When the Piper came up to him, Mo saw him as if through a veil. "Somewhere in this castle they say there's a courtyard, an aviary with birdcages in it. Put him in one of those." He drove his elbow into Mo's stomach, but all Mo felt was that he could breathe again as the Night-Mare withdrew, merging with Orpheus's shadow.
"Stop! The Bluejay is still my prisoner!" Violante barred the soldiers' way as they were dragging Mo along with them.
But the Piper pushed her roughly aside. "He was never your prisoner," he said. "Just how stupid do you think your father is? Take her to her room!" he ordered one of the soldiers. "And throw the Fire-Dancer into the courtyard, outside the cage where you lock up the Bluejay. After all, we shouldn't part a shadow from its master, should we?"
Another of Violante's soldiers was lying outside the door, his young face showing his terror as he saw death coming. They lay everywhere. The Castle in the Lake – and the Bluejay with it – belonged to the Adderhead. So that was how the song ended.
"What a terrible ending!" Mo could almost hear Meggie saying. "I don't want to listen to this book, Mo. Don't you have another story?"
57. TOO LATE?
"Rat," said the Mole, "I simply can't go and turn in, and go to sleep, and do nothing, even though there doesn't seem to be anything to be done."
Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
The lake. Resa wanted to run when she saw the water shining through the trees at the foot of the slope, but the Strong Man held her back, pointing without a word to the tents lining the bank. The black tent could belong to only one man, and Resa leaned against one of the trees growing on the steep hillside and felt all her strength failing her. They were too late. The Adderhead had reached this place before them. Now what?
She looked at the castle lying there in the middle of the lake, like a black fruit that the Silver Prince was about to pluck. Its dark walls looked menacing – and inaccessible. Was Mo really there? Even if he was, so was the Adderhead. And the bridge leading across the lake to it was guarded by a dozen soldiers. Now what, Resa?
"We can't go over the bridge, that's for sure," the Strong Man whispered to her. "I'll have a look around. You wait here. Maybe there's a boat somewhere."
But Resa hadn't come all this way to wait. It was difficult finding a way over the steep slopes by the banks, and there were soldiers stationed everywhere among the trees, but their eyes were on the castle. The Strong Man led her away from the tents to the eastern bank of the lake, where trees grew all the way down to the water. Perhaps they could try to swim across the lake under cover of darkness? But it would be cold, very cold, and there were grim stories about the water of this lake and the creatures living in it. Resa's hand went to the child in her belly as she followed the Strong Man. She felt as if it had gone into hiding deep inside her.
Suddenly, the Strong Man took her arm and pointed to some rocks projecting into the lake. Two soldiers emerged among them, as suddenly as if they had come up out of the water. As they climbed to the bank, Resa saw horses waiting under the spruce trees only a few paces from the rocks.
"What does that mean?" whispered the Strong Man as even more soldiers appeared on the rocks. "Can there be another way into the castle? I'll go and look. But you're not coming with me this time. Please! I promised the Bluejay. He'd punch my nose in anyway if he knew you were here."
"No, he wouldn't," Resa whispered back, but she stayed where she was, and the Strong Man slipped away as she stood under the trees, freezing and watching him go. The water of the lake was lapping on the bank almost to the toes of her boots, and she thought she could see faces under the mirrorlike surface, faces pressed flat like patterns on the back of a stingray. Shuddering, she retreated – and heard footsteps behind her.
"Hey, you there."
She spun around. A soldier was standing among the trees, sword in hand. Run, Resa!
She was faster than he was, with his weapons and heavy shirt of mail, but he called another man up, and this one had a crossbow. Faster, Resa! From tree to tree, hiding and then running, as children do. As she would have played with Meggie if she'd been there when her daughter was still small. All those years missed…
An arrow drove into the tree beside her. Another buried itself in the ground just in front of her feet. "Don't follow me, Resa. I have to know you'll be there when I come back." Oh, Mo. It's so much harder to wait, just to keep on waiting.
She ducked behind a tree and drew her knife. They were coming closer, weren't they? Run on, Resa. But her legs were weak with fear. Breathing heavily, she staggered to the shelter of the next tree – and felt a large hand over her mouth.
"Call and tell them you're surrendering!" the Strong Man whispered. "But don't go toward them. Make them come to you."
Resa nodded and put the knife away. The two soldiers called something to each other. She felt sick with fear as she put out her arm from behind the tree and asked them not to shoot, her voice trembling. She waited until the Strong Man had crawled away – with astonishing agility for a man of his size – before she emerged from the shelter of the tree with her hands in the air. The eyes under the soldiers' helmets widened in surprise as they saw she was a woman. Their smiles boded no good, even though they lowered their weapons, but before one of them could grab her, the Strong Man was behind them, and winding an arm around the neck of each. Resa turned away as he killed them. She threw up in the damp grass, hand pressed to her belly, afraid the child had sensed her terror.
"They're all over the place!" The Strong Man pulled her to her feet. His shoulder was bleeding so freely that it dyed his shirt red. "One of them had a knife. 'Watch out for knives, Lazaro,' that's what Doria always says. That little fellow's far cleverer than me." He was swaying so much that Resa had to support him. They staggered on together, farther into the trees.
"The Piper is here, too," the Strong Man whispered. "Those were his men we saw on the rocks. Seems there's a tunnel under the lake there, all the way to the castle. And I'm afraid there's more bad news."
He looked around. Voices came over from the banks of the lake. Suppose the men's bodies were found? The Strong Man led her to a burrow in the ground that smelled of brownies.
Resa heard the sobbing as soon as she made her way into it. The Strong Man was groaning as he crawled in after her. Something furry crouched there in the darkness. At first Resa thought it really was a brownie. Then she remembered the description Meggie had given her of Violante's servant. What was his name? Yes, Tullio.
She reached for the furry hand. Violante's servant stared at her, eyes wide with fear.
"What's happened? I'm the Bluejay's wife! Please, is he still alive?"
He went on staring at her with his dark eyes, which were round like an animal's. "They're all dead," lie whispered. Resa's heart began to falter as if it had forgotten how to beat. "There's blood everywhere. They've locked Violante in her room, and as for the Bluejay…"
What had they done to him? No, she didn't want to hear. Resa closed her eyes as if that would take her back to Elinor's house, the peaceful garden, where she could go over to Mo's workshop…
"The Piper has shut him up in a cage."
"Does that mean he's still alive?"
The quick nod allowed her heart to beat more regularly again.
"They still need him!"
Of course. How could she have forgotten?
"But the Night-Mare has eaten the Fire-Dancer."