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Quin walked up the steep path and around to the front of the Inn. There was still no-one near the white coach so he went into the Inn. In contrast to the brightness and cold outside it seemed dim and far too warm. The ceiling was low and the only light came from a few oil lamps on the walls and a roaring fire at the far end of the room.
He had only been in the local Inn at home a couple of times but this one smelt the same. Stale ale and sawdust. He stayed near the door and wafts of roasted meat drifted over to him. The sandwich provided by the coach driver hadn’t made up for missing dinner last night and he licked his lips, wondering if he had time for some food.
There weren’t many people in the Inn. Grayson and a few older men stood near the bar and several were playing a card game at one of the small tables.
Grayson walked towards the darkest corner of the room. In his hand he carried a steaming tankard.
‘This should warm you up,’ he said as he put it on the table.
Quin couldn’t see who he was talking to but he heard the reply.
‘This is far too hot. Do you want me to burn myself? And it’s not sweet enough!’ Quin recognised the angry girl’s voice. ‘After the dreadful trip here this is the best you can offer? How much longer are we going to have to hang around in this backwater town?’
Grayson’s reply was quieter and Quin didn’t catch all of it.
‘... have to wait... hasn’t been seen in town yet... need both of you...’
‘Can’t you can come back for him? I’m tired and I demand to know why my servants weren’t allowed to come.’ The girl’s voice rose to a high-pitched whine that hurt Quin’s ears. ‘Who will dress me and do my hair?’
Quin regretted the sympathy he had felt for the girl down at the beach. He was sure now that Keris was the other keeper. Did she assume that her riches would buy her special treatment? He hoped he didn’t have to spend much time with her after they reached the keep.
‘Very well, we’ll go now, Keris,’ Grayson said with a heavy sigh.
Quin left the Inn well ahead of them. How was he supposed to present himself? He didn’t want to spend time with Keris if he didn’t have to. Perhaps he could walk the rest of the way to the keep? He slouched against the wall, half-hidden behind a potted tree.
‘How long until we get there?’ Keris demanded as they emerged from the Inn. ‘I want a lay down and some tea.’
‘It’s about half an hour,’ Grayson replied. He looked to be at the end of his patience as he held the carriage door open for her. She climbed in without any thanks.
Grayson rolled his eyes at the driver who was checking the harnesses. ‘Even more demanding than her father was!’ he whispered and the driver nodded in agreement.
Grayson climbed into the coach and Quin hesitated for only one more second. If it was half an hour by coach it would be a long walk. With a slight grimace at the thought of sharing a coach with Keris he walked up and opened the coach door.
‘Do you mind if I catch a lift?’ Quin asked, dumping his pack next to Keris then taking a seat opposite. Grayson sat against the far side and looked up in surprise.
‘That’s the beggar from the beach,’ Keris said, glaring at him. She shuffled away from him as far as she could and her expression said she thought she might catch a horrible disease just by being this close to him. ‘I told you he was following me.’
‘This coach only goes to the keep,’ Grayson said, leaning over to open the door.
‘I know,’ Quin replied in a quiet voice and made no attempt to move.
‘Aren’t you going to get rid of him?’ Keris said with her bottom lip curling in disgust.
‘I don’t think so,’ Grayson said, drawing back from the door handle. He looked closer at Quin. ‘Are you who I think?’
Quin reached into his pocket and pulled out the talisman. Grayson’s face relaxed and he banged on the side of the wagon. ‘Let’s go, we’re late!’
Keris didn’t speak for most of the trip. Instead she remained pressed into the furthest corner from Quin and stared at him with dislike.
Grayson, although seeming pleased to have both Quin and Keris in the coach, also remained quiet. The coach rattled out of the sea-side town and was soon in the country-side again. At first they seemed to be going inland, and then Quin saw the coastline coming back into view.
Grayson noticed Quin’s puzzled look and explained. ‘We have to go the long way around the border.’
‘The border is out here?’ Quin asked. He looked out the window but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
‘Part of it goes almost up to the headland beyond South Pier,’ Grayson replied.
Quin stared out the window waiting to see some sign of the border but failed. Despite her aloof manner, Keris was also looking out the window.
‘You can’t see the border,’ Grayson told them.
The road they were on cut through low growing scrub bushes but at the tree-line in the distance a flash of white caught Quin’s eye. It vanished a second later but Quin knew it wasn’t his imagination. He turned to Grayson.
‘Have you ever seen a large white dog that glows like the moon?’
Grayson’s face went slack and he gulped. He stared at Quin with a horrified expression.
‘They’re just stories to frighten little children,’ Keris said with a shake of her head and a scornful laugh at them both. ‘Don’t tell me you believe in children’s tales?’
Grayson remained silent and he bit his bottom lip as he glanced out the window. After a minute he pulled himself up straighter and looked hard at Quin.
‘Where did you see it?’
‘Back in my village yesterday,’ Quin replied. ‘And then again on the way here last night. I think it’s following me.’
Quin pointed out towards the forest, where, right on cue, a flash of white showed through the trees.
Keris stared out at the trees, looking sceptical.
‘Corman, hurry it up!’ Grayson shouted, banging on the side of the coach. ‘There’s a moondog out there.’
His words had an immediate effect. With a loud yell, the driver urged the horses forward and they had to hang on to steady themselves.
‘So it’s real,’ Quin said. ‘But what does it want with me?’
Grayson didn’t reply. Instead he avoided looking at Quin and pointed up ahead. ‘We’re almost at the keep. It won’t be able to come near it.’
‘I’ve never seen a dog with yellow eyes,’ Quin persisted, wanting answers. ‘I thought only cats had them.’
Grayson looked at him this time with a face so ashen it made him look ill. ‘You’ve seen one that close - and you’re still alive?’
‘We had dogs at home,’ Keris said with ill-disguised disgust for Grayson’s reaction. ‘You just need to show them who is master.’
Grayson shook his head but did not comment. The coach slowed down to a gentle speed and Quin guessed they must be at the keep. He couldn’t see any sign of a fence that would stop the white dog but the hairs on the back of his neck tingled a little.
The coach started up the slight incline that led up to the only two buildings that Quin could see. They were perched on the top of the small hill and as the coach reached the top Quin saw that it gave a good view of the area. There was one main building, long and low, and a smaller cottage just above it. A narrow bridge half-way up led out into the forest.
The coach drew up outside the cottage and Quin noticed there was nobody about. He had expected it to be a busy settlement.
‘How many keepers are there?’ he asked as he got out of the coach.
‘Our numbers are diminished due to the way in which we select our keepers,’ Grayson said, avoiding the question.
‘How diminished?’ Quin asked. Grayson didn’t reply, instead he offered a helping hand to Keris who ignored him and jumped down.
She too, looked at Grayson with a suspicious expression.
‘Twenty, thirty, a hundred?’ Keris said, looking at the accommodation with a scowl.
‘Three,’ Grayson mumbled.
‘Hundred?’ Keris asked but Grayson shook his head.
‘So we make five?’ Quin said, thinking that was not many at all.
‘No,’ Grayson replied with a grimace. ‘Including you.’
Grayson walked towards the cottage but Quin and Keris just stared after him. After a few paces he paused and looked back.
‘We are all that keeps the world safe from those who use magic – there is more than people in there and moondogs are the least of it.’ Grayson swept an arm across the countryside, showing an area much larger than Quin had expected.
Quin let his gaze drift over the extensive lands. Only three of them for all that? ‘What does a keeper do?’
‘You’ll see soon enough,’ Grayson promised them. ‘But for now you’re to be presented to the Grand Master.’
Quin remembered overhearing Grayson back in Pinewoods. He had been terrified of telling this master if he failed to bring both of them.
Quin and Keris followed Grayson into the cottage and through several doors until they reached a room that looked out over the land and ocean.
‘Grand Master, I have returned with the two new keepers,’ Grayson said.
Quin was so busy looking out the window that he didn’t notice there was someone else in the room until he heard the squeak of a chair turning. A short, bald man sat in a large chair near the window. The midday sun showed up a deep-lined face and very pale blue, rheumy eyes. He looked well over a hundred years old and struggled to stand up, leaning heavily on his cane. A tense silence followed as the Grand Master looked at them and scowled.
‘Is this the best we can do?’ he said to Grayson. ‘There must be others. These two won’t do at all. Send them away!’
Quin flinched a little. If the old man was disappointed now, what would he say when he found out Quin had no magic?
‘Grand Master.’ Grayson bowed so low that it was surprising that he didn’t fall over. ‘These are the last two keepers. There are no more. Only a direct descendant can activate the stones.’
The old man frowned. It creased the corners of his mouth right down to his chin and he turned to look at Keris.
‘A girl,’ he stated as if that was all he needed to say to explain his disapproval.
‘Keris is the daughter of Veron,’ Grayson told him.
‘Don’t you have an older brother?’ the old master asked in a cold voice. ‘We’ve never stooped so low as to use girls before.’
‘That’s because we’ve always taken them young and often before they had a chance to have sons of their own,’ Grayson added.
‘I was born shortly after my father was called to service as a keeper,’ Keris replied, looking offended and her tone was only just civil. ‘I am an only child.’
The Grand Master walked over to them. He looked at Keris as if she were a servant and his gaze stopped when it reached the pendant around her neck.
‘Touch it,’ he ordered. Keris did so and the green stones glowed. The old master grunted. ‘I suppose she will have to do. She does appear to have some ability.’
He turned his attention to Quin.
‘Any other suitable family members?’
‘My mother is often ill with fevers, my sister is only eight and my brother...’
‘Aha, a brother.’ The Grand Master’s eyes lit up. ‘Older?’
‘Only by a minute,’ Quin replied. ‘But he does not see the world as we do.’
Quin’s eyebrows rose as the old man grinned with a delight that made his eyes sparkle.
‘A twin.’ It was a statement, not a question and Quin had a feeling this was not good news. ‘Where is your talisman?’
Quin drew it from his pocket, holding it by the leather thong. The old man nodded at him to touch it. Quin hoped that by some miracle his magic would suddenly be there and he placed one finger on the green stones.
‘Are you touching it?’ the Grand Master asked, pushing Quin’s finger down firmly on the pendant. Not even a glimmer of light shone from the stones. ‘Are you sure he is a direct descendant?’
‘Perhaps he is just tired from the long journey here?’ Grayson suggested, but even he looked concerned at the lack of response from the pendant. ‘Everyone has ‘some’ magic.’
Keris looked smug that she had lit the stone and he hadn’t. Quin ignored her and looked at his shoes.
‘Get rid of this one and bring the twin here.’ The old man stated and flicked his hand at Grayson as if he expected the man to leave at once on the errand.
‘Clay does not leave the house,’ Quin said, looking up and shaking his head. ‘He cannot help in whatever it is you need.’
The Grand Master turned and looked at Quin with a piercing look. It reminded Quin of how his schoolmaster had glared just before handing out a punishment.
‘We need everyone we can get if we’re to stop the maze. Clearly you will not be any use. He will come.’
Quin opened his mouth to argue again, but Grayson grabbed his arm and shook his head.
‘I think we should leave,’ Grayson said, warning Quin to stay silent with a stern look.
‘But I have some questions,’ Keris argued.
‘Not just now,’ Grayson insisted and guided them both from the room. He led them out of the cottage and over to the larger building. They went past a central area that looked like a communal recreational area and into a long corridor. Dozens of doors led off the corridor, each with a green stone talisman hanging on a hook to the side of it.
‘We used to have a lot more keepers,’ Grayson said in a voice that sounded tired and old. They reached a door that had no talisman and Grayson stopped.
‘This was Slade’s room, Quin,’ he said. ‘You can move out anything you don’t want to keep.’
Quin stared at the door, stunned that he was expected to live in his dead uncle’s room.
‘Don’t worry about your magic being a little weak today. It will be better after a good sleep,’ Grayson assured him with a quick nod of his head.
Quin didn’t reply. He had no idea how to even begin explaining about his lack of magic.
Keris, seeming to have had enough of being ignored, stood in front of Grayson with her hands on her hips. ‘My mother wants Veron’s body returned so she can bury it.’
Grayson shook his head and sighed and chewed on his lower lip. ‘It can’t be done.’
Quin was fast becoming aware of when the keeper was hiding something.
‘Why not?’ he asked.
‘There are no bodies,’ Grayson replied.
Quin waited for him to continue. Grayson sighed deeply. ‘They entered the maze of their own free will, and against the rules of the keep, at the last full moon. To save the embarrassment of admitting that keepers had broken the rules, we listed them as deceased.’
‘Why would they do that?’ Quin asked, a sudden hope flickering to life within him. Uncle Slade was still alive!
‘Dead or not, that’s the last we’ll see of them,’ Keris said with a flat expression and a small shrug. ‘Nobody has ever come out of the maze.’
Quin stared at Keris. How could she not hope to see her father again?
‘A week ago I found their talismans on the bridge and the cook’s boy claims he saw a large white dog that day,’ Grayson added. ‘We can only assume they are dead.’
‘Was it the moondog?’ Quin asked, wondering what sort of danger the large dog was.
‘Shouldn’t someone be out catching this dog if it’s killing people?’ Keris asked with a frown. ‘Who can I talk to about it?’
Grayson held up a weary hand to stop her. ‘It’s been a long couple of days and I have duties to attend to. Have a rest and meet me out by the bridge in an hour. It’s the first thing we show new keepers.’
Keris looked to be about to speak again and Grayson stopped her by adding.
‘The door next to this one was your father’s room. I’ll see you in an hour.’
With that, the keeper strode off before Keris could object further.
