Quest for the Sun by V M Jones Read Free Book Online Page B

dribble of dried blood below his slit monkey mouth. ‘ You bit me!’ Richard growled. ‘I’ll throttle you with your tail, you mangy little traitor! We trusted you —’
    He was interrupted by a shrill squawk from beneath the black cloth by the window. Suddenly I realised what it reminded me of: a parrot’s cage, covered for the night. My mind made the connection without even beginning to make sense of it. Jumbled fragments of thought were flapping uselessly round my brain like birds in a dark room, going nowhere. Blue-bum — Weevil — Zephyr — me —
    Then another thought, clean as a blade: This is the man who killed my father.
    And suddenly, on a tide of roaring redness, I knew that what I had to do would be easy. I would do it now, with my bare hands — with my fists, hard as stone. I took two long strides into the room, a slow drumbeat of blood pulsing through me. It was as if I was standing in a long tunnel, and at the end, in a circle of light, was Karazeel. I could see every detail of his face, and for the first time I saw how like my own it was. The dark hair … the dusky skin … the eyes the colour of mist …
    A smile twitched the corner of Karazeel’s mouth, as if he could read my mind. One hand flicked up. A whirr — a rattle — something huge and heavy dropped from above. Faster than a striking snake a gleaming metal cage settled on the floor, enclosing us in a circle of steel bars.
    â€˜I have waited long for this moment,’ whispered Karazeel. ‘Welcome, children — welcome back to the world of Karazan. I know where you come from, and I have plans for your world. The world beyond the Cliffs of Stone … the world to which another child was taken, more than fifty spans ago. I did not know that then — but I know it now.’
    The tide of rage had drained away, leaving me trembling and dizzy, the room spinning. I clung to a thin thread of hope. Karazeel didn’t know who I was.
    â€˜My memory is long. You do not steal from King Karazeel and live, though I have replaced what was taken.’ He was talking about Tiger Lily, who we’d magicked away from the dungeons of Shakesh. But how could he have replaced her? There were no cats in Karazan. ‘You will be punished for the theft of the Mauler.’ He smiled. ‘Fate has a pleasing symmetry, as you will see.’
    As he spoke he was pacing slowly round our cage, staring in. Jamie and the girls stood in a petrified huddle, not daring to look at him; Rich shot him an occasional glare from under glowering brows.
    I’d been turning in a slow circle to keep Karazeel in view and keep an eye on Blue-bum. All pretence had vanished. Staring at his contorted face, I couldn’t believe he’d been able to take us all in so completely and for so long. During his circuit of the cage Karazeel had somehow managed to ignore the hunched figure on his shoulder jabbering in his ear; but now Blue-bum grabbed a handful of the king’s hair and gave a sharp yank, almost dislodging the twisted crown.
    Karazeel’s face darkened, and I had a second’s wild hope he might lose his temper and throw Blue-bum out of the high window, along with everything he knew. But the frown was replaced by a chilling smile. ‘Why yes, my furry friend,’ he crooned, ‘you have a report to make, do you not? I shall be most interested to hear what you seem so anxious to tell me.’
    We watched as Karazeel crossed to his throne and reached down to a low table. A rack of crystal phials rested on its surface, a canister the size of a salt cellar beside them. It was full of a transparent liquid that looked like water. Karazeel picked it up and set Blue-bum down in front of the throne. I stared at the two figures, so focused on what was happening I hardly noticed the shrill screeches coming from the parrot’s cage.
    Karazeel upended the canister and shook once, twice. A