Lief’s heart jolted with excitement. He glanced at Barda, whose face was bright with triumph.
Penn’s shrewd eyes seemed to dim as she watched them. ‘I do not look forward to the journey,’ she murmured. ‘I had hoped to avoid it. But you must see the island for yourselves. Only then will you understand the truth.’
9 - Troubles
Not another word would Penn say. In silence she led the companions through the walkways. Curtains twitched aside as they passed, and faces filled with curiosity, fear or resentment peered out.
The back of Lief’s neck burned. ‘We are not welcome here,’ he muttered.
‘Why should you be?’ said Penn calmly. ‘You invaded our waters in a Plume boat, carrying the Plume part of the Pirran Pipe, to mock us. You brought fearsome creatures with you. You accused us of making Auron unfit for life. And you are very large and ugly, and smell unpleasant.’
‘An attractive list of qualities,’ said Barda dryly. ‘I wonder you could bear to have us in your home, Penn.’
Penn shrugged. ‘As I told you, I have read of your people. That was why the Piper chose me for this task.’
They reached the edge of the platform where their boat still rocked gently, tied up with a few others. Stony-faced guards moved aside, at a word from Penn, to let them pass.
The water was alive with huge, ferocious-looking eels like the ones the guards had been riding. They were cruising just below the surface, twisting together lazily.
Trying not to look at them, Lief, Jasmine and Barda climbed into the boat, taking great care not to slip. Penn followed, quite untroubled. Then she caught sight of Fury and Flash, still asleep in their cages on the floor of the boat.
‘I had forgotten them, when I suggested we take your boat,’ she murmured nervously. ‘Their cages are strong, I suppose?’
‘Very strong,’ Lief assured her, taking up his paddle.
Penn shuddered and untied the boat, turning her head as she did so to stare at the eels, which she plainly found quite restful to look upon.
She pointed west. ‘That way,’ she said in a low voice. ‘Keep a straight course. And please paddle gently. I do not distrust your word, but I would prefer that your beasts did not wake.’
The boat moved away from the platform. Ahead was dim, open sea. And Auron.
A world away, in Del, the sun was sliding slowly down towards the horizon.
Sharn had been in the entrance hall for far longer than she had intended. Many, many people were waiting to speak to her.
One of these was Barda’s deputy, a Resistance fighter called Mobley, who wished to report a death. Pieter, the brother of one of the helpers in the entrance hall, had died horribly when two Plains scorpions escaped from a box he had hidden under his shirt.
‘We think it was Pieter who put the scorpion in the king’s bed chamber, ma’am,’ Mobley said. ‘In the old days he was a roof-mender. He could have easily climbed to the king’s window and cut the bars. Also, we found this in the scorpions’ box. Maria says it is her brother’s writing.’
He showed a scrap of paper.
‘But why would Maria’s brother feel this way?’ Sharn exclaimed, amazed and distressed.
Mobley shrugged. ‘Who knows? Like many other folk, he and Maria lost each other the night the Shadow Lord took over the city. They only met again by chance, when Pieter wandered into the palace a few weeks ago. He was thin as a rail, had no memory, and suffered from headaches, bad headaches that gave him no peace.’
He paused. ‘It was a terrible thing Pieter did, ma’am, but as I saw him lying there it came into my mind that if things had been different, I could have gone the same way as he did. I, too, lost my family in the troubles. It was only joining up with the Resistance that kept me sane, I think.’
Sharn hurried upstairs at last, and went directly to the library. There she found Marilen sitting at one of the tables. Josef, looking harried and distressed, was checking books nearby, with Ranesh silently assisting him.
When Marilen saw Sharn, she stood up at once. Her face was very pale. ‘We will talk in my bed chamber, if you please,’ she said formally.
They moved down the great staircase in strained silence. As they reached the second floor, and the guards who barred the stairs stepped aside to let them pass, Marilen swallowed and seemed to make a great effort to calm herself.
‘Forgive me, Sharn, if I seem to be behaving oddly,’ she whispered. ‘I went to the library for comfort while I waited for you. But I must speak to you in privacy. Josef and Ranesh—especially Ranesh—must not hear what I have to say. And I believe it is dangerous to speak aloud out here.’
She hastened towards the hallway which led to her own room. Sharn followed, greatly troubled. What had made Marilen think the hallways were not safe? This floor had been searched very thoroughly for listening devices.
But even stranger was Marilen’s determination not to speak where Josef and Ranesh might hear. Sharn had assumed that the girl wanted only to discuss the report of Lief’s death. But Josef and Ranesh knew about that already.
What else could she have to tell me? Sharn thought. And why does she say that Ranesh, in particular, should not know of it?
Marilen had reached her door and drawn out her key. But when she put the key in the lock, she drew back.
‘It is already unlocked,’ she whispered.
Before Sharn could stop her, she had twisted the knob and thrown the door wide. There was a moment’s horrified silence. Then Marilen gave a single, piercing cry and buried her face in her hands. Sharn simply stared, shocked and silent.
Jinks lay sprawled amid a small wreckage of broken china and spoiled food. His eyes stared sightlessly at the ceiling. His mouth was twisted in a snarl of agony. From the pocket of his trousers spilled part of a fine gold chain with a locket hanging from it.
Sharn looked down at it. ‘My locket,’ she said slowly, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. Then, pulling herself together, she moved past Marilen and knelt by Jinks, feeling for his pulse.
After a moment she stood up. ‘He is dead,’ she said evenly. ‘He must have been more badly injured than we, or he himself, thought. His heart—’
‘No,’ said Marilen. ‘Poison.’ She stooped to pick up a crumpled silver paper case from the floor. She held it out to Sharn, her face very pale.
‘Poison!’ Sharn gaped at her.
‘That was what I was going to tell you, Sharn,’ said Marilen, the words at last tumbling out. ‘As soon as I uncovered the tray, I knew I must not eat the food.’
‘But—but—’ Sharn ran a trembling hand over her brow. So many questions were rushing through her mind. She managed to blurt out one. ‘Marilen, how could you know?’
Marilen shrank back, wrapping her arms around her body, as though to protect herself from attack. Then she seemed to find the strength to answer. She unfolded her arms and lifted her chin. ‘I am a daughter of Tora,’ she said.
‘I too am a daughter of Tora,’ said Sharn, staring at her. ‘Or, at least, my ancestors were Toran, so I was always told. But can Toran magic sense poison?’
‘All I can tell you is that I knew at once that there was poison in the meal, and I did not eat it,’ replied Marilen quietly.
She gestured at the rigid body on the floor. ‘The man Jinks came here to steal. He stole once too often, and it was his death. But I was the intended victim.’
Sharn forced her face into a calm she did not feel. Her mind was racing. ‘Do you wish to leave here, Marilen?’ she asked at last. ‘Do you wish to return to Tora?’
She waited tensely for the answer.
But Marilen shook her head. ‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘That would be to give in to our enemies. Whoever tried to kill me may not know exactly who I am, but at least wishes to make trouble between Deltora’s east and west. And who could that be, but a servant of the Shadow Lord?’