The Witch’s Blood. Katharine Corr
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Название: The Witch’s Blood
Автор: Katharine Corr
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Детская проза
isbn: 9780008264796
isbn:
Jack closed his eyes and slumped against the tree stump behind him as Merry sat back on her heels. ‘Now, you need to tell me a couple of things,’ she started. ‘When did Ronan arrive here? And when exactly did you see him and my brother together?’
‘How long has Ronan been here? I do not know. But I do know that he began his attacks around harvest time, and the year is nearly over. As for your brother, I saw him the day Ronan and his creatures first attacked Helmswick. The day the queen died.’
Merry’s stomach lurched. If Jack was right, at least three or four months had passed since her brother had arrived here, possessed by the King of Hearts. She couldn’t bear to think about what Leo might have suffered during that time. She’d seen Jack possessed, of course; had seen him slowly consumed by the King of Hearts, but she’d been able to cast the creature out and had broken Gwydion’s curse. Still, the King of Hearts had survived. Which meant that Ronan had been able to summon it, and place it inside her own brother.
What if the King of Hearts had already taken Leo over entirely? Perhaps there was nothing left of him. Perhaps he was already dead.
‘What was Leo doing, the day you saw him?’ Merry asked. ‘Did he look ill?’ Fear turned her stomach. ‘He didn’t … He didn’t help Ronan murder Edith, did he?’
Jack glanced up at her. ‘No. The queen died by Ronan’s blade alone. Your brother’s hands were not tied, that much I know, but he could have been under a spell …’ He shook his head. ‘I cannot say for sure.’ He sat up straighter, looking about him and frowning. ‘The morning is wasting. I must find my horse. She bolted when your friend blundered into the clearing.’ Jack got to his feet and wandered off into the forest. Soon he was lost to view, though Merry could still hear him calling out the horse’s name.
Finn hadn’t moved all this time.
Merry went to sit next to him. ‘I’m going to try a spell on you, like I did on Leo once. It was so he could understand what Jack and Gwydion were saying. Hold still.’ She pressed one fingertip lightly against his forehead. Finn’s eyes widened as Merry used her power to reach into his mind and share her understanding with him. There was probably a more orthodox way of doing such magic, but she hadn’t learnt a formal spell for it yet. ‘Hopefully that’s worked. I suppose we’ll find out when Jack comes back.’
‘If he comes back,’ Finn murmured, running the tip of one finger across the old scar on the inside of his wrist.
‘What happened before I arrived? Why didn’t you disarm Jack when he attacked you?’
‘I tried to, but …’ Finn shuddered. ‘I couldn’t cast properly. None of the spells worked.’ He clutched her hand. His skin was clammy, and his chest was rising and falling rapidly, as if he couldn’t quite catch his breath. Merry realised that he was scared. Terrified. And that frightened her, because she’d never seen him like this before. Not when they’d first met, and he’d been trapped by a binding charm. Not when they’d found her friend Flo’s body in the woods. Not even when – overwhelmed by anger and grief – she’d attacked him at the Black Lake.
‘Finn, what is it? What’s wrong?’
He gripped her hand even more tightly.
‘I think I’ve lost my power, Merry. I think it’s gone.’
‘You think?’ She could hear the doubt in his voice. And in truth, she was guessing. She’d only recently learnt about points of intersection: places where normality was stretched thinner, where it was possible to pass from one realm of existence to another, if you had the skill. The Black Lake was just such a place. A gateway. Ronan had been able to exploit this gateway to escape, and she and Finn had followed him.
Finn was tugging on one earlobe, frowning. ‘But why hasn’t it affected your magic, then?’
‘I don’t know. Perhaps you were in shock after Jack attacked you?’ Somehow, she and Finn had become separated as they passed through the point of intersection, and Merry had woken up on her own in another part of the forest. ‘Why don’t you try again now?’ She stood up and looked around. There was a beech tree close by with shrivelled brown leaves still clinging to its branches. ‘Get those dead leaves to fall off the tree.’
Finn sighed, but he pushed himself to his feet and stared at the tree. Stretching out one hand, fingers extended, he muttered a couple of words in Latin. Nothing happened. He held both hands up and said the words again. Still nothing. Pushing up his sleeves he strode towards the tree and began chanting a longer spell:
‘Iubeo folia cadere, evolare, evanescere sicut aer …’
He repeated the spell over and over, his voice getting louder, until he was shouting at the tree, pressing his hands against its trunk – but the leaves remained stubbornly in place.
‘Finn …’ Merry put her hand on his arm.
He let go of the tree, dragging the back of one hand shakily across his face. ‘It’s no good. I just can’t … feel it.’
Merry bit her lip. What had happened to him? And was it going to happen to her next? Sighing, she pushed the thought to one side: there was little point worrying about it now. ‘I’m sure it’s not permanent. And in the meantime, we’ll just have to manage the best we can. At least you can handle a sword. The way you decapitated that harpy was pretty impressive.’
‘Huh.’ Finn didn’t sound particularly comforted. ‘All the boys in the Kin Houses know how to fight with pleb weapons.’
The Kin Houses: families of wizards where the sons – and only the sons – inherited magical ability from their fathers. Kin House wizards were at the top of the social pile: better than other wizards, and infinitely superior to witches. At least in their own eyes. They were also, in Merry’s experience, sexist and arrogant: even Finn, although he tried hard to overcome his upbringing. Merry guessed the Kin House girls, non-magical and mainly valued as pawns in dynastic marriages, didn’t get to learn how to use a sword. They probably had to stick to needlework. She sighed and laid her head against Finn’s shoulder.
‘Don’t worry. We’re going to find Leo, and get back home, and then everything will be normal again. You’ll see.’
There was a noise behind them. Jack was standing there, watching them, his horse next to him. The expression on his face was softer; perhaps he pitied them? Tying the horse’s reins to a branch he drew nearer. ‘It’s nearly midday. We should leave this place.’
For a moment, Finn’s gloom was replaced by surprise. He could obviously understand what Jack had said. But his expression СКАЧАТЬ