Araf stepped up to the Leprechaun – there was so much tension in the air, you could swim in it. Araf spoke first. ‘I have no desire to create a mutiny in your ranks, Lorcan. I understand your need for secrecy and I am not unsympathetic to your ultimate goal, but we must not be detained.’ Before Lorcan could speak, Araf continued. ‘Let me introduce to you a member of my company. This,’ he said, pointing to his left, ‘is Essa of Muhn.’
Lorcan looked very surprised. He bowed and said, ‘Princess.’
Essa barely nodded back. It was a nice moment.
‘By your lady’s leave,’ Araf said to Essa, ‘would you show Lorcan what is around your neck?’
Essa pulled out the finger-length crystal that her father had used on me.
‘Do you recognise this?’ Araf asked.
Surprising Lorcan seemed to be becoming a pastime of ours. ‘Is that an Owith glass?’ he stammered.
‘It is,’ Essa answered. ‘I believe the queen of the Leprechauns holds the other one.’
‘She does. I have seen it.’
‘Then you know what it can do?’ Araf asked.
‘It catches lies.’
‘Essa, would you be willing to give Lorcan a demonstration?’
Essa took off the necklace and held it towards Lorcan. ‘What is your name?’ she asked.
‘Lorcan of Duir.’ The glass remained clear.
‘This time,’ Essa said, ‘I want you to lie. What is your name?’
‘I am – Finn of Duir,’ Lorcan said. The crystal instantly went black.
‘Why we are here and where we are going,’ Araf said, ‘we cannot tell you, but with Essa’s leave, I propose that you may use the glass to swear us to secrecy. The glass will show if we intend to break our vow.’
Lorcan agreed. We all, in turn, swore to keep secret our knowledge of the Army of the Red Hand and their plan to attack Castle Duir. The glass remained clear. Lorcan returned the necklace and thanked Essa.
I broke the awkward silence. ‘Hey, what about that cup of tea you promised?’
By the time dinner was served we were all pals – comrades in arms. Lorcan explained that he really wasn’t ready for an invasion but he had to hurry it because of the meeting of the Runelords.
‘What meeting?’ Araf asked.
‘Cialtie has called a meeting of the lords for a Runecasting. We suspect he is going to try to find out where we are hiding. We need to attack soon if we want surprise on our side.’
‘Who is performing the Runecasting?’ Essa asked.
‘Cialtie said it will be Nieve, but according to our sources Nieve has been missing for days. We can’t confirm this.’
Essa and I looked at each other but said nothing.
‘How long before you attack?’ Araf asked.
‘I have sent word to all of my reserves to meet here by the end of the week – after that, as soon as we are ready. Some lords are on our side and are trying to delay the meeting.’
‘Too long have the Imps and the Impwives watched our crops wither and our children suffer for the want of gold,’ Araf said. ‘I do not know Cialtie’s motives for hoarding so much gold. I only know that I do not trust him. We will leave in the morning. I cannot speak for my companions, but I will try to return to join you before you move out.’ He stood and extended his hand. Lorcan took it.
‘I stand with my kinsman,’ Fergal said.
Essa and I stood. ‘I am ruled by my father and do not know his mind on this matter, but I wish you success,’ Essa said.
‘My future is just too crazy to promise I’ll be back in time,’ I said, ‘but kick a bit of Cialtie butt for me – will ya?’
Araf and Fergal went outside to address the Imp troops. Essa asked Lorcan if we could see the courtyard where the Tree of Knowledge once stood. It wasn’t far. The room we were in was adjacent to the courtyard – it was one of the few rooms that had remained whole. The courtyard was strewn with rubble from walls that had been pulled down. The ground was charred like the bottom of a giant campfire – it smelt like an old campfire as well. Essa walked to the middle and scrabbled in the black dust until she found a charred root.
‘This was the Tree of Knowledge,’ she said in a faraway voice. ‘I sat in it once when I was young.’
‘You sat in it?’ I asked.
‘Yes, it was a hazel tree. It didn’t have a thick trunk like an oak, it had hundreds of thinner branches coming out of the ground. Over the ages the branches were trained and bent into a living chair. On the day a student left the Hall of Knowledge, he or she would sit in the tree for a leaving ceremony. The student would receive and eat a hazelnut from the tree. It would ensure that the student would never forget what was learned here.’
‘Wow, it sounds like a heck of a tree.’
She looked me in the eyes – hers were wet. ‘Your grandfather died trying to defend it – so did my brother.’
Her eyelids could hold back the tears no longer. I reached for her and she collapsed in my arms, shaking with sobs. I cried a bit too. Together we mourned a grandfather I had never known and a brother that she would always remember with the emotions of a little girl.
I don’t know how long we knelt there. Being brave only postpones the inevitable – sooner or later you have to mourn your dead with all of your being, and that was what Essa was finally doing. When her sobs subsided, I picked up my staff and used it as support to help us both to our feet. The hazel staff slid into the ground like it was sand and then stuck there. Essa stumbled. I let go of the stick and held her with both arms. She leaned on me until we cleared the courtyard, then she stopped, wiped her eyes and put on her brave face before we joined the others. I forgot all about my staff.
Essa was fine the next morning. We exchanged knowing glances at breakfast. After that, nothing was said. We packed our horses. Acorn had gotten used to the place and was his old self again. Lorcan rode with us to the end of the castle’s lands. As we said our goodbyes, I remembered that I had left my staff in the courtyard. Lorcan gave me his blackthorn banta and promised to look after my hazel stick until I returned.
Before he rode off, Lorcan said, ‘The Reedlands are more treacherous now than ever before.’
‘Who said we are going to the Reedlands?’ Araf said.
‘There is nothing else in the direction you go. It is a bad place. This land may be dead, but that place is foul. The last two scouts I sent there have not returned. Be careful.’
I was looking forward to getting out of the Hazellands. I needed to see something growing again. I promised myself that I would hug the next living plant I saw. It was a promise I did not keep. If I had hugged the first living plant I saw – it probably would have killed me.
THE REEDLANDS
I could see the border of the Fililands a mile away. The sight of green in the distance made us all quicken our pace. I couldn’t wait to be among living, breathing plants again. I fantasised about galloping straight into the forest. Thank God I didn’t. As we approached I saw that the woods were sealed off by a tall,