Gemini Thunder by Chris Page Read Free Book Online

between Sir Valiant’s ears. ‘C’mon Scroopy,’ Desmond called, pointing to his shoulder. ‘See if those old wings of yours can get you to here.’
    After a great deal of flapping and squawking, the old parrot finally got airborne and landed clumsily on his shoulder.
    ‘Lord Scroop, King of Britain, at your service,’ the old bird cackled his stock phrase in a passable imitation of his master’s voice. ‘Lord Scroop, King of Britain, at your service.’
    ‘Alright Scroopy, don’t overdo it. We all know that’s the limit of your vocabulary. I sometimes wish I had taught you to say a few other things.’
    ‘What on earth do you mean, young Desmond? My vocabulary is far, far superior to yours. I just haven’t found the right occasion to use it.’
    Desmond’s mouth fell open in complete disbelief at the words that had just issued from Scroopy’s beak. He turned to get a better look at the parrot sitting bright-eyed on his shoulder.
    ‘Wh . . . wh . . . what did you say?’
    ‘I said,’ the parrot cackled again right into Desmond’s face, ‘my vocabulary is far, far superior to yours.’
    At a complete loss, the young man could only goggle open-mouthed. Then, in a sudden rush of understanding he whirled on Twilight.
    ‘It’s you! You’re speaking for him!’
    ‘And for me!’ Sir Valiant neighed across the compound. Desmond nodded his flaxen head in wonder.
    ‘You’ll never know just how much I wish I could do that,’ he said, lightly stroking Lord Scroop’s head. ‘With crinkum crankum like that I could strike the stars.’
    Twilight chuckled. ‘Never mind, stay cheerful. It was a dictum of the long magus that whatever life throws at us, we must maintain a happy mien. In this business it’s so easy to delight in misery, surrounded as we are by war, famine, dropsy, plague, pestilence, demons, brigands, wraiths, invaders, and all the other shadows in people’s nature that prevent them from living a normal life.’
    ‘So much to understand,’ murmured the young troubadour.
    ‘There are civilizations out there,’ Twilight waved his arm around to encompass the whole world, ‘that are far in advance of ours. Merlin was an avid student and great believer in the Greeks and collected their writings, which he kept in a secret scriptorium. Before I came along the long magus spent fifty years studying these ancient texts and would quote them to me endlessly. It seems that the Greeks always had an appropriate maxim or pithy quotation for everything, especially battles.’
    ‘I’d like to see that scriptorium one day.’
    ‘And so you will, just as soon as we rid Wessex of these vicious invaders. Much of Merlin’s love of these ancients rubbed off on me. There is still so much to study and learn from these writings, and we will both spend many weeks delving into them.’
    Twilight suddenly stiffened.
    ‘Stay here. I must go.’ Later, as the evening sun dipped over the compound, he was back. Motioning for Desmond to join him, they walked slowly toward the great circle of venefical destiny stones in silence. Finally Desmond broke the silence.
    ‘The Viking?’
    Twilight sighed heavily and fingered the forty pica beaks around his neck.
    ‘I placed twenty pairs of pica at intervals along the Wessex coast to act as an early warning system if the Vikings came again. All but one of them was killed instantly, their throats slashed in flight. One of them stayed alive long enough to tell me what did it before passing away in my arms.’
    They walked on toward the first stone.
    ‘That’s the second time I have lost forty pica to an enemy.’
    They walked on. Desmond paused and rested his hand on the
    ‘This is Halcyon, the stone of The Prefect Elaine,’ he said. ‘Named after an Egyptian queen called Cleopatra. Halcyon was the name her parents gave her.’
    ‘Well remembered,’ said Twilight. ‘All the answers to all the conflicts are here. Each one of them faced many trials and came up with a way to