Read The Catastrophe of the Emerald Queen for Free Online Page B

on
the table.
      Jared gulped, then found his voice. “What was that thing?”
      Fellicone smiled kindly and said. “A tracker. Rancidrain placed it in you as a
spell when you happened upon him in the presence of Our Lady. Have
no fear, it is gone now.” He paused but
then added, “had he known what he was
doing we could not have removed it so easily or without harm to
you. Fortunately our enemies used someone they would never miss so
luck was on our side.”
      Jared looked at Mordalayn who was checking
out the windows of the house, moving the curtains aside to look at
the view across the fields to the dense woods further back. Far in
the distance was a high hill and at the top was an elegant white
building. In the dying sunlight the last rays cast a beam across
the huge cat figure. Mordalayn turned to Fellicone and
asked. “You are shielded
here?”
     “ Yes,” the fat man
replied. “The woods themselves offer
protection as you know. You are as safe here as you can
be.”
      Mordalayn turned to Jared.
“ You must be hungry” he said.
      Jared realised his clothes were dirty.
Fellicone saw him look down and chuckled. “Don’t worry; I can take care of that. There are clean
clothes in the bedroom that will fit you. They were my son’s but
he’s outgrown them now.”
      Jared stood and moved towards the room.
Fellicone called after him. “There is
fresh water in a pail for you to wash with before you change too.
The meal will be ready when you are.”
      Jared
stepped into the bedroom and closed the door behind him. His jacket
was spattered with dirt and his trainers were caked in it, along
with his jeans. He pulled off the jacket and dropped it on the
floor next to the empty metal bathing tub. He was glad there was
very little grime on his jumper and none on his t-shirt as he had
to pull them over his face. He washed quickly and turned to the
pile of clothes laid out on the foot of the bed. There were brown
trousers of a heavy fabric and a light, green shirt that had no
buttons but went over the head. There were no shoes so he realised
he’d just have to wear his muddy trainers. He used the remainder of
the water to clean the worst of the filth off and then left them to
dry. There was a small belt bag, like a bum bag, made of brown
leather and he put in the few items out of his pockets. About five
pounds in change, his mobile phone, MP3 player and a keyring with a
pocket torch on it. He tied it around his waist. Emerging from the
room he saw Mordalayn was already seated then jumped at the sight
of a tiny creature standing on tip toe and dealing with the dirt on
the chair he’d sat on. It was small in size and looked like a
little man until you saw its head which was the shape of an
elephant’s, the tiny trunk slung over one shoulder. It muttered to
itself as it worked, the dirt drying as it waved its hand over it
and then brushed the flakes into a gold coloured dust
pan.
      As Jared moved forward it finished and
Fellicone said. “ Thank you
Ribbledonk.”
      The
creature grumbled, glanced up at Jared and tutted and then waddled
off into the kitchen.
      Mordalayn was eating from a large bowl, the stew in front of
him was meaty and the smell was inviting. There was a plate of
bread in the centre of the table and he broke a piece in half with
his huge hands and dipped it in the liquid.
     “ Come young master” Fellicone said pulling the clean chair back for him. “You must be hungry.”
      Jared sat down and Fellicone put a generous
helping of the stew into a clay bowl and handed him a spoon. Jared
was about to dig in when he paused. He didn’t know where he was and
he had just been abducted by a cat faced giant while an
elephant-headed creature cleaned furniture. He paused and Fellicone
chuckled. “I think our young friend fears
poison,” he said not
unkindly.
      Mordalayn glanced over at Jared and without saying anything
leaned over and dipped his spoon in Jared’s bowl, taking a