Sword and the Spell 01: The Grey Robe (40 page)

He sat back smugly and announced that King Sarrat was
outraged and he was gathering an army to strike north into Northshield. The
crowd let out a long sigh as if they had been holding their breath and others
whispered to each other about the details of how their country had defeated the
hated nomads for the final time. A few of those who listened had sons or
brothers fighting for the King. They desperately wanted news of their kin and
when they would return but knew better than to interrupt the courier whilst he
wove his story. Long experience of telling his tales to news-hungry villagers
always brought each battle vividly to life, and as usual, his tale earned him
loud applause and a shower of dracs.

Silence settled in the inn once more as the crowd
waited eagerly for the third courier to tell his story. He was the senior of
the three, his face weather beaten from endless days travelling the roads of
the six kingdoms. To him would befall the honour of telling the most
outstanding piece of news. More people from the outlying farms had now arrived
at the inn pressing the earlier arrivals forward and craning their necks to
catch a glimpse of the senior courier as he finished the last of his cheese and
washed it down with a goblet of wine.

They knew that if news of invasion and war had been
told by his juniors the news that he had to tell would be incredible indeed. He
began his story to a background of shuffling feet, clattering ale pots and whispered
comments but by the time his tale reached its climax there was utter silence
and his audience held their breath in expectation.

"And there it was before me, the most wondrous
thing I or my companions or anyone in the six kingdoms have ever seen; a
towering hedge of honeyvine, twice as high as a man and twenty paces
deep." There was a gasp of wonder from the listeners. "But that was
not the greatest wonder at all. Behind the barrier of vine and flowers was a
palace with its many golden turrets reaching to touch the sky and a city
nestling beneath its protective walls.

Nothing in the palace or the city moved. The people
were still, the dogs didn't bark and children didn't cry, even the sky singers failed
to fly overhead. Gentlemen, you may take my word on it that the city of
Alewinder lies under an impenetrable enchantment and all its people sleep and
will remain that way until the enchantment is broken."

In an instant there was a clamour of voices and
Jonderill, his head spinning with the shock of the news, began pushing his way
through the crowd to where the courier sat, besieged by people demanding to
know more about the unbelievable happenings in Vinmore. Dozens of questions
were shouted out all at once by the excited crowd but the courier just folded
his arms and looked vaguely amused. He’d been in this situation many times and
knew that if he refused to answer their questions he would be encouraged to be
more forthcoming by a shower of silver gellstart. Only then would he answer
questions at the price of a gellstart each.

It wasn’t what couriers were supposed to do as they
were already paid by their patrons but he would retire when two more summers
had passed and he planned to make his retirement as comfortable as possible. Using
his trained memory he gave the details of what he’d seen, what he’d been told
and the names of Alewinder's inhabitants who had been fortunate enough to be
absent from the city when the enchantment struck its blow.

Jonderill listened carefully from his position three
rows back from the couriers’ table, putting events together as best he could
from the answered questions. When at last every question had been answered and
the courier had collected together a heavy bag of coins, the three messengers
stood to leave, briefly saluting the innkeeper for his hospitality and then pushing
their way through the chattering crowd to reclaim their horses and continue on
their way to the next inn.

He squeezed his way out of the inn, a dozen more
questions ready but only two gellstart to pay for answers. He waited for the
three couriers to mount and then stepped forward, bowing in respect to the
eldest.

"Please, sir," Jonderill began, standing at
the horse’s head and blocking the courier’s way. "I need to know more
about the enchantment."

The courier looked down, annoyed at being delayed.
"I’ve told you everything I know. Now let me pass."

"I can pay for answers." Jonderill pulled
the last two silver coins from his belt and held them out to the courier.

"Well what is it?" The courier snatched the
coins from his hand.

"Does the Princess Daun still live and where are
her guardians, the two elderly magicians?"

The courier gave a derisory snort. "How should I
know, I wasn't inside the city when the enchantment fell otherwise I wouldn't
be here now, would I fool?"

He pushed the coins into his belt and heeled his horse
forward, pushing Jonderill roughly out of the way. The other two couriers began
to follow him but for a moment the youngest drew his horse to a stop and looked
back.

"If it’s Plantagenet and Animus you refer to they
were seen entering the palace just before sunset but nobody has seen them
since. I think you can take it that whatever befell Alewinder also caught the
two magicians."

"Thank you," muttered Jonderill, his mind a
whirl of confused thoughts.

"Good luck," said the courier and then he
was gone.

*

The honeyvine hedge twisted backwards and forwards,
entangling one tendril around another until it was impossible to tell which
thick trunk bore which bough and which branch which tendril. Not only was the
barrier far too high to climb over but the branches dipped down to touch the
ground so that even a long eared hopper couldn’t squeeze beneath it. Someone
had tried to cut through the green vine but as fast as they hacked at the dense
foliage new young tendrils grew to replace the damaged ones and so quickly that
the attacker had been forced gently backwards before they had reached further
than a hand span’s depth into the hedge.

Jonderill sat on a grassy bank and studied the barrier
but like all the others who had come to see this wonder of enchantment, he’d no
idea how to penetrate its entanglement to reach the city within. His journey
back to Vinmore had been made at twice the speed of the outward journey,
stopping only once for rest and not at all for food. Now he sat and stared at
the natural barrier and the tops of the towers which could be seen beyond and
wondered why he’d deprived himself of sleep and sustenance.

It was obvious the inhabitants of Alewinder and the
palace were not going anywhere and wouldn’t be until the enchantment was
lifted. He’d tried probing with his limited powers to see if he could reach Plantagenet
or Animus but the magic which bound the hedge was too powerful to penetrate and
all that he’d managed to do was give himself a headache. He closed his tired eyes
and buried his head in his hands, helpless and miserable.

"Queer do, aint it?"

Jonderill looked up questioningly at the small man
with weasel like features who had approached without him hearing and now sat on
the grassy bank next to him.

"I means that there 'edge suddenly popping out of
the ground an' trapping all of 'em inside, 'cept those who got locked out of
their own 'ome of course." He cut a chunk of dried meat off a thick length
of sausage and handed it to Jonderill who, having not eaten since the dry bread
and cheese in the Leersland inn, took it gratefully.

"Were you one of those who were locked out?"

"Nah. It aint my city, well no more than any
other is. I've been around a bit yer see but I aint never seen owt like that,
an' that's the truth."

The man took a large flat loaf of bread from beneath
his jerkin and broke it in half, giving one half to Jonderill along with a
wedge of reddish coloured cheese which he took from a large hidden pocket in
his voluminous breeches. Jonderill accepted them thankfully and without
question. He didn’t know where the man had acquired breakfast from but he was
certain it hadn’t been obtained honestly. It didn’t make any difference to him;
it still tasted good.

He studied his benefactor as he ate his food. The man
was small, not much larger than a half grown child and was as thin as one who
had been cruelly starved. His hands were long and lean and the fingers, which
ended in carefully pointed nails, were extra long and always on the move.
Whilst his body appeared to be that of a child, his features were those of a
man well into his middle years. His eyes were dark, shrewd and constantly on
the lookout and his lips thin to the point of disappearing, except when he
laughed, when his grin gave him the appearance of a mischievous imp.

He delved into another hidden pocket and produced a
flask of light honey wine which he passed to Jonderill. "I bets yer fed up
stuck out 'ere all on yer tod or are yer waitin' fer yer magician mates?"

Jonderill hastily swallowed his last mouthful of
cheese. "Do you know who I am?"

"Oh yeh, I use ta see yer around wiv the two
magicians although that were some time ago. Yer don't suppose I go sharin' me
'ard won breakfast wiv anyone do yer? I aint usually as polite as this only I
wanted to find out what yer goin' to do so I knows if it's safe to stick around
or not."

"What I’m going to do?" asked Jonderill
incredulously.

"Yeh, what yer goin' to do, 'cause there aint
nobody else left to do anythin' about that."

"I don't know," said Jonderill dejectedly.

"Well you'd better do somethin', I don't fancy
this ‘ere ‘edge bein’ stuck out 'ere in the middle of the 'ighway for the next
'undred years. 'Ow did it get 'ere in the first place?"

"I'm not sure, something to do with the
enchantment I suppose."

"An enchantment? Well 'ows about that. What did
this 'ere enchantment 'ave to say then?”
 
He took a long swig of his wine and passed the
flask back to Jonderill.

"Roughly it said that if the princess falls off a
silver horse she would fall asleep and not die; only it was Animus's
enchantment so anything could have happened."

"A bit uncertain was 'e?"

"Inept would be a better word but even he
couldn't have got it this wrong."

"Well s'pose 'e didn't, s'pose 'e meant things to
turn out like this, what else did the enchantment say?"

Jonderill thought hard for the exact words; four
summers had passed since he’d last heard them spoken. "She will sleep
forever until woken by true love's first kiss.""There we 'ave it
then, all yer 'ave to do is find the man she's in love wiv an' persuade 'im to
give 'er a kiss."

"How do I do that?" Jonderill asked
despairingly. "As far as I know she's never met a man, let alone had the
chance to fall in love, unless of course she did it a long time ago."

"Then we 'ave a problem don't we an' that's goin'
to require some snoopin' around. When it comes to findin' fings out their aint
no one better at snoopin' around than Perguine." Jonderill looked at him
with a raise eyebrow. "That's me, fool, Perguine the Pocket, at yer
service. Now where does we start?"

Jonderill looked at Perguine suspiciously. It had been
a long time since he’d lived in the magicians’ tower but when he had he’d known
most of
 
the people of Alewinder by sight
and Perguine was not amongst them. He was certain he would have remembered him;
the small man was quite unforgettable. Jonderill slowly stood, fixing the axe
he still carried to his belt and slinging his two small bags over his shoulder.

“I don’t think there’s anything I can do to help, it’s
none of my business anyway. Thanks for the breakfast.”

Perguine packed up the remains of their breakfast and
stashed them away in yet another large pocket and fell in behind Jonderill.
“Well, ifs yer not goin’ ter ‘elp, what is yer goin’ ter do? I means yer can’t
go ‘ome and yer aint got no coin ter spend so yer a bit stuck aint yer?”

Jonderill increased his walking speed so the little
man had to almost run to keep up. “I’ve got coin, I’m just looking for
somewhere to stay, that’s all.”

The little man ran to overtake him and then ran
backwards waving his hands in the air until Jonderill stopped. “Now, lad, don’t
yer be liein’ to me, I knows yer aint got no coin otherwise yer wouldn’t be
gobblin’ up me breakfast like yer aint seen food fer a week.” He poked
Jonderill in the chest with a long boney finger. “Folks like us on limited
means aught ter stick tergether so I’s got a proposition fer yer. I’s got a job
ter do, a little ticklin’ of a bloke who ows me an’ don’t want ter pay ‘is dues
an I need someone ter watch me back. ‘ows about it? Yer do me a favour an’
I’lls buy yer dinner an’ then I’ll ‘elp yer find this ‘ere lover boy.”

Jonderill thought about it for a moment. He didn’t
altogether trust Perguine but as he hadn’t a clue how he was going to rescue
the princess by himself and he didn’t have a drac to his name his options were
limited. He nodded his head in agreement and received a hearty slap on the back
from his new employer.

Watching Perguine’s back turned out to be easier than
he’d imagined. All he had to do was stand beneath an old crumbling archway in
the small village a few candle lengths’ walk from Alewinder and watch the rear
exit of the building opposite. Perguine was gone for less than a candle length
and when he finally left the building Jonderill had to tell him who had entered
and left the place. It had been simple; the only person who had entered was a
well dressed woman with her head and shoulders covered by a dark shawl. She had
looked vaguely familiar but Jonderill couldn’t place where he’d seen her before
so he didn’t bother mentioning his feelings.