The Morrow Secrets (26 page)

As the day wore on, they sold their wares and wandered around the marketplace looking for a way into the castle. It was Tyaas who found a narrow staircase behind one of the food stalls, a busy hub-bub of activity that would give them sufficient cover to disappear when the time was right. By mid afternoon the lazy grovellers began yawning and drifting off. They had supped enough ale, eaten too many pies, smacked all their horrible brats and were in need of an afternoon nap to sleep off their hangovers.

‘It’s time, Tyaas, we’ll follow when we can,’ whispered Esmerelda, making sure the coast was clear.
Tyaas sneaked behind the stalls, darted up the stone staircase and hid in the shadows. Within a few minutes Tallitha joined him. She held her brother’s hand in the recess and waited. But Esmerelda was a long time. Seconds ticked by into interminable minutes until Tallitha could wait no longer.
‘I’m going to take a look.’
‘Be careful,’ said Tyaas.
As Tallitha stepped into the corridor she felt the same tingle but stronger this time, a warning deep within her. Suddenly an enormous gust of wind came rushing towards her down the corridor and the ethereal vision from the night before hovered before Tallitha. Her silver-grey hair floated behind her in tendrils.
‘I told you to leave, Tallitha. I warned you. Yet you have chosen to ignore my warning and you have entered Hellstone of your own free will.’ As she hovered, her face became grave. ‘Then you have made your choice, and the pact is yours to destroy, if you can unlock the secret. But beware the power of the Morrow Swarm.’
The apparition held Tallitha’s gaze, looked deep within her eyes, then disappeared as suddenly as she had arrived.
‘Tyaas, Tyaas,’ Tallitha whispered, ‘did you see her?’
‘What are you talking about?’
Tallitha caught her breath and turned to see Esmerelda standing behind her.
‘Essie, you gave me such a fright. Did you see the apparition?’
‘I didn’t see anything. Come, we must hurry or someone will find us.’
‘But Essie, I saw her, please believe me. She warned me again.’
Esmerelda turned on her heel and began racing down the corridor.
‘Come on you two,’ was all Esmerelda had to say.
Tallitha instinctively knew the way and took the lead, racing along the passageways and staircases until at last they came to the tower room.
‘This is it,’ said Tallitha as she stood in front of the wooden door.
Esmerelda stepped over the threshold and immediately a tall girl came towards them.
‘Asenathe!’ said Tallitha excitedly.
‘That’s not Asenathe,’ replied Esmerelda abruptly.
Tallitha felt her stomach lurch. But this was the same girl she had seen in the shadow flight. The girl had dark curly hair hanging down her back and she wore the bloodstone at her neck.
‘But she has on the necklace!’ shouted Tallitha, ‘it must be her!’
‘She isn’t my cousin!’ shouted Esmerelda and shot a desperate glance at Tallitha.
The girl stood framed in the doorway, looking dismissively at the three visitors. She cast her eyes over them, taking in each detail from their tattered shoes to their dirty clothes.
‘I must ask you to follow me,’ she said coolly.
‘But where are we going?’ asked Tallitha.
‘Who are you?’ asked Esmerelda warily. ‘You have the Morrow look about you.’
The girl turned her twisted smile on the visitors. ‘You will see soon enough,’ she said mysteriously as she disappeared down the staircase at the back of the room. ‘Now keep up and don’t get lost, the castle is renowned for its dark places where it’s easy to put a foot wrong. Then we may lose you forever.’
Tallitha hesitated and hung back, ‘I don’t like her, or this dreadful castle. The apparition warned me last night. Essie, will you listen to me, please!’
‘Shhh’, said Esmerelda, pulling Tallitha behind her. ‘There has to be an explanation and soon we shall find out what it is.’
Tyaas was already halfway down the corridor beckoning to the others.
‘Don’t just stand there Tallitha,’ said Esmerelda, ‘otherwise, why have we travelled so far and endured so many dangers?’
‘Come on, don’t dawdle,’ snapped the girl, as they chased after her down the vast, empty corridors.
The castle was indeed a dark, unwelcoming place. It was a colossal fortress, bigger then Winderling Spires and the endless stone staircases were longer and even more tiring. Up and up they went, past hundreds of mullioned windows looking out over the black rocks and grey lashing waves. The girl flounced down the long galleries, up the external staircases and out onto blustery battlements, high up into the complex fortifications of the Tors.
‘But who is she,’ Tallitha asked, ‘if she isn’t Asenathe?’
‘Beats me,’ said Tyaas. ‘She’s not very friendly.’
The girl stopped in front of a large carved door, standing half-open and waiting for their arrival. Bright light seeped from the room beyond. Then the girl pushed them, one by one into a long gallery filled with people. It was in that moment that Tallitha, Esmerelda and Tyaas stepped into another world.
The gallery was brightly lit with a thousand burning candles arranged on tall plinths and set into enormous dazzling chandeliers. Around the gallery four huge fires crackled and hissed, throwing a red-golden light across the room. In front of each fireplace a pack of straggly hounds lay snoozing, raising their heads at the strangers’ entrance, growling and waiting for the order to attack.
Standing in the middle of the gallery was a group of men and women, members of the royal court. Their clothes and their demeanour oozed wealth and opulence. The court turned and stared at the visitors, but there was no welcome in their eyes. As the girl moved into their midst the court bowed to her. It was then that her eyes smouldered and she stared long and hard at Tallitha.
‘My name is Caedryl Morrow and the Lady Asenathe is my mother,’ she said pointing to an older woman sitting passively on a large chair.
Two wizened shroves stood on either side of Asenathe.
‘Asenathe!’ cried Esmerelda, beginning to run across the gallery.
But Asenathe’s face was like a stone and her blank eyes stared vacantly ahead.
‘I don’t understand. Have you no welcome for me?’ asked Esmerelda, her voice faltering.
Asenathe studied Esmerelda and fleeting recognition flickered across her face but the response was wanting. Tallitha felt small and vulnerable, exposed in the huge gallery. All the grand people were staring, straight at her, just at her.
‘This must be Tallitha,’ said Caedryl imperiously. ‘Welcome to Breedoor and to Hellstone Tors.’ She held out her hand for Tallitha to kiss it.
Tallitha did not move towards the proud girl. She was transfixed by the Swarm. Amongst the grand men and women of the court were the members of the evil Morrow Swarm. Esmerelda noticed the fussy vibration begin to surround Tallitha but this time it had a grey-black hue.
‘But I saw you. I came to you many times, in my trance,’ Tallitha exclaimed, wounded by the girl’s hostility.
The girl laughed in Tallitha’s face, a haughty, piecing laugh. ‘No, you’re confused, I’m afraid,’ she said pompously. ‘It was my mother you saw. At first when she was a young girl and then as she is now.’ She waved her hand in the direction of Asenathe.
‘I don’t understand,’ Tallitha faltered, searching Esmerelda’s face for reassurance.
‘My mother is the channel not I. But surely Esmerelda knew this?’ she smirked nastily from one to the other.
Tallitha swallowed hard as the realisation of her terrible mistake began to sink in. She flicked her eyes desperately at Esmerelda.
‘I didn’t realise,’ cried Esmerelda. ‘Your shadow-flight must have taken you back in time.’
‘Why didn’t you listen?’ shouted Tallitha. ‘You took too many risks with me,’ she wailed and buried her face in her hands. ‘I tried to tell you, to warn you there was something wrong!’
‘But it’s too late now,’ a voice shouted from within the group of men and women.
It was then that the court parted to reveal the grandest man in the room. He was tall and thin with sharp angular features. This was the Thane, Frintal Morrow, who was sitting on a grand throne. He had a shocking mass of wild grey hair, randomly plaited with small jewels at the ends. Lord Frintal gesticulated in Tallitha’s direction.
‘It’s taken a long time but you’re here at last and you entered Hellstone of your own accord. Well done!’ he laughed wickedly.
Whichever way he looked, the Thane’s pointed chin, his high cheek bones, and his sharp aquiline nose reflected the facets of his merciless razor-edged personality. He had the face of an anvil.
The court echoed his laughter and began to circle round Tallitha.
‘We’ve been waiting for you,’ said Caedryl, beguilingly.
Tallitha felt her insides grip with revulsion. Esmerelda shook her head as Tallitha’s desperate face turned towards her for an explanation. She too, was struggling to comprehend the full meaning of the unfolding drama.
‘But how did you know I was coming?’ asked Tallitha, finally finding her voice.
‘We know everything about you,’ said the Thane ominously.
‘And what say you, my cousin?’ asked Esmerelda walking towards Asenathe. ‘Could you not have prevented this? Could you not have protected us?’
‘She will not speak to you. She is distressed,’ said Caedryl disdainfully, regarding Esmerelda as a worthless being.
‘But we came all this way to find you,’ cried Tallitha at the silent Asenathe.
‘But she wasn’t lost,’ said Caedryl coldly, patting her mother’s arm and pushing the shroves to one side.
The Thane focussed his black eyes on Tallitha. His jawline shone like a knife blade in the firelight.
‘Sit, Tallitha, here next to me. Come, it’s your turn now,’ he said mysteriously.
‘But I don’t know you,’ she cried, ‘I don’t want to be in this place.’
The Thane laughed wickedly. ‘But you will know me Tallitha! Come, I have someone I want you to meet.’
Lord Frintal ran his cold-steel eyes over her face and his lip curled upwards revealing a set of sharp white teeth. They shone in the candlelight as he licked his thin, red lips. Tallitha had seen many wicked smiles in her time, but his was the worst of all evil leers. Shaking and compelled by his powerful gaze, she moved hesitantly across the room and stood before him. The Thane sat back with a victorious expression in his glinting eyes and clicked his fingers twice, click-clack. The long gallery fell silent. Then, from behind the huge throne came a noise. Asenathe’s shroves began to salivate and hop about feverishly.
Damn the shroves, thought Tallitha, what has this to do with them?
‘You can come out now,’ shouted the Thane, his lips twisting into a satisfied sneer.
From behind the throne a figure stepped forward. A small twisted body and familiar wizened face appeared before her. It took Tallitha a second of mind-numbing realisation to recognise the weaselly face in the unfamiliar surroundings. It was Marlin who crept from behind the throne and stood beside his Thane. The shrove motioned to his kin-folk, salivated, rubbed his old hands together, hopped about and gloated at his wicked deception.
‘Marlin!’ cried Tallitha horrified, ‘b-but what are you doing here?’
‘Sniffin’ you and followin’ you,’ he growled nastily and chuckled to himself.
‘We’ve been tracking you. All the while you had the Morrow stain upon you,’ said the Thane. ‘Once the stain touches you, it always leaves its trace.’
‘W-what do you mean?’ she faltered.
‘The dark stain from the Raven’s wing, ’tis the blood curse! The birth of our pact, the stain sought you out. The Morrow stain marked you so Asenathe could always find you and bring you to Hellstone Tors.’
It was in that moment that Tallitha understood they had been taken for complete fools. It had been Marlin up on the roof of Winderling Spires. He had lured them to the turret and he had planted the sampler. It had been a grand deception from her irrepressible curiosity at the beginning, to the end and her downfall in this terrible castle. They had followed like lambs, bewitched by the thought of adventure. They had been spied upon every step of the way.
Tallitha stared desperately around the gallery for an escape route but each doorway was barred by a Groat. The Thane sprang forward and tightly grabbed her wrist, twisting her arm up her back.
‘You’re not going anywhere!’ he shouted into her terrified face.
‘But why me?’ she cried.
Tallitha’s cries reverberated around the gallery as the Thane held her fast.
It was Esmerelda who understood at last. She screamed and lashed out at Marlin, scratching him across the face, drawing fresh blood. He whelped and wailed, spitting and swearing at her until one of the Groats pulled her off.
‘Leave her alone,’ shouted Tyaas bewildered.
He looked at his sister for reassurance but her wretched face said it all.
‘What’s going on Tallitha?’ he asked quietly, pulling on her sleeve like a lost child.
But Tallitha’s face was ashen. Part of her did not want to understand the full horror of their predicament.
Esmerelda struggled against the Groat’s strength, watching while the Morrow Swarm took their seats at the table, noticeably leaving three vacant chairs by the Thane’s side. Then she put her head in her hands and sobbed.
‘What have I done?’ she wept. ‘I’m sorry, Tallitha. I should have listened to you. I didn’t know this would happen.’
‘Essie, what is it? Please tell me!’ shouted Tallitha clinging to her brother.
But all she could hear was the sound of Esmerelda’s inconsolable weeping.
Caedryl moved next to the Thane’s throne. Her long dark hair was the same colour as Tallitha’s and she swept it over her shoulder in a haughty fashion, looking down her nose at the wretched girl before her.
‘We are in black, my mother and I, because we are in deep mourning. My father, Arden Morrow, died this past year.’ She paused as the court murmured reverently for the deceased heir of Hellstone Tors. ‘We have brought you here because it’s your turn now, Tallitha. You must take your place with the Morrow Swarm.’
The nasty smile played on her lips and pure wickedness filled her eyes. Tallitha stared at the girl and heard her words but it seemed as though everything was happening to someone else.
‘Essie, tell me this isn’t true!’
She screamed at the grimacing faces of the Morrow Swarm crowding around her, their pawing, clutching fingers touching her, embracing her and sucking her into their evil world.
‘Get away from me!’ she shouted.
The Thane waved his arms and his face glowed with devilish triumph.
‘You are the thirteenth!’ said Lord Frintal exultantly. ‘We have you in good time. We had but a year and a month to bring you here. “Get the Thirteenth in thirteen months” the sacred pact decrees and here you are. You came of your own free will!’
The Thane’s sharp features twisted in the candlelight.
‘But I can’t be part of this!’ Tallitha cried desperately, searching their evil faces.
The room spun before her eyes. The Swarm’s wicked intention filled every corner of the huge gallery and leeched out of their cruel faces.
‘Indeed you are part of this, Tallitha,’ said the Thane.
He took out a large jewel and dangled it in front of Tallitha’s face. It was identical to the one they had seen in the Jewel Room. The Swarm gathered around and sighed longingly at the sparkling gemstone as it twisted in the firelight. Horrified, Tallitha watched them encircling her, their faces enthralled and in awe of the stone. Suddenly an array of sparkling colours sliced the room as they had done all those weeks before in Winderling Spires. Tallitha’s head began to ache.