The Hunting of the Princes Read online

  Jemima grinned back at the darkness behind the waterfall as it began to close. ‘Thank you,’ she told Harrolas. Once more a twinkling light winked at her.

  Hours later, the pegasi landed between the canal station and the doorway in the hillside that led to Arasath. Sophie alighted beside them, smiling round in satisfaction and stretching her arms wide. ‘I haven’t flown so far in a long while,’ she said. ‘An occasional flight like that does you good.’

  When she slid down off Onrith, Taggie saw the poor animal was exhausted. She stroked his flank in thanks. Catlifrax had to sit on the grass as soon as Felix and Jemima dismounted. Lantic couldn’t stop staring up at the land curving overhead. ‘This is a wonder beyond any in our Realm,’ he muttered in awe. ‘And the land is so green. How soft on the eye. You have an amazing Realm, Queen of Dreams.’

  ‘Can you thank the pegasi for us?’ Taggie said to Sophie. ‘You can tell them they’ll be looked after at the palace.’

  Sophie nodded, and began a quiet warble to the spent animals. Taggie could understand some of the airsong language, but knew she’d never be able to speak it herself.

  ‘Majesty,’ Felix said apprehensively. ‘I didn’t get time to ask before, we were all so involved trying to leave Shatha’hal—’

  ‘But do I know how to find Lord Colgath?’ Taggie finished for him.

  Felix’s black nose twitched. ‘Yes, Majesty.’

  Taggie saw the way everyone was looking at her, waiting. ‘Well . . . no,’ she admitted. ‘Jem, do you know where he is?’

  Jemima gave her a long disapproving look before she took the purse of runes out. She shook the little black stones and let them fall on the sweet grass amid the flutterseed stalks. ‘That’s strange,’ she said, crouching over the rune stones. ‘Everybody knows. He’s in a tower overlooking water.’

  ‘What do you mean, everybody knows?’ Felix asked.

  ‘Everyone in the Fourth Realm. It’s not a secret there.’

  ‘So where exactly is the tower?’ Taggie asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Jemima snapped. ‘I’m not a satnav app! We need to ask someone from the Fourth Realm.’

  Everyone swivelled round to stare at Felix.

  ‘I was born in the First Realm,’ he protested, with his sharp little teeth chittering away. ‘The Fourth is my heritage, but not my home.’

  ‘We knew we’d have to go there anyway,’ Lantic said. ‘This changes nothing.’

  ‘But how do we get there?’ Sophie said. ‘We’ll have trouble travelling between Realms without someone seeing us. Everyone is going to be watching for us – especially you, Taggie.’

  ‘Lord Golzoth managed it,’ Jemima said with a note of resentment.

  ‘Managed what?’ Lantic asked.

  Taggie gave Jemima a sympathetic glance, remembering all too clearly their last encounter with that particular Dark Lord. Golzoth had come very close to killing them – especially Jemima – before Mum finally dispatched him. ‘She’s right,’ Taggie said. ‘Last year, Lord Golzoth followed us about very easily. We never did find out how he managed that.’ The memory of her showdown with the Karraks in the palace returned to chill her again. ‘Remember when we broke into the palace to rescue Dad? Right at the end, in the throne room, Golzoth turned away and left just before I cast the spell to bring sunlight back into the First Realm.’

  ‘He had an escape route,’ Sophie exclaimed.

  ‘Maybe it was a Gateway!’ Jemima said. ‘Perhaps he had his own version of a Great Gateway, one that could take him wherever he wanted? That’s why he was always turning up right behind us.’

  ‘I’ve never heard of a Great Gateway like that,’ Lantic said cautiously. ‘And their history is a required part of the Royal Society’s study.’

  ‘When you need to know something, always ask an expert,’ Taggie said primly, and indicated the wooden doorway set into the hillside.

  Sophie clapped delightedly. ‘Oh yes! Come on.’

  After a minute walking along the curving brick-lined tunnel, the five friends came to the iron-bound door.

  ‘I am the Queen of Dreams,’ Taggie announced to the dark wood, ‘and I would ask you a question, Arasath.’

  ‘A question?’ the Great Gateway’s deep voice said behind her. ‘I do not answer many questions. I open. I close. That is my purpose.’

  ‘Nonetheless, this is important.’

  ‘Then by all means ask, Queen of Dreams.’

  ‘Is there a Great Gateway that can open anywhere it wants?’

  The air in the tunnel moved gently as if sighing. ‘Oh, how I remember such talk,’ Arasath said. ‘Fierce we were back then, impassioned with the flame of youth and determination! So long ago it was.’

  ‘Who? Who talked about it?’

  ‘All of us. Every mage in the Universal Fellowship desired to open across the universe at will. Alas it was beyond all of us. We can only open between two fixed points. Once established, they cannot be changed.’

  Taggie’s eyes narrowed to study the door. She knew from bitter experience how tricky Arasath could be. ‘So if the Universal Fellowship failed, did someone else succeed?’

  The air gusted again, sending strands of Taggie’s hair wafting about. It might have been a laugh. ‘There was another Fellowship, in another place. They too learned to pass between their Realms, but in a different manner to us. Their gates were smaller, and free to move.’

  ‘The Dark Universe where the Karraks come from,’ Taggie said instinctively.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Were any of those Gateways brought through Mirlyn’s Gate, into this universe?’

  ‘Those of us in the Fellowship who survive, we hear things, whispers out there in the void between Realms. Whispers that are not ours. They are faint, and they are few.’

  ‘So the Dark Lords do have their own version of Great Gateways?’ Taggie mused.

  ‘We believe so.’

  ‘I have one last question.’

  ‘You are impulsive, Queen of Dreams. Impatient and curious. I suppose that is admirable in one such as yourself.’

  ‘You said, “Those who survive.” Is Mirlyn one of those survivors?’

  ‘He is the unheard now. Together, Light and Dark bound him; together, Light and Dark closed him; together, Light and Dark feared him. But they could never silence him. In the end he was too strong for their spells to break. All they could do was take him to a place where his voice cannot escape.’

  ‘And nobody knows where that is?’

  ‘We have listened for our lost fellow since the day of Rothgarnal. We have not heard him.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Taggie said with satisfaction.

  ‘You are always welcome, Queen of Dreams. In you, we hear hope. Small though it is.’

  ‘I’d like to pass into the Outer Realm now.’

  ‘Of course.’

  The iron-bound door swung open.

  ‘And please don’t allow anyone to follow me through for a day,’ Taggie added as an afterthought.

  ‘As you wish.’

  After Nursy had dragged a trembling, sobbing Bromani out of the mansion’s rear door, Katrabeth opened an ancient wooden box the size of a thick book. Inside, a circle of crystal similar to a magnifying glass sat amid folds of imperial-purple silk. The darkness it revealed was flecked by slivers of eerie green light that appeared round its edges and sank away somewhere in the centre, as if there was a hole there. She clicked her fingers at it.

  The green flecks reversed their fall, bringing with them the image of a single room, easily as big as the mansion she was staying in. It was poorly lit, with iron braziers on the wall stuffed with a few glowing coals on the verge of extinction. However, she could just make out a large seat in the middle: an odd seat indeed, made from many bones, all twisted together. Grand Lord Amenamon was sitting on it, his smoke cloak writhing round him like a tormented living thing.

  The mouth on his skeletal face opened slowly. His teeth were like small flickering ice-blue fla
mes burning just behind the thin lips. ‘Katrabeth,’ he growled in loathing, the teeth-flames flickering from his breath.

  ‘Grand Lord,’ she replied levelly.

  ‘You risk much. The anamages of the Second Realm are ingenious, and your seeing crystal is a powerful magic. Their contraptions may detect your enchantment reaching for me.’

  ‘Much is at risk this day.’

  ‘What has happened? Was King Manokol anointed War Emperor as we wanted?’

  Katrabeth gave him a confident smile. ‘He was. All royalty present at the Gathering transferred their authority and no small portion of their power to him, even the Elven King. However, the Queen of Dreams did not take part in the ceremony. She is setting out to find Lord Colgath. I didn’t know you had a brother.’

  The roar of fury that came from Amenamon’s mouth was so powerful, so full of hate, that it was all Katrabeth could do not to sway back. ‘I have no brother any more,’ he finally snarled. ‘Colgath is a traitor and a fool. Why does the Abomination seek him?’

  Katrabeth took a moment, mainly so the Grand Lord could calm down. It was like dealing with a spoilt five-year-old, she thought. ‘She visited Lady Dirikal. They talked about finding Mirlyn’s Gate. My ridiculous cousin wants to open it. She thinks that if she does, you’ll all go back to the Dark Universe, or failing that she will join with the War Emperor to force you to return there.’

  ‘Mirlyn’s Gate must not be found. My father died so it would remain hidden, and our home universe would be safe from invasion. He had no choice. The Trakal did not work on Mirlyn’s Gate.’

  Katrabeth tipped her head to one side as she frowned at the seeing crystal. ‘The what?’

  ‘The Trakal. My father and the Congress of Lords created it before the Battle of Rothgarnal. It is a magical weapon of enormous power, designed with one purpose; to destroy the Great Gateways. It worked on them, as Rothgarnal proved, but even it could not destroy Mirlyn’s Gate.’

  ‘You mean you have a weapon that can kill the Great Gateways?’ Katrabeth asked in surprise.

  ‘We did.’

  ‘Why didn’t you use it to rid yourselves of the Great Gateways that open into the Fourth Realm? If you sealed yourself off, the other Realms would never be able to invade you.’

  ‘My father might well have done that upon his return. After the Battle of Rothgarnal he joined the War Emperor to take Mirlyn’s infernal Gate to a place where no one would ever find it. I remember that day well, for I pleaded with him to be the one who accompanied Mirlyn’s Gate to its hiding place. He told me it was his responsibility alone. He was a true Grand Lord, and even today I strive to honour his memory.’

  ‘But they never came back,’ Katrabeth said slowly.

  ‘No doubt your War Emperor betrayed and murdered my father. And soon my vengeance for that crime will be felt across every Realm.’

  ‘Then you’re not worried about my cousin and your brother becoming allies? Together they would be formidable.’

  Grand Lord Amenamon snarled. ‘Ha! Not even Colgath would ally himself with the Abomination.’

  ‘Very well, then,’ Katrabeth replied. ‘Our agreement remains intact.’

  Again the flames that were the Grand Lord’s teeth flickered brightly as air hissed from his mouth, as if he was uncertain. ‘If the Abomination were to find Mirlyn’s Gate it would . . . distract my people, especially now on the eve of the war. I cannot tolerate that. I require the Lords and Ladies to be fully united behind me to defeat the War Emperor.’

  ‘Then you must make very sure the two of them never meet,’ she said, trying not to make it sound too patronizing. ‘Where is Lord Colgath?’

  ‘He is imprisoned in a tower without doors.’

  ‘Impressive. So there is no problem, is there?’

  ‘No.’ Grand Lord Amenamon’s mouth opened wide, the teeth-flames growing longer and brighter. ‘We know of every Grand Gateway into the Fourth Realm, even those that have been closed for centuries. We will watch for the Abomination. I will enjoy meeting her in person before her death.’

  THE OLDEST SHOP IN THE WORLD

  It was night when Taggie and her friends walked up out of the roundadown. Mum’s grey Range Rover was parked outside Orchard Cottage, where they’d left it a week ago. It had a keyless lock system, and of course Mum had the fob in her handbag, which was back in the First Realm. Taggie concentrated on creating a new spellform, one that was a lot simpler than the shapeshifter one. She clicked her fingers. The doors unlocked and the inside lights came on. ‘Yes!’

  ‘Is this one of the new steam cars?’ Lantic asked.

  ‘It has a combustion engine,’ Taggie told him. ‘Like the submarine.’

  He climbed in to the back seat. ‘This is your royal car? It is most luxurious.’

  ‘Nobody knows I’m a Queen in this Realm. This is an ordinary car – for people who can afford it. Jem, show him how the seatbelt works.’

  ‘You’re not going to drive us, are you?’ Jemima asked in dismay.

  ‘It’s an automatic. All I have to do is steer. I know the way to Mum’s house, it’s night, and I’ll use magic on any police that try to pull us over. What can go wrong?’

  Jemima looked like she could name quite a lot of things, but held her tongue.

  Taggie crafted an enchantment to start the engine, and clicked her fingers. Nothing happened. The fifth spellform she came up with worked, and the engine purred into life.

  ‘Oh, glorious Heavens,’ Lantic said. They drove out of Melham and Taggie risked accelerating up to forty miles an hour as she peered over the top of the steering wheel. ‘We’re faster than the very wind itself. Is this full speed?’

  ‘Yes,’ Taggie said.

  ‘Nowhere near,’ Jemima said. She showed Lantic how to use the iPads clipped to the back of the headrests. He goggled in amazement, and started asking questions. Then Jemima made the mistake of bringing up a games app. For the rest of the trip Taggie thought his head was going to explode.

  Breakfast was late. It had taken Taggie over an hour to drive to Mum’s house. By then she was exhausted, and they all stayed in bed until mid-morning. Taggie showed Lantic how to use the shower. Taggie and Jem politely ignored the yipes of delight which came from the bathroom as he discovered shower gel and fluffy towels and the electric toothbrush. Even more embarrassing was when he figured out the toilet flush.

  ‘Outer Realm engineers are amazing,’ he exclaimed when he finally showed up in the kitchen. ‘Can you get me plans of the toilet’s water mechanism?’

  ‘I’ll look into it,’ Taggie mumbled, and started cooking him scrambled eggs.

  ‘Oh, bravo!’ Lantic started applauding as the toast came popping up out of the toaster. ‘A cupboard of coldness!’ Taggie had opened the fridge to get the butter out.

  Taggie just laughed, which made him hang his head. She hadn’t intended to be mean.

  ‘So what shall we do?’ Sophie asked. She was sitting at the breakfast bar drinking a smoothie, and wasn’t as impressed with everything as Lantic. She had visited the First Realm before, during Taggie’s last half-term. Taggie had had a great time showing her round, though Sophie had been pleased to get back home. She wasn’t allowed to fly anywhere in the Outer Realm in case someone saw her – everyone’s phone had a camera, it was too risky.

  ‘We need to find Golzoth’s gate,’ Jemima said. ‘Obviously.’

  ‘Golzoth came here,’ Taggie explained, ‘to this actual kitchen, to try and kill us. So the dark gate would have delivered him somewhere close by. And he would have planned to slip back through it as soon as he was finished, so its entrance should still be open somewhere. We just need to find it.’

  ‘I have spent a year guarding you at this house,’ Felix said. He was sitting at one end of the work surface, nibbling a bowl of nuts and sliced banana, with some milk in a smaller bowl. ‘I have cast exposure enchantments to uncover dark spells, I have searched with my revealor glasses, I have set alarms and traps. There is no sign o
f any kind of magic in this village nor in the surrounding fields. Your mother is also extremely vigilant.’

  Taggie sighed. ‘Well, we have to start somewhere.’

  ‘But we don’t even know what it looks like, or how big it is,’ Lantic complained. ‘It’s a needle in a haystack when you’ve never seen a needle before.’

  ‘Whatever it looks like, it will contain a great deal of magic,’ Taggie said. ‘That’s what we’re seeking. So let’s split up and search the area. Jem, I’m relying on you now.’

  Taggie wished she hadn’t said that. Later that afternoon, when they all returned to Mum’s house, tired and short tempered from finding nothing, Jemima looked particularly miserable, moping about and saying sorry so many times that Taggie had to give her a big hug. ‘I’m probably wrong about the whole thing,’ she said.

  ‘No, you’re not,’ Jem said. ‘I was thinking about it. And it makes perfect sense.’

  ‘Then we’ll look again tomorrow,’ Taggie said. ‘Golzoth must have hidden it somewhere.’

  Lantic was slumped on a stool, his head resting on his arms as he watched the electric kettle start to boil with a rapt expression. ‘Your pardon, Taggie,’ he said. ‘But another day spent searching open countryside is going to get us nowhere. Golzoth wouldn’t have hidden the entrance of the gate where someone could stumble across it by accident. It must be somewhere perfectly secure, yet at the same time a place that he could easily reach at any time and without attracting attention. Is there such a place nearby?’

  ‘A million,’ Taggie complained. ‘Old barns, sheds, outbuildings. And Stamford has a lot of disused buildings. Any one of them would do.’

  ‘Then something must make one of them special to a Karrak Lord. How would we find that out?’

  Taggie and Jemima looked at each other. ‘Mr Laural,’ they chanted.

  Sophie had to wear a light plastic raincoat to cover her wings, which she didn’t like, but it was the only way she could move about the Outer Realm unnoticed. A big broad-rimmed hat kept most of her undulating hair contained.