The Camelot Spell - Laura Anne Gilman [63]
“I don’t know,” Ailis said impatiently. “Maybe Merlin? He was supposed to have been a foundling, not knowing who his parents were. But what I meant was that line about ‘one into three.’” Ailis placed the glass objects next to each other, considering them. Wide base. Narrow end. Ends and base each the same distance across, perfectly matching. The narrow end…She picked up the ring and measured it against the end of the glass on the left. The narrow end was the same distance across as the inside of the ring. She set it firmly against the end. It stayed put.
“You think…”
“Maybe.”
She lifted the other glass and turned it upside down, matching narrow end to narrow end, with the golden ring between.
A blast of dark blue light momentarily blinded them, outshining the stars and making the night seem far darker when it faded.
“What was that?” Gerard exclaimed.
“Magic, I’d wager,” Newt said in an even tone, his earlier exuberance drained from him. “Isn’t it always?” He touched her face gently, making her look at him. “Ailis, are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she said, her voice faint and distant. “Look!”
The three talismans were fused by magic into one piece. Inside the topmost glass, sparkling blue particles of sand appeared, suspended in the act of sliding into the bottom glass, as though caught in time.
But what had caught Ailis’s attention was the red flame slowly etching words on the glass the same way Merlin’s had given them the original riddle, etched into the walls of the ice house.
Tempus signa proferrit.
Tempus non insisit.
Rex et serva aeque morientur.
Lacrima sola una separet
Lacrima sola una liberaret.
Tempus medicus.
Tempus interfector.
Tempus flumen hic nunquam comprimit.
Incipat. Finiat. Renovet. Renovet.
“We did it,” Gerard said, barely able to breathe around the knot in his chest. “The three talismans into one. We did it.”
“We haven’t done it yet,” Newt said. “The riddle said ‘three who are one…before the moment turns at home.’ So for all we know, Camelot’s still asleep. Besides, these new words—can you read them?” The other two shook their heads. “Neither can I. And we don’t have time to find someone who does. Tomorrow at midnight we’re out of time.”
“We have to trust Merlin,” Ailis said.
“What we have to do,” Gerard said, “is make it back to Camelot in time. Let’s go!”
TEN
They rode all through that night and most of the next morning, pushing their horses cruelly out of necessity, and trusting the faint blue glow of the map to guide them. It was just before noon when Camelot came into sight. From a distance, the castle looked the same as it ever did. Set on an incline, the castle walls were manned by guards moving slowly back and forth, and the banner that indicated the king was in residence flew on the far watchtower.
But something seemed off. It wasn’t until they came closer, almost to the base of the hill, that they realized what it was.
The gates were closed. And the guards were too slight to be full-grown men, despite their armor.
“It’s what we feared,” Ailis murmured. In the back of their minds, all three had half-hoped that somehow someone—some adult—would have come in and solved the crisis without them. That’s the way the world was meant to work, not left resting on their unready shoulders. But Fate had not been so kind, and they were still needed.
“Hurry,” Gerard said, and they kicked their exhausted horses into one final gallop.
“Open!” he called as they came within hailing distance. “Open in the king’s name! It is Gerard of Abmont and his companions,” he added, in case the young guards didn’t recognize them.
There was a hesitation. All three of them began to sweat. Then the sound of chains being pulled came through and the great doors began to swing open.
The moment they slipped through the half-open doors, they were surrounded by dozens of children, all of them reaching out, trying to touch the three, grabbing at their clothing, calling their names.
“Silence!” Newt bellowed, and a shocked silence fell on the courtyard, broken only by an anonymous sniffle