LITMIR.BIZ

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what I had said to him earlier, about always being there, if he wanted to talk. Damn, I can be a jerk sometimes. There was no way I could just go to sleep now, so I dragged myself off the ground and went looking for him. I couldn’t find him. He told someone in the camp that he was going for a walk. There was no way I was going to find him in the dark, so I went back to my blanket. When I got there Essa was lying on it.

      ‘I think you will find that that is my blanket,’ I said.

      ‘I know,’ she said, ‘lie with me.’

      ‘Essa,’ I said in a whisper, ‘your father is just over there.’

      ‘Oh, shut up and lie down, Conor, I just need someone to hold.’

      I lay down next to her and she placed her head on my chest. We didn’t speak. Her hair tickled my nose but I didn’t mind. It was what she needed and to tell the truth, it was what I needed too. Just before I fell asleep I had a scary thought. I imagined Sally standing over us with her arms crossed, saying, ‘And just what is going on here?’

      That night I had another vivid dream but this one was not about The Land, it was about the Real World. I saw buses and hamburger joints, sweet shops, TV sets, traffic lights, shopping malls, and Sally was everywhere. I didn’t see these things in a bad light. I missed them. This was my home – or at least it used to be my home. Is The Land my home now? I asked myself. Do I fit in here? Do I fit in there? The Real World was all I had known and I loved it. Had I lost it? I didn’t want to.

      Essa wasn’t there when Gerard woke me – thank the gods. I didn’t want to have to explain that. It was long before dawn. He handed me a cup of tea that made every cell in my body stand at attention. ‘Come and get something to eat, Oisin wants to talk to us.’

      There was a big cauldron of porridge on the fire. It was stodgy but it did the trick. I was glad to see Fergal there – he looked OK.

      Dad stood up and put on his leadership face. ‘The Leprechauns have left already. They are going to try to sabotage the Golden Circle from the outside. The map shows us that there are interconnecting gold lines buried in the courtyard. Essa, Araf and Fergal, it is your job to sever them where they meet by the central well. Deirdre and Nieve, you go to the Chamber of Runes and prepare for my Choosing. Conor, you are with me, we have to find my hand.’

      ‘Where is it?’

      ‘Cialtie has taken Finn’s bedroom. It must be in there. Any questions?’

      ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘How are we going to get into the castle?’

      ‘You are going to be delivered personally,’ said Gerard, ‘by the finest winemaker in The Land.’

TWENTY-SIX

      BORN READY

      Never in my entire life have I ever been so uncomfortable. When Gerard told me that he was going to smuggle us into the castle in empty wine barrels, I thought we would hop in just before we got there. Oh no, Dad insisted that we hide in them for the entire three-hour journey to Castle Duir. He wanted to make sure we were not spotted en route. Which was fair enough, but three hours! The porridge I ate for breakfast was sitting in my stomach like a rock. I had a scary moment when I thought I was going to see it again. I cursed Dahy for cooking it and then I cursed him again for devising a plan that put me in here and allowed him (along with Gerard) to sit comfortably up front. Every bump jarred me like an ice cube in a cocktail shaker, and with every one of those bumps I knocked my head into the side of the barrel. At one point we went over a rock that was so big I hit my head on the lid, and howled. Fergal was in the barrel next to me. ‘Shut up,’ he said, ‘I’m trying to get some sleep.’

      ‘Sleep!’ I shouted over. ‘How can you sleep when your head is being bounced around like a pinball?’

      ‘What’s a pinball?’

      ‘Never mind.’

      ‘Put the blanket next to your head,’ he said, ‘then it’s not so bad.’

      ‘I don’t have a blanket.’

      ‘You are travelling three hours in a barrel and you didn’t bring a cushion? I thought you were smart. Didn’t you say you went to a place of learning in the Real World?’

      ‘They didn’t have any courses on how to sneak into castles,’ I said.

      ‘Doesn’t sound like a very good school to me. Now will you please keep the groaning down.’

      I suffered in silence. I actually started wishing the cart would drive over a huge boulder that would knock me out. Another concussion would have been a small price to pay, if it made the journey quicker.

      Gerard had no trouble getting in to the castle. A delivery of the Vinelands’ finest was a cause for celebration.

      Cialtie met the wagon himself. ‘Lord Gerard,’ he said. The second I heard that voice all of the hairs stood up on the back of my neck and I stopped breathing. I was instantly terrified, but at the same time I had to overcome the urge to pop out like a deranged jack-in-the-box and chop his head off. ‘I hope this shipment,’ Cialtie continued, ‘is better than the vinegar you sent me last time.’

      ‘I am so sorry, Lord Cialtie, that you found my last batch not to your liking,’ Gerard oozed. ‘I assure you this is the finest of vintages.’

      ‘I should hope so,’ Cialtie said.

      I had plenty of reasons for hating my uncle, but the disrespectful way he talked to Gerard made me want to throttle him – after I decapitated him.

      ‘Your daughter is not with you.’

      ‘No, my lord.’

      ‘Why not? You know I wanted to meet her.’

      ‘It is a very busy time in the fermentation cycle. I needed her to supervise the winemaking in my absence. I’m sure she is up to her neck in a barrel of wine as we speak.’

      I had to put my hand over my mouth to stop from laughing out loud. You had to love this guy.

      ‘Lord Cialtie,’ Gerard said, putting on a serious tone, ‘may I ask you why you have an entire army on patrol? Is there something amiss that I should know about?’

      ‘What are you talking about? I have no army on patrol.’

      ‘Oh my,’ Gerard said in a fey aristocratic tone that was definitely not him. It made me smile. ‘Then I think you should know that there is one on the way.’

      ‘What? How do you know this?’

      ‘Oh, I have a very good Elvish spyglass, they use gold in the optics you know. I saw them yesterday. I’m surprised you haven’t noticed. I’d say they were only half a day away.’

      Gerard hadn’t turned traitor – this was part of the plan. Lorcan and Dad figured that if Cialtie thought he was under attack from the outside, he wouldn’t be guarding the inside all that well. It seemed to work.

      Cialtie instantly sprang into action, shouting orders. ‘Put the wall fortifications on alert,’ he yelled, ‘and send out a scouting party to find out what he is talking about. Gerard and Dahy, come with me.’

      ‘Of course, my lord, if I can be of any help, but I would ask if Master Dahy could supervise the stowing of the wine. It is a delicate vintage and I wouldn’t want to see it bruised.’

      ‘Very well. You two help him,’ Cialtie grumbled.

      I heard them leave and then the wagon began to move. We travelled a way over cobbled streets. I had a childish urge to sing just so I could hear my voice vibrate. We stopped for the opening of large doors

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