25. Court Appearance

Even as Lewis said the magic word, the cold wind and the mountain disappeared and he felt a whirling, crushing feeling of blackness surround him. Just as he was beginning to wonder if it was ever going to stop, there was a sudden, warm surge of shimmering, comforting light. Tentatively, he opened his eyes, wondering where he had landed and what he might see. With magic, he thought worriedly, one just never knew. He hoped it wasn’t a goblin’s cave for a start. Of all the magic places he had visited in the past with Casimir, that had definitely been the worst.

The sight that met his eyes, however, was breathtaking in its beauty. He found himself staring in awe round the vast reaches of an elegant cavern whose lofty heights shone with a clear, blue-white light. A half circle of tall, silver thrones faced him and looking at the line-up of old, bearded figures that regarded him speculatively, he knew immediately where he was; for Prince Casimir had told him of the Court of the Lords of the North.

Feeling totally inadequate in old trainers, wet jeans and a scruffy anorak he walked towards the thrones and bowed so low that his head almost touched his knees.

“Welcome, Lewis,” a familiar voice said, kindly. “Welcome to the Court of the Lords of the North.”

Lewis straightened with a jerk, his eyes shining with relief and affection as Prince Casimir rose from one of the thrones and came towards him, resplendent in robes of dull red velvet.

“We are delighted to see you, Lewis,” Lady Ellan smiled as she came forward, followed by her husband. “You are most welcome.”

“Well, Lewis,” Lord Rothlan smiled understandingly. “Been getting up to mischief again, have you?”

Lewis almost blurted out the whole story there and then but experience had taught him to hold his tongue. He hadn’t yet been introduced to the Lords of the North and that must come first. Casimir was a real stickler for proper behaviour.

The Lords of the North were particularly affable to Lewis and treated him with great kindness. Firestar, in its own inimitable fashion, had communicated the result of its actions to them and they were still dizzy with relief that the attacking power had been destroyed. Indeed, they had just been marvelling at their escape when Lewis had landed so unexpectedly in their midst.

Lewis, mindful of the fact that Casimir missed nothing, bowed low as he was introduced to each of the lords and was ushered by Lord Alarid, himself, to a chair by the low table where a crystal ball rested on an ebony stand.

“Now, Lewis,” Prince Casimir said gravely as they took their seats round the table, “tell us your errand, for we know you wouldn’t have come here without good reason.”

Lewis, overawed despite himself, looked round the table at the expressions of polite enquiry on their faces. Lord Rothlan winked at him and, feeling heartened, he began his story. “Neil, Clara and I were in the next valley with Shona when … when there was a sort of explosion and the mountains all shook. You … you must have felt it …” he looked at them doubtfully. “This is Morven, isn’t it?”

Lord Rothlan nodded. “We did feel it, Lewis. And, yes, this is Morven. We’ll tell you what happened later. Go on with your story.”

“We saw a sort of bluish light shoot into the sky from Morven and as it fell back it seemed to spread over the whole area. I don’t know if it was because of the light but stone giants suddenly rose from all the slopes around us. They’re huge, twice as tall as houses, and we had to climb up the side of the mountain quickly to get out of their way. It was easy, though, for the magic dust seemed to have affected us as well — even Shona and she doesn’t have a firestone. We could take huge steps and jump over high boulders without any effort at all.”

The Lords of the North eyed one another anxiously. “The stone giants,” Lord Alarid looked guiltily at Casimir. “I didn’t know they had come so close to us.”