The Wildkin’s Curse (13 page)

‘That's our home,' Zed said proudly. ‘The finest castle outside Zarissa itself.'

Liliana did not reply. She was thinking of her own ruined castle, and wondering how much was left of it now. Perhaps nothing more than a smoking pile of rubble.

‘I wonder what the cooks have planned for dinner tonight,' Zed said cheerfully, leading the way along the road.

‘I am rather hungry,' Merry said. ‘We've eaten nothing but scraps for days.'

The boys' steps quickened. Tom-Tit-Tot raced past, shouting, ‘Biscuits and bacon and bottles of beer, porridge and pork pie and spicy poached pear . . .'

‘Time to change shape, Tommy-boy,' Merry said. ‘I really can't bring an omen-imp into the castle, you'd terrify the servants.'

Tom-Tit-Tot dropped to the ground, turned a deft somersault, and changed shape, in an instant, into an enormous black rat.

‘No, not a rat!' Merry cried, laughing. ‘Something respectable.'

Seconds later he was a hopping toad, then a scuttling hedgehog, then a slithering black lizard. Next instant, he somersaulted back to an omen-imp, shrieking and flying about their heads.

‘How about a nice cat?' Zed suggested. ‘I've seen you do that.'

‘Or a nice blackbird?' Merry said.

‘He might get baked into a pie,' Zed said.

Tom-Tit-Tot dropped to the ground, rolled head over heels, and changed into a long, sleek black ferret.

‘A ferret will do very nicely,' Merry said. ‘We can say we use you for hunting rabbits.'

The ferret ran up Merry's body to settle on his shoulder, whiskers twitching, eyes gleaming with unholy mischief.

‘I wish he had hunted us a few rabbits,' Zed said. ‘Have I said recently how hungry I am? Do you think we could get a move along? I need a cup of mulled apple-ale and a roast pigeon leg.'

‘If your mamma will let you drink it,' Merry said. ‘She'll probably have a mug of warm milk ready for you.'

Zed punched him in the shoulder.

‘Ow! Do you have to hit so hard? Not all of us are built like hobhenkies, you know.'

‘Oh, I'm sorry,' Zed said in spurious concern. ‘I keep forgetting what a scrawny little thing you are, squirt.'

‘There are the swans,' Liliana said abruptly. ‘Let's pluck a feather now.'

Zed looked down at the shadowy lake, where a wedge of swans floated gracefully on the water, their heads held high on their shapely necks. He then looked up at the castle towering above their heads. Squares of golden light shone through the dusk, and the delicious aroma of roasting meat wafted on the breeze.

‘Plenty of time for that,' he said. ‘It'll be dark by the time we get to the lake anyway. We'll run down in the morning and get one then.'

Jostling and squabbling companionably, the two boys continued along the road to the castle, leaving Liliana hesitating behind. She looked down at the ethereal white shapes floating on the dark water, then, frowning, trudged up the hill after the boys.

The great gates were just being closed by two soldiers in silver armour, fusilliers tucked into holsters at their belts.

Zed called out to them cheerfully. ‘Hold up, boyos!'

They spun, fusilliers flashing out, but as Zed came forward, the light shining on his fair hair, they relaxed and smiled.

‘My lord! Welcome home!'

‘We were not expecting you home so soon, my lord. Weren't you meant to be staying at your aunt's?'

‘Well, yes, but it was bloody boring,' Zed said. ‘How are you, Dyson? Drawn the short straw tonight?'

Dyson grinned. ‘Better sunset watch than dawn, my lord.'

‘True,' Zed answered. ‘How about you, Wilhelm? Not married yet?'

‘No, sir, not yet.' Wilhelm glanced out into the dusk and frowned. ‘But, my lord . . . your retinue? Have you no guard, no servants? Did your aunt not provide you with an escort?'

‘I have Merry, and my new squire, Laurie,' Zed replied easily. ‘Do I need anyone else so close to home?'

‘We've been hiking in the mountains,' Merry said. ‘We had to escape Zed's aunt's, you can't imagine how bad it was! She has seven daughters, each uglier than the last, and no dowries!'

The soldiers grinned.

‘You should've seen them, hanging on Zed's every word, blushing and flapping their eyelashes, dropping their handkerchiefs before him at every step.'

‘It wasn't that bad,' Zed said. ‘They were really very amiable.'

‘Which was why you dragged me out hiking and fishing in the mountains in the dead of winter,' Merry said, grinning.

‘Well . . .' Zed said. ‘There's really only so such amiability a man can take.'

As he spoke, he walked forward confidently between the crack in the immense iron-clad gates. The soldiers eased it open to make room for his tall, broad-shouldered form. Merry followed close behind, then turned and looked behind him.

Liliana hung back, feeling rather forlorn.

‘Come on, Laurie!' Merry called. Then, teasingly, ‘They might have roast hare on the menu.'

Zed turned in surprise. ‘Laurie, what are you waiting for?' he called cheerfully. ‘My mother's cook is excellent, and you must be hungry enough to eat a horse. I know I am.'

Reluctantly Liliana came forward, past the poker-faced soldiers in their shining armour. She looked through the gates, which led into a long, dark passageway guarded by an immense portcullis, its points sharpened to shining steel. The passageway was so long it was impossible to see what lay beyond.

Wilhelm said hurriedly, ‘I'll just go and report your arrival, sir!'

‘Yes, off you go,' Zed said, waving his hand dismissively. ‘Tell the cooks to throw another suckling pig on the fire! I could eat one right down to its trotters.'

Liliana took a deep breath and walked in under the portcullis. As the other soldier slammed the gates shut behind her, and shot the bolts home, a small shudder ran through her but she held her head high.

Just then, a tall, strongly built man with a hard, leathery face and neatly plaited white hair strode out of the gatehouse. His thick white moustache had been waxed so it curled stiffly at the ends. His eyes were ice-blue. At his waist was a long sword in a leather sheath, its silver hilt beautifully formed in the shape of a swan's neck and head, with sapphire eyes.

‘Lord Zedrin! Welcome home. What a surprise. My lady will be so pleased.'

Then the old man frowned, having seen Liliana standing behind, her chin lifted proudly. One hand dropped to the hilt of his sword.

‘Who is this?' the constable asked in a tone of deep suspicion. ‘Is this a guest of yours, my lord?'

‘In a manner of speaking,' Zed replied easily. ‘This is my new squire, Laurie . . . ah, Laurence of Sennaval.' He quickly named the town where his aunt lived, and where he and Merry had indeed gone visiting before spending the past six months at the Erlrune's.

‘Laurie, this is Aubin the Fair, constable of the castle. You see he is permitted to wear a sword, a sign of my uncle's great faith in him.'

Aubin's eyes had been raking over Liliana, noting her stormy grey eyes, the halo of dark curls, the quiver of grey-fletched arrows at her belt and the longbow slung over her shoulder.

‘I see. And how is it you've come to appoint a new squire, my lord? Did your uncle check all his references for you? He does not seem very sturdy. If you were wanting a new squire, my lord, I could have found one for you, a local boy whose family we know, one that I could train up under my own hand to do things our way.'

‘I'm sure Laurie will fit in just fine,' Zed said. ‘His family is well known to both my parents.'

‘It is odd I have never heard of the lad before if he is such an old friend of the family.'

The constable was still staring at Liliana suspiciously, and she shifted a little under his scrutiny, colour rising in her cheeks. She put up one hand to shove back a curl, then suddenly remembered she was not supposed to reveal her ears, and shook her curls free again, feeling a slow flush rise up her body. She hated lying and subterfuge.

‘His aunt is one of my mother's dearest friends,' Zed said, raising one eyebrow. ‘Mama will fall on his neck with squeals of delight, I assure you.'

‘You say he comes from Sennaval?' Aubin said gruffly, striking one finger against the other in an age-old gesture against evil. ‘Lots of wildkin there. This lad has the look of the wildkin about him. I've seen it before. Those slanted eyes, and the way he feared to come under the portcullis. They hate being safe within stone walls like normal folk, these wildkin.'

Liliana narrowed her eyes, staring at him haughtily, and Merry very surreptitiously shook his head at her. She gritted her teeth, and tried to look meek.

‘Don't you worry, Aubin,' Zed said cheerfully, ‘I'll vouch for Laurie. And wait till you see how well he can shoot!'

He slapped the old man on the shoulder, then led Liliana down the long, dark tunnel under the gatehouse. She balled her hands into fists, trying to breathe slowly and evenly through her nose, hating the dank smell.

They came out into the inner bailey. A few faint stars gleamed overhead. Lamplight shone warmly through the narrow window slits, and she could hear dogs whining, and pigs squealing, and the flap and flutter of wings. A screech rang out, startling her. Liliana turned to look towards the sound and saw a pair of big doors standing open nearby, flinging an apron of light out into the courtyard. Within was a groom fighting to hold on to the bridle of an enormous white bird, its head encased in a silver helmet. It spread its great wings and shrieked with rage, slashing at the groom with its wickedly curved beak, and the boy sprang back and called for help.

‘A sisika bird!' Zed said. ‘I wonder who could be here.'

‘It's so big,' Liliana said quietly. ‘And it looks so cruel. I did not realise . . .'

She shivered and drew her cloak more tightly around her.

‘We do not keep sisikas here,' Zed said. ‘My father does not like them, and is not permitted to ride them anyway, being a hearthkin and not of noble blood. Uncle Ziggy, who is the count here in Estelliana, is not really well enough. Here, come and see the starthorn tree.'

He led the way to a wide round pool where a tall tree grew. In the faint light filtering down from the window slits, Liliana could see its black thorny branches hung with heavy globes of golden fruit.

‘Do not go near,' Zed warned her. ‘Don't seek to climb the tree or pluck its fruit. A single scratch from one of those thorns will kill you.'

‘And the fruit will make you dance till you die,' she answered somberly.

‘You know the story? But of course, the Erlrune will have told you all about it.'

‘Your uncle drank just one mouthful of ale made from the starthorn apples and lay in an enchanted sleep for months.'

‘Until my parents and Merry's parents and your aunt woke him,' Zed said, gazing up at the tree.

‘But everyone else died.'

‘Yes. But Mama says it's some consolation to know they must have died happy. They wouldn't have known they were poisoned. Apparently they danced all night, laughing and singing, until one by one they began to fall. No-one would have realised.'

As he spoke, Zed headed towards a small dark doorway set under a massive structure of stone that loomed high over their heads, sharp against the stars.

Liliana hung back. ‘I'm not sure this is a good idea.'

The boys stared at her in surprise.

‘Why not? What's wrong?' Zed asked.

‘Is it being inside high walls that's bothering you?' Merry asked.

‘No! It's just . . . We have a task to complete.'

‘Do you mean getting the swan feather?' Zed demanded incredulously. ‘It's dark now, Lili! I have no desire to wrestle with a swan in the dark. They're vicious beasts, you know.'

‘Shhh, not so loud!'

Zed looked at her in concern. ‘There's no need to be wary here, Lili, I promise you. I know you were right and I was wrong, back at Stormlinn, but we're safe here at Estelliana.'

‘There are starkin spies everywhere,' Liliana said desperately.

Zed took her cold hand in his big, warm one. ‘Not here. I've known everyone here since I was a baby. They're all loyal, I promise you.'

‘You can't be sure,' Liliana said. ‘That man . . . Aubin the Fair . . . the way he looked at me. I'm sure he suspects something.'

‘Aubin made me my first little wooden sword, when I was only two,' Zed said, drawing away. ‘He used to give me piggyback rides all around the castle, and then taught me how to ride and wrestle and joust and fight with a sword. He's like family to me.'

‘I'm sorry . . . but I think we should go away from here right now, pluck the swan feather and then go on as fast as we can to find the other feathers.'

Zed stared at her in astonishment. ‘You can't be serious! I haven't seen my parents for months. And we're a matter of steps away from a hot bath, a good meal and a warm bed. The swans will still be there in the morning.'

‘Don't be afraid,' Merry said gently. ‘Zed's parents are good people, really they are.'

‘I am not afraid!' she flashed.

‘Good. Come on then.' Zed took a few quick steps to the side door, which stood half-open nearby. Merry smiled encouragingly at Liliana and followed.

Still she hesitated. The back of her neck prickled. Liliana swung round and searched the shadows behind her with suspicious eyes. A square-set figure was skulking in the archway to the gatehouse. It was Aubin the Fair. Liliana stared at him challengingly and he stared back, frowning, before turning away.

Z
ED CRIED OUT IN SURPRISE AS HE SWUNG WIDE THE SIDE
door and collided with someone on the other side. Liliana swung around at once, her heart jumping.