Quest for the Sun Gem (19 page)

Over by the door was a pile of plump sacks. Their plain brown ordinariness looked extremely out of place among all this glittering splendour.

Out of curiosity she wandered over to the three sacks. The tops were sewn tightly shut. Lily wiggled her fingertips into a tiny crack in the top of the sack. A golden kernel of dried corn gleamed in the crack.

‘That’s odd,’ wondered Lily aloud. ‘Why would corn be stored in the Treasure Chamber?’

‘Mmmm,’ replied Saxon, engrossed in rifling through a large chest of bright gold coins.

‘Corn?’ asked Roana, busily emptying a casket of jewels. ‘Corn would be in the food cellars.’

Ethan stopped searching through his chest and came over to look at the three sacks.

‘It is an odd place to store something as common as corn, although it is sometimes called peasant’s gold!’ Ethan observed.

‘Unless of course you were trying to hide something really valuable inside it,’ Lily said, her
eyes shining, as she tried to loosen the rough string with her fingers.

Ethan ran over to the wall, where some beautifully engraved and bejewelled daggers were hanging. He brought two back and handed one to Lily. They each dug the dagger into the side of a sack and sawed it open. A waterfall of gleaming gold kernels poured out, spilling across the floor and doorway. Ethan tipped up the end of each sack. Nothing but corn.

Ethan and Lily looked at each other in disappointment.

‘I was so sure the corn could only be here to hide something else,’ Lily murmured.

‘Let’s try the last one,’ Ethan suggested.

Together they plunged their daggers deep into the sacks. A river of corn spilled across the floor, forming a wide lake. They plunged their arms deep into the sack, up to their elbows in grain. And together they felt something hard, buried in the remaining kernels. They scrabbled excitedly and pulled it out.

It was a small wooden box, its lid ornately carved with hideous monsters and gargoyles. Lily fingered an unusual black and red carving in the centre of the scene. It looked strangely familiar. Her heart thudded with excitement.

‘A carving of two crossed cutlasses with an eye above them – we saw this on the Sedah ships. It is the mark of Emperor Raef!’ Lily exclaimed breathlessly.

Ethan and Lily examined the box, holding it up to the light. Saxon stopped rifling through gold coins. Roana came over from her chest of gems.

‘But the box doesn’t seem to open,’ Ethan said in frustration.

The box was quite small, easily held in two hands. The sides had many panels of smooth glossy wood, each about the thickness of a thumb. It had a thick base of plain dark wood about the same thickness as the ornate lid. The strange thing was that there seemed to be no catch, no lock, no keyhole, no visible opening. It seemed like a solid piece of ornately carved timber. Yet when Lily shook it there was a faint rattle as something moved inside it.

Each child took a turn to poke, prod and press at the many panels. When it was Roana’s turn to take the box she gasped in shock. The box seemed alive under her fingertips. Her fingers seemed to burn and tingle as she held the box.

‘I think … I think this might just be something,’ she stuttered in excitement.

She pushed and prodded at the central carving of
Emperor Raef’s mark. Surely that must be the key to the puzzle, just like pressing the sun symbol had been the key to opening the secret entrance to the palace storerooms in the underground tunnel.

‘Perhaps we can open it by force,’ suggested Saxon, itching to snatch the box from Roana and pull the lid off by sheer strength. ‘We could use one of the ceremonial axes to chop it open.’

‘No. That might damage whatever is inside,’ Ethan argued, taking the box from Roana. ‘If it is some of the gems from the Sun Sword we don’t want to crack them or chip them. There must be some trick to opening it. We just need to figure it out.’

A loud crash sounded down the corridor. The sound of hundreds of coins rained down onto the stone floor. Muffled curses and shouts alerted them that someone had tripped the coin trap.

‘Quick. Someone’s coming,’ hissed Ethan, jumping up with the small box still unopened in his hands. ‘Where can we hide?’

‘Come this way,’ Roana whispered, grabbing her pack and running towards the rear of the Treasure Chamber. ‘There is a secret way that leads to my parents’ private chambers.’ She ducked behind a towering row of shelves containing small caskets and jewellery boxes.

The others ran behind her, each carrying their packs. Behind the shelves was a stone wall, with a flaming sun carved high into the stone. Without even pausing, Roana reached up to press one of the rays. The stone wall grumbled and groaned, then slid away, revealing a dark doorway.

The four children slid through it silently with Aisha. As Roana pressed the handle which closed the stone door, they heard a loud crash as the main door to the Treasure Chamber flew open and seven Sedah guards stormed in.

The guards hit the lake of corn and slipped and slid, limbs flailing. The first four guards sprawled onto the floor, bruised and shocked.

Before the secret stone door slid completely closed they could hear a familiar voice – the harsh voice of Captain Malish.

‘Search thoroughly. Whoever has broken into the Treasure Chamber is still here. I can smell the smoke of their torches. Leave no coin unturned. They are here somewhere and we have them trapped!’

In total silence the children started to climb – a narrow, spiral staircase that wound up and up and up. In moments everyone was short of breath, their hearts thumping and lungs burning. But still the steps climbed up, carved out of solid stone.

At last the stairs ended in a tiny circular landing, the walls made completely of smooth stone blocks. There was not a crack or a chink to be seen. Saxon, Ethan, Lily and Aisha flopped down on the top few steps. Roana lifted her torch and carefully searched the masonry.

Over on the right, high above her head, her fingertips found a tiny crack. She pushed and wriggled. Once again the solid stone, carved from the deepest heart of the earth, magically cracked and separated, silently revealing a narrow aperture. Roana quietly doused her torch and gestured for the others to do the same.

Aisha stood on guard, her hackles raised, a low growl threatening to rumble forth. Ethan hurriedly placed his hand warningly on her collar to keep her quiet.

Everyone blinked in the sudden darkness, until gradually their eyes became used to the blackness.

Roana groped through the narrow aperture. Her hands found a soft heavy hanging – a beautiful tapestry that had been woven by the ladies of the court. Roana remembered it well. It was a scene of a beautiful young maiden in a forest, a full moon glowing in the starry night sky and a pure white unicorn with his bearded head lying contentedly in her lap. The girl was reputedly a study of Queen Ashana as a young maid. Roana carefully lifted the hanging from the bottom, peeking under it just above the floor.

The room was half lit by the glowing embers of the fire, and the pale silvery moonlight which came in through the windows. Roana could make out the shadows of her parents’ familiar furniture. In the centre of the room was a massive four-poster bed, with carved posts and heavy velvet curtains. Roana froze. Someone was in the bed. Someone was sleeping in her parents’ bed! She flushed with bubbling hot anger.

She signalled to the others to wait quietly, then she crawled out under the heavy tapestry. Hardly daring to breathe, she crawled over to her parents’ bed. Sprawled across the wide bed was a man. This must be Governor Lazlac. Roana’s heart froze with horror. She turned away, tears of frustration, sadness and hatred spilling from her eyes.

As she surreptitiously wiped them away, something caught her eye. A dull glimmer of gold, coiled like a snake on the bedside chest. Roana crept closer for a better look. There on the chest was a gold pocket watch, an enamelled snuff box, a jumble of coins and a fine, delicate lady’s necklace – an amethyst heart locket surrounded by tiny seed pearls.

Roana gasped involuntarily, causing Lord Lazlac to stir and roll over. She reached out her hand carefully, and slowly extricated the locket from the pile of treasures.

Roana crawled back to the tapestry and, lifting the corner, signalled to the others to follow her. They each crawled through the gap. Roana pointed to a doorway over on the right, past the huge gaping fireplace with its ornate marble mantle, and past a large roll-top desk.

Lily and Aisha set off at once, followed by Saxon. Lily glanced up at the soaring domed ceiling above
them. In the silvery light she could see it was painted as the sky, with the rosy sun in the centre. Fluffy clouds held fat, smiling cupids. At the edges the blue faded to deep indigo, scattered with sparkling stars and an exotic crescent moon.

As he passed it, Saxon glanced down at the huge roll-top desk, scattered with rolled parchments, maps, letters and orders. The flickering light from the fire was stronger here and he could see the contents of the desktop quite clearly. A brass contraption let off a warm, waxy smell. Saxon touched it. Underneath, a stub of candle had been snuffed. A small dish swung just above where the flame should be, its bowl filled with blood red wax. Beside it lay a wooden-handled stamp – a seal.

Roana knelt to press the hidden knob which would close the secret door once more and hide their entrance. Ethan couldn’t help himself. Still carrying the small wooden box, he crept over to the bed for a look at the face of the man that dared to sleep in a dead king’s bed.

The man tossed and turned to face Ethan. His eyes fluttered, then opened. Ethan melted back into the shadows and slipped after the others.

‘Who’s there?’ bellowed a harsh voice from the bed. ‘Is someone there? Guards, fetch me a candle.’

Ethan disappeared through the door and closed it softly, just as another door flung open on the other side of the room.

‘Here’s your candle, my lord,’ murmured a muffled voice. ‘No, my lord, there appears to be no-one here. Yes, of course, my lord. We will investigate further.’

Ethan raced after the others through a long dressing room, hung with dozens of fabulous silken gowns, cloaks, furs and petticoats. His running image flickered in the long mirror hung down one wall. Dozens of shoes, boots and slippers lay in rows like soldiers waiting to do battle.

Roana looked neither to left nor right. She ran down the long corridor and paused briefly at the door at the other end, listening for signs of life.

She ushered the others through the door, then, taking the key from the dressing room side, locked the door from the other side. The children all paused, taking in the details of this new room.

‘Our nursery,’ breathed Roana. ‘This is where Caspar and I slept when we were younger.’

Three beds were pushed against the wall to make room for the toys. A huge wooden castle, filled with painted knights, ladies, horses, wizards, dragons, king and queen, took up the centre of the room. On
another side stood a tall doll’s house fitted with tiny lifelike furniture.

On the shelves were crammed bowls and spillikins, hoops and balls, cuddly rag dolls and threadbare teddy bears, and hundreds of books. More books than the village children had seen in their whole lives.

‘I think the guards are after us,’ Ethan panted. ‘Shall we go out that door?’

‘That door leads into the main corridor, which is probably guarded, but I have an idea,’ Roana explained. ‘There is a dumbwaiter that leads right down into the kitchens. It is a shelf on a pulley system so the cook could send our meals up here directly from the kitchens. We might just be able to squeeze in one at a time and hide down in the kitchens. We could get some food and find somewhere safe to look at the box.’

Roana strode to the wall, beside the bookcase. The timber panelling ran right around the room, but one panel was cleverly crafted to slide up, revealing the dumbwaiter behind.

‘You first, Roana,’ ordered Ethan. ‘We must get you away safely.’ Roana looked inclined to argue, but at that moment the door handle leading to the dressing room started to turn, then was shaken
vigorously as the turner realised it was locked.

Roana slid up into the opening and crouched on the shelf. The others let down the rope pulley that operated it.

The guards started banging on the door.

‘Open this door at once. Who’s in there?’

The banging turned to pounding, then smashing as the guards tried to knock the door down. Lily crawled in next, snagging her hair on the panelling in her haste.

Saxon and Ethan hoisted a quivering Aisha into the hole and sent her down, her big brown eyes staring mournfully at the boys as she disappeared into the darkness. Saxon had difficulty folding his tall frame into the small space but soon he too was away.

The door started to splinter and shudder. Ethan climbed in, pulled down the panel behind him, and started to let himself down with the rope pulley just as the door burst open from the might of four soldiers battering it with a chest.

The soldiers poured into the room. Ethan could just see through a tiny crack at the base of the panel. He did not dare to move or even breathe. The soldiers started to search the room thoroughly, looking under beds and behind toys, opening chests and wardrobes.

A fifth soldier swept into the room. Ethan recognised him at once – Captain Malish again. His black eyes swept the room. Ethan was almost sure he could see right through the panel to Ethan cowering in his cramped hidey-hole.

‘The door?’ Captain Malish barked.

A soldier scurried over to the second door and tried it.

‘It is locked, sir, from this side.’

‘There’s nothing here, sir,’ remarked another soldier, with a quick salute.

‘Look again,’ growled Captain Malish, swirling on his heels and sweeping out of the room.

The soldiers resumed their search but again found nothing. Ethan’s legs were cramping, his muscles screaming at the unnatural position they had been in for so long. Yet he was scared to move the dumbwaiter in case a slight noise gave him away.

Captain Malish returned.

‘Nothing, sir,’ murmured a nervous-sounding guard.

‘Two of you, guard the door outside in the corridor,’ Captain Malish ordered. ‘Two of you guard outside this door. Call me if you see or hear anything. I will go and report back to Governor Lazlac.’

The soldiers scurried to do as they were bid.

Ethan quietly closed the remaining slit of the panel, then slowly, carefully let out the rope pulley.

His heart thumped painfully. At last he reached the bottom. Four anxious faces peered in at him.