A long time later, when it must have been dark outside, he found the girls in the middle of a larger catacomb that contained hundreds of burial niches. It was dimly lit by a blue-white phosphorescent fungus growing on the bones.
Liliwen was sobbing quietly, and Meriwen holding her and trying to be as grown up as she could, though she had bitten through her lip with terror and her eyes were as wide as moons.
'Why didn't you answer?' Nish said gently, giving her his hand. She clung to it as her mother had.
'I tried,' said Meriwen, 'but I was so afraid, Nish. The bones moved as if they were watching us and I was scared that if I made too much noise…'
Nish looked over his shoulder. The phosphorescence did shimmer in a way that suggested the bones were moving. He would be glad to get out of here. 'What happened?'
'The ground gave way and we fell down. We weren't hurt but Liliwen saw all those skeletons. Some of them didn't have heads!' she said. 'She ran, and I panicked and ran too. We ended up in here and there were bones everywhere and Liliwen put her foot down on a skull and it rolled under her and she fell and twisted her ankle.' She gasped a breath.
'Calm down,' said Nish. 'Just take it slowly.'
'I could hardly walk,' said Liliwen, snuggling under his arm. 'We tried to find a way back but we were lost. I told Meriwen to go on looking but she wouldn't leave me.'
'Sensible girl,' said Nish. 'I think we'll be right. I'm pretty sure I know how to get back.' He wasn't, but someone had to be the leader.
He picked Liliwen up. A sturdy girl, she was heavier than she looked. She moaned as her ankle was moved, and put both arms around his neck.
'Don't choke me or we'll never get out,' he joked. He put his shoe on something round and bony that rolled underfoot, and nearly dropped her.
'Careful,' said Meriwen. 'if you break your ankle…'
'Come close behind,' he said over his shoulder, kicking bones out of the way.
'Don't worry,' Meriwen muttered, taking hold of his belt.
'Is either of you brave enough to hold this skull,' said Nish, 'so we can see?'
Meriwen shuddered, but took it. Nish reached out with his pole and they went forward.
'Hush, I think that's Mother calling,' said Liliwen after a good while.
'She's letting us know the way out.'
They wandered back and forth, Nish probing every ell of the way. If not for Yara calling, he would not have found the exit, for it was dark now. By the time they reached the hole, Mounce was there too. Yara tied the tent ropes together and Mounce pulled the children up.
Nish came up last and he was glad to be out of there, for there were bones everywhere and they had not come from the niches. Either the monks had been massacred in the crypt or their bones had been thrown down afterwards. It made him think.
'No harm done,' he said as Mounce pulled him up. 'Just a sprained ankle and a lot of old bones. All the same, I'd be happier if we camped outside. I'm glad we're not spending the night down there.'
Yara searched his face. 'I heard crashes. I was sure you were all dead.'
'The floor collapsed a couple of times,' he said more casually than he felt. 'I had to nip out of the way, quick smart.'
'You could have been killed. And the girls.'
'All of the monks remained here,' he went on quietly. 'They were slaughtered by the scrutators. What a hideous place.'
'You risked your life for my children, Nish,' Yara said. 'I'll never forget it. I'm sorry about before. I was wrong about you.' She gave him a brief, grateful hug. Tears fell on his neck, and that was that.
Nish lay awake for ages that night, watching the wheeling stars and thinking about what he had seen down below. Why had the Council visited such savagery on a harmless, pacifist order? It made a mockery of their claims that they acted only in the best interests of humanity. Nish decided that he had to know more about the scrutators, and what was behind them. They rode through dense forest for five more days. The weather was good, sunny above the forest but cool and shaded within. It rained once, though only a shower of misty drops reached them.
'How far now?' Nish asked as they were taking breakfast by a stream whose pebbly bottom was perfectly clear. It was broad but shallow; the twins were frolicking in the water.
'We'll be there this afternoon.'
The ground had been climbing for some time, and across the stream they struck a path that wound up into hills that grew ever steeper. When they stopped for lunch the horses were plodding. The trees still extended in every direction, making it impossible to see where they were headed.
At the top they entered a clearing whose edge was marked by an old stone wall, partly collapsed and covered in moss. The trees hung over it. A wooden gate had once closed the path but only rotting timbers hung from the hinges. They rode across a meadow of cropped grass, by a cluster of roofless cottages. The inside walls were scarred by fire. The place made Nish shiver. More work of the scrutators?
On the other side, they looked over a shallow cliff. A river, broad, deep and entrenched into its valley, looped across a green floodplain. Below, the narrowest part of one loop had been cut through to make a dome-shaped island a third of a league across.
It was a pretty place, with orchards and vineyards higher up and lush meadows stretching down to the river. On top of the hill stood a large villa or chateau, built entirely of timber so old that it shone silvery in the sun. It was all verticals. The roofs rose in steeples, at least a dozen of them, covered in shingles. Verandas extended on all sides, in and out and in again. Everywhere he looked was another detail to distract the eye.
'It's stronger than it seems,' said Yara. 'Morgadis has stood for twelve hundred years, and troubled no one in that time.'
'Has anyone troubled it?'
'Many times, but eternal vigilance is our watchword.'
'How pretty and peaceful it appears.'
'No one has worked harder than Mira for peace.'
'And yet she has lost a husband and three sons,' said Nish. 'I would do anything to end this conflict.'
'You will have much to talk about, in that case, though I would advise you to choose your words with particular care.'
F ORTY
The river, the principal defence of Morgadis, ran fast and deep. No horse could have swum it, while waterfalls upstream and rapids downstream restricted the use of boats to a couple of leagues either side of the island. A rope bridge, supporting a plank walkway, was the only way in or out. It hung low to the water and Nish did not like the look of it. How was he going to lead his horse across that?
Fortunately he did not have to, for people appeared out of the forest and took the animals away. Mounce went with them. After an exchange of signals with the other side, they went across on foot.
The bridge held no fears for Yara or the children, who had crossed it many times. Nish followed, trying to appear nonchalant. It swayed underfoot and he was uncomfortably aware of the weight of his pack. If he fell in it would take him all the way to the bottom. But then, if he fell in he would drown anyway, for Nish was a poor swimmer.
He reached the other side in safety. To his left was a timber boatshed with two dinghies propped against one wall. Beyond were stacks of sawn timber and a partly erected timber frame, perhaps an extension to the boatshed. He followed the others up the hill, thinking of a cool drink and, with any sort of luck, a long scrub in a hot bath.
Up a steep series of steps, they turned onto a broad veranda. There they were met by a small woman, a head shorter than her sister, trim of figure and with neat, regular features, though set in hard lines. Her eyes were crinkled as though laughter had once not been far away, but no longer. Her lush brown hair was threaded with grey yet she could not have been more than thirty-five. She did not look anything like Yara.