The Shadow Dragons - James A. Owen [40]
“I had almost thought we’d discovered Macdonald’s Fairy Land,” Jack said to the others, “but the markings on these gates are Greek.”
“This isn’t Fairy Land,” John agreed. “I don’t know what it is.”
Quixote said nothing, but instead reached for a corded rope that hung to one side of the gates. He gave it a pull, and a low chime sounded from within.
In short order a gatekeeper appeared, unlocked the gate, and swung it open.
He was aged without seeming old, and more weary than aged. He looked over at Rose with a flicker of surprised recognition, then composed himself. He next regarded Quixote with a cautious eye, before giving his full attention to Charles, John, and Jack.
“I have not seen you before,” he said in a voice thick with a French accent. His tone indicated that he was used to speaking with authority. “Why have you come here?”
“Avalon is deserted,” John told him. “We’re looking to discover why, and what may have happened to the Guardian.”
The gatekeeper snorted. “That fool? He has been gone from the isle for many years. Where he went, I cannot say—but the one who might tell you the rest resides here, in the castle.”
“Are you the new Green Knight?” Charles asked.
The gatekeeper rolled his eyes. “Do I appear to be made of wood?” he said. “As a knight, I guarded milady, and I guard her still, as well as the others within. What happens outside these walls is no longer my concern.”
“May we pass?” asked Jack.
“On what authority do you ask to enter?” said the gatekeeper.
John unwrapped the Geographica on a hunch and showed the cover to the old man. “On the authority of the heirs of Arthur, King of the Silver Throne.”
The gatekeeper looked as if he had been struck across the face with a hammer. He staggered back a moment, then pulled himself against the gate to stand steady.
“Enter and be welcomed,” he said, his voice shaking with barely controlled emotion.
As the companions passed by, they were able to look at the gatekeeper more closely. He had the bearing of a knight but would not meet their eyes, lifting his head only to glance at Rose. There were scars on his arms and face, which had once been handsome. But the sorrow in his eyes and on his countenance was the deepest any of them had ever seen. More surprisingly, under his cloak they could see his own armor, which also bore the mark of the king.
“Who is this?” Quixote asked Charles behind his hand. “He never bothered to say three words to me when I was here before.”
“I can’t say for certain,” Charles replied as they walked into the castle grounds, “but if I were to hazard a guess, I’d say we just met Lancelot himself.”
The gatekeeper pointed the companions down a broad avenue between the gleaming green towers, to a pair of white doors. “I must go no farther,” he said, “but I will see you on your return. May the gods grant you the knowledge you seek.”
“Lancelot?” said Quixote, when they reached the doors and passed between them. “Really? I always thought he was a monk. I—”
The knight stopped talking as the doors closed behind them, leaving them in an expansive room that aspired to be a world, and that rendered them all speechless.
A thousand architectural styles were represented by the miniature buildings that were ensconced in transparent globes placed on gleaming pedestals throughout the room. On closer examination, the Caretakers realized that each miniature city was a world unto itself and contained tiny people and other creatures.
All along the walls were doorways interspersed with crypts, and at the far end of the hall was a bowl of blue fire, set into the floor in front of a massive wall.
Jack clutched at John’s coat and pointed. “Look!” he whispered. “I think we’ve found them!”
Attending to the various globes were three women who floated above the surface of the floor in gossamer robes. One, the closest, was clothed in blue; the next, a short distance away, who was looking into a globe containing a Norse village, wore green; and the most distant of them wore pink.
It wasn’t until the woman in blue moved to a globe closer to