Scarlet stared at the guard, deciding how to react. In the end, Lara made the choice for her. ‘So if he’s a murderer, how come he’s allowed back in the city?’
The guard shrugged, nonchalant. ‘He’s done his punishment, ain’t he? He’s banished out there, lost his horn. That’s enough for anyone to deal with. The king’s a fair man. He’s welcome to come and go, just can’t stay here, you understand.’
They exchanged glances and Scarlet shrugged as well. They needed him, if not here, then back home, to stop the Undying. After what happened in the Underworld she could believe that anyone might be a killer. She squeezed her eyes closed and Lara took her arm, whispering to her. ‘Are you alright?’
She blinked. ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, just… we get him in, yeah?’
She nodded. ‘We need him, we have to get home.’
Scarlet turned to the guard. ‘Thanks for the warning. Can he come in now please?’
The guard grunted, but waved a hand and behind him the gates creaked slowly open. A gap appeared, large enough for Elt to slip through. He bucked his head, snorting, and as soon as his tail was through the gates closed up again.
The guards made no effort to disguise their hatred as they stared at Elt, but the unicorn didn’t stop, trotting straight past them and down the street. Scarlet and Lara scampered after him, waving their thanks to the guards.
Lara tugged at her arm. ‘Do we trust him?’
Scarlet realised that Lara was deferring to her in all sorts of things. Was it because she could do magic? It had to be cos there was no way she was more responsible. ‘I dunno. Do we have any choice?’
They caught Elt as he paused for a moment. Scarlet fixed both eyes on one of his, clearing her throat. ‘So, the guards mentioned you may have killed someone, you know, before…’
She nodded at the stump and the unicorn dropped his head, snorting. ‘Course they told you that, that’s what the sod up in the castle told ‘em. The city was told a story bout me so they wouldn’t rebel when I was mutilated. I was cast out so they didn’t have to be reminded of what they’d done. Bloody humans, present comp’ny excepted course.’
He shook his head, forcing her to take a step back. Fair enough. She was, oddly, more inclined to believe the talking horse than the perfectly nice people at the gate, which said a lot about how her world had changed in the last six months. Actually, she’d always have believed the talking horse, I mean come on, a talking horse.
‘Will you take us to the king now please?’
He went down to his knees again and they scrambled up. The city was filthy and loud and in many other ways, much like London. There were fewer shops but more stalls, rickety wooden things attached to the sides of buildings, offering every kind of food and weapon known to man.
There were also all sorts of people, men in tight-fitting outfits with skin the colour of ink, women wearing next to nothing parading themselves and shouting out prices. Scarlet could feel the heat from Lara’s cheeks as she buried them in her back.
Everyone was carrying a weapon of some sort, be it a sword, or a knife, or an axe. A number of the smartly dressed types carried these tiny axes with thin handles. She wasn’t convinced they’d be all that handy in a fight, but the handles were engraved and inset with all sorts of beautiful symbols, which was probably the point. Some things never change, no matter where you are.
She lost herself, keeping no track of where they were going as the city swallowed her up. The reality of their situation was beginning to sink in and she found herself blinking a lot and waiting for the horse and carts to become cars and the real world to come back into focus.
But this was entirely real, there was no denying that. They passed what could only be a pub in time to see two men come flying out the door, arms swinging. They hit the road before them and as Elt circled around, she saw one man laying blow after blow on the other’s face, blood spraying as his nose exploded.
She swallowed, seeing instead the blood flowing from underneath Martin, and turned away. This world was all too real and all too similar to back home. What was wrong with loving one another, or at the least, doing what she did and hating from a distance?
The buildings fell away as they emerged from the streets into a huge open space. Before them lay the castle. The front door looked more like a cathedral, huge pointy things sticking up to the sky like the architect was really compensating. There were hundreds of carvings and sculptures lining every edge.
The space was awash with people, some heading into the castle, others using it as a thoroughfare. Elt demanded room in a loud, piercing voice and the crowds parted. She thought the sight of a grumpy unicorn the size of an elephant, with no horn, would probably have done the trick. Now they were staring at her, and that was never a good thing.
Soon, though, they arrived at the castle gates. The guards here were considerably more alert and stood to bar the way.
‘State your business.’
Scarlet cleared her throat, then nudged Lara. ‘You’re much better at this.’
Lara tried to hide behind her for a moment, before sighing and sitting up. ‘We request an audience with the king.’
‘Upon what matter do you wish to see him?’
‘We have come to your world through error, and wish to leave.’
‘So leave.’
‘We can only do so through magical means, and require his permission.’
The guard looked at her funny, but nodded and stepped aside. ‘If you say so. You’ll need to speak to the clerk. He’s at the desk, other end of the courtyard.’
His eyes moved to the unicorn and as they went to pass through the gate, he put his hand on Elt’s chest. ‘No trouble, you understand?’
He was talking to Elt, but she answered for him. ‘Yeah, of course, we just want to get home.’
The guard transferred his gaze up to her and stared for a good long while. She could felt Elt shifting beneath her, like he was itching to run and she dug her knees in, hoping that was right thing to do. He steadied as the guard nodded. ‘On your head, young lady.’
They trotted through and into a courtyard as big as her school, and once again filled with people. Was nothing small and cosy here? They wound their slow way through the crowds until they reached the clerk, who, following a great deal of sniffing and jotting of things into a book, waved them on.
The next door was large enough for them to pass through riding, but once they were inside, two guards demanded they climb down and led them forward into a huge chamber. She used the word chamber, because it just felt right. Everything was made of stone and rich dark wood; even the chairs fancy like they were from Harrods. Room just wouldn’t have cut it.
They were bade to wait and she and Lara settled themselves onto one of the benches, Elt standing close to the wall, whickering quietly. There were lots of other people in here and most of them looked nervous, clutching bags or hats, fidgeting. Every now and then a man would come in and say someone’s name in an overloud voice and one of the waiting would jump up, wide-eyed, and rush over to the door.
Lara nudged Scarlet and nodded at Elt. ‘How are we supposed to hide him, when we get home?’
Excellent question. ‘Good question, no idea. Let’s get home first.’
‘My parents are going to be so angry.’
‘Couldn’t you just blame me?’
Lara laughed and shook her head. ‘Let me think. Hi mum and dad, so sorry I’m a day late. On the plus side, I’m gay and I have a new girlfriend, and she made me a day late, but we didn’t do anything wrong. Um, would you like to meet her?’
Scarlet blushed. ‘Yeah, fair point. Do they really have no idea?’
‘Why would they know? We only talk about school stuff, and dad keeps trying to get me to talk about current affairs, and that’s cool, I suppose, but that’s it. They don’t really know me, not like that.’
Scarlet shook her head. Mum was stupid and annoying and try hard and a whole bunch of other stuff, but she knew the important things. She knew Scarlet was gay and that she missed dad and that Disney was what the world was supposed to be like, before all the boring normal people ruined it. And she did magic, though not so much anymore.
Scarlet took Lara’s hand and squeezed it. ‘I’m sorry, that actually sucks.’
‘It’s okay, really, I mean, it’s not the end of the world. I can’t complain, they love me and everything and they do care, they just aren’t very good at talking about it.’
She didn’t pull her hand away and Scarlet was happy just to sit and feel her fingers wrapped around hers, until the voice of the announcer made her jump by saying her name and Lara’s and Elt’s.
They stood, more calmly she was pleased to note, than the others and headed for the door. They were led down a long passageway and the announcer man talked the entire way.
‘You are about to meet King Ilest, ruler of Illest—’
‘Snappy name for the country. Did he come up with that on his own?’
The man continued as though she hadn’t spoken. ‘He is a just and noble king, and it is expected that you show him the proper obeisance—’
‘Huh?’
Lara hissed in her ear. ‘He means you have to bow.’
‘Oh.’
‘At all times, listen, be respectful, and do not interrupt him.’ He glared daggers at Scarlet when he said that. Oops.
‘His word is law, literally, so if he says something you don’t like, nod, smile and leave the chamber. Do not argue. Do not question. Accept what you are told, and leave. I have seen people beheaded for disagreeing with his view of the weather. He is in a good mood today, and I would thank you to keep him there.’
They reached another door, which swung open as they approached. Through the gap, Scarlet could see flaming torches and women clad in those long, shapeless dresses they wore in dodgy period dramas. Man, who the hell invented them? She couldn’t believe any man or woman ever truly wanted a woman to look that bad.
She could also see a dirty red strip of carpet running along the flag stone floor and at the end, set up on a dais, was the throne. On the throne sat the largest man she’d ever seen in her life.
They stepped through the door, taking in the high ceiling, the sconces eerily like the ones they had in hell, and the hundreds of people lining the walls, chattering and laughing. As Elt came in behind them, the chatter ceased completely, every eye fixed on the unicorn.
‘Nothing like making an entrance.’
The man led them up the carpet until they stood before the throne. Guards emerged from the shadows around them to close ranks before the king, who, with a supreme effort, sat forward.
Every part of him wobbled. It was like watching ‘diet camp’, one of those nasty American reality shows where people who had clearly eaten other people were made to wobble for the amusement of others. Scarlet knew she was overweight, but in the shadow of the king, she felt remarkably slim.
His voice was impressive however, booming out to fill the hall and silence the voices that had risen again to discuss the newcomers.
‘Welcome to my hall. You have arrived in the presence of a murderer, which it would be fair to say, is never the best way to make an impression.’
Lara stepped forward and Scarlet held her hands together in front of her, swelling with pride.
‘King Ilest.’
She curtseyed, just like in the movies, and Scarlet giggled. She thought about doing the same, but realised she would almost certainly fall on her arse and settled for bowing instead. It felt right.
‘I apologise, truly, for bringing one so out of favour into your hall. However, we came here in search of him and will, with your permission, be taking him away from Illest, at least for a time. Can I also say that until we arrived in your fair city, we were unaware of his history.’
Elt twitched, his flanks moving constantly, rolling back and forth as he shifted position. She patted him and rubbed a hand down his side. It felt more than a little intrusive, but he seemed to calm slightly.
The king inclined his head. ‘We accept your apology. What permission is it you seek?’
‘We need to leave here, through magical means, and for that, of course, we need your permission.’
The king frowned, shaking his head. ‘You need no permission for that. The magical laws extend only as far as magical weapons, and other items that may be deemed dangerous, but I have extended exemptions for plows and pitchforks in recent times. You may leave when you want.’
Lara turned, her eyes wide, looking first at Scarlet, then joining her in staring at Elt. The unicorn looked sheepish, which would have been funny had he not turned from them and leaped at the king.
Next Installment Friday 7th March
