Keeper of the Realms: Crow's Revenge (Book 1) (42 page)

‘Say what?’

‘Yeah, you heard me.’ Constantina grinned. She turned to address the crowd. ‘Sylvaris! I have already proved that this interloper is no match for me. But now this game passes too quickly for your entertainment and surely that should be a crime. Tonight is the Three Winds Festival, so why don’t I make this Silent Duel last a little longer?’ She turned to the referee. ‘I, Constantina, give this second round to Charlie Keeper!’

Charlie’s mouth dropped open. Could Constantina really do that? The crowd sighed first in delight, then cheered ecstatically. Charlie turned her gaze across the stadium to where Kelko and Jensen waited.

Seeing Charlie’s look of awkward confusion, Kelko shouted over the sound of the crowd, ‘Take it, blossom, take it!’

‘He’s right, lass!’ hollered Jensen, holding his hand up in a thumbs-up gesture. ‘If she’s dumb enough ta throw it away ya should take the opportunity!’

Charlie bit her lip and nodded to show she’d heard.

‘So, Charlie Keeper,’ said the referee, ‘will ya take Constantina’s gift of a free round?’

‘I will.’

‘Very well, then. Begin.’ The referee threw the Zephyr.

‘What?’ said Charlie. Unprepared, she allowed the shuttlecock to fall to the ground.

‘This is a Silent Duel,’ admonished the referee as she bent down to retrieve the Zephyr. ‘Even if yer opponent doesn’t want ta face ya, ya still have ta play.’

‘What, by myself?’

‘Well, of course,’ snorted the referee. ‘Who else would ya play with?’

‘Well, uh … um,’ stuttered Charlie. ‘So I just have to keep the Zephyr in the air for a count of ten?’

‘Obviously.’ Once again the referee threw in the shuttlecock.

Charlie, uncertain with how to proceed but aware that she had no choice, jumped forward and, catching the Zephyr in the crook of her foot, began tapping it from foot to knee and back again. The referee began her count.

Charlie, very much aware of how ridiculous the moment was, felt like a fool. Someone in the audience began to snigger. Other spectators joined in and soon the sound of laughter swept across the stadium as everyone began to point and joke as Charlie was made to play K’Changa by herself.

Great torrents of shame, like nothing she had ever felt before, began to wash through Charlie’s soul. The humiliation and disgrace of the moment was so real, so vivid, that
it carved a wound in Charlie’s being. And through this rift,
this tear
in Charlie’s spirit, the hatred and darkness that she had buried within her heart began to wriggle its way free from the cage that she had constructed around it.

‘And … ten!’ The referee finished her count and, after a final round of laughter, the crowd settled down to see how the rest of the duel would go.

Constantina, confident and cocky, strutted across the sand. ‘Think you’ll be able to survive being a joke for another round?’

Charlie stared at the spoilt brat in front of her. She could feel her anger growing like a blossoming black flower. It made her bold. ‘You want a show, you pampered fool? Fine, I’ll give you one. So stop bragging, stop all your talking and let’s get on with it!’

Charlie’s words were so strong that Constantina took a step backwards in shock. She quickly covered her surprise. ‘You’d better show me some respect. Don’t forget that when I hold the pendant I’ll stand higher than you, a broken and useless Keeper!’

Charlie groaned and almost doubled over as the sheer rage and volcanic anger seeping from her heart threatened to overwhelm her. But she held it all in. For now. ‘Stop stalling and let’s get this over with,’ she growled through clenched teeth.

‘Fine,’ snapped Constantina. ‘If you want to play it that way so be it. Third and final round. Let’s do it.’ She retreated and settled into a loose K’Changa stance.

Focusing on the turbulent emotions racing through her soul, Charlie merely stood still.

Again, at the referee’s prompt, the Treman band began to pound out a fiery rhythm on their drums. The beat filled Charlie’s blood with a desire to move and sway to the music. Suddenly she felt alive with the urge to twist and turn, to leap and bound across the arena.

Seeing that both players were ready, the referee threw in the Zephyr. Constantina gave a great shout and confidently sprang towards it.

Charlie just grinned and released the darkness that had been festering inside her heart.

60

Round Three

Once released, all the hatred and anger boiled free from Charlie’s heart like a tidal wave. It burned in her veins like molten lava and shivered through her muscles like wild lightning. It filled her to the point where she thought she would burst. No longer did she feel as though she had to constrain her true feelings. No longer did she feel the need to behave like a good little girl with a mind for manners. For the first time in her life she felt free.

Charlie stared across the arena and smiled. She’d found her Will, or perhaps rather her Will had found her.

The beat from the drums flickered around her, the shouts from the crowd slithered through her hair and the wild breeze arising from the west thrummed across her skin. Charlie breathed it all in. Standing still, she watched as Constantina leaped confidently into the air to claim the Zephyr. She watched and listened as the crowd began to roar out a chanted count.

‘One!’

Constantina landed lightly on her feet, the shuttlecock weaving from left to right.

‘Two!’

The champion back-flipped and sent the Zephyr floating into the sky.

‘Three!’

Somersaulting sideways, Constantina threw a triumphant grin at her fans, then caught the shuttlecock with a casual flick of her foot as it returned to earth.

‘Four!’

Charlie stood still, not even bothering to move, the odd smile still fixed firmly on her face.

‘Five!’

Ending a complex series of handsprings, Constantina noticed that Charlie hadn’t even attempted to challenge her.

‘Six!’

A worried frown crossed the champion’s face.

‘Seven!’

‘What are you doing, you little scab?’ hissed Constantina. ‘Aren’t you even going to attempt to make this round interesting?’

‘Eight!’

Charlie’s smile widened into a big grin as the darkness coursing through her body met with her Will … and exploded.

‘Nine!’

Charlie’s hands burst into flame, her hair stood on end and her eyes blazed. Springing forward, she snatched the Zephyr from Constantina and, moving so fast that she actually blurred, she began to twist and turn.

Like a tornado.

Like a Human hurricane, awesome and unstoppable.

Constantina, realizing that the tables had turned, began
to panic. Her face turned white, sweat appeared on her forehead and her K’Changa, so perfect before, began to unravel. Her stances grew sloppy, her acrobatics seemed hurried and her poise slumped.

The crowd fell silent as people pointed in disbelief. Even the band lost momentum. Shifting and bucking, leaping and bounding, slipping and diving, Charlie spun the Zephyr in intricate patterns. Taunting and teasing, she flicked the shuttlecock past Constantina’s face, then snatched it away before the champion could attempt to swipe at it. Charlie was dizzy with power and overawed by her new-found might. With a wild cackle of delight, she flung the Zephyr skyward and watched it disappear into the night sky.

Over in the stands, Jensen nudged Kelko in the ribs. ‘Well, I believe that must have been a count of ten.’

‘Uh, er … yeah. Yeah, I guess so!’ said Kelko, blinking away his shock. ‘Although I have a sneaky feeling that even the ref forgot ta count.’

‘Ha! Wot does that matter? Ten count or a hundred count, ain’t no one gonna beat that in a million years! Wot a way ta go! That’s me little stompin’ Hippotomi!’

‘Yeah, yer right! She won! She won! Go, girl!’ hollered Kelko, waving his hands wildly above his head. ‘Charlie Keeper, champion of Sylvaris! Champion! Champion!’

Jensen joined in the shout. It was quickly picked up by the audience and soon the whole Colosseum rang with the shout of ‘Charlie Keeper, champion of Sylvaris!’ The stands shook with noise as people began to stamp and cheer.

Constantina stared at Charlie, horror clearly painted across her petulant face. Her lips quivered and her hand
trembled as she pointed at her adversary. ‘B-b-b-but … how?’ she stammered. ‘No one is supposed to beat me. I’m the best.
I’m
the champion! Me!’

Charlie knew that she should rise above any tit-for-tat, but somehow she couldn’t quite help herself. Sauntering over to Constantina, she bent close. ‘Well, hey there, “buttercup”. Is it just me or is there a new champion in town?’

Constantina squawked, blushed a bright red and fled. Lady Narcissa, sitting in the stands, grabbed the rail running round the arena with white-knuckled hands. Her face twisted into a bitter grimace of frustration.

Charlie laughed aloud. It felt good to win. The pendant was hers!

She raised her blazing hands for silence and the crowd, so sneering towards her before, was now only too willing to oblige their new champion.

‘Sylvaris! Sylvaris! Who’s your champion now?’

‘Charlie! Charlie Keeper!’ roared the adoring crowd.

‘And do you accept that the pendant is mine?’

‘Yes!’ shouted the jubilant spectators.

‘Good! Then hear this: I will use it to the best of my ability for the good of this land. I intend to defeat Bane, the Western Menace. Do you support me in this action?’

‘Yes!’

‘Well, know this,’ cried Charlie, and pointed across the stands to Lady Narcissa. ‘That woman is an agent of Bane’s. She hides behind a false face and weaves a web of lies across this city. She has sneaked Shades into Sylvaris and it was at her command that Azariah Keeper was killed. Will you allow her to continue her wicked ways?’

‘No!’ growled the angered crowd, as people began to murmur about the accusations.

Lady Narcissa stood up and attempted to protest her innocence, but the crowd wasn’t in the mood to listen. People rose from their seats. Reaching forward, they lunged for the councillor. Stix and Stones hastily knocked back the hands that grabbed for their mother, but the sheer weight of numbers was overwhelming and soon there were simply too many to fend off at once. The Delightful Brothers drew their weapons and growled menacingly, but the crowd answered back by throwing half-eaten buns, sticky bags of sweets, items of clothing and bottles of iced Chocolate Fuzz. Stix and Stones cowered to avoid getting bombarded as the situation rapidly spiralled out of control.

A sudden fluttering of wings caused people to look up in wonder as a vast wave of crows flocked into the arena. They swooped down into the stands and clutched Lady Narcissa in their talons. Twittering and cawing, the birds retreated into the night sky, heading towards the Ivory Tower with Narcissa safely in their grasp.

Stix and Stones gaped in astonishment as their mother dwindled in the distance. They stared at one another, then looked back to all the angry faces glaring down at them.

‘Hey, Delightful Sisters!’ Jensen yelled out. ‘It looks like ya’ve been left behind. Wot’s the matter, doesn’t yer momma love ya?’

The Delightful Brothers fixed Jensen with their mean yellow eyes.

‘Ooh! Wot a scary look! Why, I’m quivering in me boots!’ Jensen chuckled sarcastically. ‘Now then, if I were ya I’d
scram before the people of Sylvaris decide ta ask wot yer part was in all dis.’

Stix and Stones hesitated as they stared at the angry, shouting mob and nervously licked their lips. Then they turned tail and scampered, a barrage of missiles landing in their wake.

‘Ha!’ roared Kelko with a joyful grin, slapping his belly.

Jensen turned towards the arena. ‘Did ya see that, lass?’ he asked, searching for Charlie. ‘Did ya – Hey, where’d she go?’

Kelko turned too, to see that the place where Charlie had been standing just moments before was now empty.

61

The Face-off

Charlie sprinted through the partying streets of Sylvaris. Dodging joyful Tremen, skipping past dancing Stomen and sidestepping merry and laughing Humans, she leaped from bridge to bridge, determined to confront both Lady Narcissa and Mr Crow. She wasn’t exactly sure why she was doing this, or even what she was going to say when she reached the black-hearted pair. All she knew was that she had a burning need to make certain that the two of them didn’t get away scot-free with murdering Azariah. She would bring them to justice. She would.