Chapter 23

Shifting Alliances

In the forest, Dani fidgeted and scratched, unable to sleep. She could tell that Bart, who lay next to her, was also awake, but hoped he wouldn’t try to talk to her and, especially, that he wouldn’t ask her what was wrong.

‘D,’ he said.

She sighed. ‘What?’

‘What’s wrong?’

Dani sighed. ‘Nothing.’

‘Please tell me.’

‘You don’t want to know.’

‘Yes I do. Whatever it is –’

‘No, Bart. You really do not want to know what’s bothering me.’

‘If you tell me –’

‘You’ve got what you want, haven’t you?’ she said bitterly. ‘You’re free, you’ve got all those animals under your command and you’re about to save the city and become a hero. All your dreams are coming true, Bart. Don’t ruin it by asking me what the matter is.’

‘Please, Dani, whatever it is, I can help.’

‘You know what?’ she said. ‘You can’t help. You really can’t.’ Suddenly, Dani had had enough. Of course she wanted to tell Bart what was wrong, but if she said, ‘Well actually, I’m feeling slightly down because to save you I had to agree to die when I’m seventeen’, it would cripple him with guilt.

She stood up and pulled on her boots. ‘I’m going for a walk. Don’t follow me.’ She felt like crying but she forced herself to stay in control. ‘Everything will be fine, Bart, as long as you don’t keep asking me what the matter is. Understand?’

‘Don’t leave. Can’t we –’ began Bart.

‘Look, you need to get used to being on your own. One day I might not be around.’

She marched off into the night, leaving Bart staring after her, bewildered.

TwinscrownLOWres.jpg

‘What?’ spluttered Edward, eyeing the four swords pointing at his neck. ‘I’m the Prince.’

The tall guard reached out and took Edward’s sword from his belt, while another grabbed his knife. A third patted him down, searching for more weapons, while the fourth tied his wrists in front of him.

‘Stop,’ cried Edward. ‘I order you to stop.’

‘Sorry, your Highness,’ said the tall guard. ‘Orders. Can’t say no more.’

‘You can’t do this.’

‘Sorry, your Highness.’

‘But why . . .?’

‘We can’t say no more.’

The guards marched him down the city’s empty streets towards Tintarfell Castle, as Edward tried to work out what was going on. Surely there must have been some sort of a misunderstanding. Perhaps his father had ordered the guards to keep a lookout for him and bring him to the palace as soon as possible, and these over-enthusiastic goons had misinterpreted the command. As soon as he told his father that Bart was nearby everything would be all right. They would capture Bart, and his future as his father’s successor would be assured. Edward promised himself that he would make sure these four guards paid for their mistake.

He passed through the castle gates, which he noticed were also more heavily guarded than usual, and they headed across the courtyard, into the palace, and up a flight of stairs to a waiting room outside the throne room. There, one of the guards hurried off. Soon he returned and pushed open the great oak double doors that led into the throne room.

‘Get your apologies ready,’ Edward muttered darkly. The guards led him through the doors. At the far end of the room a familiar figure in a white robe sat on the throne. Edward’s eyes widened. Shocked, he was led closer. It was not his father. It was the man from the cottage where they had found Bart. What had Bart said his name was? Lord Jasper Randling.

On Randling’s right, by the wall, stood the tall, strong-looking woman who Edward had last seen lying unconscious outside the cottage. She had a fresh looking wound on her forehead that Edward guessed had been caused by the rock Dani had slung at her.

The throne was on a dais three steps above the rest of the room and Edward was led to the bottom step.

‘Hello, my boy,’ said Randling. ‘How lovely to see you again. I wondered what had happened to you. I’m so glad you have found your way home.’ He addressed the guards. ‘Release him.’

The rope tying Edward’s hands was removed.

‘Bring a chair, Wanda,’ Randling ordered. The woman fetched a plain chair from the side of the room and placed it on the dais just in front of the throne. Randling gestured to it. ‘Sit.’

Edward walked up the stairs and sat, trying to work out what was going on. ‘Where’s my father?’

‘You’ll see him soon enough. He’s unwell, as you know, and I’m helping him.’

‘You’re helping him?’

‘Yes. I’ve known your father for years. We’re old friends. Well, not friends, exactly.’

‘But I don’t understand. How did –’

Randling held up his hand. ‘First, tell me everything that has happened to you since you left my cottage.’

Edward hesitated. What should he tell Randling? It was hard to know because he had no idea what was going on. He tried to think it through. He knew that Randling had kidnapped Bart and then sucked his brain dry to increase his own powers. With those powers, had he now been able to somehow seize control of the kingdom? If so, Edward needed to be nice to him.

Randling was looking closely at him. ‘You are unsure about what to tell me,’ he said. He leant forward and lowered his voice. ‘Listen to me. I drained Bart’s mind. Doing so made me very powerful. When we met in the forest, I had not yet learnt how to use those powers, but now I have. In fact, I am so powerful that I’ve been able to march into this castle and take control of the kingdom. Edward, I can do to you what I did to Bart. If you don’t want me to, tell me all that happened. I will know if you are lying, or if you leave anything out. Are we clear?’

Edward nodded. He recounted how they had found Bart and then climbed the cliff and reached Melindarah’s castle, and how Dani had agreed to sacrifice all but three years of her life to restore Bart. He explained how he had invented the story of the invasion by the Northerners to trick Bart and Dani into returning to the city, and that the two of them now slept near the castle with an army of animals.

When Edward had finished, Randling smiled. ‘You’re a cunning thing, aren’t you? Quite your father’s son.’

Edward didn’t understand what Randling meant. His father was harsh and ruthless, but as far as he knew, he’d never been especially cunning.

‘What do you think Bart and Dani will do when they wake to find you gone?’ asked Randling.

‘Dani will probably want to leave immediately,’ replied Edward, ‘but Bart will be concerned about the Northerners and what they will do to those inside the city. If they approach Cranlon they will find out there are no Northerners, and realise that I tricked them. Then Bart will probably send the animals away and they’ll go and start a new life somewhere.’

‘What do you think I should do about them, Edward?’

Edward couldn’t see any advantage for himself or Randling in Bart and Dani being captured. ‘Let them go. What harm can they do you? You seem to be in charge here. Bart will have no reason to use his powers against you. He doesn’t even know you’re here.’

‘What if I wanted to capture Bart? What should I do then?’

‘But why would you?’ Edward asked.

Randling held up his hand. ‘Just answer.’

Edward thought about it. If Randling wanted to capture Bart, he should send a group of soldiers now, before Bart or the animals awoke. They should ensure that Bart stayed unconscious so that he couldn’t rally the animals to rescue him, and bring him to the castle. That was obvious. Surely Randling could figure that out for himself? Perhaps he had, and was only asking Edward to test his intelligence and his loyalties.

‘Well?’ said Randling, an edge to his voice.

‘You need to send soldiers now. Only I know where Bart is, so you’d have to make me lead them there. You need to render Bart unconscious before he wakes up, so he can’t call the animals to protect him. Once you bring Bart back here, the animals will probably disperse. If they don’t, then you can force Bart to make them go away.’

Randling sat back, smiling. ‘You’re good,’ he said.

Edward shook his head. ‘Not good,’ he replied. ‘Just clever.’

TwinscrownLOWres.jpg

Randling led Edward along the corridor towards the King’s bedroom, two guards behind them. ‘We’ll pay your father a quick visit before we fetch Bart. Dawn is still some time away.’

Two more guards stood outside the King’s bedroom. Randling and Edward entered, and Randling shut the door behind them. On the vast four-poster bed Edward could make out the shape of his father.

‘Awake, Corolius!’ called Randling. ‘You have a visitor.’

The King groaned. Randling stared hard at him. ‘Stand. Now.’

The King rolled out of bed and slowly stood to attention in front of Randling, dressed in his nightshirt. He stared straight ahead, seemingly oblivious to the two people in the room.

‘Sit on the floor,’ commanded Randling.

The King slowly sat on the floor.

‘Stand.’

The King stood.

Edward was shocked. His father had always been the one who issued orders. Edward had never seen him follow them before.

‘Say hello to your son,’ commanded Randling.

‘Hello, son,’ said the King tonelessly, still staring straight ahead.

‘Look at your son.’

The King slowly turned to Edward. His eyes were lifeless. They reminded Edward of Bart’s eyes, before Melindarah had cured him.

‘You drained him,’ Edward gasped. ‘Like Bart.’

‘Not quite. There was nothing in your father’s mind I wanted, so I didn’t drain him. I am merely controlling him. If I were to release him, he would soon be back to his old, unpleasant self. I’m sure seeing him like this is upsetting for you, but I had to show you what I can do.’ Randling turned to the King. ‘Go back to bed.’

The King climbed back into bed. Edward could hardly believe what his terrifying, mighty father had been reduced to.

Randling led the way out of the room and outside to the castle gates, where they were joined by Wanda and ten soldiers, several of whom were carrying lit torches of brush wrapped around sticks. A soldier tied Edward’s hands in front of him again.

‘Just a precaution,’ Randling explained.

They walked through the city towards the Eastern Gate, Randling beside Edward.

‘How did you take control from my father?’ asked Edward. ‘He’s got guards and an army of soldiers.’

‘It was quite simple,’ replied Randling. ‘I am now able to persuade people to do what I want. Wanda and I left my cottage in the forest and travelled here. Gronk, unfortunately, deserted us, but he was no loss. I convinced the city guards to take me to the King, and then persuaded your father to give me the authority to rule the kingdom in his place. Everyone already knew that he was ill. So, here I am. Of course, the poison Miss Bertha had been feeding the King for the last few months has made his mind easier to control, so that helped.’

‘She’s working for you?’

‘Indeed.’

‘But why do you want Bart? You already have his powers.’

‘Ah, now that would be telling,’ said Randling.

TwinscrownLOWres.jpg

Dani wandered through the forest, not really caring where she was going. She had had enough of making decisions. She just walked, guided by the light of a full moon, glad to be on her own for once. It happened so rarely. She was always with Bart, worrying about Bart, helping Bart, and now she was sick of it.

Ever since her sacrifice she had felt so tired and distant from everything. Whereas previously she had been the leader, now she drifted along at the back, letting the others make the decisions. She just found it hard to care about anything at the moment. Melindarah had told her that she would feel weary, and that it would pass, but how could she ever recover her spirits when she knew that in a thousand . . . no, 999, days, she would be
dead?

She emerged onto a swiftly flowing river and wandered down the bank until she came to the top of a waterfall. She stepped across rocks to the edge and peered over. The water crashed down, and far below, through the dark, she could just make out the white froth of rapids.

Dani heard a rustle of bushes behind her and turned to see a group of soldiers in castle uniforms marching through the forest. One of them looked at her.

‘My Lord!’ he said, pointing.

A man in white robes stepped from the trees onto the rocks. Dani’s eyes widened. It was Randling, the man who had drained Bart’s brain.

Behind him, mostly hidden by a tree, was another shape that was vaguely familiar.

‘Well, well,’ said Randling. ‘I think you should come with us, young lady.’

Dani looked left and right along the waterfall, but the soldiers were already fanning out to cut off any escape route.

‘Detain her,’ ordered Randling.

The soldiers drew their swords and advanced.

Dani backed up against the edge of the waterfall. To her right was the river, and from its edge the soldiers spread out around her in a semicircle to the edge of the waterfall.

Dani knew she couldn’t fight them. She didn’t even have her sling. She had two options: let them capture her, or jump off the waterfall. Then she thought of a third. The river was about twenty paces wide. It looked deep and was flowing fast, but if she could make it to the other side without getting washed over the waterfall, she might get away. The soldiers had chain mail on and would have to remove it before they swam after her, and that would give her a head start. She ran along the rocks to the river’s edge and waded in.

‘Stop!’ shouted a soldier.

The current was strong and Dani had never been in a body of water any larger than a bath before. She heard footsteps rushing towards her. She didn’t know the first thing about swimming, but she took a huge breath and threw herself in, aiming both upstream against the current and towards the other side. She put her head down and thrashed her arms and legs. Soon she needed air and came up, sucked in a big breath and kept going. The next time she came up she saw she was nearly halfway across, but her arms were getting heavy. She could feel herself slowing, and the current pushing her towards the edge.

She struggled on, but after a few more strokes she was gasping for breath. She could feel herself being pushed further and further sideways and then suddenly she was whisked over the edge.

TwinscrownLOWres.jpg

‘Dani,’ shouted Edward. He rushed to the edge of the waterfall where several soldiers were already peering down.

‘Well?’ asked Randling, behind them.

‘It’s hard to see, my lord,’ said a soldier, ‘but it’s a big drop and the water is rough. I doubt she’d survive.’

‘Hmmm,’ said Randling. ‘Even if she did, what can she do? She’s not the one who controls the animals, and the city and castle gates are guarded. Come. We must get the boy before it gets light.’

Edward looked down, but there was no sign of Dani. ‘Shouldn’t we look for her?’

‘No,’ said Randling, turning away. ‘Come.’

Edward followed him, wondering if Dani was really dead. He told himself that if she was, he should be glad. Things were getting dangerous and to survive he would need all his wits about him. Whatever happened from now on, Dani’s presence would only have made things more complicated.

Surely that was right?

TwinscrownLOWres.jpg

The water hit Dani like a giant icy punch. Under the surface, she was tumbled over and over by the force of the current. She crashed into a rock, was whisked downstream, and then hit another and bounced off.

Her lungs were bursting. She kicked hard towards the surface and her head popped out of the water. She sucked in a breath and was immediately pulled under again and somersaulted along. Again she forced her way to the surface and took another breath. The water calmed a little and she was able to stay on the surface. Ahead, however, she could see more rapids. She gathered what little strength she had left and struck out towards the bank, and soon her feet touched ground. She staggered out of the river and collapsed, panting, into the dirt.

When she had got her breath back she pulled herself up into a sitting position and tried to work out what was going on. What was Randling doing? She remembered the familiar shape she had seen behind him and, with a start, realised that it had been Edward. But he was supposed to be asleep at their campsite. Why was he marching through the forest towards the campsite with Randling and a group of Tintarfellian soldiers?

A terrible thought hit her. Were they after Bart? She scrambled to her feet and started to run back towards the waterfall.