Emily Rodda - Sister Of The South

She broke off with a startled cry as the door crashed open. Barda strode into the room, his throat bandaged and his eyes wild. Jasmine was behind him, vainly trying to hold him back.

‘Lindal!’ Barda said huskily. ‘Is it true—?’ He caught his breath as he saw Lindal lying unconscious in the bed.

‘She will survive, Barda,’ Lief said quickly. ‘Josef, too. The Belt—’

‘Josef is dead,’ Barda said, his lips barely moving.

A chill settled on Lief’s heart. Zeean gave a low cry. Doom’s face darkened.

‘Dead?’ Lief whispered. He could not believe it. Somehow he could not imagine a world without Josef in it.

‘Steven told us of it, just now,’ Jasmine said, tears shining in her eyes. ‘Josef died peacefully, not long ago, with Ranesh by his side.’

‘Ranesh is here?’ Zeean murmured.

Jasmine nodded. ‘Manus came with him. They had no trouble in the streets, for no-one could tell by their looks that they came from Tora.’

‘But I warned them to stay away!’ exploded Doom, clenching his fists. ‘Are they mad?’

‘Only if love and loyalty can be considered madness!’ Jasmine said sharply. ‘If you did not want Ranesh to come to Del, why did you tell him that Josef was ill?’

‘I did not tell him!’ Doom answered, just as sharply. ‘I, at least, have not lost my senses!’

‘I fear the fault is mine,’ Zeean said.

Doom swung round to her. She met his furious eyes calmly.

‘My heart was heavy after my arrival,’ she said. ‘Torans share their thoughts, but the distance between us now is too great for that to be possible. So I wrote to Marilen telling her of Josef’s illness, the attack on Lief, Barda and Jasmine and … everything else.’

Doom scowled, and Lief could well understand why. He knew that his own face must show his dismay.

Plainly, all in Tora now knew that the people of Del blamed them for the so-called ‘plague’, and that Zeean had been attacked in the streets.

‘And how did you send your letter, may I ask?’ Doom asked coldly. ‘The messenger birds are kept under guard.’

The corners of Zeean’s mouth tilted in a thin smile. ‘You have forgotten, I think, that the bird Ebony came with me from Tora. She carried my message.’

Doom cursed under his breath.

Zeean lifted her chin. ‘It seems you would rather my people were kept ignorant of things they have every right to know,’ she said icily.

‘Stop this, I beg you!’ Lief exclaimed, unable to keep silent any longer. ‘Do you not see? This is what the guardian of the south wants ! The guardian wants distrust between Del and Tora—perhaps only to create fear and confusion, perhaps to stop supplies coming from the west, should food ships ever arrive.’

Neither Doom nor Zeean answered.

Lief flung out his hands desperately. ‘While we fight we can do nothing,’ he said. ‘And we must act quickly, before the guardian regains strength enough to stop us. We know that the Sister of the South is somewhere in the palace—’

Jasmine drew a quick breath, Zeean’s eyes widened, and even Barda looked up, suddenly alert.

‘The Sister is in the palace,’ Lief repeated. ‘Josef knew where, I think, but he is beyond telling us now. He may have left us a clue, and the topaz dragon will aid us also. I will summon it as soon as—’

‘Summon that menace?’ Doom growled. ‘You cannot—’

‘Listen to me!’ Lief begged. ‘There is much you do not understand. We must meet with Gla-Thon, Steven, Ranesh, Gers and Manus at once. When they are with us, I will explain everything.’

He saw Doom’s face harden into the familiar, stubborn lines of suspicion and leaned forward urgently.

‘Once, Doom, when we knew each other far less well than we do now, we stood together in the Valley of the Lost and heard Zeean say, “the time for secrecy between friends is past”. Those words are as true now as they were then, I know it!’

The scarred man’s eyes met his own. Memories flashed between them. Memories of distrust and heroism, pain and triumph. Memories of plans, of daring, of hope—and even of laughter.

‘Secrecy is pointless now,’ Lief said quietly. ‘The attack this morning proves that the Shadow Lord knows full well where we are. How, I cannot imagine, but clearly it is so. Fate has decreed that the friends we trust the most are here. We must ask them to help us.’

Doom bowed his head. He did not look up as Zeean stepped forward and placed her hand on his arm. But, slowly, he nodded.

‘I will gather the others,’ said Barda gruffly. ‘Where is the meeting to be?’

‘Here, old bear, or it will be the worse for you,’ said a slurred voice from across the room.

They whirled around. Barda gave a choked cry.

Lindal’s eyes were open. She turned her head on the pillow and looked at them.

‘The gathering must be here,’ she repeated. ‘For you leave me out of it at your peril and I fear that—just at the moment—walking is quite beyond me.’

7 - Old Friends

Not long afterwards, a strange meeting was held in the lady Sharn’s bed chamber. As Sharn herself lay lost in sleep, the Dread Gnome Gla-Thon, Steven of the Plains, Zeean of Tora, Manus of Raladin, Gers of the Jalis, Doom, Barda and Jasmine gathered around the bed of Lindal of Broome and listened as Lief told them everything.

Only Ranesh had failed to join them. He had flatly refused to leave Josef’s side. No entreaties could move him, and at last Barda had been forced to leave him where he was.

When Lief had finished speaking, there was a long silence. Everyone had believed in the Toran Plague so completely that it was hard for them to accept the truth. And all except Barda, Jasmine and Zeean found it even more difficult to accept that an evil presence prowled the palace.

At last Steven cleared his throat. ‘Are you saying that this guardian of the south is an Ol?’ he growled, his golden eyes flickering dangerously brown. ‘I thought the Belt had rid Deltora of those slimy, shape-changing creations of—’

‘The guardian is no Ol,’ Lief cut in quickly. ‘The guardian is a human with powerful gifts of sorcery. The two-faced beast, and the black slime I saw sliding away into the palace, are merely forms the guardian finds … convenient.’

There was another moment’s silence as his audience took this in.

‘If what you say is true, Lief,’ Gla-Thon murmured, ‘no food or drink in Del is safe.’

‘The guardian has been leaving the palace under cover of darkness, but I do not believe the Sister would be left unprotected for long,’ Lief said. ‘I think the homes closest to the palace are in the greatest danger.’

‘Certainly most of the deaths have occurred either in the palace itself, or nearby,’ Doom said, frowning thoughtfully. ‘It seemed only natural, when we thought of this curse as a plague brought to Del by Sharn. Palace workers who go to their homes each night usually live quite near.’

‘Then a circle must be drawn around the affected area, with the palace as its centre,’ said Lindal, pulling herself up on her pillows. ‘All food within the circle must be taken away. The people there must eat only food given back to them after it has been tested.’

‘Folk will not give up their private food stocks without a fight,’ muttered Gers.

‘I think I could persuade them,’ Steven said cheerfully. ‘They have grown to know me and my caravan over the past days. The children like my horse and Zerry entertains them with magic tricks.’

He grinned. ‘If I load the caravan with food that has already been tested, and offer to exchange it for their private stores, the people will agree in good spirits, I am sure.’