don’t know the how of it. They have powers of the mind, of magic, that are far beyond any conception of mine.”