The Prophecy of the Gems (13 page)

WHEN SHE WOKE
up, Amber was disoriented and panicked for a moment. Where was she? What had happened? Then the events of the previous day, so charged with emotion, came flooding back to her.

She took her time getting up and had a nice hot bath in a small private room adjoining her own. She sniffed the delicate scents lined up on a shelf and dabbed some perfume behind her ears. Then she dressed, combed her hair, and set off down the corridor outside her bedroom without any idea where she was going. She passed several ornately carved wooden doors
without daring to open them, went down many corridors that all looked alike, and finally realised that she was walking around in circles. At last, to her great relief, she met a woman of about fifty who laughed heartily when Amber explained her dilemma.

“My dear girl,” she replied, “this manor isn’t big enough for you to get lost in! Come along, follow me, I’ll show you the great hall, where you can have a bit of breakfast.”

“Actually,” said Amber timidly, “I’d like to find Jade, Adrien and Opal. We arrived together last night…”

The lady’s face suddenly looked serious.

“So you’re the ones,” she said thoughtfully.

“Sorry?”

“No, no, it’s nothing. Come, I’ll take you to your friends.”

As Amber followed her, she noticed that the woman was not walking: her body glided along an inch or so above the ground.

“Are you — are you working magic?” she asked awkwardly.

“Magic? That’s what I dreamt of as a child, actually, but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t have the gift.”

“But your way of walking without walking…” said Amber in confusion.

“That? But my dear girl, I’m a Dohnlusyenne. How else would I get around?”

“Oh, right. Sorry,” replied Amber, utterly befuddled.

Just then the Dohnlusyenne opened a door and ushered Amber into a room where she found Adrien at Opal’s bedside with Jade and Owen of Yrdahl.

“Amber!” cried Owen.”There you are! How about coming on a ride around Fairytale with us?”

“Wonderful!” she replied eagerly.

“I’m staying behind,” announced Adrien. “If Opal wakes up, I want her to find me right by her side.”

Jade, Amber and Owen left the manor. Three horses were tied up in the courtyard, and as the girls drew closer they noticed subtle differences between these horses and the ones they were used to: these animals had a soft, rather thick brown coats, golden manes that almost seemed to be made of glistening flames, and blue eyes gleaming with intelligence.

“Here are the horses we’ll ride,” said Owen. “They’re real thoroughbreds, you won’t find a more magic beast anywhere.”

“Magic?” said Amber, disconcerted. “Do they fly, shoot fire from their nostrils, or something like that?”

“Of course not,” laughed Owen. “I didn’t say that a wizard had enchanted them!”

“Then how are they magical?” asked Amber.

“You’re disappointed? If you like, I can give you a more ordinary horse,” said Owen with a hint of mischief.

“No, it’s all right,” said Amber quickly.

They mounted and rode out, Owen leading the way. The two girls were soon puzzled to find there was nothing extraordinary about the landscape of Fairytale: an endless sky of immaculate blue above a few distant peaks crowned with everlasting snows. Amber looked around at the white-capped summits and rolling hills.

“Over there,” said Owen, “where those mountains are, that’s where Oonagh lives. If you didn’t really need to go there, I would advise you against it, but, well… And never go to the city of Thaar. Don’t even try; it’s the last thing you should ever do.”

“Why?” asked Jade, intrigued.

“It’s more than dangerous,” continued Owen. “It’s just plain deadly. That city is cursed. They’ve renamed
it again and again, but nothing helps — that city won’t change, not ever.”

“But why?” repeated Jade.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Owen curtly, suddenly uneasy.

Amber had been only half listening to the conversation; she was stroking her horse’s coat, and was surprised to find it rough instead of smooth, as she’d expected.

The thought had hardly crossed her mind, however, when the texture of the hairs changed beneath her fingertips, becoming silky and pleasant to the touch, exactly as she had imagined it. Curious, she stared down at the animal’s coat. “White would have been so pretty,” she thought — and her wish came true: she saw the horse’s coat grow paler until it reached the colour she’d had in mind, a dazzling, pure white.

“Owen,” cried Amber, “I get it! The horse guesses the wishes of his rider, and then does what he wants! It’s magical…”

“Imagine that!” said Owen teasingly. “Does it bother you? These horses have always seemed like excellent mounts to me…”

“They’re fantastic!” cried Amber happily. “I just can’t believe it, that’s all!”

The three young people were travelling along a dull road past ordinary houses and meadows of no interest, and Amber’s suggestion that they run a race was immediately seized on by her companions. Amber concentrated on wanting her horse to gallop as fast as possible — and felt giddy with speed as the wind whipped her face and the ground flew by beneath her horse’s hooves. She had never felt anything like it. After a few fantastic minutes, she looked back to see Jade and Owen lingering far behind. She mentally ordered her horse to stop, and waited for her friends.

“I’ve never seen that before!” exclaimed Owen. “It usually takes a while for the horses to get used to their riders, and long months of training before they will carry out their wishes — and even then the riders must have lots of experience with them. I had to work hard with the horse you’re riding before he understood me as well as he does you!”

“Does he have a name?”

“How would I know it? Obviously, he must have
one, but naturally a horse never speaks to a person, even if he’s able to.”

“And you haven’t given him a name?” asked Amber.

“No, he wouldn’t be pleased, that’s not their custom.”

“Ah,” was all Amber said, because she’d run out of words to express her astonishment.

Since the ride was becoming tiring, the girls readily agreed with Owen’s suggestion that they turn back. On the way, Jade questioned their host about the way the citizens of Fairytale lived.

“We’re free,” he said simply. “We have responsibilities, of course, but we are all individually responsible for our own actions. We work, we amuse ourselves, we live…”

“But the fairy creatures?” insisted Jade.

“They live among us.”

“But then, what’s so magical about life here?” asked Jade, who was running out of patience.

“It’s just a name, Fairytale — a vague idea, not a life. It’s a word, it doesn’t illustrate reality or try to represent it. Unreality ends up becoming our daily life, we get used to it. And our existence isn’t a fairy tale — we all have sorrows, problems, even though we
live among magic creatures…” Owen broke off. “Wherever there’s life,” he said softly, “wherever there are men, there is also evil.”

Soon the manor was in sight. The three riders took their horses to a small stable. While Amber fondly admired the stallion she had ridden, a graceful animal whose golden mane stood out against the creamy white of his new coat, his lively blue eyes observed her without a flicker of emotion. Amber left him with regret to follow Owen and Jade.

There was a great disturbance inside the manor, and the three young people had barely set foot inside when a man rushed over to Owen. Jade and Amber recognised him: it was Lloghin, the healer they’d met the night before.

“Something serious has happened,” he announced, visibly upset.

“Calm down, Lloghin. What has happened?”

“I can’t… A messenger arrived after you left.”

“A messenger? The news must have been important!”

“Oh, yes,” signed Lloghin miserably. “Owen, the worst has happened.”

“What has happened? Tell me!”

“The city of Thaar has fallen.”

“What!” shouted Owen of Yrdahl, thunderstruck.

“The messenger is in the great hall,” added Lloghin. “I advised him to await your return.”

Deeply worried, Owen went off with the healer. The two girls had no trouble finding the room where Adrien had been watching over Opal, but they stood outside in the corridor for a moment.

“Thaar,” murmured Amber thoughtfully. “What’s so dangerous about that city? Who has taken it?”

“It’s very strange,” said Jade. “Owen and the healer look really terrified. And I thought war didn’t exist in Fairytale.”

“I feel as if I’m living in a dream,” mused Amber. “So many things seem unreal to me.”

“Well, I’ve had enough! I want to know what these Stones are, what I am, and why I was chased out of my home,” declared Jade. “I want someone to explain to me what the Council of Twelve can possibly have against us. I want to live in a world where things are definite, where I’m not surrounded by mysteries and impossible dreams! As soon as Opal wakes up, we’re leaving to go and see Oonagh.”

Opal was alone in the room and shaking violently. The two girls rushed over to her. She was still unconscious, but was muttering vague sounds — none of her babbling made any sense. Abruptly, she fell silent and lay motionless.

“Where is Adrien?” cried Jade crossly. “He just goes off without any warning, and here we are, with Opal out of her mind, stuck in some manor in the middle of blasted Fairytale!”

“Adrien must have had a good reason to leave the room,” replied Amber quietly. “We can go and get Lloghin.”

“Where is he? I feel lost here! I’m out of my depth, it’s all too magical for me!”

“There’s nothing magical about the manor,” said Amber, “and surely we can manage to find the great hall!”

Suddenly Adrien appeared, wearing a kind of blue and gold uniform. He looked particularly determined, but his face was pale.

“Adrien!” cried Jade indignantly. “Where were you?”

“Thaar has fallen,” replied the young man.

“Yes, we know,” said Amber.

“So there’s a war?” asked Jade.

“Yes and no,” answered Adrien gravely. He sat down in a wooden chair before continuing. “I’ll tell you everything — you ought to know, so that you can tell Opal why I abandoned her.”

“You only left while we were riding,” said Amber. “It’s not such a big deal.”

“I don’t mean that. I’ll be leaving soon. For good.”

“But–” interrupted Jade.

“Let me finish. Listen to me, both of you. Thaar is not an ordinary city. Some say that it’s haunted by evil. Thaar belongs to the past, and reflects it. Thaar has been called the City of Origins and is the only city that has remained intact for thousands of years, as if it were outside time. This city has never truly been a part of Fairytale and, strangely, even though it lies beneath the magnetic field, Thaar is not protected by it. For a long time the Council of Twelve has been able to reach it through telepathy. That’s one of the reasons why this city is so dangerous. There aren’t many people living there, and some of them are hungry for power and have betrayed Fairytale by helping the Council of Twelve control the minds of all the inhabitants of Thaar.

“Some citizens did manage to resist, with difficulty, but the dark force of the Council of Twelve has invaded the city and now holds it in its power. From there, the evil could spread throughout the whole of Fairytale. The members of the Council of Twelve or even the Knights of the Order can now materialise in the city using teleportation, thanks to a complex spell that has been cast only a dozen or so times throughout history. It’s highly unlikely, however, that they will use this spell. It’s almost certain what their plan is: using their minions in Thaar, they will break into the minds of others and enslave or destroy them. And they will succeed in this. Everyone in Thaar has finally stopped resisting. We don’t know exactly what’s going on there at the moment but, luckily, one of the inhabitants managed to escape. Messengers have been sent throughout Fairytale.”

“How will everyone fight back?” asked Amber, shivering.

“Regiments of volunteers will encircle the city. If the Council of Twelve tries to take over more of the inhabitants, the soldiers will put up a fight — mentally. In any case, our army will attempt to get into the
minds of the inhabitants, to help them, which is almost impossible given the strength of the Council of Twelve. We will also try to enter the city to fight, to push back the mental attack.”

“Wait a minute,” said Jade. “Why are you saying ‘we’?”

“I’ve just joined the army,” announced Adrien in a voice charged with emotion. “I leave tomorrow.”

“You’re risking your life?” cried Jade.

“I want to be useful, not to hide shamefully waiting to see what happens,” replied the young man. “They need volunteers. My life or another’s, what does it matter?”

“But you’ll come back, won’t you?” asked Amber.

“Perhaps,” said Adrien evasively. “When it’s all over. But perhaps not. At least I will have died fighting.”

“Adrien, don’t be so melodramatic,” cried Jade. “You make it sound as if it’s the end of the world!”

The young man gave a faint, strained smile, and said, “I haven’t finished. Whatever you do, don’t ask me any questions. Believe me, I’m serious when I say that… I shouldn’t say anything, but…”

“Oh, just get on with it,” snapped Jade.

“You must go and see Oonagh. Now, without delay. We’re running out of time.”

“What about Opal?” asked Amber.

“Lloghin has given me a potion that will bring her round for a few brief moments so that I can say goodbye to her. Then she will fall back into her coma. You’ll have to arrange for her to be transported with you. She’ll be all right without me.”

“But how will we find our way?” asked Amber indignantly, and somewhat fearfully.

“You’ll manage. It’s crucial. Now, leave me alone with Opal for a few moments. Then you must leave. Owen will give you the magic horses you rode earlier.”

The girls went out into the corridor and closed the door behind them.

“Everybody wants to get rid of us!” fumed Jade. “We’re always being chased away!”