Prince of Hazel and Oak. John Lenahan

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      I ducked back down and reviewed my situation. The only thing I deduced was that I was in trouble and Brendan was screwed. What did Dahy tell me? ‘When in doubt, stay still and listen.’ So I did, but I couldn’t hear anything except Brendan’s heavy breathing.

      ‘Brendan,’ I said in a loud whisper, ‘can you see anything?’

      ‘Straight back at the other end of the room I saw a flash of something green.’ He strained his neck for a better look. ‘Nothing now.’

      ‘Are you OK?’

      ‘I think so.’

      ‘Keep watching. I’m coming to get you.’

      I peered around the corner of the weapons stand and was just about to make a dash for Brendan when I heard a footfall behind me. I whirled to see a hooded man in a bright green tunic and brown leather leggings. In one hand he held a bow and in the other an arrow. I instantly attacked with both sticks – one high and one low. Like he was reading my mind he twisted his body vertical and kicked his foot at my fingers where I was holding the low banta. The stick flew out of my hand. My other weapon he blocked with the string of his bow. No one had ever done that to me before. My stick sprang back so far I completely lost form. My whole left side was exposed and my opponent didn’t hesitate in exploiting that fact. I’m not quite sure what he did next but I think it was a swipe to the kidneys with the bow and a kick to the back of the legs with his foot, maybe both feet. Whatever – I went down like a hippo on ice.

      After bouncing my forehead off the deck I came to a stop with the green goblin kneeling on the backs of my arms and something very pointy sticking into the rear of my neck. My left cheek was pressed against the floor. Out of the corner of my right eye I could just make out an open-mouthed Brendan trying to escape his feathered clothespins. The sharp pain in my neck stopped and an arrow sizzled through the air, planting itself about two inches from Brendan’s nose.

      ‘Do not move, Druid,’ greeny shouted.

      Brendan may not have answered but he certainly obeyed.

      The pain in my neck resumed, forcing me to the conclusion that he had a cocked arrow pointing at the back of my collar. Even though he didn’t tell me not to move, I decided that not moving was a good idea.

      ‘I’ve been waiting for you, Druid,’ the green guy said as he pushed the point of the arrow hard into my neck.

      ‘Hey, buddy,’ I said, ‘you got the wrong guys. We’re not Druids.’

      ‘Do not insult me. There are still people in The Land who can recognise a Fili and I am one of them.’

      ‘The Fili have been exonerated. Haven’t you heard?’

      ‘The ones who own those bows will never be exonerated,’ he said.

      This guy definitely had the drop on me and I figured it was only a matter of time before he garrotted me so I made, what turned out to be, a futile attempt to buck him off my back. It only resulted in my head getting bounced off the floor one more time.

      ‘Relax, Druid. I do not wish to hurt you before the Lord of Duir has a chance to question you.’

      Up till then I figured, like I always do when somebody attacks me out of the blue, that this was probably some sort of assassin hired by Cialtie. Now I realised that this idiot worked here.

      ‘The Lord of Duir is incapacitated. Does that mean you will now take commands from his prince?’

      The pressure from the arrowhead slacked. ‘Yes.’

      ‘Then I, Conor of Duir, command you to – get your butt off of me!’

      It’s amazing what a royal title can do in the right situation. Greeny hopped directly off me. I groaned erect as fast as my not-quite broken limbs would allow.

      My attacker’s hood was back. I was a bit surprised to see wrinkles around the piercing green eyes. This guy had been around for longer than probably anyone I had yet met in The Land. He wore a waxed moustache and a meticulously trimmed goatee that pointed directly to the bow and СКАЧАТЬ