Blue Moon Rising (Darkwood) (27 page)

“Are you all right, sir?” called Bodeen hesitantly.

“Of course I’m all right!” yelled the Seneschal crossly. “Give me a chance to get a little farther along the stairs, and then send out the Princess. And tell her to watch her step; it’s slippery out here.”

Julia looked at Bodeen, and swallowed dryly.

“Take your time,” he said understandingly. “There’s no rush.”

“What gets me is we volunteered for this,” said Julia, and Bodeen smiled.

“It beats collecting horse manure for the gardens. But only just. Ready?”

Julia nodded, slipped her dagger back into her boot so as to have both hands free, and then set her foot in the stirrup Bodeen made for her. She tried for a firm grip on the lintel, but her fingers slipped on the smooth wood, and she had to stop and rub her hands dry on her dress before she could get a grip she trusted. She took a deep breath, let it slowly out, and nodded to Bodeen. He smiled reassuringly, and Julia jumped.

Gravity changed while she was still in midair. Up was suddenly down, and her head swam madly as she found herself hanging by one hand from the bottom of the door. Beneath her kicking feet there was nothing but air, and she didn’t dare look down. She reached out with her free hand, and stubbed her fingers on the rough stone of the stairway. She grinned fiercely, grabbed hold, and pulled herself up onto the first step. It was broad and wide and seemed comfortingly solid. She pressed herself against the Castle wall, and looked around. The stairway stretched out before her, jagged and broken and punctuated here and there by yard-wide gaps in the stonework. Some fifty feet away, farther down the wall, the Seneschal was crouched before another door, his brow creased in thought.

“Sir Seneschal,” called Julia sweetly, “I’m going to get you for this.”

The Seneschal looked around unhurriedly. “Ah, there you are, Princess. I would have come back to help you, but I’m afraid I got distracted by this door. I was miles away.”

“I wish I was,” muttered Julia. The gusting wind tousled her hair as she stared uncomfortably at the view spread out below her. The Forest sprawled greenly across the horizon in which ever direction she looked, and it was hard for Julia to imagine such an ancient and magnificent sight falling to darkness and decay under the long night. She strained her eyes until they ached, but as yet there was no sign of the Darkwood itself. She wondered if Rupert had passed through the darkness yet, on his way to the High Warlock. She tried to remember exactly how long he’d been gone, and felt vaguely ashamed when she found she wasn’t sure. Julia scowled, and turning away from the Forest, she concentrated on the stairway before her. One problem at a time. Her frown deepened as she realized much of the stonework was cracked and pitted from its long exposure to the wind and rain, and several of the steps hung at crazy angles from the Castle wall, apparently only held in place by a little mortar and accumulated pigeon droppings.

“Is it safe for me to come out yet, Princess?” called Bodeen plaintively, and Julia started guiltily as she realized how long she’d kept the guard waiting.

“All clear!” she yelled quickly, and scrambled down onto the next step so as to give him more room. She’d barely made it before Bodeen came flying upside-down through the door, somersaulting in midair as the gravity changed. His grip on the lintel never even looked like slipping, and in the space of a few moments he was crouching gracefully on the top step, and looking interestedly down at the view.

“Do stop hanging around,” called the Seneschal. “The Treasury door isn’t locked.”

Julia glanced across just in time to see him tug energetically at the door. It opened outwards, nearly knocking the Seneschal from his perch in the process. He quickly regained his balance, stared dubiously into the dark opening, and then jumped into it, flipping head over heels upwards as he went.

That man has nerves of steel
, thought Julia.
Either that, or absolutely no sense of self-preservation.

She glared at the weathered, rough-hewn steps that lay between her and the Treasury door. There were only a few gaps wide enough to require jumping, but the steps on each side of the breaks looked decidedly precarious. Julia looked down, and then wished she hadn’t. The drop seemed to get longer every time she looked. She studied the battered stairway, and cursed under her breath, so as not to upset Bodeen. If the Seneschal hadn’t already made the journey, she’d have called it impossible. As it was … Julia sighed, gathered up her long dress, and tucked the front and back ends securely into her belt. The wind was cold on her bare legs, but she had to be able to see where her feet were. She glared dubiously at the next step down, and then lowered herself cautiously onto it. The stone creaked warningly under her weight. Julia waited a moment for it to settle, and then moved on to the next step. Slowly, she made her way down the stairway, one step at a time, testing each slab of stone carefully before committing her full weight to it. Time and again she stood motionless while the ancient stonework groaned and shifted beneath her, and crumbling mortar fell away in sudden little streams. Julia was aware of Bodeen hovering close behind her in case she fell, but after a while she had to order him to stay farther back. The stone steps couldn’t hold both their weight.

The first jump was the hardest. An entire block of six steps had broken away, leaving a jagged-edged gap of some fifteen feet. The steps on either side looked none too secure, and Julia reluctantly decided that her best bet was a running start. She climbed back two steps, took a few deep breaths to settle her nerves, and then launched herself at the gap, trusting to speed and luck to get her safely across. For a brief moment there was nothing but open space beneath her, and then her feet slammed heavily onto the far step. She fell forward and clutched anxiously at the uneven stonework, but the great stone slab barely shifted an inch. Julia let out her breath in a great sigh of relief and, rising cautiously to her feet, she moved down onto the next step to give Bodeen enough room for his jump. He made it easily, landing in a catlike crouch that barely stirred the stonework. The two of them shared a grin, and then continued on down the stairs, one step at a time.

The wind was rising steadily, a bitterly cold wind that seemed to strike clean through to the bone. Julia couldn’t stop shivering, and in her eagerness to get out of the cold she hurried down the last few steps without bothering to check them first. The icy wind tugged and buffeted her as she stood staring at the final gap in the stairway. It was only a yard or so wide and, once over, it was only two more steps to the Treasury door. Julia checked that her dress was still tucked securely in place, studied the distance to the far step, and then jumped the gap easily. The stone gave lightly beneath her as she landed, and then tore itself free from the Castle wall with a roar of rending stone and mortar. Julia threw herself forward, and just caught the edge of the next step as the first slab dropped out from under her. She watched it tumble lazily end-over-end on its long way down to the dirty green waters of the moat, and tried not to think of how many other people might have ended up there. She clutched fiercely at the rough stone step, and waited for her heart to settle.

“Hang on, Julia,” said Bodeen quietly. “I’ll jump across, and then pull you up.”

“No! Stay where you are, Bodeen!” Already Julia could feel the step shifting. There was no chance of it supporting the guard’s weight as well. Slowly she pulled herself up over the edge of the step, stopping every few seconds to let the shifting stone settle. Her arm muscles ached unbearably, but she didn’t dare hurry herself. Eventually she was able to hook one knee over the edge and then, with one heart-stopping lunge, she hauled herself up onto the step. For long moments she just lay there in an ungainly heap, feeling the stone creak and groan and grow still beneath her. Her heart hammered furiously against her breastbone, and sweat trickled down her face and sides despite the chill wind.
When I get inside
, she decided shakily,
I am going to brain the Seneschal with the nearest blunt instrument.
She eased herself down onto the next step, and only then got to her feet and turned to look back at Bodeen, watching anxiously from the far side of the gap.

“All right, Bodeen, come across. But aim for this step; I don’t think the other will take your weight.”

Bodeen nodded calmly, and made the jump look simple. The stone slab absorbed his landing with only the faintest of tremors, and Julia turned her attention to the open Treasury door before her.
After all I’ve been through to get here
, she thought slowly,
the Treasury had better be worth it.
She took one last look at the Forest spread out below, and then stepped through the doorway.

Once again, gravity changed while she was still in midair, and she only just got her feet under her in time. She looked around for the Seneschal, and then had to jump to one side as Bodeen came somersaulting in. He landed awkwardly, and Julia put out a hand to steady him. He moved quickly away, and Julia was surprised to note the man was actually blushing. She grinned as the answer hit her, and carefully rearranged her dress so that her legs were once again modestly covered. Bodeen concentrated all his attention on shutting the Treasury door, until he was sure it was safe to turn around again.

“It didn’t bother you on the stairway,” said Julia, amusedly.

“That was different,” said the guard firmly. “Here, it wouldn’t be at all proper. I mean, what would the Seneschal say?”

“Something vexing, no doubt,” said Julia, staring curiously about her. As her eyes grew used to the gloom, she realized they were in a vast hall, illuminated only by the sparse light that trickled past the edges of the many shuttered windows. The timbered ceiling towered above them, choked with cobwebs. Thick streams of the dirty gossamer hung from every surface, though there was surprisingly little dust. Tightly packed bookcases lined the walls, and dozens of chairs stood before dozens of desks, all joined one to the other by their cobweb shrouds.

“I wonder what this place was,” said Julia.

Bodeen shrugged. “If this was the Treasury, I suppose this could be the old counting house.”

“Right first time,” said the Seneschal, appearing suddenly from a doorway to their left. “Who knows how many tons of gold and silver and copper passed through this room? The whole wealth of the Forest Kingdom must have passed through here at one time or another.”

Julia’s eyes gleamed suddenly. “Do you suppose,” she said demurely, “that any of the gold and silver and copper might still be around?”

The Seneschal chuckled. “Who knows?”

“I’m beginning to be glad I came,” said Julia, and Bodeen nodded solemnly.

“Let’s find the Old Armory first,” said the Seneschal dryly. “Then perhaps we can consider a little treasure hunting. This way, Princess.”

Julia grinned, and she and Bodeen followed the Seneschal through the side door into the next room. Julia stopped just inside the door, and wrinkled her nose as the smell hit her. The darkened antechamber would have seemed small and dingy even when it was still in everyday use, but after thirty-two years of neglect the place stank of damp and decay. There were no windows, the only light the familiar golden glow of the Seneschal’s lantern. Mildew and wood rot speckled the wall panelling, and what had once been a rich, deep pile carpet crunched dryly under Julia’s feet as she moved slowly into the room. A single chair lay over-turned in a corner, cocooned in spiderwebs. The Seneschal turned as though to say something to Julia, and then froze. From somewhere close at hand, quite distinct amid the silence, came a furtive scurrying sound. It was too loud and too heavy a noise to be rats.

Julia drew her dagger, and Bodeen drew his sword. The Seneschal silently drew their attention to the door on the far side of the antechamber that stood slightly ajar, and the three of them crept quietly over to stand before it. The scurrying had stopped as quickly as it had begun, but Julia couldn’t help feeling there was something horribly familiar about the sound. It wasn’t just that she’d heard it before, on her journey through the South Wing; it was as though there was something about the sound she ought to recognize, but was afraid to. Julia scowled, took a firm grip on her dagger, and peered cautiously through the door’s narrow gap. All was silence and darkness. Julia glanced at Bodeen, who looked at the Seneschal for his orders. There then followed a short conference between the three of them, consisting mainly of looks, shrugs, and scowls, until Julia lost her patience and kicked the door wide open.

The door flew open on squealing hinges, and slammed heavily against the wall. The echoes seemed to go on forever, but nothing came to investigate the sound, and after a while Julia padded silently into the room, followed closely by the Seneschal and Bodeen. The still air was dank and oppressive, with a faint scent of rot and decay that grated on Julia’s nerves. The Seneschal held up his lantern, and then all three gasped as the lanternlight shimmered on gold and silver and precious jewels, scattered here and there across the floor, like a small child might leave his toys after he’d grown tired of playing with them. Stout oaken treasure chests lay on their sides, broken open and spilling their contents onto the floor. The lids of the chests had been torn clean away, the wood scored and split as though by claws.
Must have used a crowbar
, thought Julia dazedly.
Well, at least now we know we’re not the only ones here.
She glanced quickly round, but there was nowhere for anyone to hide in the cramped little room that met her gaze. The Seneschal moved away to check the first of the room’s two other doors, and Bodeen quickly sheathed his sword, knelt down beside the nearest chest, and started stuffing handfulls of assorted jewels into his pockets. Julia grinned, and crouched beside him.

“Don’t load yourself down too heavily,” she said dryly. “We may still have to fight our way out of here.”

“Take what you can, when you can; that’s always been my motto,” said Bodeen calmly. “And any one of these jewels is worth more than they pay me in a year. Besides, there’s no one here to fight, Princess.”