Page 33 of Witchcraft and Fury (Chronicles of the Divided Isle #1)

‘Yes, you’re right. No doubt they have bribed some official at the port to look the other way.

In King Edric’s time, though, this city would have been heaving with slaves due to be exported.

Those poor wretches you see in front of us are bound for the continent, where they’ll toil on some field or construction site for a year before falling where they work.

It’s an abhorrent trade, and sadly one that our magic encampment has no authority – or time, for that matter – to rectify. ’

One of the chained men fell with a groan, and a lash from a slaver’s whip cut through the rags on his back. His comrades in front and behind helped him up and spurred him on.

‘Giving them a year before they fall might be a little optimistic, Sir Gaderian,’ said Cal, his voice shocked. ‘I’d wager they have no more than five days in them.’

‘Talking of wagers,’ said Binns, ‘Wolfport is also famed for its goblin gambling dens. What say you we take a look before we carry out the king’s work, Gaderian?’

‘It’s as if you raided my mind. But you will not be visiting purely for pleasure, Dirk.

The dens are renowned for attracting customers from all social strata.

Visiting one will be an excellent place to start gathering information about what’s going on here.

I’ll trust you to commence investigations there, and I will accompany the students to our inn.

I have no taste for such dens of iniquity. ’

‘I admire your stance, old friend, but goblin dens are notorious for cheating and thievery. It would be ill-advised for anyone to enter one alone; there are accounts aplenty of those who’ve done so and never come back up.

And more still of those who have returned to the surface, cheated of all their worth.

I would appreciate having you by my side, to watch each other’s backs. ’

Loveday looked torn between supporting Binns and steering clear of a place he so disapproved of.

Seeing him waver, Binns added, ‘Allow Cal to take the students to the inn, once the two of us have entered the den. Give him the chance to develop his leadership skills, without us looking over his shoulder.’

Finally, Loveday gave a reluctant nod and spurred his horse on. The master-at-arms grinned.

Solar shuddered at the sight of his yellow teeth, remembering the apparition that had tried to drown her in the river, but it did not dampen her excitement.

A goblin gambling den! Such dens were the stuff of legend, places where vast fortunes were lost and made in a heartbeat.

Everything could be gambled for, from magnificent merchant ships to fire-breathing dragons.

The dens were furnished with dark ebony and polished mahogany from the continent, red velvet curtains and knotted carpets worked with mesmerising patterns from the east. The ceilings were said to shimmer with gold.

And then, of course, there were the goblins themselves.

Jealous guardians of their wealth, they were hard to read and even harder to deceive.

She hoped she’d be able to get a glimpse inside.

Presently they drew up at a small, circular structure with a stubby domed roof in the centre of the wide street. Two armoured goblins, no taller than children, stood sentinel outside, their hands grasping long-shafted battle axes.

‘Your business?’ asked one of the goblins, a warty specimen with snot-green skin and a pot belly.

‘The gambling den,’ replied Loveday.

‘Goblins don’t waste time on unnecessary pleasantries. They prefer their exchanges with men to be short and businesslike,’ said Binns to Cal in a grim murmur.

‘You will need to relieve yourselves of your weapons, your staff included. We have a game beginning at midday. You may purchase drinks at the bar beforehand,’ said Pot Belly.

‘And the youths must stay outside,’ said the other goblin, an ugly-looking creature with watery eyes and a double chin.

Loveday passed his staff, sword and bow to Cal. ‘Take the trainees to The Ogre’s Belly. There you will find a warm welcome, stables and beds for the night,’ he instructed, dismounting from his horse and handing the apprentice the reins.

Once Loveday and Binns had unburdened themselves of their weapons, the goblins swung open the domed structure’s goblin-sized door.

Inside was unlit and empty apart from a circular hole, the top of a ladder protruding over its lip.

Music, shouting and laughter could be heard coming faintly from below ground, as if from a great distance.

The wizard and master-at-arms stooped inside and clambered down the ladder into the hole.

Solar watched glumly, itching to go inside and discover exactly what was below ground.

Pot Belly and Double Chin closed the door and turned to stare menacingly at the trainees.

Cal turned his horse around and the others followed.

‘First they drank themselves into a stupor in Ravenbridge, and now they’re gambling. So much for working in the king’s name,’ muttered Bear to Solar, frowning with disapproval. ‘If I’d known that these were Loveday’s true colours, I doubt I would ever have joined his magic encampment.’

‘Hmm, me too,’ said Solar vaguely. She had always avoided giving exact details about how she had been ‘talent-spotted’ by Loveday, and she decided that now was not the time to reveal that her first adventures with the wizard had consisted of smuggling a prohibited book into Falcontop and helping him to cheat at cards.

‘Oh, give it a rest, Kingsley,’ said Oswald wearily.

‘If wizards were prohibited from entering gambling dens, fighting halls or any other establishments you look down upon, they’d never find out anything at all whilst on magical assignments.

And besides, it’s not like he wants to go in; he’s only there to watch Binns’ back. ’

*

They did not receive the warm welcome that had been promised at The Ogre’s Belly. A minotaur stood guard at the entrance, his legs twice as thick as any man’s and his enormous hands clutching a spiked mace. He had thick, pointed horns and a bow taller than Cal slung over his back.

‘No rooms left,’ growled the minotaur, brandishing his mace. His ferocious face was level with theirs even though they were on horseback, and Oswald spluttered at the foul reek of meat on his breath.

And so they moved on, not wanting to quibble with the guard. As they moved down the street, searching for another inn, a man in a tattered cloak who had been loitering near The Ogre’s Belly came running after them.

‘Are you looking for rooms, gentlefolk?’ he said when he caught up with them .

‘You’re an innkeeper?’ asked Cal, his interest piqued. ‘We’re looking for rooms, and stables for the animals.’

‘Certainly, my lord. My inn, The Crooked Harbour-Master, is not far. Please, follow me. And keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious on the way. You young ’uns can’t be too careful these days – more and more vanish with each passing week.’

‘We’re not “ young ’uns ”,’ said Bear haughtily, staring down at the man from his mount. ‘We are magical students from noble houses.’

The man gave a deferential bow. As he led the way Solar spurred Mae forwards to ride beside him.

‘Sir—’ she began, looking down at him, but he cut her short.

‘I’m no sir, lady. Call me Hal.’

‘And I’m no lady. You can call me Solar.’

Hal looked up at her with curiosity. ‘Well, Solar, I’m all ears.’

‘I was just going to say that we’re here ’cos of the disappearances. We’re going to catch whatever’s kidnapping the young townsfolk and put an end to this business once and for all.’

‘You’re magical trainees, did your friend say a moment ago?’ asked Hal.

Solar nodded.

‘Well then, where is your magical instructor?’

‘He’s … gambling,’ said Solar, for some reason feeling a hot flush of shame on her cheeks. ‘With our master-at-arms, in a goblin den near the main city gate.’

‘Is he now? Well, I can’t say I think much of that. What does he think he’s doing, leaving you to wander the streets alone when half the city’s youths have disappeared? ’

‘He is a great wizard, in truth,’ she replied hesitantly.

‘Take my advice, Solar: you wait safely inside my inn until he comes out of that den. Stay out of sight. It’s the only way to stay safe these days.’

‘With all respect, Hal, we’re not ones to sit idly by. We’ll gather information for our instructor whilst he’s … occupied. Can you at least point us in the right direction, perhaps to someone who might know something, anything, about the disappearances?’

‘Well, you could try the Faylseigh family. Their daughter went missing just yesterday afternoon. Seventeen years old, she was – around your own age, I imagine. They are an old, powerful family from a distant land. They may know something. They have a great, big house to the right of the Temple of the Ancestors, overlooking the port. You can’t miss it. ’

*

The students arrived at the Faylseigh mansion soon after midday, having left their horses and the bulk of their belongings at The Crooked Harbour-Master.

Solar had had little trouble in persuading the other trainees to join her rather than wait for Loveday and Binns.

Bear and Pingot were eager for another adventure, whilst Oswald and Wyman both said they could hardly let Solar risk her life again whilst they warmed themselves by a fire.

Cal followed more reluctantly. The imps, meanwhile, had flown off to an alehouse that catered exclusively to magical creatures.

The mansion stood on a slight rise, lending it commanding views of the brilliant blue sea and the coming and going of ships.

A breeze rustled the branches of trees that lined the walls of the mansion’s verdant garden.

Far away to the north, outside the city walls, high white cliffs rose majestically above the sea.

A dark, forbidding forest ended a short distance from the cliff edge.