Chapter 7.
Ravid was gone for a long time, and Peridot was starting to become concerned when she saw him running towards her.
‘Here, take these.’ He thrust a packet of Turkish Delight and a small flask of sherbet into her hands. ‘I have to go. A big red haired man with a beard came up and wanted to know where I got the bracelet. He thinks I’ve stolen it.’
‘That will be the Captain of the Guard,’ said Peridot, recognising the description. ‘You don’t want him to catch you if you can help it. You’d better keep out of his way and head for home.’
‘Will you be all right on your own? You can come with me if you like.’
‘I’ll be fine. I’m going to see Wizard Saladin and ask him about the spell then I’ll meet you beside the wall.’
A sudden shout made Ravid turn pale and he slipped quickly through a group of small boys and disappeared. Peridot ate the Turkish Delight and sipped the sherbet. The sun was now a lot hotter and was beating down into the corner where she sat. Peridot decided to stretch her legs and walked out into the square.
‘This way, this way,’ said an impatient voice, and a large man with gold rings in his ears beneath his large orange turban took hold of her arm.
‘Let me go,’ she said coldly, but the man took no notice, and pulled her up the steps and onto the dais.
‘You are very late but there is still time,’ he muttered.
‘Time for what? Oh! You think I’m here to be hired. Well I’m not…’ Peridot faltered to a stop as the crowd suddenly hushed. A tall man dressed in black and silver strode to the middle of the square and cast a searching gaze over the dais. He had dark skin and dark hooded eyes above a long thin nose. His lips curled disdainfully as he surveyed the few people left, and then he shot out a bony finger at Peridot.
‘You. Come with me,’ he commanded. He tossed a coin at the waiting scribe and turned away. Peridot went weak at the knees. This must be the Wizard Saladin. She started to protest that she wasn’t for hire but subsided as the wizard glared at her.
‘I guess this is one way I can get close to him to ask about the spell,’ she reasoned, as she hastened down the steps to follow the wizard, who was now striding away out of the square.
Peridot followed behind, panting to keep up as the wizard led the way though narrow alleyways and through a bewildering labyrinth of streets. Finally he reached a tall house of dark stone that was jammed between a bakery on one side and what looked to be some sort of stable on the other. Placing his palm on the door, the wizard pushed it open and beckoned to Peridot to enter.
She stumbled inside, finding it hard to adjust her eyes to the darkened room after the bright sun outside. The wizard reclined gracefully onto a large pile of cushions on one side of the room and Peridot stood rather hesitantly in front of him.
‘Er, I was wondering…’ she began.
‘You were not asked to speak,’ said the wizard dismissively. He took a piece of parchment from a pocket in his robe and began to study it. A few minutes passed in silence.
‘Um, excuse me, but I need to ask something,’ said Peridot bravely.
‘Ask what?’
‘It’s about a spell you put on someone, a prince actually. You turned him into a pig.’
‘So?’ The wizard yawned.
‘Well, I was hoping you would tell me how to change him back again,’ Peridot asked, feeling rather intimidated.
The wizard gave her a piercing glance. ‘No,’ he said baldly.
Peridot was not to be put off by this. As the middle child of seventeen, she was used to being told ‘no’ by her elder sisters. She knew that if she nagged hard enough she would eventually get her own way.
‘But I need to know,’ she said sweetly.
‘No,’ repeated the wizard, and turned his back on her. ‘You can clean my boots for me,’ he added, gesturing to a pair of black leather boots lying beside a brazier.
Peridot was taken aback. This was not what she was used to.
‘Who do you think I am,’ she said unwisely. ‘Your servant?’
‘Well, yes,’ mocked the wizard, his eyes glinting.
Peridot’s hands clenched into fists and she stamped her foot hard on the tiled floor. She pulled off her turban to reveal long flowing dark hair tumbling around her shoulders, and struggled out of the striped shirt. She stood before the wizard in her green embroidered bodice and skirts and put her hands on her hips defiantly.
‘I’m not a serving boy. I’m a girl,’ she shrieked.
‘So I see,’ said the wizard calmly.
Peridot stamped her foot again. ‘And not only that, I’m a princess.’
‘Congratulations,’ said Wizard Saladin, sounding bored. ‘You’ll find the boot cleaner in that cupboard over there,’ he pointed out helpfully.
‘I’m not going to clean your boots,’ said Peridot in horror.
‘Oh, I think you are,’ murmured the wizard softly. ‘I hired you, remember? That means I am entitled to your services for a year at least. More, if you work well.’
Peridot hadn’t lived with seventeen mothers for nothing. She could tell the wizard meant it and she had no choice but to do his bidding. Scowling, she opened the cupboard and took out a soft cloth and a tin of boot polish and started rubbing the boots clean.
Half an hour later she placed the gleaming boots beside the brazier and put away the polish and the rag tidily.
‘Anything else, oh master?’ she asked sarcastically.
‘That will do for now,’ said Wizard Saladin. ‘Tell me, what sort of straits is Balthazar in that he needs hire his daughters out as servants?’
‘He isn’t, he didn’t, I mean he doesn’t know I’m here,’ confessed Peridot. ‘You have no idea how boring life gets in the palace. I only wanted an adventure.’
The wizard gave a short bark of laughter. ‘You appear to be having one,’ he remarked. ‘I suppose I owe you something for cleaning those boots. You may go.’
‘You mean I’m free?’ asked Peridot.
‘Yes, yes. It gave me a little amusement to tease you, but any more could be tedious. Shut the door on your way out.’
‘Thank you. But I really do want to know how to turn the pig back to a prince.’
‘Why? Are you in love with him?’
‘Of course not. I’m far too young. In fact, I haven’t even met him as a person, only a pig. I feel sorry for him, that’s all.’
The wizard regarded her cynically, as he played with a silver tassel on his robe.
‘Sorry for him, eh? Bad luck. Now go.’
‘But you have to tell me…’ argued Peridot.
‘The door is over there,’ the wizard pointed out.
‘Please,’ wailed Peridot. ‘It must be a terrible life being a pig.’
‘More boring than being a princess?’ suggested the wizard.
‘Oh, I can always find something exciting to do if I try. But pigs get eaten when they are big enough and he’s growing really fat.’
Wizard Saladin yawned and inspected his fingernails. ‘Oh, if you insist,’ he drawled. ‘The way to break the spell is to make a wish.’
Peridot was surprised. ‘Is that all?’
The wizard nodded. ‘Of course, you must be holding the full moon in your hands when you wish,’ he added.
‘But that’s impossible,’ spluttered Peridot.
‘I don’t think anything is ever impossible for a determined young lady such as yourself,’ stated the wizard firmly. ‘Now go home at once before I lose my temper with you. You wouldn’t like me to do that, would you? I have this incurable habit of turning people who annoy me into pigs.’
Peridot gave him a look of horror and sped out the door. She buttoned up her shirt and tied the turban on in the alley way outside, watched by a scraggy grey cat and a round eyed child.
‘Which way is the temple?’ she asked the child.
Blank silence met her and with a shrug Peridot turned and started walking at random through the str
eets. After an hour she was thoroughly lost and sank down onto a seat beside a signpost in despair.
‘Make way, make way,’ came a loud voice, and a pompous man in purple robes walked around the corner. He was ringing a small handbell and Peridot’s heart leapt.
‘It’s one of the footmen from the palace,’ she whispered.
A litter came into sight, carried by four slaves, one at each corner.
‘I wonder who is in it?’ Peridot wondered. She followed closely behind for a few paces then ran alongside as the bearers paused at a crossroad to allow a small caravan of camels to pass. Peridot glanced through the gap in the curtains and saw that it was Opal.
‘Opal,’ she cried, reaching for the door handle. A cuff on the side of the head sent her reeling away.
‘Get away, scum,’ said the footman, preparing to deal her another blow.
Opal pulled back the curtain at the commotion and peeped out.
‘Peri,’ she cried in horror.
‘I’m sorry, your highness,’ bowed the footman. ‘I soon have this riff raff back to the gutter where he belongs.
Peridot made frantic faces at Opal who was gazing at her open mouthed.
‘Oh, er, that’s all right. He can accompany me,’ she said weakly.
The footman looked appalled.
‘He comes from my sister Ruby’s household with a message for me,’ Opal improvised creatively. ‘It’s private,’ she added firmly.
The footman looked on in distaste as Peridot climbed thankfully into the litter.
‘Thanks,’ she grinned in relief. ‘I was never so pleased to see anyone before.’
‘Peridot, what on earth is going on? Where did you get those clothes and what are you doing here?’
‘It’s a bit complicated,’ Peridot said wryly. She proceeded to tell Opal a strictly edited version of her adventures, confident that of all her sisters, she was the one who could be trusted with a secret. Opal was shocked but amazed at Peridot. She went pale when she heard about Wizard Saladin, and made Peridot promise never to go near him again.
‘I have no intention of that,’ shuddered Peridot.
‘Now what do we do? You can’t come into the palace dressed like that.’
‘Put me down outside it,’ Peridot suggested. ‘I’ll get Ra, er, someone to help me over the wall. It will be fine, you’ll see.’
Opal doubtfully agreed to this, and Peridot was relieved to find that Ravid was waiting sprawled on the grass beside the wall in the shade of a tree.
‘Thank goodness you’re here,’ he blurted out. ‘Did you see the wizard?’
Peridot nodded. ‘He even told me how to break the spell but I think it’s a trick,’ she said gloomily. ‘I have to get back. I’m going to be horribly late as it is and they’re bound to send someone to look for me if I’m not there for the evening meal.’
Ravid grinned and hoisted Peridot up the wall where she gave him a quick wave as she called ‘goodbye.’