The Ring of Morgana (The Children of Camelot) Read online

  “Mila, your hand – now.”

  Auntie Titch takes several steps towards me; Rustin and I take several steps back. I feel something hard under my boot heel. Whatever it is, it sinks into the muddy ground.

  “Is everything well, my love?”

  And now we have an audience because Uncle Bed has appeared. All I need is for my father…

  “Titch, what’s up?”

  And there he is.

  “Mila, what are you hiding behind your back?” asks my father. The three of them swap looks and then turn to me like an inquisitorial court.

  “It’s my fault, Mr. Roth,” says Rustin, stepping forward. He pulls out two cigarettes from behind his back.

  “Mila!” exclaims my father. “Have you been smoking?”

  “I…er…”

  My dad hates smoking. It’s the only thing he and mum ever really argue about because she smokes like a factory chimney.

  “She wasn’t smoking, Mr. Roth,” says Rustin quickly. “It was me, she was trying…to stop me…”

  “It’s a filthy habit, Rustin, and I don’t want you smoking around my daughter,” says my father, but Auntie Titch and Uncle Bed are still watching me closely. There’s no way I can be subtle, and so I don’t even try. I stretch my left hand behind my back and touch my right hand. The skin is tingling, but it feels smooth once more.

  I present my hands in front of me, palms upwards. I don’t feel superior or smug about showing nothing to my aunt. I feel like a fraud. And all they have to do is walk around us and they will find the ring in the grass.

  “I’d better go and see if mum has left without me,” whispers Rustin, handing the cigarettes to my father. “I’ll call you later, Mila.”

  I nod. We’d probably meet up at the hang-out later anyway before Marty’s party. Katie likes company there, and Aidan works on a Saturday night, washing dishes in the Italian restaurant in the village.

  Rustin bends down and picks up his leather jacket from the grass, gives it a shake to get the dew off and slings it over his shoulder. With his back to my father, aunt and uncle he mouths I can’t see the ring.

  I can’t reply without everyone seeing and so I don’t. I’m now pretty sure the ring was the hard object I trod on. It’s hidden for now, I think to myself. I watch Rustin trudge around the holly bushes. We shouldn’t be leaving what just happened hanging over us like this. It’s not the kind of thing we’ll be able to discuss openly at the hang-out, or Marty’s party. Usually it’s who’s getting off with who, and who’s been suspended from school that are the topics of conversation. I want to touch the ring again and at the same time I never want to see it again. Just the thought of it makes my hands shake. The buzz from the change in my body was intoxicating and frightening.

  “I’m sorry, Mila,” says Auntie Titch abashed. “I didn’t mean to doubt you. It’s just your father and mother have mislaid something very important to them, and it is imperative that we find it.”

  “Do you want me to help you look?” I ask. I’m going to have to put the ring back and forget I ever saw it. I can’t outsmart my parents. So what if my mother is taking Lilly and not me on holiday. I imagine the look of disappointment on my father’s face when he finds out I’ve been in possession of the ring, and the thought kills me. They’ll be way harder on me than Lilly. I’m the oldest. I’m the one they practice on so they can get it right with child number two. The one who has the birth certificate and who came into the world in the proper way.

  “No, but thank you, Mila,” replies my father. He makes a sudden move, like he wants to say more, but he doesn’t.

  And I’m reminded of the list of questions I painstakingly wrote out during the night.

  Question one – I want to know everything about my birth? TELL THE TRUTH!

  Question two – What is the deal with the ring?

  Question three – Why does mum freak out every time Auntie Titch comes to visit?

  Question four – Does anyone else hear the ghosts? TELL THE TRUTH!

  Question five – Why can’t I go to Tenerife?

  I think I’ve found out the answer to question two, and question five is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things now. The ring must have some kind of poison or toxin soaked into it. That’s why it’s been kept in a safety deposit box. And that’s why everyone is freaking out.

  And I held the stupid thing. What if I’ve been poisoned? I’m not a drama queen, I leave that to Lilly, but my veins have turned into tubes of ice. Even my heart feels chilled with fear.

  “Dad…”

  “Mila?”

  “Is it…would someone become ill…”

  “Mila, do you know where the ring is?” asks Uncle Bed; his green eyes flash, not with anger, but with something deeper, something more personal.

  I gulp. My throat has gone into painful dry spasms. The pain is starting to spread down my chest.

  And I’m scared.

  “Mila, Mila,” screeches a high-pitched voice. “You’re a liar. You said you put the ring…”

  Lilly, wrapped up in a thick-quilted, pink coat, pink knitted hat and matching scarf muffling half of her face, slides to a sudden stop in the mud.

  “I thought you were in the house,” she exclaims, looking at our father and then me in a panic.

  “Idiot,” I hiss. I tense up, waiting for the storm to hit me.

  Only it doesn’t.

  “Arthur,” says Auntie Titch in a sad voice.

  “I know,” he replies, matching her cadence.

  “You have to tell her.”

  “I know.”

  My father rubs his eyes and scratches at the hair growth on his face.

  Why aren’t they yelling at me? They must know Lilly and I have the ring.

  And now I’m starting to get really scared, because being yelled at I can cope with. It kicks my defence mechanisms into gear. Getting shouted at by my parents reveals the truth of what they’re thinking. Silence and secrets is like the flotsam and jetsam of my origins. It’s nothing.

  “You said you’d tell me everything,” I whisper. The pain in my chest is getting worse, but I know it’s not from the ring. It’s the fear of the truth that I have sought for years. The taste of warm salt water distracts me, but I can’t be crying, not properly, because I’m not making any noise.

  “Titch, Bedivere, can you take Lilly out of the house for a while. Sam and I should do this together.”

  “Of course,” replies my aunt, but Lilly shrugs her off when she tries to steer her to the house.

  “Why can’t I hear? I’m not a baby.”

  “Please, Lilly.”

  “No. It’s not fair. I want to hear the secret about Mila.”

  Then there’s a rustle behind us. Lilly screams as three men step out from the wood behind Avalon Cottage. I recognise one of them straight away as dad’s friend, Talan. The other two are tall and broad. One looks a bit like Uncle Bed, with chestnut coloured hair and green eyes. The other has no hair at all and big blonde bushy eyebrows. All three are wearing costumes, like they’re going to a party as Robin Hood and his Merry Men.

  I step several feet to my right. I was going to open the gate, but Talan has already jumped it.

  “Fair Lady Mila, we meet again,” he says in his lovely Irish accent, before bowing and kissing my hand.

  “For crying out loud, Talan,” says Auntie Titch. “Could you at least try and pretend?”

  “Brother,” says Uncle Bed. “You were to keep out of sight from modern man. I see worry and doubt on your face. And you, Sir Dagonet. I was not aware you were joining Sirs Lucan and Talan on this quest.”

  But before I can ask what-the-hell-is-going-on and what-is-with-the-freaky-ass-speaking, there is a bone-chilling cry that doesn’t sound human. I spin around and see my little sister, kneeling on the ground where I was stood just seconds before.

  And the ring is on her finger.

  Chapter Eight

  Talan and Talons

  “LILLY!”
>
  “Lilly, darling, speak to me,” cries my father. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

  But I have already seen what’s happening to my little sister. Her round pink face, bitten by the wind, is slowly turning grey. Her skin, which is normally plump and unblemished, is starting to wrinkle. Even her long blonde hair is starting to shrivel.

  “What is this devilry?” cries Uncle Bed. Auntie Titch is already running into the house, screaming for my mother.

  My knees sink into the long wet grass as I throw myself down next to my sister. Her screams are getting longer but aren’t as high-pitched anymore. It’s as if the air is getting trapped in her lungs. I can hear them rattling as she gasps for air.

  “DAD!” I scream, as my father goes to pick Lilly up from the ground. “She’s wearing the ring. We have to get the ring off her finger.”

  My dad swears, and drops Lilly from his arms. She starts fitting; her body is entirely rigid and her arms are going up and down like a clockwork toy. The blue stone ring is on her left hand. The orange gold band has shrunk tightly around her index finger. The claws that hold the stone have extended out and are no longer just holding the swirling jewel, they are sinking into my sister’s flesh like real talons.

  And the whole while her skin is ageing. All of the moisture is being sucked out and the skin is being pulled tighter and tighter across her bones. I can see every joint in her tiny little hand. I pull and pull on the ring, but the talons hold fast to her skin.

  “How is this happening?” asks Uncle Bed. Talan is issuing orders to the other two men, but I can’t comprehend a single word. I can’t breathe. Adrenaline is coursing through me. I’m going to vomit with the bitterness of it.

  My dad is sobbing. “We don’t have time to get her back through. We don’t have time to get her back through.” He repeats the same words over and over again until another scream shatters over us like shards of glass.

  “My baby. What have you done to my baby?”

  My mother throws herself on top of Lilly with such force my dad and I are knocked over like skittles. She throws her head back and screams like she’s in pain, rocking the now lifeless Lilly in her arms.

  I stand up and fall down again. I’m too horrified to even cry. Guilt is chomping away at my stomach with teeth so sharp I can feel the blood swishing in my gut.

  “Arthur, you need the sorcerer,” says my uncle, trying to stay calm. “You must summon him – now.”

  “NOOOOOO,” screams my mother. Her long black hair dances in the wind and I swear I see her eyes flash white as she spits at Uncle Bed. “You stay away from my daughter. I want you all away from my daughter. My baby...oh, Lilly...come back to me, Lilly.”

  “Sam, Lilly can’t be cured here, you know she can’t,” cries my father.

  I don’t understand what they’re talking about, and I don’t care. I wanted to show off, to seem important, but all I can think about is the fact that I’ve just killed my sister. It’s all my fault.

  My parents are now having a perverse game of tug-of-war over Lilly’s body. Uncle Bed and Talan are trying to separate them. I have no idea where the other two weirdos have gone and I don’t care. We need to get Lilly to a hospital - now.

  “STOP IT,” I scream. “JUST STOP IT. We don’t have time to wait for an ambulance, we have to get her to the emergency room now.”

  “Arthur,” says Uncle Bed. “You must summon the sorcerer now. He will be able to place a hold on this wickedness until we get Lady Lilly back to Logres. This is dark magic and we know the source.”

  Suddenly strong hands with split knuckles are on my shoulders.

  “Lady Mila, you must come with us,” says Talan.

  “Dad, please,” I beg. “I don’t understand. What’s going on? Why aren’t you taking Lilly to a hospital?”

  “Talan, take Dagonet back with you and have the castle prepared for our arrival,” instructs my father. “I’ll keep Bedivere and Lucan here with me until we have summoned Merlin. I don’t know how many of us he’ll be able to take. He may only be able to take Lilly...”

  My mother starts screaming and wailing again. The hands on my shoulders relax a little and I seize my chance. In seconds, I have jumped the long-slated fence and I am running into the woods. I’m not the skinniest girl in the world, but I’m fit and I can run and dodge, and right now, it’s the dangerous freaks chasing me that I have to escape from.

  I take out my cell phone and hold it in the air. No reception. Then I’ll keep on running until I find some. I need to call an ambulance. I need to get Lilly to a hospital. They’ve all lost their minds. Castles and dark magic and what the freak was that about Merlin? The only Merlin I know is from the bedtime stories that dad used to read to me when I was little, before mum threw the book away.

  My feet slip and slide through the thick wet undergrowth, but I know exactly where I’m going. No one knows these woods like me.

  And then one of the men that appeared with Talan suddenly steps out in front of me. It’s the bald one with thick blonde eyebrows. He stretches his muscular arms out, as if to catch me, but I sidestep him and hurdle a decaying branch that has fallen from a tree during a recent storm.

  I need to get to Rustin’s house. He’ll be back by now. He’s seventeen and learning to drive. We’ll take his car and get Lilly to the hospital ourselves. I won’t try and hide what I’ve done from anyone. I’ll own up – they just need to get my sister well again. I keep running, faster than I’ve ever run before in my life. My black jumper has caught on several bushes and there are now two gaping holes on my right side. I can see the fresh dots of blood, but I can’t feel the physical pain because the mental pain is worse.

  I have to save my sister.

  “LADY MILA, WAIT.”

  And now Talan has stepped out of nowhere. Where are these freaks coming from? And how are they finding a way of getting in front of me when I’m the one that has lived here for years?

  I turn and head in the opposite direction to Talan. Then the bald man appears again. I’m trapped. Gasping, I stop. My boots immediately start to sink into the muddy ground. Decaying leaves, left over from a never-ending winter, ooze over the black leather.

  “What the hell is wrong with you people?” I shout. “Stop chasing me and help my sister.”

  I try to back away, but my boots are sinking fast. My knees buckle as I lose my balance and I fall forward. My cell phone drops from my hand as I try to break my fall.

  Then the bald man grunts and drops. His heavy body lands with a splash in a leaf-covered bog.

  Rustin is stood behind him with a piece of wood. He’s holding it like a baseball bat, and the blonde guy was the ball.

  “RUN, MILA,” yells Rustin.

  I don’t have to hear the command twice. My boots are lace-ups and they stay securely on my feet as I throw myself to the left side and pull my legs out from the mud. I try and plant my feet on solid objects lying on the ground as I continue to run towards civilisation and help.

  I get about ten metres before arms wrap themselves around my waist and lift me clean off the forest floor.

  “Lady Mila, you are as wily as a fox,” says Talan, as I struggle against him. “But you must come with us.”

  I thrash about like a wild cat, kicking, scratching and screaming, but Talan refuses to let go. I can feel the adrenaline in my system starting to subside, but that just means the pain is no longer diluted. The skin on my face is stinging, and I realise I must have been whipped across the face by a rogue branch.

  Is Lilly in pain? How would we know? I didn’t feel anything when I put the ring on, but that doesn’t mean she won’t.

  Please don’t die, Lilly. Please don’t die.

  “Your father is the greatest man I have ever known, Lady Mila,” says Talan softly, as if he’s read my mind. “He will not allow your sister to die.”

  I don’t reply. I’m crying too hard to breathe properly.

  I’ve failed.

  The bald man joins u
s by the back gate to Avalon Cottage. Rustin has been thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He looks to be unconscious. There’s blood on his shoulder, but I don’t think it’s his. It looks as if it’s dripped down from the bald man’s head, which looks like a bloody cracked egg.

  “Sir Dagonet, who is this?” It’s Uncle Bed’s brother that asks, but I can’t remember his name. I didn’t even know my uncle had a brother.

  “A squire who came to Lady Mila’s assistance, Sir Lucan,” he replies. “I had no alternative but to disarm him with force, but I believe he is of true heart.”

  “Where’s my father?” I cry, still struggling. “Where’s my sister? Get off me. I want my mum.”

  “Arthur is in the homestead, Lady Mila,” replies the one called Lucan. “Sir Talan, once m’lady is safe, we must leave for Logres.”

  Rustin starts groaning. He lifts his head up a fraction and I think he sees me through half-closed eyes, one of which is starting to swell and turn red.

  “And what of Lady Lilly?” asks Talan. I stop struggling for a moment.

  “The sorcerer is here,” replies Lucan. “Lady Samantha is not of joyous heart, even though the ill that has been done to Lady Lilly has been stopped from spreading further.”

  “She’s alive?” I whisper.

  “We all wish for her safe deliverance from the evil that has befallen her,” replies Lucan, and then he bends down and kisses my hand – my treacherous hand that an hour earlier had been as ancient and decayed as Lilly is now.

  Rustin makes a louder noise. Part groan, part exclamation.

  “If I place you down onto firmer ground, do you yield, boy?” asks the bald man called Dagonet. He’s talking to Rustin, who moans his acquiescence.

  “You were a worthy adversary,” adds Dagonet, as Rustin drops to the grass like a felled tree. “The king will hear of how you tried to protect the princess. You will be rewarded.”

  “How hard did I hit my head?” groans Rustin, looking at me. “What the hell are they talking about?”

  “I don’t know and I don’t care,” I reply. “That ring has infected Lilly, Rustin. Please, just put me down, Talan. I need to see my sister.”