The Amazing Adventures of Princess Peridot
Chapter 9.
Peridot resolved to wait until her sisters were asleep, then go exploring. Unfortunately she fell asleep herself while listening to Amethyst and Amber’s gentle breathing, and by the time she woke the sun had well and truly risen. After three nights like this, Peridot slipped to a quiet corner of the solarium one afternoon and tried to will herself to sleep. ‘If I have a rest now,’ she reasoned, ‘then maybe I’ll be able to stay awake tonight.’
She didn’t sleep, but that night sheer annoyance kept her awake. She waited until the sounds of the palace had died down and all was dark. Tiptoeing softly, she left the bedroom and made for the gardens in her nightgown. This was accomplished with ease, apart from stubbing her toe on a protruding pillar and scraping her elbow on the side of an archway. These minor matters aside, Peridot was delighted with her adventure. A nearly full moon gave silver light to the gardens, although Peridot had to tell herself sternly that the shadows she saw were only trees and statues, not wild monsters crouching and waiting to attack her. The hole under the wall looked most uninviting but she gritted her teeth and wriggled through with her eyes firmly shut. The outer gardens were even less friendly at night. Peridot wasn’t as familiar with the pathways and once or twice she whimpered in fright when a bird called from a distance. She almost turned back but told herself not to be such a ninny and went on doggedly.
Peridot decided not to attempt climbing the wall, as she was unsure how she would get back over it. Instead, after changing into Ravid’s old clothes, she slipped around to the palace gates. A loud snoring coming from the guard tower made her grin as she passed by. She carefully opened the small gate in the wall that was used by the palace messengers when they wanted to exit quickly, and slipped through it. Leaving the gate unlatched, Peridot walked on the soft grass beside the road. She took the next track that crossed the road, hoping it was the shortcut that Ravid had shown her. The dark trees blotted out the town lights and Peridot trod carefully, not risking a stumble in the dark.
She wished she had brought her sandals as there were prickly tufts of grass and sharp stones which made her progress a lot slower than she would have liked. Some time later she heard a woman’s voice raised in a tuneless song, coming rapidly closer. Peridot stood beside a tree, her heart beating loudly in the darkness.
‘Who is there?’ she called.
A strange woman entered the clearing. She was of indeterminate age, although obviously not young, and had wispy grey hair pinned around her head untidily. She wore several layers of garments, all in different colours as far as Peridot could tell in the moonlight. But the strangest part of all was the way she moved. She seemed to glide in a sitting position above the ground at Peridot's head height.
‘My name is Asindal,’ the woman told her agreeably. ‘And who are you and where are you going at this time of night?’
‘I’m Peri and I’m going for a walk to town.’
‘Walking!’ cried Asindal in astonishment. ‘That’s no way to travel. I never walk if I can ride.’
Peridot peered at Asindal. What on earth was she riding? She didn’t appear to be sitting on a magic carpet of a cloud held up by a genie. She seemed to be sitting on nothing but air.
‘What are you riding?’ Peridot asked at last.
‘Why, a Night Mare of course. She’s such a beauty. See her glossy white mane and delicate hooves. She’s bred from champions, aren’t you my beauty?’
Asindal patted the air beside her where a horse’s neck would have been.
Peridot was astonished. ‘I can’t see it,’ she protested.
‘That’s because you don’t believe it,’ confided Asindal with a smile. ‘If you believe in Night Mares then you will see them. Would you like to ride one?’
‘Er, yes,’ agreed Peridot in bewilderment.
Asindal put her fingers to her mouth and gave a shrill whistle. Peridot jumped as something blew a gust of warm air down the back of her neck. She put out a tentative hand and felt the warm, solid side of a large horse.
‘Climb on that fallen branch to mount, dearie,’ suggested Asindal.
Peridot walked over in a daze and climbed the log without a murmur. She grabbed hold of what she assumed was the horse’s mane and clambered onto its broad back. It was a rather unsettling sensation, sitting astride an invisible horse with her nightgown and shirt hitched up rather indelicately. Peridot tried desperately not to fall off, and clung to what appeared to be some sort of braided reins, hung with silken tassels. Asindal started singing tunelessly again and ambled off, Peridot’s horse following closely behind. Peridot was bursting with curiosity. She plied Asindal with questions but received only vague replies, which were of no help at all.
‘Do you know any way that I can catch and hold the moon?’ Peridot asked at last.
‘The moon. Well now. Many’s the child who has cried for the moon,’ Asindal murmured enigmatically.
‘But I need to know how to break a spell.’ Peridot explained.
She proceeded to tell Asindal about the prince who was in the shape of a pig, and what Wizard Saladin had said.
‘Spellbound, is he now? That wizard is a very powerful man. If he said you could break the spell then he’d be telling you the truth. And if it’s a challenge, well that’s no more or less than I’d expect.’
Asindal fell silent. The horses walked on until they came to a small clearing beside a wide flowing river. ‘Look at that now,’ she said dreamily, gesturing widely towards the river. ‘Isn’t that a beautiful sight, indeed.’
Peridot looked and saw the reflection of the trees in the water, as it lay smooth and silver in front of her. ‘Are we going across it?’ she asked nervously.
‘Not this time,’ said Asindal regretfully. ‘But we’ll let the horses drink.’
Peridot held tight to her horse’s mane as she felt it lower its head to the edge of the river. Ripples spread out in ever increasing circles showing where the Night Mares each took a few mouthfuls of water. Asindal kept darting her head from side to side watchfully then quite suddenly she clicked her tongue and turned the horses back the way they had come. Peridot looked around and saw a pair of gleaming green eyes among the shadows.
‘What is it?’ she asked fearfully.
‘A tiger, my dear,’ Asindal answered briskly. ‘The Night Mares don’t like them, and who could blame them for that? But they have as much right to be here as we do. Best to avoid them. We’ll not linger here.’
The horses quickened their pace to a trot and Peridot bounced uncomfortably for a few minutes before they slowed to an amble again. There was a sudden low rumbling growl from the trees behind her and the Night Mare gave a scream of terror and set off at a gallop through the forest. Peridot was terrified. She lay flat on the horse’s back as it shot under low hanging branches and jumped smartly over fallen logs. It seemed that there were gleaming green eyes everywhere she looked, so finally Peridot shut her eyes and concentrated on staying on the horse. She thought guiltily of the tiger heads mounted on the walls of the palace and hoped that the tigers didn’t want revenge for her father’s hunting skills. She was unsure what a tiger would do to a princess, but was fairly certain it would not be pleasant. Peridot’s arms ached from holding the reins and her legs were discovering muscles she didn’t know she even had, from gripping the horse’s sides in an effort to stay on its back. Just when it seemed that she would have to let go or fall off or both, Asindal dropped her horse to a walk.
‘We have left the tigers behind for the moment,’ she called cheerfully.
Peridot didn’t like the sound of that but it was a distinct improvement on the frantic galloping. They ambled on for a while then Peridot heaved a sigh of frustration. They seemed to have been plodding though these trees for ages and not getting anywhere.
‘Are we nearly at the town?’ she asked.
Asindal laughed merrily. ‘Oh no. This is the Forest of the Night. We don’t go near the town, do we, my proud beauties?’
A whicker of assent came from the horses. Peridot was alarmed. ‘I think I’d better go home now,’ she said politely. ‘Do you suppose you could take me back to the palace?’
‘Oh, I could,’ nodded Asindal. ‘Indeed I could. I could do a lot of things. But do I want to? Ah, that’s a different story. Would you make it worth my while?’
‘Everybody wants something,’ sighed Peridot under her breath. She fumbled in the shirt pocket and found the string of pearls that Moonstone had rejected. ‘I have these,’ she said tentatively.
‘Pearls of Wisdom,’ breathed Asindal. ‘A veritable treasure.’ She reached for the bracelet that glowed softly in the moonlight. ‘Ah,’ she exclaimed, as she slipped it over her wrist and turned it admiringly. ‘The palace, you say? Certainly.’
She turned and trotted through the trees with Peridot bouncing along behind, her teeth jolting with every step. They came out of the forest beside the palace gate and Peridot slid down to the ground in relief.
‘Thank you,’ she said, thinking privately what a wasted night it had been.
‘Anytime,’ waved Asindal. ‘Come along.’ She turned, and for a moment Peridot could have sworn she saw an old moth-eaten grey horse with large feet and a mournful expression. Then Asindal vanished and she found her feet getting cold in the dewy grass.
Amber mumbled from across the room as Peridot climbed back into bed. ‘What is it? Is it morning?’
‘No. Go back to sleep,’ hissed Peridot.
She felt heavy eyed and sleepy the next day and told her sisters she’d had a nightmare. ‘And that’s truer than you know,’ she added under her breath.