16 – Reunions

The people slept as they were carried through the caverns. Only Pi-Ban was woken, to wring the hands of Lief, Barda and Jasmine, and then to be spirited up to Dread Mountain, above the emerald sea.

‘I fear he will tell of his adventures, whatever my warnings,’ Lief murmured. ‘The Dread Gnomes are great storytellers, Penn.’

‘Pi-Ban will not tell,’ Penn said serenely. ‘He will forget with his first breath of the air above. Do you not know, Lief? You have read Doran’s rhyme.’

Lief bent his head, remembering. ‘“Where timeless tides swamp memory…”‘ he murmured at last.

‘Yes. The seas of the underground are the seas of forgetting,’ Penn smiled. ‘How do you think we have lived here in secret so long?’

‘But in the Shadowlands we remembered,’ Barda objected.

‘You had Emlis with you,’ said Penn. ‘And the minds of all of us were focused on you, besides.’

‘But when we return home, we will forget?’ asked Jasmine, very grave.

Penn smiled, and took from her pocket three small, smooth stones. ‘Not if you keep these with you,’ she said, handing one stone to each companion. ‘They are soulstones. All Aurons carry one. Doran carried his always, so it is said. And these are yours.’

Lief, Barda and Jasmine looked down at the stones. They seemed to change hue every moment—gleaming gold, red, green, blue, black, purple and all the colours of the rainbow in turn.

‘I cannot tell the real colour,’ Barda said in wonder.

‘That is because there is none,’ Penn said simply. ‘It is the eye of the observer that makes the difference. And so it is with people, we found, when the Pipe sang in our caverns for the first time, not long ago.’

‘That is how…?’ Jasmine began.

Penn nodded. ‘We on Auron heard the Pipe. Its song made us remember that once our people were one. We set out to see for ourselves, at last, the others of our kind, and to find out what had happened to you. At the Forbidden Way we met the Plumes, who had travelled north for the same reason. They did not seem as savage as we had feared. And so together we called to the Kerons, bidding them to light the tunnel, and allow us entry to their territory.’

‘And Tirral agreed?’ asked Barda disbelievingly.

Penn smiled. ‘After a time,’ she said placidly. ‘It seems that, like us, she and her people had been giving thought to the wisdom of keeping up old rivalries in times of trouble. We learned that her son had gone with you to the Shadowlands. Then, together, we all waited for the sound that would tell us that he, and you—and the Pipe—were ready to return. Together, at last, we heard it, and together we brought you back.’

‘Without you we would have perished,’ said Lief. ‘We owe you our lives.’

‘Without you, the Pirrans would have remained apart forever,’ Penn answered. ‘We owe you even more.’

The Pirran fleet skimmed through the caverns like leaves blown by the wind. There was much time for talk and for reunion, however, for many boats paddled for a time beside Penn’s own. Clef and Azan came, their craft riding low in the water under the sleeping weight of Claw, Brianne and Gers. Nols came, Tira and Hellena peaceful at her feet. And Tirral came with Emlis, who had thrown off his leech-gatherer’s cloak with relief.

‘My son seems taller than when he went away,’ Tirral said.

‘He has grown in more than stature,’ Barda answered. ‘He has a great heart.’

‘When I am a little older—old enough to wear a leech-gatherer’s cloak in comfort—I am going to be an explorer like Doran,’ Emlis said shyly. ‘I will explore and map the caverns. I will travel the seas of the Plumes and the Aurons, and unknown seas as well.’

‘Seas of soft purple,’ murmured Lief. ‘Black seas filled with stars. Caverns that glitter like diamonds.’

‘How do you know?’ Emlis asked in surprise.

But Tirral put her hand inside her cloak and brought out something that gleamed in the magic light. She passed it to Lief. He stared down at it, almost as if he had forgotten what it was.

‘I return the Belt of Deltora to you,’ Tirral said formally. ‘In exchange for the Pirran Pipe.’

‘Thank you.’ Lief hesitated. There was more he wished to say, but he decided it would not be wise. Very aware of Barda and Jasmine’s eyes upon him, he fastened the gleaming thing about his waist, and kept silence.

At last, in the golden cavern of the topaz, it was time to say farewell.

‘We have brought you to the place where the signs of life above are strongest,’ Penn said to the companions softly, as the fleet gathered around them. ‘From here, all your people can travel home.’

‘Lief! Barda! Jasmine!’

Lief turned and saw Emlis waving to them, not far off. He was still holding the Pirran Pipe.

The companions waved back. ‘And what of the Pipe, Penn?’ Lief asked. ‘Will it be separated into three parts once more?’

‘No,’ said Penn. ‘The Kerons will keep it for now. It was decided, before you returned, that if it should ever come back to us, it would remain complete. It will stay with each tribe for one full year, to be played morning, noon and evening by the Piper as is the Pirran way. Then it will be passed on, in a great festival organised by the tribe who is giving it up.’

Her eyes twinkled. ‘I daresay there will be much competition,’ she added.’ The tribes will try to outdo one another, and every festival will be greater and more exciting than the last. But I, at least, will not complain. Festivals are far better than war. And no-one enjoys a feast better than I do. Well—are you ready?’

Lief swallowed and nodded. ‘Farewell, Penn,’ he said. He took Barda and Jasmine’s hands in his own and closed his eyes.

‘Farewell,’ he heard Penn whisper. And the now familiar darkness closed in around them.

They opened their eyes on the light of Deltora. It was just past dawn. The grass on which they lay was still wet with dew. The sky was palest blue, faintly streaked with pink. A breeze stirred the trees and brushed their faces, fresh and sweet.

Lief felt he had never seen such beauty.

He saw that they were in the gardens of the palace, near the stairs to the great entrance hall. Two palace guards were standing at the doors.

For an instant the guards stared, astounded, at the crowd which had appeared on the palace lawn from thin air. Then they turned and raced inside, shouting the news at the tops of their voices.

Jasmine raised her face to the sun. Kree took flight, stretching his injured wing, screeching joyously. Barda gave a great sigh.

All around them people were opening their eyes, sitting up, staring in unbelieving joy. In the blink of an eye, it seemed to them, they had been swept from the Shadow Arena to this beautiful place that looked and smelled like home. Most were convinced that they were dreaming.

But there, slowly climbing to their feet, were the three strangers who had stood on the Arena platform before them. One was the boy who had played the strange Pipe. Around his waist he wore something that glittered and shone. A belt of steel, studded with seven great gems.

The slaves who were no longer slaves stared in wonder, gradually accepting the truth.

Deltora had not abandoned them. They had never been forgotten. They were free. And it was their king who had brought them home.

The doors of the palace flew open. People began to stream down the stairs, many still heavy-eyed with sleep but all shouting and opening their arms. The people on the grass stood up and stumbled to meet them. The two crowds met and mingled, loved ones and strangers alike embracing, weeping and laughing for joy.

The palace bells began to ring, calling to the people of the city below. Jasmine touched Lief’s arm. He looked down at her, his heart very full. She murmured something, but he could not hear her over the noise of the bells. He bent closer.

‘I said, it is shame to me that I ever doubted you, Lief,’ Jasmine repeated awkwardly. ‘But Faith seemed so real. And she said—’

‘The fault is mine,’ Lief said quickly. ‘I was a fool to refuse to speak of the crystal, to pretend it did not exist. I did tell you and Barda of it once, after I saw it in a dream in the Valley of the Lost. I thought you would remember.’

Jasmine looked puzzled. ‘I think I did, at first,’ she said slowly. ‘But then I looked in the crystal, and forgot everything but the lie I saw there.’ She looked down. ‘I should have known that you would never deceive me.’

Lief hesitated. This was the moment he had been dreading. He glanced at Barda, who was stolidly pretending not to listen. He cleared his throat. ‘I have deceived you, Jasmine,’ he said loudly. ‘You, and Barda too. There is something—’

He broke off. Jasmine’s hand had slipped from his arm. She was looking towards the palace.

A small group of people had appeared at the doors, looking eagerly out into the crowd. Sharn and Doom stood to one side, supporting Josef between them. On the other side was Stephen the pedlar, beaming, arm in arm with a strange, tall woman whose shaved head was painted with swirling designs. But in the centre stood Ranesh, his face expressionless, Zeean of Tora, and a graceful figure wrapped in a long cloak.

Marilen.

Загрузка...