on the day of the Three Winds Festival then, would he not?’
‘Aye, he would at that. But is that enough time?’ mused Azariah. ‘I thought the reports indicated that Alavis and Alacorn wouldn’t hold out much longer than a fortnight.’
‘That is correct. We have ten days at the most and that is only if we’re lucky.’
‘But if it would take Nibbler three days to fly there, surely it would take us a lot longer to get there by foot?’ stated Charlie. ‘Would we make it there in time?’
‘Hhmm,’ murmured Azariah with the distracted expression of someone deep in thought. ‘Oh, not to worry, we would just open a Portal there. We would still get there in time.’
Charlie rolled her eyes in frustration. ‘But you just said it wasn’t safe to use one!’
‘Young Keeper, you must learn to listen carefully. I said it’s not safe to use one blindly while there’s lots of rampaging soldiers wandering about looking for an excuse to stick their swords into something,’ retorted Azariah.
‘So how is opening a Portal when Nibbler gets back going to be any different from opening one now?’
‘Because Nibbler can ask Edge Darkmount for a safe location. An area that hasn’t yet been overrun by Stoman troops. A square, a building, even a room inside the University of Dust. But it has to be somewhere safe. Only someone who is already at the scene will have the appropriate local knowledge.’
‘Oh, OK,’ muttered Charlie.
‘Wot about Charlie’s well-being?’ asked Dridif. ‘Without the Hatchling by her side she will be a lot more vulnerable.’
‘Not to worry.’ Azariah grinned. ‘I know of a couple of minders who can keep her out of trouble.’
‘Good,’ said Dridif. ‘So it is agreed, then, is it not? We pretend everything is normal and that we are waiting for the Winged Ones ta return. Meanwhile the Hatchling delivers our message ta Edge Darkmount. Azariah, ya watch over the young Keeper and I shall do me best ta keep black treachery and treason from growing outta hand in me council.’
All four nodded in agreement. Charlie, filled with hope, gave Azariah a small smile.
‘It’s a plan, young Keeper,’ he said. ‘Now let’s hope it works.’
44
A Reunion of Sorts
‘I don’t want ta see her and neither does Kelko!’ snapped Jensen, and slammed the door shut in Azariah’s face. Or at least the door would have shut if the old Keeper’s foot hadn’t been in the way.
Azariah turned to smile politely at Nibbler and Charlie. ‘If you two would be so kind as to wait for me here, Jensen, Kelko and I need a little chat. We won’t be long, I promise.’ He then tensed his powerful muscles and forced his way into Jensen’s Willow Tower.
‘Wot d’ya think ya doing?’ squawked a startled voice. ‘Hey, wait, wait! Not that, not that –’ Jensen’s shocked voice was suddenly cut off as the door swiftly slammed shut. It rattled briefly, then all was quiet.
Charlie turned to stare at Nibbler. ‘What do you think he’s doing to them? All I wanted was the chance to apologize. You know, sort things out between us.’
‘Oh,’ said Nibbler. ‘Well, I overheard Azariah talking to Lady Dridif and I think he said something about Jensen and Kelko being “stubborn, hard-headed, wooden-brained idiots”, so I think what he’s doing right now is getting your point of view across.’
The two of them turned to look as some faint screaming came from the tower. Jensen’s face momentarily appeared squashed against a window before rapidly disappearing.
‘Is that what he’s doing now?’
‘Oh yes, I’m sure that’s what he’s doing. I think he’s squaring things up between the three of you.’
‘Oh.’
A loud clatter and banging could be heard, a high-pitched scream, then silence.
After a short pause the door opened. Jensen and Kelko – looking quite subdued – staggered out. Azariah Keeper followed behind like a schoolteacher ushering two unruly pupils.
‘Er … Charlie,’ mumbled Jensen. ‘I’m sorry for doubting ya. I hadn’t realized wot the Isiris Bracelets could do.’
‘I guess we didn’t know any better …’ grumbled Kelko. He shyly rubbed his foot from side to side and hung his head so that he wouldn’t have to look Charlie in the eye. ‘It’s just that it sounded so real. We should have known ya were in trouble. If we’d been thinking clearly we would have realized it wasn’t like ya ta say such things. And … and if we’d been thinking clearer we could have got ya outta there before they did anything else ta ya …’
Charlie was horrified