“It wasn’t luck,” Queen Celina said.
“It was magic,” Lilah said.
“And the Ship,” Celie added.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” Rolf said, bowing. “And now, we’re leaving.”
Chapter
26
It was dusk and they were all starving by the time they got on board the Ship. Celie collapsed to the deck, falling off Rufus’s back and lying on her face on the still-warm boards. She thought she was being a bit dramatic, but then she looked over and saw Lilah and Lulath sitting nearby, their hands pressed to the deck, and she didn’t feel overly emotional. It felt wonderful to be back on the Ship, and she liked to think the Ship had cheered up, too.
Kalys wasted no time in positioning herself at the helm with Orlath, to guide him to the Well. Lilah and Lulath sat on the deck near Celie to fuss over the baby unicorns, and Celie was about to close her eyes when a platter arrayed with slices of apples and cheese was laid in front of her.
“We did it, Cel,” Rolf said, sitting down and helping himself to the food. “We survived another adventure.”
“No, we haven’t,” she corrected him. “Not yet.” Still lying down, she swiped a slice of cheese and sandwiched it between two pieces of apple. No sense dying on an empty stomach. “We still have to make it back through the Well.”
“We will,” Rolf said easily. “Look how happy the Ship is about it.”
It was true. The Ship had come about with impressive speed. The sails and ropes snapped in the breeze in a merry way, and the men of the crew were whistling as they went about their business, catching the mood of the Ship.
“Oh, Celie,” Lilah said, scuttling closer on her rear with the smaller unicorn still on her lap. “I can’t believe it! We did it! Two unicorns!”
Lulath was holding the other unicorn, which was indeed male. It was slightly larger and had a peach-tinted coat. Its horn was twice as long as the tiny female’s, but like hers it was rounded on the top, not the deadly weapon the adults sported. Celie wondered when it would get sharp, and how hard it was going to be to teach the unicorns not to hurt people with their horns.
She supposed they would just have to apply the same teaching methods they had used to train the griffins not to eat small dogs, and the small dogs not to chew on the furniture. As she thought this, JouJou came to her to be petted, and she noticed Arrow standing at attention just behind Pogue. Celie relaxed slightly. It could be done. If dogs and griffins could be trained, unicorns could be trained, she decided.
“But, Lulath,” Celie said, finally sitting up. “Poor Lulath!”
He looked over at her and smiled. “Could I deny my Lilah a unicorn, when she had come so far for one?” he said softly in Grathian. His smile widened. “And now, along with still having many fine dogs—and griffins—we are the only people with pet unicorns in the world.” He ruffled the little beast’s soft mane. “My mother will die of envy!”
Celie had to laugh at that.
Hearing her, Queen Celina came bustling over. “Have you all eaten? Because we need to get ready,” she said.
“Get ready for what?” Rolf said around a mouthful of food.
Celie hurried to get her share. Rolf was very competitive in his eating, and if you wanted anything, you had to grab it quick. One of the cook’s boys had also brought some meat for Rufus, and she thanked him. He gave her a worried look, and Celie couldn’t muster any reassuring words for him.
“You take this,” Queen Celina said to Celie, handing her the end of a piece of string with a blob of blue wax on it, “and walk around the mast sun-wise.” She handed the other end to Rolf. “You take this and go the other way.
“My protection spell did very nicely coming through the Well,” the queen went on, speaking loudly so that all the crew nearby could hear. “But I thought we could be better prepared for next time, with a more specific spell.”
The crew visibly relaxed, and the boy who had brought the griffins food gave a weak cheer. Celie and Rolf took their string and walked around the mast, crossing past each other three times, as though they were dancing around a maypole. Lilah and Lulath, their hands full with what to feed their new pets, went below to secure the unicorns and the remaining dogs in Lulath’s cabin, and to figure out what to feed the unicorns.
Once Rolf and Celie were done, Queen Celina wrote some things with chalk on the base of the mast. Then she went to the bow and the helm to do the same. Celie followed her, out of curiosity, but none of the things her mother was doing made any sense to her. She stayed at the helm with Orlath and Pogue, because from the after deck and the helm she could get a better view of the ring of black rocks that they were approaching.
“That’s where the Well is here,” Kalys told her. “Inside the stones.”
“How do we get the Ship past the stones?” Celie said.
“There’s an opening to the south,” Kalys said. “And this clever ship seems to know exactly where!” She stroked the rail near the wheel fondly.
“If you think the Ship is clever, you just wait until you get to the Castle,” Rolf said, joining them.
“I can’t wait,” Kalys said, turning away from Rolf as though suddenly shy.
And that’s when Celie knew. The Ship hadn’t brought them through the Well to get unicorns. It had brought them through the Well to get Kalys.
The last of her people. The last of the griffin riders of Hatheland. And now they would take her back to the Castle—the Castle where her ancestors had lived long before Celie’s. Celie wondered how long the Castle would wait before locking Kalys and Rolf in the throne room together. She turned to study the ring of black rocks rising out of the sea, not sure how she felt about that.
There wasn’t much time to worry about Rolf and Kalys and what the Castle would think of her, though. The rocks were coming up fast. Orlath guided the wheel with just one hand, as the Ship did indeed seem to know what to do.
But as they got closer to the narrow break in the rocks, Celie began to feel less and less sure about the cleverness of the Ship. The water within the ring wasn’t just swirling the way it had in their world, but churning greenish-white with geysers erupting along the edge, shooting water as high as the jagged rocks, which were themselves as sharp as spears and easily as tall as the Ship.
“Orlath,” Celie said. “Do you think we—”
She was interrupted by a small dog hurling itself at her legs. Which was fine, because she really didn’t know what she was going to say. And because it was JouJou, who was Celie’s favorite. Also, because JouJou was very upset.
Celie decided not to finish her question. Instead she picked up the little dog and held her close, letting JouJou lick her chin and wriggle.
“O our Celie! You have got her, the naughty!” Lulath said, coming above deck. “She is not liking the new tiny unicorn companions,” he said, and patted JouJou’s head. “Will you be holding her for this, the new adventure?”
“Oh, yes,” Celie said. “I can do that. But are you staying below? Will you take Rufus down?” She peered over the edge of the rail, but there was no sign of any of the griffins. “Oh, no!”
“Not to be worrying, my our Celie,” Lulath said. “That magnificent Lady Griffin, she is taking all the griffins below. I am thinking if you will be going below deck, you will not be finding room for you. They are, every golden darling, in the cabin of yours.”
“Oh, good!” Celie said. “Perfect, actually.”
“And you and JouJou will come here with me,” Queen Celina said. “Lulath, you’re going below?”
Lulath said he was, and the queen told him to take Kalys and Rolf with him. They both protested, but she ordered them to go and they went, grumbling. Celie braced herself to argue to stay on deck herself, but her mother just shook her head.
“I have a terrible feeling that if I try to make you go below, you’ll sneak out again, which is probably more dangerous,” she said.
Celie sheepishly kissed the silky top o
f JouJou’s little round head.
“Just as I thought,” her mother said. “And, Pogue, I don’t have any right to order you to do anything, unless I draw upon my queenly rank. But I hate to do that. And I think Orlath could probably use another pair of hands anyway.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Pogue said, and bowed before he went to the helm.
“So, you,” Queen Celina said to Celie, “come with me!”
They made their way to the bow, where her mother made her sit on the deck so that the rail protected her. Then she sat beside Celie and gathered her in her arms. They were soon soaked as the spray from the rocks showered down on the Ship. Looking through the rail, Celie could see the black rocks on either side of them. They were close enough to touch, and a quick glance aft showed her that Pogue and Orlath were both involved in guiding the ship, to make sure they didn’t put a hole in the hull as they passed through.
Then they were through the rocks and into the bubbling cauldron of the Well.
The Ship began to spin, and nothing the crew or Pogue or Orlath could do would stop it. It dipped and spun, and the water frothed and spouted. Celie wished with all her heart that she’d gone below, but there was nothing she could do now. She was afraid to move. Celie clutched JouJou tight, and Queen Celina clutched Celie, and then . . .
The blackness swallowed them.
The force of the water and the sound was so intense that it became nothingness. Celie’s ears simply couldn’t hear it anymore, and her mind couldn’t comprehend what was happening. She wasn’t sure if she was breathing air or water or nothing at all. She wasn’t sure if she was floating or still sitting firmly on the deck. There was just . . . nothing.
And then it was over.
Chapter
27
We’re almost there,” Lilah called to Celie.
Celie nodded broadly so that Lilah could see. They were on their griffins, flying north, high above the road where the coaches and wagons rumbled along. Celie didn’t need to be told that they were close. She had flown over this same stretch of road and these same fields many times.
Up ahead, just beyond a hump of hills and down in the valley, lay the Castle.
But even being in familiar country was hard for Celie. She wanted to be home. Now. They had been gone too long.
It had taken two months to sail back to Grath from the Well. Everyone had survived, but the Ship had been damaged, and they’d had to make repairs as they sailed north. The top of the mast had broken off, and they’d strapped a spar to it to hold up the mainsail. There had been a hole in the hull that had to be patched immediately. Several of the crew had been injured, and Rolf had fallen and broken his right arm.
When they’d limped back into the harbor in Grath, they could hear the cheers and shouts from the dock. By the time they tied up at the dock, the king and queen were there with the entire court. Queen Amatopeia had been unable to speak, had only wept with joy and clung to each of them in turn. Much to everyone’s surprise, Queen Celina had also burst into tears, and the two queens had stood on the dock for ages, sobbing into each other’s arms.
Because they hadn’t dared to stop again at the Neira Isles—not now that they had griffins and unicorns—they’d had to buy supplies off passing ships that had some to spare. Some of those ships had been Grathian courier ships, the fastest vessels at sea, now that The Golden Griffin was damaged. The couriers had carried word straight to Grath that the Ship was on its way back to port, with everyone safe and sound, even though they’d been through the Well and back. Standing on the dock, surrounded by animals and overwrought Grathian courtiers, Celie realized that they’d been presumed dead months ago, and that the news that they’d been through the Well had been both miraculous and the realization of the king and queen’s worst fears.
The land had moved disturbingly under her feet after so many days at sea. Seeing this, King Kurlath had picked up Celie and Lilah as though they were children and placed them in the coach to return to the Sanctuary, kissing each of them on the cheek once again as he did so. They had even brought a wagon for the griffins, and so Rufus and his fellows and the unicorns had ridden in comfort behind the royal entourage back to the Sanctuary.
But they hadn’t stayed in the Sanctuary for long. All of them were anxious to get back to Sleyne. When the Ship had first sailed away, with no sign of ever turning back, King Kurlath had sent the news to King Glower. Celie’s father had been beside himself, and Bran had come to the Sanctuary to see if he could use magic to track them across the water. Failing, he’d been invited to stay, but had hurried back to the Castle to be with King Glower, both of them now worrying that they were the only members of the family left.
Rufus was soaring over the trees that covered the hills that cupped the valley. After so long on the Ship, all of them had gotten out of shape, and the griffins grew winded during very short flights, so they’d been practicing. As they’d traveled, they’d taken all the griffins—even Dagger—on longer and longer flights. Dagger was big enough for Rolf to ride now, though not for very long.
But Rufus, the oldest of the griffins except for his mother, had no trouble flying the distance to the Castle that lay ahead of them. Any other day Celie would have guided him down to the wagons to rest after so long a flight, but not today. Rufus sensed it, too, and he just kept going as she urged him on. Lilah and Juliet had dropped back, but Celie didn’t bother to look and see if they had gone to the wagons or were just flying much slower. She saw a flash of gold out of the corner of her eye and turned to the other side to see Lady Griffin keeping pace with them. Celie grinned and crouched lower on Rufus’s back, putting her face against his neck.
“Go home, boy; go home,” she called to him.
Rufus sped through the lowering sun, the wind streaking over them.
They crested the rise of the hills, and then they were down in the valley. Ahead of them lay the village, with the school where Queen Celina often went to tell the children stories, and Pogue’s father’s blacksmith shop. Tears were streaming from Celie’s eyes as they passed over the village, but whether it was the wind or the fact that she was almost home, she wasn’t sure, and didn’t care.
Because it was right in front of her.
The Castle. Gleaming golden in the setting sun, surrounded by green meadows, with the flag flying from the tallest towers.
Celie heard a whoop and turned to look. On one side of her was Lady Griffin. On the other were Pogue and Arrow, who had kept up, and just beyond them were Rolf and Dagger, who had been in the wagon until just a moment ago, she was sure. She grinned fiercely at them all, and then they were sailing over the outer wall and into the courtyard.
Rufus landed with a bump and a scrape right on the front steps.
Celie leaped from his back and ran up the stairs and into the main hall of the Castle. Her Castle. She felt a ripple beneath her feet, and a sensation like the walls were leaning in to embrace her.
“We’re back,” she shouted. “We’re home.”
A second later King Glower was there, wrapping his arms around her and crushing her against his velvet tunic. Celie began to sob.
“I’m home,” she said. “I’m home.”
Acknowledgments
To paraphrase our friend Lulath, I am being so very, O my darlings!
So many people have helped me with this series, and it’s been a crazy time. I feel like I’ve been writing about Castle Glower forever, yet looking back, it’s only been a handful of years. Amazing!
So thank you, thank you, to Melanie, Michelle, and Caroline, who came on the first few rides with me! Love you guys! And thank you, thank you, to my current editor, Mary Kate Castellani, who is always a joy to work with, even when I am not. Thanks to Linda Minton, my stellar copyeditor, for keeping track of the names of the people, the griffins, and even the dogs, not to mention reining in my comma usage. A big hug and a thank-you to all at Bloomsbury: Cindy Loh, Cristina Gilbert, Lizzy Mason, Emily Ritter, Erica Barmash, Eshani Agra
wal, Hali Baumstein, and Brett Wright. You people are a joy to know!
Huge thanks to my dear friend and agent, Amy Jameson, always there to cheer me on and give me a hand and lend me an ear and feed me delicious food. You are the best!
Enormous hugs and plenty of cake (and pie) for my family, especially my sister, but especially my kids, but ESPECIALLY my husband. Thank you for putting up with me when I am on deadline, because . . . well, I’m always on deadline, and it’s never not crazy, and I’m (sort of) sorry.
And last but certainly, CERTAINLY not least, thanks to you, gentle readers. Your enthusiasm for Celie’s adventures are what makes my job so fun! You’re all brilliant and amazing. I wish I could give you all a very small dog (or a griffin) as a thank-you, but your parents would hate me forever, so I won’t!
Copyright © 2017 by Jessica Day George
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First published in the United States of America in February 2017 by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
This electronic edition published in February 2017
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