The Oracle's Secret (The Oracle Saga Book 1) (12 page)

My heart’s pounding when we stumble through the door. A part of me thinks I’m wrong, but, like I hoped, we find ourselves in another stone-lit chamber, a small one, with a door on the other side. This feels right.

‘How did you find it?’ Tarian asks, and he kisses me.

‘I realised that it didn’t matter which door it was,’ I said. ‘I just had to choose one.’

‘Genius,’ he says, grinning.

‘Hey, it worked, didn’t it?’ I laugh.

We look around the room.

‘I wonder what’s coming next...?’ I say.

The room seems empty, apart from the door. Surely it can’t be as simple as going to the door and opening it?

It isn’t. As we start walking across the room, the mist appears again and the ghost of the Nineteenth Prince is standing in front of us.

‘Your journey is almost complete,’ he says. ‘This is your final test. This door will open and lead you to the Lightstone. But first, one of you must reveal a secret that nobody else alive knows.’

He disappears as suddenly as he arrived.

Tarian and I look at each other. I can’t read his expression.

‘A secret...’ I say.

He doesn’t reply. I wrack my brains. A secret that nobody else alive knows. I’m not sure I have any. I’ve been watched so closely all my life that I’ve never had a chance to have secrets, and those few things that I could keep to myself, I always shared with Cherry.

I think about my blood oath, how that’s a secret that’s burning a hole in me, how badly I want to explain to Tarian and yet how I don’t want it to change how he looks at me. But the Prince knows about that, so it doesn’t count.

I sift through memories, looking for things in visions I’ve had, but there’s nothing.

‘I don’t know if I have one,’ I tell Tarian. ‘I hope this doesn’t mean we’re going to be trapped in here forever...’

Tarian shakes his head slowly, doesn’t meet my eyes.

‘Tarian?’ I ask. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘I have one,’ he says. ‘I have a secret that nobody else alive knows.’

‘Ah,’ I say.

His face is solemn, sad. I wonder if the secret is something awful, something he hoped he would never have to share. I go to put my arms around him, help him through this torment, but he shrugs me off and backs away.

‘I’m sorry,’ he says.

It’s like a physical pain, seeing him so upset. Sympathy makes my chest hurt. I don’t want him to feel this way. He’s become so important to me so quickly, and I never want him to be in pain, not for a second.

‘Is it hard to talk about?’ I ask softly.

He nods.

‘Then don’t,’ I say. ‘If it’s too much, you don’t have to reveal it. It’s your secret, nobody else’s.’

I don’t know what this will mean for my blood oath. Maybe I should be trying to persuade him to tell, so that we can get the stone. Maybe I should be threatening him, begging him, anything to reach my Prince’s goal. But I can’t do that to him. This has to be his choice. I won’t take that away from him, even if it means breaking my blood oath. Even if it means death, or eternal torment.

He’s silent for a few minutes. I try not to think of the stories I’ve heard about breakers of blood oaths - some who died in horrible, magical ways, others who had death stolen from them, cursed to live forever in pain and misery.

Finally he shakes his head. ‘No,’ he says. ‘I should have told you anyway. This is right.’

He sits on the floor, gestures that I should join him. I sit, confused. His brown eyes glisten as he looks at me.

‘When I was a little boy,’ he begins, ‘my grandmother, my Nain, was the best Finder for five generations. Anyone who wanted something found, it was my Nain they asked. She’d been to court, she was the most important woman for miles around, she was trusted and respected and that respect spread to the whole family.’

I nod, wondering where this is going.

‘One day, a man came from the Prince to ask for Nain’s help finding something. Something very important. Something so important that the Prince would do anything to have it. And if he couldn’t find it... there would be consequences.

‘So Nain looked for the Prince’s treasure, but she was getting old and tired and her powers were fading. She couldn’t find it. She tried and tried but it was elusive, and the Prince was getting impatient.

‘I was only little then, but the family already knew that I would be a skilled Finder someday, maybe even with a talent to rival my Nain’s. And Nain was desperate so... she came to me, to ask if I could help her narrow down the search.

‘I remember exactly how it was. I was in the top field, watching the lambs, and she came and sat next to me.

‘“Hello, cariad,” she said. “Do you know that the Prince wants me to find something very special for him?”

I said I knew. It was an Oracle.’

I freeze. He can’t mean what I think he means. This can’t be what happened.

‘The Prince had heard there was an Oracle somewhere in his territory, still young. She was in hiding - he’d sent messengers out to invite her and her family to court, but nobody had come forward. So Nain had been looking, but the space to search was so big that she couldn’t narrow it down. So... she explained to me exactly what to look for. Then we went, with the Prince’s men, and I whispered to Nain, and she told them where to drive. And we drove all day, and finally we got to a house. And I don’t know what happened in that house, but when Nain came back out she smiled at me, and the Prince’s men were pleased with her, and some of them drove us away while the rest stayed. And three years later my Nain died, and she never told anyone that her greatest triumph was down to me.’

A sob escapes me, loud in the ringing silence after Tarian’s speech. I stare at him. This can’t be right. I must be misunderstanding. Maybe there’s some other Oracle that they found back then.

‘I’m so sorry,’ he says. ‘It’s my fault. I’m the one who told them where you were.’

The words break the spell. I jump backwards, away from him. Suddenly I don’t want him anywhere near me.

‘You didn’t tell me,’ I hiss. ‘You let me talk all about my childhood and how they treated me and you didn’t...’

‘I’m sorry!’ he says. ‘I was only a kid, I didn’t know...’

‘You know now,’ I say coldly. ‘Maybe I could forgive the child, but I can’t forgive the man. You should have said something.’

He hangs his head. ‘I was too ashamed.’

I hiss at him, anger surging through me. I’m hit by a sudden, powerful memory of that day - me at home, colouring in a picture of a train, my mother reading a book. The curtains were closed, the way they were most of the time. We didn’t leave the house much. And then, the knock at the door. My mother making me hide behind the sofa. But when they came in, she didn’t stop them, she just called me out, her face a picture of defeat. And I saw the old woman, and the Prince’s men, and one of the men came with me while I helped my mother pack a few things in my rucksack with the daisies on it, and that was it. The end of that innocent part of my life.

Everything after that - the constantly being watched, the relentless training, the orders, the hours of boredom and fear, the isolation - all of that was because of Tarian. Without him, I might have lived a normal life, away from all this. And he listened to me tell him about it,
comforted me
, and he didn’t say anything. I feel sick.

I turn away from him, and see that the door has opened. Then he really was the only one who knew.

‘Come on,’ I say, my voice cracking. ‘Let’s get the bloody Lightstone and get out of here.’

I can’t even look at him - the kindness in his eyes, the warmth of his smile, they feel like lies now. Everything about the way he made me feel seems tainted. He touched me, kissed me, made love to me knowing that he was the person who trapped me in this life.

I stalk through the door, ignoring him calling my name. He sounds upset, but I don’t care any more. He doesn’t get my sympathy.

I find myself in a long stone corridor. At the end is the door made of glowing stone, the one I saw in my vision. And, like that thought summoned it, I feel another vision pressing down on me.

I think about fending it off, but honestly I want it. I want to be anywhere but here, with anyone but him. Even escaping into a vision for a few moments seems like a good option right now.

The vision is fuzzy, nowhere near as clear as the others lately, but I can still just about make it out. It’s the same as before - the Lightstone flying through the air, my gaze following it as it moves, my hand outstretched. Whatever it is, it’s going to happen soon, somewhere past that glowing door.

I snap out of it and find myself on my knees in the corridor. Tarian is beside me but not touching me. Good. I don’t want him ever to touch me again.

Even as I think that, I remember the feel of his hands in my hair, the taste of his skin, his breath warm on my neck, the way he moved inside me. Can I give that up? I’ve never felt anything like the way I’ve felt with Tarian these last few days. Part of me wants to throw my arms around him, tell him that I forgive him, pretend that this never happened and go back to the way we were before. He’s made me so happy. Is this really such a big deal?

I shake my head, stubborn. Even if I want it, he doesn’t deserve me. Not any more.

I get back to my feet and walk down the corridor, ignoring Tarian keeping pace beside me. As we approach the door, the lights get brighter, glowing in anticipation like they know what’s about to happen. The door itself is so bright that it hurts my eyes. I squeeze them closed, looking out of a tiny gap.

Behind that door is the thing we’ve come all this way for. The reason for all the agony and ecstasy of the last few days. I hope it’s worth it, but I know once I give it to the Prince I’ll probably never see it again.

I take a deep breath and open the door.

We’re there. In the chamber I saw before, that first wonderful, magical time with Tarian. My heart contracts at the memory. I was so happy in that moment and now I don’t even want to look at the man beside me.

The chamber is just like I remember it. Stone walls lit by crystals, the mosaic path leading towards the pedestal that holds the Lightstone.

I’ve seen it in a few visions now, but I’m still not prepared for the reality of it. The Lightstone glows so brightly that I almost have to look away, and I can
feel
the magic pouring from it like a wave washing over me. It’s stunning even this far away.

‘Well... there it is,’ says Tarian.

I ignore him, not even because I’m angry with him but because the Lightstone is calling to me. I never really understood before what it was - all I knew was that it contained enough magic to let its owner rule over all the other magic users in the country. But knowing that isn’t the same as feeling it, and being within reach of it.

Whoever gets the Lightstone will have unimaginable power. I can feel it crackling in the air. I feel like just touching it would fill me with energy and magic, but I don’t move.

If the Prince gets the Lightstone, what will he do with it? I’m not sure he has the good judgement that his ancestor did. When we present it to him, will he hide it again like he should, or will he use it? What will that mean?

A shocking thought occurs. What if I didn’t give the Lightstone to the Prince? What if I kept it for myself? I’m no expert, but I think there’s a good chance that, with that much power, I could break free of my blood oath. I’ve never heard of anyone managing to do it before, but if anything can free me, the Lightstone can. I picture it, visions of my freedom filling my mind. It’s only been a few days since I swore my blood oath, but already it presses down on me like a dead weight, restricting me, crushing me. Just like I’ve been restricted and crushed my whole life, but a thousand times worse. This could be my chance to escape.

With the Lightstone, I could go anywhere, do anything. I could make things better. I could break my blood oath, go and find Cherry and my mother and Emmeline and all go away somewhere far away. Or stay, and banish the Prince, run things my own way. I could make the court a happy place, a place where people didn’t have to obey the Prince’s every order or live in fear. I could fix everything. I could punish everyone who ever hurt me.

I shock myself with that thought. I could punish the Prince, make him pay for forcing me to make a blood oath. I could exile him, take away his magic, worse.

I’m still in the middle of a reverie when there’s a crashing behind us, and I hear a familiar voice.

‘Hurry up, we’re almost there!’ Elise yells.

How the hell did they get here? They must have tracked us somehow. I spin to see them, running up the corridor we just left. Elise is battered and wet and her clothes are torn. There are only two of her entourage with her, two brawny guards who are panting with exertion. Did she only bring the two of them with her? Or did the rest of them die so that these three could make it through the obstacles?

There’s no time to think about it now.

‘Run!’ I say to Tarian, and the two of us start sprinting down the mosaic path towards the Lightstone, in step again at least for this moment. The stone seems so far away now that I can hear Elise’s shouting behind us, the thud of footsteps following us down the path. There’s no time even to decide what I’ll do when - if - I reach the stone. I just run, my lungs burning. The Lightstone gets closer and closer, so bright that I want to close my eyes against it.

We reach the pedestal.

‘Take the stone, I’ll hold them off,’ says Tarian.

I grab the stone, lifting it from the dip in the pedestal where it sits. It’s the size of a large egg, and heavy. Just holding it in my hands, I can feel its power surging through me and I know I was right - if I could figure out how to harness that power, I could break my blood oath and be free. But there’s no time for that yet.

I run further back into the chamber, not looking behind me, trusting that Tarian will keep them away from me like he said, at least for as long as he can. I hear incantations flying and worry for him - Tarian doesn’t know many spells. But then, I don’t know many more.

I have to protect the stone. I look for a way out, but I can’t see one apart from the way we came in, and that way’s blocked by Elise and her goons. The chamber is more or less empty - there’s not much to hide behind. The walls are uneven, climbing up here and there like steps. I tuck the Lightstone under one arm and climb a little higher, to give myself a bit of time to figure out my next move.

Tarian’s fighting hard. I turn to see him throw a punch that flattens one of them, then spin to the next one, barely breaking a sweat. He seems all right for now. I keep looking around for exits - maybe there’s something I’ve missed. But no, the walls are solid, the only light comes from the glowing stones in the walls - no daylight in here. If it’s even day, who knows any more.

I don’t know what to do. Panic fills me, making me breathe hard. Tarian’s doing everything he can to give me time, and I’m doing nothing with it. I’m paralysed for a moment, watching like slow motion as his fists fly, his foot slams into one guy’s chest. It’s like a deadly, mesmerising dance.

But Elise isn’t mesmerised. She’s been hanging back, but now she comes forward, spits an incantation and fires a spell at Tarian. He ducks, barely dodging the blue fire that spews at him. He rolls back to his feet, backing off slowly. Elise fires again, Tarian darts to the side. He moves around, to the right of the pedestal. Elise and her men follow.

I see what he’s doing. He’s drawing them away from me and the Lightstone. I edge down from my perch and move closer to the door, the Lightstone still pulsing in my hand.

Elise is no fool though.

‘Stop her!’ she says. ‘Never mind about him! She’s the one with the stone!’

They both turn to me, and Tarian takes the opportunity to smack one of them across the back of the head. He drops like a sack of potatoes, but the other one is already out of Tarian’s reach, running towards me, his expression feral.

There’s no way I’m making it to the door. I climb again, hoping that his bulk compared to mine will mean that he can’t follow me all the way up the narrowing ledges of stone.

He starts to climb. I fire an illumination spell to dazzle him and he falls back, covering his eyes. Elise swears at him. Tarian’s running to pull him away, but Elise fires a spell that knocks him to the ground with a groan. From this angle he’s behind the pedestal, I can’t see him. Fear for him shivers through me.

‘Just give us the stone, Oracle,’ says Elise. ‘We won’t hurt you. You can come with us. You’ll be treated as a guest at our court, which is better than the treatment you’ll get from your Prince if you go back and tell him that you’ve failed him.’

‘No!’ I say.

If only I could buy a minute or two to work out how to harness the power of the Lightstone. Then I know I could fix all of this. But I can’t spare a second to pay attention to it.

Elise and her subordinate are close now. He’s at the bottom of the wall, blocking my escape route. She’s just standing there looking at me, smiling like she knows she’s got me. And she has. Where can I go? What can I do?

Suddenly I remember my vision of the Lightstone flying through the air. For some reason I just assumed I was trying to catch it. But what if I wasn’t? My heart beats faster.

I hear a grunt from across the chamber. Tarian’s alive! In spite of how angry I am with him, it still brings tears to my eyes.

‘Livya!’ he calls.

I can see him now, struggling to stand.

‘We don’t have time for this,’ says Elise. ‘Kill her, get the stone.’

The remaining guard looks up at me, nods, and starts an incantation. If he kills me, then the stone will be in the hands of the Northern Prince - there’s no way I’m letting that happen.

Tarian’s still pulling himself upright. Elise is smiling up at me. It’s now or never.

I throw the stone.

It leaves my hand and sails across the chamber, seeming as light as a feather for a moment. I can throw harder than I thought. Everything slows down. I hear Elise’s scream of defeat, Tarian’s yell of triumph. The stone glistens as it spins through the air. And then it crashes into the opposite wall.

For an instant I’m afraid that this won’t be enough to break it, but it is. The Lightstone shatters as it meets the wall, exploding into a blossom of light that spreads across the room, blinding me for a moment. When I can see again, the roof of the chamber is opening above us like a flower, letting in daylight.

Tarian’s already there, climbing up beside me.

‘This way,’ he whispers. ‘This is the way out.’

I follow his sure-footed lead and we clamber out of the widening hole and back into the forest, looking the same as it did before we left. I can see the Major Oak in the distance, and I remember that, with Steele dead, the binding spell might be broken. If we can beat Elise to the oak, there’s a chance we can escape.

I start running, Tarian beside me. We reach the oak, thudding into it. Nothing happens.

‘Do we have to walk around it again?’ I ask.

‘Maybe,’ he says. ‘We have to try.’

He puts his hand on my shoulder.

‘Wait!’ I say. ‘We walked clockwise on the way in. Let’s try anti-clockwise.’

We’ll only have one chance. I can already see Elise’s head poking out of the hole, and if I’m not very mistaken, she’s about ready to kill us.

Tarian nods. ‘Good idea.’

He puts his left hand on my shoulder and we touch our right hands to the tree. I close my eyes and take a moment to touch the tree and make sure I can find the same spot. Then we walk, so fast we’re almost running, stumbling, tripping, faster and faster. I can hear Elise screaming at me. She’s getting closer. But so are we. Ten times, eleven times, she’s almost on us, twelve times, I can almost feel her touching me, thirteen times, and I open my eyes.

‘We’re here,’ I say. ‘We made it.’