The Falcons of Fire and Ice - By Karen Maitland Page 0,42

him that I had deliberately concealed the truth from him and so there was already a seed of doubt in his mind. If I had hidden that much from him, what other lies had I told him?

‘And even if he believed me, he is just a child. How can he stand up to adults around him? How can he argue with them, especially his uncle and his tutors? He’s terrified of them. Little Sebastian did the best he could. He tried to say he didn’t believe I was guilty, and when one of his advisors told him he must sign the papers for my execution, he stoutly refused … that is, at first.’

‘No, Father, no!’ I clapped my hands over my mouth and moaned.

With a great effort he lifted his hand and pressed my cheek. The heavy chain clanked.

‘Please don’t cry, child … I need you to be strong … you must or you will not survive this. My time is not come yet. When Sebastian refused to sign, one of the Jesuits proposed a test. He said that if I was innocent and a good Catholic, God would prove it to be so by bringing the birds back to life. Sebastian is a bright lad. He said that the birds had already been buried for more than three days, and not even Jesus had been that long buried. The Jesuits were furious. One of them looked as if he would strike the boy, king or not.

‘But Dona Ofelia’s husband quickly stepped in to smooth things over. He suggested that Sebastian simply demand that I should replace the dead ones by producing a new pair of gyrfalcons. He said it as a joke and everyone laughed, for they knew that to be impossible. Where would a falconer find that kind of money, never mind be able to lay his hands on a pair of white falcons? But the young king didn’t laugh. He seemed to grasp at the idea as if it was a way out of his problem. He waved his hand for silence and then formally announced that I had a year and a day to produce a new pair of white falcons. If I did, he would pardon me.’

At my father’s words, my heart felt as if it would explode with relief.

‘Blessed Virgin, thank you!’ I breathed. ‘You see, all is well, Father. We’ll find the money. You said you had hidden a little, and I have some necklaces I can sell. And Mother has rings and clasps. There will be other things. At least he has given us plenty of time to raise the sum we need, but I promise we will do it as soon as we can, so that we can get you out of here. We can borrow –’

‘No, Isabela. That’s not why I sent for you. You must take the money, every valuable thing you have, and leave tonight. The king has bought me … us a little time, and I am grateful for that. But the Jesuits would never let a mere child get the better of them, even if he is the king. It’s not in their power to make a king change a proclamation, but they did force him to add another condition. If I fail to produce the new birds, they will have me executed, but not just me alone … you and your mother will die too, and the execution they have planned is not … merciful. And I believe it will not end there. They will try to track down other members of our family too. My sister and her children … no member of our family will be safe. All of us will pay a terrible price for this crime. So you see, you and your mother must get away tonight. I’m sure that they are planning to arrest you both in the next day or two and hold you until the time has elapsed, in case you escape them. You must not be found. You must get word to your aunt also, but only once you are safe.’

I felt as if my blood had turned to ice. It was well that I was already sitting on the ground, for I was sure my legs would have collapsed under me. The vision filled my head of those prisoners tied to the stake, the flames leaping up around them in the darkness, the mob screaming for their blood. But this time when I saw that scene