John Lenahan - Shadowmagic

Gerard had no trouble getting in to the castle. A delivery of the Vinelands’ finest was a cause for celebration.

Cialtie met the wagon himself. ‘Lord Gerard,’ he said. The second I heard that voice all of the hairs stood up on the back of my neck and I stopped breathing. I was instantly terrified, but at the same time I had to overcome the urge to pop out like a deranged jack-in-the-box and chop his head off. ‘I hope this shipment,’ Cialtie continued, ‘is better than the vinegar you sent me last time.’

‘I am so sorry, Lord Cialtie, that you found my last batch not to your liking,’ Gerard oozed. ‘I assure you this is the finest of vintages.’

‘I should hope so,’ Cialtie said.

I had plenty of reasons for hating my uncle, but the disrespectful way he talked to Gerard made me want to throttle him-after I decapitated him.

‘Your daughter is not with you.’

‘No, my lord.’

‘Why not? You know I wanted to meet her.’

‘It is a very busy time in the fermentation cycle. I needed her to supervise the winemaking in my absence. I’m sure she is up to her neck in a barrel of wine as we speak.’

I had to put my hand over my mouth to stop from laughing out loud. You had to love this guy.

‘Lord Cialtie,’ Gerard said, putting on a serious tone, ‘may I ask you why you have an entire army on patrol? Is there something amiss that I should know about?’

‘What are you talking about? I have no army on patrol.’

‘Oh my,’ Gerard said in a fey aristocratic tone that was definitely not him. It made me smile. ‘Then I think you should know that there is one on the way’

‘What? How do you know this?’

‘Oh, I have a very good Elvish spyglass, they use gold in the optics you know. I saw them yesterday. I’m surprised you haven’t noticed. I’d say they were only half a day away’

Gerard hadn’t turned traitor-this was part of the plan. Lorcan and Dad figured that if Cialtie thought he was under attack from the outside, he wouldn’t be guarding the inside all that well. It seemed to work.

Cialtie instantly sprang into action, shouting orders. ‘Put the wall fortifications on alert,’ he yelled, ‘and send out a scouting party to find out what he is talking about. Gerard and Dahy, come with me.’

‘Of course, my lord, if I can be of any help, but I would ask if Master Dahy could supervise the stowing of the wine. It is a delicate vintage and I wouldn’t want to see it bruised.’

‘Very well. You two help him,’ Cialtie grumbled.

I heard them leave and then the wagon began to move. We travelled a way over cobbled streets. I had a childish urge to sing just so I could hear my voice vibrate. We stopped for the opening of large doors and then turned left. I could tell by the sound that we were inside.

‘Close those doors, you idiots! You are letting the cool air out,’ I heard Dahy bark-then I heard two bangs, two short grunts, followed by the unmistakable sound of bodies hitting the ground.

Fresh air! The things you take for granted. I stood up, breathing deeply and stretching, while everyone else went to work.

Dahy crawled under the wagon and brought out the weapons. Araf and Fergal went about stealing the two guards’ uniforms. The shocking bit was when Mom, Nieve and Essa started tarting themselves up. They unbuttoned their shirts and pushed up their cleavages. Essa and Mom put on skirts with revealing slits in them while Nieve started ripping one in hers.

Essa caught me staring. ‘What are you looking at?’ she snapped.

‘What are you doing?’

‘We are blending in,’ Mom said, giving me a practice provocative smile. ‘Women of, how shall I say, dubious virtue are common in Castle Duir these days.’

‘Well,’ I said to Essa, ‘you look-great.’

She didn’t return the compliment with a provocative look. It was more like an evil eye.

‘Conor,’ Dad said, ‘stop gawping at the women and help Dahy and me stow the barrels.’

Dad was being his thorough self. They might not miss the guards, but if someone saw that the wine was still on the wagon, they might know something was up. I promised myself that I would have a word with Gerard about putting his wine in smaller barrels. Man, they were heavy.

When we were finished, Dahy said, ‘I will stable the horse and then rejoin Gerard. Good luck.’ We hid behind the door as he left.

Mom gave the naked guards a dose of Shadowmagic that would ensure they slept the rest of the day, and then Dad lined us up for an inspection. People like the women, Dad and me were commonplace in the castle, so we wouldn’t raise too much suspicion. Fergal looked just like the Banshee guard he had stolen the uniform from, but Araf was a problem. Imps were not very welcome in the castle and the guard uniform could not disguise the mop of sandy hair on his head-he stood out like a sore thumb. That’s when Mom pulled out the wig.

To call it a wig was to do an injustice to every hairpiece that was ever made. It was supposed to simulate Banshee hair but in reality it looked like a skunk that had been dead on the freeway for a week. Araf put it on and I lost it. I don’t think I ever saw anything so funny in my life. I was laughing so hard that Dad actually slapped me.

‘I’m sorry,’ I said, struggling to get my composure back, ‘I get like this when I’m nervous.’

‘Don’t,’ Dad said in that voice that meant business. A voice I know only too well.

I shot a glance over to Fergal for support, expecting to see his cheesy grin, but he wasn’t even smiling. That kind of sobered me up.

‘You three have the most difficult job of all,’ Dad said to Essa, Araf and Fergal. ‘Those gold lines must be severed.’

‘We will not fail, my lord,’ Araf said. I felt my stomach churn. This was it. They were my friends and they were heading straight into danger. Fergal didn’t look at me but Essa and I locked eyes before she left. She smiled but it was a strange little smile. It seemed to mean something, but as usual I couldn’t figure out what. They walked out the door like they owned the place. Essa, dressed as a loose woman, arm in arm between two soldiers. Essa even tried a provocative swish of her skirt, but to be honest, she wasn’t very good at it. Then it was just family.

Mom gave Dad a passionate embrace. Nieve offered me her hand. ‘Come on,’ I said, ‘you’re my aunt for crying out loud.’ I gave her a hug that she didn’t return very well.

Mom gave me a kiss on the cheek. ‘You look after your father.’ ‘I will. I’ll see you in a little while in the Chamber.’ They sashayed out the door and then it was just Dad and me-like old times.

‘Are you ready, son?’ ‘Born ready, Dad.’

My father knew the castle like he was raised there-which of course he was. We made our way up to the north wing by way of the servants’ stairs. Dad figured (rightly as it turned out) that it would be empty this time of day. A Leprechaun was sweeping at the other end of a corridor but he didn’t see us. We didn’t come across anyone else until we got to the floor the bedrooms were on.

Dad stuck his nose into the main corridor and then motioned for me to follow. At the end of the corridor was a T junction with a grand oak door. There was nobody around.

‘That’s Cialtie’s bedroom,’ he whispered.

We tiptoed towards it. I wasn’t as worried about the sound of my feet as much as I was worried about the sound of my pounding heart. We were about halfway there when a soldier came up from the corridor on the left. Cialtie had a guard posted at his door! If the soldier had been looking our way, he would have seen us. There was an open door next to us-we both ducked into it.

That’s when I heard the scream.