The Princess and the Captain (24 page)

‘No human peoples able to make such things,' murmured Lei, marvelling rather than frightened. ‘This work of heavenly powers!'

Beside her, Malva was feeling a vague terror. Not one of the hundreds of travellers' tales she had read mentioned anything like this. Had the storm driven the ship beyond the borders of the Known World?

The current carried the
Fabula
on for what seemed to all on
board like eternity. The twins were beginning to moan and make gloomy predictions again, while Finopico cast a dark glance at Lei.

Then, suddenly, the line of statues came to an end. The prow of the ship entered waters of an astonishing turquoise blue. Far away, Orpheus could see the outlines of land, but he had no time to say anything, for a flock of birds was making for the
Fabula
, skimming the waves. The beating of their wings made a harsh whistling sound.

Zeph immediately got to his feet and trotted to the prow of the ship, growling. When the birds were close enough he barked at them, but they were not in the least alarmed, and settled on the deck of the
Fabula
.

And now the survivors of the storm realised that they had indeed entered an unknown universe. For these creatures, perching on the gnarled claws of wading birds, had metal wings, and their graceful necks ended in tiny human heads.

‘By all the Divinities of the Known World!' choked Finopico.

He was the only one of them able to say anything at all. The others were as mute as Babilas.

‘Well, well,' remarked one of the birds. ‘They speak Galnician too.'

‘Catabea will be amused,' said another bird.

And all the human-headed wading birds opened their mouths to burst into laughter as lugubrious as the croaking of frogs.

Malva felt cold sweat trickling down between her shoulder blades. Since her flight from Galnicia she had seen many strange creatures, but the shrunken heads nodding at the ends of those birds' necks were the scariest of all. When one of the birds approached, spreading its metal wings, she stifled a cry of alarm.

‘Don't be afraid,' cooed the bird. ‘We are the Patrols of
Catabea. You have just entered the Archipelago, so the Procedure must be followed. What is the name of this ship?'

The travellers exchanged glances of panic. Archipelago? Catabea? Procedure? They didn't understand a word of it.

‘The name of this ship!' repeated the bird in a menacing tone.

‘The
Errabunda
,' replied Orpheus in a strangled voice.

‘The
Fabula
,' replied Malva at the same moment.

The human-headed birds craned their necks.

‘Does this ship by any chance have two names?' asked one of them. ‘Beware if you are trying to deceive us!'

The others creaked their wings.

‘Its name is … the
Fabula
,' Orpheus quickly corrected himself.

The Patrols relaxed. ‘Who is in command?' one of them asked.

There was silence. Peppe and Hob, leaning against the foot of the broken mainmast, seemed dead on their feet, while Finopico's teeth were chattering. He didn't seem to realise it. Babilas had narrowed his dark eyes, and Malva shook her head. Facing these alarming birds, none of them was keen to take on the job of captain.

‘Our captain is dead,' Orpheus explained.

The Patrols waddled from one large foot to the other, and a disapproving murmur rose among them.

‘The Procedure insists on our knowing the captain's name!' said one of the birds. ‘If we don't get it we have to send you to the Immuration.'

‘The Immuration!'

‘To the Immuration!' repeated the other birds.

‘What
is
the Immuration?' Orpheus ventured to ask.

A Patrol came out of the ranks and shook its dreadful little head back and forth in front the young man's face.

‘The Immuration is the centre of our Archipelago. It's a prison into which we throw all who fail to respect the Procedure.'

At these words Hob and Peppe were panic-stricken. ‘Not prison! Not prison!' they begged, falling to their knees on the deck.

‘We've been in too many cells already!' said Hob tearfully. ‘It's cold and damp and all dark there! We'd rather die than go to prison!'

Malva tugged at Orpheus's sleeve, and looked imploringly at him. ‘You saved Lei and me from Temir-Gai's harem. I couldn't bear to be shut up again.'

The Patrols obviously expected a swift answer. Menacing sounds emerged from their mouths. Orpheus turned to Babilas and then Finopico. Both men lowered their gaze.

‘Oh, all right,' Orpheus said, resigned. ‘I'm the Captain of the
Fabula
. My name is Orpheus McBott, and we were on our way to Galnicia when an infernal tempest broke over us and –'

‘Rubbish!' announced another bird, narrowing its eyes, which were no bigger than pinheads. ‘What you call an infernal tempest was the wrath of Catabea!'

‘All the same,' Orpheus continued, ‘this tempest –'

‘Come, come!' cried a third bird. ‘Listen to what you're told, and don't speak of that tempest as if it were an ordinary natural phenomenon. Catabea is sensitive, you know. You've already felt the force of her anger when you passed the Great Barrier. I wouldn't give her further reason for annoyance if I were you.'

Finopico had come over. The skin of his forehead had taken on an olive hue beneath his mop of red hair.

‘What are you talking about, you ill-omened birds!' he
exploded. ‘Go back to wherever you came from and leave us to follow our own route in peace. We're going home!'

The Patrols instantly turned their tiny heads towards the cook, lowering their little eyes to him.

‘He wants to go home!' exclaimed one of the birds.

‘Wants to go home!'

‘Wants to go home!'

And all the others fell about laughing, scraping their metallic wings together. It made Malva's hair stand on end.

‘When a vessel wanders off course into the Archipelago,' said one of the wading birds, suddenly serious again, ‘no one ever knows what becomes of its occupants. What was once known is known no longer. Your home doesn't exist any more.'

‘And now,' said the bird who had spoken first, ‘we will take you to Catabea. She will tell you all you need to know in future.'

It unfolded one of its wings and pointed to the bows of the
Fabula
.

‘Tow this vessel!'

At this signal, and with a great mechanical din, the flock took off from the deck, flew around the broken mainmast, and came down again, but this time at the stern of the ship. Then, moving perfectly in unison, the Patrols unfurled their wings.

As they beat their wings for the first time, the
Fabula
was propelled forward. She gained speed, cutting through the turquoise water surprisingly fast, and finally came ashore on the beach of the island that Orpheus had seen.

One of the Patrols cried, ‘Welcome to the realm of Catabea, strangers!'

With that, the flock of birds suddenly flew up, settling on the tops of the skeletal trees that covered the island. Then they
disappeared, leaving the passengers of the
Fabula
behind them, stunned.

The prow of the ship had run into greyish sand that contrasted with the intense blue of the water. The island was small, dry and rocky. The vegetation appeared unchanging, dead long ago, as if buried under a layer of cinders. There were no leaves on the trees, the bushes looked just like the rocks, and total silence reigned. The place had obviously been deserted by all animals and insects. There was dismay on board the
Fabula
.

‘This is some kind of joke,' Finopico said at last. ‘A hallucination. A hoax …'

Before he could finish speaking a sudden gust of wind made the branches of the trees closest to the shore rustle. Then it died down again.

‘No one's ever heard of the Great Barrier, or this stupid Archipelago,' added the cook, in a voice that was not as firm as before.

Something cracked in the thickets of the forest higher up on the hills: a sound like dry wood snapping, a sonorous and melancholy noise.

‘No one has ever –'

‘Oh, do stop talking!' Malva suddenly interrupted.

‘Yes, be quiet, by Holy Tranquillity!' begged the twins. ‘You'll arouse the wrath of Ca—'

‘Oh, for goodness' sake!' snapped Finopico. ‘This is ridiculous! Those cursed birds were obviously making fun of us!'

The others didn't think so. The strange sounds of the horn, the gigantic statues with their stony eyes, the human-headed birds all suggested that they were in a world where they had entirely lost their bearings. Even Zeph was pointing a suspicious and timorous muzzle at the island.

‘Come on!' said Finopico, losing his temper. ‘Be sensible! This is just a hallucination brought on by hunger and thirst!'

‘But suppose we have indeed crossed some kind of frontier?' murmured Malva. ‘Suppose this Great Barrier really does exist?'

She sought an answer in Orpheus's eyes, but he shook his head, undecided and uneasy.

‘I don't know, Your Alteza.'

‘Well, since no one knows anything,' Finopico went on, ‘I suggest we go ashore. This may look like a desert island, but perhaps we can find fresh water and fill some barrels? And there may be berries or roots that we could eat.'

The survivors of the storm looked hard at the grey, dismal shores. Finopico shook Babilas. ‘We'll have to repair the
Errabunda
… or the
Fabula
, never mind which. Don't you think so?'

The giant nodded in agreement.

‘Right,' said the cook, ‘let's get going. And then we'll leave this spot! If Galnician blood still flows in our veins, let's prove ourselves worthy of it!'

Orpheus sighed. No doubt Finopico was right. And now that he had appointed himself Captain, he had to take a decision.

‘We'll need a gangplank,' he began. ‘Firewood, tools, and –'

‘As you know, I'm an excellent fisherman,' Finopico interrupted, rolling up his sleeves. ‘I just need to make a harpoon, and then I'll dive in and bring back the ingredients for a good soup. By Holy Harmony, these clear waters must be teeming with fish! And at the moment I don't see any Catabea who –'

But at these words a muted sound shook the trees and rocks. The whole island seemed to snarl like an animal, and a hoarse voice was heard.

‘You have spoken my name.'

Malva jumped, and without thinking clung to Orpheus's jacket. Before their eyes, a vast woman emerged from the forest of dead trees. She moved slowly over the sand, a voluminous black tunic covering her body. Her limbs were so heavy that they seemed to be a burden to her: her legs and arms were like tree trunks, thick, gnarled and wrinkled like bark. Only her face, which was smooth and luminous, retained a human look.

‘I am Catabea,' she announced. ‘Catabea, Guardian of the Archipelago.'

And as she spoke, grey vapours swirled out of her mouth.

Catabea's face was almost entirely hidden behind a curtain of mist. The survivors of the storm, standing on the deck of their ship, had to narrow their eyes so as not to lose sight of her.

‘You have accepted the Procedure,' said Catabea, ‘and you have spoken my name. In passing the Great Barrier you crossed the frontiers of our world. You have sailed into the Archipelago, and now you must submit to our Law. Listen well, strangers. Your survival depends on what I am about to tell you.'

Hob and Peppe went pale at these words. They closed their eyes and began moaning again. But Catabea went on, and her cavernous voice drowned out their lamentations.

‘The rules I am about to tell you are rigid, and I must warn you: to this day, no traveller has ever succeeded in what he set out to do. Not one! Knowing that, you still have a choice: you can give up your freedom and decide to remain prisoners of the Archipelago for ever. If you come to that decision, you can take advantage of the great riches of our sea and our islands. We will
ask nothing of you. On the other hand, if you wish to cross the Archipelago and come out again, you must submit to our Law.'

A silence followed this announcement, and the survivors on the
Fabula
silently consulted each other. Bafflement showed on all their faces.

‘Well?' said Catabea impatiently. ‘What is your decision? Do you wish to stay here for ever? Or would you rather make the impossible attempt to return to your homes?'

Orpheus's neck was rigid and his hands damp. He timidly cleared his throat before venturing to ask, ‘What happens to us if we don't succeed in what we set out to do?'

‘You will be thrown into the Immuration,' Catabea calmly replied. ‘That is the most common fate, and a terrible one too. But you can still decide to become ordinary inhabitants of the Archipelago. There are many islands here. You are sure to find one that suits you, and you can live a long and easy life there.'

‘But we can never go home again?' persisted Orpheus.

‘That is so. I must point out that the choice you are about to make holds good only if all the passengers on your ship agree.'

In panic, Malva tugged at Orpheus's arm again. ‘I won't stay a prisoner here!' she murmured. ‘Let's accept their Law if that's the only way of escape!'

Hob and Peppe had risen to their feet. Tottering, they went over to Orpheus. A little further off, Babilas was still prostrated, leaning over the rail.

‘I in agreement with Malva,' said Lei in a firm voice. ‘Impossible for me stay here, so far from kingdom of Balmun.'

‘Your reply!' Catabea commanded them.

Babilas straightened up, and signed to Orpheus that he would go along with his decision. But it was Finopico who spoke first.

‘We want to go home, you madwoman!' he snapped at the
Guardian of the island. ‘We came to the outskirts of your Archipelago only by bad luck, and I've already seen too much of it! If we're to come across human-headed birds every other day, I'd prefer your Immuration!'