Page 58 of Witchcraft and Fury (Chronicles of the Divided Isle #1)
‘One’s station can rise and fall. Would you like my court to rule on whether your ancestral lands should be forfeited to the family you just gravely insulted?’
‘You would never!’ Archdale spluttered, then fell silent under the king’s unyielding stare.
Flushing furiously, he turned smartly to face Solar. ‘Miss Carpenter, you have your earl’s apologies.’
‘And you have my forgiveness,’ she said, summoning all her willpower to resist smirking as she said it. She didn’t have to; many of the notables around the room did the smirking for her at her words.
Looking like the vein in his temple might burst, Earl Archdale strode from the room. Grubber and Hroth both cast Solar vicious glances, then followed on the earl’s heels.
The Archdales kept a relatively low profile in the city after that, though Solar did hear that the earl spoke to a number of rovers about them accepting Hroth into their magic encampments.
One accepted, eager to become a friend of the powerful nobleman, and even more eager to accept the hefty bribe offered.
When Pingot heard of this he warned Solar darkly that Hroth would surely mature into a qualified wizard bent on opposing Solar in all she did.
‘Are you alright, Solar?’ Bear asked, after Pingot gave this ominous prediction. The three of them were eating bowls of vegetable stew and currant bread fresh from the ovens in the communal dining hall. ‘I know it’s not the best news, but it’s not something we have to dwell on just yet.’
‘It’s not that,’ Solar said. ‘Although that’s bad enough.
But I bumped into Grubber just before lunch.
He was getting ready to leave the city. Told me he was heading back to Falcontop to resume his duties, and that his first stop in the city would be my mother’s front door.
With Bayen having revealed his true colours, there’s no one to go to for help. ’
‘The vile little bastard!’ Pingot exclaimed. ‘And, come to think of it, Bayen himself may be the most immediate danger.’
‘I know,’ said Solar hollowly. ‘In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think I have to fly back to Falcontop, maybe even set out later this afternoon. There could be no time to waste.’
‘That won’t be necessary,’ said Bear.
Solar turned to him. He wouldn’t meet her gaze.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’ve asked my father if he’d be willing to send men to Falcontop, to your mother’s house,’ Bear continued, speaking very quickly and twisting his hands together.
‘It’s not safe for them there anymore, not with Loveday on the run, and Grubber and Bayen set against you too.
Your mother can take up residence in my father’s castle.
She won’t have to work. That wouldn’t do, wouldn’t do at all, the mother of a magical student.
And your brother will be trained to be a squire.
There’s no better place to learn the chivalric code than under … Solar, are you listening? ’
‘Of course,’ said Solar, her voice suddenly hoarse.
She felt almost light-headed with relief, weeks and months and years of worry lifted from her shoulders.
Her mother would be safe, looked after. Her brother would have a future.
Through all of this, she felt a blazing surge of affection for her friend well up inside her.
She threw her arms around him and held him close against her.
She felt Bear tense, and then his arms encircled her and he relaxed into the embrace.
‘I’ll take that as a yes, then,’ he said, evidently relieved.
‘I’ll get my father to send out the orders immediately.
He has contacts in the city who can mind roost to my uncle.
They should be able to get help to your family faster than even your carpet can fly. ’
‘Thank you,’ she said fervently, breaking the embrace so she could look him in the eye. ‘Thank you so much. I don’t know how I can ever—’
‘Move up, will you, Bear?’ said Cal cheerfully, arriving at their table and leaning over the two of them to ladle stew into his bowl. Bowl full, he sat down between them. ‘Stew any good today?’
‘I’ll go find my father, then,’ said Bear, ignoring Cal’s question, his tone suddenly a little cooler.
‘Shall I go with you?’ Solar asked.
‘No, I think it’s best coming from me. Besides, you should keep Cal company.’
*
With the worry of Bayen loose in Falcontop, Grubber’s threats and the danger still posed by Loveday, it was almost with a sense of escapism that Solar’s mind kept drifting back to her father and, once he was found by Storrbury’s agents, the manner of his return.
She imagined him riding up to The Rock with a mounted honour guard clad in shining armour.
The trumpets would sound from the palace walls.
When he saw her, he would sweep his brown curls from his eyes as he always did, his smile lighting up his face.
And then he would take her into his strong arms, and she would never let him go.
The days passed slowly with Solar in such a state of anticipation and anxiety.
But the morning of the coronation did eventually arrive, and with it came splendour that she had never imagined.
All of Ashwood’s great heads of house were in attendance, their wives and husbands by their sides dressed in luxurious silks and sporting the latest hairstyles of the capital.
Their entourages of servants and guards took up all the rooms in the city’s inns.
Foreign dignitaries from distant lands were also present, their accents thick and their garb strange.
The ceremony itself took place in the centre of the city, in an ancient temple dedicated to Axeus, emperor of the gods.
Solar and her classmates, as magical trainees, were part of the procession from the palace to the temple.
The students of other magic encampments stood before and behind them, some of whom Solar recognised, having spotted them in the palace, and there was much sizing up of one another as they walked.
The coronation lasted most of the morning, the lack of light from the small, old windows, the burning of incense and the continuous chants from the priests all creating a heady mystique.
Once Algar had been crowned by his head priest, Lord Heolstor, Solar and her classmates had to line up with the heads of noble houses, wizards and other students to kiss the king’s ring and pledge their loyalty.
They then took part in the procession back to the palace for feasting in the great courtyard, whereas the king, as was tradition, spent the rest of the day and night in ritual prostration, prayer and flagellation before the altar of Axeus, with none but his closest priests in attendance.
The fare at the feast was hearty but simple, consisting mostly of roasted meats, ales and wines.
The true feasting would begin the following afternoon, in the palace banquet hall, when Algar would return barefoot from the temple to take his place on the dais at the head of the hall.
Enthroned, he would then be booted and cloaked by his priests, the gaze of all upon him, before presiding over the banquet.
Yet, when the time came, Solar chose not to attend, confident her absence would not be noticed amidst such a large gathering, it being an occasion for which she had no assigned role to play.
She flew her carpet out of her bedroom window to a deserted stretch of the ramparts.
The weather had taken an icy turn, and she drew her cloak tight around her for warmth.
She took no notice of the goings-on in the palace complex below her: stragglers hurrying across the moat on their way to the feast, their carefree laughter floating up to her; musicians giving their instruments a final polish; and servants carrying courses of food and wine.
She faced instead the city and the River Vulnus, and beyond them Khylfierum and the mountains of Arkundu. For once the normally clear skies were heavy and foreboding with dark clouds. She clasped a crumpled roll of parchment.
She heard heavy footsteps approaching, climbing the long flight of stairs to the walkway. It was Cal, dressed in thick furs, his dark skin tinged a slight pink at the cheeks.
‘Cal! Why aren’t you at the banquet?’ she asked when he reached the top.
‘I wondered where you’d got to,’ he replied. ‘Besides, any moment spent at table with my father is a moment wasted, as far as I’m concerned. What made you climb all the way up here? I searched pretty much everywhere before deciding to try the battlements.’
‘Well, I have to admit I didn’t actually climb.’ As if listening in, her carpet soared into sight from below the wall and looped round the two of them before coming to a rest on the walkway.
‘I see,’ said Cal, chuckling and kneeling to stroke it. ‘Hello, my friend.’ The carpet stretched luxuriously at his touch, and its intricate designs seemed to shimmer in the dim winter light. Solar could have sworn she even saw one of the embroidered witches wink.
Snowflakes began to fall, and Solar shivered.
‘So why aren’t you at the banquet?’ Cal asked, standing back up.
She pressed the scroll she held into Cal’s hands. ‘Storrbury … came to find me last night,’ she said, the words catching in her throat. ‘He said that his agents … have been unable to find news of my … father anywhere. This scroll is a record of his orders … for ’em to stop the search.’
‘Solar, I’m so sorry,’ Cal said, taking her in his arms. His embrace was gentle and warm.
‘It says there is … no hope,’ Solar said, her voice muffled by the furs on his shoulder.
They stood like that for what felt like an age, held tight in each other’s arms, the snow swirling around them, but for Solar it ended all too soon. The cold seemed crueller when they parted.