Chapter Seven - The Dungeon and the Night Thief
MERL WAS NOT altogether impressed with the idea of me travelling to Thistlewick when we discussed it but he had to go there himself anyway, after the death of a queen it was customary that one member of each race attend the funeral. I'm pretty sure the Gnarls were exempt from this rule and I had heard that the Selkies had retreated to the depths of Loch Du when the word about Agrona spread, but all the other races were to be represented in some form. As Merl was the only wizard in existence, he'd attended every single coronation that had passed. I convinced him it would be safer for me to be under his protection. He knew me well enough to realise that if left to my own devices, I was likely to do something rash like go to Galdur Wood and search for Jestin. I must concede that the idea of staying behind and stealing off was a tempting one but I had a duty to the people of the island. I was also aching to see Dahlia, I hadn't yet rid myself of the guilt at not going to her side when her father died. I was not about to fail her again no matter what she might have been coaxed to say about me.
We were travelling the easiest way, through the crooked bookcase portal to Thistlewick. As Merl pulled back the bookcase to reveal a familiar heavy wooden door he spoke the words 'Ar Agor.' The portal rushed into existence, brilliant blues, vivid purples and soft pinks all interwove in flashes of light giving this portal a particularly ethereal quality that was befitting of its destination. I leaped through after Merl feeling the familiar sensation as if my stomach was being pulled through my belly button. Disorientated I clambered through the other side of the portal and straightened up.
We emerged from a small rickety door that looked out of place in the grand Banshee hall. I supposed it had been made that way intentionally. My best guess was that it was fashioned to resemble a broom cupboard so that no-one would try and open it. I put my hand against the hard stone of the wall to steady myself. Merl arrived a few seconds later than me, he gave his star spattered purple cloak a brush down and ran his hand down his long grey beard.
"You look lovely." I said playfully.
"Do be quiet you nincompoop." Merl was not in the mood. I chuckled quietly. Merl gave me a look so stern that I was transported back to my days in primary school. Days when I might have occasionally talked out of turn and earned myself a trip to Mr Brown's office. Mr Brown could have been Merl's younger brother if they hadn't been born so many centuries apart. They were very similar in both appearance and temperament. My trip down memory lane came to an abrupt halt as a small and slender Banshee guard approached. Catching us both by the arm in one quick movement, she led us down toward the very depths of the castle.
I recognised the splendid great hallway that Jestin, Dahlia and I had been escorted down toward Queen Evangelista's throne room. Back then this place had been filled with Banshee scholars correlating in the huge bay windows and Banshee children running up and down the halls followed by tired looking Banshee males, who are the primary guardians of the children. Now, there wasn't another soul in sight, despite the many dignitary's that would have been travelling to Thistlewick. I found this odd but made no comment. I would ask Merl when we arrived at our destination. I didn't have to wait long before we were descending decadent marble steps and heading into the polished marble Banshee dungeons.
True to the Banshee character, the dungeons were not what would be expected of a stereotypical dungeon. They were not dank or dirty, there was no bodily fluid soaked hay on the floors. Nor was there any kind of manacle or chains of any description. Instead, there were rows upon row of polished gleaming white marble cells. The prisoners within them all situated toward the back wall. None of the prisoners troubled to turn and glance as we passed by. The cells themselves smelt faintly of citrus and drew light from the orbs that hovered on the roof of each individual room. There were four guards stationed in the dungeons, two at each end of the corridor and all with a distinctive silver-blue cloak. The Banshee police! We were in trouble. We were led, rather unceremoniously, toward the cell on the end of the row. The scarlet-haired Banshee guard took my bow and placed it against the marble wall. I winced as the nightingale's head hit the wall with a hollow bump.
The bow may have seemed to the guard as if it was just an object but last summer that very bird had sprung into action and saved my life in Loch Du.
The scarlet-haired guard used a strange silver staff to separate the bars that were not forged steal or iron or any kind of metal. They were formed from the same substance that acted as a deadly moat around the castle itself. I could smell the pungent acidity as the guard removed the staff and we were trapped within the cell. I took a few steps backward away from the deadly bars of mist and stumbled over something. As my rear connected with the hard marble floor I let out an involuntary 'oomph.' Merl, who was initially distracted fashioning a small oak chair seemingly out of thin air, swivelled around to face me. He surveyed me for a couple of moments stroking his long beard again and then he turned back toward the guards.
"Could I trouble you for a glass of water? I see you have some in that decanter over there." He asked cordially. I was surprised as politeness was not Merls forte.
"Prisoners are fed twice a day, mealtime has passed, and you will have to wait until the morning." This guard was tall, with raven hair and high cheekbones. She reminded me of the vampiress in the last movie Dahlia and I had watched together before the fateful night I ended up here in Falinn Galdur. She tried to suppress a smug smile but her delight at having the most powerful wizard in the world as her prisoner was written all over her face.
"It's only water Helle." The small scarlet-haired guard who had escorted us to the dungeons reasoned with the vampire guard.
"It's water that they are not permitted to drink, do you understand Ffion?" The vampire guard had spoken and she seemed to be the superior. Another curly-haired guard who was stationed at the very end of the corridor looked surprised that the scarlet-haired guard had questioned the vampire guard. The small scarlet-headed guard surveyed the vampire guard in frustration before walking away to continue her watch at the other end of the corridor.
"Very well." Merl conceded before using his magic to part the bars of mist. He strolled casually over to the water decanter took it from its place on a marble table and brought it back into the cell with him. Smiling, he manipulated the misty bars back to their original state and sat back down on his chair as he took a huge gulp of the water. The vampire guard was enraged. Banshees' emotions were very rarely portrayed on their features.Their graceful stoicism was something that made them all the more beautiful and mysterious. But Merl's blatant act of defiance had reddened Helle the vampire guards cheeks and her eyes had widened with fury.
"You will regret that old man." She spat.
"I very much doubt I will you nincompoop." Merl grumbled back. I heard a faint chucking sound come from within the cell. It hadn't come from Merl or me, it definitely hadn't come from the guards. I looked around, the cell was empty and no one else seemed to have heard the noise. The vampire guard stalked off darkly as Merl parted the bars of the cell again and waltzed through.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"I noticed an old friend in one of the cells further down, I am going to collect my gold coins." Merl answered before heading past the curly-haired guard going about her rounds and powerless to stop my cantankerous old relative. He disappeared too far down the corridor for me to see so I slunk backwards on the chair he had conjured.
I sat there, utterly bored for an unfathomable period of time. I sat for so long that I noticed my legs had begun to tingle with the familiar sensation of pins and needles. I stood up awkwardly and started to pace the cell, as I looped around in a small circular shape, I noticed an odd shuffling sound. There was undoubtedly someone or something else in this cell. Nervous and having fended off the dreaded pins and needles, I took my seat again and waited for Merl.
When he finally arrived back, parting the misty bars and gesturing for me to get out of the
seat, Merl was flipping two ancient-looking golden coins.
"What are those?" I asked.
"Not here." Merl shook his head. I didn't press the issue, there was something else I wanted to talk about anyway.
"Merl I think there's a ghost in the cell." I whispered.
"I can assure you my girl that there is not a ghost in this cell." Merl stated confidently. "There is however a clod of a Bobbin by the name of Pettledopper crouched a little over there." Merl pointed to what I saw as empty air.
"Bettery?" I questioned. I knew that was her family name because it was inscribed into her wooden door, the same as every Bobbin residence.
"No Violet you ninny, why on earth would a gentle lady such as Bettery find herself in the dungeons of Thistlewick Castle?" Merl perished the thought. I suppose he had a point.
"Who then?" I was becoming frustrated.
"PSSSST!" The sound was quiet but audible from our position in the cell.
"I am not in the habit of answering to such an animalistic beckoning." Merl said more loudly than he needed to. The curly-haired Banshee guard, who by now was busying herself surveying my bow strained to peek into our cell.
"Shhhhhh." Urged the small voice.
"What's going on?" The curly-haired guard asked with suspicion. I rubbed my nose vigorously with the palm of my hand.
"A?Achooo." I faked. "You should probably polish the marble down here a little more often." I criticised cheekily.
"Calm your noise." The guard demanded before heading off up the corridor.
"Thanks." The small voice whispered.
"Enough of this" Merl stated bluntly. He walked over to the empty air. "Nocht." He commanded.
The shape of a trim young Bobbin male appeared before us. His murky-brown hair tumbled and flopped around his head in uncontrollable waves. His deep amber eyes glistened with knowing and his thin lips curled upwards into a cunning smile.
"Ah Merrydian, you caught me you did." He smiled but sounded slightly exasperated. "How did you know I was here?"
"I have known from the moment we were brought to the cell." Merl answered before shuffling back to his seat and looking about uninterestedly. The Bobbin looked impressed.
"You truly are the greatest wizard." He said appreciatively. Merl shrugged his reply. "How is my sister? I hope she is well."
"Your sister is very well thank you, she is all the better for your continued absence from her presence. Let us keep it that way shall we not Percival?" If Merl's usual demeanour was somewhat cold and aloof, he was downright frosty to the Bobbin named Percival. I felt a little sorry for Percival but if he was in anyway saddened by Merl's comments he didn't show it.
"Yes, yes of course." He shook his head dismissively as if Merl had stated the obvious. "I am merely enquiring as to my sister's wellbeing that is all, I have no intention to go back to Blossomdown. I certainly wouldn't want to wound her with my presence. I made a promise I will adhere to it."
"Very well." Merl replied curtly. "This is Violet." He pointed a bony finger in my direction. A flash of blue light emitted from the end of it. I just about jumped out of the way, as it streaked like a firework to the back of the cell, burning the polished marble walls. I stood rooted to the spot and staring at Merl with wide dear in the headlight eyes for a moment. In the same moment both Merl and Percival looked to each other as shocked as I was and then back at me before they simultaneously burst out with roaring laughter.
"That was not funny." I protested. Their laughter grew. "I could have been burnt!" They continued to laugh, drawing humour from one another. "Lovely, roasted Violet, hilarious." I slumped on the floor like a petulant teenager. With my final words, their laughter grew to a crescendo.
"Roasted Violet!" Percival roared. Upon hearing the words spoken back to me, I began to chuckle a little myself and then a lot, as I too caught the giggles that Merl and Percival shared. When we calmed a little Merl wiped his eyes and nose with the wide end of his sleeve.
"Violet my girl, if we cannot laugh at the times we have encountered danger and survived, then what in life should we draw our joy from?" Merl said.
"I suppose." I agreed, unsure that Merl would have been laughing if I'd shot a spell at him. Merl turned back to Percival, his face was once again serious.
"Bettery is well. She is currently looking after two Worlen children rescued from Forge Gate before Agrona took the city."
"Painful for her I imagine?" Percival replied.
"Somewhat, but Bettery is stronger than any other being I know. She will suffer her pain with a smile on her face in order that she can be the best surrogate mother possible." Merl's words were full of admiration.
"I'm sorry, I'm not following." I interjected.
"Violet doesn't know Bettery she doesn't?" Percival looked confused.
"I know Bettery." I said a little offended. She had been like a mother to me since the day I arrived on the island. "I know Bettery well."
"Not as half as well as you think I should say." Percival replied.
"How so?" I said a little curtly.
"Well if you knew Bettery, you would know about her family you would, you would know about the creature that took them away from her it did and you would know that it was my fault it was." Percival stated the last words sadly. I looked to Merl, I never knew, Bettery had never mentioned a family. He simply shook his head sadly and stared toward the cold marble floor.
"What happened?" I know the question may have been intrusive but at that moment I did not care, I felt so connected to Bettery that her pain was my own. I didn't want her to put on a brave face around me if it meant suppressing the hurt inside of her. I of all people am well aware of how unhealthy that was with my Pandora's box tucked firmly away within my heart.
"Bettery had a husband once, young man by the name Loncast and a daughter she did. Beautiful little girl she was, her name was Bree. She was like a ray of sunshine with hair to match her father's, golden brown it was. All the family loved her including me, I loved that little girl so much, and I swore I'd protect her when the Gnarls first tried to attack Blossomdown. For the most part, I did. I kept an eye out over her wherever she went and whoever she went with, she was as good as a daughter to me that child. I would have done anything for her I would anything for Bettery too." Percival dabbed at a tear that was trying to escape from his eye. "Blossomdown was safe, as safe as could be with Agrona and the Gnarls around. Only a Bobbin could lift the barrier that was the only chink in our armour it was.
One night, when I had spent a good while in the Dragons Scales, I wondered around the village ending up at the barrier I did. Singing, happy, and merry I was, hadn't a care in the world. I didn't know, I couldn't know but if I hadn't been there that night then maybe Bree would still be alive.
I leaned my head against a grassy mound to get some sleep I did an I was just about to drift off when I heard the creature whisper. It told me to let it in, well I was so? I don't know why it chose Bettery's cottage but it did. First it did something terrible to Loncast, I wasn't there but many-a-Bobbin saw what happened. Drained the life blood right from his body it did, never heard of anything so gruesome I hadn't. That wasn't the worst before Merl killed it, it burned the cottage to the ground, a warning, the fire didn't burn orange. It burnt the deep red and rose in crow wings same as Agrona's battle emblem. Red crow wings I promise you, saw it with my own eyes I did. It was the most unnatural fire I ever did see. Only Bettery was pulled out still alive. No one could understand they couldn't the Bobbin barrier should have been solid but it was me. I was the reason that creature had made it through, I was the reason they died. I couldn't live with the guilt. I fled Blossomdown not long after they laid what was left of Loncast and Bree to rest. I haven't seen my sister since but I expect that your companion here has told her what happened, why the creature made it through that night. I could never face her after that I couldn't."
Percival dabbed at his eyes once again and wiped his snotty nose with his sleeve. I was s
hocked. Bettery had a child once! It made sense I suppose, if anyone was meant to be a mother it was her. I could not imagine the overwhelming sense of loss she must have felt, loss she probably still felt now. The pain I felt at losing my family was so intense it felt like a physical burn inside of me when I thought about it. At least they were still alive and happy somewhere. Bettery must ache with the pain of losing her family. She must feel the same kind of pain that had almost destroyed Merl, pain that was always present in his eyes. Yet Bettery had somehow kept that pain hidden. I dabbed at my own eyes now, the next time I saw her I would hold her as tightly as she had held me when I came into Queen Evangelista's throne room after my brush with the Spriggans. I would never let her go.
"I had to illuminate her, you are aware of that Percival, it was never my intention to cause you grief." Merl spoke now. Percival looked at the floor. "If Bettery had continued to believe that their deaths were her fault, as for some inexplicable reason she did, undoubtedly it would have destroyed her. She convinced herself that she was to blame for leaving her door unbolted that night. How could she have known that you, Percival, you would make such a grievous mistake? And now I see you much altered in your time away. It was Madge I expect?" Percival nodded.
"What was Madge?" I asked.
"It was Madge that cast the spell upon Percival, a rather expert piece of magic that allows him to disappear from almost all eyes. It is the reason you could not see Percival when we first entered the cell and why the Banshees' did not know Percival was here. It is also the reason why Bettery has been unaware of his presence with each sporadic visit he has made to Blossomdown." Percival looked at the floor guiltily.
"How did you guess it was me?" he asked.
"We shall call it wizard's intuition." Merl answered.
"And how did Bettery take the news?" Percival winced when he asked this question.
"With much betrayal, anger and hurt but it is Bettery we talk of, she soon found the poise and forgiveness within herself that she was not long angry toward you. However, I do not think it wise that you ever return to Blossomdown permanently." Merl warned.
"Because the other Bobbins are still angry with Percival for putting their lives at risk?" I asked
"Not quite Violet. If I ever see Bettery experience as much pain or betrayal ever again, I'm afraid I may hex Percival with such a fearsome curse that Agrona herself would have nightmares about it." Merl was dark, scarily dark. I didn't doubt that he meant every word he said. Percival inspected the marble floor again.
"But why did Madge cast the spell?" There was so much that had past, so long before I was ever born that I often found myself asking questions at the same rate as a toddler trying to discover it's strange new world. I knew it was irritating but my alternative was to walk around in permanent ignorance.
"Because I am a thief I am." Percival stated bluntly. "Madge needed something stealing, and in my occupation the promise of the power to disappear was too much to refuse it was."
"Oh!" I said a little shocked at his honesty.
"Hmm." Was all Percival could offer in reply.
"If I could speak frankly Percival, I was wondering how the ruddy-hell a master larcenist such as yourself got into such a dire situation?"
"Well I was stowing away on a travelling Bobbin fruit trader's apple cart I was when I heard the news of the Banshee queen. Very sad business it is, very sad. But a thief never turns down a good opportunity, so I made my way toward the castle I did. Nearly got eaten by a reaping bird I'll tell you. I arrived here in the dead of night I did. Without a soul on watch, it was easier than I thought to get into the throne room. There it sat on the throne of purple silk, the bloodied yet beautiful Celtic sapphire crown of the dead Banshee queen. I knew I shouldn't but there have been many times that I have known something was wrong and have done it anyway I have."
"Queen Evangelista merited better than that." Merl shook his head at Percival as he spoke to condemn him.
"I steal from the people who have, not the people who have not." Percival answered.
"Like Robin Hood." I said. Both Merl and Percival looked at me as if I were insane. "Never-mind, carry on." I urged.
"I went to the throne, after all my years of thievery I should have guessed that the crown wasn't being guarded because there was no need of a guard there wasn't. As soon as I touched the thing, BAM! Here I was." Percival's face dropped in disappointment at his own error. "I'd spent a little while trying to figure out how I would get out of here when the guards showed you two in they did." I opened my mouth to speak, I was curious about what Madge needed so desperately she would trade magic with a thief but I was abruptly interrupted.
"Shhhh" Merl whispered as heavy footsteps came our way.
The vampire guard made her way down the hall. Her face was awash with smug satisfaction.
"You wizard! Come with me." She demanded.
"In the words of my beloved door knocker fizzlesnap, sod off." Merl replied without turning to look at the vampire guard. With Merl's latest display of rebellion, the vampire guard turned purple with rage. I could hear the faintest chuckling of Percival although I could no longer see the little Bobbin man.
"Stop your laughing you moronic blimp." The vampire guard had turned her rage on me. I felt her spittle fly past my head as she roared every word.
"I'm not?" I began, only to second-guess myself when I realised it was preferable to take the blame rather than to explain why there was disembodied laughter coming from our cell.
"Come with me old man or I will be forced to enter that cell and drag you out." The guard's voice was full of menace.
"You may attempt to if you wish, that would be your folly not mine." Merl warned.
I could feel the tension between the two of them. It was as if waves of electric anger were travelling on the air, radiating between Merl and the guard and threatening to erupt with the full force of a lightning storm.
My heart beat faster, as it always did in preparation for battle. The 'fight or flight' reflex I think they called it. Just like Merl, I didn't have flight within me. If this quarrel was about to erupt into a fray then I was going to support my ancestor to the best of my means. My hands clenched into tight fists and then released again, a flash of red light emitted from them like the flash of a firework exploding. I hadn't felt the energy surge through me, I certainly hadn't intended to perform any magic. Nevertheless, there it was. The sparks were there and I could not stop them as they crackled and flashed with every flex of my fingers. Merl noticed them too. A slight smile fractured the straight line of his stern mouth. The vampire guard looked away from Merl's severe gaze and surveyed the red crackling energy coming from my hands.
"Stand down girl." Her eyes narrowed. I held her stare, glaring back at her with a newly found confidence in my own ability. If this came to a fight, I knew I could take her. Whatever was happening to me in this moment was something powerful and raw. It was a battle cry from the very beginning of time that echoed down the eras and found its home within me right here and now.
"Remarkable, very impressive." Merl observed.
"Stand down!" The vampire guard insisted. The other guards came to flank around her in a show of support to their superior. "STAND DOWN!" She aimed at me a terrifying scream so powerful that the sound waves it travelled on could be seen as in electric blue as they pierced the air. I quickly countered bringing my hands together in a clapping motion. The red electricity shot toward the vampire guard with such a vicious ferocity that it knocked us both from our feet. I came off better, stumbling backward and landing awkwardly on my bottom inches from where I had stood. The vampire guard on the other hand was raised into the air as the spell hit. She flew with great force into the wall and landed unconscious on the ground a few meters away. The other guards who had jumped out of the way of the spell now scrambled for the staff to lower the bars and enter the cell. I was ready. If they came in here, it would be their mistake.
"STOP!" The voice that echoed
down the corridor was saturated with anger and worry.
The vampire guard got to her feet and then wobbling a little, steadied herself against the hard wall. Still disorientated by the force of the spell, her hand slid down the smooth surface and she took another tumble, straight into my beloved bow. It bent under her weight and to my absolute horror, I heard the sound of ivory wood splinter. One of the butterflies that danced around the design fell to the floor and cracked before transforming into a living butterfly that fluttered toward the ceiling and then disappeared. I stood on the spot stunned and furious not daring to move, fearing that if I did, I might shoot the guard with a much more powerful hex.
"Stop this now!" Dahlia demanded as she approached the bars of our cell. "I command it." She continued looking toward her guards as she spoke.
"Dahlia." I breathed. She was almost unrecognisable. Her eyes were puffed and red from crying. Her face had filled out since the last time I had seen her, as had her entire form. The dimples that used to pinch her cheeks inward when she smiled were less pronounced. "Dahlia I'm.."
"Don't, not here." She cut me off. "Walk with me Violet." Dutifully the standing guards lowered the misty bars and I stepped out of the cell. I walked to Dahlia's side wanting with every fibre of my being to reach out and grab my oldest friend. To hold her close and tell her I was there for her just as I always had been before. Resisting temptation, I stood a foot apart from her. Merl followed me out and I listened tentatively, hoping to hear the sound of Percival's footsteps as he exited the cell. I heard nothing but he had more than enough time to get out. Merl lingered between where the bars should be. This was a rare act of kindness from my grumpy great ancestor.
"About ruddy time." Merl grumbled as he finally stepped over the threshold of the cell.
"Guards, take Violets bow to the armoury to be fixed. Also, escort Merrydian to the halls. I've heard our guest is thirsty, make him up some buttered milk." I saw a slight smile touch the side of Dahlia's mouth.
"BUTTERED MILK! Buttered ruddy milk. I'm not on my death bed yet you impertinent imbecile." Dahlia continued on pretending not to hear Merl's insults as he stalked off toward the great hall.