The Silver Door (3 page)

T
hunderstruck, Rye turned quickly to Sonia. Her expression was a strange mixture of nervousness and defiance. Her hair hung in tangled rats' tails around her face, and her clothes were little more than rags. The contrast between her and the elegant young woman standing stiffly by the harp was absurd, but Rye had no urge to smile.

He felt fearful, and deeply embarrassed. According to the kitchen workers, the Warden's daughter led a lonely life. No doubt it had amused her to befriend an unruly Keep orphan who made a habit of scrambling through the chimney system and who could bring her gossip and news. But this did not mean that Sonia's rough companions were welcome here, in her private space. And it certainly did not mean that she was willing to risk hiding them from her father. ‘Nocki, this is Rye,' Sonia chattered, pulling Rye
forward. ‘He was the volunteer who took me through the Wall. Behind him are Faene D'Or, and Rye's brother Dirk, who we rescued on the other side.'

As Faene and Dirk scrambled up, pulling the sooty masks from their faces, their hostess pressed her lips together and curtseyed, very briefly, with a rustle of silken skirts.

‘Faene—Rye—Dirk—' Sonia went on in a high voice, ‘this is Annocki, the Warden's daughter.'

Dirk swore under his breath. Faene snatched off her cap and raised her chin before returning Annocki's curtsey. No doubt she was telling herself that she was the daughter of chiefs of Fleet, and need not feel cowed by anyone, however she was dressed.

Annocki shook her head. ‘Oh, Sonia,' she sighed. ‘What am I to do with you?'

And such was the rueful affection in her voice that Rye's feelings did an abrupt somersault, and he felt a flicker of hope.

‘Just trust me, Nocki!' Sonia said breathlessly. ‘I know this is hard for you, but there was nothing else to be done. We need food, and a place to sleep tonight. Then Faene will have to stay here in hiding, while Dirk, Rye and I go back—'

‘Sonia!' Annocki cut in sharply.

Sonia fell silent, biting her lip. Rye met Dirk's eyes, and quickly looked away again.

Annocki clasped her hands tightly, and took a deep breath.

‘Be still, Sonia, just for a moment,' she went on in a calmer voice. ‘You have taken me completely by surprise. I have been very worried about you. I have hardly slept since you left. And now, suddenly, you come back, bringing three strangers with you, and—'

‘Indeed, we did not mean to intrude on your privacy, lady,' Faene broke in, bright colour rising in her golden cheeks. ‘We had no idea Sonia was bringing us to you. Please do not trouble yourself—about me, at least. I am sure that Dirk can find me somewhere else to stay.'

Annocki blinked at her, clearly unable to believe that this well-spoken young woman was one of the crude, cruel barbarians she had been taught to fear.

Then suddenly she seemed to pull herself together. She moved quickly forward, and held out her hand to Faene.

‘Forgive me,' she said, suddenly sounding far more human. ‘I did not mean to seem unwelcoming. My quarrel is only with Sonia, and I have become used to speaking to her very freely. We began as mistress and maid—'

‘Lady-in-waiting, if you please!' Sonia protested.

Annocki sighed. ‘Lady-in-waiting, then. But that was a long time ago, and now we are like sisters despite the differences between us.'

‘Nocki has tried to civilise me, but I fear she has failed,' Sonia said smugly.

‘So we have noticed,' Dirk muttered.

Faene hesitated, then put out her own hand and allowed Annocki to take it.

‘I have known Sonia for days, not years,' she said steadily, ‘but in that time she has been a true friend to me. I well understand what you have suffered, thinking you had lost her.'

‘I am sorry, Nocki—sorry you have been worried, I mean,' Sonia put in. ‘But you knew I was determined to get through the Wall this time.'

‘Indeed.' Annocki smiled wryly. ‘But I thought you would fail, as you have failed so often before. None of the other volunteers agreed to take you.'

‘No,' Sonia said, with a resentful glance at Dirk, ‘but luckily Rye was different.'

‘Only because you blackmailed me,' Rye retorted, feeling his face grow hot.

Sonia shrugged. ‘It had to be done. No one noticed that I was gone, did they, Nocki?'

Annocki shook her head. ‘As far as anyone knows, you have been here all along. I have tried my best to give that impression, and no one has challenged me.'

No one would dare, Rye thought, looking sideways at the young woman's proud, closed face. Annocki was very tense, he could feel it, and she continually avoided her visitors' eyes. He wondered uneasily how far she could be trusted.

Dirk was plainly wondering the same thing. He was looking warily around the room, very much on the alert.

Everyone jumped as there was a blare of trumpets from somewhere below. In a flash, Dirk had darted to the window and was looking down. Faene and Rye hurried to join him.

‘It is nothing—only the changing of the guard,' Sonia said, raising her voice slightly as drums began to beat, making the panes of the window rattle. ‘It happens at this time every day.'

In the courtyard below, Keep soldiers were marching in a complicated pattern, the white feathers on their helmets bobbing. To one side, a small, plump figure in a plumed hat sat stiffly on a bored-looking black horse laden with red and gold trappings.

Rye fidgeted. He knew that if he had seen this fine spectacle a few days ago, when he first came to the Keep, he would have found it very impressive. He would have gazed at it in awe, as the citizens ringing the courtyard were doing at this moment.

But his time beyond the Wall had changed him, it seemed. All he felt now was a vague distaste. From above, the scene was almost comical. The soldiers looked like wind-up toys. The Warden looked like a doll stuffed with straw—a doll in a silly hat.

‘I had forgotten,' Dirk muttered, his eyes hard as he stared down. ‘I saw this ceremony when I first came here. The soldiers train for it, I was told, every morning six days a week. By the Wall, why do they bother? They might as well be folk dancing for all the good it does for Weld.'

Rye glanced over his shoulder at Annocki. She was frowning, but whether this was because she resented Dirk's criticism or because she agreed with it, he could not tell.

Turning back to the window, he raised his eyes and looked over the courtyard to the city beyond. The view was strangely pale, as if it had been painted with inks that were too watery. Stubby trees dotted the edges of flat, straight roads. Squat little houses lined the roads as far as the eye could see, with frequent sad gaps, like missing teeth, where skimmers had struck.

Rye suddenly understood how Sonia could have once mistaken a goat shelter for a house in the land beyond the golden Door. Looking down from this high tower, everything looked hunched, dull and small.

Everything except the Wall. A towering, brooding presence, the Wall rose into the hazy sky, dwarfing everything within it, spreading like giant wings from both sides of the Keep and disappearing into the distance. Close beside it, raw and ugly, ran the trench from which the clay for new bricks was dug.

Workers wearing bright yellow harnesses swarmed over the lower half of the Wall. The safety ropes netting the sheer clay surface trailed one minute and tightened the next as the men went about their work, mending and replacing, thickening and smoothing, busy and diligent as bees.

Rye saw Faene rub the pane in front of her with her sleeve. She could not understand why everything
looked so dim. She thought the window was clouded. Dirk was glancing at her uneasily. Perhaps he, too, was seeing his home with new eyes, and wondering if Faene of Fleet would ever be truly happy shut away inside the Wall.

Very unsettled, Rye turned away. And it was then he realised that Sonia and Annocki were whispering furiously at one another behind his back.

‘Sonia, you ask too much!' he heard Annocki hiss. ‘You cannot expect me to—'

‘Do not fuss, Nocki!'

‘Fuss?
Sonia, you are impossible! Can you not consider my feelings for one moment? Put yourself in my position!'

And abruptly Rye remembered just what that position was. The Warden had promised his daughter's hand in marriage to any volunteer who succeeded in saving Weld. Annocki was to have no choice in the matter. She was just part of the prize.

How she must have loathed seeing the volunteers streaming into the Keep when the Warden's notices about the quest first went up all over the city. How she must have cringed to think that one of these men was to be her husband whether she liked it or not—and even if he did not want her.

She was no doubt sickened by the very sight of Rye and Dirk, let alone by the idea of helping them. And as for Faene, the barbarian beauty Dirk so plainly loved …

‘It will not be for long, Nocki!' Sonia whispered. ‘Rye, Dirk and I will leave again in the morning, and with luck I will be back very soon, to give you the best of news, and the Warden the shock of his life!'

Annocki shook her head. Her eyes were bleak.

‘My good, brave friend, you are dreaming. If the Enemy sending the skimmers can be destroyed, surely it will be this Dirk, or someone like him, who will do it. Not you.'

Sonia lifted her chin. ‘It will be me,' she said. ‘I know it seems strange, but somehow I feel even more certain of that now. Rye and Dirk will be my witnesses—and perhaps their brother, Sholto, too. The Warden will not be able to deny me.'

Her face seemed lit from within. Her eyes were glittering green.

And at that moment Rye realised at last what was driving Sonia to risk the perils of the world outside the Wall. It had nothing to do with gaining glory for herself. She was doing it for Annocki—to save Annocki from the selfish whims of the Warden once and for all.

‘Have faith, Nocki,' Sonia urged. ‘Just a little longer.'

Annocki bowed her head. ‘I will try. But Sonia, I fear for you! And it is not just because the land of the barbarians is so dangerous. It is … Oh, I do not know how to explain it! You have been away only a few days, but I feel a change in you.'

‘A change?' Sonia stared at her.

Annocki nodded. ‘I cannot put my finger on the difference. But you seem more … more
alive
, somehow.' She shrugged in embarrassment. ‘It makes no sense.'

‘It does!' Sonia seized her friend's hands. ‘I
feel
more alive, Nocki. It is as if my blood has become richer, and is running faster through my veins. I thought I was imagining it, but if you sense it too …'

Annocki looked troubled. ‘I fear you thrive on danger, Sonia. And if that is so—'

‘No.' Sonia shook her head. ‘It is the
place!
Everything is so big and bright! The sky is huge, and as blue as—as that!'

She pointed to a little blue pottery horse on Annocki's worktable, and laughed as her friend looked disbelieving.

‘Truly!' she insisted. ‘You can
breathe
out there, Nocki!'

‘You can die out there also, Sonia,' Annocki said grimly.

Sonia paused, biting her lip. ‘Yes,' she admitted. ‘But somehow … it is worth it.'

Much later, long after the diamond window had been closely shuttered, Rye lay on a mass of cushions with Dirk by his side, trying to will himself to sleep.

He had bathed luxuriously in a great tub with taps that gushed streams of steaming water. The cushions were soft beneath him. Most important of all, his stomach was pleasantly full. Annocki had eaten
little, and Faene had refused food and gone early to bed, but he, Sonia and Dirk had picked the loaded dinner tray clean.

Sleep should have come easily, but Rye's mind would not rest. As soon as they were alone Dirk had seized the chance to try to persuade him to stay in Weld on the morrow. Rye's determination had not been shaken, but he hated disagreeing with Dirk. The argument had unsettled him.

And that was not all.

How fantastic and unreal the stories of their adventures beyond the golden Door had seemed, when told to the Warden's daughter in this rich, closed room!

How confusing it was, to be back in Weld yet not to feel the old sense of home!

How hard it had been to hear his mother's quiet voice at the door, when she came with the dinner tray, and not be able to call out to her, or see her face to face!

And most of all, how nightmarish it was to lie for the first time in days sweating and stifled in a hot, sealed room, listening to the hideous, flapping, scrabbling rush of skimmers flying in their thousands over the Wall of Weld.

I
t was very late when at last Rye's thoughts began to drift and blend into confused dreams. Over and over again he half woke, turned restlessly and fell into another shallow sleep. And in the early hours of the morning, dreams became nightmare …

Sholto was bathed in weird red light that drained all colour from his gaunt face. His hair had been cut so it was nothing but black stubble coating his skull.

Skimmers were lunging at him, baring their needle teeth, flapping their pale, leathery wings, slashing with the vicious spurs on their hind legs so that drops of venom, gleaming red as blood in the scarlet light, filled the air around them.

Yet Sholto did not move. He merely watched the frenzied beasts intently, his dark, clever eyes dropping now and then to the notebook in his hand. And somehow the creatures never reached him. They just
lunged and lunged again, falling back repeatedly as if repelled by an invisible barrier.

But Sholto was in danger. Terrible danger. There was danger in the red light. There was danger in the shadows. Danger and horror, coming closer …

A clanking thud broke into the nightmare and Rye woke, his heart pounding.

It was a dream, he told himself. Only a dream.

But his dreams of Dirk had been visions—glimpses of what Dirk had really been doing. And that meant …

A low moan escaped his lips. Beside him, Dirk sighed, mumbled and turned over.

‘Sorry, Rye,' Sonia's voice whispered.

Rye's eyes flew open. It was very dark in the hot, close room, but gradually he made out a shape looming over him.

‘I am sorry I woke you,' Sonia murmured in the darkness. ‘Skimmers are attacking the chimney. There is no danger—the chimney is well sealed at the top in summer—but the sound startled me, and I dropped the sack of supplies.'

‘W—what?' Still half gripped by the nightmare, Rye sat up.

‘I have been down to the kitchens to collect food for our journey,' Sonia whispered. ‘The early hours are the best time for thieving. I have—Rye, what is wrong? You are shaking!'

‘I had a fearful dream,' Rye said thickly. ‘One
of the dreams that are—real. I saw Sholto … and skimmers.'

‘Skimmers?' Sonia hissed, dropping to her knees beside him. ‘Where? Did you see the place?'

‘Red—it was all red,' Rye muttered, trying to control his ragged breathing. ‘And something was coming—something worse than skimmers. A shadow. Cold … powerful … evil …'

He pressed his hands over his eyes. His teeth were chattering. He hated showing such weakness in front of Sonia, but he could not help it.

There was a pause, and then he felt Sonia touch his quaking arm.

‘At least, however terrible it was, the dream proves that Sholto is still alive,' she said quietly. ‘It also proves he chose the right Door.'

‘Yes.' Rye took a deep, shuddering breath.

‘And tomorrow we will set out to find him,' said Sonia. ‘So put the dream out of your mind now and get some rest, Rye. That is what I am going to do. The waking bell will ring all too soon as it is.'

She pressed his arm and retreated, dragging a sack that chinked and rattled as it rasped over the carpet to the bedroom door.

Strangely comforted, Rye settled back on his cushions. For a while he kept his eyes open, afraid that if he slept again the vision of the red place would return to torment him. Then, deliberately, he made himself relax.

Sonia was right. However frightening it had been, the dream had proved that Sholto lived. That was a step forward. And tomorrow …

Rye swam up from a sleep fathoms deep and sat up, blinking in the dimness. The shutter still covered the diamond window, blocking out the morning light and dulling the sound of the waking bell clanging in the courtyard far below. He could hear Sonia, Annocki and Faene murmuring sleepily in their room, and Dirk yawning beside him.

But he could hear something else, too. Someone was knocking on the tower room door.

Sonia came bounding out of the bedroom and ran to the door. She was wearing a long red nightgown. Her coppery hair flew wildly around her shoulders.

‘Yes?' she said sharply.

‘Message from the Warden, ma'am!' a small, frightened voice piped.

‘Push it under the door, if you please.'

A large white envelope slid onto the carpet. Sonia bent and picked it up. ‘Thank you,' she called.

‘I—I am sure you would do the same for me!' gabbled the small voice, and footsteps went pattering away.

‘Keep orphan,' Sonia said curtly, turning away from the door. ‘How useful the Warden finds it to have a good supply of little messengers, and be praised for his kindness in keeping them, too!'

Annocki and Faene had appeared in the bedroom doorway by now. Their eyes were puffy with sleep, but they had both taken the time to throw robes over their nightgowns.

‘Will I open it?' Sonia asked, holding up the envelope.

‘Of course.' Annocki frowned and drew her robe more closely around her chest as if she was cold.

‘Make haste!' Dirk urged. Plainly he feared that somehow the Warden had found out that there were strangers in the Keep.

Sonia tore open the envelope, glanced at the message inside, hissed, and thrust the paper at Rye. With an embarrassed glance at Annocki, who nodded stiffly, Rye read the note aloud:

Rye could not believe it—he could not believe a father could write to his daughter so coldly! He looked up. There were dark red patches on Annocki's cheekbones. Her dark eyes were burning with anger.

Faene was clearly very shocked. No doubt she wondered what sort of place she had come to, where parents and children could be so at odds. She turned to Dirk for reassurance, but Dirk's mind was on other things. He was glaring at the fireplace.

Soot had begun drifting down onto the hearth. There was the muffled sound of voices from above, and a wrenching, tearing sound as the chimney block was removed. The Warden's orders were being obeyed promptly, it seemed.

‘By the Wall, this is criminal!' Dirk burst out. ‘What of all the homes destroyed last night? How does the Warden dare to waste a single worker on his cursed chimney?'

‘Hush, Dirk!' Faene whispered, hurrying to his side and glancing nervously at Annocki.

‘Nothing the Warden does surprises me!' snapped Sonia. ‘But it is a great nuisance. Do you not see? While workers are in the chimney up here, we cannot use it! They will spy us climbing down, and the Warden is sure to hear of it.'

‘Then we are trapped here all day.' Rye felt sick. Memories of the dream flooded his mind, rising like a sour tide.

‘No!' Sonia pressed her lips together and shook
her head. ‘This is the safest and most convenient way to the Chamber of the Doors, certainly. But there is more than one fireplace in the Keep. The one in the waiting room on the ground floor would be the best, I think. The workers will not be able to see us down there. We will try our luck straight after breakfast.'

‘Sonia …' Annocki began warningly.

Sonia took not the slightest notice. She smiled at Rye and Dirk.

‘Do not worry,' she said. ‘All we have to do is take a risk—and by now we should be used to that.'

An hour later, his hand on Sonia's shoulder and Dirk's hand heavy on his back, Rye was creeping down the narrow, winding steps that led directly from the tower to the ground floor of the Keep. The concealing hood was on his head and the speed ring was on his finger. The bell tree stick was in his belt, and a bundle containing food and water was slung on his back. He felt as if a thousand butterflies were fluttering in his stomach.

‘We are nearly at the bottom,' Sonia warned softly. ‘Be ready.'

Rye tightened his grip on her shoulder as she began to move a little faster.

This morning, Sonia looked very much as she had when he had first met her. Despite Annocki's protests, she had again put on the red cap, tunic and trousers of a Keep orphan. The red scarf, washed and dried
overnight, was knotted around her throat. As before, she carried her own small bundle of supplies at her waist, tied in place with the old plaited rope belt she had kept with her throughout the journey beyond the golden Door.

Rye could feel her tension and excitement. It seemed to run through his fingers, like the tingle he felt when he touched the little bag of powers hanging around his neck. Despite everything that had happened to her beyond the Wall the last time, Sonia could hardly wait to escape from Weld again.

Perhaps Annocki was right, and Sonia thrived on danger. The idea had plainly returned to Annocki's mind when she had said goodbye at the tower room door. Her face had been very sober as she hugged Sonia, earnestly begging her to take care.

‘Do not worry, Nocki!' Sonia had said, returning the hug warmly. ‘I will be back. And in the meantime, you will have Faene to keep you company.'

‘Faene does not seem to want company at present,' Annocki replied dryly, glancing over her shoulder. After tearfully farewelling Dirk, Faene had retreated to the bedroom, and had not shown her face since.

‘Oh, she will soon recover,' said Sonia, with what Rye thought was quite mistaken assurance. ‘Or she will pretend to. Faene's manners are far better than mine.'

‘That would not be difficult,' Annocki had snapped. But her smile had taken the sting from her
words, and she had stood watching Sonia, Rye and Dirk until they were out of sight.

‘There!' Rye heard Sonia whisper.

Light shone dimly through an archway not far below. A few more steps, and they could see through the archway to a broad, stone-paved hallway lined with doors. People were hurrying up and down the hall—Keep workers with brooms and mops, officials carrying scrolls and folders, scurrying Keep orphans.

They all looked busy, intent on their morning duties. But there was no jostling, and there were certainly no collisions, because in the polite Weld way, everyone was keeping well to the right.

Following their plan, Rye, Dirk and Sonia waited for a gap in the crowd passing the archway, then stepped smartly across to the middle of the hall where no one was walking at all.

People streamed along on either side of them, following the shallow paths that had been worn in the ancient floor by thousands of feet over the centuries. Rye wondered if anyone except cleaners had ever actually trodden on the stones where he and his companions now stood. Did the Warden ever stroll down the middle of the hall when he was alone, for example? Just to show he could?

The thought made Rye smile. The fluttering in his stomach eased.

‘This way!' Sonia whispered, jerking her head to the left.

Hands tightly linked, they began to walk. The hall's central strip stretched ahead of them, wide and bare as a private road. It came to Rye that nothing he had done so far—even lying to the Warden—had made him feel quite so keenly that he had stepped outside the normal life of Weld.

‘There,' Sonia breathed, pointing to an open doorway on the right. ‘Be very quiet. There will be soldiers on guard inside.'