The Crystal Heart (19 page)

‘You heard what we said, did you not?'

I nodded without speaking. ‘Hate is a power as great as love,' my father remarked. ‘But hate built on lies has no strength at all. So, my daughter, you will tell him. He will hear from your own lips what really happened.'

I looked at Kasper. His back was straight as a pillar, his handsome face set in inflexible, expressionless lines. But somewhere, deep inside the man of stone he had become, was the boy who once loved me. I had to be strong for his sake, and not give way to the bitter regret that was seeping into my veins. Flinging back my hood so he could look me full in the face, I said, ‘I did betray you, Kasper.'

Kasper turned his head to look at me. At last, our eyes met, and the urge to go to him, to hold him, was so strong that it made my knees buckle. But he remained impassive. ‘So, the truth at last.'

‘I betrayed you by thinking I was doing the only thing I could do.'

‘Of course,' he said flatly, though I saw something flicker in his eyes.

‘I took my word as my bond. Worse, I made it
your
binding, your prison.'

A small, terrible silence followed. They were both staring at me now, my father as though he had never seen me before. ‘What are you talking about?' Kasper said finally.

‘I gave my word in return for your life, my word that I would never try – not by word or deed or thought – to come for you.'

Kasper stared at me, his face as still as before. But I could see his hands were clenched and there was a convulsive movement in his throat.

‘I thought it was the only way,' I continued. ‘The only way you would be safe. I tried to accept that I would never see you again, but I couldn't. I waited. I hoped. And all the time, with every day that passed, I did nothing to help you. I betrayed you over and over again.'

‘Izolda!' came my father's disapproving voice. ‘That's enough. Stop this.'

‘No, Father.' I drew myself up. ‘I will not.'

‘You are my daughter. You will do as you are told.'

‘I am your daughter, Father, that is true. But I am also my mother's.' I motioned to the portrait. ‘You loved her, Father. I know that, though there have been times when I have doubted it. And so I ask you – what would she have had me do?'

A shadow moved across my father's face, transforming it for an instant to the face of the passionate young man who had captured my mother's heart. ‘She would also not be told,' he said, with a ghost of a smile.

My mind was so clear, my vision so sharp now. I could see the things he never spoke of, what he kept hidden – the burden of power. The heartbreak that turned to a madness that sent Night to war. The last of the chains that had bound me broke as I said, gently, ‘Then would you have me do otherwise, Father?'

He gave a long sigh. ‘I would if I could. But I find … I find I cannot.'

‘Then, Father, I will continue.'

All this time, Kasper watched us with an expression that would frighten me if I did not guess what lay behind it. The numb shell that had formed around him was cracking, the pain of it so acute that written on his face, it reads like fierce anger, like murderous fury. ‘Kasper, do you remember Fela?' I said quietly.

‘Yes.'

‘She never reached Almain.'

Something that could have been called a smile – if such a twist of features could pass as that – flashed briefly across his face. ‘Yes. You sent her to your mother's house.'

It threw me for a moment. ‘No, of course not. Fela got lost and, when somebody found her, she and the message she was carrying were handed over to the authorities.'

Kasper looked at me. ‘Even if what you say is true, there was nothing in the message to say where we were.' He paused. ‘At least, nothing in the message I
thought
you had sent.'

‘That's right. There
was
nothing in
our
message to betray where we were. There was only our plea to the Grand Duke. But, you see, there was one thing we did not count on.'

‘Oh yes?' There was a definite curl to his lips now.

‘The Commander had told my father what had happened days before.'

‘The Commander?' he echoed.

‘On orders from the Council,' my father answered him. ‘They knew I would find out in time, and preferred to cut their losses and make a deal with me.'

‘Both Night and Krainos were looking for us, Kasper,' I said. ‘But even before they found Fela, they already had their first indication of where we might be.'

‘What? I don't understand,' he said, and for the first time, there was real emotion in his voice.

‘Kasper, it was the
domevoy
. It is a kind of goblin, only more benign than the kind we have here,' I explained, ‘and when it touched the crystal –'

‘The pulse of light that came from it was felt here, giving off a faint signal,' my father interjected. ‘When a goblin touches a
feyin
talisman, an alarm is sent in order for us to locate the intrusion and destroy it. In the land above, there are too many obstacles in the landscape for us to pinpoint the exact location, but it still allowed us to narrow the search. Finding the pigeon, of course, gave us the last piece of the puzzle.'

When Kasper spoke, every word seemed like a terrible effort. ‘But you … Oh, Izolda, you must have known …'

It is the first time he has used my name. My stomach churned with a mixture of joy and sorrow. ‘No, Kasper,' I whispered. ‘I swear I did not.'

As if in a dream, he took a step towards me. Then he stopped and put his hands stiffly by his side. ‘You are from
here and you had the crystal all those years. How could you not know it would betray us?'

‘In the Lady's name!' my father cried. ‘How
could
she know such a thing, you fool? She was just a small child when she was taken. The crystal heart had been made for her mother, and its magic was asleep during her time in the Tower. And it most certainly didn't betray you! It acted as it must when vermin touches it. It's a talisman.'

‘Yet it did not protect her from being taken,' Kasper said harshly. But there was a change in his eyes. I longed to cover the ground between us but I knew I must not. He must come to it of his own will. If he still can …

‘It doesn't work like that,' snapped my father. ‘It's not a shield or a weapon. But in the end, it did help her, because it found you.'

‘It found me?' I echoed. While I was speaking to the Prince, I was distracted by her presence. It was as though everything else had turned to mist and shadows. She was so beautiful, more beautiful even than I remembered. Her hair shone like silky fire upon her shoulders, her eyes the colour of the deepest green of the woods. She was standing so close that, for an instant, I felt as though I could not bear it and must go to her. But the next moment, I desperately wanted to flee as fast as I could. It was too late for hope. If she knew what I had really come for, if she knew what dark plan was in my murderous mind, she would turn from me with a cry of disgust. No, there was no hope in me but there was something else, and it hurt, hurt so bad, the numbness that had shielded me for so long dissolving like snow, exposing my raw and bloody heart, my shattered soul. It was an ugly sight, and I would spare her that, at least.

‘There can be no other explanation,' the Prince said, watching me. ‘The vision you had came through the crystal heart.'

‘But how?' I asked him, then looked at her.

‘Oh, Kasper,' said Izolda, ‘remember how I told you that I'd dreamed about you long before we met? Those dreams – that was how the crystal found you. Dreams are a magic the Tower could not touch.'

I had forgotten. No, not forgotten. The numbness had frozen it out of my mind and now the memory flooded back, clear as sweet water: the two of us sitting by the fire wrapped in each other's arms, Izolda telling me about the dreams. It was so vivid, so sharp, I almost staggered back. I could smell the scent of her hair, feel the warmth of her skin against mine. I met her eyes and saw the same memory in hers, and a piercing sweetness flooded through my veins like honey as we moved towards each other …

But I was rooted to the spot, unable to move or speak. Just a step, yet I could not take it. There was a gulf between us, and this time it was not a gulf of my own making. Izolda stood there as helpless as I. We were like two flies trapped in amber, the amber of
feyin
magic holding us apart.

‘So you did come for her, though you swore you did not,' the Prince hissed, ‘and now you shall pay the price.' His eyes shone with a strange light, like fires in the deepest of black opals. On his lips I could see dreadful words forming, words that I did not understand but that seemed to burrow into my very flesh and run in my blood like a hungry growth. I watched helplessly as he drew a long knife, black as his eyes, as he raised his arm and …

‘No, Father. No more. You will not do this.' Her clear voice rang out and she stepped from the magic as easily as if she were stepping through a door. Yet I could still see it clinging to her, like strands of golden cobweb. She held up a hand, stopping her father, halting the knife in midair. I remembered the Commander saying that she had never developed the powerful magic they thought she would possess. Her father must have thought so too.

Izolda came towards me and took something out of her pocket. It looked like a plaited strand of thread – half red, half black – and she touched me with it, on the head, the shoulder, the lips, the eyes, and I saw it was not thread but two strands of hair.
Hers and mine
.

I could feel a burden slipping off my soul like a nightmare fades at daylight, and I was no longer lost, I was myself again.

Izolda looked right in my eyes. ‘No power will part us, not anymore, not ever.' As she spoke, I felt life and movement rush through my veins. I shook off the holding spell, though not as gracefully or as easily as Izolda. She smiled and held out her hand to steady me. ‘We must go, Kasper, my love. We must go right now, for that little magic will not hold Father for long …'

I took her hand, and together we ran. It was like the night we met, when we fled the island, only this time it was Izolda guiding me and I who must trust her.

‘Kasper,' she said, as we reached a side door and emerged into a courtyard, ‘the quickest way out would be to go back through the portal, for the Fountain is close by. But my father's spies in the mines will catch us so we can't go that way. We can't stay in the city. There is only
one place we can go, and that is the Outlands. I have never been there, and without a guide it will be dangerous, but I do not think there is any other way.'

‘Then we go,' I said. ‘I will follow you to the ends of the earth and into the deepest pit of hell if that is what you want.'

Izolda's face flamed with colour, her eyes alight. ‘Reckless as ever, I see, Kasper Bator,' she said, with a little catch in her voice. She kissed me then, and it was as though time had fallen away and we were back in the cottage in the woods.

We did not run through the courtyard and we did not hold hands, for there were guards everywhere. I walked a pace or two behind Izolda, like a servant, keeping my head well down. But as we entered a set of apartments, who should we spot but the Lord Chamberlain. Fortunately, I had time to slip into an alcove and wait for what seemed like an agonisingly long time but, in fact, was only an instant, as the Lord Chamberlain paused to ask Izolda if she knew of her father's whereabouts.

‘Oh, he has gone out on some business in the city,' she replied airily. ‘He will be back soon, I am sure.'

‘Oh dear,' said the Lord Chamberlain, fretfully. ‘There has been a message from the Erlking – he and his son are coming soon and with company, too.'

‘If I see my father before you do,' Izolda said steadily, ‘I will be sure to tell him. Now, I must be on my way.' She swished ahead, as if to return to her rooms.

I waited until the Lord Chamberlain was out of sight before I went after her. ‘So the Erlking's son is coming earlier than expected,' I said. ‘He must be eager for his bride.'

Izolda stopped to look at me. ‘It may not be what it seems,' she said, and relayed a garbled story about Amadey and her maid Glarya trying to get a message to the Erlking. ‘I hope this means they have succeeded. Whatever happens, there is only one man that I will marry, and if I cannot have him, I will have no other. I would rather die.'

‘And if that man cannot have you, then he would surely die,' I answered, pulling her into my arms.

We continued on through room after room until we reached a walled garden, and a door set in the wall led to the street at last. As there was a guard stationed at the door, we did as before, with me following Izolda as if I were a servant. The guard bowed as she passed, paying no attention to me. We hastened along the street to where a long glass carriage waited at a stop. We clambered aboard, with me still those respectful paces behind. With a haughty air, Izolda waved me to the back of the carriage where there were plain benches for plain folk. As the glass tram glided off on its smooth silver tracks, I got an elbow in the ribs. The man next to me leaned in and whispered, ‘Say, that lady up there sure looks like the Princess!'

I raised an eyebrow. ‘My friend, don't be absurd. Do you really think the Princess would take the tram like anyone else?' I said in a scornful voice.

‘Huh, I suppose not,' the man said, though he kept snatching glances at her.

I rose to indicate to Izolda that we were to get off at the next stop. Only once the tram had pulled away did I explain why we did not continue on to the terminus, as planned. Izolda nodded and drew the hood of her cloak up over her head more closely to deter the casually curious,
and we linked arms so as to look like any other ordinary young couple. The feel of her arm in mine, the pacing of our steps together, was like a dream. Yet, it was also so natural, as though we were not in mortal danger, as though nothing could touch us anymore.

Izolda guided us surely through the maze of streets, though once or twice we had to pull into the shadows to avoid a city watchman or a group of Marshals heading to their barracks. For quite a while, all seemed undisturbed; there was no hue and no cries filled the streets. We emerged at the edge of the city without a problem. And then, just as we reached the gate that led past the watchtower to the Outlands road, bells pealed loud across the city. Their tongues gave not a deep sound like the bells of Krainos, but a high, harsh and sinister sound that made the hair rise on the back of my neck.

I did not need Izolda's exclamation of alarm to know what it meant. The spell was broken. And they were after us.