Keeper of the Realms: Crow's Revenge (Book 1) (20 page)

Charlie almost burst out laughing when Sic Boy, bored with watching Kelko and Jensen, eased himself over to the side of the bridge and relieved himself right on the leg of one of the uptight Watchmen.

Stones’s thick hand cuffed her around the back of the head.

‘Pay attention! I didn’t bring you here for your entertainment. I need to get rid of those fools,’ he snarled. He taunted her again by waving the ring in front of her face. ‘Go over there and tell your friends that you no longer want to see them and that they are wasting everyone’s time by being here. If they protest too much, you are to tell them that they are beneath your new social standing. As a Keeper and a new friend of my mother, you feel that you should associate with a better class of people. And do not under any circumstances tell them that we are keeping you here against your will, or even hint at what the Isiris Bracelets are.’

Charlie felt like she’d been smacked in the face. Any thoughts of escape or plans for alerting her two friends to her predicament withered and died. She was being forced to effectively destroy her relationship with the two Tremen, and not just that, she was being instructed to spitefully insult them too!

Stones leaned down so that his grinning face was mere inches away from hers and his yellow eyes shone with nasty mirth. He was enjoying this. ‘Now go and do as you are told and make it convincing!’

Already feeling guilty, Charlie walked across the drawbridge. Kelko and Jensen looked up from their cards with bright smiles on their faces.

‘Ho, ho, it’s me little Hippotomi!’ said Jensen, jumping up to greet her.

‘Finally!’ exclaimed Kelko. ‘Blossom, how ya doing?’

Charlie’s heart began to beat faster. She didn’t want to do this. Little beads of sweat began to form down the back
of her neck as she did her best to fight the influence of the Isiris Bracelets.

‘Lass, are ya OK?’ asked Jensen. ‘Ya look like ya’ve seen a ghost.’

Charlie wanted to scream, to cry aloud, to shout up at the very heavens, anything but this. But the cruel jewellery around her wrists forced her to open her mouth.

‘Kelko … Jensen … I think the time has come for me to be honest. I don’t want to see you guys any more, as I find it a waste of my time having to listen to your loathsome, dribbling conversation. In fact, it’s not just my time you’re wasting by being here but Lady Narcissa’s and her wonderful family’s. Why, even these poor Watchmen have to take extra guard duty just to make sure you don’t do anything foolish in your attempts to see me. I think it would be best if you were to go.’

‘Wot?’ said Kelko, a look of vivid disbelief shooting across his face. ‘How can ya say that, blossom? We’re yer mates. We’ve just come ta make sure yer OK.’

‘He’s right, Charlie. We’re just here ta make sure everything’s OK and that ya’ve settled in fine,’ said Jensen, who was giving her a funny look, as though he thought this was all just some kind of practical joke.

Charlie, to her horror, felt her face creasing into a thick sneer and her voice sounded cruel even to her ears. ‘Just who do you think you guys are? Here I am staying with Lady Narcissa, learning new things about Sylvaris, and you want to come and spoil it. As a Keeper I need to start associating with a better class of people than riff-raff like you two.’

Kelko and Jensen froze with shocked looks of betrayal
etched on their faces. Even one of the Alavisian Watchmen broke attention for a brief second to turn and stare at her.

‘Ha! Charlie, lass, ya certainly know how ta tell a good joke! Ya almost got me believing ya mean it!’ chuckled Kelko, but Charlie could see the uncertainty and fear in his eyes. He stared anxiously back at her and licked his lips nervously.

Charlie had never felt so heartbroken, but the Isiris Bracelets hadn’t finished with her yet.

‘I mean it, you fat fool! Leave me be! You’re embarrassing to be seen with. How on earth can you think anyone would want to be seen in your company?’

‘But, but … ya can’t mean that!’ stuttered Kelko. His lips quivered and he looked as though he might cry. ‘Charlie, I thought we were friends!’

‘I can’t believe ya would say such a thing!’ cried Jensen. ‘Ya can’t just turn yer back on us, not after all we’ve been through. Tell me ya don’t mean it!’

‘Bah! I knew you guys were stupid but I would’ve thought that you’d have got the message by now! I don’t want to see you two again, I don’t want to hear from you and I certainly don’t want to associate with you! Right, I think I’ve already wasted enough time talking to you two. Now scab off home before I set the Watchmen on you!’ snapped Charlie, then, turning her back on her friends, she strode into the ivory tower.

25

A Night to Forget

Devastation swept across Charlie’s soul. She couldn’t believe what she’d just done. She’d never felt so guilty or so repulsed by herself in all her thirteen years of life. Now that she had done the job and seeing that her back was to her friends, the Isiris Bracelets allowed her true emotions to show. Glistening tears began to slowly trickle down her cheeks.

‘Ha, that wasn’t so hard now, was it?’ chuckled Stones obscenely. He leaned against the wall and casually flicked the ring from hand to hand.

Charlie wanted to hit the muscled giant. She wanted nothing more than to wipe the smile off his smug, smirking face. A sudden thought popped into her mind: Lady Narcissa had foolishly forgotten to forbid her one essential thing when she’d issued the commands with the Isiris Bracelets. She’d never mentioned anything about retaliation.

Grinning through her tears, Charlie slowly yet firmly folded her small hand into a fist. Stepping smartly forward, she punched Stones as hard as she could in the stomach. He staggered backwards, more from shock than anything else. Charlie’s knuckles felt like they’d just hit a brick wall, but
she didn’t care about the pain. It felt good to strike back at one of her tormentors.

‘Why, you …’ snarled Stones disbelievingly. His meaty hand shot out and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. He yanked her off her feet and held her aloft. Charlie’s legs dangled helplessly beneath her, but she was too angry to notice.

‘Look who’s laughing now!’ crowed Charlie. She rubbed cheerfully at her knuckles and carelessly thrust her face closer to Stones. ‘Want another?’

Stones growled so low and menacingly that Charlie felt her teeth vibrate in her gums. Raising a massive, bludgeoning fist, he drew it back.

‘Stones!’ snapped Lady Narcissa as she walked briskly down the long corridor towards them.

Charlie noticed that she had changed into yet another magnificent silver-white dress that shone softly in the light. ‘Put her down. I’ve already discussed the matter of harming the girl. Don’t make me repeat myself!’

‘Yes, Mother,’ said Stones meekly.

He released Charlie, who dropped awkwardly to the floor. On shaky legs, she dusted herself down and rose to her feet.

‘Causing more trouble, are you?’ sneered Narcissa. ‘Well, not to worry, Charlie Keeper. You will only have the pleasure of staying with us for one more day. Tomorrow, I promise you, I will release you from our company.’

‘Oh yeah? And why would you do that?’

‘Because I have just sold your carcass to Bane, the Stoman Lord.’

Charlie’s face paled and her stomach tied itself into knots. ‘Wh-what did you just say?’ she stammered.

Lady Narcissa smirked evilly as she bent down to stare into Charlie’s eyes. ‘Hmmmm, let me assure you, you heard me right, little brat. I’ve just negotiated the sale of your skinny behind for a most pleasurable fortune. So enjoy your last twenty-four hours with us, because shortly after Bane will, I’m quite sure, be snacking on your flesh.’

Charlie had been wondering why Narcissa had taken her in. It had made no sense for the woman to offer her services to the Jade Circle and then turn cold and hard the minute she and Charlie were alone. But this explained it. Lady Narcissa had offered to house her purely for financial gain.

‘I congratulate you on getting rid of those tiresome Tremen as well. But now I grow weary. It is late and I need my beauty sleep, so without further ado I shall bid you goodnight. Stones, I think that we should put our young guest in suitable lodgings. Take her to the old cattle pens.’

‘As you wish, Mother.’

Lady Narcissa turned smartly and disappeared up the nearby stairwell of her tower.

Stones grabbed Charlie painfully by her hair and pulled her along, through twisting and winding corridors, until he came to a heavily bolted door. Pulling back the bolts, he carelessly tossed Charlie inside.

‘Until tomorrow, little rabbit,’ he growled. Slamming shut the door, he pulled the bolts back into place and stomped off.

Charlie groaned. Her knees were scraped and bloody and she was sure her shins would be horribly bruised. In her
opinion hard stone floors weren’t the most comfortable thing to be thrown on. Picking herself up, she plucked the worst of the splinters from her hands and looked around.

Thin moonlight trickled into the dank room through narrow, barred windows that were shrouded by the forest canopy. Damp straw lay scattered across the floor and empty, rundown cattle stalls lined one of the walls. Charlie wrinkled her nose in disgust; it stank of unwashed animals, rot and mildew. Rats, large millipedes, cockroaches and long-legged spiders scuttled, scurried and squeaked in dark corners.

‘Nice, real nice,’ she muttered to herself. She really wasn’t looking forward to spending the night here. How on earth was she going to sleep without creepy-crawlies trying to use her as a new home? The floor was out of the question – it practically heaved with insects. Climbing on to the fencing of one of the stalls, she perched herself up high and by wedging her back against an upright post managed to get reasonably comfortable.

How did she keep getting into these situations? Her adventures in Bellania seemed to lurch from tragedy to tragedy. Every time she overcame one obstacle another two cropped up in its place. She was no nearer her goals. Her parents were still far, far away, while her grandma had been left behind and was now in who-knew-what kind of sticky situation at the mercy of Mr Crow.

Charlie sat there and brooded. Her brain was whirring and ticking over far too fast with memories and fanciful thoughts of escape for sleep to come easily. Hours passed.

After a while a noise that was different from the background chitter of insects roused her from her troublesome
daydreams. Pulling a disgusted face and trying not to scream, she plucked an over-inquisitive spider from her hair, sat up and strained to listen. Arguing voices, muffled behind the bolted door, grew closer. With a thick rattle and scrape, the bolts were drawn back and torchlight flooded into the room.

26

Where There’s a Will There’s a Way

‘You must be mad! Mother would have a shouting fit if she knew we were even thinking about doing this!’ grumbled the familiar voice of Stones.

‘Well, if you were that worried you shouldn’t have allowed me to talk you into coming down here!’ rasped Stix with his sandpaper voice. ‘Come on, don’t worry about it. What’s the worst that can happen? Not much when you think about it. By tomorrow night that little brat of a Keeper will be digesting inside Bane’s stomach. No one will ever know the truth apart from you and me.’

Stones didn’t bother to reply, he merely grunted his consent.

‘Ha! That’s my brother!’ Stix laughed. ‘Come on, let’s have some fun!’

‘What do you two chumps want?’ asked Charlie. She had to shield her eyes from the blazing torch that Stix held in his hand. After the gloom of the cattle pens, her eyes weren’t ready for the intrusive glare.

‘Well, little brat, it’s not every day we have a Keeper at our mercy, even a little wisp of a one like you. Me and my
brother intend to take full advantage!’ smirked Stix, his sharp teeth and feral yellow eyes glinting in the darkness.

‘Hang on, Stix,’ rumbled Stones. ‘Do you really want to do it in here? How about back in our quarters?’

‘Definitely not! That’s far too close to Mother’s room. We can’t risk waking her.’

‘OK, how about the Great Dining Hall?’