The Place of Dead Kings (12 page)

‘The Grail?’ Elizabeth stood beside the hearth in her hut. ‘You said it wasn’t real.’

Jack ran his fingers through his hair and took a further step into the room. ‘I’m not so sure now.’

‘When are you going?’

‘In a week.’

‘A week? No.’

‘I have to.’

A tear crystallised in the corner of one of her eyes. ‘Why?’

‘The Rajthanans are coming. We need something to fight them with.’

‘Yes – your siddhas.’

‘That won’t be enough. There’re only a few of them, and most of them haven’t even learnt a power yet.’

Elizabeth dabbed away the tears with her sleeve. ‘Why does it have to be you?’

‘No one else knows about powers. Look, there’s something I haven’t told you.’

‘What?’

Jack looked at the earth floor. ‘Kanvar couldn’t completely cure me. I still have the fire in my chest. In less than two months it’ll kill me.’

‘No.’ Fresh tears welled in Elizabeth’s eyes.

‘But there’s still hope. The Grail heals wounds. You remember the story. The king with the wound that wouldn’t heal.’

‘Yes.’ She gazed hard at Jack. ‘You think—’

‘Maybe. I don’t know. It’s worth a try.’

She nodded. ‘You’re right.’ Then her brow furrowed. ‘In the story, Galahad was taken up to heaven. And Oswin.’

‘That might not be true.’

‘You just said the story
was
true.’

Jack thought quickly. ‘Parts of it could be true.’

She put her hand to her mouth. ‘What if you find it, and—’

‘Elizabeth, I don’t have all the answers. But the Grail was always supposed to be on the side of God. If it exists, it’ll help me. I’m sure of that.’

She looked down. ‘Why do the cursed Rajthanans have to come?’

He stepped over and took her by the shoulders. ‘Listen, you need to be strong now. For the baby.’

She bit her bottom lip and nodded.

Jack drew out the cross necklace and held it up. ‘Mother’s always with us. Watching over us.’

‘I still miss her sometimes.’

Jack fought back the tears. ‘I miss her too.’ He put the necklace back under his tunic.

She dried her eyes with her hand. Then she looked up at him with so much cold defiance he was startled for a moment. ‘We’ll fight the Rajthanans.’

He felt a flush of pride. That was the thing about Elizabeth. She might face setbacks, but she would pick herself up and stride ahead again with absolute determination.

He didn’t know what he would do without her.

Saleem stumbled as he tried to keep up with Jack’s long strides.

Jack stared straight ahead and kept up his pace as he crossed the village green. ‘I said no.’

‘But I want to come,’ Saleem said.

‘You need to stay here with your family. Look after them.’ Saleem had been through enough and Jack wasn’t going to take him on a probably doomed mission to Scotland.

Saleem stopped walking. ‘I could tell everyone about William.’

Jack paused and turned round. ‘If you do that it’ll only hurt Elizabeth.’

‘I need to make up for what I did.’ Saleem’s voice came out high-pitched and choked. He stared at the ground, his eyes glassy. He clenched and unclenched his hands.

‘You don’t need to make up for anything.’ Jack’s voice was softer now. ‘You did your best.’

‘But I ran away. I left my friends to die.’

‘Sorry, it’s still no.’

‘Then I’ll follow you.’

Jack shook his head. ‘You don’t give up, do you?’

‘I have to do this.’

Jack rubbed the back of his neck. He’d already chosen his party and he didn’t need anyone else tagging along. But at the same time he understood Saleem. Wasn’t Jack also, in a sense, going to Scotland to atone for his sins? Wasn’t he trying to make up for what he did to William? ‘This journey is suicide. You know that?’

‘I heard you’re looking for the Grail.’

‘There’s no guarantee we’ll find it. We’ll probably all be dead in a month.’

‘I still want to come.’

Jack sighed. Why was he getting so soft these days? ‘All right.’

Saleem smiled broadly, his cheeks going red. ‘I won’t let you down.’

The mare spluttered and stomped. Jack grasped the bridle and patted the animal a few times to calm it.

‘When will you be back?’ Elizabeth was standing beside him.

He found it hard to look at her, but forced himself to turn. Her skin was grey in the early morning light and the mist that had descended on the village swirled behind her.

‘Not sure,’ he said. ‘Before the Rajthanans get here.’

‘But there’s less than two months—’

‘You stay strong.’ He squeezed her arm, then glanced towards Folly Brook. The cottages were indistinct blocks of shadow. Figures emerged from the haze – most of the village had come out to see him off. Saleem walked with his mother and sisters, and Godwin strode across the grass, wearing his longsword for some unfathomable reason.

‘Listen . . .’ Jack frowned as he searched for the words. He had to say this quickly before the others arrived. ‘I know you said you’d fight. But, if the Rajthanans do come before I get back, you take Godwin and go. Run. Anywhere.’

Elizabeth shook her head slowly. ‘We’ll stay here and face them.’

He gripped her arm tighter. ‘Think of the baby.’

‘I am. I want my child to live in a better world.’

He was about to say more, but the villagers were within earshot now and he knew there was little he could do to convince Elizabeth anyway. As always, she would make her own decisions.

Godwin walked over to them and stood with his hands on his belt and his head raised, staring into the distance. ‘Good luck, sir.’

Jack nodded slowly and eyed the small crowd gathering about him. There was sturdy Tom, old Mary, Mark and the other acolytes from the House of Sorcery. He met the eyes of each in turn. To his left, Saleem – the only other person from the village coming on the journey – was slinging saddlebags across the back of his own horse and saying goodbye to his family.

Jack faced the villagers again. ‘I’m proud to be your reeve. I’ll be back in a few months, but in the meantime I’ve decided to appoint a temporary replacement.’ He took his folded white surcoat out of a bag on the side of the horse. ‘Godwin.’ He offered the surcoat to his son-in-law.

Godwin gasped and stepped back.

Jack thrust the coat towards him. ‘Go on.’

Godwin swallowed, stood up straighter and solemnly took the folded cloth. ‘Thank you, sir.’ His voice shook slightly.

Jack looked back at the villagers. ‘Godwin’s in charge now. I’m sure you’ll all do your best to help him.’

Tom started clapping, and shortly after that everyone else joined in. Godwin sniffed and puffed out his chest. And then it was as if a spell had been broken and the villagers bustled around Jack, hugging him and wishing him well, some with tears in their eyes. Jack said farewell to each of them in turn. Finally, he shook Godwin’s hand and gave Elizabeth a hug.

‘Thank you for Godwin,’ Elizabeth whispered in his ear.

Then he swung up on to the mare, glanced at Elizabeth and felt his throat tighten when he saw her forlorn face. He looked across at Saleem, who was also now up on his horse, his mother and sisters crying in a huddle nearby.

Jack nodded to the crowd. ‘God’s grace to you all. God’s will in England.’

Then he turned his horse and set off into the mist at a canter, with Saleem keeping up the pace beside him.

‘N
ot far now, sir.’ The man from Dun Fries pulled the hood of his cloak tighter about his head. The rain streamed down the folds in the cloth and dripped from the rim. ‘Just over that hill.’ He pointed to where the dirt road rose to pass over a saddle between two low, barren hills.

Jack shivered as he walked alongside the man. The rain was seeping through his heavy tunic and even the doublet underneath. ‘How big is the party?’

‘About a hundred soldiers, I heard. Hundred porters too. Maybe more.’

‘You sure they’re still looking for men?’

The man shrugged. ‘Don’t know. You’ll find out soon enough.’

Jack stared ahead through the shafts of rain. The droplets pummelled the ground, turning it to sodden muck. The landscape was empty and grey, save for a few twisted trees that had already lost most of their leaves.

The Rajthanans had better still be looking for men. Jack and the others had to be on that expedition into Scotland. Otherwise there was little chance of them making it all the way to Mahajan’s kingdom.

Jack glanced back. Saleem and the eight other crusaders from Shropshire were trudging up the slope behind him. They all looked tired and grim in the silver dawn. It had been a long journey up to Dun Fries and they’d arrived later than planned to find out the expedition was due to leave shortly.

‘Do you know where this expedition’s going?’ Jack asked the man from Dun Fries.

The man’s eyes flickered beneath his hood. ‘I might know something. Then again, I might not.’

Jack understood, drew out a penny that flashed in the dim light and handed it across. He’d already paid the man a penny to lead them to the Rajthanan camp.

The man slid the coin into a pouch. ‘Heard they’re looking for a Rajthanan sorcerer called Mahajan. They say he’s gone mad. He’s living up in Scotland now.’

None of this was news to Jack. He hoped he was going to get more than this for his money. ‘Where in Scotland?’

The man shrugged his cloak tighter. Steam misted about his mouth. ‘A place called the Land of Mar.’

‘How far away is that?’

The man grunted. ‘Don’t know. No one knows. No one’s ever been there, that I know of anyway. Scotland’s a wild place. Not many go more than a few miles over the border. Most of it’s uncharted. I once saw a Rajthanan map and I can tell you, most of it was empty white space.’

‘This Mahajan seems to have gone there.’

The man lifted his top lip for a moment, as if snarling. ‘If Mahajan’s even real.’

‘Real?’

‘Well, sometimes I wonder. You hear rumours, but how much of it do you believe? No one’s ever seen Mahajan. No one’s ever been to Mar. No one even knows whether Mar exists for real.’

‘The Rajthanans seem to think it’s real.’

‘Well, they don’t know any more about Scotland than the rest of us . . . Here we are.’