Rise of the Fire Tamer (The Wordwick Games #1) (16 page)

Chapter 18

G
em found herself amazed at the speed with which the wedding preparations were taking place. Goolrick had issued orders to the nearest servants, and now cakes were being baked, tables were being set out, and, at least if the shouting from the kitchen was anything to go by, the castle’s cook was having a great time bossing about anyone who stood still for more than a second or two.

Bunting had sprung up around the castle courtyard, hung inexpertly by teams of soldiers more used to siege ladders than the ones they were currently using. Riders had been sent out to the Spurious village to let them know, while a crier had announced the impending nuptials to the village below the castle at a volume that made certain everyone there heard about it, even if some of the closer people possibly wouldn’t be hearing much else for an hour or so.

From the spot she had picked out by one of the royal bedroom’s windows, Gem watched the preparations with something close to fascination. So much was being done in such a short time, just for her and Goolrick. It was nice to know that people cared so much, even if there was a part of her that suspected that at least some of it was down to the tone in which Goolrick had given the orders.

“Y-You know, in the… Middle Ages, when weddings happened this quickly, it usually meant someone was being p-pushed into it for political advantage.”

Gem turned and smiled at Jack. Goolrick had released the others for the ceremony, though they had to keep their bracelets on and were still watched by guards. She hoped to be able to talk him round after the wedding.

“This is nothing like that, Jack. I love him.”

“Um… Sparks said something…”

“Jack!” Gem regretted raising her voice instantly, and patted Jack on the shoulder. “Sparks is just upset that I didn’t pick him. Please, just be happy for me.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

“You know, they want Kat to be a bridesmaid. Her dress is pink.”

Gem laughed at that. It would definitely be something to see. But then, the whole wedding would be spectacular. It seemed that no Anachronian wedding was complete without entertainments that ranged from jugglers and minstrels to tumblers and wrestling contests. Everyone in the village had been given a holiday, and many of them were helping with the preparations. There was even a tournament planned for the soldiers the next day, when those with horses would compete in a great melee, hunting for ransoms and prestige.

A polite cough drew Gem from her thoughts. She looked up to see Goolrick waiting at the door. She saw the not entirely trusting look he gave Jack.

“Jack was just telling me about Kat’s bridesmaid’s dress,” she explained. Goolrick smiled, though there was a tightness to it.

“Sadly, not even I am a powerful enough wizard to achieve that miracle. Perhaps you could go and persuade her, young man,” he added to Jack.

“I’m not sure it will work,” Jack said, and Gem shook her head.

“Tell her that she can pick anything to wear she wants. That will probably help.”

Jack nodded and left. Gem raised her eyebrows to Goolrick.

“You wanted to be alone with me? Is that lucky before the wedding?”

“I’ll risk it. Besides, there is something I wish to show you. Will you come with me?”

Gem reached out to take his arm and Goolrick stiffened at the touch.

“Is there something wrong?” Gem asked. Goolrick smiled and shook his head.

“No, not at all. It was simply… unexpected. Come, I suspect you’ll like this surprise.”

He led the way to another of the rooms, unlocking it with a key taken from inside his robes. The room inside was a bedroom, complete with ornate four poster bed, floor length mirror, wooden chests, a window bench, and an ornate screen running across one corner of the room.

“This was Princess Chelsea’s room,” Goolrick said, stepping over to one of the chests. The young wizard unlocked it, removing a delicate dress of silk interwoven with gold threads and diamonds. “I thought this might… do for a wedding dress.”

Gem caught the hesitation, but didn’t question him about it. In any case, Goolrick continued without being asked.

“The gold threads are from the same lamb as those in your cloak, and can only be worn by a royal. According to some of the castle’s old books, this was to have been Princess Chelsea’s wedding dress when she found someone to be her husband, but the overthrow of her family by King Larson put paid to that. She had to run.”

“Where did she run?” Gem asked.

“She spent some time in the woods. Larson knew where she was and contained her, but a solider from your world stumbled on her and they fell in love. They married, and eventually tried to retake the kingdom, but Chelsea died.”

“That’s a sad story,” Gem said, “not getting to spend longer with her true love.” Goolrick shook his head.

“It’s not a story. Now, will you try the dress? I think it will fit. There’s a screen over there.”

Gem took the dress from him and stepped behind the screen. It did indeed look to be about the right size, so she changed into it as quickly as she could, eager to see how it would look. Even if it didn’t turn out to be quite perfect, it would still be better than her mud spattered blue dress.

It was perfect.

It fit like it had been made for Gem, and not for a dead princess. The diamonds and threads gleamed around her like a net that had been used to catch stars. On impulse, Gem threw the golden cloak over the top. She was about to go out and admire the overall effect when she felt something shiver through her. It took her a second to pin the feeling down, but it felt like the dress and cloak were moving. Gem looked down, only to see that the threads from the dress were making their way up it, towards her head. A shivering sensation of movement on her hair made it clear that the same was happening with the cloak. Gem didn’t know whether to call for help, or tear both items from her, or try something else to stop it.

Before she could make up her mind, the sensation left her, leaving a different feeling in the form of cold metal pressed against her skin. Tentatively, Gem reached up removing what turned out to be a circlet of gold, raised to points in a dozen places around the edge. She didn’t know what to make of it, but placed the crown back on her head before stepping out from behind the screen. Maybe Goolrick would have answers.

“I…um, seem to have acquired a crown,” Gem said lightly as she stepped into view. Goolrick took one look at her, screwed his hands into fists, and fell to his knees.

“It’s true,” he breathed. “You really are royalty. And I…” he hesitated. “I am not worthy of you.”

“Don’t be silly,” Gem said, raising Goolrick to his feet. “I love you. That’s enough, surely?”

Goolrick spun from her putting his head in his hands. Gem heard him muttering to himself, and leaned closer to hear.

“If it were true. If it were real. If
only
it were real. But how can I know? Sparks was right. It is a sham, a shell. How can it be
her
if I don’t know for sure?”

Gem put a hand on his shoulder, and Goolrick turned back to her.

“You must not touch me. Not after all I’ve done. Not if it isn’t real.”

“Not if what isn’t real?” Gem asked, not understanding. Goolrick didn’t answer. Instead, he searched her eyes for long seconds before falling to his knees again. He whispered a word that made the bracelet fall from her wrist, then held out his hand.

“Gem, I need you to trust me. Will you give me the ring I gave you?”

“What?”

“Please, it’s important. I have no right to ask, but trust me.”

Gem did. She took the ring from her finger, placing it in Goolrick’s hand.

“Please,” the young wizard said, “is anything you said in the tunnel real? Or do you hate me now for all I’ve done. You must. I know you must. Do what you will. Kill me with a word. I’m not sure I care.”

Gem hesitated. With the ring gone, feeling flooded back into her, and yes, there was anger there. There was a part of her that pointed out how easy it would be to end things the way Goolrick had suggested, to say “deleterious” once and watch him die. He had tricked her, forced her to love him, and hurt her friends. He deserved it, surely?

Carefully, she took Goolrick’s hand and led him to the window seat.

“I don’t love you, Goolrick.”

“Then you hate me.”

“
Don’t
tell me how I feel. Not now.” The young wizard winced at that, but Gem continued. “What you did was so wrong, I should hate you, but I don’t. I don’t know why, but I don’t. I’m angry, and you
will
get those bracelets off my friends, but I don’t hate you.”

“But you don’t love me either.” The young wizard sounded dejected. “You certainly won’t marry me.”

“No,” Gem replied. “You can’t force someone to love you, Goolrick. It takes time. You have to really get to know someone. And marriage should be because you love someone, not from duty or for what you can gain.”

Goolrick looked away, but nodded.

“Can you forgive me? Tricking you, hurting your friends, it is the Perfidious way. We take things by force and will. But you… I couldn’t.”

Gem reached out, turning his head so that she could look him in the eyes.

“It might be the Perfidious way, but it is not the only way. Peace and harmony are better ones, and there must be no more bloodshed in Anachronia. When they are your goals, you’ll find that people will work together, for themselves, for their children, and for the world.”

Goolrick blinked at that, but nodded.

“So much for my plan to make you abdicate,” he said.

“Yes, but would it really have worked? Wizards are supposed to be wise, but you’ve forgotten one important thing.”

“Really?” Goolrick’s brow furrowed.

“The tests, Goolrick. They were there for a reason. They were designed to find a ruler who could really help people. You said earlier that you were acting for the good of Anachronia. If you’d just taken the throne, do you think that you’d have been able to help.”

Goolrick paused for a long while before he shook his head.

“I’ll tell everyone that the wedding’s off. Cook won’t be pleased, but I’ll just have to remember to duck.”

“Giving up on it does have one upside,” Gem pointed out.

“What’s that?”

“Well, my plan B was to level half the castle, call in the Spurious tribe, and see how much your potions had really slowed down the dragon. Peace is a better option all round, don’t you think?”

Goolrick nodded. He looked out of the window, and Gem followed his gaze to where people were still organizing at a frantic pace.

“It seems such a shame to tell them they’ve wasted their efforts,” the young wizard said. “I don’t suppose you fancy a celebration anyway?”

“I’m not marrying you, Goolrick.”

“Oh no, nothing like that. I was thinking more of celebrating the return of the crown by crowning our rightful ruler. Um… that’s you, in case you were wondering.”

Gem hadn’t been. She didn’t think the wizard would try anything stupid now.

“You just don’t want to tell Cook, do you?”

“Well, there is that…”

Gem thought about it. Eventually she nodded.

“It sounds good.”

Chapter 19

K
at rubbed her wrist angrily as the guard took her bracelet off. Beside her, Rio did the same.

“I wonder what’s going on?” the boy said.

“I don’t know,“I donl= she replied, “but if I get my hands on that wizard…”

When Sparks heard that the wedding was off, he almost collapsed in relief. He had been so frightened that Gem might actually go through with it…

Somewhere in the heat and darkness that was the castle’s kitchen, a large, white-apron-wearing figure drew itself up to its full height.

“What do you
mean
the wedding’s off? Not after I’ve worked all day, it’s not…”

The courtyard below was crowded. From the spot she had taken up on the wall beside Goolrick, Gem could see half the people of Anachronia’s villages crowded into it. The space was huge, but even so there was little room to be had. Partly, that was down to the presence of the dragon, which stretched its wings from time to time, forcing people to duck out of the way. Mostly though, it was down to the simple numbers that had come to see what was happening.

Most of them seemed to be staring at Gem.

“What is it?” she asked Goolrick. “Do I have something in my teeth?”

“I think it’s more the part where a beautiful princess has come before them, wearing the most elegant clothes they’ve seen, not to mention a crown that is catching the light really rather well.”

Goolrick was right about that, at least, Gem thought. The gold of the crown she wore was shining now it was out in the sun, making her impossible to miss.

“Of course,” Goolrick added, “some of the older ones will be remembering the last time a princess stood here. You do look a lot like Princess Chelsea.”

“Even so, I feel pretty nervous, what with them all staring.”

“You’ll be fine, I suspect. And if not… well, it’s a little too late now.”

Goolrick smiled and stepped to the edge of the battlements, so that those below could see him clearly.

“You might have heard that we were due a wedding. That will not now be taking place.”

A wave of murmuring spread through the assembled crowd.

“Instead, we have a greater celebr ation. The crown has returned among us, and with it our rightful ruler.”

He swept an arm in Gem’s direction and a great cheer went up, rolling through the crowd the way the murmuring had before. Goolrick looked back to her.

“Speak to them.”

Gem nodded and stepped forward.

“Thank you for such a generous welcome. Goolrick has called me your rightful ruler, but the rules of your land say I need many things for that to be true. I need a plan for your prosperity. I believe I have that. I need the crown. Well… you can see I have that for yourselves. I also need your support. Do I have the support of the Spurious tribe?”

Another cheer went up, from a corner of the crowd clustered around Sebold and his mother. Sebold was urging them to cheer louder, though Gem noticed that Serena had her hand firmly on her son’s shoulder.

“What about the Perfidious?”

The Perfidious section of the crowd looked up, and Gem realized that they were waiting for a signal from Goolrick. When he gave a single, slow nod, they burst into a cheer of their own that matched the Spurious one in volume easily.

“It seems their wishes are clear,” Goolrick said, reaching up for the crown that sat on Gem’s head. “It only remains to crown you properly… which would be considerably easier if I could get this crown… off.”

“Ow! Goolrick!”

“Sorry. Do you have some sort of glue in your hair? No, I can feel the magic. You try.”

Gem did, and the crown slid into her hands easily. She passed it to the young wizard.

“Not exactly the dignified ceremony I was hoping for.”

“You are here, being crowned,” Goolrick observed. “Anything more would have been superfluous.”

He carefully replaced the crown on her head, and the crowd cheered again. They were drowned out by a roar from the dragon, which had apparently decided to join in.

“Well,” Gem said, “I’m glad that’s over with. Let the celebrations begin.”

Below, the minstrels struck up tunes, the jugglers juggled, the tumblers tumbled, and everyone more or less launched themselves at the waiting food. Apparently, watching coronations was hungry work. Goolrick led Gem back inside, to the Great hall, where everything had been prepared for a feast, though the doors to the outside hadn’t been opened yet. Sparks, Rio, Kat and Jack were waiting in a rough circle, not restrained now. Kat started forward when she saw Goolrick, but Gem held up a hand.

“Please don’t, Kat.”

“Oh come on. After everything he’s done, he deserves it. What are
you
planning on doing with him?”

“That’s a good question,” Goolrick said, stepping into the circle of the others. “What do you plan for me, my queen? Is it to be exile?”

Gem bit her lip, trying to think. She had been so busy trying to become ruler that she had hardly had chance to decide what would happen next. Even so, there was part of her that said that getting rid of Goolrick would be the wrong thing to do.

“Can I trust you, Goolrick?”

“Can you trust him?” Kat echoed. “Of course you can’t-”

To Gem’s surprise, it was Jack who pulled her back.

“Well?” Gem demanded. Goolrick nodded.

“Yes. I won’t betray you again.”

“Then what would you like to happen to you, Goolrick? What do you think you deserve? Do
you
think you should be exiled?”

Goolrick was silent for several seconds. He licked his lips nervously.

“I deserve any punishment you choose, but what I want… tell me, will I ever be able to regain your friendship? Can I even hope for more than that?”

Gem let herself nod, moving closer to Goolrick to whisper lower than the others could hear.

“I liked you before, Goolrick, and the tunnel… well, let’s just say that you’re a good kisser. Given all you’ve done, it’s a long way back, but it’s not impossible.”

Gem moved back, and she could see that the others were curious, but some things she wasn’t going to repeat.

“So, what will it be, Goolrick?” Gem repeated. “What do you want?”

“I want to stay.”

“Then you’ll stay. I will need an advisor. There will need to be others too, though. In fact, I want the people of Anachronia to have a say in how they are ruled. Your first job will be to help establish a council of elected officials to govern this land.”

“But what of you, milady?” Goolrick asked. “You are queen.”

“And I’ll have the casting vote if there’s a deadlock, but the people here should be making their own decisions. Proclaim it, Goolrick.”

He did. More than that, he brought a written version of it along with a huge seal, which Gem pressed down into hot wax at the base.

“I’ll take this out to the people,” Goolrick declared. Gem shook her head.

“No. Let them in. It’s time this party got into full swing.”

After that, the celebrations really did step up a gear. People poured into the Great Hall for the feast, and Gem found herself trying swan and roast boar, sweetmeats and toffee apples. The others sat around her, laughing and joking, then wandered off one by one into the festivities as the day wore into evening.

There was dancing, plenty of dancing, strange formal things of lines and circles mixed in with more frenetic country dances as the minstrels either caught the mood of the crowd or had more ale, Gem wasn’t sure which. One of the jugglers turned out to have a sideline in fire eating, and displayed his skills in the courtyard until the dragon tried to join in, shooting a wash of flame that burned away the evening clouds.

There were guests at the feast Gem hadn’t anticipated. When she glanced into the shadows, she saw the shapes of animals and stranger things. One hooked the shadow of a roast ox, dragging it into a corner while leaving the actual ox well alone. Another cluster of them camped out in the courtyard, making a shifting shadow play for the Anachronian children.

Jack managed to overcome his nervousness enough to start telling stories about their world to a group of the older Anachronians. They listened in wonder to some of the history that had passed there, then shook their head in disbelief at thoughts like there not being any dragons, trolls or stranger creatures.

Kat spent the evening joining in the dancing, though there was one awkward moment when she persuaded one of the minstrels to hand over his lute. It seemed that Anachronia wasn’t ready for her favorite brand of music. Though frankly, Gem suspected that
nowhere
was quite ready for some of the sounds the other girl managed to coax out of the instrument.

At one point, Gem spotted Svetlana and the ogre Grumble handing out mugs of foaming beer, so she headed over.

“Doing good business?” she asked. The other woman smiled.

“Oh, this is all free. I find it pays to give out free samples at beginnings.”

“This is an ending, surely?” Gem said. Svetlana shrugged.

“Endings, beginnings, I get them mixed up sometimes. Should I be curtseying?”

Gem shook her head.

“I’ve had plenty of that tonight.”

That was true. It seemed that everyone had wanted to speak to her, or touch her, or simply be close to her at some point in the evening. Most of them had bowed, or curtseyed or even knelt. The Shadow King had performed a curious motion that had involved half a dozen legs and at least one tentacle. Gem had been more than glad to see him, but the endless parade of others had left her feeling dizzy.

Svetlana put a gentle hand on her arm.

“Ah, it can be lonely being at the center of things, if you aren’t careful. But just think, girl. You won. You should be celebrating yourself. And there’s at least two people who’d like to celebrate with you.” She nodded to an area of the hall where both Sparks and Rio sat a little way from each other, each apparently ignoring the other one while they talked to some of the surrounding Anachronians. “I see they haven’t changed completely then. Still, you just need to decide which of them you want to dance with.”

In the end, Gem managed to dance with both of them. Both turned out to be surprisingly good at it, even if they didn’t know the steps to the Anachronian dances. Sparks did well with the folk dancing, giving himself over to the music in a way that drew Gem along with it. Rio caught the rhythm of the formal dances easily, weaving in and out of the lines and complicated steps with a smile that made several of the Anachronian women happy when the dance meant switching partners for one of its rounds.

The celebrations went on well into the night, and the feast took on a new dimension once people worked out that, if you didn’t mind it eating about half of what you wanted cooked, the dragon made for a pretty good way of barbequing things. Gem danced with more people, and tried to make sense of a blur of names and faces, taking the time to thank Sebold and his mother somewhere in the chaos of it. The party was still going strong when Gem saw the others start to peel away towards the bedrooms, clearly enervated by the sheer jubilation of the festivities.

She had to admit that she was pretty tired herself, and Gem eventually decided that the celebrations could keep going perfectly well without her. Taking advantage of the distraction provided by an attempt by one of the ogres to juggle, which would probably result in some repairs being needed in the morning, she slipped away from the watching crowd and made for her bed.